I Know God Can, I Know God Will, But I Don't Know How | Jabin Chavez | City Light Church

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. Let me just explain. These are all faith things. It was by faith Abraham obeyed. That's faith. When God called him, that's faith because that's God speaking to us. To leave home, it's a step of faith. That's faith. To go to another land, that's faith. It's leaving the comfort zone and trusting God that God would give him as his inheritance. Now receiving, that's faith. These are all faith phrases. And what Abraham experienced, you can experience. You can have these things. Lastly, now I want you to see faith. This is faith in a phrase that to me is my favorite little verse on faith. He went without knowing where he was going. And here's what I want to preach on today. I know God can and I know God will, but I don't know how. That's what I'm going to preach about today. I know God can, I know God will, but I don't know how. Father, I thank you that you can. You can move mountains and we know that you're willing. We know that you will move in our life, but we do not know the details. So we are trusting you in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. Everybody said amen. Amen and amen. Faith. This is the life that God is calling us into, a life of faith. Paul, Paul tells us what the Christian life will be. And when he says this, I think because we hear this a lot, we don't, we don't kind of contextualize it to our life. So Paul is inviting us now into a, a new life that is different than our old life. And here's how he describes it. Now, as a believer, we walk by faith and not by sight. Meaning before you followed Jesus, you walked by sight. Y'all with me? That's how you used to live. And, and by the way, maybe you're a Christian in here and you're still living that way. But, but the invitation of heaven and the possibility for now every believer in Jesus is that you can leave the sight life and you can live a life by faith. This is, this is what God is inviting us into. Now I want, I want you to see the difference. The faith life is spirit. It's based on God's promise. Here's what I want you to catch here. It's the unknown. When God calls you to take a step of faith, you have no reference for it. You, you have, you have nothing to go back to, to look back on and, and, and see what this is going to look. This is, this is completely unknown. Every new step of faith will be a new action and a new North star. And it, and if you're, if you're looking at your life right now going, I've never been here before and I don't know how this is all going to look, that is an invitation into the life of faith. Now that is radically different than sight. That's the five senses. That's the natural. And here's what I really

want to say. It's experience. You can, you can look back and you can kind of get a North star from where you've been before and then make your next move. It's radically different in, in a life of sight. You can refer to your past in a life of faith. Your only North star is God himself. And you're looking at your life going, God, this is bigger than me, but it's not bigger than you. This is scary to me, not scary to you. I've never been here before, but you are the God who was and is, and is to come, which means you're already there. And so here we go into the life of faith. Come on, give me an amen right there. So we walk by faith and not by sight. It doesn't surprise me then that when God called his first man of faith, Abraham, that what Romans four calls the father of our faith, God said, Abraham, go and go without knowing, go on a word, go without clarity, go with just a word from God. See, this is the thing about real faith. Real faith will eventually cause you to move. It can't just be in your head. It can't just be in your heart. It can't just come out of your mouth. It eventually your faith must get in your feet. If, if your faith has never changed the way you move, you haven't experienced real Bible faith yet because it's going to change how you walk and how you talk and how you think and how you process and how you move. It begins to change everything about your faith has to get in your feet. Everybody kind of just stop right now. Come on, let me hear those feet right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Your faith has to get in your feet. It's got to change your direction and change your life. It's uncomfortable, but God's there. Let me say that one more time. The life of faith, it's uncomfortable, but God's there. And give me God in an uncomfortable situation. Over comfort without God. See, when I say comfort, I'm also talking about clarity. People want clarity. People want clarity. If I could just get some clarity, I would obey God. But faith always comes before clarity.

Clarity is actually the reward for faith. Clarity is, nothing about it makes sense at first, but then once you take that step of faith, then the clarity follows. Lord, if it's you, bid me come. And then you walk out on the water and then something begins to happen. Faith requires movement before manifestation, confidence in God before clarity, and believing before seeing. I don't see it yet. I don't see the manifestation yet. I don't have any clarity yet, but God is calling me out. And so I'm going without knowing. I'm leaving sight and I'm entering into faith. And though I'm terrified, I know God's in it. And if God's in it, I wanna be in it. Come on, is that your testimony today? Out of the comfort zone, out of the sight zone, into the adventure of following Jesus. Faith is an adventure. Faith is a spiritual thing. It's spirit. Faith is a flow. It's different, man. It's different than grinding. It's different than trying. There's a flow to faith. And tonight I wanna invite you into the flow of faith, into the life of faith, into the adventure of faith.

