Purpose

Thank God for the privilege we have to worship him every day. All his acts of greatness is goodness. What he means to us, it doesn't change. It just grows deeper in our hearts. I'm thankful for the opportunity. I was sharing with them, you know, we want to give kind of a recap a little bit and sharing with the different committee members just whether when to do it. We feel like, you know, we just had it last weekend, just a kind of a recap of what went on. And first of all, I want to say whether you were there or not, you know, the body participates in every everything we do, particularly when it comes to just prayer. I know there's people really praying for this youth camp. It was a real blessing. We probably had a little over 40 kids there of all ages from 10 to 20 probably. And, you know, there was a theme, a topic we felt like the Lord gave us. And while the Lord really just expounded upon that theme, it was anchored in God's love. And kind of a secondary part of that was how when God anchors us in his love, how that should go out to others, you know, those around us, those that just need the gospel of truth. And that shines out through us, doesn't it? And, you know, the other thing I think it's so important, there's so many facets to what the Lord, how the Lord spoke through us being anchored in love. But one is our identity, particularly with youth, you know, there's always a challenge of, you know, the things that even believers go through, young believers, you know, there's always a challenge against, wow, I failed here, I've messed up. Much of the singing even we had this morning reminds us of how, no matter where we're at in our walk and our shortcomings, that God is faithful. He's with us. But the enemy particularly likes to challenge our youth with their identity in Christ. Does God really love me, you know? And I believe the Lord really shed light on that, encouraged others, anchored that message to our youth in so many different ways that he spoke. But particularly the thing that really was the, I guess, the thrust of so much of our services. We had three services there. We did have a devotional that Saturday morning, but the services were so much worship-centered. It was amazing. I mean, there always are. I know, Miss Avis, you missed it. I know you would like to be

there, but it was, it's always a blessing every year. There just seems to be a growing spirit of worship there. And it was especially this particular youth camp, you know, so much, you know, in our minds as kind of leaders and we're thinking, okay, we're going to have a certain amount of worship and then Lord needs to speak to hearts. And that did happen. There was different ones that shared outside of worship, but so much of the gospel and what the Lord spoke to our youth was just through song, through worship, through worship and praise. You know, there's several moments during our services we'd start to wind down thinking, okay, the Lord has given us a wonderful opportunity to worship. And then the youth would come up, hey, let's sing this. Let's, can we sing this? And we're, it was just the Lord quickening hearts, quickening message in the song. And the thought I had, you know, our heart is always when youth is together is that the gospel will be proclaimed. And the Lord did that through song and worship. You know, there is truth where, um, we know the praisers go before the sword. That's scripture. We know there's worship and praise so we can have our hearts to be able to hear the word that comes forth. But there's also great truth in the songs we sing. There's deliverance, there's salvation, there's everything we need in Christ. And we witness that as a, as a group. And I just thank God for it. I want to thank you for praying for each of our, our services. We're all participants and whatever God does, whatever he shows us to do, whether through prayer, through something physically to do, God's, uh, God has us all one with one another. And I just appreciate the fruit. We know there's seeds planted, um, each of those hearts, um, and we know God can water and the fruit will come from that. So I just want to encourage us. Let's keep on thanking God for what he's doing, what he's done in our youth, and what he's doing in this church. And God is faithful. Amen. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God for all that he's doing and all he's saying to us. Amen to everything that's been said and sung this morning. God is so merciful and faithful to us. Praise the Lord. I don't know how much, how, how much longer I'm going to be wearing this monkey suit. I'll be happy not to. But anyway, I felt

like for some reason I was supposed to this morning, and I've had thoughts that I feel like the Lord wants me to share. Many of you know that a number of us were sick. A week, a week and a half or so ago, and I was one of them. And I felt like it was an experience that the Lord took me through and very in a very particular way and revealed things and made things real that were unusual. For me, it was just a mostly a three or three day ordeal and that is kind of gaining strength back and all of that. So I'm thankful for that part. It wasn't wasn't fun, but I had an unusual sense of peace. In the midst of it, I just felt totally at rest on the inside. And I had the sense that the Lord had arranged this. It wasn't just something that happened. He just the Lord had absolutely ordained that this happen now. And obviously, it interrupted plans. I was expecting to go to youth camp with Sue and Chloe and all of that. But the Lord just gave me a grace to just stop. And think and rest, don't we need that sometimes? I'll tell you this, this world will absolutely keep you in a world if you listen to it and go with it. But anyway, I think there are times when the Lord needs to do that. And there were there was a particular thought that kept coming back to me. And I'll get to it, but I'll say this, you know, I mentioned rest and I mentioned a sense of peace, isn't that what the Lord actually wants for us? Do you suppose he wants us to go around in a state of anxiety and upset about this and upset about that and fearful about this and that?

