I SPY LIFE | PAUL DAUGHERTY

well the word of the lord is i spy life that'll preach right there i could just drop the mic turn to someone next to you and say i spy life i spy with my little eye something called life i'm looking at my wife as she's pregnant with our fifth baby i spy life in her i spy life in this church i spy life in you and you know god dropped that word in my heart several weeks ago i was it was cold it was like below freezing temperatures here in tulsa in the month of february how many guys remember the insane like two weeks of snow and ice and negative nine degree weather and in the midst of that i was watching as trees were literally being just destroyed by the snow and the winter weather and and there was one specific tree in front of the church that i have loved ever since i've seen this tree this tree's been through a lot and it has a testimony to it this one tree at the end of those 10 days of winter weather it had turned brown all the pines had turned brown i've got a picture of it right there and i was like no you know and as i'm driving up to the church from a distance i'm like i spy death you know i spy a dead tree and i felt like the lord was saying get a little closer get a little closer never judge something from a distance things can be deceiving from a distance you can you can see something that looks life-giving from a distance and you get closer and it's actually dead you can also see something that looks dead from a distance and you get closer and there's life and so i got close i got out of the car got really close to the tree and took a picture of one of the pines that you couldn't really see it was so small but right there right there i saw a little bit of green and i i just felt these words drop in my spirit i spy life now thankfully just seven days ago i drove up to that same tree because we were getting ready to remove that tree because we weren't sure if it was gonna last and i had to detach myself from the tree i was like i am not the tree the church is not the tree it's not my testimony if we have to replace it you know i was i was praying for the tree i was laying hands on the tree and but thankfully seven days ago we didn't replace it seven days ago i drove up and sure enough that little little pine has now produced greater green little pines growing and if you were to drive up outside there's beautiful green pines starting to sprout all across that tree be careful how fast you throw something away be careful how fast you're quick to remove things that look painful in a season and god says i have a way of turning things around there's life still there i spy life if you have a bible go to genesis chapter 8 come on jesus we love the word we get excited about the word genesis chapter 8 verse 1 but god remembered noah god remembers you when you've walked through a flood god remembers you when you've walked through a pandemic god remembers his covenant with his people when they've walked through difficult troubling trials and circumstances and and god remembered noah and by the way the flood had destroyed the whole earth everything that was living had been destroyed i remember watching a movie um years ago with ashley and it was it was it was one of those end of the world movies i forget the name of it but you know the whole like it was like the whole planet had had basically been destroyed and there was like a few people that survived and at the end of the movie the music becomes very epic and beautiful this instrumental building and this narrator comes on and the narrator says something like life is beginning again the flood has ended we will rebuild and restore and we will uh build civilization again and and i was watching that movie and i was thinking about noah that here noah and his family they had survived this flood that destroyed everything and then it says god remembered noah after the flood and and all those that were with him in the ark and so the water receded after 150 days so months and months of just destruction and pain and flooding and and no life and so verse 6 after 40 days noah opens a window and he that he had made in the ark and he sends out a raven searching for life looking for life looking for signs of life looking to see if there's hope for the future and and and then the raven returns and there's nothing he comes and there's nothing right so then noah sends out a dove to search and and see if there's life the dove comes back and has nothing with him and so noah's discouraged he's wondering are we ever going to see life again are we ever going to see restoration again am i ever going to see things get better again what's going to happen to my family to my marriage what's going to happen to our business our dreams will we see life again and then it says in verse 11 he sent the dove out one more time and this time when the dove came back it brought back a freshly plucked olive leaf and then noah knew the water had receded from the earth somebody say i spy life lord i pray that you'd speak to us today god on the life that you've called us to live the life you want to produce in us and through us god i pray lord for any person in the room who's walked through a flood or is walking through a flood or walking through a season that feels so destructive god i pray lord that you would birth fresh life in them and god help us all to hold on to that hope knowing god that there is life waiting for us there is joy there is hope there are new beginnings that you have in jesus name everybody said amen thank you carlos so i love the game i spy i play this game with my kids all the time and we'll be in the car driving to school and after about 15 minutes though i'm kind of done with the game i'm like all right let's stop because we keep going i'll spy something i spy something red i'm like is it that over there i spy something green is it the grass is it the trees is it that street sign and usually when we're playing the game i spy you know we want to try to trick each other we want to get each other to think it's something out there when it's really something in the car or something that's much closer or something that you have to look a little bit harder you have to take a closer look and it's not always the first thing that your eye sees it's again you've got to be careful not to judge the thing that your eye sees first assuming that you know what it really is and i think about how in my life there's been moments where i thought that i saw something and i had to take a closer look in job 14 job himself he had walked through his