Elevation Church Worship Leader (9:55)

What he looked like.

Stephen Furtick (9:56)

Or else he would have just been a concept. God would have been an abstract theory. So he made man and woman to reflect who he was. He needed someone to show his nature through. So he made me. And you. When you insult the product, you insult the manufacturer. Which is why it's good to know our theology. That he made me from the dust. That God took something that seemed filthy and something that seemed finite. And made something that would reflect what is eternal. Then after making the man, he began to create not only the world, the man, but a nation. Through Abram. Through someone who seemed unlikely. The nation of Israel spent a whole lot of time trying to figure out what we spend our whole lives trying to figure out. Or at least our teenage years and our twenties is like, what's my identity? What you're really seeing in Joshua 14 is not just people getting some real estate, but they're coming into their identity, their national identity. It's hard because they've been through so much. And they started from something so small. It's easy for them to see themselves according to what they've been through or where they started. Now they're breaking up. There's nine and a half tribes that get this land. And so Joshua and the priest, they're shaking this receptacle. This is how they would cast lots. They would take the thing and shake it, and they would have little wood blocks with different codes on them. And then they would kind of shake it out. And what it fell on that meant this tribe gets that land and this tribe gets that land. When Caleb interrupts the process, he's like, hold on. You're not going to figure out where I live by just rolling some dice, okay? I have a promise. Moses said. Now, remember, Moses was the one who was supposed to lead the people into the land, but he was unable to do it. Here's how I would put it if I were a preacher. He got them out of Egypt, but he never got Egypt out of them because they were oppressed for 430 years. When you've been under something for any length of time, when you've been under.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (12:20)

The power of any influence for any.

Stephen Furtick (12:22)

Length of time, that influence becomes your identity. So now your addiction speaks more to you about your potential than God's word over you, than the prophetic gift that's inside of you. It happens to all of us. When you've been suffering from something, you can begin to take on the name of your disease or your issue, trading.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (12:43)

The name of your creator, whose image you were made of. But see, it's how you see it. It's how you see yourself.

Stephen Furtick (12:51)

I think I can prove to you, if you give me two and a half minutes, that the reason the people didn't go into the land under Moses was because Moses never really saw himself in the image of his creator. Abram did.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (13:07)

Abram did, even though he had a.

Stephen Furtick (13:08)

Hard time getting with it, Even though he was like, you got any pills for that? Or anything like that? Because I'm old now. And even though he had to wait for Isaac and he messed up in the process and ended up producing something that caused him more trouble by sleeping.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (13:19)

With Hagar, Even though all of that.

Stephen Furtick (13:21)

Happened, God still called him the father of faith, the father of many nations. To show him who he was, he brought him out of his tent, out of his limitation, out of his situation. He said, okay, here's your revelation. Here's your situation. Get out of your situation.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (13:38)

And now look up.

Stephen Furtick (13:42)

Preaching to somebody. Look up, he said, count the stars if you can. I don't know how far he got before he was like, what's the point of God. 343, 344. What are you trying to show me? God said, as many as they are, so shall your descendants be, so shall your seed be. So he gives him an image. Not just an idea, but an image. Colossians 1:15. Look it up real quick. Says Jesus is the image of the invisible God. That's very powerful. That Jesus shows us what God is like, that the word became flesh and dwelt among us. That's what Jesus is. He is the image of the God we can't see. Did I get it right? Colossians 1:15. That he is the image of the invisible God. This is the challenge for everybody. Under the sound of my voice. There is a way God sees you because he formed you. There is a way you see you, there is a way others see you. Where you go from this point forward in your life is going to depend on which mirror you believe. I have all these mirrors in my house that are messed up. I know they're messed up because they keep showing me my beard is supposed to be black. But I look in those mirrors and they're messed up. They're defective. I'm going to take them back to the store because they keep showing me these gray patches like I'm 40 years old. I started rebuking mirrors in my house. These lines coming up under my eyes. I'm like, you are a liar, like your father, the devil. I cast you back to the pit of hell. How many ever looked in a messed up mirror? How many ever had people around you that made you feel a certain way about yourself? When Moses was coming into his identity and assignment, he had to deal with the fact that. That he was really living with two different images of who he was. Remember, God is using Moses to deliver the Israelites out of this Egyptian oppression. When Moses first starts to act on his impulse, he does the right thing, but he does it the wrong way. He defends his people, but he does it by murdering an Egyptian. So he's ahead of his time and he's out of his zone. But he's doing the right thing. But he still doesn't know who he is yet. It's difficult for him because he doesn't really fit in with either group he's living with. The Hebrews are the people he was born from. The Egyptians are the people he was raised by. But he identifies more with the people he was born from than the people he was raised by. So he doesn't really fit in when you don't really fit into either Group, you end up running. That's what happened to Moses. He confronted an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew one day, and he killed him and buried him. But then the next day, he went out and saw two of his brothers fighting. And he was like, break it up, guys.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (17:01)

We're suffering enough from them.

