Letting God Finish Your Story | Christa Smith | Expression58

ah a 58 I miss you I miss you I tell you what for those of you that are new to this community I wanted to say you got the church lottery for this being your home Church if it's not your home Church make your home church because it's so special what's here I look to Jen so many times because every time I come there's a whole new wave of voices that are just powerful and amazing and I find myself saying this statement repeatedly when I come through the house where in the world have you been like that guy worship leader we're in the world have you been right I like your um I don't know where you're at but you are amazing you're amazing and then the incredible it's Margo Morgan and it was it M sorry Morgan oh my and the songs that are being written and released from this house there's so much more to come in that area cuz it's such a house that has an anthem that's supposed to literally hit the nation's that's not just a hype word it's really it's just what I catching the spirit every time I'm here and it's just so special I just feel like the Lord's like savor what's happening here don't take it for granted because it's really unique and it's so I know I keep saying the word special but that's that's literally what it is it's just it's so hard to find this there was just such a unity and an agreement that happened this morning and I'm like yes I feel honored to be worshiping with you all because it's like to worship with so many people that were just engaged and hungry I'm like my tribe and then Johnny gets up here and is hysterical I have told Johnny since the day I met him you I'm like your personality is so fabulous you need to get paid for it right right there are some people in life where their personality is so on point that you're like that needs to be your income because it's fantastic that's Johnny I'm just I'm just speaking that over you're gonna get paid for your personality yeah because you're like this light that just comes in and we're all like I needed that like the credit the credit comment was so hysterical and I literally was like I'm not ready to be done laughing and he he'd already said like two more jokes and I'm like still on that one right that's okay and he had another reason why we love him that right there Jen and hona you're incredible seriously like there's been such a price you guys have paid for this and I know the Bulls have been a part of that and other people have partnered in this this has been a long work in the coming that's been coming but to even see it today it's like every time I come I come a few times a year every time I come I just see everything God's continuing to pour out and I just think you guys are stewarding beautifully what the Lords trusted you with and it's like you're leading so well and the health and the unity of the community is beautiful and I just I just so honor you not only are you guys some of our best friends and we're just like love you your family to us but just to watch you thrive and be amazing and be the full version of who you're called to be is like it's a joy because I'm like I so believe in what you guys carry so love you guys just want to honor when honors do right and then I could go around the room because I see so many incredible faces I know but I don't want to take too much more time because I have a word this morning and I want to dive into it because I heard the Lord say breakthroughs in the house this morning we already hit it warship but I literally feel like this morning as I'm preaching I'm actually not preaching but I'm prophesying the shift of this season yesterday when we were in the women's retreat who was in the women's retreat this week I tell you what like calling it a women's retreat almost feels insulting because it was like not even that at all because we have such a stigma of like what a women's retreat looks like no this was like sweet and deep and there was such a beautiful presence of God can-can all those ladies that were there like would you agree like it was so powerful and like every portion there are so many facets to it much more than just the breakout or the sessions there was so many facets to it but I felt like there's an overflow that's gonna happen this morning and I feel like we're coming with a portion all of us women but I feel like the Lord is here because he wants to call you into the place that he has assigned in this season and I felt like the Lord was being strategic about who was even here this morning and what I love is it's being live stream there's people they're gonna be listening live stream I feel like this word is strategic because it's about aligning in the season of the Lord for your life and I heard the Lord say that you guys are stepping to a place where your your rear view mirror is getting really small and your windshield is getting really big and I know people go well isn't it good to look at the past and learn from it sure but it's different when you're looking at it or living in it and the Lord is saying we're gonna stop living in the past and we're gonna stop we're going to learn from the past we're gonna become more mature and wise from the past but the Lord is calling us to live from a place of maturity victory and breakthrough and I feel like the Lord saying this is the year of crossing over I hit that last night I'm not gonna hit that again maybe another time I'll bring that word to this house but the word I believe the Lord has this has this morning is about you understanding your story isn't done being written that there is still more to your story and I felt like the Lord wanted me to share this and I shared this last night and honestly I don't share it too often but it reminded me of about 12 years old I'm the youngest of three girls so I'm the baby and before you judge me in that I promise I wasn't overly spoiled at least not in my unbiased opinion right but in that my sister decided cuz I'm an animal lover she thought it was a great idea which I to this day I'm not sure where she got that idea that I would like a hermit crab as a pet and I found it kind of like weird it looks like slightly creepy but I felt like you know she gave it to me so I needed to like honor the gift so I got one of my mom's like sweet