own flood he had walked through his own pain and trials and he had lost so many things that were near and dear to him right he had lost family members he had lost his health he had lost his job he lost his riches his house everything had been taken and it says in verse 7 there is hope for a tree if it is cut down it will sprout again and its new shoots will not fail so here job is reflecting on on life as a tree right he's connecting his life as a tree he says the roots may grow old in the ground and its stump may die in the soil yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant in other words job is saying things may look dead from a distance but with just a little bit of water with just a little bit of hope fresh buds can grow again when i look at what's going on in our world right now and i see springtime here you know in our state i'm seeing flowers grow and trees blossom and bloom i'm reminded that god always has fresh life after the winter he always has fresh buds that he wants to produce after the cold hard rainy months right april showers bring mayflowers i spy life job was having to encourage himself that life will return again i will sprout again growth only comes when trees are planted in the ground and they're able to endure the rain and receive the sunlight and i've got a prophetic word for someone in the room the flood you walk through is getting ready to to produce in you fresh sprouts and fresh life and what the enemy meant for harm god's going to turn around for your good and for your growth and your development and you're going to flourish and you're going to thrive and you're going to produce fresh fruits as a result of walking through what you've walked through i spy life i think about that tree that we almost removed you know just and again coming back to nine years ago that tree was struck by lightning in 2012 i remember that that tree out in front of the church driving up and it had literally been split to the stump it was only two and a half feet tall with no pine trees growing out of it no branches growing and i called the person who works outside with our church and i said i think we need to remove this he said no no paul trust me leave it in the ground as long as a tree is planted in good soil no matter what storm it goes through it will produce fresh buds again leave it in the ground leave it in the ground i'm speaking to someone right now don't be too fast to uproot yourself don't be too fast to uproot from from something that seems painful in the moment there's acres of diamonds there's good soil right below your feet and so i you know i was talking to the guy i said are you sure it just looks bad and sure enough that that tree grew i'm gonna throw that picture up again that tree grew from that two and a half foot trunk it began to curve up and grow a pine now it's almost 40 feet tall right and then nine years later it almost gets killed again this tree has been through some stuff right like i'm looking at this tree and i'm like i am not this tree and this tree is not me but this tree has a testimony and so when i saw this tree starting to like get attacked and and like the weather was trying to kill it i literally called some of our team members i was like guys you need to pray for the street you know and they're laughing and i'm like i'm out here laying hands on this tree just praying for this tree and they're like paul you're not the tree it's okay i'm like i know but i just want to see this tree like grow and and again had i been too quick to uproot it i would have missed out on the testimony of what god was bringing again that tree is budding fresh life again look at that picture of that i spy life throughout the bible trees are mentioned more than any other topic outside of god in humanity the third most mentioned topic in the bible are trees so it's people god and trees is the next most mentioned topic in the bible in genesis chapter one first thing god puts in the world is trees right day one is light and night and day two is water and land and the next thing he does is trees before he puts fish in the sea before he puts animals on the ground he starts planting weeping willow trees he starts planting magnolia trees he starts planting bald cypress trees god in fact the last chapter of the bible revelation 22 there's a tree of healing producing leaves for healing for the nations trees are a big deal to god and god oftentimes reflects on our lives as trees in psalm 92 verse 12 are you guys okay if i give you a lot of scripture today okay because this this stuff makes me come alive i love trees it says in psalm 92 verse 12 the righteous will flourish like a palm tree right we are called to to to grow big trees start as small seeds god wants you and i to grow and who he's called us to be to develop and to flourish everybody say flourish he wants us to grow it says they will grow like a cedar in lebanon those who are planted in the house of the lord so the fruit comes from the root when you're rooted in god's house you produce much fruit you grow into who god's called you to be when i was a little boy when i was seven years old my dad bought me a birthday present that i'll never forget he bought me a hatchet at age seven like with a sharp blade from walmart it was a hatchet y'all know what a hatchet is okay i was just making sure you guys knew what a hatchet was so i got this hatchet and i was so excited to use it and my mom was like billy joe why did you get our seven-year-old son a hatchet he's like he needs to learn how to become a man at a young age you know and she's like he's seven years old and he's like he can handle it you know and i love that i love that my dad trusted me with a hatchet at age seven so i took that hatchet and i went into the backyard and i was like i'm gonna get some firewood for the family tonight but i didn't know how to spot which trees were dead and which trees were alive and and i went and i started literally hacking away at what i realized was my mom's favorite trees i y'all i destroyed my mom's favorite trees literally cut them down to the stump and they were like beautiful flowering trees that she had been working on for a while she comes running outside she's in tears she's like what have you done you destroyed my baby you know she's screaming and crying and now y'all know where i get my love for trees from it's from my mom i have this ingrained image of my mom being very upset with me at age seven and and showing me how much she was passionate about trees but she cried and she took that hatchet i didn't see it