Best Motivational Christian Compilation EVER | 3 Hours of the Best Sermons (Leave This Playing)

put God first why should you put God first you should put God first because God put you first God in Christ put us first and I want to challenge you today friends to put God first how do you put God first but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you there are two Clauses in this little verse and I think they give us two answers to that question simply to put God first you must a seek God b trust God first the text exhorts us to

seek God there are three types of people there are those who do not seek God they they don't know what real happiness is there are those who seek God but not first they are the most miserable of people and don't know why when in reality there's a civil war going on in their hearts and there are those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and they are the happiest people in the world do you want to be truly happy Thomas Aus gave the formula he simply wrote seek God not happiness seek God

seek God personally indeed you cannot seek God for someone else no one else can seek God for you it's an individual and intimate matter you must seek God for yourself Jonathan Edwards wrote a series of resolutions to govern his life the opening ones are most memorable number one I will live for God number two if no one else does I still will the this is the first and foremost and fundamental principle for seeking God there must be a personal resolve that is determined to seek God no matter what others say or do you must seek

God personally the unsaved the unbeliever May seek the benefits of God but they do not seek God the the good news is if we are not seeking God God is seeking us this is the mission statement of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew or rather Luke chapter 19: 10 for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost this is why Jesus came from Heaven down to seek Sinners and not to punish them but to save them and in a real sense every morning God by his Mercy wakes us up we must

make a fresh determination to seek God and not Chase sin Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God and here first is not first in series or order or process it is first in priority Jesus is not merely saying put put God first and your family second and your education third and you no so no no no he he is saying God is to be the most important thing in your life that is not to suggest that you should have no concern for the other areas of your life and the things that matter to you

it is to say that your commitment to God should shape and guide and govern every other area of your life you to seek God first in your family seek God first in your education seek seek God first in your ministry he desires first place he deserves first place he demands first place in your life if you put God back in first place whatever was in that spot will not go softly into the night I need you to really hear what I'm telling you see if God wasn't in that space and something else was then that

means the moment you tell that's something else yeah I'm putting God back where God needs to be that something else is not going to sit back and say okay I'm cool with that that something else is going to fight you and fight you to the place where you going to know what real resistance looks like as a matter of fact that's the first thing you're going to deal with is resistance the resistance says the devil doesn't want to say by you always remember this people of God the devil never wants to say bye the devil's

always going to try to advocate for why he needs to be in your life there are certain spirits and people that are occupying space in your life that God needs to occupy and the moment you say look I can't do this anymore I don't want to be involved in that anymore you know what's going to happen the devil's going to give you 101 reasons why you can't live without it but you got to be willing to declare I need so much of God that it doesn't matter what you say it doesn't matter what you do

I am changing and putting God back in first place that's why you got to make up your mind that God is not your backup plan God is your plan I need to say it again God is not your backup plan God is your plan Bible says in Proverbs 16:3 commit your Works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established God requires to be first in all things because his plans are the best for your life there is no failure in God and so God is Alpha and Omega he the first and the last beginning

and the end according to Revelations 22 and13 and so the Bible says in Proverbs 3:6 and I don't want you to miss this it says in all your ways acknowledge Him and He Shall direct your path in all your ways acknowledge Him and He Shall direct your path which means your plans consistently fail be and lack Direction because you fail to acknowledge Him many times we only want to take God to ticket stuff we don't want to take God the small stuff that's why you keep failing cuz you keep taking God the big stuff and

never take God the small stuff there comes a moment of your life you got to learn to take God everything I just take God everything you got to get to a place in your life where you learn how to trust God and how to rely on God and put God first because we often don't pray until we need God we don't even come to church in a consistent base until we're facing something significant that come comes a moment in your life you got to say Lord I'm putting you first if somebody can be a witness

when you put God first God will turn around and God will put you first am I talking to anybody here today that knows that God honors people that puts him first seek God first in your time beginning every day in prayer and reading and meditating on his word put God first in your time put God first in your money proverbs 3 9 and 10 says honor the Lord with your possessions with the first fruits of all of your increase and your barns will be filled to overflowing and your Vats will brim over with wine and

then seek God first in your relationships 1 Corinthians 15:33 makes it clear Bad Company corrupts good character I'll give you a simple way to spot a person who is seeking God the one who is seeking God usually hangs out with others who are seeking God seek Him First in your relationships or as Jesus says a new commandment I give you that you love one another as I have loved you so you also should love one another and by this will all men know that you are my disciples as you love one another how do you

put God first the first answer in this verse is this seek God the second answer in the verse is this trust God the verse begins with a Divine command but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness it ends with a Divine promise and all these things will be added to you Warren worby is right God's people people live on promises not explanations we don't live on explanations we live on promises and somebody here knows you can live on a promise for a long time if you trust the one who made the promise this

is God's guarantee if you put God first you'll take care of everything else people that don't have a God on their side have to worry about what tomorrow is going to bring the bottom of verse 32 says your heavenly father knows that you need all these things every need in your life is a part of the the compassionate omniscience of God in fact Matthew 6 verse 8 says that the Father in Heaven Knows What You Need even before you ask in a real sense to trust God is to pray instead of worrying the Lord gives

us a key that lets us know if he's really in first place in our lives and the key is this we find out that he's in first place by how we respond to worry worry it lets us know and for some of us uh that hits me hard it confronts me because it lets me know that even though I say God is in first place even though I declare it even though I preach about it what I worry about tells me the truth Jesus talks about the worries of this life and he contrasts them with

putting him first there's a couple of great quotes that I found this week and one is from William law and he says this if you have not chosen in the kingdom of God first it will in the end make no difference what you've chosen Instead at the end of your life it won't matter if you didn't choose him first because you will have made no difference you will have existed you might have had a few toys you might have had some people that love you you might have a great funeral but you won't have made

a difference so great quote from toer as well that says as God is exalted to the right place in our lives a thousand problems are solved all at once what would your life look like if the problems were solved without you working them but the Lord God himself began to fight your battles for you as you were seeking him first worry hijacks your future it sucks out the joy of today Jesus says for the pagans run out after all these things what am I going to eat what am I going to drink what am I

going to wear he says they're running after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and then all these things will be given to you as well it shows us that the things that the world has to worry about and work for are really God's gift to us it's a guarantee from the Lord I will take care of you when you set your heart on seeking me he goes on to say therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself each

day has enough trouble of its own is that a mouthful or what that's good stuff each day is going to have enough trouble of its own like yeah and and years will have enough trouble of their own too and sometimes more than enough so seeking him first is the key to Breaking the power of worry Philippians chap 4: 6 and 7 says be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and

mind through Christ Jesus if you if you if you are really seeking God prayer will be your first response not your last resort you you'll never get your needs met by focusing on your needs but if you seek God first by the time you look up he will provide what you need indeed if you put God first he'll take care of everything else no this is not a promise of prosperity it is a promise that God will meet your needs if you seek God you can trust God if you seek first the kingdom of God

and his righteousness then all these other things will be added to you if I could say it the way I like to say it if you take care of God's business God will take care of your business I found this to be true that when I seek God's heart he fixes my broken one yes he fixes my weighed down anxious heart Jesus says don't worry about all those things don't worry about tomorrow it's going to worry about itself seek me first go all in with me first you need to really know God and set your

heart to know him to know him intimately seek his strength CU his strength is more than enough seek it continually go all in anxiety is a thief it it steals your thoughts it steals your peace it steals your confidence it steals your joy what good has worry ever done for you all of that anxiety how's that working out is it productive it's not productive at all word is like a rocking chair makes a lot of movement but you don't go anywhere if you don't live with an anchor of Faith you're going to drift in a

sea of anxiety and most people in the world they don't have anything to Anchor they have they have no real grand scheme or purpose in life well worry is a huge problem isn't it but worry has never done anybody one ounce of good there's no upside side to worry worry is useless I like to use the example of sitting in a rocking chair you can sit in a rocking chair and rock all day and it keeps you busy but you get absolutely nowhere and that's the same way it is with worry you can worry all

day you can stay awake and worry all night you can worry for a week or a month and it's not going to do any good but it can do a lot of harm worry is a complete waste of time and energy just no shortage of things to worry about so you just have to make up your mind do I trust God for a child of God to be always anxious and always worried is in effect saying I don't trust you God you said some pretty cool things that make me feel good for a little while

when I read them but then I go out and live my real life and I don't expect that you're really going to make good on any of these things so to be consumed with worry and anxiety betrays a lack of trust in God caring for you the cure for worry is to redirect your energy and replace your anxiety the Bible gives us a name it's called casting you're familiar with the verse 1 Peter 5:7 casting all your cares upon him because he cares for you so don't carry your cares cast your cares so casting all

your cares upon Him so the thought here is to redirect your energy and replace your anxiety with what with prayer why is it that the very first thing we should do ends up being the very last thing we even try prayer it's like we know we just let this thing go and we wrestle with it and we and we it gets worse and worse and then finally we go man there's nothing left to do but pray yeah you know we should have thought that two days ago when this whole thing first started we should have

immediately let that go and cast that and then kept doing that as a process along the way Jesus said to his disciples men ought always to pray and not to faint so think of it this way when you're tempted to worry worship when you're burdened bow because when you do that you are focusing now on God's greatness your thought gets off of the concern the care of you and it gets on to God and His greatness worship and worry cannot coexist in the same heart they are mutually exclusive if you start worshiping you're going to

find your worries diminishing and if you start worrying you're going to find your worshiping diminish and I believe that one of the things that we have to have if we're not going to worry is a strong belief in the power of prayer I think if we really watch how God answers prayer sometimes we pray about things and then later on maybe six months later or even a year later God answers them and we forget we even prayed about it and so we don't give God the credit if you you have to keep a keep a

prayer Journal keep a record of the prayers that God answers and the things that he does for you how do you get rid of worry you pray and you believe that when you pray you're giving God your problem well if you're giving it to God then you can't keep it too you either give it or you keep it and so when you pray you're giving it over to God and you're saying God I'm trusting you to do something about this casting all of your care all your worries all your concerns once and for all on

him for he cares for you affectionately and he cares about you watchfully how do you humble yourself casting your care on God faith prays Faith doesn't worry Faith prays worry nullifies prayer if I'm going to pray about something then I then and worry about it too then my worry cancels out my prayer the act of prayer says God I trust you and worry says God I don't trust you doesn't the bible say that we can cast our cares upon Him 1 Peter 5:7 therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he might exalt

you in due time casting all of your care what percentage of our care 25% Lord I don't I'm worried Lord you're not going to worry enough so I need to worry about some of it if I don't worry who's going to worry casting all of your care upon him why because he cares for you James Stewart wrote a little poem it is his will that I should cast my Care on him each day he also bids me not to cast my confidence away but oh how foolishly act when taken unaware I Cast Away my confidence

and carry all my care sometimes that's what we do says cast all your cares upon Him God will take care of you 1 Peter 5:7 says cast your anxieties on him why because he cares for you psalm 55:22 it says cast your cares upon the Lord he will sustain you he will never let the righteous fall I love that because in those two texts we're given the same command cast your anxieties on the Lord don't stuff him down give them to him but you're giv two very different motivations as to why the first one is

cast it on to him why because he cares about you and the second one is casted upon him why cuz he will sustain you why do we cast our cares upon the Lord other than just he commanded it to be so because he's strong enough to do something about it and he's loving enough to want to what feels heavy to you is not heavy to him and he wants to carry those things and he wants to carry you but I like the thought that your concern is his concern it's his worry and he's not worried

it's his concern so hands up worries down or in the words of the hnst what a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and griefs to Bear what a privilege to carry Everything To God In Prayer oh what peace we often forfeit oh what needless pain we Bear all because we do not carry Everything To God In Prayer the things that you worry about sometimes you look back and you say you know God worked it out and I wasted all the joy I could have had during that time and peace and good witness worrying

about things I didn't need to worry about God took care of it listen to this this is a classic worry is blind it cannot discern the future future but Jesus sees the end from the beginning in every difficulty he has his way prepared to bring relief our heavenly father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing when you're praying oh Lord I don't know how you're going to solve this problem God says what do you mean how I'm going to Sol I got a thousand options there's so many answers we

can't see any he's got a thousand believe the promises of God believe he's with you believe he's in control no matter what the problem is God has an answer God knows and sees your situation you may feel like God's forgotten about you but I can promise you that God has not forgotten about you God is everywhere all the time and he is not surprised by your situation he knew about it before it ever happened and he's already got your Escape planned we receive Grace only by faith and worry is not Faith worry is our work

trying to do what only God can do let me say that again worry is our work trying to do what only God can do but we've got to be prepared to wait when we give our problems to God he's got a timing and it's not our timing and you know the devil sends out a little demon to sit on your shoulder well what are you going to do what are you going to do what are you going to do what are you going to do well if you don't know what what to do just say