And and no. Jesus himself said, take my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle in heart, gentle and humble in heart. We're not very humble, are we? Gentle and humble in heart. And what you will find rest for your souls. And I sense the Lord wanting to teach me, but all of us. To actually experience that, because we say that we believe it with our heads. But I wonder if we're honest, how many of us actually live that way. On a day to day basis. And it just just seemed to me to really focus my attention on something that. And I'm going to go to a scripture that you're going to say, oh, no, that again. But I'm going to go to Romans eight twenty eight. But I want to I want to set it in a larger context. But then there's a particular part of that that we don't often focus on. And I'll say this before I say that. You know, for every one of us, life happens. And I don't mean just the big things like lost my job or the house burned down or somebody died or some some big thing. You know, we often will go to Romans eight twenty eight is the scripture and talk about how all God works all things together for good to those who love him and all of that. But I feel like we don't really get the full picture of what the Lord is trying to say to us. And I just over and over and over again in different ways, that that same thought came to me that things don't happen randomly. We think they do. We think life is just, you know, I stubbed my toe. Well, I was just one of these random things that happens. Was it?

All the little things that happen to us. If we really understand what the Lord is saying in scripture, there's no such thing as random. Everything has a reason. That's a that's a amazing thought, but it's so contrary to human nature because the reality is when stuff happens. We we absolutely we are emotional creatures, we're thought creatures, but we also are emotional creatures. And when something that's something unpleasant happens, that we would wish it didn't and it should have been this way and should have been that way, what do we do? What happens? What happens? Yeah, our emotions just kick in, don't they? And we don't even have to think about it. We just react. Somebody says something mean. You know, there's something in this just rises up and reacts to that. It doesn't sound a whole lot like what Jesus was saying, does it? And yet I find myself not really connecting the dots when it comes to to the little things that happen. All right. You know, you went to pound a nail and you missed and it hurt. Or again, somebody said something mean or did something and you're. You know, there's something in you that wants to lash out or, or you're sad or something, or disappointed or something doesn't, you know, could be a thousand and one little things. You, you name it. But we tend to react to every little thing that happens in our lives with some kind of emotion. Now obviously if it's pleasant, hey, great! But that's not the issue. That's not the thing that is important. Alright, somebody's got their car going, so praise the Lord. Find out whose it is and get it, get the horn to stop. So this is one of those non-random things. The Lord even planned this. So we're supposed to say, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that it happened. Alright, now we can shut the door. We can get that little random thing out of the way. No, the truth is there is nothing random in

life. And the scripture, I want to, I want to read the scripture, and then I want to kind of set it in its larger context, and then I want to get back to the, to the focus. And we know, do we thou? Do we really know this? And we know that in most things, the big, all things, what? God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His, what's that last word? Purpose. Purpose. And of course, a lot of times I've had, I've preached messages where you jump in, okay, what's the purpose? And then you kind of unlock that. It's to make us like Him and all of that. But the thought, the Lord, the Lord had me pause on that word and just kept coming back to me, kept coming back to me in so many different ways. I'd observe this and observe that. And, and then this, this idea that we think stuff just happens, and this scripture really just applies to the big stuff. This is the, this is the big picture stuff. So if something happens, okay, this, that was bad, but God, God's at work to be encouraged. Well, that's right. But how about all of the little stuff that happens? Do you think that if you stub your toe, that's just a random thing? Or did God actually plan for that to happen, for it to work something good in you? You ever thought about that before? Did that ever crossed your mind? Because it does say all things, doesn't it? Does stubbing your toe include, is that included? Is that one of the things? And here you see God is at work and you find that word purpose, meaning there's a reason for it. There is a purpose that God has in mind that has to do with His plan. It's His purpose, not ours. Our purpose of course is to smooth out life's rough edges and feel good all the time and nothing bad ever provokes those emotions. The thing is, if your emotions can be provoked, there's a need. And it's like I've said many times in the past, if someone can get you a goat, just proves you got one. And here's the Lord calling us out of darkness and bringing us to a brand new place, but there's a process that He uses in getting there and He doesn't miss a trick. We're the ones who miss it. We're the ones who blunder along, react to life, I'm emotional about this, I'm upset about that, and all of that, and we don't see the Lord. And I believe the Lord wants us to see in a greater measure. Now, if I can possibly just take a little bit of time and give you the Cliff Notes version of what Romans is about, because Paul has set this up with an amazing array of truth. Obviously it begins with the fact that the whole world is in a mess because they said