for the next five years she hid it away my dad he felt bad for buying me the hatchet after that but you know thankfully my mom was able to get some fresh trees out there and see life grow again in the backyard and and i think about how sometimes in our life we feel hacked at we feel like the the it's like life has just taken a swing at some of the things in our life that we feel like we're once producing fruit we were once passionate about we were once enjoying we were loving it and then over time things happen and and you feel like you just get hacked at you feel like you just get it's almost like the enemy is just taking swings at your life and he wants to try to destroy your hope destroy your joy if the enemy can get you discouraged if the enemy can get you defeated on the inside you stop producing fruit on the outside right that's his goal is he comes to steal kill and destroy jesus says i came to give you life and life more abundantly life that's flourishing that's thriving the righteous will flourish like cedars of lebanon those who are planted in the house of the lord they will grow they will flourish in the courts of our god god's goal for you and i is that we would flourish that we would produce fruit everybody say produce fruits what does that mean that means that we would that we would be like jesus that we would be productive in our purpose that we would be productive in who he's called us to be that we would not be withering away that we would not be losing our passion for life that we would not be spiritually declining spiritually falling away from god know that we would grow both spiritually but even grow in our purpose and our gifts our calling and so i want us to go to mark chapter 11 because jesus tells us a story about a tree and again all throughout the scriptures from genesis to revelation you'll find trees and stories about trees and then jesus walks up to this tree in mark chapter 11 verse 12 it says um we'll start with let's start with verse 12. it says the next day as jesus and his disciples were leaving bethany jesus was hungry he was hungry right jesus was not just hungry for food he was hungry to see people following god's purpose jesus had a hunger to see jerusalem changed he had a hunger to see people set free from addictions he had a hunger to see people in love with god he had a hunger to see people obeying god's voice so in this moment there's a connection here jesus is not just physically hungry he's hungry to see the world recognizing who god is and following god's way so seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf now let me stop right there fig tree and leaf means it's not yet the season for figs to be on it but it is the season for the the the buds to be showing that figs are on the way figs are on the way a fig tree before it produces figs always has initial buds edible buds that you can eat that are small and it basically tells you a harvest is coming there's always a prefig before there's a fig y'all know what i'm talking about you can always spot when someone's on their way towards growth it's like those people who say i may not be where i want to be but i'm signing up for things that are going to get me where i need to go so i'm signing up for the discipleship course and i'm going to start on by the way let's let's give it up for all those who just graduated from discipleship track at victory we had hundreds of men and if that was you would you stand up if you went through our discipleship course here at victory 12-week course you graduated come on cheer on these men and women who just graduated from discipleship at victory taking your next step i spy life i spy spiritual growth and i'm telling you there's always a pre-fig before there's a fig there's always you sense there's signs of life when you see someone go down to the altar call they're repenting that's that's that's a prefig before the fig you say well their life hasn't changed yet oh but they are on their way my friends harvest is coming you can sense when a tree is about to produce fruit there's there's edible buds that are growing you can sense when an apple tree is starting to produce apples you may not see the red apples yet but you see something small that's beginning to grow eyes by life be careful judging things from a distance though you got to take a closer look so jesus sees a fig tree in the distance and he's hungry he's looking for fruits he's still looking for fruit in the church in 2021. he's looking for fruit in america and the church in america and the church around the world so he draws close to this fig tree searching to see if there's any fruit on it when he reaches the tree he finds nothing but leaves not even edible buds in other words this tree has stopped producing fruit this tree is supposed to be in the pre-season of fruit producing figs that are growing inside of it edible buds should be on those leaves but there's nothing but leaves now jesus is about to connect this with something else but before he does let me show you what he says he says to the tree jesus talked to trees too y'all wonder why i talked to trees because jesus talked to trees don't call me crazy for talking to the trees he says tree may no one ever eat fruit from you again that might sound harsh but jesus wasn't just speaking to the tree he was speaking to a religious system that needed to die in jerusalem there was a religious system that in moses's time had some fruit but over time it lost its fruit it was necessary in one season but jesus was saying in order for a brand new fruit tree to grow what's here needs to die so that something fresh can grow again jesus is about to show us watch he walks away from the tree and he reaches jerusalem in verse 15 literally the same part of the passage he walks past the fruit tree comes up to jerusalem it wasn't about the tree it was about the people he enters into the temple courts the church and he looks around and he sees religious systems set up booths and tables people exchanging money and coins people not really honoring the house of god people not producing the kind of fruit that the father was looking for and he begins to flip tables over and he begins to drive out with a whip like jesus got intense watch me whip right jesus went in there with this whip watch me and then he begins to flip the tables he begins to whip and he begins to push people out y'all didn't know jesus did this he'd be this is where the dance started started in the temple jesus starts driving out the religious people the pharisees and he says my house will be