00:00:01:20 – 00:00:20:22
Unknown
Hello, hello, hello. There we go. Whoa! There was a little heat on that microphone. I’m going to come a little closer. Come closer, come closer. Good morning. How are we doing? Good. Yeah.

00:00:20:24 – 00:00:51:09
Unknown
Thank you Lord. Great word, great word. Rochelle, who’s here today? Oh, wow. Awesome response. Man. When people respond, preachers are like, really? Here I go. Like, let me swing. I just want to thank you all for coming to the house of the Lord today. Not for my sake, but for his sake. All right. Thank you for your faithfulness.

00:00:51:11 – 00:01:15:08
Unknown
For loving the Lord. Do we love the Lord? Yeah. I want to pray real quick. And I don’t want to go very long today. I’ve got a real quick and kind of to the point message today, but it’s going to be really important that you have ears to hear so that it’s received. Right. We don’t have to make it long if we receive it.

00:01:15:10 – 00:01:37:19
Unknown
Right. You believe if Jesus hands you something and you receive it from him, like that could have taken seconds. Now, is it going to be a ten second message? But he’s going to hand something to you quick today. And if you’re ready and you have ears to hear to receive what he’s imparting today, you’ll get it and it’ll change your life.

00:01:37:22 – 00:02:02:24
Unknown
Anybody need their life change transformed I do. Yeah. Okay. Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for today. And, Lord, we just surrender our hearts to you. We surrender, Lord. Our thoughts, our plans. Lord. All that we are. Lord. All of the things that we’re good at. All the things that were terrible at the places where we’re faithful. The places where we fall down.

00:02:02:26 – 00:02:29:14
Unknown
Father, we just surrender to you today. We surrender. And we thank you that you are always faithful, that you always finish what you start. We thank you that you are the author and finisher of our faith, and that today, Lord, you’re going to bring us into a deeper place, a deeper place of trust, a deeper place of knowing who you are, knowing your character, your nature.

00:02:29:16 – 00:03:07:08
Unknown
Lord, you’re going to bring us into a deeper place of endurance. We thank you for this now, today and we bless you. In Jesus name. Everybody says Amen. Are you ready to receive? Okay. Today I’m speaking on continuing the series that Pastor Shelly kicked off a couple of weeks ago called unhindered. And the premise for this, this series, was that we received a few prophetic words back in the beginning of the year from the community of prophets and a few of the prophetic words we wanted to really teach to the people of God.

00:03:07:12 – 00:03:26:29
Unknown
You know, we Shelly, read them two Sundays ago. If you haven’t heard that, please go back a couple Sundays when the series started and you can listen to him. I’m going to hit a couple points that one of the prophets made in particular. And and so my assignment today is really to stir up your faith.

00:03:27:02 – 00:03:48:13
Unknown
Okay. We’ll get there. I’m starting. It’s we’re just starting. Right. You know, stir still water. It takes a minute. You gotta, like, really whip it and then it starts going. Then you can kind of get in the flow of the. Okay, we’ll get we’ll get there. All right. So today I’m talking about faith that endures, right. Not just faith that believes.

00:03:48:15 – 00:04:27:15
Unknown
Faith that endures. It holds on. Pastor Shelly, she said something really, really cool. And I want to quote her. She said, God is preparing a people through whom his life can flow freely. People whose faith remains steadfast, whose hearts remain open. Who bring life. His life wherever they go. Amen. So this idea of being an open vessel or a conduit, we say conduit a lot like if you opened up and put it in a tube and you had to run wire through it or water through it, or whatever element through it, the tube is, is the vessel.

00:04:27:15 – 00:04:56:12
Unknown
It’s it’s the highway, if you will, for transport. It’s it’s the ability to send something from one place to another place. Everybody has this within them. In your body. You have your circulatory system, right? You have veins and arteries. And that’s a transport system that the heart pumps. And it through every pulse, every beat. It sends fluids, you know, proteins, oxygen it it circulates it through the body.

00:04:56:13 – 00:05:25:21
Unknown
Yes. Everybody has a body. Right? Everybody just makes sure. Just just check. Just. Yeah. It’s still there. Okay, good. All right. So. But what can happen obviously if the body has blockages, whether in vessels or, or what have you in the digestive system. You know, we get that indigestion and it’s not quite going through nicely, you know, and comfortably what happens is we can become hindered.

00:05:25:23 – 00:05:47:23
Unknown
Right. We can become I mean, was the last time you had indigestion? You had to go sit down and just, like, ride it out, kind of hunch over. You can’t really do a whole lot, right? Yeah. We’ll just keep it at the stomach level, okay? So. So we can become hindered by all kinds of things. Right. Pastor Shelly was speaking to a lot of the things that we can become unhindered or.

00:05:48:00 – 00:05:58:21
Unknown
Excuse me, hindered by. Right. Unbelief is a hindrance. Right. Sin. Habitual or.

00:05:58:23 – 00:06:16:12
Unknown
Any form of sin. Those can be hindrances. Right. Belief systems. The way that we we have mindsets. We have certain ways of looking and analyzing and thinking about things we have. We have prejudices. And I don’t mean that in a racial sense. I mean that in a we prejudge things, we prejudge everything we see. I’m not sure about that.

00:06:16:12 – 00:06:32:08
Unknown
So I think it’s this. And you have no, we don’t have actually have any evidence. So we just make up what we think. It’s what it is that’s called prejudice. We just make up an idea about something that can be a hindrance. So there’s all kinds of things that can hinder us. And I don’t want to focus on what hinders.