I I don't know what to do but God does Jeremiah 29:11 claim the promises of God for I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future into hope you know sometimes we think oh God's going to do me in I've got all these problems and God says no I'm going to take care of you don't worry all these other things will be added I'll take care of your Basics I'll take care of what you need there for do not worry about

tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself George McDonald wrote few men sink under the burden of the day it's when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today the weight is more than a man can bear never load yourself so I mean it's one thing to be concerned about the needs of the day but when you start saying I'm going to worry about all these other days people are often crushed by that Matthew 6:34 says don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself each day has enough trouble of its own e Stanley

Jones said worry is the interest we pay on tomorrow's troubles because worry always operates in the past or the future you waste today worrying about yesterday or you waste today worrying about tomorrow and God doesn't want you to do either one he wants you to enjoy today and live today one day at a time you say well Joyce I just can't help it I'm just a worrior my mom was a worrior and I'm a warrior don't say that you're not just a warrior you're a child of God and his plan for you is good God

wants to set you free from worry no human being on Earth is a mistake not one of us is a mistake we were sent here specifically to do something valuable that means God had something that needed to be done that made you necessary and most of us don't know our own purpose on Earth the average human being does not know why they on planet Earth they wake up every morning go into a job they hate working with people they don't like getting paid less than they worth and dying too young from frustration because they don't

know why they exist and I discovered that the greatest tragedy in life is not death there's something worse than death the greatest tragedy in Life Is Life without a purpose nothing is worse than being alive and not knowing why this is a tragedy to live for 80 years and still didn't know why you were here that's a tragedy without a purpose life has no meaning it has no sense of Destiny no sense of precision why am I here and this is the frustration of all humans millions of people are searching for their purpose the why

of their existence maybe that includes you God has a will a plan for all of his children don't ever listen to someone tell you well you're not important anytime anybody looks at you and tells you you're not important you look at the cross and say I'll tell you why I'm important he died for for me he not only died for me but he died for everyone but everybody's important he knows all about your background all the things that you would bring up and say well God couldn't use me he couldn't do this he couldn't do

that he knows all about you he knew about you before you were ever born he has a will and a plan for all of our Lives the tragedy is that most people will never think about that they were never told that they never thought about that that God had a special plan for their life yes he does well what's God's plan for my life have you ever asked him Proverbs 3:5 and 6 for example one of my favorite passages trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not to your own understanding in all your

ways acknowledge Him and what's his promise he will direct your path just trust him see what he'll do he desires the best for you and if you've missed it so far start today and tell him Lord I don't know what you can do with what's left over but God here I am take me like I am in Jeremiah 29:1 God says I know the plans I have for you already plans to what Prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you a hope and a future I know your plans already God already finished

you before he started you the Bible says God saw you in your mother's womb in the book of Isaiah when I read this it changed my life God says remember this put it in your mind and don't forget it what is so important God says remember this I am God and there's none like me he said now don't forget that I am God God and there's none like me second I am God and I always said the end before the beginning next verse and I make known from ancient times what is yet to come I

say my purpose will stand that scripture changed my life God says I always set the end first then I back up and begin here's the good news God would not allow you to have been conceived in your mother's womb unless there was something already finished that you were born to start that means you are not a mistake you are a destined baby already finished God never begins with the beginning he begins with the end then he begins so your success is already finished only you have the unique plan God has designed for you here's what

Ephesians says for we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do the Living Translation says for we are God's Masterpiece he has created us a new in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago now stop and read that again you are God's masterpie piece before you were born he created you for your life's purpose and at the same time he was creating your work not for anyone else just for you so for that reason be very

careful about comparing yourself with others there's almost always someone who seems more gifted or more successful than you and if you're not careful you can slip into imitating that person even without realizing it if you look at somebody else for the pattern of who you should be you'll miss it because God made you special and then he threw away the plans thank him for your strengths thank him for your weaknesses once you understand the uniqueness of you you'll be well on your way to pursuing the purpose God created you for so first of all present

yourself to God and then realize I am a unique creation of almighty God he made me alone through the through the plans away there's nobody like me on planet Earth he has a special thing for me to do the secret about you existed before the world began and therefore God didn't give you birth and then try to figure out why you exist he established your destiny first and then he gave you birth that means then the secret about you cannot be discerned by human intelligence or by an IQ test how many of you have allowed

the exams in school to determine who you are and they say well you are an a student or an B student or a c student or an average student and you take that score with you from high school into old age I've come to tell you that's a lie there are people who already got your life mapped out sometime it's your your parents see and so your mother is calling you rather than God calling you how many children are living the dreams of their parents rather than God's purpose and that's why they're frustrated they're doing

things they were not born to do to please their parents not to please God I say it again no human know the truth about you because the truth about you is hidden in God when I studied the Bible every single human everyone not not not a one was different every single human that God met that disbelieved him first every one of them Abraham yes Lord you are a father of many children Abraham was Barren Moses yes Lord you are a mighty warrior and deliverer Moses was a Shepherd hiding from the law David you are a

king this kid was a Shepherd behind the Rocks you see the the truth about us is so incredible that we ourselves find it hard to believe they ain't seeing who you are yet the truth about you will defy your self concept because what your picture you have of yourself is the one that they gave you I wonder how many amazing Miracles we miss in our life I wonder how many just flat out astounding things God would do in people's life if we could ever get over caring what everybody thinks and the worst thing in the

world that you can do is go to somebody else and ask them what God wants you to do with that other people influence us oh that won't work well why would you want to try something like that well I don't think God can do that in my life listen The God Who created this world can do anything he chooses to do no matter what's been in the past that's who he is you're talking to God who works The Impossible life isn't about using God for your purposes it's about God using you for his purposes it's

about the Lord Jesus showing you how you fit into his plan and you do fit in he has a lifetime of purpose stored up for you and for me perhaps you're thinking I'm not sure what I want in God's plan what if I don't like it oh oh you will it's what you were made for if you don't Embrace God's plan you'll miss the purpose for which he created you the Bible is very clear about that this this is what Jesus said he said I am the light of the world he who follows me shall

not walk in darkness but have the light of life when you follow God's plan for your life you will be walking in the Divine wattage of God's light there's no other source of ultimate purpose all Pursuits lead to Darkness and futility if you're still afraid to present yourself totally to God do you think he'll mess up your life by telling you to do something you don't want to do or go to some place you don't want to go I can tell you by my own testimony that everything I ever dreamed of doing in my life

I found in God's purpose for me I cannot imagine doing anything else than what I've done as he has led me so many of my dreams have come true plus quite a few dreams I never even knew I had so the first step in pursuing your god-given purpose is to present yourself totally to God he loves you he wants the best for you you can trust him when you find your purpose you stop chasing things that will never satisfy you instead you find the joy of pursuing the next steps God has for you some of

you have no idea what God would do for you and the only way you're ever going to know is to step out and find out God told Abraham you leave everything that you're familiar with and you go to a place that I will show you he had to step out I want wonder how many people live with dreams and visions and amazingly great things in their heart but they're afraid to ever even take one step in that direction to see what God might do thank you Lord you're not waiting on God God's waiting on you

he's waiting to give you his best listen if you wait till you figure it out you'll never do it what do you think God will do he'll Amaze you David declares in the Psalms Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee David understood that every now and then there's going to come a moment when you need the word of God in your heart because you may not be able to have a Bible in your hand which is a nice way of saying that there all be some scriptures you

have embedded in your heart that you can draw on when you need them in life when you find all hell breaking loose in your life you got to pull on all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord when it seems like God is moving just a little bit behind schedule got to remind yourself they that wait on the Lord shall knew their strength and one of the most powerful scriptures that I want to embed in your heart today and pray that you will not leave this service another day without reminding

yourself of these words is a powerful passage of scripture that is uttered on the lips of a man named job I want to show you a passage of scripture that ought to make you shout Job chapter 13 and verse number 15 there's some powerful preaching right there no matter what version of the Bible you have verse 15 ought to read a little something like this though he slay me yet I will trust him at some moment God is not going to do what you thought God should do at some moment you're going to be righteous

and still struggle at some moment you're going to endure an experience that leaves you scratching your head wondering how a God who loves you would allow you to go have you ever been in a job moment have you ever been there when just when you thought it couldn't get worse his show enough did you ever had a job moment when if it wasn't one thing it was something else have you ever had a job moment when what you prayed God wouldn't allow happen was exactly what God brought to your doorstep can we admit that there

have been some moments when given up on God made sense there have been some moments when you told yourself this Faith thing ain't working there have been some moments when you told yourself why in the world do I get up every week go to church I got to park two blocks away I go through all of that and all hell still Breaks Loose what's the point Have you ever wanted to break up with God have you ever wanted to send God a message and tell them this ain't working out have you ever looked at what

God was doing and tell him listen you need to step your game up if you've never been there I've been there this is what you get for being faithful this is the end result of being righteous I'm done with you you ever been there and here's job losing everything children dead business gone body sick and yet he has the faith to make this kind of statement in verse 15 of chapter 13 job says if God slays me I still trust him I'll still believe in him I still have faith in God when the worst happens

