It's Mine To Manage

Summary

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Elevation with Steven Furtick

Episode: It's Mine To Manage

Date: December 5, 2025
Host: Steven Furtick (Pastor, Elevation Church)

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode centers on the principle: "It's Mine To Manage.” Pastor Steven Furtick explores the biblical story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan (Joshua 4:1-9), drawing parallels to how God gives us blessings, opportunities, and miracles—but it’s our responsibility to manage them. The talk delves into stewardship, gratitude, how we “manage the middle” seasons of life, and the critical importance of sharing our testimony and stories of faith with future generations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scriptural Foundation: The Israelites and the Jordan Crossing

• Scripture Read: Joshua 4:1-9 – God instructs Joshua to have 12 men carry stones from the Jordan as a memorial.
  • “They're coming to realize what God has already revealed.” [03:00]
• Furtick encourages listeners to look beyond the literal event to see how God’s promises and moments of transition relate to personal and church life [03:20].

2. It’s God’s to Give, Ours to Manage

• Core Principle:
  • “God made it, but I get to manage it.” [07:37]
  • “Say it out loud: It’s his to give, mine to manage.” [09:11]
• Practical Applications:
  • Parenting analogy: Giving his son a phone—he owns the phone, but his son manages its use [08:00].
  • “The more of a privilege you see something to be, the more of a responsibility you feel toward it.” [06:13]
• Furtick connects managing day-to-day life, emotions, and especially joy as a matter of stewardship [09:40].
  • “My joy is my job. No matter what happens when I get to my job, no one can steal my joy because my joy is not under anyone else’s jurisdiction.” [09:53]

3. Managing the Middle

• Transition Challenge: The Israelites moved from wandering (manna provided) to self-management in the promised land —a mental and spiritual shift [12:00].
• “God did not carry his people across the Jordan. He enabled his people to cross.” [15:55]
• Relates this to modern life:
  • Many wait for God to do everything, but responsibility and faith in action are required [16:01].
• “Managing the middle” is the hardest part—not the start or end, but persisting and staying faithful during transitions and uncertainties [17:17-18:28].
  • “The challenge isn’t believing that he knows how this is going to end. My challenge is...standing in the middle.” [18:19]

4. The Power of Remembrance and Testimony

• The 12 stones represented remembrance—a physical testimony for future generations [23:11].
  • “Show them the stones and tell them, ‘We didn't know if we were going to make it through—but God did something only He could do. We made it.’” [23:58]
• The risk: memorials (stones) can remain, but the story/testimony can fade [26:31-27:48].
  • Reference to Judges 2:10: “Another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” [27:48]
• Modern Implications:
  • Busy lives and ongoing struggles can lead us to focus on battles, not blessings, letting current “battles” eclipse past testimonies [32:36-32:59].
  • “Sometimes when you don’t go back where you started and remember what God did...you lose perspective when you get where you’re going.” [33:19]

5. Your Testimony Matters—Big or Small

• Encouragement that stories of God’s faithfulness today are necessary, not just those from decades past [34:24].
  • “You can fight today’s devils if you have today’s testimony. There needs to be a current work God is doing in your life.” [34:31]
• Your testimony doesn’t have to be sensational—little testimonies still defeat giants (cf. David and Goliath) [34:57].
  • “You can fight depression with a little rock if you know how to throw it.” [35:03]

6. Personal Story: When You Need Your Own Testimony

• Furtick recounts a recent Saturday night when he felt discouraged and unsupported, seeking prayer [36:13-37:56]:
  • Tried to call friends (Judah Smith, Craig Groeschel)—neither answered.
  • Prayed a reluctant, “fine, faith” prayer—phone immediately rang, it was Bishop T.D. Jakes calling to pray for him.
  • “Moments where I called His name and there was nobody there to answer—and then all of a sudden, something from heaven with no caller ID…God reached out and strengthened me.” [39:46-40:26]
• Lesson: Be vigilant to tell these stories, to self and others, to counter negative internal narratives [41:15].