00:06:32:08 – 00:06:53:21
Unknown
Today. I want to talk about being unhindered, want to talk about faith that is not hindered, faith that is not held back, faith that is not held down, faith that is not an oppressed. Faith that is not shackled, but faith that is loosed and open and able to flow and allow the power of God to flow into your life.

00:06:53:21 – 00:07:26:00
Unknown
And then as a vessel of honor, flow out of your life. Amen. Everybody raise your right hand. I’m gonna swear you in I. I do this in spirit training every now and then when I it’s like, okay, say this with me. I am a vessel of honor that God wants to pour his life through. I am a vessel of honor that God wants to pour his life through.

00:07:26:03 – 00:07:54:24
Unknown
Let’s say it again I am a vessel that God wants to pour his life through. I know I changed it at the end. That’s okay. Just making sure you’re following. Hey, man, your vessel of honor. That’s who we are. That’s who we are. And here comes the hindrance. Do you believe that? Yes, I know we’re challenged there. It’s okay.

00:07:54:25 – 00:08:14:28
Unknown
We’re challenged there at times. So that’s why we’re going to. We’re going to talk about how to live in that faith that endures. So again, the last couple of weeks we were talking about understanding that is challenged when our understanding is challenged. Right. The it doesn’t all add up. And I’m looking at it in my own strength and I’m like, Why God?

00:08:14:28 – 00:08:32:19
Unknown
Why God, why God? Anybody hit God with the whys lately? Why? Why is this happening? Why is this happening to me? Why did you allow this? Right? Yeah. I’m not I’m not sure that I’m going to have the perfect answer for your. Why?

00:08:32:21 – 00:08:57:07
Unknown
Well, that’s because a lot of times the why is answered in the walk as you walk with the Lord. The why becomes apparent. I don’t know the why right now, Lord. And he says, that’s okay. Walk with me. Just walk with me. It’ll. It’ll be to unfold as you walk with me. Are you willing to just walk with him and trust him?

00:08:57:07 – 00:09:21:07
Unknown
That he will help you come into an understanding of why? Yeah, yeah. We have to trust the Lord with why. I tell you what. Why is one of the biggest entrances. We say why, and we just dig in our feet and we’re like, I’m not going any further until you tell me why. Yep. Oh, I got a witness, I guess.

00:09:21:09 – 00:09:49:25
Unknown
So, unhindered. A couple key things that the community of prophets, this one particular prophecy said to us, a couple of things just to keep in mind as we as we walk through this today, my grace and power are continually being provided not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. I see that was in the painting today.

00:09:49:27 – 00:10:16:24
Unknown
You will see an unending flow of my miracle working power flowing in and through my body. That was the prophetic word. And lastly, enter into the mode of being a receptor. Okay, so we’re going to talk about these things. Now. Pastor Shelly is is is so slick. And I love the way that she presented her first message. And she she had some questions in there.

00:10:16:24 – 00:10:32:16
Unknown
And we’re going to continue to answer some of these questions because again, a lot of times we have questions for God. Who has questions for God, right? Quite often I do. Yes, we all do. It’s okay. By the way, did you know it’s okay to ask the Lord some questions? Okay. Everything I say today, I want you to understand.

00:10:32:18 – 00:10:51:29
Unknown
You can go to the Lord. Like if you read the book of job and you hear how he is, boy, he is putting it out there before the Lord. Just just know this. You can put all your questions out there. And just when you sit still and you’re ready for him to answer, just, just just be ready. So so he’ll he’ll answer.

00:10:52:01 – 00:11:12:08
Unknown
If you’ve got questions, you can go to him with your questions. So here’s a couple questions that we’re going to I’m going to present to you today. And then break open the Word of God to give you the answer, because I don’t have any answers for you personally. I just have the Word of God. The Word of God is the only answer that I’m ever personally searching for.

00:11:12:10 – 00:11:41:11
Unknown
And it sounds so simple because it actually is that simple. God made it very simple, and I don’t mean that sarcastically, I hope, I hope my tones okay right now. He made it simple so that we could go. That’s what I’m supposed to do. Great. Then do. He didn’t make it complicated. He didn’t say, here’s a first question how does faith survive when understanding doesn’t?

00:11:41:13 – 00:12:04:18
Unknown
How? Second question how does even if it does not happen, what does that faith look like? Right? I’m having an expectation for something, but I don’t see it coming to pass now. My faith. Where’s my faith at now that I’m being challenged? I’m not seeing this happen. I’m not seeing it happen. I’m being way it’s been a it’s kind of long time here, Lord.

00:12:04:18 – 00:12:37:05
Unknown
How long, how much longer? I’m waiting, waiting, waiting. And what’s happening with our faith as our faith waning, waning, waning? Or is it getting stronger and remaining steadfast? Is it enduring? Third question how do believers remain steadfast when understanding never fully comes? When the why question never gets answered?

00:12:37:08 – 00:12:44:08
Unknown
Lastly, how does God sustain faith through seasons of pressure?

00:12:44:10 – 00:13:10:13
Unknown
All right, so the first question how does faith survive when understanding doesn’t? Well, first let’s talk about faith. I know many people know about faith, but just I want to reiterate something today. Hebrews 11 one now faith is this is the definition, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Okay. If you read that first verse, there’s two key words in there that I wanted to highlight today substance and evidence.