I'll still trust God beloved that's where we got to land in life if we're going to make it but how how do you get there how do you get to that place where you've got that indestructible Faith how do you reach a place where you've got that trust in God that nothing can challenge and nothing can change how do you reach a place where you say no matter what happens I trust God listen to what job says clearly he says if God slays me I'll still trust him no matter what what he does I trust

in who he is real faith is not rooted in what you expect God to do real faith is rooted in you know who God is so that no matter what goes on down here I trust and believe that he's the same God up there that I know him to be no matter what the D di agnosis no matter what the layoff I trust and believe that no matter what I go through God is still real many people give up on God because their faith was not in God their faith was in God doing what you

thought God would do in response to what you did um let her pray and you don't answer and watch how quick she sto praying uh let him come to church every week and still get laid off and watch how quickly he stay at home uh let let them try to do right and wind up sick and watch how quickly they'll stop doing right because Satan's test is whether your faith is in God or whether your faith is in the outcome of what you think God ought to do and what job teaches us is that every

now and then I've got to remind myself that my faith is not in the outcome my faith is in the God that I know that I serve what he does is not limited to a formula God does what God wants to do and I trust that he's God every now and then you've got to see what's going on in your life and make a decision I trust God no matter no matter what is happening no matter how bad it hurts no matter how long it's been going on I choose to trust God I choose to

come to church I choose to pray in the morning I choose to trust God but the Bible makes it clear that we must trust in the Lord and please understand that trusting God is not an automatic behavior for Christians so don't be disc courage when you run across a Christian that struggles in the area of trusting God every day each of us must make a conscious intentional choice to trust God we have to trust God for around the corner even before we get to the corner we have to trust God for our daily bread when

the bread aisle in the supermarket is empty problem we have is that God requires that we trust him in challenging times in trying times as well as in good times we have a tendency to only trust God when he's responding the way we want him to respond we equate God's favor and God's blessings with God's yes to our requests we value God's presence when things are going well but we struggle with God's presence when things are unfolding holding in an unpleasant way we have this tendency to only trust God with the things that we like

we lose our trust when we're in circumstances that require God's intervention so we have to trust his timing we have to trust his choices and we have to trust his ways we have to trust him when you know it's him and you have to trust him when it seems like it's all a mystery to you you have to trust God when you don't like the people you around God allowed you to be there for a reason so you got to trust God's reason you got to choose every day and every moment to trust him completely

regardless of how things look or oh my God turn out anybody can trust God when the sun is shining and when the Winds of blessings are blowing but by now we all know that life just doesn't work that way there are some dark nights and some long days there are some times when you can't tell East from West there are some days when you don't know if you going to make it until the evening time and yet in those situations he's calling on us to still trust God you got to trust Jesus when you can't

trace him when you you have to wonder is he nearby was he already here is he behind this blessing is he aware of my mess and with all those questions looming in your mind you still say Lord I trust you but I do know this as a Believer God is there with you walking with you through this all you have to do is just continue to trust him keep our eyes on him James says listen James chapter 1 says that these these testing of our faith they produce endurance and maturity so God wants you to

grow during this fire he wants you to keep your focus on him not the fire so listen you're having some struggles in your marriage what if you focus on Jesus first not the problems you got some financial problems you're looking at those bills instead of focus on the bills what if you focus on Jesus who can provide anything for you you can become more like him even through the fire because he is with you do you feel abandoned do you feel overlooked you feel marginalized you feel undervalued you feel like your spouse and you've grown

distant you feel like you haven't heard from your son who went off to college and you're starting to get worried and you're wondering God are you faithful God are you true God are you there look at this promise he says I will come to you I am not a negligent father I am not far from you I'm on the the inside of you I will come to you time and time and time and time again I am faithful I am true I do not change so I'm here to tell somebody who's going through the fight

of their life or the storm of a lifetime and you got questions and you got concerns and you got stress and you got anxiety and you got fear and you're going God where are you I want to remind you we have a promise that he is faithful he is true and he will never leave you nor forsake you every single one of us here is facing some form of a battle I do not know what it is but God does it may be health related maybe some people are battling some really serious health concerns some

of you maybe just found out and you're looking for answers or it could be Financial maybe challenges with the current finances or decisions you want to make about finances moving forward that is the battle or it could be relationships or maybe the lack of relationships or a really strained relationship or a relationship you're asking whether you should keep on whatever your battle is the bad news is I don't know it the good news is God does and he wants to encourage Us by saying the Lord God is the one who will fight that battle for

you and give you the victory if we will let him let God fight your battles we've got a Lord that says I will fight your battles for you I've got your back Jesus is saying I've got this I've got this don't let your stomach be tied and Nots over this thing don't worry about this thing to worry yourself sick don't let it paralyze you Jesus says stand still rest in my grace rest in my love question question do you really trust God through your battle that you're going through do you have faith that even if

some of the things he's saying don't seem logical to you that he will take you through have faith it may be that in your life right now you're facing a battle you're asking God to answer it in a certain way and he's not answering it the way you want some of you are saying Lord anal why is it taking so long this battle is protracted I have no answers let me encourage you once again have faith trust God it is a wonderful thing to know you're not alone it's a wonderful thing to know that God's

going to fight your battles for you you're not alone you've got the best bodyguard in the world and he never leaves you and never forsakes you you've got a wonderful savior who has his eye upon you who knows every trial and difficulty you go through he is the Christ that takes the burdens off our shoulders he is the Christ that works in our life to break the bondage of sin he is the Christ that takes us through to the promised land this is our Jesus wherever you are in the Journey of Faith he's going to

take you through wherever you are in your Wilderness wanderings if you believe and trust him he's going to take you through whatever red sea stands before you that appears impossible to open this God this God is going to open that sea for you to the glory of his name God fights our battles for us God will fight your battles for you and he will win them and that's a good way to live your life it's a wonderful way to live he will help you he wants you to trust him and put your faith in him

and he will remove all those worries that you have over certain problems or Temptations or whatever may come God wants you to remove those worries in those troubles and be free he wants to give you freedom and give you the joy you ought to have in this life let me ask you what do you turn to in times of trouble when you face trouble is it your first reaction to stop and say okay God I know you're control of everything I know you're protecting me right now protecting me at work protecting me from this persecution

protecting me from in the in the midst of this heartbreak you're with me God uh you're you're who I want to turn to first God he says when the Earth gives way have you ever felt like the world around you was falling apart that relationships end out of the blue that that a job turns South a family member gets sick you get in a wreck your car breaks down it just seems that everything around you is falling apart it seems that life is biting you what are you grasping for in that time that will really

Define your faith that will really Define what you believe is that when everything's falling apart what are you grasping for what are the constants what are the things that will hold you up God is our refuge that word just means literally shelter from danger he's a shelter we cling to or run to in danger and not just our refuge but also our strength God is in control and as if we've come into the family of God he is not just he's not fighting us he's fighting for us so don't lean on your control find peace

in his control do not lean on your control but find peace in God's control faith moves ahead not because it sees the solution but because it has absolute confidence in The God Who has the solution you're never without a way you may not know what the way is and I may not know what it is but God knows the way you know when we get anxious when we use today trying to solve tomorrow's problem when you spend your time today trying to figure out what you're going to do tomorrow or the next day why doesn't

God show us everything and tell us everything because then we wouldn't have to trust him and he wants us to trust him day by day one moment at a time he's not ever going to put something in your path that's impossible for you to do because the Bible says all things are possible with God they may not be possible with man but they're possible with God you keep believing and God will keep keep working and I can tell you that whatever God has promised you it's going to come to pass I can't tell you how

long it will be I can't tell you if it'll be easy or hard to get there but I do know this from the word of God and from experience our God is faithful and he will not leave us alone with no answers what's upsetting you what's keeping you awake at night God is saying release it to me I'm in control I'm ordering your steps I'm working behind the scenes it may not be good but I'm going to turn it for your good the scripture says those who have believed enter into rest once you believed you

don't have to figure everything out you may not see anything changing you'll be tempted to worry stay at rest when you're at rest you're showing God that you trust him say God I trust you I know you're in control of these winds they can blow me forward backward left right but one thing I'm certain of where you take me is exactly where I'm supposed to be Psalm 55 says cast your burdens on the Lord release the weight of them and he will sustain you how many weights are you carrying around the weight of worry the

weight of what you don't understand the weight of how am I going to make it through this tough season there's something you have to do God is not going to take the burden away you have to release the worry release the frustration release having to figure it out come back to a place of Peace the right attitude is God my life is in your hands I commit my dreams my family my finances my health to you I'm not going to fight everything I don't like I'm not going to live upset when it doesn't go my

way I know you're working all things for my good I trust your timing I trust your ways what's the mountain in your life what's the mountain that needs to be moved what is the mountain in your life that you were saying it's never moved it hasn't moved it's not going to move it never will move what's the problem that's too big to solve what's the what's the challenge that's too big seemingly too big for you to take on is it too big for God God is in the Mountain Moving business but you must not doubt

Jesus said if you have faith like a mustard seed God can move the mountain nothing will be impossible for you a little bit of faith in a great big God is more than enough God is more than enough we want to focus on how big the mountain is Jesus said get your eyes off the mountain just focus on having a little bit of Faith Moving Mountains can I ask you this question have you ever moved mountains have you ever done the impossible and what mountains would you like God to move now you know what I

find we all believe in God but we don't do much Mountain Moving I want you to look at what I consider to be one of the greatest Promises of God found anywhere in scripture let's read what the scripture has to say Mark 11 starting at verse 22 and Jesus answering say to them have faith in God now I have that underlined and highlighted in my Bible remember it's not us it's not having faith in us it's having faith in God that makes everything change for verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say unto this

mountain be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass he shall have whatsoever he saith therefore I say unto you whatsoever things ye desire When you pray believe that you shall receive them and ye shall have them now he wasn't talking about rearranging the topography or the geography of the area he was talking with a figure of speech that we still use to this day they use this figure of speech when something was so forboding

so impossible it was ridiculous to think anything could be done about it now we in our speech still uses we say I'm under a mountain of worry right now a mountain of debt a mountain of concern a mountain of torment and God says I am the Mountain Moving God well God says I'm inviting you to be a Mountain Mover God wants you to live with such an audacious bold Faith a mountain-moving declaration of faith that comes from your lips that causes the world around you to Marvel how does that happen it starts with the words

you speak Mountain Moving Faith speaks Mountain Moving Faith also though prays Mountain Moving Faith prays because I think we have to back up here and say okay where does the fuel for Mountain Moving Faith come from where does the fuel from Mountain Moving Faith where will it come from what will ignite the flame to believe God in a way that everybody watching you would say that's foolish that's unreasonable and you can stand and go no the mountain will move where does that where does the fuel for that come from look at verse 24 therefore I

tell you whatever you ask in prayer believe that you have received it and it will be done for you or it will be yours if your words aren't Faith filled then you need to back it up and go how much time am I really spending with God because the more time you spend with God the more faith filled your words get this is why Jesus again and again and again talks about the importance of asking so you go to Matthew chapter 7 ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock

and it will be open for you for everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks it will be opened or which one of you if his son asks for bread we'll give him a stone or if he asks for fish we'll give him a serpent if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him then you go to John's gospel and in John's gospel Jesus again and

again and again talks about asking John 14 whatever you ask in the name in my name this I will do that the father may be glorified in the son if you ask anything in my name I will do it here's the thing when you don't ask God it it diminishes the glory that God gets through your life take stock of that for a minute but he gets Glory through you bringing your need to him and saying God I recognize that you're the one who can meet this need that glorifies God it makes him look mighty

it makes him look awesome it makes him look powerful which he is but it puts that on the screen of your life John 15:7 if you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you chapter 16 until now you have asked nothing in my name ask ask ask ask and you will receive that what that your joy may be full two results of you asking that Jesus points to in John God gets glory and you get joy God gets glory and you get joy when

you ask your good perfect holy heavenly father to do what only he can do for you it glorifies him and it fills you with joy because it reminds you of how good he is how good he is that he will Marshall the resources of Heaven to provide for his children Jesus says it's prayer it's prayer that fuels a faith-filled declaration because Public Power always follows private prayer Public Power always always follows private prayer this is true in the ministry of J Jesus it was true in the life of the Apostles it's true throughout the pages

of scripture and it's true in your life much with God he's much with you because he wants mountains to move in your life he wants it to happen first of all if you want to move a mountain Jesus said pray he makes it very clear he says you need to pray and ask for these things from God a lot doesn't happen because we never ask we don't believe Mark 6:46 and when he had sent them away he departed to the mountain to pray before you can move mountains you need to have a mountain of prayer

you need to be living a life of prayer if you want to move mountains the day you want to move a mountain cannot be the first day you start praying he said Matthew 7:7 ask and it will be given to you seek and you'll find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds or to him who knocks it will be opened and the words there are asking seeking knocking it's talking about continued effort or what man is there among you whose son asks for bread will

he give him a stone or if he asks for a fish will he give him a serpent if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those that ask him so notice ask ask ask seek seek knock knock pursue these answers these Miracles so we need to pray not only in the good times but in the bad times but we need to have lives of prayer that's one of the keys and you can have an Earth shaking

experience and move mountains now the devil's going to try to get you stopped from the get-go because the devil's not worried about us till we get prayer rolling and then the devil's defeated and there is nothing more powerful than prayer it's the most powerful thing in the universe because it moves the arm of the almighty the god with whom nothing is impossible but he says here's the first key number one you got to ask you got to ask be thou removed whoever shall say un this mountain be thou removed verse 24 therefore and say whatsoever

things you desire When you pray believe you got to ask what are you asking for that's out of bounds possibly something you say only God could do this only God what exactly are you asking for now he says you have not because you ask not has anybody ever watched you or me ask in faith believing for the impossible or are we just too comfortable playing it safe do you have any idea how powerful and ask is with God ask you want to move mountains ask what would you like to see God to when we get

to heaven I'm afraid the Lord's going to say to me David you asked for so little didn't you read these passages do you not understand I'm all powerful listen to what the scripture says Matthew 19:26 with men it isn't possible With God all things are possible Mark 9:23 if thou can believe all things are possible to him that believeth Mark 10:27 with men it is impossible but not with God for With God all things are possible Luke 18:27 the things which are impossible with men are possible with God God says there's nothing I can't do

