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He already knew what he was going to do. How cool is that? You mean I'm coming before God praying a lot of times, and I'm like. Like I'm God's administrative assistant, Lord, Just reminding you about that appointment you missed last week when I asked you to help me with the thing and I told you to fix them, you didn't fix them. So just putting it back on your calendar. If you get around to it, Lord, then there's the other thing over here. Lately I've been praying like this. You already know. I know you know I know you know. That's why Mary went to Jesus. Even though it wasn't his job. He was just a guest at the wedding. But she knew what was in him because he had been in her. When Christ is in you and you are in Christ, you already know. How many of you already know that God will do it. You just don't know how.

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Mary knew Mary did you know Mary would be like, yeah, I knew he would, but I Didn't know how he would. I didn't know how. But see, every need in your life is pointing you to a deeper source. Every sign John recorded was pointing to something deeper. Every need to you experience in your life is pointing you to a deeper place in God that you can access. A deeper place of strength, a deeper place of confidence, a deeper place of health, a deeper place of relationship, a deeper place of dependence. Everything is pointing to something deeper. So when she said, they have no more wine, Jesus responded, I don't recommend this as something to say to your mom or your wife. Woman, why do you involve me? That's not like a great marriage seminar. Love languages verse. See, she didn't tell Jesus the need to inform him like we do. She didn't pray like a ritual. And God blessed me to be day as I go to the thing and after the thing, God just let me go through my list and worry about it and say that I'm praying, but really all I'm doing is worrying out loud with my eyes closed. She wasn't doing it to inform him. She was doing it to involve him. She knew if he gets involved, I don't know what he'll do, but I know who he is. Now I'm going to need you to shout right now if you know who he is. Come on, Blakeney, don't be quiet. I know you love the Lord. I need you to shout right now if you know who he is. I know who to go to. I lift my eyes to the hill. His mother goes to him and he says to his mother, woman, I'm going to start talking to Holly. Help them with their homework. Woman, why do you involve me? That's my favorite verse this year. I'm going to use that a lot this year. Woman, why do you involve me in Jesus? My hour has not yet come. He's talking about the cross. But she needs him to do something right now. Some of us have things we need God to do now. We really do. We need him now. Yeah, I'm going to heaven when I die. Yeah. There's a white horse I read about in the book of Revelation. The Book of Revelations. People put an S on it. The Book of Revelations. Walmart's Revelations. Yeah, it's great. But how about now? So watch what she does. She doesn't argue, she doesn't convince, she doesn't beg. In fact, she doesn't talk to Jesus anymore. She turns away from Jesus, points to the people who are working at the wedding. Verse 5. She said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. If you start moving in faith, he's going to do something. I don't know what. He didn't tell me. I don't know the details. I don't know the plan. I wasn't the wedding planner. This isn't even my party. But if you'll start moving, if you'll start obeying, if you'll take a step, you're going to see something. Sign. She said, do whatever he tells you. Now, I know what you're thinking. I already know what you're thinking. I would. If I knew what he wanted me to do, I would. I would do whatever he tells you to do. That's such a great thing to say on Sunday morning. How about this apartment I'm living in right now? I don't know whether I should move out of this apartment. We get really weird sometimes, too. People do all kinds of stuff and say God told them to do it. Okay, a couple of y' all are new to church. There's probably one of these weird people within, like, three rows of you that God has to tell them what color to wear in the morning. It's paralyzing, you know, and they'll make stuff up. It's like a cognitive bias thing as well. It's like, well, I was praying about whether I should date him, and then I went and I went to Elevation and Pastor Steve, he was preaching on Pastor Steve, he's preaching on John, and the guy's name is James, and it's close. They both start with J. So I'm going to date him. Right. It's a sign sometimes, the way God speaks. The Lord was saying to me the other day, because I was praying about. I don't know whether to do this or that. I know you have situations that are nuanced, and I really don't like preaching that doesn't respect nuance. I really think in some ways it's misleading for people to say. It's just simple. Do whatever he tells you to do. Sometimes I don't know what that is. Sometimes I don't know if I should take the job and make a little more money, but it's going to take me away from my family more. But I need to be here for my kids. But I also need to be able to send them to college in four years, and I need to be able to provide for them. So I'm kind of caught between. I don't really know what he wants me to do because I can't find a Bible verse about whether I should live in Atlanta or Charlotte. Let me just tell you something. There's traffic in both cities and there's problems in both cities, and there's ups and downs to both cities. Where am I going to go to college? I see