00:13:10:18 – 00:13:25:14
Unknown
The first word substance. You know, when I was a kid, I used to read the scripture and when I heard substance, I was thinking something that like, I could rub between my fingers, right? Like I got a substance on my hand and it’s foreign. I don’t know what it is. And I want to go wash my hands. Is that like when I.

00:13:25:17 – 00:13:52:24
Unknown
When you hear the word substance, what do you think? Do you think something substantial or do you think something like a us or what do we think soap. Like a substance? Yeah. What did you say? Christine. Provision. Okay. So that’s something material. What was that? Muscular substance. Muscular. Okay. All right. Survey says like. All right. Sorry. No. Muscular on the.

00:13:52:25 – 00:14:21:16
Unknown
I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I’m so. Yes. So faith is the substance of things hoped for. Here’s the word substance. Here’s what it means. It’s two words sub and stance. In the Greek it’s a compound word. So it puts this word substance together. But it’s the composition of two words which essentially means sub means under stance means to stand, to place, to make firm, to establish, to abide.

00:14:21:18 – 00:14:56:18
Unknown
So faith is we could say it this way. The place or the foundation, which foundation is under faith, is the foundation of things hoped for. It’s what we stand on. That’s faith. What we stand on. And standing, by the way, is not a passive type of word. It’s it’s a stance, like a ready stance. You know, like pastor Bob often has this illustration where he says, in order to be a good receiver, you have to be ready to receive.

00:14:56:20 – 00:15:20:08
Unknown
You have to be in a ready position. If someone was going to throw a ball to me or pass me a basketball or or spike a volleyball, I have to be in a ready position. This is the idea, the picture of stance. This is the idea of what faith looks like. You are ready anticipating something good coming. Does this make sense?

00:15:20:10 – 00:15:45:18
Unknown
Faith isn’t just isn’t just. Oh, God, I believe that. Oh, I believe that. Yeah, I just believe it. It’s not just mental fortitude. It’s not just strength of mine, you understand? It’s not like it does develop our character. But it’s not just in the mind. Does that make sense? It’s your whole being saying I am firmly planted feet rooted in the Word of God.

00:15:45:19 – 00:16:17:20
Unknown
My foundation. That’s faith is the substance. I’m standing on it. I’m standing on the faith. Does that make sense? It’s a platform. It’s something that gives your life the ability to withstand. Yes. So faith is the foundation of things hoped for. Hope means it’s an expectation of good. So there’s a foundation, and I have an expectancy of something good.

00:16:17:23 – 00:16:45:24
Unknown
That’s what the Scripture is talking about right now. Second word evidence that which enables the mind to see truth. That’s what evidence means. Their faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So it’s the ability to see truth even though you don’t see with your eyes. Right? For we walk by faith and not by sight.

00:16:45:26 – 00:17:08:03
Unknown
Right. So real simple. But I want you to get this illustration that when you say that you walk by faith, it’s quite literally there is faith under that step, faith under that step, faith under that step. That’s what the walk with the Lord looks like, that there’s faith undergirding me. There’s faith, and it’s stabilizing every step. There’s faith still under me.

00:17:08:03 – 00:17:17:09
Unknown
Even though I stumble. Even though I get a little shaky. Even though I may trip and fall.

00:17:17:11 – 00:17:44:06
Unknown
Now, James two talks about faith as well, and it says Faith without works is dead. Okay. The simple point I want to make there today is that faith requires action. It’s not just believing and then doing nothing. It’s it’s believing. I believe, therefore I do. Does that make sense? I believe, therefore I take the step I believe, therefore I sing the praise.

00:17:44:11 – 00:18:10:07
Unknown
I believe, therefore I confess with my mouth I believe. Therefore I lay my hands, and I pray. So faith requires action. It requires. Now let me say it this way. Your action is the evidence that you believe. So you demonstrate what you believe. You give evidence. You testify to it through your life, through your words, through your actions.

00:18:10:07 – 00:18:29:22
Unknown
That demonstrates your faith. That’s what James is talking about there in chapter two. So faith is acting on the word. When the Word of God says to trust him. We’re going to go into Proverbs three in a minute, but trust him with all your heart. That’s not a, you know, like I trust him, you know, I’m trying to squeeze.

00:18:29:24 – 00:18:42:02
Unknown
It’s saying trust him. So guess what? Here comes the doctor’s diagnosis. Lord, I trust you. What’s my next step? And I step out in faith.

00:18:42:04 – 00:19:02:23
Unknown
When everything isn’t working out right. Just lost the job. Whatever it looks like practically in our life, that’s where we get to apply this, Lord, I believe, and I step out on faith. Lord I’m hurting. This isn’t making sense. I’ve got too many why? Questions? They’re not answered. You haven’t answered. I haven’t seemed like I’ve gotten an answer.

00:19:02:25 – 00:19:09:13
Unknown
Well, have we stepped out on faith?

00:19:09:15 – 00:19:33:09
Unknown
Faith is acting on the word. Habakkuk two four. There it is. The just shall live by faith. So that’s saying the just shall live by acting on the word. It takes faith to praise in the middle of pain. It takes faith to give thanks. When the bills come rolling in. And you know money’s tight. It takes faith to trust the Lord.

00:19:33:09 – 00:19:46:06
Unknown
When the the doctor’s report isn’t looking so great. It takes faith. It takes faith as we’re. We’re aging and things aren’t working the same. You know.

00:19:46:08 – 00:20:08:05
Unknown
It’s getting harder. It’s getting more difficult. That takes faith. I got to still step into it. By the way, again, that isn’t just my own strength. My own strength will fail me. It’ll. It’ll hold out for a little bit. And then I’ll go grow weary, and then I’ll grow weary. And then I’ll just want to stop.