I am all powerful what do you want in your marriage how do you want your life to be used ask ask in faith believing he said if you have the faith of a grain of mustard seed that'll do it you can't do it but he can how can this mountain ever move how can this complicated situation ever change how can how could this ever be turned and become a blessing how can how can this be how it's it's a question that's been asked probably a billion times how how can this be H how can this

be done how can I get through this how is this ever going to how is this going to work out how will this ever be changed how God knows how it's profound but simple as mindboggling as it seems to us he knows how he knows how to do what we can't do he knows how to make happen what we can't make happen what is impossible with us he knows how to do God knows how to do Miracles I don't know how to do Miracles but God does he knows how to give Victory when we can't

see how he knows how to provide we can't see how don't worry about the how he knows how even something never been done before God knows how he's done a million first he's done millions of never been done before think about it Millions have never been done before you name it he knows how he knows how to set you free he knows how to forgive he knows how to give you a brand new life completely from forgiven of sins he knows how to be there with you I'll never leave you I'll never forsake you he

knows how to make life good again God Is Bigger Than My circumstance he's bigger than who I am I will trust him even though you can't see how he knows how many of you are going through storms maybe a storm on your job storm in your marriage storm with your kids storm with your parents storm with your physical being storm with your finances storms that we don't invite storms that come from people we think that love us storms that come from seemingly nowhere but there they are so what do you do when everything you trusted

in collapses in a storm how do you prepare for a sudden change in your life and how do you recover when when life hits you on The Blind Side and some of you know what that feels like what do you do after a lifetime of hard work and dedication and commitment and loyalty how do you change your vocation and skills suddenly when they release you from your job when all your skills that you learn they don't need anymore what do you do when the rug is pulled up from under you as we all know is

happening to so many people how do you face the family you once Left Behind to go back home because you couldn't pay the rent and the mortgage you have to go live with your parents again the storm has many Origins the answer is only one you can't bring anything to God that's too big for him you cannot you can't bring anything to God that's too heavy for him he can handle it you can't bring anything to God for which he does not have a perfect answer every single time he will make your way clear he

will give you a sense of confidence and boldness and assurance that you can stand anything that comes your way and sometimes God allows very difficult situations in our life to do what to grow us up and I think that if God allows a storm in your life that his ultimate purpose is to bring you out stronger a storm this kind of trial is an un expected circumstance that invades your life where you don't know if you're going to make it or not let me tell you something else about a storm a storm is always designed

to increase your faith and give you a deeper experience with your God storms aren't Pleasant they aren't comfortable and sometimes they can be lifethreatening but they always come with a purpose a storm in your life can destroy you or it can develop you it can build your strength your wisdom your knowledge your understanding your commitment your devotion your faith Your Serenity your peace your joy in your life that is some storms when God gets through working them into our life we're just so much better off we're cleaner we are purer there's more peace there's more

joy because you know you're in the center of the will of God so sometimes they develop us sometimes they destroy us he doesn't want a storm to destroy us and the truth is only when we allow Satan to get a grip on us in the times of difficulty will it happen all kinds of Storms Come and they come in different seasons in life but what I like about life is God says that as long as the Earth endures there'll be sea time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and nothing Remains the

Same in a season seasons are always temporary and the key to life is outlasting the season in other words seasons are always moving and never respond permanently to a temporary problem this is very important because when you are in a dark moment sometime you think that that's a permanent address but never make a permanent decision to try and solve a temporary problem this is what happens in divorce many times in in in a marriage you go through a very tough moment I mean hell on Earth and believe me you got a choice am I going

to make a permanent decision at this point or am I going to outlast this season and and make it through this dark moment it happens with friendships it happens with even jobs it happens with business sometime you want to quit the business life is so tough but everything is seasonal and that's the encouragement of life God never wants your circumstances he want doesn't want you to deny them a storm is a storm you don't call it a Sunshine Day a storm is reality but he never wants your circumstance to Trump his word not only does

he not want your circumstance to Trump his word he doesn't want your circumstance to Trump his presence cuz he's on the boat too and so Jesus speaks to the problem and when he speaks to the problem there is a circumstantial change trials as inconvenient and as painful as they are are a journey of discovery of who you're dealing with and no matter what you're going through you can mark this down there is a promise in the word of God that will match what storm you're going through this infinite God of ours who gave us the

revelation of himself because he's omnicient he watch this he knew every single kind of storm that could ever come upon Humanity from Adam and Eve in the garden to this present day until he comes back and wraps it all up he knows all about all storms so therefore when he gave us his word how many storms does his word cover all of them you cannot think of one he does not consider know that storms are natural stop being shocked that things are tough can I say it again stop being shocked that things are tough stop

being shocked that you lost your job stop being shocked that the business going through a tough time why storms are natural storms are temporary there's no permanent hurricane there's no permanent earthquake there's no permanent tsunam Army there's no permanent Cyclone they are all temporary storms confirm how strong you are no matter how much you claim you got faith storms will test whether you got it or not storms reduce you to God again or what anchors you when a storm hits you what anchors you or do you just drift along with it the word of God

is our anchor now think about this for a moment storms are in inevitable our anchor is immovable it doesn't move it doesn't change it anchors us solid to the rock of Christ the word of God anchors our storm now watch this because he is omniscient all knowing he knows where I am in the storm because he's I'm the present he's with me wherever I am in the storm and because he's omnipotent he has the power to bring me through the storm that is the anchor how do I know that's the anchor because that's who the

Bible says he is that he is all knowing that all presence is in his presence and he's all powerful you may not feel very strong you may not feel very powerful but you can be wise and the wise thing to do is to Anchor your life on the rock of God's unchanging truth what are you building your life on you building It On Pop Culture you build it on personal opinion or you building it on the unchanging Rock of God's Eternal Truth where do you build on Sand or rock the storms come to both houses

Christ was saying look whether you in a secure house or a shaky house the storm don't care it's coming expect the storms to come everybody will face storms that's what Christ is saying whether you are build on the rock or the sand the storms come against you if the storm hits everybody then the issue in life is not storms don't worry about the storm it come in anyhow you got to focus on something else in other words Storms Come to expose what you built on you got to focus on am I built in the right

way the structure is more important than the storm in other words you are never remembered by what you avoided in life you are remembered by which you what survived never trust a person who a been through no storm why because you are not remembered by what you avoided how do we know David golad how do you know Joshua the wall how do we know Samson the Philistines how do we know Moses Pharaoh if you ain't got no problem you ain't got no reputation a calm sea never produced a good sailor how would you like to

go on the Seas with a sailor who had never been on trouble Seas if you're going to have a good life it means you're going to go through stuff but the purpose of that stuff isn't to harm you God allows it or causes it to grow you up to grow me up what do you got to know first of all he says you got to know that the testing of your faith develops what perseverance and perseverance must finish its work in your life so that you may be mature and complete and not lacking anything the

only way to live a life of No Lack is to be tested by storms and he says have pure joy when they come because you know that this storm is going to leave you a better person a stronger person with more stable perseverance in other words don't leave the class stay in the class until perseverance has its complete work a storm can put you on the Shelf so that you never used of God or it can equip you to be a fantastic servant of God it's our response and our response is determined by a number

of things one of which is our view of God how how do you see God if I see God as this legalistic strict God who's just chalking off my bad points or do I see him as a god of love and compassion and kindness and forgiveness and purpose and desire to use you in some fashion some way how do you see him how do you how do you picture God that is when you think about God and you're a child of his and you've been saved how do you picture him is he in other words

is he on your side or is he on the side of something else do you see him behind these storms with anger or do you see him an awesome loving God sending into your life something that you don't like he knows you don't like it but he knows it's best for your life at this moment in time how do you see him if somebody says well what is God like if you want to know what God is like look at Jesus here's what Jesus said if you have seen me you've seen the father he was

not talking about physically he's talking about who he is the person if you've seen me you've seen the father I am the father are one I only do those things that I see the father doing so let me ask you a question what is it about Jesus that some of you do not like what is it about Jesus that you don't like I I'd like somebody to tell me somebody who doesn't believe in him well just tell me what is it about him you don't like what did he do wrong zero when the storm comes

he says he will not allow you to be what tested beyond what you can bear so if you if he allows it he trusts you a storm is a message from God about what he thinks about you and if you lost your house cuz you you can handle lost house why I got another one coming bigger than that in other words every storm that comes is God saying to you go girl you can handle this come on son you could handle this I won't allow it if you couldn't handle it that means if it comes

you got what it takes to overcome it so sometimes what appears to be storms in our life may be a storm but on the other hand the question is what what God doing in the storm and you can mark this down whatever the storm is he's at work he's it work in the storm he's up to something good in every single storm if we'll just trust him we are all sailing across the sea of Life some of you are in a great storm right now listen closely God didn't promise smooth sailing but he did promise

that you're going to reach the other side some of you have lost your jobs some of you are going through marriage crisis some of you are experiencing business failures or business reversals some of you are going through a time of family illness some of you have experienced unexpected tragedy that's stricken like lightning striking you out of a Clear Blue Heaven but what can we learn from chaos what can we do to survive the coming storm what to do when you feel like you're going under when chaos rains when fear grabs you by the throat and

tries to drown you what to do chaos doesn't mean that something is wrong with you chaos doesn't mean that God is angry with you God doesn't love you or that God has rejected you chaos does not mean that if you you were in the perfect will of God you wouldn't be in that storm let me tell you this very candidly chaos is a normal part of life and living struggle is the essence of growth and development a Mighty Oak begins with a little seed that is planted in the soil and fights its way up only

to face the winds the rain the snow the the blazing sun an endless adversity year after year to become a beautiful magnificent oak tree because it's only in the storm that your faith can grow it's only when your faith is tested by fire that you really know how pure your faith is it's only when you are tested that your character can developed only in the storm can you discover the power of God to deliver you only in the storm do you call upon the Lord and find him to be the everpresent help in the time

of trouble the storm develops your confidence and as your confidence is so is your capacity that means that God sent to David a lion to whip and then a bear to whip before he sent the giant God has you fighting the fight you're fighting now because it's a fight designed to develop your confidence and when you win this one the next one will be a little bigger and you'll have the confidence because of your past Victory and when you win that one you'll win the next one and the next one and the next one because