a Wingate shirt over there. Where am I going to go to college? You can live for the Lord at Wingate or at Wofford. You could live for the Lord. Either place. It's not as important. I mean, go where the scholarship money is or if there's no scholarship money. But it's more important what kind of friends you make the first week of college than it is whether it's Wingate or Wofford. Can I preach a little bit? The Lord was speaking to me. I was like, if I knew what to do, I would do it. God said if you would do what you knew. Do you see the flip? Because I'm waiting for new information from God. God is like, all right, what do you already know? I'm speaking to somebody today who has run out, and you don't know what to do. You don't have the wisdom. You don't have the experience. You don't have the. I don't know. It's really hard to do something you don't have a context for. But if you would do what you knew, what do you already know? I know, for one, that gratitude is the gateway to joy. So much so that I bought a journal and put it by my bed. It's a gratitude journal. It's orange, like everything else in this church. And like God's favorite team, the Clemson Tigers, whom he has anointed with the fresh oil of yet another national championship for the glory of his name, his kingdom come. Some of y' all look like you hate me right now, but I found out the gratitude journal doesn't bless me if I don't open it and write in it. I already know that, but I haven't touched it in seven months. It has dust on it. Then I'm going to go to God at some point, praying that he'll help me to feel joy. But I already knew what to do. I didn't do it. I have 17 books on my Kindle I bought last year that I read one chapter of. I probably don't need to buy another book this year, and you might not, either. I'm serious. I'm going to preach until it's so quiet you think it's Elevation? Presbyterian Episcopalian cemetery service. Look at me. You know enough right now, I promise you. Do you know enough right now to be Physically fit. I'm just saying, you might not need men's fitness with Hugh Jackman's workout to do some pushups and to take less calories. But we're addicted to knowledge. We're addicted to if I knew what to do, if I knew I'd get fucked through this diet over here. And I heard about this and this celebrity diet. And I have to do this thing. I heard about this kombucha. If I drink that, then my gut will be healthy. You already know. Touch somebody and say, you already know. You know push ups, you know sit ups. You already know. Get a trainer if you want, but the trainer will not trust transform you. If you know what to do and you do what you know, you will know what to do. Come on, God. I don't need you to clarify. I need you to give me courage to do what I knew I didn't do last time. I knew I needed to humble myself. Some of us know exactly what we need to do, but we don't want to do it. So we want to pile more knowledge on top of the last thing we didn't do that he gave us to do. I'm preaching, Mom. They might not come back next week, but I'm preaching because there are three things Jesus points to. I want to give this to you because I believe God already knows. He already knows. I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. But there's something you don't know that you can't know. It is not in the knowing, but in the doing that the miracle happens. Praise God. Do you feel this word, man? It might be just for you. God might have gave me this message just for you. I don't doubt it. He's that good. Do you believe that he would put this in me just for you? I do. I was noticing the details because his mother said, do whatever he tells you to do. And don't do what everybody else tells you to do. Because you'll spend all your energy doing what everybody else tells you to do and then not have the strength to do the thing God called you to do, saying yes to everything else but what God gave you to do. Do whatever he tells you to do. Listen, Jesus wasn't reluctant to get involved. He just needed their involvement. He tells them to do something. Look at it in verse six. It says, nearby stood six stone water jars. What kind of jars? Stone water jars. The kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing. They were common. They were there for a common purpose. Each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. They were big. That's a big gallon. In fact, by the time they did what he said in verse seven, Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim and which would have made 1,000 bottles of wine more than they needed. Because he's a God of more than enough. He is a God of more than enough. It's not that he doesn't have it. It's that we're so busy pointing to what's not there, we miss what is. That's why we have to flip the flow. The Bible says not even knowing what would happen when they did it because they needed wine. But he points to water. He doesn't point to what they need. He points to what they have. Then he told them, now, draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so. They just did it. They had a Nike mentality. They just did it. Swoosh. I'm looking for a sponsorship. I'm just trying to work this in, trying to get us some money for the expansion program. They did so. And the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He tasted the product, but he did not understand the process. He didn't know. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants knew. Touch somebody and say, you already know. You know who knows what God is doing in the earth today? Those who serve him. Not just those who come and sip, but those who serve, those who involve. I want to thank God for every volunteer in this church, for everybody who served something today, for every egroup leader in this church. I thank God for you because you already know it's more blessed to give than receive. Not those who sit, but those who serve. That's who God blesses the most. Amen. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, you flip the flow. Everybody brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink. That's the way the world works. It's good for a little while and then it runs out. He said, you did it different. It got better and better and sweeter and sweeter. I've come to tell you, your best days are not behind you. God is not like that. He didn't let you run out because he left you. He let it run out so he could give you something better than what you brought to the party to begin with. You flip the Flow. You have saved the best till now. But how did he do it? How did he do it? Everything you're running out of in your life today is in Jesus. It's in him. But there are three things I want to show you and we'll go quickly. Number one. It's not going to be in the places you expect. It's going to be number one. Nearby. It's not going to be by you moving to a new situation or thinking your solution is out there somewhere. It's not going to be distant. It's going to be nearby. Where were the stonewater jars? Pay attention to the details. Nearby. Where is the help God has given you for the shortage in your life? It's nearby. The reason we don't see what's nearby is because when something is close, we see it as common. These were stone jars made of earth. They were leak proof so they wouldn't be ceremonially unclean. But there was nothing gold plated about them. These were not iced out jars. That's not what made them special. What was special was what was inside. But they didn't have to go. Jesus right here could have been like the disciples. Go to town. You have to get some wine. But the thing about Cana is it's in the middle of nowhere, so they can't go get anything. So they have to use something nearby. I wonder what's nearby that if you pour yourself into it, God can flow again through your life. It's nearby. It's so close. Remember, they all came in the party and washed their hands. So the miracle was in something they had already walked by to get to the party. The miracle is in something you're walking by every day. It's in a Bible reading plan you already started, but you just quit it and you can pick it back up. The wisdom you need might be in the wife you chose to do life with six years ago. But you don't want to listen to her because she's nearby. So I will see men go to conferences to learn how to be a better man. But they won't even listen to their own wife because they don't want to be humble. I'm telling you it's nearby. It's not out there. That's not where the provision is. It's not somewhere out there. It's nearby. It's going to be so close. You'll miss it if you're not careful. It's going to be so close. I'll tell you it's something you're walking by right now. You, You've been praying for it. It's an orange gratitude journal that's right there on your bed. It's an exercise plan you already know to do. It's going to be nearby and it's going to be normal. That's the second thing. It's going to be normal. It's not going to feel so supernatural. It's going to feel natural and then it's going to be super. But you can't wait for something special. You have to embrace something normal. We have this treasure in Earth and vessels that the excellency of the power might be from God and not from us. Is coming through something normal. It's going to be normal. It's going to be habits. It's going to be discipline. It's going to be normal. God, use me. Go home and have dinner with your family. It's going to be normal. It's not going to be exciting. It's not going to be sexy. It's not going to be Instagram models in bikinis on the beach. It's going to be normal. Tell somebody it's going to be normal. Tell them it's going to be natural, but it's going to be super. When God gets done with normal, what happens on the inside of what looks normal on the outside? God is doing something in me. I wonder what you've been walking by because it looks normal. You don't even notice it because it's nearby and it's normal and it's now. Jesus said now. Now. Not after I've explained it to you now. He didn't tell them. Now. When you draw it out, it's going to start to turn purple. Like when you stir the Kool Aid. It's going to be a fermentation process and molecular structure is going. Let me draw it up for you guys. Is this okay? Everybody, come on in. Come on in. Now, I know you don't know what I'm going to do, but I already know. I know you don't know why I'm telling you to do this, but I know. I know you don't know why I'm telling you to forgive, but I know what I want to do that I can't do. In your life if you have a clogged heart, so do it now. Now. Now. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Jesus never points to what's next without dealing with what's now. Now. Draw it out now. I could imagine he could have gone around the whole party. You should have planned better and you should have Known better. But he didn't do any of that because he didn't point to what they should have done. It doesn't do any good. He points to what is now. Now, even though you could have done better, I'm going to tell you, you could have done a better job. You need to fire your wedding planner. I hope you didn't give her too much of a deposit, because she really screwed this up. But now. That's actually what Mary and Martha said to Jesus when he showed up for Lazarus. If you would have been here, our brother would not have died. But even now, I feel the power of now on this Word. Today, now, now, now, now, now, now. The truth is, you might be running out of time. Jesus only had three years on Earth. Isn't it crazy? Think about this. I'm almost done. Y' all have like five more minutes or am I out of time? I don't know how to receive that Tepid encouragement, I guess. Go if you need to go. I'm going to talk to who wants to hear this last part. I just study too much to get up here and let a clock tell me when to quit. I know what it feels like to be empty. I've been there in my own life. Just dry and empty. If another person asks me if I don't even want to do it. But. But there's something significant. Not only about what Jesus did. Water into wine, the law into the spirit. We could preach about that. We will one day. He did it in a ceremonial jar. And it was an idea. The fact that the ceremonial washings of Moses were now being replaced by the blood that would be shed. It's all in there. It's a sign. It's pointing to a lot. But why did he do it in Canaan? Why did he show his glory in Cana? To understand this, we need to meet Nathanael. Nathanael was a disciple who came to Jesus. Guess who brought him, by the way? Philip. The one who Jesus said, where are we going to get the bread from? But he already knew. I promise you, he already knows. But he's just trying to make sure you know where it comes from. Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus. Pick it up. In 45, Philip found Nathanael and told him. Yeah, you can start playing. It'll hurry me along. He found Nathanael and told him. We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and about whom the prophets also wrote. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. There were 456 different expectations of the Jewish Messiah. Philip was doing the math. He said, I think this is him. I'm not sure, but come see. Nathanael starts trying to figure it out based on what he can understand. He's like, did you say Nazareth? That hick town? Nazareth, Moncks Corner. I'm used to being from a place people don't respect. When you say the name of it, Nazareth, can anything good come from there? Nathanael asked the question, and Philip said, I can't answer that, but you can Come see. Now watch this. This is where it gets good. When Jesus saw Nathanael, I always preach John, Chapter two, thinking verse one is where it started. On the third day, Jesus went to Cana. But it started before that. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Nathanael was kind of creeped out. He said, how do you know me? We have met. How do you know? He said, I know what's in you. He said, but you don't know me. He said, but I know what's in you. One time when Elijah was little, he would walk around the house. How old was he? Two? Three? He'd walk around the house going, how do you know my name? How do you know my name? I think he heard it on a TV show. I thought that was so, so bizarre. He'd walk up to me and holler, how do you know my name? I'd say, because I made you. Because I gave you your name. I know who you are. I know what's in you. Jesus looks at Nathanael and he knows what's in him because Nathanael came from him. Watch this. This is so important for everybody who spends a lot of time feeling like that what's against you is greater than what's in you. I want you to know that God already knows what's against you and he already knows what's in you. I said, he already knows what's against you and he already knows what's in you. He said, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, before Philip called you. Nathanael said, you saw me? Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. You hadn't even met me yet, and you saw me before I was called. You mean you saw me in this situation before I was even in it. You saw me in this dry place before it even stopped raining. You saw me in this dumb decision. You saw me in this place divorced. You saw me in this low place. I say, yeah, I saw you. I wouldn't have put you in it if I didn't put it in you. You have it in you. And you will not run out. And it will not run out, and it will not run out. You will accomplish your purpose, you will fulfill. You will complete your assignment. It is in you. I love Jesus. He said you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that. Then they went to Cana so Jesus could show Nathanael what he just told him. I am the one who flips the flow. I am the one who gives grace for shame. I am the one who turns rejection into blessing. I am the resurrection. I am the life. Your struggle is aside. Your setback is aside. Your secrets are assigned. God is with you. It is in you. Come on. Release a shout of praise in the place I said release a shout of praise in the place. You will not run out. You might not have any wine, but if you have the One who can stir the water, you will never lack. You will make it and you will achieve it. In Jesus name name. Well, I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. If you did, there are just a couple things I'd love for you to do. Number one, subscribe to our show. That way, the most recent episode will always be in your feed waiting for you. Ready when you are. And secondly, if this ministry has impacted you and you'd like to help us continue to reach others, you can click the link in the description and you can give now and I'll see you next time next time on the Elevation Podcast. This is Julian Edelman from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jewels. Sunday mornings I've got my game day ritual, coffee, lucky socks and now new Morning Uncrustable sandwiches. 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