called a house of prayer so jesus was saying you are the fig tree that's not producing figs and in order in order for a new way of approaching god to come to the world this system has to die may no one ever eat fruit from you again that's what he was saying he was saying to the fig tree what he was saying to the temple he was saying religious leaders your time is up a new a new covenant is coming moses's covenant is no longer sustainable a new covenant is coming a new way you're now jesus comes in and he's eating with sinners and he's loving people that the religious people pushed out of the temple and jesus is letting people belong before they behave and be long before they believe and he's changing the way people approach god and he's saying the old fig tree has to die in order for a new fruit tree to to grow in the temple jesus was saying it's time for change so then he leaves the temple and by the way the chief leaders in verse 18 it says the priests and the teachers as soon as jesus confronted what they were doing it says they started looking for a way to kill him they started looking when you start messing with the hornet's nest they all start coming after you when evening came jesus and his disciples went out of the city watch were coming full circle back to the tree in the morning they went along the road and they saw the fig tree the same tree that jesus spoke to and this time it was withered from the roots and peter remembered what jesus said and said rabbi look the fig tree that you cursed has withered away what jesus was saying is it's time for a new day it's time for a new tree have faith in god god has called his church to produce good fruit he has called you to produce fresh fruit god has not called his church to become stale and religious and wither away and our stiff-necked stubborn religiosity no god wants us to produce fresh fruit in 2021 the church has a purpose so jesus is calling his church he's calling you and i to flourish and when you go back to psalm 92 verse 12 it says the righteous will flourish when when people are planted in god's house and god's house is full of god's presence by the way it is the job of pastors and leaders in the church to make sure that we are guarding the soil of the house so that trees can grow so that people can so that this is a beautiful forest of amazing believers who are producing fruit and growing and producing fruit even in their old age but you and i we have a responsibility together together we are called to be a fruit-bearing church and it's not just the pastor's job it's your job too your job and my job we go hand in hand in order to produce fruit planted people prosper planted people pray planted people grow planted people bring others into the house and planted people flourish when when people are planted in god's soil in god's house and they're receiving the nutrients from god they begin to flourish i wanted to find the word flourish for you flourish means to bloom to blossom to succeed to get ahead to do well to go further to grow to develop into a healthy vigorous way when people tell me that they think the church is supposed to be like poor and we're supposed to be under the circumstances i'm like you haven't read your bible god has called the righteous to flourish like a palm tree to flourish like a cedar in lebanon have you seen those trees those are some big trees you've seen the peaches on those i'm telling you god has called us to produce much fruit he has not called the church to be diminished discouraged poor in poverty always asking banks for money no god has called the church to be the bank to change communities to flip neighborhoods upside down to change poverty rates in the city to to employ people to start businesses to send out missionaries and i'm telling you guys when the church is flourishing when you're flourishing we're able to bring so much glory to god so flourish means that we would produce much fruit to thrive to be an influence of impact and a development a thriving flourishing culture that's what god's called the church to be so here's the question what what is wrong when i'm not flourishing when i'm not flourishing what's off i want to give you real quickly five reasons why people stop flourishing when they're planted in god's house what five reasons why people stop growing stop flourishing number one soil problems soil problems i could do a whole series on soil problems soil problems let's go to mark chapter four jesus talks about soil and trees in mark chapter four verse three he says listen a farmer went out to sow his seed what he's talking about here is the seed of the word of god this is good seed right here how many all believe the word of god is good seed all right now oftentimes we think okay the seed is is what the pastor preaches on sunday that's not just it the seed is also what your parents are speaking to at a young age the seed is what you're speaking to your spouse so the seed went out i'm just looking for this i'm just asking for this i'm just looking i'm looking for a harvest on some things that i've been asking for like when i was little my mom and dad they would sit me down and they would sow seed into my heart and mine they'd say paul honor your father and mother obey for this is the will of the lord my parents they would sow seed into ours don't don't don't don't treat your brother like that don't do that what were they doing they were sowing seed they were trying to help me to produce good fruit in my life so so jesus says a farmer goes out a single mom goes out and she sows seed in her son or daughter a a a coach goes out and he sow seed into his team and as they were sowing seed he was scattering the seed and some fell along the path so the preacher was sowing seed with the sermon and the seed fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up so the first group there's these people they're receiving the seed but as soon as they have the seed the birds come and get it this is like sitting in church and i'm preaching and and the twitter birds are just coming on your phone and they're just eating you're distracted from the message instagram birds facebook birds your phone is distracting you from the seed that's trying to produce fruit in you so jesus is saying the seed goes out but people are so busy on their phones so busy on their life they're missing the seed that's trying to get rooted in their heart my question is are you receiving the seed god's trying to put in you so the birds came and they ate it up some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil we're talking about soil problems why do people not flourish why do why do people not flourish and some people would say well the soil is the pastor's job he has to make sure that the church has good soil so that i can flourish i hear you on that but let me push back a little bit let's talk about the soil here at victory here at victory we provide an environment where people can hear the word of god every single week in person and online even in a pandemic i made sure that we provided soil where people could come and receive the word of god not only that this soil provides opportunities for outreaches missions trips even in a pandemic sending out teams to minister north south east and west tulsa every week the tulsa dream center is yours to be a part of it is yours to participate in not only that we provide a bible college where people can grow and learn and take a step further not only that we provide discipleship courses for men and women free at no charge for you to come on tuesday nights take a step further into the soil so the soil is good here we provide a school we provide a camp in the summer the soil is good here let me ask you about the soil of your heart because it's not just the soil of your church it's the soil of your soul you can be in good soil at a good church and not be flourishing and you can go well the pastor's not planting the right seed his sermons aren't my favorite sermons we need td jakes to come in here we need john hagee i need perry stone i don't know who you like verdict whoever you know it doesn't matter how great the seed is if the soil is not good it will never produce a harvest and you blame it on the church but you got to take responsibility for the soil of your heart it's getting quiet in this charismatic church in the 11 a.m service somebody say i'm responsible for the soil of my heart in other words i cannot delegate the responsibility to forgive people to my pastor it's not my pastor's job to forgive the people who've offended me it's my job and if i don't forgive them even if my pastor preaches on forgiveness every week my soul has rocky soil and rocky soil does not allow any roots to go down deep which means that i won't flourish as long as i'm holding on to bitterness how's the soil of your soul some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil so the the the flowers sprang up quickly but they withered away when the sun came up the plants were scorched and they withered away because they had no root because there was too many stones in their heart other seed fell among thorns thorns which grew up and choked out the plants what thorns have you allowed to grow in the garden of your heart thorns so that these plants these trees did not produce the fruit the grain still other seed fell on good soil come on i'm looking at some good soil in the room i spy life and it came up and it grew and it produced a crop some multiplying 30 some 60 some a hundred times what the seed was god intends for us to multiply the seed that's inside of us you know this last year right when the pandemic hit i i hadn't written songs for for 11 years last time i'd written a song was in 2008 and then the pandemic hit so 12 years pandemic hit and all of a sudden this intense rain this intense flood that was meant to try to destroy that was meant to try to squash it began to produce a harvest inside of me some 30 some 60 some 100 fold songs begin to flow out of me why because i allowed the rain to go deep into the soil of my soul and i asked god to make sure there was no rocks down there so that god could begin to produce new fresh buds of life productivity and my purpose and i'm producing fruit and i'm telling you the fruit is not just the fruit of the spirit well i'm producing joy peace patience god also wants you to produce songs and books and businesses and new strategies and new ideas and things that can shift culture god wants you to be productive in your purpose whatever your purpose is he doesn't want you withering away in it he wants you producing a hundredfold so soil problems again if the seed is good and it goes into good soil it will produce and it will flourish a great harvest but no matter how great the seed is if the soil is rocky if the soil is thorny if the soil is shallow the soil determines the impact of the seed number two the second reason people stop flourishing is pruning problems pruning problems we don't like to be pruned but once again jesus talks about trees in john 15 verse 1 i am the true vine and my father is the gardener he cuts off every branch of the tree that does not bear fruit everybody say ouch ouch yeah so he's he's coming in as a pruner as a gardener he's got his pruning shears and he says that's not producing fruit that's not producing fruit and then it says jesus says but even the ones that do bear fruit even the branches that are bearing fruit he prunes them so that they will be even more fruitful so in order for life to become even more lively in your life there's things you have to gradually continue to let go we are a hoarding society we hold on to everything if i was to go into your garage your attic your storage closet i would find some things from a long time ago i still have like some lent that i've held on to from my shorts pocket like it's sitting in a little box and um i don't even know why i'm holding on to it it just has memories the lent has some memories just a piece of lent i have papers from when i was a kid that i don't know if i still need to hold on to some of us are holding on to relationships that served a purpose in one season and god says it's time for a shift you're stepping into a new season we're holding on to strategies that were important for one season and god says i need to prune that because you need to develop some new strategies you're getting stale leaning on what was once good in 2014 but it's 2021 now paul it was right for then and it's not like it's evil today but it's no longer fruitful so let's prune that let's prune that so that you can produce more fruit and pruning is hard pruning is difficult someone gave me a book several a couple years ago called necessary endings by dr henry cloud and and i didn't i'll be honest with you i didn't finish the book but the chapters that i did read were really good and as i was reading this book he was talking about how christians have the hardest time of letting go of anything we just hold on to things and people and ideas and traditions and and the flag has to be on the stage and and the choir has to stand here and we got to have flowers at