God is transforming you into a lion of God because God doesn't answer instantly doesn't mean he's not going to answer because God's delays are not God's denials he's waiting for persist assistance to overcome resistance he's trying to develop in you the character of endurance for those who endure to the end the same shall be saved the resistance of water is necessary for ships to float the resistance of air is necessary for a plane to fly the resistance of gravity is necessary for you to walk God put you through through a struggle to develop you into

who you're going to be in the kingdom of God God used no one in the Bible until he put them through the University of adversity before he allowed them to be a leader in the kingdom of God you will have your adversity you will reach the other side but God is going to make a champion of Grace out of every one of you listen to me when you focus on the threat you will experience fear when you focus on Jesus you will experience faith when you struggle when you go through adversity think about the possibility

that God is using your struggle and your adversity every opportunity has difficulty and every difficulty has opport opportunity it's only when you come to grips with a difficulty that you will realize your potential stop looking at your circumstance and start looking at your opportunity the things you trust in today will fail you tomorrow people will fail you how many brides and grooms have walked the aisle of the wedding chapel stood before God and made a covenant and they put their complete Trust another person and that person broke that Covenant and broke their heart how painful

how chaotic what ocean of anger flood the soul when that happens what Madness where is God to allow something like that to happen listen it's not the end of the world in time your heart will heal the sun will shine again you will sing again you will love again you may think there's no answer answer for me oh God God has a,1 answers you haven't thought of where do you go when the storms of life are greater than what you can endure when the storms are great when the winds and the waves are crushing your

dreams where do you go you go to the one whom WIS and waves obey his name is Jesus he is The Rock he is the savior it's 2:30 in the morning and you cannot sleep you roll from one side to the other you pound your pillow nothing helps everyone else sleeps but not you and so it's 2:30 in the morning it becomes 3:30 and you still haven't slept and anxiety begins to have its way with you another hour passes you cover your head with a pillow you feel like crying what a mess what does all

this anxiety mean all this insecurity all this trepidation all this worry all this restlessness what does it mean well it means simply this you are a human being you're not stupid you're not emotionally underdeveloped you're not immature your parents didn't fail you it doesn't mean you failed them and this is important it does not mean you're not a Christian Christians battle anxiety Jesus did and the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before his crucifixion he prayed for the cup of suffering to be taken away for him and he prayed with such ferocity that that the

capillaries burst and rivlets of of crimson rolled down his face Jesus battled anxiety he faced fears but he fought through his fears and surrendered them to God and fulfilled his mission and anxiety did not win and such is God's plan for you anxiety comes with life but it doesn't have to dominate your life God's plan for you is not a life that is drenched in anxiety it is his will that you and I learn to live a life that is characterized by calm and not chaos by peace and not panic you ever felt nearly swamped

in your life like I'm still showing up but barely I'm making it and I'm smiling but nobody knows what's really behind this smile the things I think about some days I just want to run away from it all I want to suggest something to you today about the storms of anxiety in your life and the waves and the winds that are blowing in your life cuz man the winds will blow they will blow absolutely abolutely and the waves will break and they will crash no doubt about it there are some things that you're afraid of

that make no sense from Heaven's perspective there are some things that are causing you to shut down they're paralyzing you that are senseless when you put it in the context of who God is in you and what you mean to him and he says I want you to train your your heart to be anxious for nothing if you're following after God's purpose you got no reason to ever be anxious be anxious for nothing how how can some can somebody really live a life in which they're anxious for nothing do not let yourself be caught in

a state of Perpetual anxiety that's what he's saying it's impossible to lead a life free of anxiety but we can discover a life that is void of Perpetual anxiety anxiety comes with life but it does not have to dominate our lives you see anxiety depression and unhappiness they all come from a sense of powerlessness they all come from a sense of powerlessness so when you're powerless you feel anxious when you're powerless you feel depressed when you're powerless you feel unhappy so the the idea that that you're powerless over your debts powerless over the sentence powerless

over the battle that somehow it's up to you to try to make it happen that will bring you sadness it will bring you anxiety it will bring you so we only get anxious about something because we're not certain about what the outcome is going to be why would you be anxious about something you're sure about you know when you're rooting for your favorite team when it's live and it's happening and there and the game is really close and it's down to the last minute you get anxious about it it's just an example that that just

is shows how our emotions operate you understand the anxiety when you when when it's close and when it's on the edge because you're not sure but let me ask you something if you already know and if you're watching you would have no anxiety why cuz you already know the outcome right see you have no fear and no anxiety when you know the outcome well the outcome of whatever your need is is my God shall supply it so when you know the outcome anxiety leaves you there's a pathway out of the valley of fret and God

has used the Apostle Paul to sketch the map in this passage from Philippians 4: 4-8 rejoice in the lord always again will say rejoice let your gentleness be made known to all men the Lord is at hand be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and Minds through Christ Jesus person would be hardpressed to find a passage more practical and applicable to our day and age wouldn't you agree so what

can we do Paul lists here four helpful ideas for winning the war on worry and if you want to move from chaos into calm consider what Paul says first celebrate celebrate God's goodness rejoice in the lord always the Apostle writes with chains dangling from that Roman jail cell rejoice in the lord always he writes with no penny in his pocket and perhaps the sound of the footsteps of the Executioner in the hallway rejoice in the lord always he writes beneath the shadow of Nero and the threat to the church he says not just rejoice in

the lord always his point is don't don't meditate on the mess the more you stare at the problem the bigger it gets the more you stare at the problem the bigger it gets so when you have a problem lift up your eyes and rejoice in the Lord the minute the anxiety comes rather than giving into to the anxiety you lift up your eyes and you rejoice in the Lord this was the counsel of the psalmist he said I will lift up my eyes to the hills from when comes my help my help comes from the

Lord who made Heaven and Earth do you see the intentionality in those words I will lift up my eyes this was a decision that the psalmist made the Apostle Peter is a testimony to this you remember how when the storm struck the Sea of Galilee he knew what 10-ft waves could do to a fishing boat and Peter Cried Out Lord if it's really you then command me to come to you on the water and Jesus said come and Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus but when Peter saw the wind and

the waves he became afraid and he began to what sink as long as he kept his eyes on Christ he was able to do the impossible but when he saw the wind and the waves when he turned his gaze away from Christ he began to sink if today you feel like you're sinking or the next time you feel like you're sinking lift up your eyes set your Gaze on Christ rejoice in the Lord rejoice in his sovereignty is God greater than your problem has God ever faced this problem before does God have Solutions you've not

thought of has God got you through these types of things before does God have a good track record is God strong is God Sovereign is God still on the throne is he overall see how you lift that up you're rejoicing in the Lord you're lifting your mind away from the problems and you're setting your mind on the one who can solve it do not meditate on the mess so you rejoice that's what it means to rejoice in the Lord oh I've got a great God I've got a wonderful father I rejoice in the Lord and

then the Apostle says having done that you'll be ready to ask God for help you've calmed yourself down now you ask God for help let your requests be made known to God you see fear triggers either despair or prayer so Choose Wisely God said call on me in the day of trouble Jesus said ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and the door will be opened to you the path to peace is always paved with prayer that's why the devil doesn't anxiety has gone you can now Place gratitude

gratitude look what the Apostle says he says in everything by prayer and supplication with what Thanksgiving Thanksgiving anxiety and gratitude cannot share the same heart test me on that try it sometime the next time you're anxious begin to make a list of things for which you're great ful because anxiety and gratitude refuse to share the same heart so you leave your concerns with him you fill your heart with gratitude and then lastly meditate on good things don't let anxious negative thoughts take over your mind you cannot control your circumstances but you can control how you

think about them peace comes from a stream of thinking from a stream of thinking because you could be a Christian be born again and on your way to heaven but have no peace why because of what you're thinking because of what you're meditating on because of what you're dwelling on what you're focusing on what's going through your ear you know in between your ears what's going on in your head in between your ears listen this is why so many Christians fail is because they're trying to obtain and struggling for a victory that Jesus has already

given you see if for example if you think about one of the things he promised he would do for you is it says my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and Glory if your mind is constantly on the fact that God will supply you will have peace so you could have all the money you need and not have peace but you could you could have an empty bank account and have peace cuz you believe the promise that he will supply you see the peace doesn't come from the money in your account

the peace comes from your thought and your mind focused on what God said he would do and your confidence that he will do it because he's done everything else that he said he would do some years ago I wrote this in a journal I read it quite often today I will live today yesterday has passed tomorrow is not yet I'm left with today so today I will live today relive yesterday no I will learn from it I will seek Mercy for it I will take joy in it but I won't live in it the sun

has set on yesterday the sun has yet to rise on tomorrow worry about the future to what gain it deserves a glance and nothing more I can't change tomorrow until tomorrow today I will live today I will face today's challenges with today's strength I will dance today's Walts with today's music I will celebrate today's opportunities with today's hope today may I laugh listen learn and love and if Tomorrow Comes may I do it again the next time that anxiety awakens you at 2:30 in the morning would you believe what I'm suggesting to you and that

is it is not God's will that you lead a life of Perpetual anxiety that your heavenly father will help you he will help you pull out the roots of your anxiety he will help you deal with the fears that face you with human test the key is knowing all the answers but with God's test the key is not knowing all the answers with God's test the key is trusting God to know the answer you've got to trust God in the testing now in the Bible a test is a trial that purifies and prepares the heart

a test is a a trial used by God to purify and prepare the heart you are being tested always you're being prepared you're being purified we're always being shaped again if you fail to see this then you'll interpret the challenges of your life as random issues that you just want to avoid you'll try to avoid any challenge now nobody gets excited about tests but if you understand that you serve a master Weaver who's going to weave all of this together you will be able to discover that there is purpose in the troubles that come your

way for when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow so let it grow for when your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect and complete needing nothing God's goal on on Earth is not to make you happy God's goal on your life is to grow you up to spiritual maturity happiness comes from Holiness and and in heaven you're going to be happy for trillions and trillions of years this is the growing stage this is the development stage not everything works perfectly and not everything goes the way you want it to

go because God is much more interested in your character than he is your comfort now one of the ways one of the ways that God grows you up is by testing you you know when when you work out in a gym you you test your muscles by lifting weights and the more weight you can lift uh the more it tests your muscle the more it grows your muscle and God builds your character the same way through a series of tests and those tests test your faith they test your character they test your patience they test

all kinds of things in your life now the good news behind that is that there is a purpose behind every in your life problems are not simply arbitrary Pro problems are not simply by Chance the problems that come into your life are there to test your character to grow your character to grow your faith to help you become all that God wants you to be the man God wants you to be the woman God wants you to be so every problem has a purpose and it's designed to help you grow when God puts you to

the test and you pass the test and He blesses you watch this carefully he's not coming back with a less struggle the only way he's going to get your faith at there is to keep pushing he he tests you here and what happens the next time the test is stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger because what's happening is just like lifting weights you start with two pounds then you go to five then you go to 10 then you go to 20 whatever it might be you're getting stronger in your physical body when you extend

the amount of weight when you and I Faithfully go through some test some trial and we come through it we can thank God for it but look don't relax because there's another one coming he's not going to let you allow you to stay where you are unless you push against him push against him push against him and refuse to submit to the test the test could be Financial it could be in your relationships to people it could be with your job whatever it might be whatever it is remember this that God's for you he says

he's working all things listen for our good if we trust him and rely upon him one of his children and so whatever the test is it's for our good we don't like them sometime because they're costly sometime they demand things of us that we don't necessarily want to yield but if we want to grow and accomplish his purpose in our life we must trust him so God has a will and a purpose and a plan for your life and the reason he wants to grow your faith is because he knows the greater your degree of

trust in him the more he's going to be able to watch this do through you in you and for you as well as for the kingdom of God that's why it's so very important that you and I learn to trust him and to walk obediently before him trust God during these times of testing God has not forgotten you God has not forgotten you do not interpret this time of testing as the absence of God just the opposite the Old Testament word for test comes from a Hebrew word that means to take a keen look at