So let's talk about it quickly. Number one, faith knows. Amen. Here's the first thing about faith. Faith knows. Verse eight said, Hebrews 11, eight said, God called him, faith knows. God talked to me, I know it. I know it, God, I know it. All Abraham had was a word and all Abraham needed was a word. Faith begins, F.F. Bosworth said this, faith begins where the will of God is known. So I'll never have faith for something if I'm ignorant in that area in the scripture. My people perish, God said this in the Old Testament, my people perish because of a lack of knowledge. So if the devil can keep me ignorant, he can keep me bound and he can keep me in doubt. But if God can reveal it to me, if I can find it in the word, now faith can unlock and now I can experience freedom where I couldn't experience freedom before. It is written, Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. That means that our life is not simply sustained by the natural, but requires a deep connection to God's voice and will for our lives. Jesus was not sustained in the desert by food.

He didn't eat for 40 days. He was sustained by God's word. And what is going to sustain us in our life is God's word. We have to go beyond the natural. Here's what I wanna say. If you're feeling weak in faith, you need to check your diet. Let me talk about your diet real quick. I ain't talking about your physical diet. I'm talking about your natural diet. The children of Israel had four different diets during their season of following God. They had their diet in Egypt, leeks and onions and fish. And then they went in and they had manna and then they had quail. And then when they finally got on the promised land, they had sowing and reaping and they were able to eat of the land. They had four different diets for four different seasons. If you're feeling weak and initiated, it's because God is actually trying to get you into a new season that's gonna require a new diet. So I'll just be honest with you. I've been in the word a lot and I feel like I've been hitting a wall in the word. I've just been hitting a wall in the word and I'm preaching on faith. And so I'm going, but faith comes by hearing Lord. And so I'm trying to get some more faith. So I'm getting in more words.

I'm getting a lot of word in and I feel like I've been hitting a wall. And then I've been listening to the word and then I've been reading the word. and I've been listening to preaching on the word, and then I've been listening to faith sermons on the word, and then all the, and I still feel like, and then I felt like I got this little God thought, start writing the word down and engage a different part of your brain. And so every day, instead of reading the word, I've been reading it and then writing every verse down, which by the way, I haven't used the pen in 20 years. Come on, somebody. My God, besides writing a check here or there, I mean, I got on this iPad, it's over, dog. I mean, I don't, I'm like cramping up. Ah, I need healing in my hand, my God. I've been writing the word. All of a sudden, I'm seeing things that I don't feel like I've seen before. Why? Because I felt like God was just kind of calling me to something higher and deeper and newer. By faith, we understand. I want to talk about this, we're talking about faith. By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see, man, I want you to catch this. What we now, we didn't see it, now we see it.

Don't just let the baby talk to me. Come on, everybody talk to me. They're filling up all the quiet. I'm trying to pause for effect, baby, wait for me. What we now see, we couldn't see it, now we see it. See, when you first take a step of faith, you feel like a fool. All of a sudden, you now see it, now you look like a genius. Now you still know you, so you know you're not a genius. But you look like a genius because you now see it. Nobody could see it, you couldn't even see it. Everything starts in the, what we now see came from what could not be seen. Now see, and this is so powerful. Everything we can see began in the unseen. That's good. Thank you. Thank you. Now we don't value that because we were in America, so we don't value the unseen. But look what God says about the unseen. Colossians 116, for by him, all things were created. Things were created in heaven and on earth. Watch this, visible and invisible. I'm not trying to be deep for deep. Listen to me though. To God, the invisible is as or even more real than the visible. And God calls the invisible things.