7. Corporate and Generational Application

• Concern for church: Are we only consumers of “spiritual food,” or are we stewards and storytellers? [42:45]
• “The gospel is God’s story, but it’s ours to manage. We are stewards of the story God is telling in the world today. What a privilege it is.” [43:09]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with timestamps)

• “God made it, but I get to manage it.” [07:37]
• “My joy is my job. No matter what happens...no one can steal my joy because my joy is not under anyone else’s jurisdiction.” [09:53]
• “The water didn’t stop flowing until the people started walking.” [17:11]
• “Isn’t that the hardest thing in life—to manage the middle?” [17:40]
• “Show them the stones and tell them...we didn’t know if we were going to make it through—but God did something only He could do.” [23:58]
• “Joshua’s generation set up the stones. The next generation didn’t even know the story. What happened?” [27:48]
• “The gospel is God’s story, but it’s ours to manage.” [43:09]
• “This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.” [43:44]

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Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment | Content | |---------|--------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:38 | Scripture Read | Joshua 4:1-9, introduction of “It’s mine to manage” theme | | 07:37 | Core Distinction | “God made it, but I get to manage it.” | | 09:53 | Personal Responsibility for Joy | “My joy is my job...” | | 14:07 | “How many...has God brought you through?” | Call to praise for God’s faithfulness | | 16:01 | Self-Action Required | “God did not carry them—He enabled them.” | | 18:19 | Managing “the middle” of challenges | | | 23:11 | The 12 Stones: Remembrance | Symbolism and parallel to months/tribes/disciple patterns | | 27:48 | Generational Disconnect | “...Another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done”| | 34:24 | The Need for a Current Testimony | Testimony not just for the past | | 39:46 | Bishop T.D. Jakes’ Unexpected Phone Call | God’s surprising encouragement | | 43:09 | Stewarding God’s Story | Call to action for the church | | 43:44 | Hymn: “This is My Story, This is My Song” | Worship and reflection moment | | 45:08 | The Jordan as End & Beginning | Managing transitions determines the outcome | | 47:17 | Prayer: “The victory is Yours to give...” | Surrender and appeal for grace and faith | | 49:31 | Corporate Prayer for Salvation | Invitation to new and renewed faith |

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Structure of the Episode

00:00 – 01:36

Commercials/Intros (skipped; not summarized)

[01:53]

Opening and Setting the Theme

• Furtick sets up the Game Changer series and moves into Joshua 4.

[03:38]

Scripture and Initial Reflection

[05:24]

Introduction of Main Theme

• “It’s Mine to Manage”—personal, practical introductions via parenting metaphor.

[06:13 – 13:00]

Theology & Stewardship

• Privileges bring responsibility, “God’s to give, ours to manage,” joy as a managed attribute.

[14:07 – 21:17]

Transitions and “The Middle”

• Symbolism of Jordan, what it means to stand in faith in uncertainty, the challenge of “the middle.”

[21:37 – 29:56]

Remembrance, Testimony, and Generational Transfer

• Importance of physically and verbally reminding ourselves and others of God’s acts.

[30:27 – 35:18]

Ongoing Testimony and Applications

• Testimonies need to be alive and current, not just historical; little miracles matter.

[36:13 – 41:15]

Personal Story and Application

• Furtick’s own moment of discouragement, God’s unexpected provision.

[41:23 – 49:31]

Church, Generations, and Corporate Application

• The story the church tells, call to stewardship and remembrance, corporate prayer for salvation.

[43:44, 47:17, 49:31]

Worship & Closing Prayer

• Hymn, call for faith, invitation for salvation.

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Final Encouragement

Pastor Furtick closes with an altar call, reminder that salvation is by grace, and a prayer asking God to help listeners “manage the middle,” to steward both burden and blessing—all from a posture of gratitude and faith. The episode ends with collective prayer and worship.

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For Listeners:
This episode is a stirring call to recognize how what God entrusts to us—time, emotions, testimony, family, and resources—is a privilege and an assignment. It’s a reminder not to lose or minimize our testimonies, but to keep telling and living the stories of God’s faithfulness—because “it’s mine to manage.”

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Transcript

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Hey, this is Steven Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.

I want to share with you from a scripture that really demonstrates something that I think is difficult to do in our lives, but will be so helpful to us. We're in a season called Game Changer. It's our year end series. We're taking a moment to pause, reflect, and respond to God's goodness in our lives. From the Scriptural foundation today, I want to help you see something I think will help you to carry forward with you into the next season of your life. Momentum for what God has already done is something significant. What he wants to do is even greater. I believe that. I believe that with all of my heart, for myself and my family and for you and your family and for our church. With that spirit of faith today, let's go to the word of God. Joshua, chapter four, verses one through nine. As I read this story to you over the next few moments, I want you to pay attention to the details of it. On the surface, this story is really very simple. The People of Israel are crossing into the promised land. They haven't fought any battles yet, but it's already theirs because God has promised to give it to them. So they're coming to realize what God has already revealed. He showed it to them for many generations, but now they're coming into that moment where they're having to actually believe what God spoke in their lives. And what God spoke they haven't seen come to pass yet is about to happen. I think this is an appropriate scripture for where we are as a church, and maybe for where you are as well. I pray that God will help me deliver it today. Are you excited?

