How To Lose Your Bad Memories From Painful Seasons

We do remind you, those that are watching around the country, around the world, and also here, don't forget to join us seven minutes a day, seven days a week, for chapter by chapter. We're in the middle of Joshua. Today was one of the fun ones. It was Joshua 13. How many know that when God calls you old, that you're old? Anybody know that? It's the way the chapter starts off like this. The chapter starts off and says, Joshua was old and advanced in years. So God said, Joshua, you're old and advanced in years. God always tells the truth. And please join us. We're going through the book of Joshua, and then in ten days, hard to believe, we'll be in the book of Judges. So thankful for all you joining. Now let me talk to you about the message today. Let me tell you how I received this word. It wasn't until late last night. I had thoughts written down all this week, and nothing I felt God wanted me to share until I got to Saturday night. But let me tell you, when I entered Saturday morning, I just knew that I'm going, God, I don't know what you're wanting to say. And I even told the Lord, I said, I'll say nothing. I said, I'll come up and just say, I don't have anything. I said, I'll do whatever you've asked me to do. And what took the weight off was a text I received from my friend right here. Floyd and Joan Johnson, who lead our seniors ministry, on every Wednesday at 10 o'clock, I'd encourage you, 10 o'clock to get there, and then they come to the noon prayer meeting. It was this simple text that literally took the weight off me. It just simply said this, Good morning, Pastor Tim. This is before I even started in prayer on Saturday morning. He just said, Good morning, Pastor Tim, and then he wrote four words. It will be fine. God bless you, Brother Floyd. That's it. And that was in capital letters. It will be fine. And I'm telling you, it's exactly what I needed to hear. I went to prayer, and I just said, God, I'm just going to trust you. It will be fine. I walked to the church, prayed over all the seats and the stage, and felt it will be fine. Walked the streets, prayed for a revival in New York City. It will be fine. Finally, I fell on my carpet in my apartment in New York here, and just prayed. But the whole time I thought, God, it will be fine. I have a word from the Lord that it will be fine.

And it wasn't until about 7.30 last night, it became fine when God began to speak to me. And I have something I really want to share with you. Now, just before I pray, probably in a few hours, we have someone that we love dearly in this church. Many of you may not know, but you can't know everybody here. We have just a precious young couple. The young lady has been battling cancer, and she's probably barring a miracle a few hours from passing into eternity. Just a few hours. And some of our staff went down to visit her today. And I believe in a God of miracles, and I believe in heaven. That our final reward. So, folks, whether God heals or God brings her home, we still win in Jesus' name. So, I want to just pray. I want to pray for that family, and I want to pray for the Word today. Father, thank you. It will be fine. For Liz, even right now. That, Father, whether you heal her body or call her home, it will be fine. Father, I thank you that healing happens today because we believe in God, we believe in miracles. And also, Lord God, you call people home. So, Father, I'm going to ask for a miracle. But if you call her home, I thank you like the Apostle Paul says. Father, we win either way, and I'm grateful for that. Now, in these next few moments, may the Holy Spirit begin just to speak very clearly. I know what you put on my heart, God. And truly, I felt all day long there was a peace, that it would be fine. And, God, I believe that, Lord, you've given me a word this afternoon. Bless it in Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen? Well, you're the one o'clock service, so before you sit down, you're going to have to greet about three people. So I can dismiss the choir in a scream. Come down.

Greet someone next to you. God bless you. Thank you, choir. I know there's people here that won't believe this, but I'm going to say it anyway. And I think I achieved it in the first service. But I just have a few thoughts for you. And here's the part you may not believe. I'm not going to be long today. Now, I know you're not going to believe that. But if you ask any of the elders, I kind of kept my word today. I think I'll be able to do it again. I'm going to do what Pastor Carter, our general overseer, said to me a dozen times when the chairs used to be up here of the pastors. And I was a visiting minister coming for many years. Over the 15 years that I preached, he probably said to me a dozen times. When he saw me, he would look over sometimes and see me struggling or praying during choir singing. And he would lean over to me and he would just say this, Just preach the thought. Preach the thought. Preach whatever God's put on your heart. And what that meant was, put your notes aside. God must have given you something that we need to hear right now. I do have notes, but I know that God's given me something that I want to speak to you. Those that are here, and those watching around the country and around the world. I want to talk to you today, and I want to walk you through something that God began to use in my own life. I want to talk to you about how to lose bad memories from painful seasons. How to lose bad memories from painful seasons. How many have gone through painful seasons? How many would like to forget those painful seasons? I want to talk to you about that, because I think God gives us an answer. I want to take you to John 14-16, especially chapter 16. It's called the Upper Room Discourse.

