I’m In A Really Bad Place, How Do I Get Out?

I do want to pause and just say thank you for for your generosity I looking at Uganda to that was part two of the video from last week what a blessing I don't know if you realize and I just want to keep reminding you how important childcry is to this church you have you with pastor Carter has sense in his heart some years ago felt that we are to we are to minister and feed children around the world and I'm so thankful with the vision he has through the leadership of Treg McCoy who leads our missions department I usually want to make sure I get this right 72 countries is it 70 73 countries 73 countries and some over 20,000 I think 20,000 a month for children that you are feeding 20,000 a month the children that you're feeding thank you thank you thank you you just saw a part of that in Uganda what an amazing thing that God is doing well I really feel like I have a word for you today it's it's I don't wouldn't say it's part two but it really is complimentary to what we saw take place with breakthrough evenings if you were in part of breakthrough my goodness it those five weeks were very powerful on Friday nights and we saw God do amazing things so thank you for all those that were part of that I want to talk to you about this I'm in a really bad place how do I get out I'm in a really bad place how do I get out you're gonna see two men I'm gonna show you in the scriptures from a portion of scripture that are losing everything that are in a bad place one tries one tries to find God for find answers in a sense in hell in hellish ways and darkness the other is gonna begin to go up and find his answers in heaven and so today I want you to be challenged today to either give up or surrender and I want you to surrender they give up means you are done done with life done with this marriage done with fighting but those that surrender means you are done doing it on your own strength you need help and you need God today so we're believing for people that are gonna surrender today and that's why I love the words that I heard someone say God can do a lot more with your surrender than he can with you in control so can we just surrender today and turn it over to God father in these next few moments I pray that Lord you would just help us just to say I give up doing it

in my own strength I turn it over to God there are people listening to my voice not just here in 51st and Broadway around the country and around the world that are in a very bad place that God that they need help and today is going to be a day of victory a day of help a day where miracles are going to take place so father would you do something special in these next few moments in Jesus name and everybody said amen now this is the one o'clock service so before you sit down I need to dismiss the choir wall needs to come down would you go ahead and greet about three or four people and just say I'm so happy to see you at the one o'clock service and then you may be seated thanks guys Thank You choir I think in all the scripture it has to be the strangest description that I would call of a righteous man or a righteous woman I want to read it to you it says simply this the words are incredible for a righteous man falls seven times but rises again but the wicked stumble in a time of calamity this is remarkable when I was reading this this I think it should say that the wicked man falls seven times but in the righteous man never falls I just as I kept reading the scripture over and over again I was just astounded by this description of the righteous man seven times seven times it says that's such an important phrase to keep in mind seven times when you think about what it means it is what we would call a Hebraism of saying a lot or very often or with intensity would even be another word remember when the children of with the three Hebrew children were put into a fiery furnace it was Nebuchadnezzar who said I want you to heat that furnace up seven times hotter there wasn't a dial on the furnace that had one two three four and seven meant very hot it meant to them to the most intense to the to the where you can't go any higher and that's really what it was saying here they were saying that seven times that a man would fall meant often meant with with intensity that's why it wasn't a number to be counted David said it like this the psalmist I will praise you seven times a day because of your wonderful laws. It's not the psalmist taking the number 24 and saying, well, let me

go ahead and divide that by seven, and those are the times of the day. You know what that means? It means I'm going to praise him a lot. I will praise him in the building, and I'll praise him on a subway. I'll praise him in America, and I'll praise him overseas. It doesn't matter. To praise him seven times a day basically says this. There's no limit. I'm going to do it often, and I'm going to do it with intensity. Hallelujah. That's what it means. To fall seven times simply means, how many could bear witness to this? You're going to mess up a lot. Anybody with me on that? Okay, that section is really messed up. This one is still, so this is the real section. No offense, but what's incredible to me is this. Some thought a righteous man or woman never fall, but really what the Bible does here is begin to correct and to even tweak our definitions of a righteous man or woman. It's this. A righteous man is not defined by his falling, but by his rising. This is so important to understand, that it's not because you fail that determines whether you're righteous or unrighteous. It means, do you get back up again? The good news is that if you are here today or watching around the country, around the world, and you are in a bad place, listen carefully. Just because you're in a bad place, what that means to me is, you just haven't gotten up yet. Today is a get up day, and to believe for God to do something here. I like the way that the message version paraphrases this. It says it like this. It says, no matter how many times you trip them up, God's people don't stay down long. Soon they're up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their face. So I'm telling you, God's people don't stay down very long. That's why it's important for me to say this to you today. I have been guilty of this. It was a warning for me. I've heard from leaders and Christians and people that I have known that have fallen and have failed in their Christian walk. I have at times began to find myself judging the failing instead of waiting for the rising. So I've already put my label on them that they must not have loved God. They're doing this, or this is who they are. Instead of waiting, I've judged too quickly and have not allowed that get up time to take place. It was our 16th president, President Lincoln, who said, my great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure. And so this is so important because the righteous aren't content with failure because they keep getting back up. If you didn't know the story, you would be part of maybe the group that could have judged too quickly David, the psalmist, because David is in a really bad place. He has failed and he has fallen. And this is what makes this amazing, but David is a righteous

