Don’t Forget Where You Come From

Let's give a warm welcome to our entire church family at all of our campuses and online. Hey, welcome, EFAM. I haven't done an EFAM roll call in a while. Put your name and where you're watching from, please, in the chat if you're watching online. Everybody in this place today, be encouraged. The Lord has heard your prayers. Tell the person next to you he heard you. Tell him, just because he didn't do it like you wanted him to doesn't mean he didn't hear you. We were singing a song a moment ago called Call God, and we said, I call God, and he answered. And some people were like, well, he hadn't yet. I wish he would. But the thing is, he did so many times before, so many times before. I'm going to preach a little bit about this today, but sometimes we adapt to our answered prayers and we cease to appreciate them. But one thing I'm going to be very intentional about from this pulpit in this year is to not let you just walk past stuff that God did in your life without recognizing it, because that's how the Enemy weakens you. You're going to notice me a lot more in my sermons and when I come up, just turning your attention not only to the things that God has done but who he is, because that's what you can count on. If your wife divorces you, he'll never leave you or forsake you. If your kids go absolutely prodigal crazy, God is still going to keep you in your right mind. If everybody in your company gets together and votes you off the island, God will take care of you. He will supply your needs. So, I want to connect you today through a Scripture in Joshua, chapter 17. And let's do a shout-out real quick. I told the people online, hello from Kenya. Hello from West Virginia. Now, how would you feel if you were me if you had to preach a message that applied in Kenya and West Virginia, all in English today? We're glad to have you. What a robust church we are. I love it. I love it. Welcome, Dayton, Ohio. Welcome, California. Welcome, Cape Town. Welcome, Cornelius, North Carolina. Well, you should be in church. You shouldn't be watching. You just told on yourself. I'm glad you're here today. Welcome. Settle in. God has a word for you. Joshua, chapter 17. Have you ever noticed you don't hear many sermons passed around Joshua, chapter 3 or 4? All of the exciting stuff happens kind of in the beginning of the book of Joshua. They're taking the land, and they're going forward in the promise of God and crossing the Jordan. So, we usually preach from that. Well, I'm going all the way to Joshua 17 today. See what happens

after that. Now, listen to this, because this is where we live in our everyday life. Everyday life is not always exciting new adventures and explorations on the opportunities that await you. Sometimes it's just three Advil and a prayer. Sorry, I'm five minutes late, but I'm here anyway. We're trying to deal with that this year, because I preached to you last week that there will always be wheat and there will always be weeds in the garden of your life with God. I was trying to get you to watch the wheat, not just the weeds, not just looking at the things you can't control and wishing they weren't there, but realizing that what God planted in you is significant in every season of your life, whether you can see the growth or not. Now, in Joshua, chapter 17, something interesting happens. I'll read it, and then we'll go back into the context. But listen to this. The people of Joseph said to Joshua, Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? Remember, they possessed the land that God swore to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. They got in the land, and they won the victory. The people of Joseph… One of the groups from the nation comes to Joshua, the leader, and says, Why did you only give us one allotment? Look, we are a numerous people, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly. Now watch Joshua's response. If you are so numerous, Joshua answered, since you are so blessed, like you say you are, and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephites. Those are therein. enemies And the people of joseph replied the hill country is not enough for us And all the canaanites who live in the plain have chariots fitted with iron Both those in Bethshon and its settlements and those in the valley of Jezreel But Joshua said to the tribes of joseph to Ephraim and Manasseh to Ephraim and Manasseh You are numerous and very powerful You will have not only one allotment, but the forested hill country as well Now lean into this clear it and its farthest limits will be yours Though the canaanites have chariots Fitted with iron and though they are strong you can drive them out

