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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in.
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Open your Bibles to Hebrews, chapter 6 and verse 10. The writer begins, for God is not unjust. I've lived long enough to know that people may be unjust, circumstances may be unjust, this world can be cruel and unjust. But if you're going to keep your head on straight, it's vital that you stop confusing God's will with everything that happens in your life. This is important. If everything that happened in your life or on earth was God's will, we'd already be in heaven. But we're not. This is anything but heaven. I think God allows some of us to go through hell on earth to teach us where we don't want to end up forever. But here's the good news. Here, here's the, what do you, what do you say? The ring around the, the, the cloud, the, the, whatever that's called. The silver lining in the cloud. Yeah. The good news is this life is the closest to hell we will ever get if we trust in God. So the worst that could ever happen, to happen to you can only happen in this life and for a limited season of time. But for the rest of your existence, it's gonna be glory. Psalm 7:1 tells us something that we need to remember. It says this, God is a just judge. And this next clause is a little difficult. And God is angry with the wicked every day. The amount of self control that God exhibits each and every day, letting the sun rise and set on both the just and unjust, is absolutely breathtaking. And it's designed to be an example to you and I. But why is God willing to wait so long? Why has Jesus not come back yet? I think the reason God's waited so long is because he thinks you and I are worth it. But I also know God will not wait forever. You see, don't spend your time being that person waiting for the perfect chance and you miss the Last chance. Psalms 37:28. We're going to be moving around the scripture quite a bit today. The Bible goes on to say something else about God and justice. It says he loves. I didn't research this, but it's probably agape old. He has a covenant relationship that cannot be broken with justice. So he's not only just, but God loves, has a sensitivity towards, an affinity towards justice, which means God has never had a moment, whether in eternity past or eternity future where he regretted making right right and wrong wrong. He loves justice and will not forsake his saints. God will never abandon those who trust him. But here's the challenge. Sometimes we do right, but things still go wrong. And in those moments we begin to wonder, God, where are you? God, how could you let this happen? But I'm learning. God's silence is as full of love as his replies. And the teacher is quietest during the test. Back to Hebrews 6:10. For God is not unjust. You can make this clause your screensaver. Tie a ribbon around one of your fingers. If you're into tattoos, you could tattoo it somewhere on your body. God is not unjust. People may be unjust, circumstances may be unjust. The world can be cruel and unjust. But God is not, no, never unjust. Watch what David says about his life. He chimes in and says this, though my father and my mother. And that's not an easy thing to do. Forsake me. Even when those nearest and dearest to you drop you exclude you. When those who with whom you have the deepest ties abandon you, the ones who should be most loyal and most faithful go sideways. But when those near and dear your heart leave you holding the bag, treating you like you're the bad guy. Though my father and mother forsake me. Watch this, the Lord. If God is all you have, you already have everything you need. I could not begin to tell you how many times God has pulled me out of hopelessness, bad relationships, impossible situations, even when I didn't deserve it. Though everything else in your life go south. The Lord will receive me, yes, he may correct me, yes, he often chastises me. But he will never leave me nor forsake me. If you come to him, he will never reject you. Each time he'll pick you up, adjust you, and tell you to walk on. Back to Hebrews 6:10. And I'm repeating this clause over and over again because I want to get it into your heart. I don't want it just to be the word of a preacher. I want you to hear what thus saith the Scriptures. For God is not unjust. Now watch what he calls injustice, though to forget you see, your spouse may forget, your child might stop visiting. There might be some places you're no longer welcome. But God is not unjust to forget. He at times will delay, but God will never ever, ever, ever, ever forget. But watch the things he won't forget. For God is not unjust to forget your work. He's paying attention to the work you Put in now, because of Calvary, God will forget our sins. He'll cast them into the sea of forgetfulness and separate them from us as far as the east is from the west. God will forgive our past mistakes. He'll forget many of our attitudes if we ask. But there's one thing God promises he will never ever forget. And it's our faithfulness to his people, our loyalty to his claws, especially in times crisis. Now, here's what I know. The reward may not come tomorrow. It may not come next week, next month, might not even come this year. But what I do know is coming. Because God always repays. God will not