It's Jesus' final words to his disciples before he will go to the cross. And I want to read you the ending, the finale of these words that Jesus speaks before he'll find himself all alone in Gethsemane, struggling with God, his own father, of whether this cup could pass from him. But Jesus ends his whole discourse with speaking, really, about this amazing story of a woman that's in labor. A woman that is about to deliver a baby. And this is what he says, starting in John 16, verse 20. I can guarantee this truth, Jesus said. You will cry because you are sad, but the world will be happy. You will feel pain, but your pain will turn to happiness or joy. A woman has pain when her time to give birth comes, but after the child is born, she doesn't remember the pain anymore, because she's happy that a child has been brought into this world. Now, you're in a painful situation, but I will see you again. Then you will be happy, and no one will take that happiness or that joy from you. When that day comes, you won't ask me any more questions, and I can guarantee this truth. If you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. Hallelujah. It was these words that jumped off the page to me, and it's this. She doesn't remember the pain anymore. She doesn't remember the pain anymore. Those were the words. I kept thinking about the story of Crystal that you heard up here, that we dedicated to the Lord, when Camille said, my husband and I were devastated, and doctors told me that my tubes were blocked, that I may never conceive naturally, and even told that becoming a mother might never be possible. Then when she wrote these words, that there was a doctor that would begin to,

one doctor that would go forward without the surgery, and after three days of labor of a full-term pregnancy, she said, I delivered, and when she talked about that little precious Crystal, she said, hearing her first cry was the answer to years of prayer. I know that God has the final word, and my daughter is a daily reminder that nothing is impossible with God. Folks, I have to believe that the anxiety, the pain, that you think of, that Camille and her husband have gone through, and thinking, will we have a family? Will I ever conceive? Will there ever be a baby? I have to believe that the moment that she heard that cry, all that pain left, that everything left, that the birth of the child, that she was playing out, that it was the fulfillment of John chapter 16 that took place. I kept thinking about this, that birth, birth is how you lose the bad memories from painful situations. Birth, that when life comes, when life is birthed, then those painful memories are gone. Painful seasons have painful memories. They have trigger switches that bring you backwards. I've watched it, I've watched it, that a phrase, something has been said, I've watched with people that it changes their conversation, their face, their tone, and their thoughts begin to spiral out of control. Why do people remember the pain, their pain? Why do people talk about it so often when there is a way to express what they've gone through? Why do you see it on their faces and hear it in their voices? I want to just say this to you today, because this is what God began to speak to me last night. Why are people stuck speaking about their pain?

It's for this reason, because nothing has been birthed from their pain just yet. Nothing has been birthed or come, life has come from it. Here's what I've learned from Jesus in John chapter 16 in my own life. All the affliction that we go through carries this amazing possibility of birthing something greater than a painful memory. season. That it's not just going through something, but God wanting to do something. God wanting, get this, to give something. Not just pain, but something. Life. God is looking to bring life into the situation that you thought was death. Listen to the words again in verse 21. But after the child is born, after life comes, she doesn't remember the pain anymore. Because she's happy that a child, that life has come into the world. It seems that the day that the child comes, we can actually say that almost this amnesia comes. Not to remember the labor, not to remember the pain, not to remember what all that's been gone through. When the pain gives way to birth, you don't remember the past. We go through painful seasons to give birth to something, to bring life out of those seasons, so that we can bless and be a blessing to others. We hear the words, what's the reason for the season? And we think of Christmas. But this is so important for the seasons of pain that we go through, the hard seasons that we go through. What happens when nothing happens to someone who has gone through hell? What happens when nothing is birth? Then what you have is, you have somebody that can just tell the story, tell their situation. But there's no life there. You see it, you hear it. Once again, people will remember their past because they've never given birth to anything from their pain. And their pain, don't miss this, their pain is a conversation and it's not a testimony. They will tell you the story, but they will never be able to tell you what God has done. They will tell you what people have done, but not what God has done through that situation. And there's a difference. When I've talked with people that have not birthed anything, that life hasn't come, they tell their story, but they have no testimony. It is nothing but pain that comes from them. Their pain didn't produce what it was meant to. So they only take out this bitter, angry talk, looking for new people, new relationships, even new churches to relay their information to. They want to talk about the betrayal that happened, the adultery from a spouse, an addiction that has come into their life, a disease, health challenges,

a prodigal in their home, even their singleness and horrible marriage. They will talk about it over and over again, but you never hear life. You never hear what God has birthed from that situation. He, God never sends you through something without bringing life from that situation. He will never send you through pain unless life is coming out of that. And that's why today, that pain season should remind you that there is something, some ministry, some message, some witnessing opportunity that will come out of this thing, that will come out of this season. I kept thinking, there's a book I've read when I was writing this. I looked across my room and I saw it on a shelf. It's a book that I read some years ago that I, that made me ask the question, would you be willing to take this journey or to go through that season of pain? Listen carefully. If you knew what you would go through, but you also knew the blessing on the other side, would you, would you say yes because you saw the blessing, but you knew what you were going to go through? I asked myself this question as I was reading the story of America's first missionary to ever be sent overseas in the 19th century. His name was Adoniram Judson. The name of the book was called To the Golden Shore. And to read what this man went through to get on the mission field, I kept asking the question, would the pain be worth it if you knew the outcome would be historic? Would you go through it if you knew what was on the other side of this? See, Adoniram Judson was America's first ordained foreign missionary. He would serve for 40 years in Burma, which is modern day Myanmar, which is still a place where there's great Christian persecution. Myanmar occasionally will join us online, um, and, and join us with the services. It took Adoniram Judson six years to win one person to the Lord, six years. And he's brought his wife and all of his children over there. And here's, here's the part of pain. This is the season. Adoniram Judson was married three times. In today's world, you're just going like, wow, he just couldn't work it out. No, he had two wives die on the mission field. The third one, he, he was, was brought into the mission field also. Two of them died while they were laboring on the mission field. His third wife was the only one that outlived him. Between those three wives, they had 13 children, 13 children. Listen to this. Seven of them died on the mission field. Seven. I think to myself, two wives. You buried two wives. You buried seven children. Seventeen months you were tortured and starved in a brutal Burma prison.