no to God. And it's not just the good people versus the bad people, it's everybody. We've all sinned. Every one of us is separated from God and the reality is there's not a thing we can do to commend ourselves to Him. We can't bridge that gap. We're helpless. We're totally dependent on what God did. And here's a God of justice who has declared the soul that sins shall die. What hope do we have if we've sinned? Well, the hope we have is that there is a representative who presented himself to God, embraced everything that has ever been wrong with me, and received the justice of God as my representative. And I'll tell you, when we embrace that, I mean we turn from our own way and we embrace that. It becomes ours in the way the door is opened. God can be merciful to us and still just because the sin was punished. What an amazing thing. And so, of course, Paul goes into it, how do you get this? How do you benefit from this? You got to work for it, right? And obviously that's not the case. He uses Abraham, Abraham believed God. God gave him an amazing promise. How did Abraham become righteous in God's eyes? He believed God. There was a heart belief, not just in the promise, but the person. And so because of that approach that's open, we have a way to get completely reconciled with God. And then he begins to come in and he begins to work on a heart level and begins to change us. It's hard to go through, but he's with us in it. And of course, we know how Paul in the middle of chapter five goes into the reality of what's God's motivation? That's kind of central, isn't it? We just talked about this morning.

What's God's motivation in dealing with us? It's his love. And so how did he prove that? That's a nice theory, nice feel good theory. What did he do about that? Yeah, that's the thing. God demonstrated his love. Didn't just tell us about it, he demonstrated it, how? In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Praise God that we might be reconciled to God. What an amazing thing that, what an amazing message that Paul was unfolding for us. Everything that we talk about in Romans and in the scriptures that God does for us is motivated by his love for us. And it's not a love that is conditional. I think that's been mentioned a number of times. It's not you do this and I'll love you. And if you don't, we're on the outs here and I can't accept you. So anyway, he goes on to that and then Paul has to deal with, okay, now the guilt of sin is gone. What about the reality that we're born with a nature that doesn't agree with that? And so he unlocks, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, but again, this is the CliffsNotes version. But anyway, he deals with the reality that when God put Jesus Christ in that tomb, he put us there with him. We died and we have the right to be set free from our old slave master. This is the slave master. It's the nature that demands that we're going to do what we want and we're going to be our own God, thank you very much. And God is saying, you don't have to listen to that anymore, I've set you free. But you're going to have to make the choices, but I've made the way where freedom is yours.

Praise God. And so then you get into chapter seven, which really begins to set this whole thing up. Chapter seven, Paul deals with basically two different ways that people serve God. Boy, we've heard about this lately, haven't we? And I think it's something we need often to hear. Because one way or another, people are serving God through some form of law. This is what he requires and I got to do it or else. And so Paul reached a point, and I believe with all my heart, God allowed Paul to go through a horrific time in his own experience, where he who had been a righteous, self-righteous religious Pharisee among the Jews, devoted to the law of God, just convinced this is what's right and now God's revealed Christ to me, I want to please him. So how do you do that? And so he set out to do it and what did he discover? Absolutely helpless, hopeless, and the Lord allowed him to experience that so he could tell us about it and make it plain. Paul said, I'm trying, I'm doing everything I know, but there's just something in here that absolutely will not let me. It's like he commands me to fly and I'm trying, but there's a law called gravity that holds me down. Well, there's a law called sin that lives in these bodies, and if you're trying to draw upon the strength of what you have naturally to serve God, you're hopeless. what Paul discovered. He said, thank God there's another way. He gives me his spirit to come and to live in the inside. And so I have the, and he gives me the power to do what he wants to live a life that's pleasing to him, to be set free from that other. That's what the whole of chapter eight begins with, a new way to serve God. The law was powerless to help me. So, and so anyway, he said that in order that the righteous, he condemned sin in the flesh in order, this is verse, whatever it is, somewhere, verse four. He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us who, who do not live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Where do I get any kind of strength to serve God? It's going to have to be from him. It's going