00:20:08:07 – 00:20:31:21
Unknown
And I’ll tell you, it’s interesting. Even if you find yourself today in that place of wanting to stop, there’s faith for you to start again. Because that started. Just looks like everybody look at me. Here’s how that I’ve stopped my walk with the Lord. And the Lord says, just step out again. And we just start again. That’s all it takes.

00:20:31:24 – 00:20:53:03
Unknown
I just really I’m desperate today for you to hear your father’s heart. It’s not my words, but it’s his heart for his children to walk with him, to trust him. It’s like a father with a child. When the child’s learning to walk, what is the child’s expression? A lot of the times. Are they down here going, I don’t think I can do it.

00:20:53:03 – 00:21:06:06
Unknown
I don’t think, well, they can’t even talk probably yet. But you know, I can’t do it, I can’t. Have you ever heard a child, a baby saying, I can’t do it, I can’t do it. And they’re just looking at their feet. Well, what are they doing?

00:21:06:08 – 00:21:30:04
Unknown
Arms out. Why? Because they’re trusting that their parent is their. To catch them, to embrace them, to celebrate them as they walk. So even if we find ourselves in that sticky place of like, oh, this is hard, God, there’s a lot of wise. I don’t know how I’m going to make it through. This is here, the heart of your father today.

00:21:30:05 – 00:21:36:10
Unknown
He’s just like, just take that next step. That’s faith.

00:21:36:12 – 00:21:54:15
Unknown
Many faithful people in this House I’m very honored to have witnessed, like my brother Tim Morton, his walk of faith, pastor Bob, his walk of faith. Mike Murtaugh, your walk of faith.

00:21:54:17 – 00:22:02:29
Unknown
This Milbourne, your walk of faith. Many, many, many faithful people. Allen. Christine.

00:22:03:02 – 00:22:17:01
Unknown
See, it doesn’t always look pretty. It doesn’t always look polished. Perseverance is rough. That’s the reality.

00:22:17:04 – 00:22:37:17
Unknown
But when we keep going and we keep going. We just just that’s like. That’s what I got today. Lord, I believe I’m stepping out. I believe, and I’m stepping out. I wish I could just walk in the air right now and freak you all out. Like like I got I believe at that level, I believe it walking on water level, right when the ground doesn’t look like there’s any ground beneath your feet.

00:22:37:20 – 00:23:00:18
Unknown
How many are going to place like that right now? You’re not sure you’re going to about to step out on the air. You’re not really sure if there’s a foundation unto you. He will be there. He will be there. So faith survives not just through self-generated strength, thank God for that, but because we learn to continually receive what God continually provides.

00:23:00:20 – 00:23:44:12
Unknown
He will always supply for our every need. And remember I was talking about being a conduit, being a vessel, one that can receive. He’s always sending supply and that’s why we need to walk an unhindered life unhindered, so the Lord can continually pour in his life into us unhindered, so that when I read the word that it goes in and it finds good soil unhindered, so that when I pray before the Lord, my heart is in the right position, and my prayers won’t be hindered because of the position that I’ve allowed myself, I’ve gone from the ready position to this kind of like different stance of I don’t know.

00:23:44:14 – 00:24:19:00
Unknown
Yeah, the indifference. So second question, what does faith look like in this? This even if he does not write what is even if he does not faith kind of look like. Right. So Daniel, chapter three, there’s this story about King Nebuchadnezzar. He was a king and he made a giant gold image of himself. Right? He idolized himself, bronzed himself, and he put up a statue, you know, and he erected it and made this big, huge, tall, tall monument to himself.

00:24:19:00 – 00:24:44:04
Unknown
And he said, hey, all right, so I’m going to have a, you know, we’re going to do a snap and a jig and a fun little dance, and everybody’s going to bow down when you hear this music. That’s the Q, Q, the music, everybody bow to the image. Okay, so he was forcing worship. And so that was by legal decree because he was the king by legal decree, he decreed that everybody must do that.

00:24:44:06 – 00:25:10:21
Unknown
But then in Daniel chapter three, it’s around verse eight, there’s a, there’s a count of three young boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were Hebrew boys because, you know, Nebuchadnezzar and that empire overtook and, you know, had subjugated the Israelite people. And so these three boys heard the edict, heard the decree. And you know what they said? They said, yeah, we’re not going to I’m paraphrasing.

00:25:10:21 – 00:25:31:13
Unknown
I’m going to make it comical, but we’re not going to we’re going to we’re not going to bow down to that because because we serve the one true God. We’re not going to bow down to your your fake false idol even though you have power, even though you have influence, even though you could actually put us to death, we’re not going to bow down to that.

00:25:31:16 – 00:26:00:09
Unknown
Right? So there, staring death in the face and they’re saying, we won’t do it. Then they say something that’s even more remarkable. So they tell the king, surely our Lord will deliver us from this thing that you’ve decreed over us. And then they say this, even if he doesn’t deliver us, we still won’t bow down. Who, man, that’s like epic movie.

00:26:00:11 – 00:26:23:13
Unknown
You know, you’re 90 minutes in and you’re welling up and you’re like, yeah, even if bro. Anybody seen Cinderella man? So, so good movie. There’s a moment in there where the wife says to the husband, like, you’re James J. Braddock, the pride of Jersey, and she’s talking him up, and she’s basically like, even if you get smoked in there, I love you.