Okay, so like this podium, this is a thing, right? This is a thing, it's a jacket, this is a thing. You drove here in a car, it's a thing. Faith is a thing. Hope is a thing. The invisible is a thing. It's real. So we look at that mountain before us and we go, oh my God, what a big thing. But we ignore our faith that can move mountains. That's a thing. Are y'all tracking with me? So we look at, we're moved by things, but things aren't just visible, they're also invisible. And everything actually begins in the invisible, which means it has more authority than the visible. I'm preaching about faith. But I'm telling you, we can't walk by sight, we have to walk by faith, which is invisible, which means I don't see it yet with these a-ha's. But I know it by the spirit and by the word. In 1971, they opened up Disney World in Orlando, Disney World. Disneyland had already been open. Walt Disney died in 1966, but in 71, Disney World opened. And on the grand opening day, Lillian Disney's best friend, this is the widow of Walt, leaned over to Lillian and said, and it's such a shame Walt never saw this. Lillian replied, he did see it.

That's why we're here. He died five years ago, but he saw it. Amen. I wanna talk to every parent to get a word of faith over your child. I want you to see something, I want you to believe something. I want you to get a spirit of faith on you today that generations to come will testify they saw it, they heard it from God, they got a word from God. And we're here today because of faith. You gotta see the business. You gotta see yourself healed. You gotta see, you must get a picture of you prospering. You have to get a picture of you healthy. You have to get a picture of you of what could be. Is this like manifestation? No! I'm not new age, never done yoga a day in my life. I'm talking about something deeper than that. I'm talking about respecting the fact of what God said, which it must begin in the invisible. Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. God calls the word of God, what's this? The incorruptible seed of the word of God. Incorruptible. You can't see seed. It goes underground and you can't see it, but it's working.

I don't see it yet, but it's working. Haven't felt it yet, but it's working. Haven't seen a change yet, but it's working. Here's a picture of Death Valley, which is an exit down from us. The driest, hottest place on the planet, right there, Death Valley. It's literally just a short drive away. Every once in a while, it'll rain. Very rarely, but a few years back, Death Valley got a crazy rainstorm and this happened. Same valley. No one found out that rain was coming and went out and threw seed on the ground. No farmers went out. It was all underground. You couldn't see it, but it was there. You couldn't see it, but it was alive. You couldn't see it, but it wasn't dead. And all it needed, come on somebody, was the rain to fall. I declare the rain's falling tonight. I declare something's being born tonight. I declare tonight that that incorruptible seed of the word of God will manifest in your life. Come on, let me get about 200 people to praise God with me. In Jesus' name, don't give up on it. Hallelujah. Faith knows, faith knows, faith, faith knows, faith knows.

Point two, faith doesn't know. That's pretty good, guys, that's pretty good. Worked hard on this one. Because faith knows. I know God can and I know God will. I don't know how. Abraham, by faith, Abraham went without knowing. Hey babe, pack up, Sarah, let's go, we're going. Where, babe? I don't know. We're moving. What direction? Don't know yet, God just said start moving. How long we gonna be gone? I don't know anything. I know what I know, which is move. I don't know anything else. That's a bad night, y'all, that's a bad night. That's how God works. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. And a light unto my back. It's not this massive spotlight. It's not this lighthouse over the ocean calling the ships in, it's this. It's the next step. And see, y'all think you don't want that. God, show me the next five years. God, show me the next 10 years. God, show me the next 30 years. You couldn't handle it.

You would freak the freak out if God, because you don't have enough faith for five years from now. You don't have enough faith for 10 years. You don't have enough faith for that. You're not ready for that. So God gives you just enough to move. God doesn't lie to us, but he definitely withholds details. Hey, Joseph, you wanna lead a nation? Yeah. You want your brothers to bow down before you as the leader? Yeah. You wanna be ruler? Yeah, let's go, let's go. God just didn't tell him about the pit. This is in your Bible. For you who are new to church, it's all in your Bible. He just didn't tell him about Potiphar's wife. He just didn't tell him about prison. He just didn't tell him about the next 13 years of training for reigning. Because Joseph didn't have the faith for it yet. So we had to give him just enough of a glimpse to move. Amen. God called us. God called my wife and I here. I don't know if you believe that or not, and I'm not asking for an amen, but God called us here.