Stephen Furtick (17:03)

We don't have to kill each other. This is in Exodus, chapter two. I want to show it to you real quick. You got it. Exodus 2. The man said back to him, who has made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you have killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and thought, surely the thing is known, he ran. We don't really see him in his next stage of his assignment until 40 years later. He ran because he was too Hebrew to be an Egyptian and to Egyptian to be a Hebrew. And when you don't really fit in with either, you don't know who you are.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (17:44)

And you spend years of your life running from who you really are. Looking in the mirror of your last.

Stephen Furtick (17:51)

Mistake, he ran and he ran and he ran. See, the question is the right one. He said, who made you?

Elevation Church Worship Leader (18:01)

Who made you? But if you don't know that, you.

Stephen Furtick (18:06)

Will hand other people your mirror to.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (18:09)

Show you who you are. Let me tell you something about people. People would rather define you by your worst mistake. What's crazy about Moses is he killed a man. And there's only one verse in the.

Stephen Furtick (18:25)

Bible about the murder.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (18:28)

If you let church people write the Bible, they would have had a whole book. It would be called the book of.

Stephen Furtick (18:36)

Moses murder, the book of Moses, mistake.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (18:40)

The book of Debbie's divorce, the book.

Stephen Furtick (18:43)

Of your lowest moment.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (18:45)

But maybe God doesn't see you through the lens of your mistake. Maybe he sees you through the lens of his grace. Maybe when he looks at you, he sees the finished work of Jesus Christ. Have you ever thought about the fact that. That if they didn't make you, they can't define you? My maker is my mirror.

Stephen Furtick (19:11)

I promise. I'm trying to be as calm as I can be. But when God showed me that my maker is my mirror, he showed me Moses standing in front of the burning bush. God is like, I'm going to use you. You're going to be the one to do it. You're the one who has had the conflicted identity and so many mistakes. And you don't even really believe in yourself. I was thinking about you and. And how you might be standing in front of something. God is speaking to you and is burning on the inside. But you can't really locate yourself because honestly, you don't fit into either group. You don't really fit in with really churchy people because they are so perfect. They pray so much, they make Bible verses out of their kids sandwiches before they pack them in the lunchbox. Numbers 13, 31, 30 cut out with scripture stencils and pack it in the lunchbox like the fish and the loaves.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (20:04)

In the little boy.

Stephen Furtick (20:05)

You are not churchy enough, but you're really not worldly enough because the Spirit of God is on the inside of.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (20:12)

You when you try to sin, telling.

Stephen Furtick (20:14)

You you're something greater than that. You're kind of righteous, but you're kind of ratchet.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (20:23)

You're kind of a worshiper, but you're.

Stephen Furtick (20:25)

Kind of worldly and you kind of worry, but you kind of worship and you're kind of organized, but you're kind.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (20:32)

Of chaotic and you're kind of powerful.

Stephen Furtick (20:34)

But you're kind of petty. Come on, I'm preaching to somebody.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (20:38)

And you're a little bit of both.

Stephen Furtick (20:44)

Your self concept is in development. And this is when it's very important who holds your mirror. If the wrong people show you, you'll get a distorted image of yourself. Then you'll start matching in your life what you see in your mind. That's what Moses did. God is like, all right, I have a job for you to do. I'm going to use. I'm going to give you everything you need.

Ryan Seacrest (21:19)

Cool.

Stephen Furtick (21:21)

Moses is like, but see the thing about me, Watch what he says. This is Exodus 4:10. It's which mirror you're looking at, right? So if you look at the mirror of what you're missing and you only see what's not there. That's what Moses did. He's like. He goes, oh my Lord. This is in Exodus 4:10. O M G. He says, O M L. He's like, I'm not eloquent. I am not eloquent. It's funny because I have this scripture on the back screen right now and it has a typo in it. It says, I am eloquent. He said the opposite. That's what he said right there. I am not eloquent. You really have both voices. That's kind of how it feels. One is saying, I am and one is saying I'm not. And I don't know which one. I have this thing on the inside of me that feels like I can do it.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (22:26)

I'm supposed to do it and I'm.