I'll be honest, it's not very convincing, but I am. I'm excited enough for all of us, so we'll do it anyway. Joshua 4:1. When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, choose 12 men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight. So Joshua called the 12 men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, go before the Ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of tribes of the Israelites to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, what do these stones mean? Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the covenant of the Lord when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, and these stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. So Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the camp where they put them down. Joshua set up the 12 stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who had carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood. They are there to this day. Would you look at the person next to you and give them my sermon title? Tell them it's mine to manage.

Look at your other neighbor. I know they were your second choice, but they're important to the Lord as well. And tell them, it's mine to manage.

It's mine to manage. How many of you have children? How many of you have children who have a phone or an electronic device with a data plan. It's a big debate around my house. When will our children be old enough to be entrusted with data? Real first world problems. I get it. Parenting is challenging. It's a great privilege. But I find it to be challenging. I find it to be exhilarating, and I find it to be exhausting. One woman wrote me on YouTube and said, I think you had kids too soon. You're always complaining about them. I prayed for her in tongues.

But the more of a privilege you see something to be, the more of a responsibility you feel toward it.

Complaining isn't always a sign that you don't care. You're not grateful. You need to have an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude is not an attitude. Gratitude is an action. Then the action of being grateful leads to a feeling of gratitude. But God would not command you to be grateful if gratitude was a feeling. Because you can't command a feeling. It doesn't work that way. God instead instructs you to praise him. One psalmist said it this way. He said, this is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Oh, this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made. Hey. This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made. Now who made it? Who made it? Now I will rejoice. I will rejoice and be glad in it.

So God made it, but I get to manage it. Touch somebody and say, it's mine to manage. What I do with this day is up to me. When I gave my oldest kid his phone, I wrapped it. It was his birthday. I racked it and said, this phone has data and this phone is yours. Not really.

For your birthday, I am giving you my phone to use.

Which means this phone and the contents thereof and the communications that shall be initiated thereby.

Are under my jurisdiction.

One good parent clapped when I said that.

I dare you to put a passcode on that phone. I don't know. I dare you to put a passcode on that phone. You change your passcode and I will change your destiny.

But it was a principle. In the modern age of stewardship, that is really the same principle. God has been trying to teach us all along, that it's his to give and it's ours to manage.

The moment you begin to understand that about your life, your money.

Y' all don't like this sermon already? This is the motivational part.

It takes some of the pressure off to realize it's his to give, it's mine to manage. Say it out loud. It's his to give, mine to manage. I didn't make the day, but I will rejoice in it. So he gave me the day and now it's mine to manage. That's a really powerful distinction to know that there are certain things God has given you under your jurisdiction. One of those things is your joy. I will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it, regardless of if the traffic is congested. I don't manage the traffic, but I am. I like it this way. My joy is my job. No matter what happens when I get to my job, no one can steal my joy because my joy is not under anyone else's jurisdiction. Do you see what I'm saying? It's mine to manage. One time I made the mistake of saying somebody stole my joy, and the spirit of the Lord really corrected me on that. They stole your joy.

Your joy is not their job. If they stole it, you should have done a better job locking the door so they couldn't get to it.

You need a better security system. If someone else can steal your joy, then you have your joy hiding out there in the open where anybody can see it and snatch it. This principle emerges in the book of Joshua. Can I tell you a little bit about this historic incident? I'm so thankful for the gift of your attention today. I find it a great privilege that you. You would lean into the word of God and allow these words to be spoken. I think it's amazing. I want to make it worth your while. I want to tell you a little bit about this passage of scripture. It's really amazing what God is doing for his people here. Because the nation of Israel is under new management.

Under new management.