Thank the Lord for his word one time would you come on right there thank him for his word My message today is called don't forget where you come from Look at three people say don't forget where you come from Amen you may be seated Don't forget where you come from Kenya or West Virginia Or like me maybe you came from Moncks Corner, South Carolina Boy somebody said something to me the other day. I never thought I'd hear they said the traffic is terrible in Moncks Corner It's changed a lot since I was there Bad traffic in Moncks Corner when I was a boy meant you had to wait through the red light once at rush hour But I guess it's growing you know it's really expanding and it is it is it is It's all the population that's pushing anyway I won't tell you the geography of Charleston in the low country of South Carolina by the way welcome our newest campus in Somerville, South Carolina And y'all know I love Jesus cuz Somerville was our rival in high school We were the Berkeley stags and we hated the Somerville green wave and now God has prepared a table in the presence of my enemies In Somerville, South Carolina, but we love you No, no the reason I bring up where you come from is because everybody in here has a point of reference For what you think is successful in your life. You have a point of reference if you never had $500 in your bank account before the first 500 feels amazing It's a point of reference If you're 73 years old and hoping to retire next year $500 There's not a prayer warrior in the world that can turn $500 into a retirement account, but it's your point of reference I remember the first bonus that I got when I was working at a church in Shelby, North Carolina and Rick Bowling told me By the way, we're giving a $500 bonus to all of our employees this Christmas, and I literally cried 22 year old 23 year old man just crying over $500 Sometimes I wish I could still cry that easy Because there was something about that stage in my life where I wasn't expecting a bonus I remember when he first sat me down and explained my salary package to me He was like, um, this is how much we're gonna pay you this year. And of course that doesn't include the benefits and I said the what? He said the benefits and this is how unschooled I was because my dad was self-employed

I didn't even know what benefits were I didn't know that that's something that you could negotiate Into a so I wasn't negotiating. I was just thankful. I was like Benefits, he's like, yeah the benefits that's that's gonna be additional to this amount You know, it's been a while since I praised God for my health insurance Because I had it too long I Had it too long Sometimes I let three days go by and don't tell Holly how pretty she is, but that's wrong Because she's pretty every day And she deserves to be told that every day And plus I spend too much on those clothes. She's wearing not to compliment how she looks in and that $280 makeup that's in her bathroom. Whatever. I'm spending over there at Sephora. I feel like she She deserves to hear it when we were dating it was just constantly every day, but One thing I noticed in the text that we read is that when you forget how far you've come from a certain point it makes how far you have to go the only thing that you're focused on and When you forget the gifts that God has given you it makes it impossible for you to access the power that he put inside of you Don't forget where you come from Don't forget that there was a time that a $500 Christmas bonus made you cry Don't forget that there was a time when you prayed that God would give you these children that you're praying for him to help you not to eliminate from the face of the earth at this very moment. Don't forget where you come from. We see an interesting dynamic in Joshua, chapter 17, in that these tribes, the people of Joseph… It's actually two tribes. One is called Manasseh, and one is called Ephraim. Those were Joseph's boys. Manasseh was his firstborn. Ephraim was his second. Both of them were born in Egypt, in the place where he suffered, in the place where he was falsely accused, in the place where he was thrown into prison, in the place where God also raised him to prominence. In Egypt, he had two boys, Manasseh and Ephraim. Those boys have now, several generations later, turned into tribes. These tribes have taken territory in the land of Canaan. Not only have they settled into the land, but they've started to grow and do what people do. When two people love each other very much, so they've grown… I have to talk with you later. It's just that they're blessed so much

that they are experiencing the pressure of blessing. Many times in church we only speak to the desperation of failure, but there is a need to preach to the pressure of blessings, because blessings are heavy in your life. Sometimes, when you're going through all of the things you're worried about, it's not even so much that you're complaining about them or that you don't appreciate them. It's that pressure has kept your perspective from seeing the bigger picture of what's happening, so you get zoned in on only one thing, and you forget, like the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, that just a few years ago you were wandering in the wilderness. That's kind of why, when I read this Scripture, it stood out to me. When I read it, I wanted to say to them, You just left the wilderness, and now you're complaining that there's not enough room for you? Did you notice what they said to Joshua? Why did you only give us one allotment? We're too big for this place. We need more elbow room. We need new countertops. We need hardwood floors. We need more space. We need a minivan. We're a growing nation. It's getting bigger in Moncks Corner. The traffic is terrible in Moncks Corner. Everything in the text is growing, and while everything is growing, their perspective is narrowing, and all they can see is the space they don't have. So, they come to Joshua, and the people of Joseph in Genesis…or excuse me, in Joshua, chapter 17, verse 14, say, Why have you only given us one allotment? We're a numerous people, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly. But just because he blessed us doesn't mean we don't have pressure. Just because I have money doesn't mean I know how to manage it. Just because God gave me a job doesn't mean I don't get tired. Just because God sent people to my ministry doesn't mean I always have a message to give them when they show up. Blessings create pressure. If pressure is not dealt with, pressure can create self-pity. Self-pity, if not dealt with, can create a situation where you are in this state of too much and not enough. That's what they said in verse 16. They said, We do not have enough land. The land you gave us is not enough for us, and the people are too much for the land that is not enough. I felt like when I studied, I'd be preaching to somebody today who would understand this tension of too much and not enough. This is why we toss and turn, because it's too much and not enough. Too much to do and not enough in my tank to do it. That's called burnout. Too much of people calling me and not enough patience to listen to their problems. Too much bills and not enough income to answer the bills when they knock at the door.