to have to be from him. So anyway, and then he goes on and talks about the consequences of one versus the other and how we, that's, that's the life that he wants us to live is to live by his spirit. But one thing in the middle of that is a, is a awesome truth that is so central because we've already talked about the motive of God and all of his dealings with us is love, right? Okay. Those who are, verse 14, those who are led by the spirit of God are what? The children of God, thank God, the spirit you received does not make you slaves. If you feel like a slave sometimes trying to do something you can't do, you're listening to the wrong voice. God's spirit living in us does not make us a slave living in fear and struggle, but rather gives us a sense of a father who loves his children. Praise God. The spirit you receive does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again. God does not give us the spirit of fear, but a power and love and self-control. That's his, that's what he gives us. If there's any other voice, and there is with every one of us more than we realize, it's not from God, is it? Because when stuff happens in our lives, you know, we're, we're so natured, we want to make some kind of sense of it. Sometimes it's just here, you know, random thing like stubbing your toe, but I mean, it's not random, is it? Wake up. It's not random. But anyway, I can't think what I started to say, but oh yeah, we, we react emotionally and, and we try this. There's a part of us that wants to make sense of stuff that happens and explain it. And I'll tell you the wisdom of the world and the wisdom, if you want to call it that, that comes in from the, from the other realm, from the demonic realm, it's going to explain it to you in ways that make you feel weak and helpless and hopeless and, and fearful and anxious and all the, every kind of thing you, that could absolutely militate against simple rest and faith that God wants to give us. Oh, praise God. Wouldn't it be good if we just find that place of surrender and rest and recognizing the loving hand of God. I, I feel like I want to drop this in because I guess I've said it many times in different contexts, but I, I'm very appreciative of my parents. You know, there were many times I got whacked. I deserved it. And I know that's fallen very out of fashion and I can understand it on one level because if you whack a child because you're angry, upset, that is a bad thing. But I don't ever, ever remember my parents doing it that way. You know, the scripture talks about grieving, not the Holy Spirit. It doesn't say, don't make it mad. Don't, that is a grieving. And I believe that's the

heart of God when he sees needs in us and he, but it's the heart of love. And that's what I experienced from my parents. It was, I don't want to have to do this, but I love you enough that I can't let you do this and get away with it. And every time that I experienced the whack-whack part, it always ended with them putting their arms around me and saying, I love you. And the issue was resolved. We didn't go on and, okay, now I'm, you know, living in fear. I'm going to make them mad again. It wasn't, it wasn't like that. Isn't that how God deals with us? If you think it's some other way, you're listening to the wrong voice. We have a loving, heavenly Father. He sees our needs. He knows what's wrong, and He loves us enough to do whatever it takes to carry out His loving purpose. So, of course, He goes on and talks about not only are we His children, we're heirs of something that's amazing that's coming, and even the creation itself and the mess that it's in, it's waiting for what God is going to finish as a family that's absolutely ready to step in and rule without messing it all up. And so we're putting up with a lot of it right now. We're living patiently, which involves not just waiting. It involves some endurance, just putting one foot in front of another and sticking with it, and we know that we're weak and all of that. It talks about our being weak, but He gives us His Spirit to help us to pray. I mean, you see God at every point working to carry out this amazing purpose, and He calls it glory. It's literally a glorious future. It'd be so bright our eyes couldn't take it, but we'll be equipped for that. But anyway, and so everything that leads up to Romans 8.28 has to do with what He's set forth, what He is doing in us, and we know going forward it's bringing us to a place where we're like Him. But here's the thing that I want us to see in a deeper way, and ask God to help us to see in a deeper way, because He wants people that understand.