Would you still go through it if you knew the pain and you knew what the outcome would be? Would you still have done it? What was on the other side of this what this man was doing? What was the other side of this pain? What would be birthed from from doing all those things? Think about it. Forty years you did nine funerals, seven children and two wives. I couldn't think of anything that would be more that would be more deep inside of us. Nine, two wives and seven children. And this man would start what we know today in America the modern missionary movement that would happen from the United States that would send tens of thousands of missionaries from all different denominations all over the world to touch the world with the gospel. This man would begin to start the work of Bible translation of putting it in a language that he was the one that would come up with a dictionary and bring the gospel to to Myanmar, to Burma. And this man from what he did and stayed there for 40 years started a revival where millions in neighboring countries all came to Christ. If you ask yourself this question, what was birthed? That's what was birthed. What was birthed? Missionary movement in America was birthed. What was birthed? That the Bible translation ministries all over the world now. What was birthed? Millions coming to Christ. But what did it cost him? The cost was great. Think about this for a moment. If Adoniram Judson doesn't birth life out of this, then you have a man that comes back to America bitter with God, bitter with people, that literally begins to die as an angry man. I asked Pastor Carter this. I said, Pastor Carter, let me ask you a question. I know some of the pain that you went through. I know the pain that you have faced when you served here for some 30, 30 plus years. I know the pain to a certain degree that David Wilkerson went through. I said, but let me ask you, if you knew the blessings that were on the other side, but you also knew the pain, I said, would you have left Riceville to come to New York City? Would you have left Canada to come here? If you knew what your family, your children, what all of this was gonna happen, all that you'd face, your body, your, you, you, there was moments from black mold that, that Pastor Carter could have died, and then going through everything with his heart

situation. All those things, I said, would you, would you have still done it? He says, Tim, I know the value of obedience. I can tell you today on the other side, I would have said yes. I still would have said yes. And I, and I, I'm, I'm so moved by that. Because what he, what we were, what he was defining, or in the sense redefining, was the difference between pain and labor pain. There's a difference between those two things. Between pain and labor pain. Let me tell you what it is. The difference between pain and labor pain is this. If it's just pain, then on the other side is a scar to help you remember the story internally, physically. It's a scar for you to tell the pain that you've been through. But if it's labor pain, then on the other side is life. There's a child, there's something that has been birthed, that is breathing alive, and is not dead. Folks, can I tell you this? I, I don't want simply scars. I want life on the other side of a painful season. I want there to be life for me. That's the difference between pain and labor pain. There are people that are sitting here today that, that haven't forgotten their memories. They can go back, they can tell you everything that's been done to them, and all, go through all those things. But all to the, all it is to them is a scar. It's a pain. It's not labor pain. Labor pain brings life to the pain. It helps you forget what's gone on. So instead of saying, I almost died, and and, and, and I, and I can't believe, then labor pain says, listen, I almost died, but God intervened. God did something inside of my life. How about this one? I was, I was broke. I didn't have anything. But God showed up and made provision that never should have been there. I couldn't believe it. God brought me out of this whole situation. Or you can, you're dealing with betrayal. Yeah, you can't trust anybody betrayal. But God taught me that though man doesn't tell the truth, God always tells the truth, and you can rely upon him. And you can forgive. See, one is scars, and one is life. One is scars, and one is a child is being birthed. One is scars that can continue to tell you of the memories that haunt you. But the one that has birth, that life comes from it. Something starts to take place that you're safe. I'm not a bitter man, but I am a man that says God can turn painful situations into victorious living life-breathing

situations for us today Joseph Was a man who's who saw birthing and literally a birthing Joseph's 13 year season That he went through the betrayal of the closest people in his life His own brothers turned on him sold him into slavery Then when he brought into slavery, he is accused of raping the boss's wife. None of its true there is betrayal false accusation that he's thrown into prison and Promises would be broken in this man's life But this man had two sons that were born in Egypt born in the painful moment Born after 13 years It is literally this incredible picture of what God does two sons and what he names them is Significant listen to the story. This is Genesis 41 verse 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh for he said God Made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household He named the second Ephraim for he said I love this God has made me fruitful in the land of affliction hallelujah He said life came out of 13 years of difficulty What came out of it forgetfulness of what happened and fruitfulness of what God produced? Forgetfulness I have people that can tell me every detail of what people have done to them and there's no life that's there It's only a scar. It's only pain from a home from a church from a ministry and no fruitfulness Folks think of this for a moment that whatever God puts you through fruit comes out of it Forgetfulness, it's the question. I ask where's Manasseh and Ephraim in your painful life Where's the Manasseh and the Ephraim that God says I will begin to give you Fruitfulness in out of that difficult season, and I'll help you forget. What was done to you out of that season That's what he did for Joseph. That's what he does for us folks no matter what you've gone through father God the Father begins to help us don't listen Don't define the season by the pain but by the birth and the life that comes out of it