Too much on my mind and not enough in my life that makes me feel happy and recharged. Too much demand, not enough supply. Too many people sucking energy out of me and not enough people supplying it. Too many people asking and not enough people offering. Too many things wrong and not enough things working out. Too much and not enough. That's what they said. Look at verse 16. It's in the Bible. They said, The land you gave us… Verse 16. It's not enough. It's not enough. All right. Let's talk about that for a minute. It's not enough. I'm not gifted enough. I'm not talented enough. I'm not experienced enough. I told you during the Same Lies, New Loops series that the Devil only has two lies he puts on a loop in your mind. One is, I'm not loved, and one is, not enough. That's why you wake up in the morning feeling like, well, what's on my agenda for today is too much, and the time I have to do it in is not enough. That's what I'm using this land to represent. If you thought I was going to teach a real estate seminar off of Joshua chapter 17, that's not my expertise. I'm trying to teach a real life seminar about why you're snapping at the wrong people. I'm trying to teach a real life seminar about why you don't look forward to some of the stuff that God actually gave you through his favor. I'm trying to teach a real life seminar about how you could be so blessed. Did you notice the tribes? They said, We're so blessed. And I dare somebody to just say it by faith. Say, I'm so blessed. I'm so blessed. Say it with a head shake. Say, I am so blessed. Matter of fact, do this at every campus, and especially at Ballantyne.

Look at the person on either side of you and say, You are so blessed. Tell them, I am so blessed. You are so blessed. Matter of fact, start doing like this, because I'm so blessed. I need some elbow room. I'm so blessed. I need you to scoot over a little bit. I'm so blessed. You better get out of my way. I'm so blessed, because if I think for a minute about that $500 bonus and how much God has done for me since then, if I think for a minute about how he kept me upright on my feet and in my right mind, you better give me some room, because if I think for one minute about how I called and he answered and he came through like only he could, just nudge your neighbor. Say, We're so blessed. Getting more blessed every day. I'm spreading out my tent in this season. I'm driving down my stakes in this season, because I'm so blessed. That's why I'm tired, because God blessed me. What a perspective. Now the land I have is not enough, and so now your prayer request is about all your praise reports. Did that make sense? I prayed for it. I got it. It's a blessing. It creates pressure. The decision in this season of your life is this. What do I do with the pressure? What do I do about the not enough? Why do I feel like it's not enough?

Why, when God sends an opportunity into my life, do I reject it and send it away because I think I can't do it? Why do I send people who love me away and push people who care about me away and reach for things that destroy me? Why am I still, in this season of my life, struggling with something I prayed about since I was a teenager? Is there not enough of God's power to deliver me? Do I have not enough faith to receive it? What's the problem here? Well, Joshua gets a real… I call this a dad energy with these tribes. See, me and Holly are totally different in our parenting approach. Totally different. I told you last week, if my kids run out the house without a coat, I'm like, cool. She's like, you're going to freeze. I'm like, they're not going to freeze. First of all, they're not going to freeze. If they do, it will be a memory in their life that will create maturity for their future. So I'm just building memories. I'm building memories of the time that your dumb self left without your coat and almost froze to death, and then maybe one day you'll give money to somebody who doesn't have a coat so they can buy one. So I'm promoting generosity. I'm teaching you good stewardship and responsibility all by just letting you be an idiot. The other day, Holly was telling me her schedule for the day. I said, what do you have the rest of the day? She said, well, all three kids have a dentist appointment. I said, what does that have to do with you? I understand Abby, she can't drive yet, but Graham's 18. Elijah's about to be 21 years old of age in the United States of America.

What does his dentist appointment have to do? with you at this stage in your life." And she's like, if I don't remind them, they'll forget. And I'm like, and then what? Well, and then the dentist has to charge me. And I'm like, but can't you take it out of their account? And she's like, well, yeah, maybe I guess so. I didn't think about it like that. And then I thought, well, if their teeth start falling out, I want you to let enough teeth fall out of their mouth that they don't need you to follow them to the dentist when they're 47 years old. This is not a good path, because if I've got to sit in the dentist's office to make sure you're here, you've got a beard, and I'm taking you to the dentist? Help me praise the Lord. All the dads in the house. Joshua is like, so you want more land? Now listen, I need to tell you something. I forgot to tell you this. The land that they had, it was the second biggest piece given to all of the tribes. The only one bigger was Judah. So when they come to Joshua and they're like, hey, we don't have enough land, Joshua is like, it's interesting you should say that, because I noticed that when I gave you the land, there were some parts of the land that you did not occupy. I noticed that when I assigned you the acreage, you had the second biggest plot of land of any of the tribes. So if you want more room, if you really need more space, instead of asking me for more land when you've already been given the second largest piece of land… Can I stop for a moment? Somebody else would die to trade places with you in your life. Somebody else would give all the money in their bank account to have the peace you have