He wants us to grow up as His children and not be just clones somehow manufactured. He wants children who grow up and understand why things happen and what God is doing. Do you believe God wants us to understand things? I know it doesn't all happen at once, that's for sure. You know, I think about the one who wrote this. God doesn't use people that have somehow arrived at this high level and can talk down to everybody. He uses people who are in the middle of it right then. And Paul certainly was. There was one point where he was talking to the, was it the Corinthian believers, and they were being besieged with false teachers and all of that, and they were coming in and bragging about themselves. So Paul says, I better do some bragging too, look at all I've been through. I'm a fool to do it, but here it is. And I'm going to try to grab the scripture real quick. There's one interesting little thing that he drops in there, so you know for sure that he's just not ... All right, so he talks about his pressure and the concern for the churches. But then in 1 Corinthians 11, 29, who is weak and I do not feel weak? Paul's writing to somebody, he said, you don't think I feel what you feel? You're wrong. I'm going through the same stuff you are, and God's given me a position so that I can help you understand it, but I'm right there with you. Who is weak and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin and I do not inwardly burn? This is Paul writing. Paul is struggling with temptation, with a pull of his flesh, with all these things. He wants to see what's going on with all of you and me. Lord knows all about it, doesn't he? And yet here he is in love and mercy, anointing Paul to write something that is meant to, not to discourage and not to say, oh boy, you guys are a mess and I'm tired of it, but

here's what I'm doing and I love you. That's his message to you this morning. I don't know what kind of struggles you're going through, but I guarantee there's not a person here who isn't going through something. There isn't stuff in your life that just constantly bugs you and gets in your way and arouses your emotions in a way that's certainly not how Jesus would have reacted. Do you think that happens without a purpose, without a loving purpose? God has a reason, a loving reason for every single thing that he does. And I find myself wanting to say, Lord, help me to understand more. Help me to learn not to just react to every little thing, but to say, Lord, help me to see what it is that you're showing me. Because if you have a particular issue with patients in a certain circumstance, whatever it is, let's just pick one, pick that kind of thing. And you constantly find yourself in that circumstance. Is there a reason for that? Do you think there just might be a divine, loving reason why you keep finding yourself in the same situation and you're reacting to it? Do you think maybe your loving Heavenly Father wants you to wake up, recognize what's really going on and stop blaming somebody or it should be this way and it's not and I'm upset and da-da-da-da or why aren't you doing this faster, you know, whatever it is. If there's something that's recurring like that in your life, do you think maybe, just maybe God wants you to get your attention? Does that mean He's mad at you? Does that mean He's just upset or He's punishing you? That's more the devil likes to take every little thing and say, oh God's punishing you, you messed up. God does discipline His children, but He disciplines those He loves and discipline is child training. It's not, you know, you broke my laws and I'm punishing you. That's not the spirit of it at all. God wants to show us a better way.

And the things that cause our earthly emotions to act and react the way that they do, where does that come from? It comes from human nature. But those are the very things that Satan uses to build strongholds in lives. We've learned a lot about that, particularly been reminded over the past year, but especially God wants to set His people and bring us, set them free, bring us to a greater place of freedom. Anybody here need that, want it? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I just, I thank God for just shutting me down for several days and where I had, I didn't have any energy to do anything anyway. Just when I was awake, just think and rest in the Lord. But the Lord did help me to do one thing and that was just to, it's okay, Lord. I recognize that you have actually done this and that you have a reason. I'm not going to go into the details. They're all personal. You understand what I'm saying though. If God does something and allows something in your life, He loves you and He has a reason. You can go on. I don't think that I necessarily need to drag this out, but this is an amazing truth when you think about it. Do you really believe what He's saying here? Do you really make the connection that it's not just the big events that happen in our lives? Oh, God's going to work to get that together for good. That means every little thing that happens, there is a divine reason. Even if the devil brings it, and often the Lord allows him to bring it, that's not the end of the story.

I mean, God said it. God allowed something to happen because it was provoking something that you needed to know about so that you could bring it to Him, not listen to the devil who wants you to feel bad and condemned and you've got to fix it so you can get back with Him, but rather say, Lord, I confess. I've certainly faced things, I mean, right up to date where I've had to say, Lord, thank you for showing me, reminding me what the real need is and reminding me that I can't just rock along and trust in myself. I have to look to you. There's a particular need and I'm bringing it before you again and I'm looking to you to help me to be stronger, to learn how to handle this and to grow. Paul was in the middle of that. He hadn't arrived. We've said that many times, but here he was saying, this is how the kingdom works. God is at work in your life. If you've been called into His kingdom, your life is not about what happens here. It's about getting you ready for that. Now, yes, there are things that we do here that are important. I get that. He cares about the details, but He is going to use every single thing. His hand is on you. I mean, this is a God who knows how many hairs are on your head. He's kind of tuned into the details. And His focus is not on this life. His focus is on rescuing you and me and changing us so that we're ready for that day when He presents us as His sons and daughters. Praise God. I just pray that the Lord will help me. in a deeper way to get this simple truth. And we know that in all things, God works.

