Pastor Chad Veach (6:29)
I got a 14 year old, a 12 year old, a 10 year old and an 8 year old. We're like a rock group. We put one out every two years and 14, 12, 10, 8. And my eight year old is not saved. Please pray for my savior. 8 year old. He needs Jesus right now. But we're blessed in California, we're blessed in la and I'm just so honored and thrilled to, to be here today. Can we, can we clap? This was his first time being up without his mom and dad. Didn't Graham do a great job? My guy right there. Clap and thank God for my guy. I love you so much. I love you so much. Numbers 21, go there in your Bible. We're going to go to the Old Testament today. It says this. Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. And the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water and our soul loathes this worthless bread. I just have to believe that's gluten free bread right there. First gluten free bread in all of the Bible right there is worthless bread. Amen. I want to say I'm pro gluten. Amen. So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people. And many of the people of Israel died. And therefore the people came to Moses and said, we have we done messed up. We sinned. For we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he may take away the fiery serpents. From us. So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent, set it on a pole, and it shall be that everyone who is bitten when he looks at it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anybody, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. I want to preach a message today. Write down the title. It's called On My Way Back. On My Way Back. And I just want to tell you today, I don't know how far you drifted away from God. It's never too late to come back to Jesus. I don't know how far you feel like you are away from the will of God for your life. But anybody thankful that it's never too late with God, you're never too late, too far gone from God. Clap if you believe that we serve the God that welcomes you home with open arms. On my way back, I just like this idea because, you know, I feel like every Monday morning, I start my diet again. Who am I preaching to right now? Every Sunday night, I'm like, you know, tomorrow morning, I'm getting this body back in shape. Every Monday morning, I'm like, you know what, babe? Tomorrow morning, we are gonna start working out. Few Mondays ago. Few Mondays ago, I was in that Monday flow, and we do Orange Theory Fitness. We like to go this place called Orange Theory Fitness. It's diabolical by nature, makes you sweat and work out. But I was like, babe, tomorrow morning we're gonna go back. And so when I walked in, I signed up on the app. When I walked into the gym, there was a guy standing there, and he had made me, like, a sign, Chad's 400th workout. And I was like, what a welcome back sign. This is amazing. I had no idea that I was nearing my 400th workout. So I walked in, and I kind of laughed because I was with my wife, and I was thinking in my head, if this is my 400th workout, this has to be her 1,000th workout. In fact, she had just about to cross two days later, her 700th workout. Come on, clap for my wife, Julia. She's putting in the work. But I just like that idea that I had no idea I was coming back into the gym. I had my Nikes on. I was ready to go, and I walk in, and here is this sign. It said 400th workout. But I really felt it was saying, like, welcome back, lazy man of God. Welcome back, slacker. See what I want you to Understand today about God. It doesn't matter how far away you are from God. God always loves to welcome his children home. See, God never turns away anybody that comes to him when you come to him desperate when you come to him with humility. When you come to him hungry. God always opens his arm for any prodigal that would come back home. Come on, clap today if you're thankful for the grace of God. God never turns away those that come to him empty. He only turns away those that come to him full of themselves. And today we come with desperation. Oh, I love this story in numbers 21, because really it's a story about a route back to God. Did you catch what happened in Numbers 21, verse number four? It says that they were on the way to Edom, but the Lord took them around the long way. And it said on the way they became impatient. Have you ever felt like God was taking longer than he should? Have you ever felt like God's timetable is different than your timetable? I want to remind you today that our God is never too early and he's never too late. Our God is a what? On time God. Oh, come on. Give him a praise today if you believe that about God. I'm gonna give you four things to write down today. Write down number one. The first thing God deals with me as I come back is he deals with my faith in God's timing. He deals with my trust in the timing of the Lord. See, I love this about God. God said, my ways are above your ways. My thoughts are above your thoughts. A day is like a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years is like a day. God knows the end from the beginning. And he is the alpha and the omega. We believe that God is sovereign and seated on the throne. And God knows just what you need. And he knows just when you need it. Anybody thankful today that God will supply all of your needs according to his riches and according to his glory? Oh, I love Isaiah 40. Put it on the screen. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak. That's cowboy fans. I'm prophyligned to somebody right now. And to those who have no might, he increases their strength. Even youths like Graham shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall. But those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not Grow weary they shall walk and not what faint. That's what God does. That's why I love that elevation worship song. I'm gonna wait on you. Man, if I could sing like Pastor Steven, I sing the whole song right now. But I'm gonna wait on you. I'm gonna wait on you. See, what happened is they're on this journey and they're on the way to Edom and the Lord took them around the long way. See, what I love about God is that God sometimes knows that you're not ready for what you think you're ready for. And sometimes God loves you enough to not shortcut your blessing. Sometimes God will take you around the long way. And it's on the long way that something's being developed in you. Something is being put inside of you that's lacking. Oh, I'm thankful that I didn't get what I thought I deserved when I thought I deserved it. I'm grateful that God took me on the path and the journey that I needed for my life. Anybody else? Oh, look at what Lamentations, chapter 3, verse 25 says. It says, the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him. I'm just telling you, nothing reveals more about what you believe about God than the way that you wait. I live in la. We are masters of waiting on the freeway. I learn how to wait on the 405, but I've learned with God. I gotta wait on the Lord. I gotta wait on God's strength. And I've learned not to wait like this. I've learned to wait like this. God is faithful. God is generous. God is compassionate. God is kind. God is sovereign. God is loving. Oh, come on, clap today if you believe that God is worthy of your weight. One of my wife's best friends, she is a widow and she went through a tragic situation years ago. And we, after this situation, the Lord started to heal her heart and do a great work in her life. And we started together to believe God for a husband. We started to pray and believe that God would center somebody. And so together as a church and our community, we started to pray and believe that God would center somebody. And a couple years ago, during our fast, we do 21 days of prayer and fasting. In the month of January, she was fasting and praying and on the last day of the fast, a friend of hers connected her with a guy. She got a five minute coffee because you don't want to get stuck in a Coffee, because it could go bad. So she told this guy, I could stop by the coffee shop, pick up the coffee you order, and then I gotta go. Ladies, I'm just telling you, that's how you do it right there for the first one, just to breeze through. Are you okay? Okay, then. We'll be back. I'm just trying to give some knowledge to somebody today. So she met this guy on the last day of the fast. Sure enough, he ended up being a man of God. He had good hygiene and a tither. That's a candidate right there. Amen. And long story short, they end up getting married. And she's in her 40s, and that's so cool. But can I tell you, not only did she get married, but this last year, she got pregnant. And I'm just telling you, it's one of the greatest miracles I've ever seen. You know, sometimes we think that miracles are these crazy healings, but sometimes it's like to find somebody to get married to, to get pregnant when you've been believing God. And one of the things that stands out to me about this lady's story is that she could have just taken matters into her own hands and married somebody years ago, but she waited on the timing of the Lord. She waited on the perfect person. And I just want to encourage you today, God is worthy of your weight. He's got the best in store for his children. And if you'll just keep holding out for God's best, if you'll just keep waiting along the journey, I promise you, God's got something better for you than you could ever ask, think, or imagine. Anybody believe that God is good and greatly to be praised. Oh, I love what it says here. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. So they're waiting on God. They're like, God, this is taking too long. This journey has taken so much time. Why can't we get to Edom faster? But, babe, open up the Waze app. There's got to be a faster way to get there. Now I got the Apple map, the Google app, and the Waze app. I'm trying to get to Edom. I got to get to Edom. And it says that as they're on the way and it's taking longer than they want, that the soul of the people get discouraged. Write down number two. Today, God deals with my discouragement. I don't know if you've ever felt discouraged, but when you feel like, man, it's not going as good as I Wanted it to go. Life's not happening at the pace or the rate that I wanted it to happen. Oh, I'm just so thankful today that in times that I felt down times that I felt discouraged. The Bible says, thou, O Lord, are the lifter of my head. Anybody thankful