Stephen Furtick (22:28)

Going to make it. But I have this other thing Saying and I don't know which way to look. He said, I'm not eloquent. Then he says, either in the past or in the last five minutes. Nothing has changed since you started speaking. It's still the same. I got saved and my nose is still big. I got saved and I'm still kind of cross eyed and I read slow. I got saved and I still don't feel intelligent enough. I got saved and I still have memories. I got saved and I love God, but I still have trauma. I got saved and I love God but I'm still limited by my experience. He said, I'm not what you think I am. God's answer is so instructive. Next verse. The Lord said, who has made. Who made your mouth? Who made your brain? Yeah, but I'm just weird. What if the world is weird and we're the normal ones? Y' all don't like it? I have to be careful who I look at when I preach, by the way, because you're like a mirror. Oh, they put this. Is Chris Brown around? If he's around, bring him back up. Come on. Tell him something. When the worship leaders are leading, they don't know this, but there was a choir out here today at Ballantyne. They were standing on these risers. If Chris isn't coming, you'll have to do lj. They think they're just up here singing. I'll tell both of y'. All. We could teach a whole thing on this. Can y' all still see me back here? Because I want to tell this to them. One time they discovered that a lot of primates and all humans are softwired with mirror neurons. So our brains actually experience the same emotion that that somebody we're watching if we're tuned into them. They got it from a monkey who was watching a man open a nut. They had it hooked up to his brain and they saw the same brain activity in the monkey's brain that was in the man's brain who was opening the nut. They realized all humans are wired in such a way with mirror neurons that I experience your reality by watching you experience it. This is why when a parent gets mad, kids can feel that stuff. They can feel that tension and is called a mirror neuron. Here's what was happening while you were singing. This is how I fight my battles. Somebody out there was going through a battle, but they had been feeling like they were losing. But God put you out here as a mirror.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (25:05)

So now all of a sudden they didn't feel victorious. This week but when they saw you worshiping God.

Stephen Furtick (25:11)

Don't run from me. I got you by this leather coat.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (25:14)

When they saw you worshiping God, they didn't feel like they had the victory. But while you were shouting the victory, I wonder if you would do that for somebody on your row right now. I know you had a hard week, too. But magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. If you don't have faith today, borrow mine. You're going to make it. I said so. It's called mirror Neurons.

Stephen Furtick (25:54)

Just as contagious as faith is, so is cynicism.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (25:58)

If you have cynical people holding up your mirror, you'll always feel small.

Stephen Furtick (26:03)

You'll always feel smaller than your challenge.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (26:06)

Smaller than your giant, smaller than your addiction. Because you're not looking at your God. But when your maker is your mirror. 344. 345. 346. I'm still counting. God is not done yet. His mercies are new with every rising of the sun. He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it. One thing about a mirror, it always shows you the image in reverse. God knows how your situation turns out. God knows how your schedule story ends. God knows what he put in you.

Stephen Furtick (26:50)

When this message flooded into my heart, I was like, it's going to change somebody's life because they've just been looking in the wrong mirror, been looking at their mistakes. When your mistakes are your mirror, you stay on the outside of Canaan, even though you have the strength to go in. Not because you are small, but because you see small. The spies came back and they were like, hey, Moses. Remember, Moses has dealt with rejection his whole life. So a lot of times when people don't accept you is because they have rejected themselves. Not all the time. A lot of times. This is a really important point. Everybody's acceptance is not a blessing. Because the majority might be the wrong mirror. 10 out of 12 said, we can't go in. 10 out of 12 said, they're too big. This is what they said. We went to the land, Moses, and they became the mirror for the millions of people who had a promise from God but hadn't possessed it yet. This is why it's so important who you're around, what you take in, what you look at. You become what you behold. The people are giving a report, and they're like, it's a great place. The valleys are fertile. It's a rich land. We brought you back some grapes. Grapes were so big, they had to carry them on poles. But then they stopped looking at God, stopped looking at grapes, and started talking about giants. When they looked too much at the giants as their mirror, they saw themselves as grasshoppers. That's what they said. Numbers 1333. It said there were the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. There were giants in the land, big, strong adversaries we would have to dispossess to take the land. We seemed to ourselves, wow, like grasshoppers. Not to God. We seem to ourselves like grasshoppers. Most people see God really big. Even those who barely believe in God see him really big. It's not how big you see God, it's how much you believe that God is in you. We seemed to ourselves as grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them. Our reflection determined our reality. We looked at them. What got me about it is that they could have seen the exact same situation in reverse. Watch this. They were like, the giants are too big. God promised us the victory, but I guess we can't go in because of the size of the giants. Reverse it. Because God always shows you the image in reverse. So it's like this. God has already promised us the victory, and the giants are so big. If the giants are that big and God has promised us the victory, if.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (30:25)