God is invested in every part of your life, whether you're conscious of Him or not or looking to Him. He knows about it. He knows the needs you don't know. And if He's bringing out a need and you're falling in the mud because of it, is that God at work? Yeah. He knew that was the only way to get your attention. He did that because He loves you, not because He's mad at you or something of that nature. I wonder how many of us just think we're okay and we think we're rocking along. Paul did for a bit there. And then we have to find out, oh Lord. I guess I really do need you. I don't have what it takes, but you have everything. You've given me everything. And so what is our response? What is the proper response to this simple truth? Lord, thank you for everything. Lord, I trust you with my life, with everything. I commit my way to you. I trust in you. All of those things that we're exhorted to do in Scripture, do they make sense? Does this make sense with a God who is all powerful, all knowing, who has this purpose that He created in eternity and it's going to reach into eternity? I mean, think about the promise that there's nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God and Christ Jesus, the end of this very chapter. You see how the love of God just encapsulates everything. I want us to see, I want to see in my own life, better than I have, that every single detail, every single thing that happens in our lives is God at work. And there's a reason for it.

And it's a loving reason. And He wants us to bring it to Him and come to Him and talk to Him and learn from Him and grow. And there isn't a bit of condemnation in it. There's no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Do you believe that? Praise God. What a relationship. What a wonderful relationship to which God has called us. But that's the, I guess that's the central thought. I'll just say it again. Everything that happens in our lives is a loving God at work. And there is a reason for what happens, even if it's just a little thing that causes an emotional reaction. Maybe it's to teach us not to react, to learn to grow up and say, wait a minute, I don't have to be that person. He's given me His Spirit. I can grow up. And if I struggle with it, like Paul said, he was still struggling with things, but he also knew where the answer was. And so everything that happened drove him to the Lord. Not out of fear, oh God, what do I have to do to get back in your good graces? He never left His good graces. He did it because He loves you and wants you to know Him better. Wouldn't it be good if we'd learn some of these simple things and enjoy more of the rest that He promised? I want to, don't you? Praise God. To God be the glory. I had a scripture come to me and I'll just give it out and you'd be the judge.

It's 1 Thessalonians 5. You know, if we really believe that all things work together for good, then this is a tag along starting in verse 16, it says, rejoice always. So if things ain't going our way and we really believe it's, He's working it together for good, we can be, we can have that attitude of thank you Lord, you know, for whatever's going on. And it says, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances. So if you, again, if you really believe in Romans 8, 28, you know that it's working for your good and we can actually get to the point where we give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. And then down below, it talks about, you know, God's purpose in doing that is to give us peace. You know, that's the result. Praise God, Lord's good, isn't he? Anyway. So Philippians four, I was just going over that and I'll just share on verse four here. And it starts off saying this, it says, rejoice in the Lord always. I just want to ask a question, who all here always rejoice in the Lord always? That's a work in progress, isn't it? Praise God. And then after that it says, I will say it again, rejoice. I'll tell you what, Lord's trying to get a point across, let your gentleness be evident to all, the Lord is near. Listen to this, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, this is every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

And what happens when we do this? It says the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Praise God for that, I just thank the Lord for that. You know, the Lord, none of us, well, I know for me, but I think we can speak for all of us, none of us has a right at that point, but God is teaching us and helping us to learn that, isn't he? I'll tell you what, what else do we have if we can't bring our stuff to the Lord? We don't have anything, we're just dependent on ourselves, aren't we? It goes right here, it says, it has a thing that says here, it says, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things, whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you. Praise God, there's something that the Lord wants us to do and that's just to totally give ourselves to him and to trust him in everything that we do, isn't it? Praise God, the Lord's worthy of our praise. It's peaceful to know for me, and I'm sure y'all too, that just what the Lord was saying here and what the Lord said this morning, that when we bring our things to God, we are serving a God that is greater than anything.