in your home. Somebody else would give their entire career just to have the relationship you have. It is true that when we are under pressure, we lose perspective, and it is also true that God has given us a lot more than we have occupied. So Joshua says, if you are so numerous, and if the hill country of Ephraim, the place where you are, is too small for you… Because when they settled in, some of the land was already developed, because Canaanites were living there. So when they moved in, they were like, cool, this is great. But then after a while, all the land that was producing… Because it was a very fertile piece of land. Don't get it twisted. They didn't get any land that was like second rate. This was not scraps. This was good land. But they got in there, and they eventually started to outgrow it, and then they eventually began to grumble because they had grown, and so they started to grumble about their growth, and they started to grumble about the gift God had given. You just want to slap them real quick. Just slap them real quick like, really? You came from the wilderness? Really? God gave you the second largest piece of land, and all you can think of to say is, I want more? Really? Sometimes I want to slap myself when I hear the things I complain about. Here's what I've noticed. Without a constant focus on the goodness of God, it is easy for me to go from inheritance to entitlement. Look at this that Paul prayed in Ephesians, chapter 1.

Put it on the screen, please. He said, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. So Ephesians is telling us spiritually what Joshua is showing us physically, that you have an inheritance. Notice the verse again, put it on the screen for another moment, where he says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened to know the riches of the inheritance you already have. Here is what Paul did not pray. Check the Scripture. He did not pray that God would give you an inheritance because you already have one. What he prayed instead was so specific, he said, I pray that you would be able to see clearly what God has already given you freely. So this is the shift. Inheritance says, God gave me this. God gave me this responsibility to preach today. I get to do it. Entitlement says, I've got to do it. It says God has given me the privilege to minister to these precious people Y'all don't even know how much I love doing this y'all don't even know how much it matters to me Y'all don't even know how much I wake up at 2 30 on Sundays and say go back to sleep You're gonna need your energy and then it's 2 45 and it's 3 and it's 3 15 and it's 3 30 and finally say I can't Sleep I might as well get up and start thinking about it and then by about 3 45 I'm preaching it out loud. So I know the kids think that's going crazy downstairs again But I don't care because God gave me this Mantle and I'm gonna tell you something else. I prayed hard for this and I sacrificed for this But it wasn't my sacrifice It was his sovereignty that gave it to me because I could not earn this and some of us know That it was not by might and not by power and not by intelligence and not by connections and not by networking and not by pedigree and not by GPA and not by your skill but by

His grace that I am what I am Thank you Lord Thank you God, thank you. I've got kids to worry about Thank you. I've got a spouse to fight with thank you. I've got clothes to get dirty and have to wash them again Thank you. I've got dishes to yell at somebody for leaving in the sink. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. I've got a toilet to get clogged up. I Remember where I came from You Slap yourself and say really You're fussing about this You forgot where you came from. You were in a wilderness. You were in your sin You were in chains. You beg God God if you'll take me if you'll use me, I'll do anything for you And Has inheritance mentality become entitlement mentality in your life Fussing cuz the coffee's cold Fussing cuz it buffered for 23 seconds boy, you better remember that card catalog You used to have to go through to find out information and now you're mad cuz chat GPT took 12 seconds to think Don't forget where you come from I Come from Moncks Corner, South Carolina That's why I cannot be discouraged when I stand up in front of large crowds to preach Because when I look at the size of the crowd and realize the town I came from I'm like, oh, yeah, it was you guy It was you you I mean this makes no sense This is just absolutely stupid and I'm so grateful that you use the foolish things of the world to confound the wise now I need to rush past this point because I have another point to make But maybe this would be a good challenge for you to put in front of your family this week Have we allowed inheritance what God gave us? to be replaced with entitlement Because it's not enough and too much not enough You got the blood of Jesus one drop of his blood is