God told us to come here. God confirmed it through mighty men and women of God. God called us here. We. moved here, God told us to plant the church. And frankly, I saw this, I saw this in the spirit. I saw it, wait, time out, time out. You know what I didn't see in 2018 when we moved? I did not see COVID, I didn't see it. He just didn't tell me about COVID. He didn't lie to me, he just left that one out cause I wasn't ready for COVID. And if he would have told me, I would have said, Lord, I feel like planting in 2022, amen. I'll just stay in Newport Beach a few more years and pray, amen, over the country, praise God. And then I'll, so, so God had to give me enough faith to move, but not too many details cause it would have, it would have frozen me. I wasn't ready for COVID, I wasn't ready to pastor through COVID. I knew nothing about politics. I'm more into politics, I knew nothing about politics. I knew nothing about, I knew nothing about nothing. I knew nothing about nothing. I didn't know masks would offend people. I didn't know not wearing a mask would offend people. I didn't know how to get through the race tension in the summer, I didn't know any, I didn't, I just, and then because I'm an idiot, I thought, you know what?

I'm just gonna get up every Sunday and I'm gonna play it right down the middle, praise God. So I just ticked off everybody. How can I offend the right and the left in one Sunday? I'll go right here and just bug everybody. I hate 2020, I hate it, I still hate it. I still go into counseling about 2020. I'm still processing, I didn't know. I mean, every week a new person was leaving the church and a new, I mean, it was just, it was, it was crazy. I'm not making it all about me. We all, we all face things during that, during that season. I'm just saying, I wasn't ready until I was in it. And then God gave me the faith and the grace to walk through it, to pastor people through it, to come out on the other side of it. And now here we are on the other side. I don't wish for that season again. I hope we never have to go through that again. I never wanna walk through a season like, all I can tell you is if God would have showed it to me, I'd have disobeyed, I'm just gonna be honest with you. So he gave me enough childlike faith to believe to plant a church. Not knowing what we would go through. When we built this building, the contractor said, we're gonna do this whole project for $13 million, we're gonna do it for 13 million. I said, all right, I had $13 million faith, I did. And the bank had $13 million faith.

They were like, yeah, you can afford that, let's do it. Here's another, I got a lot of trauma tonight, amen. But by the time the whole project was said and done and God supernaturally opened up that $5.6 million lot, so that was added to it. But by the end of it, the $13 million project turned into 26 million. Let me stop, I didn't have $26 million faith. I mean, there were just times it was like, do we stop? Do I just go before the people and go, I missed, sorry, missed God, thought it was God. And then it'd be like, well, the steel's up, let's just keep going. And then some miracle gift would come in, it'd be like, let's go another week. And then we'd go again, and then some other miracle gift would come in and he'd be like, all right, let's pay the contractors another month. And then, and I never came to you going, I'm going to jail guys, I never had to do that. I just kind of made it. I didn't have $26 million faith. But here's what's crazy. When we were thinking about buying this land that you're sitting on right now, I brought an old preacher out, he was here in Vegas visiting, he wanted to meet me. So I took him around the city and I pulled up to this land, I said,

pastor, we're believing God for this land, it's $3.2 million, we're believing God, we're gonna buy it and we're gonna build a building, glory God, I was all fired up, I was all pumped. I had brown hair and more hair, I didn't have to do comb overs yet. And I mean, it was a different day, I didn't have to get my eyes done and you know, so it was just a different day. And so, and he looks at me and he goes, this is 2022, right before he bought this land. And he goes, you know, I just don't, I don't think you should buy the land, you know, with this inflation and this administration, and that was under Biden at that time, you know, with this administration and with this inflation, you know, you need to wait for the prices to go back down and then you need to do something. Bro, if I would have waited, this $26 million project would have been 40 million minimum. There's the the plot across the street right now is going for 42 million dollars for dirt for dirt But I couldn't I couldn't go off of What he was saying I? Had to go off of the word though. I didn't know how I knew God spoke to us to buy this land Son of man can these bones live Ezekiel said Lord, you know What does he go say? I don't know your God You tell me But if God says they can they can