miss a jot or a tittle. Angels are keeping records and accounts. When you bit your tongue, when you. When you. When you responded with love, when you turned the other cheek, God noted it in a book. And he's waiting for that perfect moment to reward. For God is not like people. He's not unjust to forget your work. And then he adds another word that's even stronger. And your labor of love. What's a labor of love? Well, everybody thinks their mother's the best cook. And maybe there's. There's. I don't know. My mother is. But. I'm not sure about your but. Well, actually, I'm married. My wife now is in my. You shall leave your mother and father and cleave to your wife. So it's a quick save, right? But often it's not so much that she's a great cook as much as the love she puts into the food, into the meal, when she stands over the stove with her feet hurt, her back aches, and all that love she puts in makes the food taste like nothing else. You see, there's nothing in this world that's accomplished apart from or without passion. He'll not forget your label of love. Watch this. Which you have not just felt or thought about, but have shown toward His Yashem, toward His name. When you really love God, you don't just feel it, you look for ways to show it. And then it elaborates a little bit. You know, what they shown the work and the labor. And here's it's spelled out in that you have ministered to the saints, ministered to imperfect people sometimes that are not grateful, not thankful. Sometimes they will get on your last nerve. But you have ministered to the saints. How do you bless the one who already has everything? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Psalms 24 says, the earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, and all that dwells therein. How do you bless the one that owns already the earth, the moon, the sun and the stars? By blessing those he loves who don't have what you have yet, you see, the measure of our greatness is not how many people serve you, but how many people you serve. We rise by lifting others. All six of you caught that. Thank you. And you have ministered to the saints in the past and do continue to minister now. Scripture is doing something here. It's about to caution us about resting on our laurels or becoming complacent. Thank God for all that we've done in the past. God has done great things. We have done great things. You have done great things. But yesterday's home runs will not win today's games. Important salvation is a work completely done by the Holy Spirit. But sharing his word remains a work done by Christians. And the only way we can do it is to do it together. This is why church membership matters. This is why us becoming a community matters. Because, you know, one could do one thing, but when two of us get together, it becomes exponential. One puts a thousand, but two, ten thousand, and. And then we all come together and, you know, 120,000. We begin to do so much more for the cause of Christ. It matters that we are connected one to another. And then he goes on and he starts using ugly words. He already used the word like work. Then he pushed the envelope and added labor, which is more intense. But then he throws in this other word, diligence. And we desire each one of you show the same. The same diligence, meaning not just third row, seat number three, show diligence, but also the fifth row, seat number five, show diligence. The load is lighter when everyone lifts. And we desire that each one of you show the same passion and diligence. You see, the book of Hebrews was written to a people who, when they gave their lives to Jesus, faced real persecution and genuine hardship because of their new faith. And due to the pressure and sometimes their setbacks, over time, their passion for God began to wane and grow cold. So they stopped going to church. That's why in Hebrews it says, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves. Together, they stopped volunteering. And that's why he's talking about ministering to the saints. They stopped giving, and they felt like giving up. But somebody real aptly said, he said, death is not the greatest tragedy in life, but what we let die inside while we live. And no matter what's happening in your family, in Your body or in your life stay in the fight. And we desire that each one of you, not just a few, everyone show the same what? Diligence. The answer to our problems when we're going in the right direction to keep on going. Hebrews 11:6 says this. It says, anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists. How many of y' all got that down? You know, God exists, but a lot of us don't believe the second part. And that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek and pursue him. But here's that hundred dollar word. It didn't just say those who seek him, but those who diligently, those who stay at it despite the barriers and the obstacles. And what he's saying is, sometimes it requires a little umption, it requires a little gump to push past situations that will get in your way. It's one thing to seek God when everything's going wonderful, but when everything seems to be going wrong, that's when we need diligence. God is a rewarder of those who don't just worship God when everything's right, but those who keep coming to church when it's raining, when it's cold, when it's sideways, those