man. That even in his failing and falling, and even though he is in probably the worst time of his entire life, David is a righteous man. And to watch how he rises up is a story that we have to take note of. David is playing out Psalm, Proverbs 24, 16. David is the righteous man that you're going to see rise up from really the ashes. His world has fallen apart. He is in such a bad place. It starts with one renegade thought, a very bad decision that has messed up everything in his life and has put David, his family, and the people that have trusted him in a very, very, very bad place. And that bad place is called Ziklag. Ziklag is the bad place. You'll see it over and over again because it is there that David's world is coming apart. And 1 Samuel 30 is going to be the climax to the dark spot that or the spot that he is laying on the ground and just wanting to give up everything. Literally think for a moment that all that David has lost. He has lost his family. An enemy has taken his wife and his children. David has lost his identity. He is living in Philistine territory and not just living in Philistine territory. Think of this for a moment. Don't miss this. He has joined the Philistine army. He is wearing Philistine army clothes and they're going to go out to battle against Israel, the people that David is supposed to be king over. And now he is marching. David, David the Psalmist, King David is marching against the people he's going to lead in a few years. He has lost his identity. He has lost his family. David has lost the confidence of his men. They want to stone him for all that's happening. David has lost his peace. He's in great distress. David has lost his belief that God will protect him. He has moved to Gath so Saul would not go after him instead of trusting God's protection. Think of it for a moment. David has lost his identity. He has lost his family. He has lost his leadership. He has lost his peace. He has lost his trust in God. Everything at this moment is lost. Every part of his life is on fire. Every part is literally falling apart. To think about all this stuff that David is now faced with.

And keep this in mind. Because as we walk through 1 Samuel 27-30, you're going to see two men here. There's two people here who is really at their lowest point. Two men in a crisis. One goes to the Lord and the other goes to a witch. It's Saul and David. When both of them are at their lowest point, one finds the supernatural from heaven. The other finds the dark supernatural. One is righteous and one is wicked. One will rise up and the other will crash and burn. Saul is in trouble just like David is. Their contrast is haunting. But their contrast has some similarity. Saul has the Philistines gathering against him. And not even realizing that the man who is going to replace him is at the end. David is at the end. His 600 men at the end of the Philistine army who is going to attack Saul. Saul's heart is filled with rage, anger and murder. He has lost his relationship with his son. He has lost his relationship with David who has become his armor-bearer. And most importantly, he has lost his relationship with God. He can't even hear the voice of God. And so he just simply says, I want a witch. I want a medium. I want somebody who can see the future for me.

Because I can't hear heaven talking to me. Maybe hell will talk to me. Listen to this. 1 Samuel 28.5 When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of the Lord and the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets, then Saul said to his servant, seek for me a woman who is a medium. Find me a witch. Find me someone who can tell me the future. Historians believe that Saul, in all that he was going through, was hunting David for almost 13 years. That he never got up from this bad place. At the moment that envy and jealousy seeped into his heart, it literally, instead of it being a failing of the righteous man in Proverbs 24, it became the calamity of the wicked. Let me say that again. Where jealousy and envy, that we have all faced before, that I have at times have fallen to envy or fallen to jealousy. But if we're righteous people, we rise back up. But not for Saul. The Bible says that envy and jealousy became his calamity. All of a sudden, jealousy and envy has now turned into suspicion. Who is this man? What is he doing?

What are they saying? And now it's turned all the way down, if you take the steps all the way into murder, that he's trying to kill David. Saul's relentless revenge wearied David so much. He just couldn't take it anymore. And it was gonna bring him to his dark place. It was gonna bring him to a really, really bad place. This is so important. I want you to hear what I'm about to say. So what David did, was instead of trusting God, he started to trust in geography. I want you to hear it. He's thinking, if I can just move and get out of this place, then everything is going to be good. He started to trust in, I just need to pack up my stuff and move and get out of this battle. And there are people, folks, I want you to listen to me, that think if I can just change my geography, everything is gonna get better. I've got news for you. Here it comes. This is profound. Wherever you are, there you are. So if you think I've got to get out of New York, I'm telling you, you go with you.

And the issue may not be New York City, the issue may be God trying to get at your hearts. God trying to do something deep inside of us. While David is only a few years away from the prophecy of being king over Israel coming true, he exits out of Israel. He changes geography. He is literally, maybe about a year and a half away from putting a crown on his head, fulfilling the prophecy that Samuel said to him, that you are a man after God's own heart, and God is going to make you king. It's at that moment that David, when he gets to a weary spot, he is tired of fighting, that he exits Israel and ends up in Philistine country. He is tired of running for his life. I want to say this to you. I want you to get this. David comes to a place that he realizes it was much easier to defeat Goliath than it was to fight Saul. It was much easier to defeat Goliath than to fight Saul. See, Goliath happens in one day. A giant is taken out with a rock and a slingshot in one day. Saul happens every day for 13 years. I've watched people delivered from a giant addiction that has tried to lay a whole bondage of them. I've watched the miracle working power of Jesus at these altars or during prayer and fasting where God has taken out a giant that has held people in bondage, but only to have them leave with a giant slain, but have to go home to Saul every single day. See, that's the difference. Because that's the spot that God wants to work inside of us.

That was the spot that could even become wearying. It wasn't the giant. But sometimes, folks, I want you to listen. God will take out a giant in a day, but you're going to need the grace of God every single day to deal with the Sauls that are in our lives. Folks, you know what it's like to go home and Saul is there. Listen, Saul could be sitting next to you. Just look straight ahead. Just don't even look at me. Just look straight ahead at this point. The Saul may not even be a person. It may be a situation that you've got to deal with every single day. It could be a Saul at the job that God literally has you faced at every single day. That's what's wearying. Sometimes that could be the thing that takes us to the darkest place. That's the part that we can find ourselves on a downgrade right into that very bad place. That's what happened with David. David's Saul literally wearied him. He couldn't take it anymore. Finally, he comes to this conclusion. Look at 1 Samuel 27, starting in verse 1. Then David said to himself, Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing, he says, better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of search. This is the geography movement.