to choose to take a keen look at to choose so if you're being tested it is because God is looking at you he is choosing to prepare you for something in the future but sometimes in the test the teacher is silent you don't hear anything you don't see anything improving but you have to know know in the dark moments God still has you in the palm of his hand he knows it's difficult he knows you feel overwhelmed he knows you don't think you can go on don't worry help is on the way weeping endures for

a night but joy is coming in the morning now keep standing one day at a time don't worry about tomorrow you don't have Grace for tomorrow stand today and when you get to tomorrow you'll have Grace for that day God is fully engaged he sees the needs of tomorrow and accordingly prepares the test of today he sees the needs of tomorrow and accordingly he prepares the test of today how are you being tested how are you being tested are you being tested emotionally are you being tested physically is your patience being developed perhaps a good

question for you to ask your heavenly father is Lord what's this test for or how am I being tested and perhaps you can even say thank you Lord consider it all joy the scripture says when you passed through various types of Trials you consider thank you Lord that you would consider me worthy of this test but you press into the test test of today you trust God in a season of testing and one more you trust God for the timing you may be in this test right now the wind test where you've been waiting for

an answer and it doesn't seem like there's any end in sight you're going when when Lord when are you going to take care of this problem when are you going to take care of this issue when are you going to take care of this relationship when are you going to take care of my finances when are you going to take care of my health when are you going to take take care of my future and he going when Lord When Faith is waiting for God's timing without knowing when some of you have been waiting a

long time for your prayer to be answered waiting a long time to be pregnant waiting a long time to be married waiting a long time for that boss to be fired waiting a long time just be patient trust God for the time timing God is always at work God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him our call is simply to wait while God works you just keep trusting God in the testing you just keep trusting God in the timing to be sure Joseph would be the first to tell you life

in the pit stinks it does but for all of its rottenness it brings one beautiful blessing when you're down in the pit there's only one way to look and that's up you keep looking up and the same God who reached in to rescue Joseph is the god who will reach in to rescue you it may be taking longer than you thought you were determined at first you stood strong but now it's been a long time you're tired thoughts are telling you it's never going to work out you'll never get well never see your family restored

don't believe those lies that test is not permanent God has already set an end to the difficulty you have to get your second wind God didn't bring you this far to leave you what he started he's going to finish dig down deep and keep passing the test keep thanking him that it's on the way keep declaring what he promised keep believing leing when you don't see any sign of it stay in this attitude of faith faith is waiting on God's timing without knowing when faith is expecting a miracle without knowing how faith is trusting God's

purpose without knowing why faith is continuing to persist without knowing how long this is a test when you look for the word first in the Bible you find this teaching you go first to God with your problems we don't take our problems first to the bar we don't numb our fears with narcotics we don't deny the existence of our struggles no we take our problems first to Christ he said seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and look all these things will be given to you as well would you like some advice to take into

this year that will save you from a month of heartaches go first to God with your problems the moment of problem surfaces is the moment you take that problem to God don't take it out on your friends don't take it out on your family don't try to solve it yourself you take that problem first to God seek first the kingdom and and see if all these things aren't given to you as well take it to him first you see when God's people put God first blessings begin to flow I want to challenge you to let

this be the year you put God first keep first things first he promises and then everything else will fall into place actively seek God's Direction in other words God's strategies are better than ours that prophet Isaiah said his ways are higher than my ways his thoughts are higher than my thoughts God's strategies are always better so I've got to seek him I've got to ask him for direction and how do I do that I do that through prayer why because we don't want our plans to Prevail we want God's plans to Prevail we want God's

wisdom in our life that's why we seek him that's why I get up in the morning and pray and talk to God what I need God's Direction I can't live life on my own impulses my own strategies my own gut instinct no I need the spirit of God giving me wisdom and that's something that can only come to pass through prayer but here's what I've noticed many of us in the body of Christ churches and Christians we go to God with an already madeup mind like we know what we're going to do and then we're

just asking God to bless it but God's saying I wasn't in it to begin with and you're asking me to bless something that I didn't ordain in your your life I didn't want you to make that choice you made that choice and I believe God wants to help you no matter what the situation is but God's not here just to give to you he wants to guide you not just give you things he wants to guide you in Psalm 32 it says I will guide you along the best pathway for your life how many of

you are thankful that God has a best pathway for your life but we have to seek his Direction well Josh I don't know I I don't know how this all going to work work out why don't you just read Proverbs 3: 5 and 6 it says trust God from the bottom of your heart and don't try to figure out everything on your own Listen for God's voice in everything you do and everywhere you go he's the one who will keep you on track God will keep you on track don't plan first and then when you're

out in the middle of doing what you want to do pray for God to make it work no first we pray about everything acknowledging God in all of our ways and he will direct our path but there are times in our lives where our actions aren't necessarily in obedience to what God's told us to do why because we want to do something else or what God's asking us to do doesn't feel good or what God's asking us to do doesn't align with our plans our actions are inconsistent with what we say that we believe so

what do we have to do we got to get the right habit habits habits are powerful they create our future the habits that we live with and our actions that we do every day create the future that we're going to experience today I would dare say that many of us are sitting in the middle of a life that we've created by our own Habits by our own actions and when we're experiencing difficulty in life and when we're tired of it it's then we got to say you know what I can't keep doing this thing anymore

it's bringing pain into my life and it's not working out so what happens does God want to help you drop this year what habits does he want to help to establish on the inside of you you see for some of you I believe that God wants to help you establish a habit of prayer a habit of Prayer in your life where you start seeking God in the morning in a fresh way you start knowing God's will for your life some of you he just wants you to be faithful to come to his house more make

Church a priority in your life and I know the kids sports are important I know that things come up and I'm not saying that all that stuff is bad but if you don't make parents if you don't make Church a priority in your kids' life don't be surprised that when they move out of the house it's not a priority to them it takes faithful consistency in our actions to get breakthrough I believe breakthrough people do consistently what other people just do occasionally most Christians I know who grow cold in their faith who who who grow

unproductive or unfruitful or unhappy in their lives do not do so out of a moment of rebellion but do so as a result of minute by minute or day by day just drifting in off course the book of Hebrews the writer of the book of Hebrews says we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it let the discipline of the first fruits recalibrate you every day every week so you can stay focused and you can stay on target now one of the saddest scriptures in the Bible is

Jeremiah 2:32 says my people have forgotten me days without number but I love the ne translation of Jeremiah 232 does a young woman forget to put on her Jewels have you ever forgot your cell phone and went back home to get it says will a bride forget to put on her wedding dress but my people have forgotten me for more days than can even be counted we'll go back home if we forget our cell phone but has anybody here ever forgotten to pray and thought Oh I'm I'm going back home to pray before I start

this day I'm suggesting that you no longer try to work God into your schedule but you work your schedule around God he would like to guide you and lead you through life and literally let me say it again be involved in every you do in every decision you make God wants to be part of it be patient be patient and wait don't give up don't give in James 1 says consider it a sheer gift when tests and challenges come at you from all sides you know that Under Pressure your faith life is forced out into

the open and it shows its true colors in other words you really in it or not he says don't try to get out of anything prematurely let it do it its work so you become mature and welldeveloped not deficient in any way one translation says that you'll not lack anything if I don't give up on God then I know on the other side of my faithful obedience and patience then I'm going to be I'm going to be stronger than I've ever been I'm going to be more mature than I've ever been my marriage is going

to be better than it's ever been I'm going to have not be lacking anything that I need in my life if I don't throw in the towel and give up when times get hard I'm going to trust God and God's going to bring a breakthrough you know how you're going to get through the attack you're facing friends you know how you're going to get through the trials and the tribulation that you feel like you're facing today you're only going to be able to get through it with God's help many years ago God finally got this

through to me and he simply said this you cannot do this and by this he meant Life Ministry whatever your this is we're talking about your this rather your this is Raising four kids rather you're this as being a single parent you cannot do this unless you put God first in your life that means I can't do without him how do you keep going when time times are tough It's because you believe that your breakthrough is right around the corner my breakthroughs aren't in the way I may not have it yet but I'm closer today

than I was yesterday quit tying God's hands and take the limits off of it your situation is not too big for God what you're dealing with it's not like God haven't seen it before he's done it before he can do it again there's no sickness that God haven't healed there's not a soul that he can't deliver there not a marriage he can't put back together but you got to trust him and take the limits off of it limits are something that bound or restrain or confin something or someone who cannot do something or have reached

their limits but but I want to tell you that there is no limit in God he's able to do whatever you need him to do he knows that whatever your problem is he knows the solution to your problem the Bible says Ephesians 3 and 20 now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think according to the power that worketh in US you know there is no limit in God he's able to do whatever we need him to do and know this there's nothing too hard for God

but when you take the limit off of God you will see Miracles take place if you trust him take the limits off of him expect the great awesome things will happen in your life God don't give you what you want he give you what you believe see the how-to is none of your business you keep getting in the way of the blessing cuz you all up in the how-to part of it show me the scripture where he tells you to figure out how to do anything he don't ask you to how to nothing you just

need the word you need to know what it saying applied to you you know why cuz it's a promise of he is he ain't never lie he always come through Psalm 78:41 he says yes they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel they limited the Holy One of Israel now how is it possible that we can limit God isn't God Limitless isn't God bigger than than we ever could think or imagine doesn't he want to do exceeding abundantly above all above and beyond all that we can ask or think anybody

got an answer to that absolutely he's bigger than all that but yet they limited him but we do put limits on God sometimes in our mind we have a version of what God is capable of we have a version of what God is like we have a version of what Jesus is like we got to get rid of a small God we got to let go of a small Jesus we got to stop worshiping a small savior he is the Conquering King he is the king of kings and the Lord of lords he is bigger

than you ever imagined he is greater than you ever imagined God is able to do so many things but we limit him we limit him because of what we hear other people say we limit him because of uh human natural experience we limit the Holy One of Israel God is unlimited Amen in Matthew chapter n Jesus came into the house the blind man came to him and Jesus said to them do you believe that I'm able to do this do you believe that I'm able to do this do you believe now I didn't say Do

you believe you can see but do you believe Jesus said do you believe that I am able to do this our faith is not in our faith our faith is in him it is not your faith it is who you have your faith in a lot of times people are limiting their own lives in what they say about themselves being down on yourself feeling like you're not good enough like you're less than and this voice can come to us in a lot of different ways the world is going to tell you what you can't do