the front and we gotta sing shout to the lord every single sunday and i'm so thankful for a church that's continued to change over time and continue to be a light and we haven't lost the main thing because the main thing is jesus and he'll always be the main thing and we're not drifting from that but we're allowing him to prune things through time so we can produce more fruits gideon had to walk through this while gideon had grown an army of 10 000 soldiers and he was convinced he needed all 10 000 in order to attack and win the victory god says go down to the river and and take a drink and watch how people drink from the river watch how people drink watch watch the people who go all in to the river and then the ones who don't let them go it's nothing wrong with them it's that i'm setting you up for a victory and i need a specific type of people for this season there's a specific type needed for this season you'll get the others back later on but for now i'm looking for a specific and so gideon is watching as god begins to dwindle his army of thousands down to 300 men god always subtracts before he multiplies god always removes things before he begins to grow things in your life pruning problems number three pest problems oh i felt the holy spirit on that one some of y'all like i know who my pest is pest problems what destroys trees what keeps trees from flourishing canker worms little foxes locusts swarms of locusts stripping fields destroying green vegetation swarming groups of negativity swarming groups of gossip swarming locust of complaining attitudes locusts suck the life out of your tree pests suck the life out of your relationships something happens in the locust brain it's a serotonin that changes and literally flips them into destructive mode where they become toxic and they just destroy what's ever in their path canker worms i planted a river birch tree a couple years ago and at first it was beautiful it was producing great green fresh leaves and it was growing fast and and literally in less than two months it had grown over a foot and a half taller than what what it was when i planted it so the soil was good the tree was growing the leaves were growing and then all of a sudden spots started going on the leaves holes started appearing in the leaves the leaves started withering away and i was trying to figure out what's going on with the tree and from a distance i couldn't figure out what's going on it's got water it's got good soil and then i got closer and i saw canker worms all over the tree and little caterpillars like slimy ones and i began to pull them off one by one and the larva that was connected to him and the slimy junky stuff there was i began to pull them off and with each one that i was pulling off it was like it was clinging to the tree like i've got a hold of this tree i was like no you don't satan in jesus name this is my tree this is my family this is my son and you're not going to suck the life out of my daughter and no you won't pest some of you have been letting some pests suck the life out of your family oh i'm speaking more prophetic than you realize you think i'm talking about trees i'm talking about your kids i'm talking about your husband i'm talking about your dad i'm talking about your spiritual life and we think we know who the pastor are we're like oh i know who the pest is his name's zach and i'm coming for him right now i'm just kidding if you're zach you're a good guy let me let me come up with another name uh his his name's like bartimaeus there's no there's no bartimaeus in the house if your name's bartimaeus you're a good guy too but hey some of us we have a name of the pastor like um i'm gonna get that girl passed off of him you know and i'm i'm coming but what if the pest is you people are just stepping out for a bathroom break right now they're like i'm leaving you offended me stay stay planted those who are planted in the house the lord they will flourish i'm coming for the past what about the pest of you complaining all the time what about the pest of you refusing to take responsibility what about the past of of you sticking stubbornly to how things have to be your way where's the humility where's the forgiveness where's the teachability where's the willingness to compromise and change so that there can be peace so that there can be reconciliation where's the willingness to come in agreement right and and oftentimes we have these pest problems in our heart our attitude because we've allowed stones to build up and so we've become self-sabotaging best of the the fruit that god wants to produce in our own lives it's like we're hacking away at our own branches and god says you're not pruning you're attacking yourself right now you keep putting yourself down this path of shame one of the pests that oftentimes that hurts us is our own feelings of shame just holding on to regrets holding on to feelings if i missed it and so i'm just gonna beat myself up every single day and i might as well just keep on missing it because i already missed it too many times to try to make it right and the shame game destroys the fruit it's a pest it begins it's like a canker worm it sucks the life out of the branches god's trying to produce number four the fourth reason people don't flourish too much sun too much sun and i'm telling you we love sun and a lot of us in the room are excited about sunny days because summer is coming up and we're saying man i'm thankful winter is over and the rain is over give me the sun i want a suntan i want to be outside how many are looking forward to the sunny days yes me too and we need those sunny days but if the entire year was sunny every single day some of you are like that would be awesome let's move to florida you know but if every single day was sunny you wouldn't grow you wouldn't grow because only sunny days it won't produce growth you have to have rain in order to grow you have to go through other seasons in order for you to grow if every season was sunny if every day was perfect perfect days 100 of the time actually leads to less growth in your life easy seasons actually produces less fruit in your life the pandemic produced more fruit in our church than i've seen in the last few years it forced us to grow through difficulties adversity is healthy for the believer it's healthy for the church the church thrives through adversity too much sun is unhealthy for a person in a church wonder why this church has been so productive and so fruitful over 40 years is because we've had to endure some rainy seasons but the rain