What is coming against us is that great, how much greater must God be within me? Greater is he, come on and help me that is within me than he that is in the world. The size of my giant is a proof of the size of my God. Thank you, Lord. If God is letting me experience a challenge this big. See, God is trying to use your enemies to show you how valuable you are in his kingdom.

Stephen Furtick (31:10)

Why would you let your enemies hold your mirror anyway? Who cares what the sons of Anak think you look like? That's what Caleb said. He was like, shut up. We can do it. Hit.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (31:24)

Somebody say, shut up.

Stephen Furtick (31:25)

I can do it. It's in the Bible, too. It's in the Bible. Caleb said that. He said, shut up. He silenced the people and said, if God is with us, my maker is my mirror. I always thought it was funny because he's like, hey, Joshua, I know you're rolling these little lots around on the ground to figure out who lives where. But remember, God gave me a promise that I would live in the high place. I want Hebron 3,000ft above sea level. Above sea level. I'm going to have to take a month off after I preach this message. I'm giving you everything I Have. You've been living at sea level. You've been looking in the wrong mirror. You've been consulting the mirror for your flesh. You put 20 minutes into your makeup today, but you didn't get in this mirror right here.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (32:28)

This is a mirror, too. This is a mirror, too. You've been struggling over external issues, but what about what's in you?

Stephen Furtick (32:43)

James said something curious. He said, if you listen to the word and don't do it, you're like a man who looks at himself in a mirror. In the beginning was a word, and the word was with God. And the word was God. My maker is my mirror. Look, I can't run around to people who are struggling with their own sense of self to determine mine. I can't use the situation either. That's why I love Caleb, because it's almost like he's lying. Come on, man, he's 85. He's talking about, I still have it. Now, what mirror are you looking at? Look at somebody say, I still have it. It'll feel good to say it, too. I still have it. Because I'm not talking about the flesh. I'm talking about faith. The wilderness can do one of two things to you. It can kill you, or it can make you stronger. Caleb said, all that I went through, I didn't get bitter. I didn't get the wilderness in me, even though I went through the wilderness. In fact, everything I went through over the last four and a half days, decades, only served to convince me that much more that I still have it.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (34:14)

I mean, if God promised it to me back then and saw me through all this, I don't want to live at the level of feelings. You settle too low. You settle for what you see. You settle for what people say. You settle for old templates. You settle for old scripts. You settle for emotions. When you are seated in heavenly places with Jesus, you have to settle up. You have to get up above what you see, above what you feel, and.

Stephen Furtick (34:44)

Above what you've been through. He said, I want to live where the blessings are. I want to live where the battles are. You can't have a victory without a battle. God is raising you up right now. He's doing it through a process. The level you will settle on is the level you see yourself. It makes me so sad to think of how many times you and I have gone to the wrong mirrors. So we see a grasshopper when we're really a giant. When we see a failure when really it was a lesson. When we see what's missing because we can only see through the filter of our fear. God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness. You are not my maker. You will not be my mirror. When God said, I am to Moses, my name is I am, he was trying to get him to see, you are as I am. That's what a mirror does. God says, I want to see myself in you. When God sees you, he sees himself. He sees his son. Christ is the image of the invisible God. And if he is in you, he is more than the world against you. I want to pray for a few hundred people today. You will know who you are. If the message resonated with you in a personal way, it's you've been going to the wrong mirror. You've been consulting physical, natural, relational elements, incomplete, fragmented elements. And you don't know who you are right now. And you're stuck between two realities. The message God gave me was, your maker is your mirror. Do you know what's beautiful? You're his. He wants to use you to reflect himself to the world. He's going to give you some stuff. Some of it is going to be giants in front of you. Some of it is going to be giants inside of you. David was good at killing giants. As long as they were standing in front of him. It was the ones within him who took him out. Some of them are going to be short term, some of them are going to be long term. If you go to the wrong mirror, you'll always feel small. But if you will learn how to worship and get in the word of God and believe the promise he spoke over your life and get in this mirror, you are not going to win over insecurity looking in the mirror of Instagram. It is only going to show you what you're not, what you can't, and what you won't. But if you get in this mirror, I'm telling you, the word of God can do something for your spirit.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (38:23)