Satan is going to tell you what you can't do you don't also need to be in agreement with those voices instead you need to agree with what God says about you if God approves you then approve yourself if God chose you then choose yourself if God believes in you then you should believe in yourself we got to learn to stop the negative voices and start to recognize I'm still a work in progress so often we look at the mess and we don't look at the progress David had a different kind of voice he said this

in Psalms uh 18 and verse 29 because of God I can run through a troop because of my helper the Lord I can leap over a wall you see because of God I can do you see that we need to take on that same uh that same kind of phrasing in our life that same kind of belief system because of God I can not I I can't I'll never be enough I'm not smart enough I got rejected I had a bad start Pastor no David didn't do that David said because of God I can you

know people are going to say stuff about you to try and limit you but don't limit yourself you got enough against you for you to be against yourself if God is for you then why would you want to be against yourself take off the limits of what other people try and put on you they said you can't do it but that doesn't mean that you can't do it they didn't create you see God will take the unique things about you and use them to promote you and Elevate sometimes the same thing you don't like about

yourself is the same thing God wants to use to show you greatness and promotion what's our job to stop being mad about ourselves and putting ourselves down stop being so hard on ourselves quit telling yourself all the reasons you can't accomplish your dreams what you don't have what you didn't get it's not going to happen just by your ability your talent your connections it's going to happen by the spirit of the Living God he's breathing on your life right now his favor is surrounding you in a greater way there are breakthroughs already in route healing

promotions contracts the right people they're already headed your way now don't talk yourself out of it receive the blessing now take the limits off of God and take the limits off of yourself most people have kind of a fatalistic theology that things just happen and it's fatalistic and it you there's nothing you can do about it and that is absolutely untrue God has a perfect plan for every person's life in here and God has good thoughts for you his plans for your life are awesome he never made a piece of junk he never made a

dud he never made an average person every one of us have something special that God wants to accomplish but most people are ignorant of this and they have bought into the LIE of this world that there's nothing special about them every one of you are special every one of you are unique every one of you can do something that nobody else can do God has a purpose for your life and most people are limiting what God can do because they just aren't challenging themselves God made you for something great God has taken Ordinary People what

the world calls Ordinary People and Time After Time After Time After Time After Time Has just transformed their life and then use them to touch other people and change things but when you put God first I guarantee you he will transform your life while I wait God works this is not a a a nice little Christian sentiment to get you through a hard season this is anchored in the unchanging word of God he promises us if you wait on me I'll work for you if you wait on me if you're patient if you have expectation

if you don't give up if you don't cash out if you just keep following me I promise you you may not see what I'm doing you may even be tempted to think I'm not doing anything at all but all the while I'm orchestrating things for my glory and for your good God works while we wait even when I don't see it and even when I don't feel it you're working so grab hold of that and cling to that truth it doesn't mean your circumstances changed in a minute it doesn't mean you're going to wake up

tomorrow to a to a Bed full of roses it just means that while you wait Heaven Works God's always working no matter what the crossroads you're at in life when you are forced to face the trials and tribulations of life when you are at the point not knowing what to do or where to turn you can trust in God every one of us go through Valley experiences every one of us are faced with these valleys these are part of the experience of life but every time we go through these valleys we need to know that

he's there God may not he may not do what you think he may do the total opposite of what you think but he's still going to do something so many times we think God what have you done why have you left me out no man apathy's not in that brother's vocabulary and he ain't never late he made time he is time he has Infinite Wisdom he has all the information that could ever be known he's the alpha the scripture says in the Omega so he stands at the end and makes decisions about now where we

stand in the now and go with all the information we have we don't know why God you're not doing this and God's going oh that's CU you don't have all the information yet there's a lot of things you don't understand yet and I'm navigating all those pieces to make sure what we do isn't fast but it's right and is good and is Noble Lamentations 3:25 says this the Lord is good to those who wait for him to the person who seeks after him you have to know today that we are serving a God who is

other than us it's not a better version of you bigger version of you cleaner version of you his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts is what Isaiah says so when you can't hear his voice speaking trust that his hands are working trust God's timing while you wait trust God's timing while you wait there's a reason for your delay see there's a reason for every season that we go through and if we'll not get bitter and upset we'll start to trust God in the middle of the Season see

I like a and I like Z I'm not a big fan of Elemental P I'm not a big fan of the middle I like the beginning and the end but God says if you'll trust me from L to M to n to O to P I'll take you to Z and you'll be grateful because what I'm doing in you is more important than where you're going to what I'm going to do in you is more important than what I'll do through you I've got to do something in you at g h i j k before

you get to Z you think you're ready for the blessing but I'm still preparing you I'm still working in you it's a process trust God's timing he's got a plan for you he's got a plan for your life in the season that you're in no no matter how big your problems are if if you can spend time in the presence of God and you know that he's walking with you it overrides everything else that's going on in your life because you just know that he's going to take care of it some way somehow you just

make sure that you stay in faith that you keep believing and let me work as long as you're believing God is working and I tell you what we need to be saying more of and I've I've I've been doing this for a good number of years and it's really really helpful when I'm waiting on something and then I start to think about how long it's been and you know my mind starts to go negative I say out loud God is working God is working and it helps me because he is you know when you get

a breakthrough God didn't start just working on that a second before you got it God's working in your life right now he's heard your prayers he's working in your situation but especially when you've prayed prayers for other people you have no control over how long it takes them to listen to God you work hard and you've believed God and you've been waiting what seems like forever for that kid to change or for your finances to change or for you to change or or whatever but I'm here to tell you I've been there done that still

go through it in different seasons at different times and I am Telling You by the word of God and from my my experience and the experience of many others that God is faithful and I don't know how long you will have to wait but I do know that God will come through and I do know that you can enjoy your weight if you will just improve your attitude how we wait is possibly more important than what we're waiting for if we're going to spend all this time waiting why not wait with the right attitude why

not live our best days even while we're waiting for the destination you don't have to wait till you get to the destination to live out your best days you can start living out your best days even while you're waiting that's what God wants for us and I feel like God has this this thought with us he says listen there's a right way to wait and there's a wrong way to wait some people wait with impatience they wait with anger frustration twiddling their thumbs when are you going to be ready when are we going to get

there are we there yet uh uh some people wait with anger why have why have I not reached to where I want to be why have we not sold the house yet why why haven't we moved into a house and sometimes we can get tired while we're waiting on the next season of life and hope begins to wne in the waiting doesn't it because you begin to think okay well maybe tomorrow is going to be the day well after so many maybe tomorrow is going to be the day the enemy begins to have a playground

with your mind and go no yesterday wasn't the day and tomorrow's not going to be the day I'm waiting here we as a people don't like to wait so at the end of the day what do you do when you feel like his voice is silent we trust that his hands are active his ability to work does not hinge on my perception of him working he is God Almighty and paints on a bigger canvas than I can imagine this is who he is he's never missed a call he's never done something he wished he could

take back he's never been so busy figuring out something that he missed you over here while you were doing your thing never one time has God failed and today won't be the day he start starts and you won't be the person that he starts with this is the Hope but remember what is hope it's a positive expectation that something good is going to happen to me to have hope and expectancy is the Hebrew translation for the word wait so he's not saying just wait like you know maybe this is going to happen or I kind

of like throw you know throw a coin in a wishing well I hope this I wish this would happen no he says wait with an expectant heart that God's going to bring this to pass wait with great expectations and this is what Isaiah says he says if you'll wait upon the Lord and you'll wait the right way he will renew your strength you will Mount up with wings like eagles you will run and not be weary you will walk and not faint that's God's promise to us that if we wait the right way we're not

going to get burned out we're not going to get exhausted we're not going to get impatient and settle for something less than what God has promised us to wait on we're going to be able to hold step setting in the middle of our waiting and not fall off not quit church not quit believing in God not give up on the Promises sometimes when we're waiting for a promise it's easy to get exhausted while we're waiting it's easy to get impatient to feel burned out to just say you know what whatever I'm not going to church

I'm not going to believe it I'm going to stop reading my Bible when the promise comes to pass then I'll believe that God's for me we've got to learn how to wait with expectancy that even while we're waiting for the promise to come to pass God's with me he's for me he's working behind scenes it will happen God I'm believing that my best days are not behind me Lord I'm believing the promise will come to pass what's in front of me is going to be greater than what's behind me Lord what you're doing in me

is greater than what is happening to me Lord I'm standing on your promises I will not quit I will not give up I'm expecting a harvest in Jesus name God saying it's time for you to wait with Great Expectations this season is important don't get bitter while you're waiting for the promises of God to come to pass while you're waiting for that family member to get back to church while you're waiting for that that loved one to give his life back to Jesus while you're waiting for a house to sell while you're waiting to to

to do that next season direction from God whatever you're waiting on God says wait with Great Expectations put your hope in the Lord James 5:7 says that we're called to wait like a farmer waits for the Harvest a farmer is confident he he's not stressed out he's not worried I don't know if the Harvest is going to come no he knows Harvest is on the way I've done my work I've planted I've done all the watering it's just a matter of time before the Harvest gets here see we're called to wait with that kind of

confidence God the promise is coming to pass what I've been praying for Lord I've been sewing the seeds Lord I'm expecting the Harvest is on the [Music] way let me ask you a question when are you going to start thanking God for the miracle in your life you know that thing you've always wanted to happen that prayer you've always been praying that dream you've always at when are you going to start thanking God for you say well after it happens when you thank God after something happens that's called gratitude when you thank God for something

before it happens that's called faith the highest form of faith is thanking God in advance before you get the answer but while you make the request what do you do while you're waiting you thank God you say God you know that request I made the other day I thank you that the answer is already on its way it's not here yet but I thank you that the answer is already on its way and you just keep thanking and thanking that is the highest form of Faith you don't keep saying please give it please give it

please give it please give it please give it you say God here's what I need now thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank that is Faith thanking God in advance say thank you in advance for what's already yours it's how I live my life that's why I why I am one of the reasons why I am today say thank you and advance for what is already yours true desire in the heart for anything good is God's proof to you sent beforehand to indicate that it's yours already I'll say it again true

desire in the heart that itch that you have whatever it is you want to do that desire that itch that's God's proof to you sent beforehand already to indicate that it's yours uh Jesus said this in Mark 11 anytime you ask for anything in prayer believe that you have received it and you will receive it now I really want you to get this notice the change in tense here believe that you have received it that's past tense and you will receive it that's future tense you say wait a minute I've got to believe I've got

it in order to get it yep that's called faith I believe that I've got it already in order to get it you're saying you mean I got to believe a thing is so even though it isn't so so that it will become so yes that's called faith we all have dreams and goals that God's placed in our heart things we're believing for situations we're praying to turn around these promises start off like seeds they don't come to pass overnight there's always a period of waiting involved and from the time we pray till the time we

see it come to fulfillment that's called the trial of our faith this is when many people get discouraged and give up they start believing the negative thoughts it's never going to happen it's taken too long now that seed is lying dormant it's still alive it still has potential but you have to do your part and start watering the seed the way you water it is by thanking God in advance you can't wait till you receive the promise you have to thank God that the answer is on the way maybe you're struggling in your health the

medical report doesn't look good don't talk about how you feel say father thank you that I'm healthy thank you that I'm strong thank you with long life you're satisfying me that's not just being positive that's watering the seed in your finances maybe you're struggling business is slow all through the day father thank you that whatever I touch prospers and succeeds thank you that I'm coming out of debt thank you that your favor surrounds me like a shield when you thank God in advance for the answer it not only Waters the seed but that strengthens your

own faith so often we think I'll give God praise after the problem turns around I'll thank God after business picks up after I see the solution oh if you don't learn this principle to thank God in advance you won't have the strength you need to wait for the promise what keeps us strong is getting up in the morning saying father thank you that my dreams are coming to pass thank you that this problem's turning around thank you that you're bigger than this obstacle giving thanks to God removes the anxiety you can be anxious and worried

about anything you start thanking him praising him focusing on him and it is amazing how the anxiety disappears next thing you know you think well you know what am I worried about I've got holy Almighty Sovereign God on my side taking care of me why am I down in the dumps listen living in the dumps isn't God's plan and he can get you out real fast you start thanking him and praising him the devil runs and God gets you out and you're rejoicing and praising the Lord before you know it because anxiety and fretting over

things is not the will of God we're thank in God before the battle we're thanking God in advance that's verbalized Faith thank you God you're taking care of my bankruptcy thank you God you're taking care of my pain thank you God you're taking care of this conflict thank you God and I'm thanking God in advance once you pray and ask God to bring the promise to pass you ask God to heal you you ask him to restore a relationship from then on you don't need to ask God one more time he heard you the very

first time now every time you think about it you should thank God that the answer is on the way one time Daniel prayed and asked God to help him day after day went by nothing got better it looked like that God didn't even hear his prayer but on the 21st day an angel showed up and said Daniel the first day you prayed God heard you and dis patch me with the answer but it took me 21 days to fight through the forces of Darkness what I want you to see is the first day you prayed