00:26:23:14 – 00:26:46:10
Unknown
You know, if you get, you get in that ring because because of who you are. Yes, there is. So Shadrach, Meshach, Bendigo, they say no. And of course the story continues. They get the king is furious. He he has a fiery furnace heats it makes it even more more hot than it already was. The guys that were trying to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in there.

00:26:46:10 – 00:27:12:00
Unknown
They get torched because it was just too hot. They throw him in and the three men are listen, unhindered, unbound in the fire, walking around. And there’s a fourth person inside the fire as Nebuchadnezzar and is his minions are looking in there. They’re like, there’s three. I thought we threw in three, but I see four. And the fourth one is like the Son of Son of God.

00:27:12:02 – 00:27:38:02
Unknown
So right there, there was faith in the fire. Then they walked out of the furnace and they didn’t smell like smoke. Are you catching this? They didn’t smell like smoke. They weren’t burned. They weren’t utterly consumed. What scripture does that sound like? And they came out alive. And Nebuchadnezzar, you know, he didn’t have such a great day. That was that was a wild account.

00:27:38:02 – 00:27:58:29
Unknown
But see, this is now this is an Old Testament account. This is real. This is not a fable. Right? That’s not a pair of parable. That was a real account that was told to us. Why? So that we could look back and go, That’s that’s a that’s a certain kind of faith. I’m not sure that I have that kind of faith.

00:27:59:02 – 00:28:24:08
Unknown
I was like David said, the life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of Man. I live by the faith of Jesus. I live by Jesus’s faith, his faith that he had because I’m in Christ. So I can, I can I can actually walk or abide or dwell or stand in that kind of faith.

00:28:24:11 – 00:28:47:10
Unknown
Does that make sense? So that’s what even if faith looks like, it’s being willing to walk right into the fire, even if I’m not sure how this is going to go, I’m not sure that it’s going to pan out. I got a lie. A lot of why questions, but I’m going to put those on the shelf because all I know is I need to trust the Lord and just walk daily with him.

00:28:47:10 – 00:29:08:14
Unknown
Sometimes we have to walk with the Lord hourly. Sometimes we have to just moment to moment. Lord, I trust you. And then here comes the hindering thought. Nope. Lord, I trust you. I stand on your word. You’re sure you’re true? By the faith of Jesus Christ, I can walk this out.

00:29:08:16 – 00:29:31:06
Unknown
Third question how do believers remain steadfast when understanding never fully comes? Well, here’s the deal with understanding. Proverbs three. I’m going to read a few verses and I want to read this. And I also want to I want to I want to read these verses, but I want to declare this over. Holly’s mom, where did she go? There she is.

00:29:31:12 – 00:29:38:17
Unknown
Yeah. So I want to declare these words.

00:29:38:19 – 00:30:01:09
Unknown
Proverbs three says, my son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life and peace will they add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.

00:30:01:11 – 00:30:27:02
Unknown
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths right. And then, jumping to Proverbs four, in verse 20, he says, my son, give attention to my words. Listen to what I’m saying. Don’t let my words depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart.

00:30:27:03 – 00:30:48:01
Unknown
Right? He’s reiterating this idea of you have to look upon the word. You need to put it into your heart. You need to let it remain there. Don’t let it get snatched away. Don’t let the trial the the hindrance come and block what God is growing and producing in you. Verse 21 don’t let them depart from your eyes.

00:30:48:01 – 00:31:15:08
Unknown
Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them in health, to all their flesh. That’s the Word of God. So back to verse three, and I’m going to switch translations here in the ESV. It says in verse three, Proverbs three three says, let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you, essentially saying that steadfast love and faithfulness don’t leave it behind.

00:31:15:09 – 00:31:41:25
Unknown
Don’t let go of it. Don’t, don’t count it as not valuable, because it’s the most valuable aspect to our walk of faith, the steadfast love and faithfulness. It says to bind them around your neck and write it on the tablet of your heart. So dress yourself with it and I’ll say, address yourself with it. Write it on your heart.

00:31:41:25 – 00:32:08:28
Unknown
That’s what His Word does when we get into His word. So how do believers remain steadfast? We remain steadfast by reading the word, letting the word get into our heart. And then I would say confessing the word. We have to confess the Word of God over our situations. That’s the way we work through the situations. The fourth question how does God sustain faith through seasons of pressure?

00:32:08:29 – 00:32:41:18
Unknown
Oh boy, who’s ready for this one? You are somebody who’s ready for this. All right, well, let’s look at James. Now, before I go into James, I want to quote one thing. Romans 1017 says, now faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of God. It’s actually the Word of God that opens up our hearing. And then when our hearing is working, faith comes.

00:32:41:21 – 00:33:08:19
Unknown
Does that make sense? So we have to we have to we have to be men and women of the Word of God. Let me illustrate this for you. I don’t have a bunch of building blocks, so you’ll just have to visualize everybody use your imagination. But if I was to take a piece of scripture and I have a block and I lay it down on the ground, that’s one block, and then I take another piece of scripture, that’s two block three, three block four.

00:33:08:19 – 00:33:35:24
Unknown
And pretty soon I create like a little tiny pad, a little landing, and I go stand on it. That’s the substance of things hoped for. The faith that I obtain or I receive by reading the word. And then I take that word and I say, that’s the that’s the word I’m going to stand on today. I’m actually making that faith real.