who diligently what, pursue him. Now, here's the deal. Either God's word is true or it's not. Either you believe or you don't. Now, if God, pay attention. Could raise Lazarus from the dead after, I don't know how long he was sick, maybe weeks. Then after four days of decaying in a desert tomb, only after all that did Jesus say, lazarus, come forth. We think because we're in the struggle, God must not be active. God must not have a plan. If Paul and Silas could take the vicious beating they took with rods that probably broke their feet and made you. You never walked the same after you got beat with rods. As bad as they were beaten at midnight, they were heard praising and thanking God. They went through pain. But if they thought the presence of pain canceled God's presence in their life, they would have quit and gave up. God did not move during the beating, but he did move during their praise. And when they praised God, despite the pain, despite what they went through, God sent an earthquake to set them free. I don't know why you're going through what you're going through. I just know if you lift those hands, keep worshiping your God in the midst of whatever you're facing, God will do what only God can do. Stop acting like God has failed because you're Dealing with some trouble. And we desire, in other words, some say Paul wrote this letter too. There was a company of people that wrote this letter. You know, I've had secretaries, I dictate, but then they'll write it in their own voice. And in the ancient world adhuensis, they were used to write sometimes for the apostles. So if someone had a better sense of the Greek, you might notice a difference between first two, Peter. Because there was somebody and it was the apostle, it was an anointed leader that did this with him. But I got sidetracked. Sorry. But with that there's a we here. And it's important to have a company, it's important to have a we. People with like minds and like spirit. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence. Watch this though, to the full assurance. Now at first that's blind to us. It looks like, you know, the writer's just piling up words. But what he's saying is God doesn't want us to have a partial assurance. He doesn't want us to have a half baked assurance. He doesn't want to just be hoping and wishing that type of assurance. You see, the Holy Spirit is not a token. The reason he's in our lives is not just so we can speak in tongues. Thank God for that. That's a good thing. But he's here and we're gonna see this clearer in just a couple verses. He's in our hearts to help us reach the fullest level of assurance possible, which you may not realize when you read the story of Abraham and his him giving birth to Isaac. Actually Sarah did. God appeared to him over and over and over and over again. God would speak to him. Angels were sent to him. God himself showed up to him. I mean God, over and over he would say, listen Abraham, you're going to have the baby. And it took time for Abraham to get to the place where he was fully confident. The Holy Spirit has not lost patience with you. He will say it frontwards and backwards, sideways from left to right. If you let him, he'll say it over and over and over again. Because ultimately he wants you to have full assurance. Jesus said it this way. He said to the disciples, it's better that I go away, that the comforter might come. The challenge was Jesus was with them, but Jesus was outside of them. But when the Holy Spirit came, he went inside the apostles and all who would follow. Likewise, the Holy Spirit's in us not just to give us a goosebump, not just to make us feel good. The Holy Spirit's in us to give us a sense of assurance, to help us keep our heads up when things are looking down. He wants to give us an assurance the world can't give and the world can't take away. There's a confidence that he comes into our hearts to give us. Matter of fact, it's probably one of our greatest evangelistic tools. When everyone else is falling apart, going through the same situation, their kids dealing with the same stuff your kids are dealing with. But there's a confidence in you. There's a. A knowing that God's got it in you. There's assurance that doesn't come from this world. That is what reaches people. Not how well you speak, not even always how well you tell your stories, but how you go through crisis in storms. Romans 15 and 13. We're in the word just a little bit today. Moving around now. May the God of Hope. He called himself the God of what? Meaning if God's in your life, you have hope. He's the God of hope. You see, I was told by the doctor, and you've heard me say this before, in my late 20s, that I would live the rest of my life with a debilitating, painful and bloody disease. I wouldn't be able to function like normal people. And I would just have to contend with it for the rest of my life. Two years into my marriage, the government tried to deport my wife. She was here legally. No. No issue. I. I don't know why. Sometimes just the Greer's gotta just fight stuff. And maybe it's like you. It's like, where's all this stuff come from? What are all the challenges? But two years into the marriage, we had to hire an attorney and do all the rest of this stuff. They were gonna take her back. And guess what? I was gonna go too. Cause I'm, you know. And there would