God heard you the first time you asked God set the miracle into motion the very first day the answer was on the way that's why you don't have to keep praying about the same thing begging God asking again and again the answer is already on the way the promise is already in motion the the Breakthrough is already in route the right person is already in your future the victory is already up ahead of you youve prayed about it now switch over into praise start thanking God that is coming start thanking him in advance for the

healing the restoration the promotion the Vindication the Dream It's headed your way you only need to ask God for it one time but then in all your future prayers you thank him does that make sense so you don't have to keep going please give it to me please give it to me please give it to me please like you're begging God no you just have to say God I want you to give this to me and then for the rest of the time until it arrives you just thank God that's Faith some of you have

prayed about this situation long enough you got to switch over into praise get up every morning father thank you that my dreams are coming to pass thank you that healing is coming thank you that promotion is on its way that's what's going to keep you strong not begging not praying again and again no remember like Daniel the first day you prayed God heard it and set the miracle into motion it's already on the way as you keep giving God praise he's going to keep giving you strength to believe when are you going to start thanking

God for that breakthrough in your life you've wanted it all your life but you haven't been thanking God for an in ADV EV youve been begging like you have to bargain or bribe or pressure God to say yes God wants to say yes he's waiting for you to show faith when are you going to thank God in advance when are you going to put the choir before the Army in your life right now that many of you listening to me are just barely holding on it's been a rough year and I want to tell you

don't give up don't don't don't don't you dare give up hold on this too shall pass the tough stuff that you're going through it didn't come to stay it came to pass it's not going to last the problem's not going to last so don't give up on God don't give up on your marriage don't give up on your church don't give up on your dream don't give up don't give up look up look up Jesus Christ the son of God who created you who thought you up who loves you who has a purpose for your

life who died on the cross for you who rose again and is coming back one day who's going to take you to heaven one day Jesus Christ is a secret of strength to make it to the end of your Marathon and end well when we go through a Bad season of Life those circumstances that are oppressing us they're very real but there's another reality and that reality that God is in the heavens and he is controlling and watching and all powerful over every circumstance in our life we have a choice are we going to focus

on our circumstances or are we going to focus on our God things will start looking up when you start looking up in other words your circumstances will improve when you stop looking at them and start looking to God let me say it again things start looking up when I start looking up you know in the Bible there's a phrase that's used over and over and over and it is the phrase lift up your eyes said many many times in scripture it's just the one way of saying look up get your eyes off yourself and off

your problems and off your circumstances and on to God refocus look at him things will start looking up when I start looking up when we look up and we see how big God is it it naturally shrinks the size of our problems they just don't seem to be as big or as overwhelming when compared to the greatness of God I don't know what burdens you're bearing I don't know what grief or fear or anxiety or confusion you may be feeling right now but I do know this you need to look up instead of giving up

don't give up look up in your disillusioned heart in your angst you've got your eyes focused on the wrong place until your eyes are fixed on the Lord you won't be able to endure the days that go from bad to worse that's the key until your eyes are fixed on the Lord you won't be able to endure the days that go from bad to worse the Bible invites us over and over and over fix your eyes on me God says fix your eyes on me fix your eyes on me Hebrews calls us let us fix

our eyes on Jesus the author and the perfector of our faith are you in the middle of a of a discouraging season fix your eyes friends fix your eyes back on Jesus in a in a season of emotional pain fix your eyes on Jesus do it once do it twice do it multiple times a day do it constantly throughout the day remember and rehearse who he is remember who he is remember what he's promised to do so when your schedules press when your prospects thin when your hope Burns low when people disappoint you when events

turn against you when dreams die when the walls close in when the prognosis is grim when your heart breaks because when life is crushing we don't have anywhere else to go because of who he is he will always do what is best for you now sometimes we have to talk ourselves off the ledge we have to remind ourselves of important truths like God knows what he's doing he doesn't make mistakes his timing is always perfect whatever is happening he is choosing to allow for this moment it's challenging to trust and keep trusting but we have

to because he is who he said he is and he will do what he says he'll do this is the difference between Ordinary People and great people great people never give up they never give up they keep on in the marathon of life even when they're fatigued even when they're frustrated even when they feel like failures and even when they're fearful don't you dare friend give in without a fight fight back fight back against your discouragement fight back against the devil fight back against those who want to discourage you you got a great dream and

some point the devil's Whispers In Your who do you think you are attempting to do this wrong question you should build your life not on what you think you can do but what you think God can do you let the size of your God determine the size of your goal it's not a you think I would have tried to do all things I've tried to do in life because I was depending on me not a chance in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing I I know that I can't do certain things Jesus said apart

from me you can do nothing so that's pretty clear now how do you react when your plan take longer than expected when what you thought was going to take be done real quickly when you have a project and you go man this is taking me a long time to get through school this is taking me a long time get this thing built this has taking me what do you do you give into self-pity do you start complaining you start blaming other people friends if at first you don't succeed [Music] your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

so focus on him not on the problem when we're at our worst God's at his best the stage is now set for God to work his will his way you see over and over again in the scriptures over and over again the stage is set for God to do his most amazing work when the situation looks the bleakest to us when you and I are fresh out of options when you and I are fresh uh at the at the end of our rope when you and I are at the end of ourselves and we're full

of fear and we're full of uncertainty that's when God steps back rolls up his sleeves and starts to wow us [Music] again the challenge for us is not giving up to soon you know a lot of people start off great in life but even before they get to the halfway point in their life they've already really messed it up and they've given up which is worse than messing up let me say it again giving up is always worse than messing up everybody messes up why do people give up in the marathon of their lives because

they got discouraged choose to change the channel of your mind don't keep replaying all those discouraging images in your mind instead remember the Lord choose to think about God and what he his faithfulness his love his Mercy his compassion choose to think about God because your thoughts always determine your feelings do you want to stop being discouraged then stop thinking the way you've been thinking you know when bad days come into our lives we want God to do something big something miraculous don't we our miraculous cure to the illness the immediate return of a prodigal

the overnight breaking of a destructive addiction the Eraser of the financial problems we're suffering we want God to act dramatically and instantaneously sometimes he does that but usually that's not how it works it's not in the big things and instead it's in that still Small Voice that God comes to give us courage to face that illness or the grace to accept that prodigal departure from God the ability the wisdom to handle the financial difficulty we're experiencing that's how God speaks most often and when the waves are crashing and the winds are howling around us it

is important that we learn how to listen to God's real but sometimes small voice in the midst of our Bad season of Life bad days are inevitable but they don't have to be paralyzing those who live a significant life learn to expect bad days and learn how to refresh themselves physically emotionally and spiritually you know I found that going through a Bad season of life is a lot like traveling through a dark tunnel the bad news is in that tunnel it is dark you can't see in front of you you don't know if you'll ever

make it out but the good news is once you've entered into that dark tunnel with God's help you're already on the way out all of us run out of Hope at some point am I right or wrong I think all of us do even that cup is half full sanguin Soul who always goes around singing the sun will come up tomorrow even that person on occasion will reach up into the shelf for a can of Hope and find there is no hope maybe that's where you are today maybe you're here more out of desperation than

inspiration is there any hope are you asking that question you're running out of Hope are you the single mom who's running out of Hope are you the elderly person who has buried someone you love and your hope has left you are you the businessman who looks professional on the inside but it's been a long time since you had a good night's sleep and you can't find peace are you running out of Hope are you feeling like giving up are you close to despair don't do it don't the blackest moments we live through will last only

a little time it's pretty easy sometimes to to feel beaten that doesn't mean give up in fact it means the opposite it means it's time for you to fight harder and I'm going to tell you right now it won't be easy it will be hard because life is hard that's what life is and these challenges these challenges that you face they're going to do their best to take you down do not let them stand up dig in line up those problems and confront them face them fight them do not let them bring you down in

fact in fact let those challenges raise you up let them Elevate you let their demands and their trials make you stronger let the adversity you face today turn you into into a better person tomorrow so so in the future you look back at these struggles and you say to them thank you you made me better you cannot keep a person down who won't stay down [Applause] it's one thing to be knocked down but the problem is you won't stay down there are already Witnesses in this room who will testify it's not that I haven't been

knocked down but God keeps giving me the strength the energy the wherewithal the anointing the power to not stay down that every time something or somebody knocks me down God keeps raising me back see ladies and gentlemen life is not about not getting knocked down life is about not staying down you can't quit you come too far to quit now today I refuse to quit today I refuse to give up I've come too far to look back now amen has anyone else came too far to look back again we have come too far God has

been far too good I refuse to quit no matter what's going on in our world today no matter what is going on in my tempt ations today no matter what's going on in my family with my friends at my job and my health I refuse to quit I'm not going to give up your situation may have changed your circumstances may have changed it may feel like it's bigger it may feel like it's greater but friend today our God has not changed he will never change the same God that helped you back then the same God

that was with you in the beginning the same God that showed himself strong in your situation before is with you right now don't get this far down the road and turn around don't come this far don't overcome all those challenges and addictions and trials and what the world has thrown at you and then at this point in your life turn around it's not worth it someone needs to hear this you're facing challenges you're facing addictions facing that Affliction that Temptation you need to refuse to quit you need to refuse to give up today some of

you need to remember the history of victory that God has in your life do you remember all of those times where you said I'm not going to make it through this and look where you're at today I remember some of the darkest times of my life I would lay on the bed in tears I would lay on the bed sometimes without without even words to pray and Satan would whisper and say this is it this is the big one this is the last time you'll ever have to go through this because your life's going to

be ending or this is going to ruin your entire life but guess what here I stand today but by the grace of God he delivered me time and time again and even when it seemed tough even when it seemed rough my God was faithful but see for some reason we go through a new storm we go through a new trial and we tend to forget all of the past and all of the times that God delivered us church today you need to remind yourself of the goodness of God there were things in my life that

should have taken me out there were things in my life where I was going the wrong direction there were afflictions in my life that should have killed me but by the grace of God here I am today and you have the same story today church I want to encourage you there's been things in your life that should have taken you out but here you sit today breathing alive able to see able to talk able to walk because of the grace of God that's something to get excited about today we have a history of Victory if

God says you can make it guess what you can make it and you will make it no matter how negative it looks today you're going to come back back it's time to get up off the mat if you've been knocked down if you've been through something if you've been through financial setback or some kind of terrible thing has hit you in your health and or or something's happened to your family we need to believe that it's time for a comeback it's no time to quit it's no time to give up it's no time to moan

and groan we may be down but we're not out because we serve a comeback God and I want you to know the attitude of our God is I'm not going to give up on anybody I'm preaching to some people who have fallen behind and the enemy is Whispering to you give up the devil wants you to think it's gone forever whatever it is that he stole from you it's gone forever but it is not gone forever because God is Planning you a comeback that if there's breath in our lungs he's not finished with us yet

no matter how old you are no matter how bad you've missed it no matter how bad things look don't worry God's not finished yet if you haven't seen the Breakthrough God's not finished yet if you haven't seen the miracle if things haven't turned around for the good don't worry God's not finished see God's not setting us up to leave us halfway finished he's not setting us up to not finish what he started no he wants to bring us to a flourishing finish which means that our best days are right in front of FR of us

some of us in this room maybe we've had failed businesses failed marriages maybe we've made some bad mistakes and we think to ourselves God's done with me God can't use me he's not going to use me in ministry again he's not going to give me another business I declared bankruptcy you need to stop accepting those self-limiting beliefs those self-limiting lies those God limiting Lies We Serve a god who's never finished when there's breath in our lungs God can turn things around he can get you on the right track and I think many of us in

this room have accepted limits that God didn't put on us we put on ourselves we've accepted caps that other people have said over this you can't do that you're too young you're too old God's done with you you messed up you screwed up you you missed it you'll never get out of this we've got to break those limitations off because we've accepted that we can't we won't and because we won't we'll never realize that we actually can today is the day to stir up that hunger to say With God all things are possible I can

do all things through Christ who strengthens me