00:33:35:26 – 00:34:03:12
Unknown
Not just a cliche saying or something to just hold in the mind. I’m making it. This is a supernatural thing as as material and solid as this stage is, it’s built out of wood, covered in fabric. It’s supported by concrete. Like the fact that this doesn’t fall down is because it’s built on foundation. And so I can trust it that when I stand on it, it’s not going to fall down and move.

00:34:03:20 – 00:34:24:03
Unknown
That’s what we’re doing when we read the Word of God, when we use it as a, as a, as a foundation for our faith. And that’s how we stand on the Word of God. I know this sounds so simple, but I got to tell you, this is how my wife and I walk through a season of having our son Leo at, you know, go to be with the Lord.

00:34:24:03 – 00:34:48:04
Unknown
But that’s how we walk through the pregnancy. That’s exactly how. Proverbs three five. We trust the Lord. We don’t understand how this is going. Nobody knows what’s going on. But I trust your word, Lord, that you know what’s going on, and I’m going to stand on your word. So my question today is, is what word are you standing on?

00:34:48:06 – 00:35:10:08
Unknown
Because there’s a hindrance. If we’re not standing on the word, we are standing in our own strength. If we’re not standing on the word, we’re not standing on a rock solid foundation. We’re standing probably in sand that’s going to shift underneath our feet. It’s not going to be stable every, every place. Like in James one it says, like we’re going to have thoughts this way and thoughts that way.

00:35:10:08 – 00:35:33:19
Unknown
We’re going to waver and everything we step on is going to feel unstable. Anybody have a walk that feels like that sometimes? What scripture are you standing on? Because when you’re not standing on the word, which is solid and true and real and will guide and will keep us stable, if you’re not standing on that, you stepped off into the sand.

00:35:33:22 – 00:35:50:25
Unknown
So when I don’t believe I stepped into the sand, when I don’t keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith, I stepped in the sand. I’m going to go Princess Bride on you. You know the lightning fast quicksand. Anybody remember that show?

00:35:50:27 – 00:36:18:04
Unknown
Just takes one step and woop into the quicksand. So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. James 1234. This is how we stay in a stable place, how we stay on a sure foundation through seasons of pressure. James 1234 says, consider it nothing but joy. My brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials.

00:36:18:06 – 00:36:39:23
Unknown
Oh boy, consider it joy. Like, really? Well, there’s a reason why we should consider it joy. This is in the amplified version. Be assured that the testing of your faith through experience produces endurance. So faith that’s tested produces what?

00:36:39:26 – 00:37:03:07
Unknown
How many like their faith to be tested? How many want endurance? How many are okay with your faith being tested. So so that you can have what how many people are going to cringe the next time a test comes?

00:37:03:09 – 00:37:23:26
Unknown
He says. Consider it nothing but joy. Now, I know that’s not easy. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. Count it all joy. Count it all joy. Here comes the doctor’s report. Count it all joy.

00:37:23:28 – 00:37:39:01
Unknown
Here comes this failure. Or this. You know whatever. Count it all joy. Here comes this disagreement, this argument. Count it all joy.

00:37:39:04 – 00:37:54:08
Unknown
Count it all joy. My brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials, be assured that the testing of your faith produces endurance, which leads to spiritual maturity and peace within.

00:37:54:10 – 00:38:19:02
Unknown
And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work so that you may be perfect and completely developed in your faith, lacking in nothing. So faith has to develop. I’d say it has to enlarge. It also needs to expand as you continue to walk, especially into territory that you’re unfamiliar with, that your faith has to expand.

00:38:19:04 – 00:38:38:26
Unknown
You might find yourself in a place like, wow, I’ve never really been in this situation before. Okay, great. What scripture are you standing on? That’s the only thing I want you to take away from today’s message. I’m almost done. I want you to take away. What word am I? Standing on? Because everybody needs to be standing on something today.

00:38:38:28 – 00:38:58:20
Unknown
I know my life there. There are a couple scriptures that are foundational for my life right now that I’m standing on. I have to stand on them. If I don’t, I waver. I’ll. I’ll wobble all over the place, I’ll be unsure and then I’ll try to do it in my own strength. Anybody ever tried to sprint through sand sprint on the beach?

00:38:58:23 – 00:39:12:06
Unknown
How? How awkward is that, right? You can run on the regular road. Pretty good clip, right? Yeah, I’m pretty good. And then you get on Sandy. You’re like. And you feel like, you know, like you’ve never ran before.

00:39:12:08 – 00:39:33:14
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. So what word are you standing on? That’s all I want to ask. And I want to make sure that you go home. We have to make this actionable. Yes. Please don’t let this be another message that you just hear and go, wow, that’s a good message. Hopefully good. That was a that was a that was an okay word.

00:39:33:14 – 00:39:53:02
Unknown
Thank you. You know, whoever preached for the day and we go to fellowship and we go home. We watch TV and we do nothing. Please. What word are you standing on everybody. I mean, you can even write it down. Just. This is the word I’m standing on today.

00:39:53:04 – 00:40:03:09
Unknown
Bible says your word. Have I hid in my heart that I might not sin or get hindered against you?

00:40:03:11 – 00:40:11:28
Unknown
So count it all joy. You know Jesus counted it all joy to go to the cross.

00:40:12:00 – 00:40:23:11
Unknown
James one two. Blessed is the man who remained steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.

00:40:23:13 – 00:40:46:14
Unknown
John 15 abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine. That word abide again. That’s one of the definitions of substance. Faith is the substance. It’s the place. It’s the abode. It’s where I stand. That’s what faith is.