enough To cleanse you from what you did Thursday one drop of his blood can erase the shame of how you spent the years between 2020 and 2025 one drop of his blood Holly said they've been sending pictures around online of She said you need to know there's a trend all over Instagram at least for middle-aged white women that Everybody's sending around pictures of 2016 and something like 2026 is the new 2016 or something and then she was right everybody started sending me pictures of where they were in 2016 I started getting them randomly on my phone people are sending me I'm not even on Instagram and I'm getting pictures on my phone 2016 2016 2016 2016 and I thought that's crazy Where was I 2016 I pull something up. This is the first Sunday grand opening in our Ballantyne building in And it was supposed to happen in But it was on a two-year delay the building I preached from by the way if you're in Kenya You probably don't know what I'm talking about when I say Ballantyne the building that I broadcast from where we reach into your home And where we reach into prisons and where we send messages into rehabs and where we send messages into hospital rooms And where we send podcasts into cars of parents driving their kids around all day and athletes that are get all ministry. It comes from right here at Ballantyne to all of our other campuses. We were opening it 2016, and we were having the best time, kind of. But show them the other picture. This is the one that was next to it on my phone. There's me and Holly, and she looks like blessing, and I look like pressure. Isn't that right? Would you say I captioned that correctly? Because for me, I was jet-lagged that Sunday morning. For me, I had just gotten back from Australia, and for me, the headlines were all about a potential place of civil unrest in our nation. For me, my best friend was getting fired from pastoring his church, and so between the 930 and the 1130, I was talking to him on the phone before I came out to preach again, because I was scared about whether he was in a safe place emotionally or not. So now you understand why she's smiling. She's like, God is good all the time, and I'm like… She's like, This is an amazing day. Now, obviously, that's just a really unfortunate capture of my face in that moment. I don't know what I was really thinking. We fired that photographer, by the way. Captured that moment. I'm kidding.

But I just want to give you a visual for a moment here as we talk about Joseph and Ephraim and Manasseh, and as we talk about your life, and as we talk about forgetting where you come from, and when we talk about your past, and when we talk about the things you remember, and when we talk about the challenge you're facing… Remember, the people of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, came to Joshua and said, "'It's too much, and it's not enough.'" Joshua said, "'It is enough. There is all of this territory you were given, but it's forest territory, and it's covered not only in trees, but there are Canaanites that are there, which represent the enemies, that you did not drive out of the land yet. So, God has given you an inheritance, but to develop in that it's going to take two things, work and war.'" I heard an old self-motivation talk parable about a farmer who had a beautiful piece of property. It was so lush, man. The gardens were just beautiful and flourishing, and the cows were fat, and the white gravel driveway was lined with the prettiest trees you ever saw. It didn't look like a new farm, but it looked like a love farm, a farm that had received a lot of attention. A preacher drove by the farm one day, and he was so absolutely enchanted with the farm that he had to meet the farmer. The farmer came over on the tractor and turned off the tractor for a moment and said to the preacher, "'Can I help you?' The preacher said, "'I was just admiring your property.'" What a beautiful piece of property the Lord gave you. The farmer said, "'Yes, it is very beautiful, and we're grateful. But preacher, you should have seen this place when the Lord had it all to himself.'" In other words, I worked this thing. In other words, the people you're driving by and envying their life… They didn't just get that marriage. They didn't just get that body. They didn't just get that financial situation. They didn't just get that influence. They were in the field keeping sheep before Goliath ever showed up. They were developing it. The question is, are you investing into what you inherited in your life? If it's a gift, are you investing in it? If it's a relationship, are you maintaining it? Are you working with what God gave you or simply complaining how it's not enough? I'm going to tell you, it is enough. It just hasn't had the time yet in your life to develop into what it needs to be. So, I came to declare a message today.

It is enough, but it is going to take faith on your part. God is not simply going to drive out every enemy in your life. God is not simply going to chop down every tree in your life. God is not simply going to disrupt every bad habit in your life. We pray for deliverance. I believe in deliverance, but I also believe in support groups. I said, I also believe in AA. I said, I also believe in accountability. I said, I also believe in Christian counsel. I said, I also believe in starting to exercise. I said, I also believe in app deletion. See, the thing about some of us is we are praying for peace in areas where we are unwilling to clear out trees. How can it grow? How can it grow? It has nowhere to grow. The problem is not that I need more time. The problem is that I need more priorities, because God gave me enough time for what he called me to do. So I declare in this year of my life, it's the year that I do what Joshua told the people of Joseph to do. Listen to this. He said, you have enough. Doesn't feel like enough. You have enough. Doesn't look like enough. There's all these trees. There's all these enemies. There's all these things that you have not confronted yet, but behind what you have been unwilling to confront is the answer to the prayer that you seek. I am preaching prophetically to somebody. Read to me verse 17. Joshua said to the people, to Ephraim and Manasseh, you are numerous and very powerful.