This is David saying, I can't even trust God. I don't even want to trust God. I'm tired of trusting God. Everybody I talk to, come to the altar time. Everyone's going, trust God, trust God, trust God. You're going, I want out. I want out of the geography. He said, Saul will then despair of searching for me anymore in the territory of Israel. I'll escape from his hand. David arose, crossed over. He and 600 men who were with him to Achish, the son of Maok. Don't miss this part. He's the king of Gath. That's the Philistine capital city. Do you understand Gath? What that is? Remember, what was the name of the giant that David defeated? His name was what? Goliath. But in the Bible, it calls him Goliath of Gath. This is Goliath's hometown. You're going back to the town who you decapitated their hero. And now David is showing up going, hey, it's me. And he shows up in Gath and going like, I'm one of you now. Even though I took out Goliath, I'm one of you. And what David does is not only get to Gath,

they give him land in Philistine territory. Here it is. So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines, don't miss this, was a year and four months. 16 months he's living in Philistine territory. 16 months he's living in the wrong place. 16 months he has found himself in this area where life has just gotten complicated from joining the Philistine army, getting ready to attack his own people. David is ready, it will read, he's going to want to be killed by his own 600 men and wanting the men that he is one day to leave, they're wanting to kill him. David is in between two huge battles. Don't miss this. Something happens as he's getting ready to go to fight against Israel and against Saul. Some of the elders of the Philistines rise up and they say, we don't trust him. Maybe he's a double agent. Maybe he's going to turn against us. Maybe this is all a ploy by Israel that when we're in battle, they turn against us. We don't trust him. So the king, Achish, who gave him land, David, you're going to have to go back. You're going to have to go back to Ziklag.

The men don't want you to fight with us. David is going, are you serious? I've been with you this long. I've been with you a year and a half, and you're telling me that I can't even fight with you. He says, I'm just telling you what the elders said. You've got to go back. So David goes back, and folks, can I just tell you, what seemed to be people judging his integrity, don't miss this, I think was the mercy of God. So he didn't have to attack Israel. So before you go and like, they judged my integrity, I'm posting something on social media. They said it could be the mercy of God keeping you from something that you were wanting to do. David wanted to go to battle, and it was literally those people that began to say, we don't trust you. Those people, I think, were the mercy of God, because he was going into this dangerous situation. So while David is marching back from the front lines, with his head down, and fuming that now his integrity has been challenged, he comes back to Ziklag, and he's in between two battles. The battle of making of this anger, but he finds out a real physical battle, that while he's gone, a raiders came in, the Amalekites, and took all of their children and wives of the 600 men, they came in, burned Ziklag, and took everything. Talk about a bad day. David has lost everything. So he's lost his country, he's lost his family, he's lost his identity, he's lost the confidence of both the Israel troops and the Philistine troops. Every area is broken. Every area is gone. When he comes back, it's all up in flames. He doesn't have a wife, he doesn't have his children, he doesn't know what has happened. He doesn't have a country to go home to, and David is at the lowest place that he's

ever been. But David is a righteous man. And once, here's the good news, even a righteous man, woman, will fall seven times. But righteous men, righteous people, don't stay down, they rise up again. So how do you recover when you find yourself in a really bad place? How do the righteous rise up? David is about to get out of a 16-month destructive season. He's about to get up, and I just started to watch how he brought himself spiritually off the ground, right back to the place that God wants him to go. I want to just do my best to show you how the righteous get up for a second, how the righteous find themselves back up in the fight, in the battle, leaving that bad place, leaving Ziklag and Philistine territory. I just wrote down three things as I was reading this. I want you to jot these down, because let me just tell you this, you may go like, well, I'm not in a bad place. Trust me, they're coming. We all get there. How many know what I'm talking about? We all find there. And here's the first thing I began to realize. Number one, it's time to talk to God again. It's time to talk to God again. David hasn't talked to God for 16 months. There's not one recorded prayer in this season in Gath, Ziklag, and in the Philistine territory. There's no recorded prayer except one, which we're going to read here in a second. David will pray for the first time in 16 months. There's something in us when we feel like everything is stolen or everything is on fire. We don't want to pray. We don't want to talk to God. We're even angry with God at this point. I have nothing to say to him because of what he has done. I've talked with people like that. David will be both encouraged by God, and he's going to get

direction from God because he's talked with God. For the very first time, he's going to find encouragement and direction he hasn't had for 16 months. How does David rise up from a 16-month bad season? Listen to it now. This is when he comes back from the battlefield. Then it happened. When David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag and had overthrown Ziklag, burned it with fire. They took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their children and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with them lifted their voices, wept, until there was no more strength in them to weep. Verse 6, Moreover, David was greatly distressed, because the people spoke of stoning him, and he said, Him for all the people were embittered each one because their sons and because of their daughters They don't even know if they're alive He comes back and he doesn't even know if they're their wives or their children. They see a city on on fire Can you imagine you're leaving? Fuming the battlefield with the Philistines and you see this pillar of smoke in your city and you're going what do I do? We've all experienced those who live in New York City Sometimes you can come home and you can hear the fire engines and you can see the smoke and you're going that's in my area And there David is coming and that's not just his area. It was his home and they're all gone everybody's gone and With everybody gone all of your homes up in fire and the men now all wanting to stone you the people the Bible says had No strength in them. They've wept until there was no strength inside of them So now where does David find strength, where does David find what to do? Saul his his leader goes to a witch to find strength, but David goes to God Hallelujah, because that verse says this verse 6 says moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him for all the people were