today that God will turn your mourning into dancing? Come on. The Bible says those that sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. Come on, clap if you believe that God will turn your mourning around into dancing. Oh, I love Psalm 3, verse 3. It says, but you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. Proverbs 17:22. A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. This is not feeling like I had a bad day. They're dealing with discourage. Have you ever felt discouraged? You ever feel like I'm not. I wish I was a better parent. I wish I was a better husband or a wife. I wish my business was doing better than it is. You know, it's like, I don't know anybody today that's like, you know, my biggest problem is I just feel way too encouraged. And I'm just. Quite frankly, I'm sick of it. I just wake up and I just think I'm killing it. I don't know anybody that struggles with being too encouraged. But I know tons of people today that are like, man, am I. Am I good enough? Am I doing a. How come you ever get on social media and it look like God's blessing everybody else but you? Sometimes you just scroll like this. Wow. They're in Italy again. Wow. And see, the problem with waiting on God is it doesn't just deal with your impatience. You gotta be careful. Cause it will develop into discouragement. And I don't know who this is for today, but you need to understand, get your eyes off them. Put your eyes on him. The Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. I can't listen. I pray everybody's blessed and I hope everybody's doing great. But I gotta be grateful for what God's doing in my house. I gotta be excited about what God's doing in my children. I gotta be thankful for what God's doing in my city. Come on. Anybody got the attitude of gratitude today? Anybody thankful? Come on, clap and give God praise if you're great. Come on, let's get encouraged in the Lord. And you gotta be careful with discouragement. Because if you're not, discouragement will result in rebellion. If you're not careful with discouragement. In fact, put this on the screen. They said this worthless bread. Miracles seem meaningless when you're discouraged and they often leads into rebellion. You gotta be careful with the discouraged soul because if you're not, it'll lead into rebellion. All of a sudden. This miracle of manna, this miracle of bread, they' this bread ain't that good. This ain't that. This, this, not that. This is not that awesome. This is not that great. The things that once caused you to shout for joy are now just meaningless in the presence of God. I've got to get my eyes back. I've got to get my heart back. I've got to get my faith back to say, this is the marriage you gave me. This is the house you blessed me with. These are the children that are a gift from God. Come on, clap if you're thankful today. Come on, let's get the eye and the heart of gratitude. Come on, lift up a shout of praise today if you're grateful to God. The Bible says, bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. The Bible says, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and enter into his courts with praise. I will lift up my hands in your sanctuary. Why? Because your love is better than life. And when you stop having that attitude, it's just bread. Just these kids, this whole house, you know, gotta fix the plumbing, gotta fix the electricity. You gotta be careful. Cause complainers. I never met a man complain like this. You know, I have a complaint. Complainers are like weasels. This meaningless bread. And it says they were waiting and God was taking too long. And the path was much further. And it was not in the rate, the pace or the plan that they had versus what God had. And their soul became very discouraged. And I know that at church, you know, we. We have a great time lifting up our hands and praising the Lord. But I just want to ask you, are you discouraged today? Because God doesn't have a disdain for you. God has a grace for you. God says, come to me with all of your burdens. He says, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. God wants to turn your mourning into dancing. If you sow in tears, you're going to reap with songs of joy. Because I know the God that can turn around the terrible situation that you're going through and Bring glory for ashes. Come on, clap and praise him today. And their souls became discouraged. I'll never forget In June of 2020, I felt so discouraged. In June of 2020, during COVID I finally got Covid for the first time in June. And at that time, we were going through so much in the world, and it just felt like at church and everywhere I turned, I felt so torn and felt so defeated. And I'd never been through a season like this. And my Covid turned into shingles, and I got shingles right here on my ear. And so I go into the urgent care, and I was in so much pain. And I was in pain in my body, I was in pain in my soul. And I went in the lady, she said, sir, you have shingles. It comes from stress. She said, are you stressed about anything? Well, I'm a man of God. So I said, no. And she said, surely you must be stressed about something. I'm a man of confession. I said, no, I'm not stressed about anything. She said, well, your body says