You will have not only one allotment, your two tribes, but you can have the forested country too. There is more for you to enjoy. There is more for you to experience in God. There is more. You can be happy again. You can rejoice again. You can have meaning in your day again. You can have it if you clear it. Somebody shout, clear it. Speak that over your mind this year. Clear it. I've got to clear it. I'm praying for peace, but I'm not clearing my mind. How can I stuff my mind full of junk and then ask Jesus to fill the space that's already filled with junk? Somebody shout, clear it. It might have to be cleared in your life of some unproductive relationships this year. There are so many roots that can drink water in your yard, but any more than those roots and you are not going to have the rain you need for what God is planting. Somebody shout, clear it. Don't even apologize to people. If you have to cut off some communication this year, that's all right. It's not rude. It's righteous, because I have to clear it this year, because God has more for me. Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't get back with you. I have to get clear this year. I'm sorry I didn't snap you back. I have to get clear this year, because what God gave me, what God is doing through me, what God promised me…

Clear it. Clear your mind this year. This may be the season for you to stop focusing on what would have been. You are so full of regret that you cannot see what is right in front of you. The Word of the Lord says you still can, because the lie that starts to clutter up your mind is, it's too late. Oh, look at the mistakes you made. How many of you have that going on in your mind in an area right now? If I would have just given it more attention… That may be true. You may have missed the opportunity. You may not have done it when you should have done it, but you still can. I wish I would have lived for God in college. Well, you are 79 now. You still can live for God and leave a legacy. Somebody shout, I still can. You can if you get clear, but if you stay in what it was in a previous season of your life, you will have more available to you, and you will die for the lack of what Jesus died to put in your life. Clear it. Tell the Devil, We are not having this conversation again. Clear it. Yes, I'm talking about your calendar. You need to clear it up a little bit. It has a little too much stuff on it that you're doing to impress people, and it's not making an impact. Clear it. Clear it. Let me talk to a leader, because pastors watch me preach.

Some of the people you are running around trying to please by preaching the sermons they want so bad are not supposed to be a part of your church in this season, and if you don't stop preaching to the people who are threatening to leave, you cannot reach the people God has called you to reach, and they need Jesus. Clear it. Do you hear me? Clear it. Clear it. This might be a prophetic word about your shopping cart on Amazon. Clear it. You ain't buying none of it this year. We're getting out of debt this year. Lost all of the shouts, LJ. No organ necessary on that point. If you can clear it, you can conquer it. Do you remember I said we were two years late getting in this building? One of the reasons we were so far behind getting in on this building was because the Environmental Protection Agency told us that there was a possibility that a Carolina heel-splitter clam was on the property. They said this clam…or muscle, I think it was, but I'm going to call it a clam, because it sounds better what I'm trying to say. This one little clam kept us from building this whole big church. For six months, we could not clear the land because of a clam. Do you realize how many times a little thing in your life keeps you from building? A little thing. One person you don't want to make mad. One thing you don't want to be judged about. One uncomfortable moment you don't want to push through. One phone call you don't want to make, so you're just going to let dread eat you up like cancer for six months because of a clam. The Devil doesn't even really have to put a clam on your land. He can just tell you there may be a clam. They may laugh at you. It may not work. You may look stupid. This may backfire. Your kid may end up… It's not even there, but you're not building. So, we get to the heart of the issue at this moment in the text. We're the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Let's look at the moment these boys were born. Now, remember, just to be clear, it has been generations since Ephraim and Manasseh were born to Joseph.