Embittered each one because of their sons and because of their daughters and that wasn't the rest of the verse it finishes like this but David encouraged himself in The Lord his God folks. Here's the good news. The righteous man is starting to rise up here He's realizing wait a second I've I've known my leader that he didn't know what to do and he went to a dark place He was looking for a witch to give him answers and all of a sudden with us with a city on fire Your home is gone. Your children are gone Your wife is gone And now all of a sudden you have no encouragement from anybody and the only place for David to look was to God himself David would encourage himself in the Lord the word encouraged also in strength are the same word One version says this and I like the way it says it but David took Strength from the Lord He took strength from the Lord. How do you take strength from God? How do you encourage yourself in the Lord when everybody when nobody is there? Nobody is there to give you a kind word or an encouraging word. How do you get it from God? Hey every time I read that David encouraged himself because he had nobody I keep I always think and I'm gonna get to see my son in the next few days While he is finishing up His degree up at University out of state and so while We get to see him. I thought of him when we I was reading this when he was still just a young child I remember walking by his room one day and the door was cracked and he was in there playing with with his Legos or whatever and while he was in there playing He gives out this this biggest sneeze. Ah Shoo and all of a sudden he's looking around and there's nobody there to help him. So he just goes God bless me and so sometimes Sometimes if you don't have anybody you got to let out a God bless me if there's nobody else to be there for you Then you've got to say if you won't do it. You won't do it You are I'm gonna get my strength and from God and encourage myself in God

It happens when you are all alone. No one is there all encouragement is removed No family to say we love you No soldier to say we're with you and no countrymen to say God will do it again You were there all by yourself and you're challenged. You don't even know what to do. I have a friend that I've ministered to him plays in in one of the major sports Groupings and and genres and so walk talk walking and talking with him. I remember asking him I said, what did you do before God? How would you get help from God? How would you get help for your marriage that was literally on fire? Everything was on fire in his home because of the because of the demands of this sport And I asked what did you do? He said when I when my marriage was in trouble, I just googled Ha how to have a good marriage That was it. That's his only recourse not God Google And and now today let me just help you Google didn't have the answer and can I just tell you AI doesn't have your answer You're gonna go. Um, can you tell me how do I deal with this woman at home? Who's who's like this folks? You got a look to God in these situations. I think the best way to describe What it means to encourage yourself in the Lord, I think it's this I think this is the best verse for encouraging yourself in the Lord if you're here today and say how do I encourage myself? Just start saying this to the Lord, O Lord, how my adversaries have increased. Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no deliverance for him in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me. You're my glory, and you're the one that lifts my head up. You give hope. I thank you, Jesus, for that. David is strengthened because David gets his next step. David hears God. David hasn't talked with God for over a year.

And some of you are fighting battles today because you have made decisions without talking to God. You have found yourself in places, jobs, and situations. You have found yourself in relationships and in situations because you went there without talking to God in those 16 months. That's David. That's the bad place that he's in, that he has battles connected to not speaking to God, that are battles that are draining him of energy, fights that are draining him. Because not once did you say, should I say yes to going out with this person? Should I say yes to this job? Everything has been a bottom line. Everything has been a feeling. But how about bringing God back into the picture? How about asking him? The best place to get a word from God is in the word of God. It's the best place to start. I need a word from God. Then get to the word of God. Start there, on your knees, in the book, David's first prayer from Ziklag. I want you to hear this. David's first prayer that we see in this entire bad season, this dark place, here's his first prayer. It says this, so David inquired of the Lord, shall I pursue this troop?

Shall I overtake them? I love how God answers. It was as if God has been waiting for him to pray. There was no pause. David's going, shall I pursue? Heaven goes, pursue! You'll overtake them, and without fail, you'll recover everything. It was almost like heaven was just waiting for him to talk. Heaven was waiting. There was no ambiguity, there was no pause. It was heaven crying out, thank God, the righteous man is standing up again. The righteous man is getting up, and the best way to start the rise for a righteous woman to get from a very bad place is start talking to God again. He wants to talk to you. Listen, it says, he answered him and said, pursue, for you shall surely overtake him. Without fail, recover it all. So David went, he and 600 men who were with him. He's finally going to take 600 men to the right place. He has taken 600 men across a river into Philistine territory. He's taken 600 men and put them at the back of the line of a Philistine army. He's finally gonna put 600 men in the right place, in God's will, because the decisions that we make don't just affect us, it affects everyone around us.

And God bless those 600 men. These are the men that wept till there was no strength left in them. They had no strength, and they were angry with their leader and wanted to stone him, but yet they knew something was right and said, yes, we'll go with David. David is rising back up. The righteous man is starting to rise up. You can almost see it in the spirit. This man who's been laid flat out, everything is gone from him, and he starts talking to God again. You almost see him on his knees. Now talking to God, you're going, okay, the man is rising up, he's getting up. Why? A righteous man will fall seven times. But will rise back up again. So he's not already there, he's not there yet. And it's the second thing. Not only is it time to talk to God, it's time to open our eyes for providential surprises. That God, things that you were blinded to, things you couldn't see God working on your behalf. David couldn't see that those Philistines that were challenging his integrity, saying he's gonna turn on us, David didn't even see that as the mercy of God. Because when you're not in the right place,

you don't see God's fingerprints. You don't see what God is doing. When you're not in the right place, when you're down, when it's a falling time, a failing time, your eyes are blinded to seeing what God is doing. That's why this is so important. And David has no idea that I wanna yell to him. I said, David, look for the Egyptian. Look for the Egyptian. This is what God's plan is. You have direction, but where do you go? What's the next step? God simply said these words, pursue. Here's what happens. David inquired the Lord, shall I pursue? Shall I overtake them? He said, pursue, for you will overtake them, and you will rescue also. David went. But what's next? And this is where the providential surprises show up. This is where God just shows up out of nowhere. Listen to this. 1 Samuel 30, verse 10. David pursued, he and four hundred men. For two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook of Besor, or remain behind. Now, it says, now when they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread that he ate, and they provided him water to drink. They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate. They were just showing kindness to a man that just needed help. And he ate, and his spirit was revived.