Tupperware bins and I put sand in in roxas before like Petco gave you like legit things to put animals in this is like in the day before Petco before you got the brochure on how to take care of your stuff we thought crab sand beach make it right and it was bad and we probably did clean and enough had a bit of a fragrance that wasn't awesome you know like that type of thing and I kept it in my like little kid room like I was responsible for the crab which is never a great idea and I remember at times taking it out and I'd mainly just look at it but my sister would probably play with it more than me but you know we put it out and I'd kind of like shrink back when it began to came come out of it she'll like it was comfortable finally and then it would like kind of creep up my arm and I just found the whole experience like kind of unnerving if I'm honest but there was a sad day that happened in the hermit crabs life and the reality is I was responsible for that sad day because again like I said this is before the times in which we were told how to take care of stuff right this is before the brochure is certainly before internet I didn't know to Google this there's no such thing at that time am i dating myself for all of you great don't check out I'm not that old okay so here I am I come home from school one day and there's this sad little hermit crab dead on the sand and I'm like devastated because I'm like what happened and it's shells over here and it looks like it's going somewhere but there's nowhere to go cuz it's just like sand and rocks there's no place for this little hermit crab to land and we learned through having conversation and asking some questions what happened we were told that hermit crabs of Schiele shed their skin and when they shed they're actually looking for a larger shell to move into because there's a transition in their life and there's a leaving from the old into the new and what I didn't know because I didn't understand what I had I didn't know how to Stewart and I certainly did know there was a transition so I wasn't prepared for the transition so because I wasn't prepared and I didn't provide a larger shell for the hermit crab there was a miscarriage in the transition there was an aborted promise for that hermit crab so to speak because there was nothing to catch it for the new season and I felt like the Lord reminded me of that simple little story from 12 years old that to be honest I had blocked out of my memory but when he reminded me of it he said Christa that's the season of 2019 that's the season of us recognizing there has been a transition in the spirit it's not just a nice idea I want to tell you we have shifted from 2018 I'm not even talking chronological I'm talking in the spirit that there has been a shift over and the Lord says what has been the small of the season let's put the tidal wilderness on it we are shifting out of the wilderness into the promised but we you and I have to have a greater capacity in order to capture in order to receive and in order to carry what we are called to carry in this next season there is an uncomfortableness that comes with that because expansion doesn't allow you to stay in your comfort zone is that true see there are things that I believe God is wanting us to unlearn in this season things that we've learned that aren't even necessarily bad or wrong but they're learned behavior structures and systems that are not god-given they're man-made anyone relate to that I pastored 14 years I ran schools of ministry whatnot I love the local church I'm part of local church my husband and I now minister full-time itinerate so we're in different churches most weekends throughout the year and there are wonderful things in local church but you and I can also agree there's a lot of manmade dysfunction in the local church too and so in that we can learn stuff where we think that is what our family spiritually is supposed to look like but in all actuality it's just learned dysfunction and man-made structure and policy I feel like the Lord says for the new thing there has to be some things that are remove moved in order to create space for the new capacity you track him with me so who has siblings I know there might be some only children in here that's okay we'll include you in this in this in just a moment but I want to speak to the people to have siblings like I shared earlier I'm the youngest of three girls so I was born into systems and structures with my sisters that looked like when there was an empty seat in the front of the car if one of my parents was not there who got that empty seat my oldest sister if she was not there it then was delegated to my middle sister and if none of my siblings were there and there happened to be an open seat then I would get the coveted front seat anyone relate to this thank you that also up was applied to the TV that same pecking order took place if my parents weren't watching the TV then my oldest sister got to choose what we watched on TV if she wasn't there my middle sister got a select and then if by gods there was not anyone that wanted to possibly use the TV in the entire neighborhood then I would be allowed to choose what we could watch anyone any youngest children relate to this you were born into a structure and a system and you were told the rules of the family weren't you and because you're the youngest you don't think you have a say cuz you're just told that's the way it is right that's normal so you kind of abide by the rules until one day and the one day was I grew up an ice-cream family anyone relate to this like yeah right there is always ice-cream at our house I'm still trying to lose the weight from it from a six week camping trip that we stopped at every Dairy Queen between I'm not kidding between we traveled up Oregon across Canada down to New York and across the United States it was six thousand and one miles in a Volkswagen van I'm not kidding I think I gained at least 20 pounds I'm still working on those in it I'm not we stopped to the every DQ so I grew up in a family that loved our ice cream and my dad knew every Dairy Queen every ice cream stop and it was like awesome I know for all the fitness people I just want to apologize for the bad behaviors I'm working on my my et now right but one day I'm