This promise God began making generations ago is now about to come to pass. This land they are going to possess is going to become theirs. But it's really God's. But it's theirs. It's theirs to possess, but it's God's to give. So it's God's, and it's theirs. Joshua is the person God is using to bring it to pass. Now, Moses was the leader who brought the people out of Egypt, where they spent several centuries enslaved to the systems of that nation. Now they're no longer just wandering around in the wilderness like they did under Moses for over 40 years, but they're coming into their own land. They're coming into their own spacious place, they're coming into their own homes, and they're coming into their own community that God has been in the process of forming. But it's going to require a different mindset, because up until this point in their life, they have existed on the miracles God provided. Like God gave them manna when they were in the wilderness because they didn't have quail like they had in Egypt, that their masters would give them to feed them. But now they're coming into their own. The manna that used to fall from the sky, it was miraculous how it came down. They would just walk out their front door and there it would be, Amazon prime on the doorstep. The drone would drop it off and they would have enough for the day. But the. The thing that's about to happen to them in just a moment is that they're going to cross over into this land where the manna is going to stop coming. And they are going to have to learn to manage in a different way. So they're going to have to mature in their mindset. I guess one way you could say it is they're having to learn how to manage their miracle. This is something you don't hear taught enough in settings like these, because we often tell you to expect a miracle and to believe for a miracle and to receive for a miracle. But how many know you are responsible to manage your miracles? I'll prove it to you from the text because you're acting kind of suspicious, and I don't blame you. It sounds weird because a miracle is something God does, is something God gives. But the cooperation between heaven and humanity has always been, it's God's to give, but it's mine to manage. It's my father's to give, but it's mine to manage. God is bringing his people through the Jordan River. How many of you have something God has brought you through this year?

Did God bring you through it? I'm going to give you 12 seconds to praise him for something he brought you through.

We all have a Jordan we came through. The interesting thing about the Jordan river is it's mentioned a lot in scripture, but not because it's a big body of water. It's only like 15 yards wide at its widest points, and it's not the deepest body of water. That's not what makes it significant. What it symbolizes gives its biblical significance in that the people of God saw the Jordan river as representing transitions and new beginnings. You see it a lot in the prophetic record Elisha got Elijah's mantle in the Old Testament and he crossed the Jordan River. It's not a big river, but it's symbolic. It's significant not because of its size, not because of its scope physically, not because of its geographical implications, but because of what God did there. Now they're standing at this place, this body of water, and God does something amazing. He does it in a very particular way. He tells the priests to stand in the middle of the Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant. That's where they kept the Ten Commandments. It represented the presence of God. When the priests put their foot in the water, the water stopped flowing to provide passageway for the people to cross through. God did not carry his people across the Jordan. He enabled his people to cross over.

This is how a lot of us live our lives, waiting for God to carry us over something.

When he is waiting for us to cross. Do you see me Def Leppard? It's true. My kids, one time when they were real little, we were in a public restroom and. And they were washing their hands and they had their hands out like this and nothing was happening. I realized they were used to the faucet being automatic, and it wasn't an automatic faucet. I watched and I stood back to see how long they would stand there with their hands under the faucet, waiting for something to happen without turning the faucet on. Finally, in compassion, I told my oldest child, I said, this is not an automatic faucet. I know you're used to the water just coming on like this. See, when you've had manna falling out of the sky for so many years, you're used to just something falling down just because you put your hand there. But it's going to require an action.

The water didn't stop flowing until the people started walking. And when they started walking, the water stopped flowing and the people passed through. And the priest stood in the middle of the Jordan, which must have taken faith for them to stand in the middle of the Jordan, not knowing if it was going to continue to pile up in a heap or if it was going to flood over them. But the leaders had the faith to stand in the middle of the Jordan. Isn't that significant that it said it was in the middle of the Jordan? Isn't that the hardest thing in life to do is to manage the middle?

I understand God has made me promises and that he knows the end from the beginning, but I don't. I don't know the end from the beginning. I know the Plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Well, I'm glad that God knows the plans he has for me, but I don't know the plans he has for me. The challenge isn't believing that he knows how this is going to end. My challenge is.

Standing in the middle.

And believing that what he spoke is indeed significant.

It's different when you're in the middle. It's a lot different.

It was weird. A few weeks ago, they had a baptism testimony on the screens, and I love the baptism stories. Do you love those stories they tell?

If it was your child, you might love it. You know what I'm saying? If it was somebody you knew and loved. I try to picture if that was my brother or if that was my sister. When I hear somebody share a testimony, I always listen for the details.

One thing I noticed, they normally share in their story, they'll share a sermon where God spoke to them. A few weeks ago, the young lady sharing the sermon, she shared shared a sermon. I remember preaching and thinking it was the worst sermon I ever preached because it's different when you're doing.