For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. And David said to him, Do you belong? And he says, Where are you from? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt. I have been the servant of an Amalekite. I can just see David going, What? And my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, on the Negev of Caleb. Uh-oh. And we, what? We burned your city with fire. He doesn't even know this. David's feeding the man that could have lit the match. He's feeding, David is sitting there, talking, and he says, We burned that city with fire. Then David said to him, Will you bring me down to this band? And he said, Well, swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I'll bring you down to this band. Folks, this is incredible. Just when you want to give up, God sends a sick Egyptian boy that's recovering. Think for a moment. Those Amalekites showed no mercy to that sick Egyptian boy, and left him on the field to die. And God goes, Perfect. I can use anyone and anything anytime. And God goes, What the world threw out, what the world threw away, is a GPS system to where I want to bring you and what I want to do inside of your life. So who the world threw away, God goes, I've got plans for that boy.

That boy is going to be part of the resurrection, the rising up of a righteous man. What you threw away, God goes, I can use that little boy and bring something great. Think about that for a second. Out of nowhere. See, when you're rising up, you can see and go, Okay, this is God. God's provided them. I didn't know where the Amalekites were, but Egyptian boy does. I meet the kid who's part of burning my city. And all of a sudden, he starts to realize that that voice, that Egyptian voice, kept him in the game. Kept him there. It's a providential surprise. Listen, we have... I'm so grateful for all of you, not only for giving and tithing and offerings, but many of you who have given, and I'll update some things later on, but your giving to our Vision Fund has been just amazing. As we have seen that $2 million, we haven't hit that goal yet, of what's going around the world. One of those things that you have provided for, every dime is provided, is this year we get to build an orphanage in Nigeria. And so you have helped do that. You have helped, even beyond that, to partner with World Challenge to build an orphanage in Pakistan. That's what you've done. You've done that. You have helped with the language channels. There's some 13, 14 language channels. I'll give you the updates during prayer and fasting. We'll be adding two more this year, the final two, which those 16 languages will equal 6 billion people in the world. But those language channels cost between $25,000 to $50,000

to do every single year that we do it. But some of you have grabbed hold of that and said, I'll sponsor when I'll do this. It's been amazing to watch. But the one that I knew that was so strong and that we've been part of, but the fight just started and got real as we're preparing, was for that LED wall that was going to be 24-7 the gospel in Times Square. That we were not going to allow simply the marketing just to go. And I just said, God, I want to speak. I want you to speak truth to those LED walls that are all over. But folks, and I just, and as soon as we started the process, the fight is on. And I knew it. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I knew that the devil wasn't going to go like, oh yeah, sure, go ahead. Say whatever you want. I knew he was going to fight. And so one of the fights that we're in right now is the building on the corner that they're not wanting to allow the footprint to get bigger for LED. talking through that, and it was a fight, and I just remember hearing the news, and I knew it was a spiritual fight, but I'm just telling you, I was tired. I literally said to God, I said, God, I don't feel like fighting again. I said, I've been six years. I said, can I just have one good season? I said, my whole ministry, my armor is so dented up, I just said, anybody ever feel like that? You're just going like, everything's a fight, and I just told God, I said, and it was amazing.

I got a call from an Egyptian who lives in Texas, and so he's not an Egyptian, but he just, I literally said the words out loud. I just said, oh, Lord, I don't know if I'm ready for another fight, and the phone rings, and this Egyptian with a southern accent just felt, let me call you. That's my Texas accent. He just simply goes, he just goes like, God put you on my heart. He said, I'm just gonna tell you, God put you there, God put you in that. That church is there for a reason. When you think you're finished, God still has more for you. You're gonna fight, you're gonna get, and I'm going like, oh, great. I said, just what I needed, encouragement, and so I'm thinking to myself, as this Egyptian from Texas, it just called at the right time when I didn't know what I was gonna do. God knows exactly the right timing to keep us in the fight. He knows it. I could just see David going like, pursue, okay, I did what you said. I don't even know what to do next, and then all of a sudden, the Egyptian shows up and says, I'll take you to the camp, and I knew what God wanted to do on these LED to speak to Times Square and to the world,

and just when I thought like, okay, I got LED, but that's all I got, and then you have to hear an Egyptian with a Texas accent, and I'm just going, God, only you can do that, but see, when you're not in God's place, you don't see that stuff. God wants you to see it, that what you're doing matters. Listen to the voice of God. Expect providential surprises. I didn't even realize, I have to tell you this story. Let me speak just a little bit as a proud father. I didn't realize my son was an Egyptian. I thought he was Italian, and so I get this letter to me, to my office, and it's sent to me from my son's roommate's wife. His roommate wasn't married when they were rooming together. They both swam together for Liberty University, and his wife sent my office this letter. Let me read this to you. She said, my name is Dawn, Pastor Delina, and my husband is Caleb. Caleb swam with your son, Christian, at Liberty University. During their time as roommates, Caleb quietly observed Christian's faithfulness to the Lord, and it deeply impacted his life. He said, each morning, your son would get up and read a chapter of the Bible, along with a devotional called The 260 Journey. Though they never directly discussed it, Caleb felt compelled to follow his example.