sitting there and where I'm meeting my calling like normal but I'm watching my sister she is like watching me she is like I'm starting the cup I'm starting the ice-cream part and I'm getting to the cone and she's like eyeing my cone and I can like feel her hovering and I'm like this is my ice cream moment like you're fully invading it and I'm enjoying it and you know I don't know about you but like the cone parts the best part right you're like working through the ice cream to get to the cone because when it's soft serve and that's what I'm talking about when it's soft-serve it settles into the bottom of the cone right are you in and when you and when you get to that last part is it not the best bite it's the best bike so I'm making my way down for the best spot I mean I have like I'm exciting spectacle I want you to know for the last couple years I've been giving my last bite to kathleen that's our oldest sister and so you always give your last bite of the cone to your older sister and remember i've abided by all the rules of the family structure at this point i've uh and i remember sitting there and I remember thinking get behind these Satan and my sister is looking at me because I remember I've abided she's informing me like what's allowed what's expected and I remember like a conscious decision I was like yeah right and I stuck it in my mouth and as I ate it I looked at her in the eye I was like like not only are you never gonna get it like I want you to know the boundary has been drawn like as she never got ever one of my cones ever I share that with you because I heard the Lord say there are some things you've learned in your biological and your spiritual family that you've inherited that you think are normal but God is saying they are simply learned behavior for a dysfunctional system but they will limit your capacity for the next season if you keep them see there is an increase and there's an opening that God wants to do in our hearts and in your life but I believe God is stripping things out and they have seemed okay and they have seemed good but they are simply rules and regulations that don't align with what God wants to do in this hour and because they've worked in the last season we can think that they're okay but I want you to know because there's been a shift what's worked in the last season does not work in this current season I was reminded of Joseph's probably one of my favorite people in scripture because of one word in his life resiliency it's probably one of to me one of the most untapped areas of you a nice Christian walk see we live in a world that gets beat down and because we have Jesus we have the resilient factor don't we we have the bounce-back factor which is Jesus when he comes through when you feel like you can't make it through but by our weakness he is strong and we see him come through and take us from a place of despair and pain and brokenness and bring us to victory and bring us to breakthrough that's the resiliency of God and I love that because Joseph's story is riddled with the resiliency of God and what I love about Joseph's story is because it's so relatable to you a nice story Joseph's story is one of victory but it's also one of defeat it's one of trials but it's also one of break through its suffering but it's also radical favor and influence his stories one of blessing and one of betrayal it's a little bit of everything and the reality is there's a lot of stories like that in this room and what I love about God bringing this this morning because I believe this is a word for all of you is that Joseph understood he had a purpose and he had a plan so there was a resiliency because it all started with a dream if you have your Bibles I want you to turn to Genesis 50 I'm gonna be reading out of the New Living this morning but I want to break down just I'm not gonna spend too long doing this but I want you to capture the essence of what I believe the Lord wants to pull out and it's a conversation it's an interaction that I believe we're gonna pull some strategy for breakthrough in our lives this morning Genesis 50 starting in verse 15 it says but now that their father was dead Joseph's brothers became fearful now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him they said so they send this message to Joseph before your father died he instructed us to say to you please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you for their sin in treating you so cruelly so we the servants of the god of your father beg you to forgive our sin when Joseph received the message he broke down and he wept then his brothers came and they threw themselves down before Joseph and they said look we are your slaves they said but Joseph replied don't be afraid of me am i God that I can punish you and now I want you to catch this statement this is verse 20 you intended to harm me I want you to say with me , I want you to say with me , I'm gonna say it one more time because I want you to really grab a hold of this this morning I want you to say , so you intended to harm me comma but God intended it all for good he brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people no don't be afraid I will continue to take care of you and your children so he reassured them by speaking kindly to them see this morning I am gonna focus on Joseph absolutely but I'm more want to focus on the brothers I want to focus on the brothers because I think the brothers represent a lot of us in this room and the brothers represent people that don't believe that they're actually fully forgiven and they live with a substitute security blanket in their life are you catching this see Joseph brothers believed that they were ok and they were out of the Vengeance of Joseph even though they trafficked him in you know it's the first account in the Word of God of human trafficking was Joseph's brother selling him and they did one of the most evil most betrayal things that's called the dysfunctional family to say the least when your family sells you into trafficking that is something God wants to not only redeem and restore but it's gonna use it did he do it absolutely not but he's gonna use it in the narrative so he gets all the glorious shows his story of resiliency through you see but Joseph's brothers all they're seen