contrary. And I'll never forget feeling discouraged. You got to be careful with discouragement because discouragement will turn into rebellion. You notice what they did. They started to complain against God, and they started to complain against their pastor. It's never encouraged people that complain against God and their pastor. It's discouraged people. And I'm just telling you, guard your heart when you feel discouraged. That's why it's so important that you put on the word of God in your house. That's why it's so important that you listen to elevation worship. You listen to elevation rhythm, and you get the spirit of faith and the spirit of worship into your house. And you say, no weapon that's formed against me is going to prosper. And every tongue that rises against me in judgment, I will condemn. I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. I'm the head and not the tail. I am a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a marvelous life. Come on, clap and give God praise that you might not have what you want to have. You not might not be where you want to be. But come on, clap and thank God you not where you used to be. Come on. Has God been good and faithful and generous to any. Oh, come on. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Give him a shout of praise today. If you're grateful to God, you got to be careful with discouragement. You got to be careful with seasons of frustration. Because what I noticed about God, God loves to take us along the long way. He loves to take us on the path of much resistance. He loves to develop his character. Let me preach to somebody. God loves you just the way you are. He just loves you way too much to leave you that way. God's working something inside of you. God's developing something that's lacking God's training you first. Come on, clap and praise him. Today. God's doing something. And he who has begun a good work will be faithful to complete it. You want to know what's crazy about the story in Numbers 21? They were fresh off of victory. They were fresh off a W. They had just had a win by taking out one of the kings. And yet there was frustration. Just because you saw a win last year doesn't mean you're going to get an automatic victory this year. You gotta be patient with the Lord. You gotta trust God's perfect timing. God is in control, seated on the throne. And if God be for you, who can be against you? Give him a praise. And so the soul of the people became very discouraged. And they're so discouraged that the result of the discouragement. I don't know what you do when you're discouraged. I usually go to McDonald's for McFlurry's. And so. But what they did, what they did was they complained against God and they complained against Moses. Because a lot of times what usually all that energy will result in taking it out on your leaders, My good shepherd and the shepherd that God's placed over me. And I'm just asking you, when you're discouraged, run to the house of God. When you're discouraged, get around somebody that will refresh you and lay hands on you and pray for you. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Come on. I gotta get around the people of God. I gotta get around some worshipers. Anybody grateful for your godly friends today? Come on, clap and thank God for the ones that'll pray for you. I was talking to this man I recently, and we laid hands and prayed for him. And he said, you don't know how long I've longed for somebody to pray for me. Get you some friends that, you know, I don't like when people apologize. Like, hey, you know, I just. I hate to be spiritual, but can I pray for you? It's like, yes, you could pray for me. We're going through hell on earth. We need somebody to lay hands and prophesy and tell me that God is for me and with me. And the soul of the people became very discouraged and they started to speak against God. And Moses. And as they're speaking against God and Moses, the Lord sent some snakes. I don't know how you feel about snakes, but they're my biggest fear. Some are afraid of spiders. Some are afraid of the dark. Some are afraid of close talkers. Some are afraid of bad breath. I'm afraid of snakes. I don't care if they're on the ground or in the plane. I'm afraid of snakes. And the Lord sent snakes to bite them. And all of a sudden they're dealing with a snake bite. And as they're dealing with the snake bite, they realize, oh no, we done messed up. And so they come back to Moses and they say, moses, we have sinned against you and against God. Please forgive us. Write down number three today. Sometimes God will deal with. With your confession. I've got to confess my sins. I've got to listen. If you can name it, God can heal it. But until you can come clean about that thing that you're dealing with, until you can be open about that struggle that you've been going through, how could God touch what you're not willing to reveal? The Bible says the man that conceals his sin will not prosper. Oh, I love what the Bible says in Psalm 51. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you and you alone have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. What about First John 1:9? If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all. Was that word right there, unrighteousness? If, if, if. I want to put an emphasis right there on the word if. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I like this thing, confession. We've got to confess. You know where confession comes from? Conviction leads to confession. When you feel the conviction of God. These guys looked at these snake bites. They said, oh no we didn't. It's one thing to have a mosquito bite. God's messing with you when you get a snake bite. And they say we, we need to confess our sin. We need to be honest about our transgressions. You are only as sick as your secrets. Your authority is in your authenticity. And when you get real with God, God already saw it. God already knows about it. God never looks away when you and I make mistakes. His face is set aflint. And when you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Anybody thankful today for the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Conviction shows me you're alive. Conviction shows me God's still working with you. Remember, you gotta be careful with conviction. Because if you do something once, you're gonna feel bad. But if you don't talk about it, you do it again, you're going to feel kind of bad. You do it a third time, you ain't going to feel nothing. What keeps your conviction is your confession. When I come before the Lord and I say, lord, I've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Thank you for the blood of Jesus. Thank you for the cross of Christ. Thank you for a new beginning and a second chance. Thank you that you always make a way for me to come back to your house. Come on, clap and give God praise if you believe that he's the God of second, third, fourth, fifth. Come on, clap if you believe he's the God of second chances. Today I want to encourage you to get good at confession. Get good at naming the thing that could have power or stronghold over you. But the moment you confess the blood, the moment you confess it to God, it loses all its sting, it loses all its power. If you can name it, God can heal it. I'll never forget there's this pastor that I really love and respect. He's gone to be with the Lord now, but he's just a real righteous, holy, powerful man of God. And he tells this story that one time early in the morning he woke up and he called like his second in command, kind of right hand pastor early in the morning and said, there's been an incident. I need you to get over to my house immediately. Something's happened, something bad. And so the associate pastor got in the car and he drove as fast as he could to the pastor's house. And he's thinking in his head, what happened? What did he do? What went on? Is it the kids? What happened? And he gets to the pastor's house early in the morning, and the pastor opens the front door and he's in his robe and he says, please come in. He's got communion out. He said, you need to serve communion to me and you need to pray for me. I've sinned. And the associate pastor's thinking, oh no, we lost the church. Oh no, what did you do? Oh my gosh, this is terrible. Oh no. He's like, yes, pastor, of course. And he said, and the pastor's really serious. And he goes, last night I made a mistake and I sinned. I ate Oreos. And the associate pastor is like, yes, he's like, but I made a vow to the Lord years ago that I would never have another Oreo. I was thinking, that's a vow I ain't never making in Jesus name. That's got between you and the Holy Ghost. I ain't touching that one. You can't, man. You on another level. Man of God. But can you hear the fear of the Lord? Can you hear the closeness to Jesus? Serve me communion. And I did it last night. So I'm confessing the next morning. I have sinned against the Lord. I made a vow I've got to fulfill a vow I want you to be quick with your confession. Don't hold off for six months or nine months. The Bible says, repent therefore and be converted. That your sins may be washed away. And times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord. When you confess the cross and confess the blood of Jesus. There's nothing you've done. There's nothing you've touched. There's no place that you've gone that my God can't heal. My God can't forgive. My God can't deliver anybody. Thankful today for the grace of Jesus. So he deals with my faith in God's timing. He deals with my discouragement. He deals with my confession. And then I love this last one. He deals. Write down the last one. He deals with my obedience. So the Lord says to Moses, moses, get a fiery snake. And I want you to put it on a pole and I want you to lift it up high. And anybody that looks at this fiery serpent, if they look, they will be healed. All throughout the Scriptures, God asks people to do stuff that are not conventional, but it will unlock their miracle. Oh, come on. Do you remember when Joshua had to walk around Jericho seven times? Do you remember when that man had to dip into the water seven times? Do you remember when the man with the withered hand had to stretch out his hand? Do you remember when the widow had to make the room for the prophet? Do you remember when Abraham had to leave his land? Do you remember when. Come on. Everybody through the Bible had to do something to unlock the miracle of God. It all happened through