always leads to growth i wrote a song when i was in high school called april showers bring mayflowers and we used to sing it our band we would travel around play for youth groups and every time i sang that song someone would come up after the service and they'd say my life feels like it's been non-stop april showers and i said get ready mayflowers are coming mayflowers god has fresh life and he sure does he sure does i spy life growing inside you the fifth reason people don't flourish is not enough water not enough water the bible refers to water for multiple reasons again water is actually the the fourth most mentioned topic in the bible so it's god people trees and then water water's right there it's in genesis 1 and it's in revelation 22 the rivers of water jesus talks about rivers of living water the water represents the holy spirit the presence of god the washing of the water of the word of god if you don't get the word and you don't get worship and you don't get the presence of god you won't be able to last in the rains out there there's a greater rain in here that supersedes the rain that's out there when you're going through a flood out there you need to get inside an ark in here and allow the rain of the holy spirit and the rivers of living water to to begin to wash you and renew your mind and teach you how to handle pain and how to turn pain into grain in your life no rain no grain no pain no gain god says the rain out there should drive you to find the rain in here so if you're going through rainy seasons out there the best place to be is in the rain of his presence and without water we don't grow if we if we don't get the water we need the water of his word we need the water of the presence of god but we also jesus says the rain falls on the just and the unjust hebrews chapter 6 says the land that drinks in the rain that often falls upon it will produce a harvest that is useful for the farmer if it drinks in the rain but verse 7 it says the land that rejects the rain and produces thorns and thistles becomes useless to the farmer in other words how you handle the painful seasons of your life you either get bitter or you get better you either go forward or you just start withering away and you say paul it's too hard i lost my dad i lost my job i don't want to go to church anymore i don't want to be around fake people anymore and then you start judging everyone calling everyone fake and you're drifting away or when you're going through tough times you say i lost my dad my job i lost some friends god i need you lord i need your mercy i need your grace see you either drift further from god or you come closer to god in the rainy seasons the safest place to be when you're in the rain is in the presence of god it's here it's here that we find healing that we produce fruit love joy peace patience kindness long suffering productivity and our purpose god says i'm going to give you a song for that one i'm going to give you a book for that one i'm going to give you a business for that one for the person that left you i'm bringing 15 more people to come beside you for the person that rejected you i'm bringing some fresh new healthy relationships you thought it was painful i was just pruning you i was preparing you for greater productive i spy life paul when god sees repentance he spies life when god sees humility he spies life i spy with my little eye fresh life when we get planted in the house of the lord there's several things that happen but i want to leave you with three number one you grow you grow when you're in good soil and you get the good nutrients you begin to grow read your bible and pray every day and you grow grow grow you begin to grow the roots go down deep by the way you only grow when you're planted if you keep uprooting yourself every time you're offended you don't grow that's why the tree has to stay in the soil if you get angry and upset at this church i'm telling you the best thing to do is walk in love and forgiveness if you get offended choose to mature maturity and a believer is able to move forward through a fence after a fence after a fence and stay planted and keep growing and keep producing fruit and keep forgiving and you're not a rug mat you become a bridge and sometimes bridges get walked on but they begin to connect people to the purpose of god and the plans of god and you grow as a mature believer and without adversity you don't grow and if you run from adversity and pain and you run from relationships that are messy you don't grow but if you stay planted and rooted you produce fruit even in your old age psalm 1 verse 1 says blessed is the man who doesn't see in it who doesn't sit or step in the way of the wicked or stand in the way of the sinners or in the company of mockers and complainers but whose delight is in the law of the lord and they meditated on it day and night they will be like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season whose leaf does not wither whatever they do prospers even in their old age they still bear fruit the second thing that happens when you're planted you find life-giving relationships you become part of the family the longer you stick around in this place called victory you start to find some other people and they know your name and you know their name and you exchange phone numbers and when your son goes to the hospital they're praying for him and when you need help and when you're searching for the right man they say let me set you up on a blind date and you get married in this house and you find the man of your dreams i'm telling you stick around don't run there's some good men in this house there's some good women in this house you find life-giving relationships you find your purpose when you're planted in the house of the lord the righteous will flourish like the cedars of lebanon number three you find your place to serve and impact others with your gifts my grand grand who's 97 she was so productive this last year even in a pandemic every single day she would find people to call pray for over the phone minister to what is she doing she's bearing fruit even in her old age her leaf has not withered her passion for god has not withered her impact and influence on people god has a purpose for your life god wants you to produce fruit that doesn't just mean make money that means be productive for the kingdom of god be salt and light be an influence on your community you start looking at your job differently you start looking at people differently you start seeing every monday tuesday wednesday thursday as a day