What a great blessing to know that, that he's in control of everything and when we bring these things, he knows these things before we even go through them ourselves, doesn't he? I'm just so thankful for that this morning, that God is a faithful God. He doesn't leave us nor forsake us, praise God. Praise God, I appreciate the Lord encouraging us here this morning to just trust him in everything. I thought about what Daniel shared, that song right from the beginning, my Jesus will work a wonder. I'll tell you what, part of that wonder is he works his peace in our hearts, man. It's actually a fruit of the spirit that God has granted in our hearts, put in there, and it's actual fruit as we walk with him that he gives us. And man, I'll tell you what, that peace that we get, this world can't take away. Is that what we sing? Yeah. Usually when we lose our peace, it's because we've got our eyes on the wrong thing. Man, we're prone to wonder, aren't we? We're prone to get our eyes focused on anything, but the Lord a lot of times. So it takes a battle. It's a battle to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. But I'll tell you what,

that power comes from his Holy Spirit living in us. It reminds us the things that we go to, to get our eyes back on our source of help, our source of everything. And I thought about this as my Jesus will see you through, but I put this in there, my Jesus will see me through. I'll tell you what, my Jesus will work one or just wait and see what he will do. He's changing us little by little and day by day, folks. We keep our eyes focused on him. Tell you what, he's promised to never leave us nor forsake us, but take us all the way through to the end if we put our hope in him. He'll subtract your fears in the valley. How many valleys have you been in where the fears are coming? I'm in a season of change. Man, we sold our house there, and man, I've had a lot of sleepless nights going, man, Lord, is this really what you want us to be doing? And yesterday, just a small little testimony, we actually talked about this Wednesday, I think Dina had shared at Dyer, about just giving good weather down there for the young people. And yesterday, we got our block started laying for our new house. Praise God for that, because it's coming along. There was a chance it might rain, and Danny walks over to me and says, hey man, check this out.

There was this huge storm that went just south of us, and it missed us. And I had been praying that, Lord, let that thing pass. I didn't know it was gonna rain, but there was a possibility, and God let that storm pass by us, and we got a lot of stuff done. I was thanking God for that. You know, it may seem like a small thing, but there are no small things in God's economy. Every single thing that he ordains is for our good. He will add to your strength on the mountain steep. Are you facing mountains today? Some of the mountains are right there in the mirror, aren't they? That's a big mountain right there. But I'll tell you what, Jesus Christ has overcome this old man. He's living in us now. He's living now in me. He is my victory. Praise God for that. He will multiply the blessings all around you. I'll tell you what, you start counting the blessings that God has done for you, you can't help but start rejoicing in what he's done. I was listening to this song, it's called, What He's Done, What He's Done. All glory to the Father and the Son. He's forgiven us.

He sent his son to pay the price that we can never pay. Praise God. He'll divide the waters that are deep. Praise God. Sometimes I feel like I'm in waters way over my head, but praise God, he helps us right through there, doesn't he? I'm gonna read one scripture here. Man, sometimes we just need revival in our hearts, don't we? And that comes from spending time with the living savior. He needs to revive us. I need it every day. This ain't just a one-time tent thing. Maybe you think revival, you go to some tent, praise God for that if that's what the Lord's got, but we need a tent of revival in our hearts and minds every single day when we've got to walk with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, get our eyes fixed on him. And guess what? He starts reviving our hearts. He starts giving us strength because good thing that his word is a lamp unto our feet. I've said this before and not a spotlight because if we saw with a spotlight, what's coming, we may not go, but praise God, as his word just lights that one spot around us where we put one foot in front of the other, we're trusting him. He shows us where to put our foot each time, man, because over here could be a chasm, but man, when his light lights right here,

we can step right there as we trust him and follow him. I want to read this. It says, will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Question mark. I'll tell you what, that revival, that's when, man, when he revives us by his Holy Spirit, his presence with us, it does cause us to rejoice, doesn't it? It says, show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. I'll tell you what, man, the Lord is willing that none should perish, but all come to everlasting life, isn't he? Says this, this is something I've been asking the Lord to help me. I will listen to what God the Lord will say. This is in Psalm 85, if you're wondering, I'm sorry, I may not say that, but it says, I will listen to what God the Lord will say. Many times, it's just, maybe your prayers, it's a good time to just say, I'm gonna shut this, and I'm gonna listen to what you say, Lord, because when he speaks, the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, it starts to guard our hearts, no matter what we're facing. Let's see here, oh, this is good. It says, he promises peace to his people, praise God for that. I thought about that as Brother Phil was up here, but that's just the thoughts I had this week,

and I appreciate what the Lord has shared with us this morning, praise God. Appreciate Daniel sharing that song too.