Was a year later she was talking about that sermon. And in her story, she referenced that sermon as a turning point in her relationship with God. Here's what I remember. I remember how I felt while I was doing it. I realized that even though I felt nothing while I was preaching it, she was sitting somewhere in that room, maybe not even in the room where I was preaching it, and she was having a completely different experience hearing it than I was preaching it. But it's different when you're in the middle of it.

It's different when you're raising your kids believing they're receiving the values you're trying to impart to them. When you are teaching your kids responsibility, they do not thank you and recognize you for being a voice of wisdom and an encouraging force of good in their lives. It's different when you're in the middle of it. See, the reason we can sometimes look at the biblical miracles and experience them and celebrate them is because we know how they end. But it's different when you're in the middle of it. It's different when you're in the middle of it. When you are having to stand in the middle of something and say, no, God, I know that you're faithful. I know you're good, but I don't feel that you're faithful, and I don't feel that you're good right now. That's called a sacrifice of praise. That's where you have to dig somewhere deeper than your feelings or your knowledge or your certainty.

Or your circumstance or your bank account.

God, show me how to manage the middle.

I have a hard time with that. I don't have a hard time being excited about the beginning.

I don't have a hard time celebrating the end. But this middle teach me how to manage the middle.

One of my best friends pastors, a big church, and they had three years where they didn't grow. In fact, they went backward. I said, what was the problem in those three years when you didn't grow? He said, middle management.

We got so large, the organization got so big that there was a layer of people in the middle who started to block the values that were a part of the organization. In the early days, it was middle management. It wasn't the people who were executing the job. It wasn't the vision had changed. It was what happened in the middle that almost cost us the momentum of what God was doing. I wonder, is that how it happens in our lives? I wonder if sometimes the reason joy stops flowing, the reason faith stops growing, the reason sometimes we lose our sense of perspective about who God is. It's not the end, it's not the beginning. It's middle management. We don't know how to manage the middle. We don't know how to deal with Monday. So we shout good on Sunday. But I need an MMA sermon. I need some Monday morning application. I need something to help me manage this middle. Because I'm not fighting the devil on Sunday morning. I'm fighting him on Tuesday at 3:37.

The key to this, Joshua says, Take 12 stones.

12 stones. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. 12 months. 12 stones, 12 tribes, 12 disciples. 12. Everybody say 12. Take 12. Pile them up. And in the future, when your children ask you what's up with these stones? Or like my kids ask me, what's up with these cassette tapes? I still have some. When your children ask you, tell them what the Lord did. Tell them. Tell them.

Show them the stones and tell them, we didn't know if we were going to make it through.

But God did something only he could do. We made it. Somebody shout, I made it. Tell the person next to you, you have no idea what I've been through.

Look at them right in the eye and say, and God brought me over.

Look at them one more time and say, how about you?

Ask them, have you been through anything?

Imagine this. They Come through the Jordan. Let's play the story out for a moment. They come through the Jordan. God brings them through. They set up the stones. God does a great miracle. They go on to fight battles, but they set up the stones to remember what God did in that moment. It's very beautiful. Then they go forward into the land. They fight many battles, and God gives them many victories. But every once in a while, maybe they come back with their kids and they show them the stones because they left the stones in Gilgal, and then they moved on to conquer Canaan. Do you know how it is when somebody is reflecting on something and they get nostalgic? Maybe the parents start telling the children.

We didn't know if we were going to make it. Joshua was our new leader.

We had never been this way before.

He told us that if the priests would stand in the middle, the waters would stand at attention until the people passed through. We hurried through as fast as we could. The Bible says in Joshua 4:21, they hurried through. They didn't have a whole lot of faith, just enough to get through it.

They weren't dancing through the middle. They were running through the middle. Let me tell you something. When you got the devil chasing you, sometimes all you can do is get through it. You don't look flashy. You're not shooting, you're not flossing. You're not doing nothing but running for your life. So they got through it.

But they said God got us through it. That's amazing, because we didn't know. It was amazing. And the ark was there, and it represented the presence of God. Oh, I wish you could have been there, son. It was just so amazing. We didn't know if we were going to be able to do it. But God did it. It wasn't us. God did it, okay? And they say that. So maybe a few years go by.

Maybe they go back to the place again and they look at the stones. But.