So, these people didn't know Joseph. They were Joseph's great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren, and Ephraim and Manasseh were his children. Now, look in Genesis 41, verse 50. It's going back in time to when Joseph was in Egypt, and he was starting to serve as an administrator in Pharaoh's palace. The Bible says he rode in the second chariot in command of Pharaoh. But it says before the years of famine came, after everything Joseph had been through… Imprisonment, accusation, abandonment… The people who were supposed to remember him forgetting him. The Bible says before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath, daughter of Potipharah, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh. He said, "'It's because God has made me forget all my trouble.'" Forget. Say it out loud. Forget. Put it in the comments. Forget, forget, forget. The title of this message is Don't Forget Where You Come From. When Joseph had his first baby, after all the suffering, after all the hardship, after all the misdirection, after all the delay, after all of the things that went wrong in his life, and finally God gave him an opportunity and a child, he looked at the child, and he held the child in a place he never intended to be, in a place he never planned to be. That may be you right now. I didn't plan to be here, but he looked at the baby, and in deciding what to name the baby, he named the baby Manasseh, which means to forget. He said, "'I'm naming this baby Manasseh because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household.'" Stop right there. He named the baby Manasseh, which means forget, not because the memory left him of the pain he went through. It's just that in that moment, what God was doing in his life was so significant it made what he had been through small in comparison. So, he says, "'I'm going to name this child forget, not because the memory left me, but because I'm choosing to remember it different.'" I'm going to remember it different. What I've been through, what I've suffered from, I no longer see it as being sold into slavery. I see it as God sending me here, and I am forgetting what is behind me so I can press toward what is ahead. The name Manasseh means forget. How many of you have ever heard of something called the Mandela Effect? Have you heard of this? It's named after Nelson Mandela, of course, who was the president of South Africa, but it's named because a group of people collectively were documented as remembering Nelson Mandela dying in the 1980s. So, check it out. Check this out.

A woman did research, and she found out there were large groups of people, in the thousands, who remembered Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s. The problem with that was he didn't die until the year 2013, but they remembered it as if he did. They remembered somehow some fragmented misinformation, and they remembered Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s. There were so many people who remembered that wrong that they named an entire phenomenon psychologically the Mandela effect. Now the phrase the Mandela effect is used to describe many things, some not as significant as the death of a leader. For instance, how many of you remember the line from the movie Star Wars when Darth Vader revealed his real identity? What did he say? Now thousands of you remember Luke, I am your father, but if you check the DVD, old school, if you check the movie, he doesn't say, Luke, I am your father. He says, no, I am your father. That freaked me out when I heard that. I thought all these years I thought he said, Luke, I am your father. He didn't say Luke. He said no. How did I remember it so different than it actually happened? It's the Mandela effect. Or the peanut butter that starts with the letter J. What's it called? No, there's no Y on it. It's just Jif. It's not Jiffy. You remember Jiffy, don't you? I remember Jiffy too. I thought it was Jiffy. All my life I thought it was Jiffy.

It's not Jiffy. It wasn't Jiffy. It never has been Jiffy. Somebody just called it Jiffy like they call it Walmarts and Revelations, and we all run around calling it Jiffy, but it was never Jiffy. It's the Mandela effect. I remember it different than it actually happened. I came to preach today about the Manasseh effect. Now the Manasseh effect is when you've been through hell and you've gone through some trouble and some people have let you down, and life has put you in a crowded space, and you feel like not enough, and you don't know what's next, but you decide in your mind I'm going to remember it different, and rather than focusing on how they forgot me, I'm going to focus on how I have a Father who never did, who never fails, who never cares. Shove your neighbor and say, Remember it different. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. I'm choosing to forget some things so I can clear out some space so I can receive some things that God has given me. Clear it out. It's the Manasseh effect. Here it is. God can do one thing in your life. God can send one person in your life. God can send one opportunity in your life that will make you forget everything you went through to be in this place, make you forget about how bad it hurt every time they said no, make you forget about all the years you thought it was never going to happen. It'll make you thank him for all the things that didn't come to pass, because you'll say, If I wasn't here, I couldn't have had this. God is working in your life. His Word does not return void.

He has given you more than enough. This is the Manasseh effect. When you say, I remember when we opened this building, and I remember that we were late, but I choose to remember that even though we were late getting in, God did it. I choose to remember that even though it didn't unfold according to my schedule, it unfolded according to his sovereign purpose. I am preaching about the Manasseh effect, because now, generations later, the tribe that is named after the boy who made Joseph forget has forgotten. They have forgotten. Joseph forgot his pain, but they forgot their power. Joshua had to remind them. He said, You are very powerful, and I have to remind you of that every week, that the Holy Spirit lives in you, and you are very powerful. I have to remind you of that every week, that Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, lives in you, and that power works in you, and because of that, you are very powerful. Don't give me all this self-empowerment stuff. I don't need any of it. I have the Holy Spirit. I have the Holy Spirit. You don't have to hide it. me up to believe I'm worthy. Jesus died for me. He's worthy. I'm very powerful." It's a beautiful thing when you remember where you came from. They were complaining about the chariots. They said, we can't go into that land. They have chariots. This is the Manasseh effect. They have misremembered things because they are scared of chariots. But I seem to remember a time in the Bible where God dealt with some chariots. I seem to remember a time in the Bible when God's people were coming out of Egypt, and a Red Sea stood between them and their freedom. I seem to remember that the chariots of Pharaoh were coming up back behind them. I seem to remember that just at the moment when it looked like the chariots were going to overtake them… What's that? God closed the sea over the chariots. So, God sent me to remind you,