have been no Grace Church. Grace Church, Ethiopia, I guess. The doctors told me that my first son would be born deformed, brain damage circumstances. Later told us that my youngest son would become a statistic. And we lose in the street violence. People told me this church would never grow rich. People sued me. Powerful people promised to destroy me. But now may the God of Hope. Y' all been there too. But now may the God of Hope fill you not a little dab will do. Fill you with all joy and peace in believing. Am I the only one in this room who has tried to believe God but sweated, lost sleep, stomach aches all the way? Now may The God of peace fill you, put your name in there with all joy and peace in believing, trusting God without joy and peace. Like driving down a bumpy road with no air in your tires, no shock absorbers, no struts, no power steering. Now, you may get to where you're going, but you'll get there with symptoms of ptsd, perhaps a tic, and you'll arrive exhausted because of the journey. And many of us, we're living life this way. We haven't, you know, we get to where we're going, but the misery in the journey because we got just enough of God to become complacent, but not enough of God to really ride through the storm. May the God of hope fill you with all joy, all peace in believing. Watch this. That you may watch this abound in hope. Not just have some hope where you're hanging on by a thread, but abound in hope to overflowing. You see, real hope acknowledges difficulties. It just knows they shall be overcome. But watch how this is done. We try to do it in our own strength, the power of positive thinking. Or maybe we just throw a few words at a thing and it's supposed to turn things around. But how do you live this type of life, going through the ups and downs, the bumps and all the rest. How do you do it and keep your head on straight and not lose your mind. That you might have joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope, not by your own power, not by just your own optimism, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your relationship with the Holy Spirit is the most important relationship you have on earth. He's not just here for us to speak in tongues, so grateful for that, but he's here. According to the scripture, the power of the Holy Spirit is in your life to help you hope against hope, sometimes to stand against all odds, to resist even common sense. And you're like, if God said it, I must still hope for it. Abraham was an old man, naturally speaking, you just can't have babies at that age. Sarah was 90 and the book of Romans said, despite his age, he and Sarah hoped against hope. How do you do that? It's not willpower, it's the power of the Holy Spirit. And you gotta learn to tap into the Holy Spirit's power if you want to live a better life than you are living. You know, whenever feel like losing hope, I remind myself that God's plan is wiser than all my personal dreams. You see, a man's mind plans his way, but the Lord directs His steps. Now, I might have had a dream that had happened by this time or in this way. But God knows exactly what I need. He knows exactly what others need. And his wisdom is how he plans. And sometimes I even have to lay down my dreams for his plan. But his plan is always wiser. Let's go back to Hebrews 6:10 and we'll wrap up for the moment for this morning. For God is not unjust. People may be unjust. Your boss, the government, circumstances may be unjust. The world, the flesh, the devil is cruel and unjust. But never confuse those things with our God. God is our only hope. Because God is not unjust to forget our work and our labor of love. Verse 11. Then it goes on and talks about our desire to that God would show the same diligence, the full assurance. But watch this. He wants to do it until the end. Starting strong is good, but finishing strong is how you win. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence. It's going to take diligence to get to the place of full assurance. You're going to have to stay in that word. Let that word stay in you. You're going to have to pray it, you're going to have to say it, you're going to have to think it, you're going to have to speak it, you're going to have get friends around you that support it. You're going to have to get in a church that preaches God's word. You're going to have to do some things in order to get to that full insurance. But ultimately the Holy Spirit wants us to be fully assured in our minds until the end. Watch it. That you do not become what sluggish the challenge is. The Bible said God is the alpha and the omega. The problem is when we're in the middle, you know, when we get started, it's exciting because it's new. But in the middle, I mean, when you're too far from where you started to go back and you're not really in reach of where you're going,