obedience. And the Bible says in Philippians, chapter 2, verse 8, and Jesus being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross. Jesus himself had to humble himself and become obedient even to the point of death and death on the cross. See, one of the things I love about God is that this is a foreshadow this is a typecast of what's to come. See here in the Old Testament they lifted up a snake. And the Bible says that if you looked, you would live. But in the New Testament we lift up the Son of man. His name is Jesus. And if you believe, you shall live. In the Old Testament their cure represented their curse. But in the New Testament, Jesus became the curse for us. And he is now lifted above all names. Anybody thankful today for the grace that's found in Jesus Christ? Oh, come on, clap and give him a praise today. John, chapter three, verse 13. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. In the Old Testament it's look and live. In the New Testament it's believe and live. But in both cases, I've got to obey. I've got to do what God said to unlock the miracle of salvation. To unlock the miracle of God's best. And I'll just tell you, the Bible says God, God takes not delight in sacrifice as much as God loves obedience. God is attracted to your obedience. And sometimes God doesn't give you something new to do until you go back and do the last thing he told you to do. And I wonder, how's your obedience? Because obedience precedes blessing. Obedience unlocks miracles. When you obey the voice of God, when you do what God tells you to do, I'm telling you, nothing will unlock the kingdom of God in your life like obeying the voice of the Lord. Jesus said my voice. My sheep will recognize a stranger's voice. They will not follow anybody. Believe today that God's got a plan for your life. God's got something for you to do. There's a will of God for your. There's a will of God for all of us. There's a will of God for you. And you gotta obey. You gotta trust and obey, for there's no other way. I gotta obey God. I gotta say, God, if you want to take me along the long road, if you want it to take as long as the 405 takes to get to Edom, your will above my will, not my will be done, but your will. If you want to take me along the way, help me to decrease so that you can increase. And Lord, help me to obey at every turn. Help me to obey in every season lest I grow discouraged and I start to complain. These kids, this spouse, some of you today, you don't need a new spouse. You need a New perspective. You need to see this person as the miracle that God. Come on, clap. If you believe it. Married people. I got to see you the way God's called me to see you. I got to talk to you the way God's called me to talk to you. I got to get all that discouragement. I got to get all that frustration, and I got to turn it into praise. There's some things I got to confess. I got to confess that I am a sinner in need of grace. But I confess that you love me and that you're for me and that you're with me. And I'll obey you no matter what the cost. I'll obey you no matter what you tell me to do. You just think about the youth ministry of the Israelites at the time, the mom and dad like. Son, I know the snake bit you, but I need you to trust me here. We're gonna lift it up. I want you to stare at it, son. Kid's like, I'm not looking at the thing that just hurt me. No, no, son, you have to obey. Because if you obey, you're gonna live. If you obey, you're gonna flourish. And I just want to just tell you about God. God's into your life. God's gonna ask some things of you. The Bible says the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord. God's got a plan for your life. No eye has seen and no ear has heard. And no mind can imagine the things that God has in store for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. God's got a plan for your life, and we're gonna have to obey. Anybody want God's best for your family? Anybody want God's best for your life? Come on, clap and give him praise. You're gonna have to obey. I was talking to a friend the other day. He's building a great church. Things are going off. It's going like crazy. Tons of people. The people are coming. The money is not. And he felt like the Lord told him, I want you to fast and pray for the finances of the church. Felt like the Lord told him, fast and pray for the finances of this church. He said, if the Lord told me to do it, I got to do it. So he went on a fast and he started to pray. And when he finished the fast, on the last day, his phone rang. It was a man that he hadn't spoke to in nine years. And the man on the other line said, it's crazy, I know. We haven't spoken in nine Years. But this morning the Lord woke me up and showed me your face. And the Lord spoke to my heart and told me to wire you $250,000 to your church. Oh, come on, clap if you believe it today. Clap if you believe that obedience will unlock something. Clap if you believe that God's ways are better than your ways. Come on, clap if you believe he knows the end from the beginning. Why don't you give God praise if he's taking you along the long way? I'm gonna wait on you. I'm gonna worship you in the midnight hour. Even when I don't feel like it. Even when it doesn't make sense. I will not be discouraged. I will lift up my hands in your sanctuary because your love is better than life. I. I confess the blood. I confess the. Oh, come on, clap if you believe it. And I will obey the Lord. I will obey God. Jesus humbled himself to the point of death on the cross. That's why God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name. Oh, come on, if you believe it today, let's worship our king. Let's give our God praise. Come on, let's worship God together today. Hallelujah. Come on, lift it up today. Come on, sing it again. Praise. You. Come on, lift it up. Hallelujah. What more can I say but hallelujah? Jesus. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. One more day. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Why don't you just put your hands out in front of you? Thank God for the way that he's developing you. Thank God today for the path that he's got you on. Thank God for the long road. Just thank God right now for his sovereignty. Thank God for his shepherding. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Just give him a praise today in your heart for the goodness of God. Even if you take me along the long path, even if it takes longer than I ever expected, I'll worship you. I'll wait on you. For those that wait on the Lord will renew their strength today. I'm not in a hurry because you're not in a hurry. You're the author of my salvation. You know the beginning from the end. You're the alpha and the omega. I place my trust in you today. Forgive me for my discouragement. Forgive me for setting false expectations. Release me. I release gratitude in this house today. If you're thankful to God, just lift up a hand. We release our gratitude. We thank the Lord. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord and all that is within me at all times I will praise you. Come on. I will thank you without ceasing. Make me a worshiper. Make me a true worshiper that will worship you in spirit and in truth. I thank you, God. I praise you, Lord, that you put on a garment of praise for the spirit of despair, that you traded me beauty for ashes. I thank you for the oil of joy that's landed on my house. I thank you that new songs of joy, new songs of praise and deliverance are coming to my house. I confess my sin. I will not hide. Where can I go from your presence? Where can I hide from you? Even if I tried to make my bed in the depths of Sheol, you're there. I thank you that your eye is upon your sparrow. And I vow my obedience. I'm coming back to the heart of worship. I'm coming back to living for Jesus. I'm running back like the prodigal son. Come on. If you believe it today, lift your voice, Lift your hands. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You mean everything to me. I really want to praise you today. Hallelujah. Say, I love you. You have brought me all this way. This is my pray. What more can I say but halleluj? Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, jesus. Sing that again. One more day. I'm coming back. I'm coming back. Back. I'm coming back. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. God has not quit on you. God's not mad at you. He's madly in love with you. God has no plan B for your life. Today. We're coming back to the heart of worship. This message came to me about a week ago. I was driving in my car getting on the 405. I didn't have time to do my read through that morning, so I pressed play and it started to read through numbers 21. And I heard the word discouraged. And I pressed pause and I said, what did it just say? Discouraged. And I thought of you and I thought about today and I thought there'd be somebody here today that just needs to hear the word of the Lord. Say to you you that I'm the God that refreshes souls. I'm the God that will make you lie down in green pastures. I'm the God that will lead you beside still waters. You know what the gospel is? I was wrong, I'm forgiven. I'm restored. I was wrong. I'm forgiven. But thank God I'm restored today. You know what this story was? I was wrong, but I'm forgiven. And I'm walking out of today restored. Get your Godfidence back Elevation I can do all things through who? Through who? Christ that strengthens me. So Lord, we thank you that we're building up in our holy faith. We thank you that you never looked away because you're a God of mercy and compassion. You send solutions for the Israelites and you sent solution for us. The Son of Man, Jesus, the Son of the living God. And we believe on a day like today, through his obedience we can walk in victory. We pray today that as we celebrate your goodness we will understand the grace that's found in Christ. We will believe and live because of Jesus. And Jesus we celebrate your obedience. Thank you that you obeyed the Father even to the point of death on the cross. Thank you that you obeyed the Father and you chose us rather than your Son in the same way you obeyed the Father. We want to obey the Father. We want to walk with you and serve you. We love you more than anything else in Jesus name and everybody said together. Come on, let's clap and thank God one more time. 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 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.