00:40:46:16 – 00:41:13:23
Unknown
So what are those scriptures that undergird your life? See, everybody sees the surface of each other’s life. But in my soul, what holds my soul, what undergirds my thought life, my emotions, my decisions, what undergirds that? What’s truly the seat of my life? Is it faith? Is it faith in the Lord? Or is it faith in myself and my ability, or my ability to be strong?

00:41:13:25 – 00:41:32:23
Unknown
My ability to to think it through to to intelligently navigate? Or when I put all that aside, like Proverbs three said, don’t believe in your own understanding. Don’t lean on your own understanding. Don’t don’t rely on it like it’s not going to be. It won’t be stable. It might hold out again for a minute. There’s people who are really strong.

00:41:32:24 – 00:41:58:14
Unknown
They’re really got a really strong will that will fall ter it will, it will, you will run weary. It will fail you. But his love and his truth, and he himself will never fail you. His word is true. So we must stand on his word. What word are you standing on today?

00:41:58:16 – 00:42:16:18
Unknown
This is interesting. That’s John 15, where he’s saying, abide in me and I in you. He’s teaching here. And then John five Jesus said, answered, and said, most assuredly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself. He’s talking about himself now. So he’s telling us to abide, and then he’s abiding by the same thing he’s teaching.

00:42:16:20 – 00:42:43:05
Unknown
Most assuredly, I say, the son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the father do. For whatever he does, the son does in like manner, for the father loves the son, and shows him all things that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. So Jesus himself modeled the life of looking unto the father, receiving from heaven instruction, receiving information.

00:42:43:06 – 00:43:02:13
Unknown
I won’t say like intelligence. The Lord was saying, do this word of knowledge and and inspiration and and direction. And the Lord was was leading his life the father. Some people think Jesus just walked around and just like randomly did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. No, he was led by the Holy Spirit. He himself said, I don’t do anything.

00:43:02:13 – 00:43:23:20
Unknown
I have no power of my own. I do only what the father says. So we as his body, that’s how we walk. We walk according to the Word of God, and we lay that foundation. We walk on it and it’s sure and it’s true. And God will be glorified, and we will walk with endurance through every trial and every testing.

00:43:23:21 – 00:43:32:12
Unknown
Amen. God’s presence. You know, when we walk with the Lord, his presence is not just an escape.

00:43:32:15 – 00:43:51:20
Unknown
Right? I know we love to. We come and worship and it’s great. We get we, we sense his presence. We we receive from him. That’s wonderful. But that’s not just an escape. It’s just not to come in and feel better and then go out there and be like, all right, here we here we go. Are we should be walking on the same.

00:43:51:21 – 00:44:10:05
Unknown
What are we walking on as we walk right out the doors, as we walk over to fellowship, as we walk into the evening, as we walk into the week, what scriptures are we standing on? What Scripture are you encouraging your brother and sister that they should be standing on? I don’t have a lot of good advice other than what is the Word of God say.

00:44:10:07 – 00:44:29:20
Unknown
If it says this, probably should walk on that. Let’s put that under our feet. That’s going to be the most stable, the most sure, the most true thing you could ever stand on. So God’s presence is not just an escape. His ultimate gift to us is not simply the removal of hardship. Right? Like God, take this away from me, God, make this go away.

00:44:29:20 – 00:44:55:28
Unknown
God help, help, help like get me out of this. His ultimate gift is not simply to remove the hardship, but it’s the assurance of his presence in the middle of it. His headship or his leadership will guide us through every hardship. But we have to, as it says Hebrews 12, we have to look unto him, the author and finisher of our faith.

00:44:55:29 – 00:45:25:29
Unknown
We have to fix our eyes on him. That word fix is also a definition of substance. Faith is the substance. Faith is my fixed state of being to the foundation of the Word of God. James five seven through eight says, therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it, until it receives the earth early and latter rain.

00:45:26:02 – 00:45:50:13
Unknown
You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. That word establishes this same idea of substance. Our lives have to be rooted in the Word of God. Our lives have to be founded in the Word of God. Our lives have to be. We have to abide in the vine. And as we do, God will supply.

00:45:50:15 – 00:46:12:25
Unknown
Right? Tell you the truth, whenever we feel like we’re running on fumes, it’s because we’re running in our own strength. Okay, now I know we go through difficult things, and you feel like you’re being stretched to a level that you’re like, I’m not going to be. I can’t go that far, right? Like I’m real. This is a reach.

00:46:12:28 – 00:46:37:20
Unknown
And sometimes we have to reach. And the spirit of the Lord leads us into that reach. And the Lord will help us find solid ground. Absolutely. He will do it. Okay, so the answer to a season of pressure, again, is not self-generated endurance. The answer is continual dependance on God’s grace, his power, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

00:46:37:22 – 00:46:57:24
Unknown
You know, we talked about Daniel three, and even if he does not work, even if it is delayed, even if we never get a why answer, I’ll tell you. The one thing we need to do is continue to be obedient. We don’t say that word a lot. Obey Bible says that if you love the Lord, you will keep his commandments.

00:46:57:24 – 00:47:21:28
Unknown
You’ll walk in his ways. You’ll walk according to His Word. In the Spirit of God will lead you, and his love will surround you. So obedience and loyalty, walking in the love of God, that is all part of that foundation. That’s all part of the truth, the reality of where we actually walk and what undergirds our life. Then there’s praise and thanksgiving and have a three.