And if God says speak to the bones, they'll come to life And if God gives you the grace for it take the move not knowing Next week at the 1230 service you might want to write this down next week at the 1230 service. We're gonna ordain into the pastoral ministry Eliel Montes and J. R. Aquino We're gonna ordain them as pastors And it's gonna be powerful and Wednesday I got a text from Eliel Just got home, and he goes hey, are you available? Can we talk I know I left him. I'm home. He goes. Oh, okay dot dot dot you know the dot dots mean And I go what's going on are you all right he goes well I just wanted to talk to you about becoming a pastor He said I'm really scared And I wrote back that means you're ready If you know you're not ready You're ready Because that's the life of faith That says God this is too much for me But it's not too much for you So here we go If he would have wrote me and said you know it's about time pastor We would not be ordaining him amen It's it's the not knowing Shows that you're ready to take a step lastly okay lastly let's come on with us wrap it up come up here Faith goes so faith faith knows faith doesn't know thirdly faith goes So Abraham went he went without knowing he went I Guess I want you to write down this question if you if you want to take notes or grab your phone I just want you to think about this. What is God asking you to do? Do it What's God asking you to do do it

Mary His mother said to the servants about Jesus she says this whatever he says to you Do it John 2 5 whatever he says to you do it Whatever need to forgive somebody do it Need to get plugged into this church do it Need to get married do it. You know some of y'all. I mean we'll have people in our church. They'll be living together 5-10 years And I'll be like you're not married, they're like oh no, but we're praying about it. They're no bro. We're not praying Live together years you're we're not praying. We're getting married and Then and then you say it is like oh my god. Are you serious? Yeah, you're all functionally. You're already married doc Why are you so scared? That's the devil trying to scare you from getting your relationship under the blessing of God See God's commands always lead to blessing To answers to wisdom to a better life the path of the righteous is like the light of the dawn it shines brighter and brighter that that's That's the alt Ultimately that's the testimony of every child of God my life got brighter and brighter So whatever you're afraid to do that God's asking you to do I just want to tell you to do it Gold we have a nine-year-old Goldie and throughout the year She's had growth spurts where she's grown out of clothes and and grown out of toys right where it's like She's not into these toys anymore And so we'll have these moments where it's like all right. It's time to give away these clothes it's time to give away these toys and Every time she'll be devastated Right we'll find toys in the back of her closet that she has not seen in years Oh, I've been looking for that. I need this no you don't I Better just keep these shoes just in case Goldie, they don't fit you anymore. They don't, they don't fit you anymore. They were good for a season,

but it's a new season. But surrendering that can feel so scary. And I think that can happen as God is growing you and maturing you, and he's calling you to take that step. It could feel so scary. But surrender to Jesus never leads to lack. I love this whole picture. It's cheesy, but it's true, and I love it. Why can't I, why, I cannot look at this picture and not cry. But I love it, God. You know what times I've been there? But I love it, God. But brighter and brighter is on the other side. So can I, can I, can I leave this season and enter into what God has for me? And I wanna show you the promise of God for your obedience. Observe the requirements of the Lord your God and follow his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the law of Moses. Watch this. You will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. Successful in all you do, wherever you go. Meaning that God's blessing on you is greater than what you're currently doing or where you currently live. I can prosper in Vegas and if God calls me, I can prosper in Texas, and if God calls me, I can prosper in Mexico, and if God calls me,

I can prosper in Canada, and if God calls me, I can prosper in Washington, and if God, I can, I can prosper under a Democrat and I can prosper under a Republican. Because God's blessing on me is greater than anything around me. Because I'm living by faith, not by sight. And my faith will overcome and my faith will win and my faith will get me to the other side and my faith will get me through the valley. Come on, everybody, stand up. My faith. My faith will overcome and my faith will win. Who is he that overcomes the world? Our faith, John said in 1 John. Overcomes this world system. Faith, faith, faith. And faith knows. Faith knows God. Faith doesn't know the details. Ha, ha, ha. If you could just settle that. If you could just settle that tonight. Faith knows God, faith does not know the details. And then I take a step in the direction of his voice. Lord, if it's you, I'm out on the boat and the wind and the waves are crashing around me and the rain is falling and Peter says, Lord, if it's you, bid me come, tell me to come out.

Jesus has come. And Peter takes a step in the direction of the word. And all of a sudden, it becomes solid ground. Somehow, the wind and the waves and the rain become safer than the boat. Ha, ha, ha. Just, God, just keep me in your will.