We can keep going back and say they did this this happened to me and this is but what came out of the season What did God bring out of it? What did God do inside of us? I have to tell you I Have personally as Cindy and I have talked and have walked through 43 years of ministry I've personally been through four seasons of Labor pains and I know a fifth one is coming and I'll talk to you about in a second and in each of the four seasons There were scars, but God birthed something Life came out of that what seemed to be what seemed to be harmful and hurtful God says I'm gonna give you a Manasseh and I'm gonna give you an Ephraim I'm gonna help you to forget and I'm gonna help you to be fruitful How many can use some forgetting and some fruitfulness anybody with me here listen to this? This is the verse I've held on to I love the way it says it out of the passion translation This is what David says you've allowed our enemies to prevail against us We've passed through the fire in their flood yet in the end. You always bring us out better than we were before Saturated with your goodness hallelujah. We came out God brought me out better God brought you out better. That's what the miracle is Hi, I won't bring up names or Places because it doesn't mean anything because then then it's still a scar then it's a pain not a labor pain But let me just tell you the four seasons very briefly our pain season number one God birth God birthed the power of prayer in it God taught it taught us that when we didn't know what to do Our first season together working in ministry when we didn't have anything when it seemed like there was no resources. There's nothing They're gonna turn off this they're gonna turn off a leg electricity or turn off the heat It always seems we even had the same thing happened here. I don't know what it is about about he About energy companies, but they always seem to say there was a meter that we didn't know existed And anybody ever gone through that before we have a meter that we haven't read in ten years And so now you owe a seven million dollars something like that It's always goes like that and and it happens every time you go God I don't know what to do and what I found in that first season is that God answers prayer God shows up when you get on your knees that the shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. Fall to your knees and say, God, I need you to show up in this situation.

I, that, that, that holds, that, that thing, knees to the floor, that, I didn't make that, that's not me, that was Charles Stanley. Um, I forgot to mention his name. But it was, it was the power of prayer that I've learned. Season number two, pain season number two, God birthed forgiveness and keeping my soul clean. God, God taught me, God taught me how to forgive and, and the people that maybe cause pain is to pray God's blessing upon them every single night. That those that maybe persecuted you, those that maybe cursed you, those that maybe hurt you, to pray God's blessing, bless those who persecute you. Folks, I'm telling you, it started to cleanse my own soul. It kept bitterness and resentment far from me. And even to this day, here I am over approaching almost two decades and still praying for people that I'm just going, God, bless them, bless them, bless them. Folks, here's, it's, here's what I will always tell you. It's hard to gossip about people that you pray for. Let me say that one more time. It's hard to gossip about people you pray for. So when you're praying for them, you won't talk about them. And if you're talking about them, you haven't been praying for them. And I'm telling you, painful season number two, God birthed forgiveness in my soul. God told me to say, keep your, keep your soul clean. Don't walk in unforgiveness and don't walk in bitterness and resentment. And then my, found ourselves in painful season number three, God birthed dependency on him. And while all human resources were removed, it's so easy to find yourself relying on other people, financially, emotionally, to find people to say, I need you. And isn't it incredible that God removes those people from your life? That now the only thing you've got left is God himself. And I'm telling you, that's what happened to me. I realized that I can't find my significance in a title. I can't find my significance in somebody that I respect telling me how good I am. I can only find it in one person. That's God and God alone. And God had to bring me to that place. He had to remove all the crutches. He had to remove all the things that I would rely upon and people I would rely upon. If you think marriage will fix you, you've missed it. You don't need a man or a woman to fix your life. You've got to start falling in love with Jesus. First of all, that's where it starts. Because the worst thing you can do is to put God expectations on a person, God expectations on a person. And here's the thing, not their fault. They're going to let you down. But God will never let you down. It's beginning to realize my dependency is upon him. I learned in season number one, prayer works. Cry out to God in prayer. I learned in season