He went out and bought his own 260 Journey, worked through it, and to this day, it's the only study he's ever completed in his entire life. He said, later, Caleb discovered that you were the author of the book. He says, what a powerful testimony of a father faithfully leading his son. A few years later, Caleb and I were newly married and navigating a season. We were actively serving in our church, loved God and the people we were serving. Now, listen to this. Caleb remembered the impact of the 260 Journey, and last year, he said, I'm sorry, he said this. He said, she said, we found ourselves as a new couple in a spiritual slump. He said, we're in a slump. They just got married, we're in a slump. And then, Caleb remembered the impact of the 260 Journey. The last year, we decided to go through it together. It has renewed our desire for God and his word and helped us to apply scripture in meaningful ways. That boy didn't know that when he got up every morning to read the Bible and that, if you've not seen the 260 Journey, it's so big, you have to pay extra luggage fees to put that on a plane. It's so big. He said, just doing that devotional. He didn't know he was speaking to a roommate, that this would be his spiritual lifeline,

and to a marriage that would begin to use that. I wanted to share this with you as an encouragement, Pastor Alina, what began with Christian's quiet faithfulness ultimately traces a father who loved his son and pointed him to the Lord. Thank you for Times Square Church. Thank you for the ministry, for the impact it has had for lives around the world and on. our own lives. Folks, I'm telling you, you may be an Egyptian, and you don't even know it. You may go, no, I'm Puerto Rican. You may be an Egyptian. You may be an Egyptian Puerto Rican. You may be an Egyptian Italian. You may be an Egyptian Nigerian. Just go, God, use me any way you want to use me. I just want lives to be changed. But here's the thing, David, while he's on the ground, finds strength from God, finds encouragement from God, finds direction from God, finds providential people from God. All he knew was pursue, but it got clearer with a sick Egyptian boy. Now David has gone from prayer, and now his eyes see something. And all of a sudden, the righteous is starting to rise up. The righteous that was laid out for 16 months now gets to his knees to pray, now puts his hand over his eyes going, I see God's hand. He's guiding us here. And let me close with this last thing, because I think this is so important. Finally, look for the overwhelming blessing of God. Look for the overwhelming. Let me explain to you what's going to happen. As you rise up, I'm going to ask our musicians to come as we close. As David is rising up, he is praying for the first time. He is seeing God's hand for the first time. Not that his hand wasn't there, he's just starting to see it for himself. And he's going to see something even more. When Ricardo and the worship team lead us in worship, sometimes they sing songs that incorporate Old Testament names of God. The God who's a healer, the God who's a provider, the God who is a banner. They'll bring in names, and we'll sing those names. I look for one name, because I have one name that's my favorite. It doesn't show up in a lot of songs, but it's my favorite name for God. It's the name El Shaddai. El Shaddai means the God who is more than enough. The God that goes overboard. The God that

you pray one thing, God goes, that's it? That's all you're praying? Watch what I can do. I can do way more than what you're praying for right now. That name means so much to me. El Shaddai. Because even how the name was first revealed in the Bible, it comes for the first time in Genesis 17. And when you see El Shaddai, it's translated as God Almighty. That's God speaking. That's El Shaddai. And it comes because, it comes from a moment that God is telling a 99-year-old man, you're going to have a baby with your 90-year-old wife, Sarah. And just when you go like, oh, are you kidding me? And God goes, there's more. There's more of what I'm about to do. I'm going to multiply your descendants like the sand and the stars. What you think is a baby is going to have a multiplication explosion around the world. That's what God Almighty does. He reveals himself to a 99-year-old man as El Shaddai, God Almighty. And David, hallelujah, was about to experience El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough. David is rising off the ground to his knees. Oh God. Oh God, what should I do? Pursue. Pursue. Okay. And then all of a sudden, he's looking, he's going, this, this Egyptian boy, what is, what does this mean? This is, this is my surprise. This is me helping you. This is me doing, I'll bring people into your life that'll help you in the direction. And then all of a sudden, David is about to get, see El Shaddai. David wanted his family back, but David was about to get way more than he ever expected. Because that's what God does. The, I think the El Shaddai New Testament versus this now to him, who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think according to the power that works in us. And then even when he ends that verse, he says, this is something to praise God about to him, be the glory of the church of Jesus Christ to all generations forever and ever. Amen. He is the God. God that does way more than we can ever ask or think. Here's the result of the battle. Verse 18. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, rescued his two wives, but nothing of theirs was missing. Nothing was missing. Whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything, they had taken them for themselves.

And I love this. They brought it all back. Everything the enemy has stolen was brought back into the people of God's camp. They said, you stole that? It's going back. And it started with just the man that's praying. It started with the man at the lowest place, and the only thing he could do at the worst place of his life is to get on his knees and say, what do you want me to do? Pursue. All right, I'll pursue. Pursue where? Hi, I'm an Egyptian boy. Okay, follow that kid. That's the kid that lit the match to burn down our city. Brings the, the kid brings them there. The battle happens. They get everything. And not only did they get their stuff, they got the enemy's stuff. Look at verse 26. When David came to Ziklag, he's on his way back home from the battle, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, behold, a gift from you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord. And if that wasn't enough, David did not know his whole life would change, not in a week, not in a month, but in just a few days. El Shaddai would turn the whole thing around. David just didn't get his family back, and the, and the others' families back, and come back with spoils, but something else was about to take place. In three days, David is gonna get out of Ziklag and get to the place he's supposed to be. Listen to David's second prayer. Second Samuel 1, 1.

It came about after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites. David remained two days in Ziklag. So after two days, David's gonna pray one more thing. Look at this, verse 1 of chapter, chapter 2. Then it came about afterwards that David inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I go up, not, not against the enemy, but shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah? Should I leave? Do you want me to leave, God? Do you want me to go back home? And the, and the Lord said to him, go up, go home. So David said, where shall I go? And God said, you go to Hebron. So David went up there, and look at this, folks. Then the men of Judah came, and there anointed David king over the house of Judah. In three days, three days, it went from laying flat on your back, going, I don't know what to do. All right? What do I do, God? Pursue. An Egyptian boy brings them a providential surprise, and I'm gonna pray one more time, and El Shaddai shows up and says, you're gonna get your family, you're gonna get the spoils of the enemy, you're gonna get back to your destiny, a crown is gonna come upon your head, and an anointing is coming back upon you. Think of that for just a moment. David was just going, I just want my family back. God goes, you know who you're dealing with? I'm El Shaddai. I'm the God who's more than enough. I know right now, maybe as you're giving up off the ground, that all you see maybe is