Maybe the stones are still there. They haven't gone anywhere. But the story starts to get lost a little bit. Maybe a few years later, they're telling their children. They're like, oh, yeah, it's pretty cool. We got through it. I mean, God did it, but we were the ones who had to walk because God didn't carry us through.

But we got through it. Then a few more years pass, and maybe they're telling their kids again, making another trip, and they tell them, yeah, those stones, they're cool. Joshua made us get them out the middle of the Jordan. It was weird. We were ready to move on. But Joshua. Let me tell you how I know the story stopped being told. Because when you get to the end of Joshua's life, you read in Judges chapter 2, verse 10. Just this verse I want to show you. I want you to think about the space between when Joshua led the people through the Jordan and when the next generation arose. It says after that whole generation, Joshua's generation had been gathered to their ancestors. Another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.

Joshua's generation set up the stones. The next generation didn't even know the story. What happened? Somewhere along the way between Joshua chapter four and Judges chapter two, they stopped telling the story.

Something changed about the story somewhere in that space. God, if I'm just preaching this for one person, help me to do it now. Because they have been telling themselves the wrong story. Now their faith is feeling feeble, and now their worship has been weakened and they are in a cycle of dependence on false gods because they stopped telling the story. The story of salvation is, I was lost and dead in my sin. I had no hope in myself. I could not save myself. I could not help myself. I could not lift myself. I would not have made it if he had not reached down. And with a mighty hand and an outstretched army, he died for me. He came into my life. He intersected me at the point of my sin. And while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. Why are you screaming? Because I have a story that didn't start with me. It started with the mercy of God.

The enemy doesn't want you to tell this story. He wants you to lose your testimony.

They kept the stones. The stones are still there to this day, but they stopped telling the story.

You can have all of.

The monuments of religion.

But lose your relationship with God.

You can have all the stones in the world. You can come to church. You can still live a life that's between the lines. But if the truth were told today, some of us have stopped telling the story. We've lost our testimony. You have a testimony. There are things God has done for you that only he could do. And nobody else can tell it for you. And nobody else can tell it like you.

It can happen. It can happen in your own heart. It can happen in a generation. It can happen within a lifetime. It can happen within three years. You can actually have God do something amazing for you and have the stones to prove it. Some of you are sitting next to the woman you asked God to give you.

But now you want out of your Marriage. The problem isn't your marriage. It's your management.

I'll go back here.

I'm not scared to say this stuff. We need to manage our miracles. God has been good to us. God has been more than enough. He is a provider. He is Jehovah Jireh. He did bring you through. He did bless you. He did make a way. He is more than enough. He is El Shaddai. He is a great king. He is a good father.

Touch somebody, say, manage your miracle. It's God's to give, but it's yours to manage.

I told Elijah, if you crack the screen, I'm not replacing it. It's yours to manage.

If you crack the screen.

Here'S what happens to me. Let me tell you something.

Let's.

I sometimes.

Stop telling myself the testimony because to me, sometimes it seems small.

Something happened between when they crossed the Jordan. I don't know exactly what it is. I think there's evidence to support this hypothesis. They fought a lot of battles between Joshua 4 and judges too. I wonder if the battles.

Became bigger in their minds than the blessings.

I wonder if they started telling themselves the stories that centered around their struggles rather than God's sovereign hand that saw them through the struggles.

I wonder if they got in survival mode to the point that they stopped telling.

I wonder if when they saw God do all these other things, I wonder if they just didn't go back to the stones. They were placed on the bank of the Jordan, back where they started. Sometimes when you don't go back where you started and remember what God did, where you started.

You lose perspective when you get where you're going, oh, man, I feel so guilty preaching this point. It's so easy for me to get caught up and consumed in my own convenience.

My own drama, my own insecurities, my own dysfunction. A lot of times, I'll be honest with you, I don't share what God is doing in my life because it doesn't seem big. I can compare it to something else, and it seems small.

Like these stones. At one point in your life, you're really grateful for it. But then at some point it can lose its significance.

I was asking somebody the other day if I could hear their testimony. It's a church word, right? Testimony. People don't really talk like that except in courts, in church. You know what I mean? It's just a real churchy thing to say. And they were like, well, when I was 12 and they were 53, I was like, not that testimony.

You can't fight today's. Devils. If you don't have today's testimony, there needs to be a current work God is doing in your life. Yes, he saved me and I want to talk about that. But what is he doing in my life today? Another generation that knew not the Lord, nor what he had done for Israel. This is your testimony. It can be a tiny testimony. It doesn't have to be a big rock. You can fight the devil with a little rock. Ask David.