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in the middle, that's when you want to give up. It's like God, you know, how could it be this difficult, this hard? Lord, again, I thought that. That you love me and you begin to lose your energy. It says that you do become. You do not become what sluggish. You see, I have lost some spiritual fights, but may I never lose my fight. You see, people who fight may lose, but people who stop fighting have already lost. That you do not Become disillusioned. That you do not begin to say, you know, does it matter? I give up. That you do not become sluggish. But imitate those who have big churches. No, imitate those who could talk real good. No, imitate those who could talk. Well, I've been in the faith 40 years. Nope. Imitate those who through faith. But watch this. It's not just through faith. Those who told you it only took faith have misled you. I wish it only took faith. I just go home and I believe it. I believe it, But that's not what it says. Imitate those who, through faith and patience. Faith gets you to the side of the river, but patience becomes the bridge. And if you lose patience, you'll lose your faith. It's through patience and faith that we inherit the promises. So it's those who hear it, believe it, but don't quit in the middle of it that truly inherit the promises. It's not enough just to believe for a couple of moments. According to the scripture, it takes faith and tenacity, faith and perseverance, Faith and staying at it. Faith rising and sleeping every day, getting up and going at it every day until the thing moves. I don't know how long it's going to take for the thing in your life to move, But I know with the walls of Jericho, they went day after day after day. And then on the third day, they went seven times. I'm sorry, the seventh day, they went seven times. Around then the walls fell. And you're like, if it was God, it would have happened the first day. That's a problem. Because in creation, it took six days. And if God only did everything in one day, he would just went bamboo and that's it. No, the seventh day was all about rest, reflecting on the process God went through in the former days. And with God, there is sometimes a process. And the process not because he's weak, sometimes it's because he's building. You. Imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit. You see real gold never fears fire. Through patience and faith, inherit the promises. You see what caterpillars think is the end of the world we call butterflies. So far, God has gotten you through 100% of the worst days in your life. And if he did it before, he'll do it again. You didn't think you'd get through those days. And even if you got through them, you're like, I'm certainly going to lose my mind. I'm going to leave this thing just a little bit. Something's going to be loose up there. But not only did you make it through your worst days, most of you recovered and rebounded. God's the same God, and he's not changing now. Imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises each week. We're not just reading stories because we want to read stories about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Hannah, David, Daniel, Mary, James, Peter and Paul. One of the things I love about the Bible is all those people had issues. All of them had problems, but God still used them. Moses got run out of Egypt. Moses murdered a dude. David slept with a woman that wasn't his wife. Don't try to practice that piece. But all of them had issues. Peter betrayed the Lord, but he became the preacher. On the day of Pentecost, all of them had frailties, just like you and I. But the thing that made them great was that they held on. And all we can do is hold on. I don't know how long you got to hold. Hold on. But hold on. If that means you got to tie the rope around your waist, I don't know if you got to get some glue and glue your hand onto that rope, hold on. Help is on the way. God is faithful. He will see you through. He's not a man that he should lie. He has not changed his mind about your purpose. When he told you, you get to the other side, he knew the storm would meet you in the middle. God got you. God is for you. He has not blinked. He did not stutter when he said, you're going to make it. He's not intimidated. All calculations that could be made were made when God gave you that promise. All that's left, God has spoken his part. He just needs us to do our part. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, sometimes you gotta go through it. And just because you're going through it, you're like, where is God? No. He said, though I walk through the shadow of the valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. You will get me to the other side. His rod and his staff comfort me. Surely goodness and mercy. Surely goodness and mercy. Surely goodness. Surely goodness and mercy. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the. Even the bad day, all the days of my life. Never hold on to anything tighter than you hold on to God. Don't hold on to your pain. Don't hold on to an event, a disappointment, a situation. Don't hold on to anything stronger and tighter than you hold God. What we're dealing with in this life is just passing. It's temporal. It's temporary. But God is eternal and he who sits high looks low. And he got you if you trust him and if you hold on.
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Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember you have what it takes in Christ to live big. We also invite you to partner with Derek Greer Ministries in bringing the life changing and impactful teachings of God's Word
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to to the world.
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Get started by visiting DerekReh.com by clicking the link in the description.