of purpose people that you can minister to you become obedient to the little heatings of the spirit you start understanding the voice of god you start recognizing that still small voice and you act on it and you see another fruit pop out and another apple come out another orange come out where'd that come from i see i spy life come on stand up to your feet today you guys receive that word i spy just say with me i spy life i spy life lord i pray that you would show us the areas in our life that the soil spots that are rocky that are shallow lord i pray that you would show us the past problems god the things the areas in our own attitude and heart that have become mean that have become cruel that have become harsh that have become complacent whether it's towards ourselves or towards others god i pray that you would show us areas where we need to just hit refresh and we just need your holy spirit to come and cleanse us from the inside out lord i pray that you would show us how to flourish i thank you god that you want every person in this room to flourish even when they're walking through a painful season i pray god just like noah sent out that dove to see if there was any life left if there was future if the best days were still in front of them or if they were behind them i pray that today it would be like a dove returning to someone today watching online in this room it's like the dove is bringing them this sermon as a branch to say life is here life is coming to your soul god is not finished with your story you might have walked through the flood of a divorce but god has restoration god has redemption god has a new story god has a new chapter for you there's a branch of life that's coming to you today the word is coming to you i spy life and god said through the prophet isaiah i will send out my word and it will not return void he's sending out the dove with the branch and he's saying i want to produce fresh buds in you again i want to bring you back to that place of humility that place of teachability that place of surrender with heads bowed and eyes closed if you're here right now you just know the lord's telling you there's some things that needs to be pruned there's some things he wants to work on in the soil of your heart just raise your hand all over this room that's you god's talking to you there's some things in the soil there's some things that god's saying i need to prove there's some attitudes there's some stuff that's been holding you back from growth from flourishing maybe here today and you say paul i just need to flourish and and i know that there's some things i need to surrender to god to see that happen if that's you raise your hand yeah god's speaking to you there's some new seasons that god wants to bring you into but you need to release some old stuff you need to let go of even comfort zone fears if you raise your hand or you just need prayer today i want you to leave your seat come and join me at this altar all over this room from the front to the back come and join we're just going to worship for a moment maybe you're here today and you say i just need prayer for the future i need direction for my next season i need to get down to that altar to let the holy spirit speak to me i need to hear his voice i need to know what's next i need to know where god's leading me i need to know some decisions i need to make there's some relationships i need healing in i need god to move in some areas in my heart and my life and my family and my relationships there's some attitude things that need to be changed in me yeah let's just worship let's just begin to sing holy spirit holy spirit is fresh joy fresh wisdom fresh vision is your presence let us experience the glory of your goodness let us us let us let us oh is your to be overcome by your prayers we make room for yourselves yours is foreign is is is me what a powerful babe it stand is what a powerful name it is jesus every time god sees hearts in humility hearts and repentance every time he sees hearts willing to allow him to change things or prune things he says i spy life i spy life when jesus was in the tomb for three days and the enemy thought he had won god could see it coming before anyone else i spy life i spy resurrection life inside of you god sees it he sees it he sees it in the book of job it says when satan came to talk to god about job and see if job would curse him god said see he has not cursed me even after all of these bad things have happened and god blessed him double for the the trouble he walked through god saw that job was righteous that he was willing to endure the pain and the persecution and still cling to his hope in god his trust in god and god restored everything the enemy tried to steal from him god's going to restore what the enemies tried to steal to you and i just hear god saying i spy life inside of you i see fresh life growing i see restoration coming i see restitution coming i see a reinvention coming there's going to be a there's a new you emerging there's new branches god wants to produce he says don't get too too stuck on one branch because i have another branch i want to produce some new fruit you might have been doing good in this area and that's good but i've got another branch i'm going to give you some fresh new vision over here and i'm going to give you fresh fruit over there and and yes you've been blessed here but as i'm leading you into this next season you're gonna be blessed there too lord i just thank you god that you would cause us to just trust in you as the gardener of our soul that you're pulling out weeds and thorns and pruning branches and and preparing us god for fresh new buds and fresh fruit to grow in our lives just say this with me say jesus i surrender to you you are the vine and i am the branch and i will remain in you i repent of sin i receive your forgiveness you are my lord and savior help me to flourish help me to produce fruit that brings you glory i'm all yours god prune whatever you need to prune do whatever you want to do have your way in me in jesus name amen and amen i love you victory thank you for lingering today god bless you

Channel: Victory Tulsa

Views: 5,422

Rating: 4.9166665 out of 5

Keywords: tree, trees, life, sermon about trees, sermon about growth, church, sermons, jesus, i spy life, noah, flood, water, sunlight, sermon about rain, handling paiun, pain, encouragement, bieber, elevation, todd, hillsong, paul, daugherty, victory, tulsa

Id: zQhPK14iBE8

Length: 63min 4sec (3784 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 25 2021