You can fight a big giant with a little rock if you know how to throw it.

I said, you can fight depression with a little rock if you know how to throw it. You can fight to discouragement with a little, tiny.

Little tiny testimony.

Well, I don't have a big testimony. Pretty much all my life I've been serving the Lord. I never was on drugs and women and running around. I pretty much grew up in. Come on, man. You don't have to have a meth lab in your garage to have a testimony. You don't have to be fresh off death row to have a testimony. You don't have to have 14 children by 14 women to have a testimony. A testimony can be the smallest thing. Like a few weeks ago, I was getting ready to come out and preach. I want to tell you this. Joshua said, tell them. Tell them what God did for you. Tell them. Tell them about it. Preach it. Teach it. You overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. There is power in your personal testimony.

A few weeks ago, I was getting ready to preach. I didn't feel like preaching.

I love the Lord. I believe his word and I believe he's coming again. I just didn't feel like preaching. On that Saturday night, the weather was nasty. I didn't feel like preaching.

I was having a little pity party. I hate to tell you this, but I was being so childish.

But then I had this moment. I was like, FaceTime one of your friends and get them to pray for you. Because the service was about to start. The staff was out doing staff stuff, so they couldn't come pray for me. So I was going to FaceTime one of my friends who didn't have a Saturday night service. And he didn't answer. Apparently, Judah Smith had better things to do than pray for his friend. I pray that the Carolina Panthers will wreak havoc upon the Seattle Seahawks today to punish him for not being there in my time of FaceTime need. You don't want to FaceTime Furtick. I hope you go down today royally.

Then I called Craig Groeschel that's my pastor. That's my guy. He didn't answer. And he always answers. He didn't answer. I was running out of time because I needed to get out there and preach. So I said this little pitiful prayer. Not the kind I pray in front of people.

I was like, oh, Lord.

Since nobody wants to pray for me.

I'm always praying for everybody else. I guess I'll go out, preach, I'll pray for myself.

I start praying this real mumbly, grumbly, grumpy prayer. A little bad attitude prayer, a little kids going to make up to bed, fine. That kind of prayer.

Have you ever had that level of faith where it's like, fine, faith, fine, God.

Fine, I'll pray for myself. I start praying, Father, in the name of Jesus, out loud. I say that when I said, father, in the name of Jesus. The moment I got it out of my mouth, Father, in the name of Jesus, My phone rang. My phone hardly ever rings. I mostly communicate by text. I don't do a lot of talking on the phone. My phone rings and it hardly ever rings. It never rings at that time of day. It said, no caller id.

But I'm not making this up.

I said, I should answer this.

I said, hello. This deep voice comes on the phone. What are you doing?

The voice of none other. It could only be Bishop T.D. jakes. That's like my favorite preacher since I'm this big. Since I started wanting to be a preacher. This was my favorite preacher. Here he is calling me. What are you doing?

I was like, hey, Bishop Jakes, I was just going out to preach for Saturday night service. He said, oh, well, since this is a bad time, let me just pray for you before you go out there and preach real quick. Father, in the name of Jesus, by anointing with your spirit and fill him with your wisdom, give him words to say from him.

I'm not waiting until something to me. I need to fight the devil. Sometimes with a phone call. There are little things God has done for me. Moments where I called his name and there was nobody there to answer her. And then all of a sudden, something from heaven with no caller id and God reached out and God dragged my tears and God strengthened me and God upheld me with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

You need to tell these stories. You need to tell these stories. Stop telling yourself the story that nobody cares about you and that you're alone and that it doesn't matter. Another generation who didn't know what the Lord had done for Israel because they stopped telling the story. When you stopped preaching the gospel to yourself and reminding yourself that the Son of God accepted and chose you and brought you out of Egypt and brought you out of sin and brought you through the Red Sea and brought you through the Jordan and brought down the Jericho walls and brought you out of bondage and brought you out of fear.

Please hear me. When you stop telling that story, you lose your strength.

The children of Israel went through 15 cycles.

Of disobedience to God. Not only did they go through 15 cycles of disobedience to God through 15 different judges, but they went through 420 years of dependence on gods that could not save them because they stopped telling.

The story.

What story have you been telling yourself?

What story have you been telling your children?

You know what I was thinking? What story is our church telling in this day? Because God has done amazing things for us.