just that little world that you're dealing with, but not only can I restore, I can begin to get you back on track, not in weeks and months, but immediately get you back there. Just one prayer, one prayer changes everything. That's what happened with Carmen from Vancouver, Canada. Stand with me. It was this precious lady who sent me an email, came from our online host, who said this. Good afternoon, Pastor Tim. Just a quick email. Carmen is from Vancouver. She's a professional makeup artist with film credits. She's a sweet sister, and we prayed with her, and she's battling cancer. This is what Carmen wrote. January 2024, I got diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and it completely rocked my world. She's at the point, she's deciding whether she's going to be Saul, or she's going to be David. She's either going to a dark place, or she's going to go ahead and look up to heaven. She's either going to look down or look up, and you'll notice it in the next line of her email. She said it completely rocked my world, so I was at that same time, I know I may pronounce it. I was doing reiki, or reiki crystals, and worshiping idols. She says, when I got my diagnosis, I started trying to manifest the disease away. That's what she said. She's already in the Saul space. The righteous will fall seven times, but will rise up. But the wicked, one calamity, they're laid flat. They're laid flat. She said, when I got my diagnosis, I was trying to manifest the disease away. Clearly, it didn't work. When I came out of surgery,

I was completely blotched. I had paralyzed vocal cords, symptoms of frozen shoulder, and could barely speak. And then, I'm going to add this part in, an Egyptian showed up. She said, my cousin goes, I'm going to send you a link to Times Square Church in New York City. I think you should listen to it. She said, I had nothing to lose, why not try it? She says, Times Square Church was on the series, Because You Prayed. And it was March 27th that I did pray. I gave my life to Jesus Christ. It's been two and a half years now. I love this part. It's been two and a half years since I've become a Christian, and my life is full of ups and downs. That's what it's supposed to be. But the righteous will fall, that's the down, but will rise back up again. That's the up. That's what happens. So, if you're going like, man, my Christian life is on ups and downs, hey, Proverbs 24, 16, join the club, we'll get you a shirt. Okay, watch this now. My life has been full of ups and downs, but I know that God has walked me through every single valley. And she said, I got the ultrasound a few days ago, and it said, no evidence of reoccurring thyroid cancer or active metastasis has been seen. It's been a miracle. Just one prayer changes this young lady's life. Just one prayer. Do I believe in crystals? Or do I go and I find my place in God? You have found yourself there. Some of you have done that. You have looked to places that, I wanted to say, stop acting like Saul. Talk to God. Talk to God. Let Him turn the whole thing around. I've watched it. I've been invited to do it, and I said, are you out of your mind? You've walked these streets, and you see this little storefront that says, Palm Reading.

And there's this beat-up folding chair outside. And I'm going, you're going to tell me my future? You need help. You need a future. Okay, can I help you? When it says, Tarot cards, Palm Reading, Ouija boards, look at me for a second. It's bogus. None of those. Those people need help themselves. They all need help. And what you need is not look there. I'm telling you, I'm saving your money. Don't give them 25 bucks. Don't give them 50 bucks and go, tell me what I got. I can tell you right now. Oh, that's a love line. That's going to go straight across. And look at that. There's good days ahead. That's a scar I got from putting my hand through a plate glass window. That's not a love line. It's called dumb. That's not what that is. Let me save you money. Don't look there. Look to God. He can turn the whole thing around for you today. Here it is, folks. Every time I think to myself, when I see Kareem and Ricardo lead us in this one song, I just keep thinking of the word. I keep thinking of El Shaddai. I keep thinking of the righteous rising back up. Every time I hear these words, I'm praying God come and turn this thing around. God, turn it around. Turn it around. I'm calling on the name that changes everything. God, turn it around. Turn it around. All of my hope is in the name, the name of Jesus. Oh, I like this part. Breakthrough will come. Come in the name of Jesus.

Ricardo will take us to a bridge. They call it a bridge. It's kind of like the added part when you're done with the chorus and the verses. The bridge is sometimes the really good part. It says, He is up to something. He is up to something. God is doing something right now. He is healing someone. He is saving someone. God is doing something. What? Right now. He is moving mountains. Making a way for someone. God is doing something right now. Hallelujah. For a righteous man will fall seven times, but we'll get back up. This is a get back up day. This is a call to the righteous today. It's time to get back up. Get up. There's still more for you to do. Get up. God can turn it around. Get up. He is El Shaddai. Get up. You have a calling. Get up. You are not done. Get up. Get up. You are not done. Get up. God loves you. Get out of Ziklag and get back to God.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. No heads bowed. No eyes closed. How many would just say, I'm in a bad place and I just need God to come through right now. Just say, I'm in the back. Okay. Here's what's going to happen. Put your hands down. Balcony, main floor. Watching online. We're going to sing this song. Ricardo's going to lead us. Just you standing and being here today is the beginning of the rising up of the righteous women. I want to ask you to do something. As we sing this, I'm going to ask you to come to an altar that it becomes surrender. Now I surrender. You're going to make your way. Can we just say this? That maybe metaphorically you're leaving that seat is leaving Ziklag. I'm going back to God's country. I'm going back to the place of surrender. I'm going back to where God wants me. The difference between surrender and giving up. Giving up says I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. I'm done.

I'm done fighting. I'm done trying to do it myself. I'm giving it to God. So as we sing this song, out of the balcony, main floor. Just come down here. Sing this as we come. Come on. Let's sing it. Let's sing it. I'm praying God comes. You come. Come on. And turns to sing around. Oh say. God turn it around. God turn it around. God turn it around. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming. God turn it around. I'm calling on a name. He changes everything. Oh. God turn it around. God turn it around. All of my hope, all of my hope is in the name. The name of Jesus. Breakthrough will come.