number two that keep my heart clean. Forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness keeps us pure. I've learned in season number three, God birthed dependency on him. And in season number three, and then finally in season number four, I'll tell you why I call it this. God birthed friendships. I called them Silas friendships. Because it was Silas that came in towards the end of Paul's life and was there with him all the way to the end. God will bring people into your life and say, they'll be with you to the end. They'll cross the finish line with you. Folks, you'll go through seasons in your life that God will remove people, get people out of the way. You'll move and you're going like, folks, there'll be people that are going like, I pledge you, we're undying friends. Let me just tell you something. Whenever anybody says undying to the end, they're going to die. So let me just tell you, don't believe any of that. Let me just say this. Just let that stuff go. Let God bring in the right people into your life. Let God do that for you. Let God begin. And he does. He does. He'll bring people that will go. When Paul had a problem with Barnabas and the Bible says there was a sharp disagreement. I don't know why. It was right after the first missionary journey. I didn't say this in the first service. I'll tell you in the second service. Whatever it was that the disagreement, well, we know it was over John Mark. That they had a disagreement over because John Mark left them in the ministry. But they couldn't resolve it. So Paul goes, that's okay. You take him. I'm getting somebody else. He takes Silas with him. And God gives him Silas to go into Europe. And Silas is with them all the way to the end. I don't know why Barnabas couldn't go all the way. I don't know why. I don't know because the next missionary journey, you're going to be locked up in jail and you're going to have to sing at midnight. Maybe Barnabas can't sing. But whatever it is, he's going to find someone who can sing in jail and go all the way to the end. And I realized each season gave me something for the next. And all those things built on, I needed to know the power of prayer. I needed to know the power of forgiveness. I needed to know dependency on God. I needed to know that there are friendships that will go to jail with you, that will be there to the end. Folks, as I was praying and thanking God for these seasons, I really felt strongly that the Holy Spirit says there will be another season coming. But you won't face it alone. You'll face it corporately. You'll face it as a church. Folks, I'm just telling you. I want you to listen to me. Difficult times are coming in this nation and in this city. We will need people

that have forgotten their pain and are walking in a fruitfulness. This city and this nation, at some point, is going to become anti-Christian. And we will become an enemy. That if you stand on this word, if you stand on this Bible, I'm telling you, that's why God's going to have to raise up an army and bring an awakening to our cities today. And that's why God just spoke to me and just said, you're going to have to make sure we go into this next season with Manasseh and Ephraim. You can't go in talking about your scar stories. Folks, at some point, you've got to let it go and just say, God birthed something. Bring life out of this situation. Do something inside of me. Folks, for just a moment, would you go backwards with me? I want to ask you. I kind of feel like this is a spiritual... I want to give you a spiritual ultrasound to see if something is there. Ask yourself this question. Why did I go through this season? That question is a spiritual ultrasound. It's finding the life that's out of there. Why did I go through this? Why would you bring me through this? I want to tell you about a song and a story that some of you don't realize because we hear this story. I'm going to ask Ricardo and the team to make their way back up. Whoa. That means they're happy to come back up. I just want you to know that right now. Whatever that was. But I also want to tell you that I'm finishing up and you didn't think I can do it. So I just want to just say that to you right now. So God is birthing something great out of your lack of faith inside of me. Some of you are going like no, Delina, we know your closings. We know those closings. Ricardo will speak of a story here that happens. I've heard him share it about two or three times. In fact, he preached a message on it. The first time he preached on a Tuesday night. Ricardo and Jeanette speak about a tragic story that happened with a diving accident with their son

Josiah that happened back in 2009. When Josiah dove into the shallow part of a friend's pool while Ricardo was on the road. I don't remember. I think it was Florida. You were in Florida? Florida. And when he heard the story that his son broke his neck. And you don't know if it means you're going to be paralyzed the rest of your life or he'll lose his life. And from my recollection of the story they had to helicopter him for surgery. Emergency surgery. Not knowing what the outcome would be. Not knowing that. But here's the part that you have to understand. Every painful season, God is wanting to bring life from it. God wants to bring life out of it. So instead of it being, why did this happen to my son? Why is this going on? Why would you do this to me? To hear the story that Ricardo would talk about. That one of the things that God would birth. And something that would come out of this whole season. Was Ricardo would write a song that would touch millions of lives. And it was called the song It's Not Over. God gave it to him in the middle of the season. The song was born out of this traumatic experience of Josiah. Josiah's horrible tragedy. But going to begin to tell Josiah will eventually begin to tell of the miraculous recovery of what God has done. But understand something. When he wrote the words. When Ricardo wrote the words. Let me read them to you. It's not over. It's not finished. It's not ending. It's only the beginning. When God is in it, all things are new. And then he wrote. He says, I know it's dark. Just before the dawn. This might be the hardest season