is what they have done they have a substitute a false security blanket because as long they believe as long as Jacob the father is alive that because of his love Joseph's love for his father he would never hurt them kill them or take vengeance on them out of respect for his father are you catching this out of respect for his father they think ok we're good as soon as Jacob the father dies what does it do it removes the security blanket which is actually a false security blanket it removes the place of where they have been hiding from and when false security blankets was called as substitute security blanket are removed it allows the insecurities and the fears to rush forward when we hide behind a facade of safety when the Lord and actually his kindness allows it to be removed he allows to actually see what's in us and the reason he does that is because at full restoration is going to take place in you and i's life there has to be a full dependence on who God is for our story to be restored or redeemed see the narrative of Joseph's family and the narrative between him and his brothers one of the deepest betrayals couldn't have taken place if Jacob would have stayed alive and always been the barometer and the barrier the barrier between Joseph and his brothers see they never stepped into a place of really being a brother because they were always afraid that vengeance was ultimately going to come their way but what I love about this is God highlighting and we read in verse 50 or excuse me in chapter 50 if you go back to chapter 45 when they actually came to Joseph for the first time and I know I'm jumping back but track with me because there's an important thing that I believe the Lord wants to hit this morning that when there is a false security when there's a substitute blanket where we're like I'm good if this is intact but then that thing isn't that that thing that you believe if it's intact I'm good if the doctor tells me I'm okay I'm okay if I'm in this relationship then I have Worth and value if I have this job I have importance if I get that audition that breakthrough that promotion then that's my answer to the dream am i my promise does that make sense but what if those relationships fall apart what if that person leaves what if the doctor gives a bad report I want you to know there has to be a place in our walk with Jesus where we no longer have any false securities that no matter what is removed from our lives when those things are removed the only thing that comes forward within us is not fear and insecurity but a resolve within us of God I know you're still my healer you're still the restorer you're still my redeemer and you're not rocked because you don't have a false substitute and the Lord what had x has felt cruel it could have felt cruel to the brothers how could you remove my safety net how could you take my father now I am vulnerable now I'm exposed now I am impossibly going to receive some vengeance well overdue for my brother but God recognized that there was a false safety and he cared enough about them then in order for a full restoration to take place every facade had to get exposed and broken are you catching this I know in my own life I was a kid that carried two baby blankets legit one was named Freddy we don't know why I just love the name Freddy it was brown small had people riding bikes and throwing footballs it's weird I don't know I was into it and then there was a big pink one I had a big bunny on it so obviously hence the name bunny so buddy and Freddy loved him carried him everywhere was proud of them not one of those kids I was embarrassed at all like tried taking them because when I was raised Catholic tried taking it into mass they would only let me take one not to like there was always that you like you need to choose I would pack one of my backpack always for school like I was that kid and I was a confident outgoing kid but I always had my blanket to the point here's full confession I don't care it's live stream receive it and you know even at college you know like most people are like putting away their Care Bears in their Cabbage Patch or like you know they're their security blankets thank you for that and their security blankets and and I was the kid that was like heck no taking balls got him like cleaned and ready like we're going to bunny Freddy we're going to college are you ready right like that was me and like my freshman year of college I go out of state I don't know anyone I was that kid that like wand iguana state didn't want to know anyone I was like adventure fun exciting and I show up in my dorm and like I'm in a room you know a dorm with all these girls and you know everyone's checking out each other's room and look each other's bedding and get to know each other you know it's like what girls do let's kill room so on my bed on my bed is bunny and Freddie like out there for the world to see unashamedly those are my baby blankets yes I'm a teen I don't care and all the girls would be like Arthur are those your baby blankets and I was like this I'm heck yeah and to you their bunny and Freddie so show some respect show some respect because they've been through with me they're like they're like right or die those blankets or right or die they've been through the chapters of my 18 years those ones and I want you to know that when people came back from Christmas break in December 90% of the girls brought back their baby blankets so you know you know there's sometimes just freedom look the problem with that is I'm preaching against false security blanket so that like illustration fails miserably right and the fact that I actually like help that is like it's just needed to be confessed because you know I just apologized to all the women that you know that happened to and you know what's crazy is guys even begin to bring their stuff from home after they saw us girls they were like yeah we're doing this too there was just a real liberation that happened through that process but there comes a day and believe it or not there came a day in my life where I folded up bunny and Freddie I know and I put him in a box a nice box that's in my closet and when I got married I brought the box because I still have them I brought the box and I put them on the top shelf in the guest room