this is not your first time calling on his name. This is not your first time needing his help. Remember where you come from. You come from a God who opens Red Seas. You come from a faith where a stick can split a body of water. You come from a lineage of believers who can climb over walls and shout, and they fall down. So, let me remind you something about you today. You are very powerful. You are very capable. You are very strong. You defy the odds. You are not one of them. You are not like them. You are not subject to this. Don't let what you are facing make you forget who you are. High five! Three people say, Don't forget where you come from. The tribe of Manasseh stood before Joshua. In verse 18, he said something I've been declaring over our church all week. He said, If you clear it, you can claim it. That one's for you, dude. If you clear it, you can claim it. Even though they have chariots, God says, I am an expert in overpowering chariots. Holly, do you hear what I'm preaching, babe? I'm trying to say, after all God did for us up to this point in our ministry, how could we ever doubt him again? You're talking about chariots? God doesn't care about chariots. God drowns chariots. God will jam the wheels of a chariot. You're talking about chariots? You're talking about the economy? God will make it rain. If it's not raining anywhere else, he'll make it rain. In Goshen, you're talking about chariots? God will make a way through the sea. If you'll clear it, you can claim it. I came to tell you today you can drive them out. Verse 18. You can drive them out. Stand to your feet and give God a praise today. Thank you, Jesus. Let me talk to you for a moment. You still can. You still can. They said, we're in this land. We're crowded. We're surrounded by enemies, and Joshua said, you still can drive them out. You know, it's important for me to remember that every promise that God gives me comes with enemies still living in it. All of the wheat that God gives me guarantees that there will be weeds all around it. I came with a message from the Word of the Lord that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, and you can't drive them out. You can make a different decision. You can reach for something other than that bottle. You can drive them out,

because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. You can drive them out. Now, what's happened to a lot of us… We've gotten too comfortable with the Canaanites, so we've gotten in small places. But you can drive them out. You can forgive that person who hurt you. You can drive them out. You can. It's going to be a process, but you can drive them out. You can absolutely repair that relationship if God means for that relationship to be in your life. You can drive them out. You can get this health issue under control. You can drive them out. You can apologize. You can drive them out. But the problem with us becomes that we forget that we have a God who specializes in defeating chariots. The chariots won't stop you. They won't stop God. You can drive them out. The challenge of this message… Only you know what your them is. I don't. All I can tell you is I know a God who is greater than any them you can name. This is the Manasseh effect. I'm praying that rather than misremembering something, I'm praying that you would remember it right today. Remember how much God has done to bring you to this point and take that forward with you into your future, because honestly, I don't just want to preach another sermon and then you go live among Canaanites all week and don't believe you can drive them out.

I want something for Monday when that anxiety comes strong. You hear the voice of God in your heart saying, You can drive that out. You can breathe through that. You can move through that. You have other options for that. You can drive them out. The next time you want to explode and go off and just freak out, I don't have to be a slave to anger. You can drive them out, because you're not in this by yourself. I want to pray for you right now, because I know there are some things in your land and in your life where you have either become entitled or you have allowed your insecurity to keep you from being what God has called you to be. You know what? I can always tell where I get to a point in a message where you have a decision to make. Are you really going to believe what God is saying to you, or are you going to go back home and talk to him about the chariots for the rest of 2026? I want to pray for you. There is so much that Jesus Christ saved you for. There is so much that he sees in you, so much that you can't see in yourself, but if you can clear it, it's yours. I'm praying that your mind would get peaceful right about now. Just the peace of God fill your heart and your mind. Heads bowed, eyes closed. Father, thank you for the word you gave us today. Don't forget where you come from. Thank you for reminding us to be grateful. Thank you for encouraging us to be strong. Lord, if there's anything I've learned in my walk with you, it's that we can't drive it out without your help, and we try so hard.

We try everything but you, but right now, in the name of Jesus, I join my faith with each and every man, woman, boy, and girl who is living in a place today, and let's confess it together. We all have something, but God, you are greater than whatever it is. So Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that there would be a remembrance in your presence today, not only of what you've done, but of who you are. God, I thank you for every way that you have made for us. I thank you for all the times that you have shown yourself strong, and now, God, I declare over your people. They are very powerful. In your name, they are very strong. God, I thank you for how you've blessed them and how you will continue to bless them.