you've experienced. I know it's true. But it won't be too long. You're closer than you think you are. You're closer than you've been before. So look to the sky. Help is on the way. It's not over. It's not finished. It's not ending. It's only the beginning. When God is in it, all things are new. And then he says, something is moving. Turning around. Seasons are changing. Everything is different now. comes the sun piercing the clouds you're closer than you think you are you're closer than you've been before so look to the sky help is on the way our god is faithful and he's faithful to say it's not over hallelujah what's on the other side of this not just even a song but the touch of god upon a young man's life that josiah who's here somewhere in this place you don't have to raise your hand but i think he's sitting with all the everybody up there all the two one two but you have a young man sitting here that is on the other side of this the hand of god being upon that young man's life that song became such an instrument that god used close to us gary and kelly wilkerson david wilkerson's son and daughter-in-law when their children were far from the lord and all of them are now in the ministry full-time ministry but when they were backslid it was this song it's not over gary's told the story he said ricardo was this song that we kept listening to over and over again but that song had to be that song was born out of pain that song was born out of doubt at some point folks at some point you gotta let it go at some point you gotta say i i don't want pain i want labor pains i want something to be birthed out of this situation every painful season has a miracle on the other side and even for others the pain of death and violence birthed the nicky cruise that would lead millions to christ the pain of the concentration camps produced a cory temboon the pain of being a paraplegic stuck in a wheelchair for decades produced a johnny erickson who's preached from this pope at the pain of prison produces an apostle paul and the epistles and the gospels the stories are too many to count i wrote down even a young surfer who gets her arm chopped off by a shark still tells about the testimonies of god and so you realize the stories are everywhere it's just a matter of who allows life to come out of the pain that's what it's all about folks let's just be honest we all got our stories

some of you're going like you don't understand my family's dysfunction let me help you we're all dysfunctional all of us are to think that only you have it every single one of us have faced it but not every one of us have allowed the pain to become a labor pain not every one of us have allowed the scar the the narrative to become a testimony it's just a narrative for some of you some of you are watching online you won't step foot into a church because you're going i've been betrayed i was part of this and this is what happened to me folks i get it i get it i get it can i can i tell you what i've even asked the lord in my as i was praying about this last night i said god i i have to say this would you hear the prayer cry of a broken man i said maybe in 42 years of ministry i probably caused pain in somebody's life i said god maybe my actions my words i've caused pain and i've asked the lord i said would you take a would you take a broken man's prayer and don't let them just live with a scar would you help me get would you help me find a testimony would you put life inside of them folks i'm not i'm not ignorant you you you you move into a leadership role and you can say things you and do things and you're going man god don't let me cause scars don't let me cause it for my children don't let me cause it for my wife it's god wanting to come and do something so powerful in us i'll tell you a conversation i had with a friend many of you know the story stand with me and i'm going to tell you the story of my friend kevin ramsby kevin served with me in detroit for some number of years while we were there serving and those that know the story while we were out of town somebody broke into pastor kevin he was my associate pastor someone broke into his home and stabbed him 37 times but he lived the miracle is 37 times and not one of those hit a vital organ of his body he's a miracle a miracle kevin on his body has six feet of scars from where the the The assailant tried to get him in the neck and his face. He's got scars on his hand as he tried to block the blade. Scars on his stomach, scars on his back. Six feet. Kevin is alive today. Kevin is a miracle today.

And in fact, when they finally caught his assailant and they brought him to court, they asked Kevin, they said, we'd like you to come and give a victim statement as we sentence him to life imprisonment. And Kevin said, no, I won't do that. I'll give a victor statement, but not a victim statement. He stood on a microphone and I saw it. He stood on a microphone and pronounced, he said, I forgive you. I love you. I hold no animosity. And that man took care of his assailant's family's children for Christmas. He'd pour into them six feet of scars. This man caused the emotional, all those things. But God was birthing. We know what God birthed out of Kevin. God birthed a ministry that I'm telling you is remarkable. Kevin now gets to work with men like his assailant that are not just, that are not just have life imprisonment, that are on death row and literally have weeks and months to live. Kevin gets to talk to them, share the gospel, and lead them to Christ. And God is using this man. God is using this man with six feet of scars on his body. He's chosen not to have resentment. He's chosen to pray for Wesley, the man that assailed him. He has chosen to depend upon God. He has chosen to do that. He talked to me. He said, this thing was a, I don't think it's, I think it's, I can still share it. And he just said to me, he says, I need you to pray for me. He said, I have, I have, I'm a little discouraged. I said, Kevin, this is just a few weeks ago. He said, and I said, what is it?

He goes, well, there's a prayer. I keep praying and God's not answering. God's not answering it. I said, what is it? He said, a number of these men are just saying to me that get saved. I don't want to die. I want to now tell my family about Christ. I want to live a new life in Christ. And folks, I'm not here to talk about your view or, or establish a position on capital punishment or, or any of those things. And so many of the men will just go, would you pray that I get a pardon? Would you pray that the governor would pardon me? Would you pray that I would stay alive? Would you pray that? And Kevin said, every prayer I've prayed, none of it has been answered. Every one of those men were, were then recipients of capital punishment. I looked at Kevin and I said this, I said, Kevin, you missed it. Your job is not to get them to live. Your job is to get them to live forever. I said, that's what your job is. I said, I said, you take too much upon yourself. Your job is to get them to heaven. I said, that's what your job is. I said, so don't, don't feel like your prayers are not getting answered. That's your job. You've got to, you've got to understand that. So folks, I'm telling you. So while some of you are trying to get out of something, God's going, what are you going to take out of this situation? What life is going to come to you?