But sometimes it really rips my heart out when I see a campus pastor giving an invitation in our church and people get up and start leaving so they can beat traffic out the parking lot while somebody's soul is on the line. That really hurts my heart. Because when we started the church, we weren't starting the church to have a Christian entertainment center where we could give people a little anecdote and a little song and a little goosebump and they could get to lunch.

Is that the story we're telling? That we gather together when it's convenient and we consume spiritual food, but we never contribute? This is why I think it's important that we have traditions like our year end offering. Because God is inviting a new generation.

To tell. The story.

Is so vital in this moment that you realize that the gospel is God's story, but it's ours to manage. We are stewards of the story God is telling in the world today. What a privilege it is.

Come on. Can we praise him for the privilege?

Do you know the hymn? This is my story.

This is my song.

Praising my Savior.

All the day long.

This is my story.

This is my song.

Praising my Savior.

Stand to your feet I want to pray with you now.

Just give me a pat.

You're in the middle of a story right now that God is telling through your life.

You're in the middle of it.

The priests stood in the middle. The stones came from the middle. Everything good God does in our life comes from our ability to recognize it in the middle.

Sometimes what happens, I know you feel like you've come to the end.

Is this for you? You feel like you get to the end of something. You get to the end of your own strength. You get to the end. Sometimes a season shifts in your life. Something is always ending as something else is beginning. The Jordan is both. It's their exodus from the wilderness, and it's their entrance into Canaan. It's happening all at the same time.

You think you're at the end of something. Your ability to manage that emotion in the middle of it determines what happens next in your life. Remember this. Moses died on Mount Nebo, looking at the promised land. Joshua led the people into the land God had promised Moses. The difference wasn't what God had promised. God promised Moses and Joshua the same result. The difference wasn't the promise. The difference was how they managed the miracle. In the middle of it. God gave Moses a miracle. He parted the Red Sea. But Moses stayed stuck in what other people said. Moses managed according to his fear, not his faith. God gave Joshua the same promise. And Joshua said, even in spite of our fear, even in spite of our failures, even in spite of the fact that there are more out there than there are in here. We're going forward in the name of the Lord, with his presence as our banner. We are still standing in the middle. And we will stand in the middle until everything God has spoken comes to pass. I wonder, is there anybody who's willing to get in the middle of it and take your stand and declare, I will see the goodness of the Lord in my generation, in my life.

That's what I want to pray for you about. If you lift your hands right now, I'll do it. Because the Lord is in this moment.

The Lord is very present even in your pain.

I believe that God is even present in some of the mistakes you've made. Lord, right now, would you visit the heart of each of your sons and daughters with a reminder? Maybe. Like those 12 rocks the people piled up, give us a rock of remembrance today that we can build on the firm foundation of your faithfulness.

The victory is yours to give, but it's mine to manage.

God, remind me of the responsibility you have given me and teach me to lean on your grace as I do.

Give me the faith to stay standing in the middle with the waters all around me. And to worship you in this moment.

With our heads bowed and our eyes closed. I wonder, is there somebody here today who needs to receive the grace of God for the salvation of your soul, the forgiveness of your sin? I wonder, is there someone here today who needs to begin a relationship with God? Or maybe you want to reconnect in that relationship with God. You've Been feeling for a long time like you're far from Him. But it's not true. He's near if you call on his name. He is in this moment. He longs to come and live inside of you.

He longs to allow you to follow him, even when you don't know what's next.

It's very simple.

What the Bible says about salvation.

It is by grace that you are saved through faith. It's the gift of God. It's not of works. So that no one can boast that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. As the promise of God. It doesn't require good works. You can't stack enough stones to climb your way to heaven. It doesn't work like that. God is not watching your behavior to see whether or not he'll relate to you. He has already done through the person of His Son, Jesus, all that needs to be done for you to have a right relationship with Him. Right now, in this moment, I want to pray with you at every location.

We're going to pray out loud as a church family for the benefit of those who are coming to God or coming back to God. But we'll all pray out loud together.

Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died to forgive my sin and rose again to give me life. I received this new life. This is my new beginning. On the count of three, if you just prayed that prayer, shoot your hand up. I want to celebrate with you. One, two, three. Come on. As a testimony, shoot your hand up. That's a lot of hands. That's a lot of hands. Let's praise God for it. Come on, let's praise God for it. I said let's praise God for it. Today is the day of salvation. Let's praise God for it.

Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.orgpodcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us evationchurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

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