Come in the name. The name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope is in the name. The name of Jesus. Breakthrough will come. Come in the name. The name of Jesus. I know you're still coming, but I'm going to be, I want to just be obedient. Can I just ask you a question? Are you new or have you been here before? You've been here before. Where are you from? What nation are you from? China? America. I want to say something to you both right now. Just for a moment. I was sitting over there. And this doesn't usually happen. Sometimes I'll just look and just go, okay, we're worshiping. And I saw both of you. You're sitting right in the middle. In the middle on the far side. I don't know what it was that I saw both of you. And to see you both here. I believe God is up to something with both of you. God is up to something. Listen. I'm not a.

All I can say is what I know. What I know to tell you. God is up to something. And so God brought you here for this message today. You're going to get out of that bad place. He's putting you on the road to what you're supposed to do. Because God is up to something. Amen? Come on. Lift those hands. God is up to something. Let's do that bridge. Come on. Let's do that bridge. Come on. Sing this to him. He is up to something. He is up to something. God is doing something. Right now. He is doing something. Right now. He is saving something. God is doing something. Right now. He is proving my worth. He is moving mountains, making a way for some, God is doing some, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. Breakthrough will come, breakthrough will come, come in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus.

All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. All of my hope, all of my hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus. I messed up, I messed up. And what makes it hardest, can I tell you what makes it the hardest? Is when you keep messing up in the same thing. Anybody know what I'm talking about? You feel like it's the same thing over, and God is here to say, that fall, that fall, that fall, you are righteous, you are getting back up out of this thing. You are getting, so that should bring encouragement. The wicked fall and stay down, they are out. That's all. But we are putting aside, no tarot cards, no horoscope. Let me just see, let me just see, I'm a Capricorn. I'm going to see, what does he have to say about Leos today? There's only one lion, lion of the tribe of Judah. You want Leo? One lion, one lion, that's it. We look to him. So today, so today, lift those hands right now and just say, God turn it around. Just say, I'm here today, this is my Ziklag prayer. Get me out of this country, to God's country. I've been in the wrong place. I've been in a hard place. But I thank you, that I'm rising up. By the grace of God, to go where God wants me. May I recover all. May I see the spoils of the enemy. And may the calling of God, the anointing of God, be upon my life. I'm rising up, as a righteous man, as a righteous woman.

In Jesus name. And everybody said, Amen. We're going to sing this one more time, but I have to say this last thing. I can't leave it, I can't leave it at that. The righteous will go back up. But you have to be righteous. You have to be righteous. How does that happen? We think that those words, righteous, simply means, I've got to stop doing all this stuff. Listen, that's not what righteousness is. Righteousness starts by believing in faith. That's Romans chapter 1. When we believe, when we accept what Christ has done for us, the Bible says we become the righteousness of God in Christ. When I understand that I am a sinner, when I understand that, man, I have a condition called sin, I can't fix it myself, there's not a prescription, a program, there's not a priest, a pastor, there's not a promise you can make to fix it. I promise never to do this again. How many have made promises and you ended up doing the same thing again? I've done that. I promise never to... Can't do that. I need God in my life. The condition is sin. How that gets fixed is when God comes in and changes me from the inside out. The Bible calls that being born again. Born again. Just as you had a first birth physically, it's a second birth spiritually. It's saying God come in and change me from the inside out. You have to be righteous. That's why some of you get nailed and you fall and you're going,

why am I rising? But you see all these people up here and you're going, man, I want that, I want that, I want that. Here's the good news for the righteous, you're getting back up. That's the good news for the righteous. Don't stay down, you're getting back up. Why is there something in you? I'm looking at this altar, like I'm looking at some of the folks that are here at this altar, some of them are here for the first service. If you're not a righteous man, you wouldn't be here again. You're going like, I want more. I want all that God has. That's what the righteous do. And you're going like, why do I feel like I'm a failure but yet I'm getting back up? That's because God's hand is on your life. It's on your life. Righteous will fall seven times. That's with frequency and intensity. Now, but if you're here today and say, Pastor Tim, I need God in my life. I need God to come in. I'm like that wicked man that the calamity just lays me out and I'm done. But I'm telling you, let God turn it around in your life. Let God come in and change you. If you're here today and say, Pastor Tim, I want God in my life. I'm not asking for religion. And I promise you, this church can't change you. A religion can't change you. There's not a mosque or a synagogue or a church that can change you.

Only Jesus can change you. Only He can. It's having a personal relationship. That's called being born again. If you're here today, I just want to pray with you. If you're here today, balcony, main floor and say, I need God in my life. I need it. If that's you, raise your hand and say, I need Him in my life. Hold it up high. Hold it up high. My goodness. Keep them up. Balcony, main floor. Oh my goodness. Okay. I want you to pray this with me. Come on. Say these words out loud. Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. I believe that on the cross you took my sin, my shame, and my guilt, and you died for it. You faced hell for me so I wouldn't have to go.

You rose from the dead to give me a place in heaven, a purpose on earth, and a relationship with your Father. Today, Lord Jesus, I turn from my sin to be born again. God is my Father. Jesus is my Savior. The Holy Spirit is my Helper. And heaven is my home. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, Amen. Hey, one challenge. Online, in person, you can text the word DECIDED to 51000. You can email DECIDED2GROWTH at tsc.nmc. But I want you to look over at Exit 7. That's to my left, your right. You're going to see those women with their hands raised. If you've raised your hand, balcony, main floor at this altar, and say, I want to be born again. I want God in my life. You can just go there. It'll take five minutes with you. Get you a Bible. And just get you started on this walk. I believe that God's going to turn it around. Amen.