and I know exactly where they're at but I don't pull them out anymore I don't sleep with them anymore they're not they don't provide a sense of security they've now just become nostalgic and sentimental but they've shifted from a place of comfort to simply a place of reference and I believe the Lord is saying there has to come a point where the things that you've been hanging on for the seasons of your life there has to come a place where they become a reference of a chapter of your life versus a sustaining element of your current place and the Lord I believe this morning is folding up some false securities and some security blankets and some Care Bears and Cabbage Patch dolls and that's for the girls in the house and for some GI Joes and so for some transformers we've got to make this equal opportunity and those things that have found us comfort in the past season because the Lord's saying there is a maturity that the Lord is inviting us into and the past season as important as it was that you went through it and everything you gleaned from it it's not a place that you can stay any longer so there's a courage and a bravery that the Lord is asking each and every one of us to walk into because they remember that feeling like I knew it was time because I was like I don't know 22:23 true story and I was like I've graduated from college I'm working in the fashion industry I think it's time that I let go of my security blanket I need to let go of the blanket that was in my crib waiting for me and I remember having mixed emotions but recognizing the season had come and so I want you to know you might have mixed emotions and it might even feel illogical I want to laugh so hard with Sheree right now it might even feel illogical you're like why am i hanging on to this it's because it's comfortable and it's familiar but the Lord says when you let go of the familiar that's when you can embrace a greater capacity because in order to have a new security and a new posture of reliance on the Lord you have to make space in your life and remove the things that have previously taken that real-estate see Joseph's brothers had a fundamental distrust in their relationship with Joseph in chapter 42 there's a famine in the land by this point Joseph has been promoted to number two in Egypt and he is managing all the resources in the famine it's the one nation that actually has the resources to feed all the other nations during a time where food was scarce and people were perishing because of the famine it was a crisis it was a 9/11 Joe Jacob sends his sons to go get food for the family because literally if they don't get food they're gonna die the brothers go and they think they're just going for the storyline of saving the family and the natural because the reality of the famine but what I love about God is there's always a greater narrative that he is writing in our lives we think we are on the road simply for the immediate need to get met but God is looking at your story from the womb and he's looking at it from the original design and every decision whether you them or other people made them for you and they affected you God's saying you think you're just going to get food for the moment but I'm actually gonna rewrite the story line of history through your life and you actually just want your physical life to get saved but I'm actually gonna save you spiritually I'm actually gonna set you free from the years of guilt that you have lived in but you see Joseph's brothers when they came to Joseph and he exposes I'm the brother that you sold I'm the brother you that you betrayed and he says the same thing that we read in chapter 50 he says in 42 and he says you intended to harm me don't be angry at yourselves I forgive you how you intended to harm me , but God is gonna use it all for good he put me in position to save the lives of thousands see Joseph understood the larger narrative of the scenario but Joseph's brothers this is what I'm going after this morning Joseph's brothers were only living on one side of the comma they were living on the side of the comma the reg you intended to harm me they could not get past their evil acts they could not get past their sin they could not see that there was another side of the comma all they could hear was oh my gosh I betrayed you I sinned against you they lived from a place of slavery slave to their guilt slave to their pain slave to their unforgiveness they saw the pain and the term turmoil they had put their family and their father through those years I've seen their father grieve they knew they were the ones that caused that grief there was a guilt that they lived under and then they are faced with the joy it would be it would be two emotions at one time the joy that their brother isn't dead and the terror that he is alive because now they're being confronted with old past decisions but see Joseph says immediately I forgive you but you know when you have held yourself hostage to your sin you can't even hear that God's forgiving you because you haven't even forgiving yourself when you haven't forgiven yourself you live on the wrong side of the comma see you and I have fallen short every one of us have made terrible decisions every one of us have made decisions that haven't honored God every one of us have had those moments of shame or we've had those moments of that's not who I'm called to be why am i making those decisions that's not who I am and if we're not careful the enemy can put what we think is a period in our story but God is saying this morning there's not a period there is a comma in your story when you live from a place where you hold yourself hostage to your sins you live in a period and you never even know there's a comma but what I love is Joseph understood that there was a comma in his life see the brothers didn't even know a comma was available I think there's a lot of Christians that you don't even know there's a comma available in your story you're like how in the world could God forgive that I did the unspeakable I did the unthinkable I did it before I knew Jesus I did it when I knew Jesus I did it after I praised his name and I turned around did this that or the other I want you to know that the Lord says when you asked for forgiveness there is a divorce from that sin