It can make you feel stronger in your spirit than your enemies are in your situation. Now stand up on your feet.

Stephen Furtick (38:31)

I want to pray with you. I want to pray with you. I want to prophesy over you. I don't want anyone moving or leaving. The Lord said that this word would hit deep for the ones who needed it, have been seeing themselves according to past experiences, have been looking in a rearview mirror and at something that happened and are about to wreck in the face of their future. He said that today he wanted to give you a different mirror. Caleb said, I'm not just settling for my lot in life. I'm not just settling for depression. I was hesitant to preach the message because I thought people would hear it like it was some God. Give me my BMW. God, make me famous. That's not what Caleb said. He said, I want the challenge. I want the altitude. I want the opportunity to prove God again. I want to live at the high place. I want to be my higher self. I'm still strong. I still have it. My faith went through testing 45 years and I survived. I still got it.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (39:45)

I'm not ashamed of what I went through. It proves God was with me. I still got it.

Stephen Furtick (39:59)

Thank you for your word, Lord. It shows us who we are. Thank you for worship where we can reflect you, where we can behold your glory. Close your eyes. Visualize it. The king told Elisha that he would strike the ground three times. Elisha said, you have to see the victory. Before you see the victory, open the east window and shoot. It's the first creation. You have to be able to see yourself made of dust but touched with divinity. You have to see yourself free, even though you don't feel free, even though you still keep running back to lesser stuff. You have to know you have a higher purpose and a greater name. I wish you would lift your hands in his presence, wherever you are. I wish you would lift them high in surrender. I wish you would lift them like the burden has been rolled away and begin to sing. I'm going to see a victory. I shall see it. I'm going to see it in my spirit. I'm going to see it in my heart. I'm going to see it. I'm going to see deliverance. I'm going to see the Red Sea part.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (41:15)

I'm going to see the mountains move. I'm going to see it come to.

Stephen Furtick (41:19)

Pass in my bloodline.

Elevation Church Worship Leader (41:23)

I'm going to have the joy of the Lord. I'm going to see it. I'm going to fulfill it. I'm going to walk in it. I'm going to receive it. I'm going to prove it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to make it. I'm going to shout it. I'm going to declare it.

Stephen Furtick (41:41)

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 LevationChurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

Ryan Seacrest (42:13)

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Flu season is here and our pharmacies have you covered with a free flu shot with most insurance plans. Plus it's cough and cold season and now through December 2nd. Stock up on all the season's essentials and get ready for relief with discounts on items like Mucinex Cold and Flu Kickstart, Mucinex, Fast Max Products, vicks, Daquil and Nyquil combo pack, Alka Seltzer plus also airborne and Afrin offers end December 2nd. Restrictions apply and offers may vary by location. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

PayPal Advertiser (42:44)

Ah, greetings from my bath festive friends. The holidays are overwhelming but I'm tackling this season with PayPal and making the most of my money. Getting 5% cash back when I pay in 4. No fees, no interest. I used it to get this portable spa with jets. Now the bubbles can cling to my sculpted but pruny body. Make the most of your money this holiday with PayPal. Save the offer in the app ends 1231.

Stephen Furtick (43:08)

See paypal.com promoter points can be redeemed for cash and more. Pay in for subject to terms and approval. PayPal Inc. And MLS 910457.

Dietz and Watson Advertiser (43:16)

It'S back to school time again and you know you can count on Dietz and Watson for all your favorite lunchtime needs cause we got your back and your backpack. Dietz and Watson has all the meat and cheese to make those sandwich masterpieces. All made the right way with no fillers or MSG like Virginia brand ham that's twice spiced and twice baked and baby Swiss cheese that's rbst free. Dietz and Watson It's a family thing since 1939.

Stephen Furtick (43:44)

This is an iHeart podcast.