00:47:21:28 – 00:47:39:24
Unknown
I didn’t read it, but towards the end of Habakkuk three, it’s saying even in the middle of the trial, I’ll praise you. Even in the middle of the struggle, I’ll praise you. Even in the middle of not understanding or not getting answers, I’ll praise you. And it doesn’t seem it doesn’t seem like that’s what we’re supposed to do.

00:47:39:25 – 00:47:57:03
Unknown
You know why? Because the natural way of thinking thinks I should freak out. I should get anxious. I should get worried. I should start to fret. I should start to. I should start to freak out. I should I don’t even know what I should do. I should get confused. That’s the that’s the natural mind. That’s the carnal way of thinking.

00:47:57:03 – 00:48:24:12
Unknown
That is the world system. That is a system that the world, the you know, the enemy is concocted for us to get entangled when and the Lord says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Get into the word. Let it transform the way you think. Instead of relying on self, I’m going to rely on the truth. Instead of going into a place of anxiety, I’m going to choose to not fear.

00:48:24:14 – 00:48:52:11
Unknown
By the way, not fearing is a choice. Fear is a choice. I can choose to be afraid, or I can choose to trust the Lord. And when you trust the Lord, yeah, you might feel a little like, oh, and I’m not sure. A little uncertainty, but he will make your way. Sure, as you walk it out, mature faith learns to live as a receiver rather than just a producer, right?

00:48:52:13 – 00:49:23:22
Unknown
So let’s close. I’d like you all to stand, and let’s just pray, and I’ll turn it over to Pastor David. This is a really it’s a really simple word, but it’s when this starts to really fire. I don’t even want to say makes sense, but when it gets rooted, it changes everything. It’s it’s, you know, we got some compliments, my wife and I, and I appreciate them very much, but some people were like, wow, you guys are such strong people.

00:49:23:27 – 00:49:48:24
Unknown
And I was like, I’m not very strong, not strong at all. But I believe it’s Christ in us that gives us strength. You get what I’m saying? It’s not because, you know, somebody walked with the Lord for 40, 50 years that that, you know, they got it figured out mentally at 40, 50 years in the Lord. Sometimes that the challenge is even harder.

00:49:48:26 – 00:49:57:14
Unknown
Sometimes the weight is even heavier, sometimes the pressure is even increased.

00:49:57:16 – 00:50:02:08
Unknown
But yet the reason why we don’t fail.

00:50:02:10 – 00:50:26:10
Unknown
Is because we just continue to walk. We continue to step out on faith. So the challenge please receive this from the Lord. It’s very simple. What scripture, what foundation have you laid out for your life that you are standing on? Don’t stand in your own strength. Stand in his strength and it takes a minute to to realize, wow, that’s stable.

00:50:26:12 – 00:50:51:14
Unknown
Okay. Thank you Lord. That’s stable. All right. Let’s continue to walk and continue to walk. And our faith, when it’s tested, it will grow and it will endure every hardship. Amen. All right, let’s lift our hands. Father. In the name of Jesus. Father, we thank you, Lord, that you impart to us faith that you impart to us. Lord, the ability to believe the hearing of your word.

00:50:51:14 – 00:51:18:02
Unknown
And I pray, Lord, that your word was heard today, and that is deposited into hearts today. And Lord, this is simple, but it’s profound. God and I pray that you would make it a revelation to us that we would come into an understanding of this God, that we would truly receive it, and that as receptors, O Lord, receptors of your love, receptors of your grace, receptors of your mercy.

00:51:18:04 – 00:51:49:02
Unknown
Lord receptors, O God, of your truth, of your faithfulness. Father, we pray that as receptors, Lord, that you would even make us greater receptors, Lord, that the things that hinder us, as the word says, that we that we would under hinder ourselves, we would untangle. We would we would set aside the things that so easily tangle us up, that we would push them to the side, and we would just focus on you and your word and how your word is a foundation to our life.

00:51:49:03 – 00:52:11:17
Unknown
Father, I pray that for anybody finding themselves in a place of instability, Lord, that today, today, even now, that you would impart, Lord, a gift to believe and to grow in their faith. Oh, God, that you would quicken your word to them. Oh God, even just allow the Word of God to open to them, oh God. And that it would become that sure foundation to their life.

00:52:11:19 – 00:52:32:02
Unknown
Father, for anybody facing a diagnosis, Lord, I pray that you would be the sure foundation under their life, no matter what they may have to face, no matter what. They may have to walk out with the doctors or the surgeons or or however that goes. Father, we trust you and I pray that faith would be their portion today in the name of Jesus.

00:52:32:02 – 00:52:52:05
Unknown
And just for us as a house, as a body of believers, Lord, for our future and all that you hold, Lord for us. Father, in the day of darkness and the day of deception, oh Lord, that we would continue to trust and fully rely on you. Not lean on our own understanding, but in every way acknowledge you in everything we do, every aspect of our life.

00:52:52:05 – 00:53:12:28
Unknown
To trust you and trust that you will lead us in the paths of righteousness for your name’s sake. In Jesus name we honor you and we praise you. Today we thank you. You’re good. We love you, God. Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Right.

00:53:13:01 – 00:53:30:25
Unknown
All right. Thank you. Jeremiah. If anybody doesn’t have a promise like that, please speak to one of the pastors. And we can pray with you and help you to stand on one of the words that the Lord has spoken. With that we’re going to head over to fellowship, to eat together. If you’re new, we have some free food for you, which God loves to give free food.

00:53:30:25 – 00:53:35:11
Unknown
And so do we. And so we will. See you over there. God bless your day. Right.