Don't, don't, don't get out without getting what God wants you to. Don't waste that pain. There's life that's there. Those hard seasons have meaning. They become harder when nothing comes out of it. And that's why this is so important. That's why I tell you this. Listen to these words. Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Many of, many of you have been weeping for too long. It's time for life to come out of that. It's time for life to come out of it. It's time for life to be birthed out of it. I've talked with the people. I've talked with them. I've talked with people that if you say the word church or pastor, if you say the word that is going like, that's why I don't go to church because I don't, and you hear it just goes down this spiral. Those pastors, all they want is money. Don't even raise your hand. And I know me or others, we've caused pain. I know the church could have done that. But that's, do you actually think that that's what's supposed to, what's supposed to birth out of this is for you to go like, that's why what's come out of this is I never go to church. That's not what God's, that's not what's supposed to come out of this. It's a dependency on God. It's a dependency of trust. Well, that's why I don't tithe. That's why I don't, it's amazing to me.

People who are angry with the church don't tithe and they go and all they do is search the Bible to find out why you're not supposed to tithe, why it's an old Testament thing. I'm going, that's not what he brought. That's not why he brought. you out of this. You didn't do that. Folks, that's why I'm telling you today, God wants to bring life, life out of that situation. Because I've been there, I've been there where you just kind of want to shake your fist. I can't believe this. Enough. Can I just tell you this? Can we believe for the scars to turn into life, please? Can we just say God take, bring life out of this, bring a Manasseh and an Ephraim, forgetfulness and fruitfulness. He tells us when the child is born, they don't remember the pain anymore. I'm telling you, when God started to birth things in Cindy and I's heart, when we've gone through those four seasons, I'm telling you, we don't remember that pain anymore. We don't remember that pain. We remember what's been birthed. We remember what God has done. Can we believe for life today to come into this place? So here's what I'm going to ask you. I'm going to ask Ricardo to sing that song. It's not over. It's a song that would come out of pain. The song that would speak about the miracle that God has done in his son's life, in his life. And for you, it's not over. Can I, I'm not even going to beg you. I'm not going to, balcony, main floor. You are online. We'll pray for you online with our teams. But if you're here today and just say, Pastor Tim, I didn't, I don't have a Manasseh and an Ephraim. I need life to come out of this. And some of you are already digging into it and going like, ah, I'm not moving. I'm not going to, it's fine. And it's amazing. It's like, they think we don't know who you are. It's easy. It's easy to pick you out. You need a Manasseh. I should have you look at the person next to you and go, you need a Manasseh. You get a Manasseh. You get a Manasseh. You get a Manasseh. You get an Ephraim. You get an Ephraim. I'm just telling you, I want Manasseh and Ephraim in everything I go through. I want to come out with Manasseh and Ephraim. I'm telling you, I want something birthed. Forgetfulness and fruitfulness. Forgetfulness and fruitfulness. So as we sing this song, if you're here today, balcony, main floor, just get out of your seat and say, I need, I need a life to come

out of this. Just get out. You come. Sing this. Come on, Ricardo. Balcony will wait for you. We're going to sing this. You come, you come. I'm going to pray for you. I know it's dark just before dawn. This might be the hardest season you've experienced. I know it hurts. It won't be too long. You're closer than you think you are. You're closer than you've been before. Just look to the sky. Help is on the way. It's not over. It's not finished. It's not empty. It's only the beginning when God is in it. All things are new. Ooh, ooh. All things are new. Ooh, ooh. All things are new. Ooh, ooh. All things are new. Ooh, ooh. Something is moving, turning around. Seasons are changing. Everything is different now. Here comes the sun. Facing the clouds. Oh, you're closer than you think you are. You're closer than you've been before. Look to the sky. Help is on the way. Our God is faithful. Faithful to say it's not over. It's not finished. It's not empty. Only the beginning. It's only the beginning. ♪ No, no, it's not over, nothing ever ends ♪ ♪ Nothing, not ending, no, it's not ending ♪ ♪ It's wrong when God is in it, when God is in it ♪ God is in this thing, oh! ♪ God is in it, oh, you're near, oh, God, man ♪ ♪ God is in it, when all things are new, new, new ♪ ♪ Oh, the old has passed away, all things are new, new, new ♪ ♪ When God is in it, say, when God is in it ♪ ♪ There is no limits, when God is in it ♪ ♪ It's not over, it's when God is in it, when God is in it ♪ ♪ There is no limits, when God is in it, it's not over ♪ Sing it, come on, sing it. ♪ It's not over, it's not free, it's not ending ♪ ♪ It's not ending, it's only the beginning, when God is in it ♪ ♪ Things are new, ooh, ooh, all things are new, new, new, new ♪ ♪ Ooh, all things are new, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah. That song comes out of,

that song comes out of a season of pain. That's from a labor pain, something comes out. But today what we're doing is we're going, God, I'm tired of telling the scar stories. I'm ready for life to come out of this thing. I want life to come out of this. So you know what we're gonna pray for? We're gonna pray for Manasseh and Ephraim. We're gonna say, God, anybody here that going like, I'd like to forget all that stuff, and I'd like fruit to come out of this situation. And that's what we're gonna pray for. I want us to ask, in just a moment, I'm gonna ask God to begin to do this. I have to say this, I was just looking over and I was seeing my daughter, Grace. Grace is an amazing athlete. She is so determined, but I'll never forget when God was just developing that incredible gift and then she would blow out her knee and have to go through major surgery right here in New York City and miss almost half a season, and especially the recruiting part of it. And then I remember her first day back, a tournament in Philadelphia. She's just back on the floor, playing one of the number one teams from Texas, and then just all of a sudden, her mouth runs into a knee of one of her players and just, and out again.

And I remember raising my fist. I just remember just going, God, please, please, please, don't let this little girl get, feel betrayed by God. Don't let her, let her come out of this better than she went into this. Let her come out with better looking teeth and a better knee, but with a soul that's alive for God in the middle of all this. And I just kept telling God that. And every time I see her in church, every time I see her worshiping, I'm going, God, thank you. Thank you that Manasseh and Ephraim are there. Thank you, God, that you would take that precious young lady and God, pour your spirit upon her, a determination. She has a strength upon her. She has a determination upon her that she came out with the right thing. She didn't come out with a scar. She came out with a testimony. She came out with a testimony. And there's, but we've been there. Anybody ever been there that you've, anybody else shaken their fist at God? Anybody? I just wanna make sure I wasn't the only one. Anybody else? Okay, come on, be honest. How many have ever done that? Okay, just wanna make sure.

You're not that holy, so just wanna make sure we did. But I remember going, God, please. And there's some here. Can I just say this before we pray? There's some here that, it's a miracle you're here today, but you've been away from God. And you're feeling the drawing back to him. I'm not asking for anything more. This is the time that we're going like, okay, you need to be. born again. I just don't feel I'm, what I'm supposed to say is, I want to acknowledge, just for a moment, saying, I'm feeling a drawing back to God. I've been away from Him, but I'm feeling a drawing. So I'm going to ask, if you're here today and saying, I, I've lived in this pain long enough, but I want, but I know there's more that God wants to do inside, but I'm feeling, I'm feeling for the first time a call from God. For the first, anybody here, for the first, just going like, I'm feeling Him, go raise your hand. If that's you, just say, I feel like He's doing that. He's calling me back. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, yes, yes, yes. In the back there. Balcony. Let me just see. Wave that hand. Yes, yes. Gotcha. Yes, yes, yes, yes. That, that's all I want you to do, just to go, yes, got you over there. I want to pray that the scars are going to turn into life. That life is going to come. Would you just lift your hands to Him right now? Father, today at this altar, would you allow Manasseh and Ephraim to be born today? God, I'm just asking you. I know, God, that this is a moment that's so important for people's lives, that God, that what they've walked around with is showing people the scars and the pain, but today is going to be able to show this is what God has done. God has done this. Manasseh and Ephraim represent what God has done, what God has come through with. So, Father, today, I'm going to ask you in Jesus' name that, Father, with our hands lifted up, I know I've had scars on me, but God, I thank you that you've birthed something, that Cindy and I have seen Manasseh and Ephraim, and I'm praying the same for these precious people, that God, you would bring, Father, fruitfulness and affliction. Bring, Lord God, forgetfulness, Father, from pain,

and let them birth, like that mom in John 16 that says, I forgot the pain because I see something alive in front of me. Send life back into the house. Send life back into the conversations. God, there's been too much death talk. Oh, my goodness, God, that, Father, there's some people that all they do is connect on this pain. They just keep talking about pain, but God, I'm praying, give them conversations of life, life again. Oh, God, in Jesus' name. Look at me for a second. I feel strongly to say this. There are some people you have in your life that the only time you have depth of conversation is when you connect on talking about pain. That's all you do, is you remember this? Yeah, I remember this. Remember when they did it? I remember that. That's why I never talk to them anymore, and yet this pain that's there. You know what that's like? It's like, and I've seen this. I saw this in myself. It's like two old people talking about the prescriptions they're on. You ever talk to people like that? You take those pills. I take those pills. You got Metamucil. I got Metamucil, and so you start talking about all this drugs and stuff and all the things you're on. I do this, and you do that, and I do this, and all that. Hey, what kind of talk is that? I won't talk to people about my prescriptions. I'm going to talk to people about life. Anybody with me on that? So the next time, so when you tell somebody, hey, I went, I went, I was at church. Oh, church. You stopped them right there. Let me tell you what God has done. Let me tell you what life is. Don't talk about death. You talk about life. Amen? You talk about life. Listen, this is how we're going to close. I'm going to ask for Carter to sing this song and close this out. This is going to be your dismissal. When you're, as you're leaving, the amazing red shirt people are going to come up. They'll pray with you. Pray for Manassas and Ephraims to be birthed out of every situation, but here's what I'm going to ask you to do. I want you to look at the person next to you and say, get a Manassas, get an Ephraim. Tell them that right now. Say, get a Manassas, get an Ephraim. God's going to do it. Fruitfulness and forgetfulness.