that happens and the blood of Jesus sets you free and I want you to know there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God and that when Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior you have says to full freedom and full peace and the Lord says where the enemy has tried to make a permanent marker period in your story he's taking the eraser of heaven and he's saying I am marking that out and I am putting a comma in your story and right when you think it's over and you think it's unredeemable God says in 2019 he's gonna redeem and restore all the aspects of your story because nothing is unredeemable we're talking about a family that trafficked and wanted to murder their family we would say in the world of decision making that is one of the worst some people not myself included some people would say that's unredeemable unforgivable I believe we serve a Jesus where every single thing is redeemable and every single thing is restorable with Jesus see Joseph understood his life was a comma that's why he was able to respond the way he did because he knew his brothers actions did not write his story but that God's story was going to be written through the king of kings and the great I am that although people's actions and decisions do affect us and there are victims and it is real and I'm not minimizing the pain some of you have gone through but I believe the Lord is saying it is time that you will let God finish your story and remove what you think is final and put a comma because he's just getting started see Joseph he was sold into slavery , he was promoted to run Potiphar's house , he was accused of rape falsely , he was sent to prison on false charges , he was promoted to oversee the jail , he interpreted to dreams , he was forgotten for two more years in prison , he interpreted Pharaoh's dream , he was promoted to second in command over all of Egypt , he saved the lives of thousands because of the strategy the Lord gave him during the seven-year famine including his own family , he is reconciled with his family and relationships are restored , he broke a family curse and changed the course of history period see every single one of those trials of those breakthroughs of those moments could have felt like the end of his story but when God is writing your story it's never over I remember I was director of two schools of ministry and in that time I worked predominantly with eighteen to thirty something people and there was this journey of identity that's often why people come to a school of ministries for you know intense discipleship mentorship and just walking out their identity and I would have students and I noticed a process begin to happen it was usually a month three or four into the school the honeymoons over the yay were in school of ministry God's awesome is over there in the nitty-gritty people are getting up in their business we're confronting things that the fun part is gone but this is where the real transformation begins to take place and I remember I would see multiple students do this I would after class I'd be working in my office and I'd get a knock on the door and I would have multiple students say to me what they viewed as shocking things that they had done and they would come and they'd say can God forgive this and they would announce what it was thinking I would go oh well not that and I would turn from my computer and I say he forgives that he can restore that and they would be like they leave next day I'm not kidding and it became like a confessional it was like student after this was and I don't even know if they knew they were doing it each one another were doing it and it was like people were testing the boundaries of the grace of God the kindness and the mercy of God and what I noticed was the things that people had the most difficult time comprehending the forgiveness and the comma of God in their life was the decisions that they had made and the consequences of poor decisions that they had made that was the most difficult thing for people to reconcile things like STDs it was unfathomable to my students oh my gosh I made decisions I have an STD it's my fault I said well what I love was we don't serve a karma God we don't serve a karma God we don't serve a God where we get what we deserve we serve a God that died on the cross for us and we are forgiven through His grace and His mercy now the balance and this is it doesn't give you permission just to go do whatever the heck you I'm not talking grace that is distorted in order to serve your fleshly desires I'm talking about the grace of Jesus where the father God sacrificed his son so you and I could live blameless and be found righteous despite our sins to walk in freedom and forgiveness and with the clear conscience through the blood of Jesus that's what I'm talking about see Joseph's brothers made this decision this was their choice I feel like the Lord saying for - to me too many years and for too long too much of my church has held themselves hostage and kept themselves out of limits of the grace the restoration and the forgiveness of God because you made decisions that you think have disqualified yourself from the forgiveness and the comma of God in your story and I want you to know that it does not matter this morning if you have had an abortion or you have made decisions you're sitting here with an STD right now God wants to heal your body because he loves you because he died on the cross for you you were not held hostage to your sin unless you choose to keep yourself hostage but there is freedom available for the woman that has walked in woundedness and brokenness there is freedom for the person that has made decisions and walked in shame there is forgiveness for whatever you have walked why because we serve a God that wants to write his story through your life and he is not afraid of your past he knows exactly what's in your past when he encountered you that day that you surrendered I want you to know that Joseph broke a generational curse when he responded the way he did to his brothers and the reason I know that is because if you look at their father Jacob he had a twin brother Esau Jacob and Esau had a tumultuous relationship Jacob stole his brothers who was the eldest brother who had the blessing and the inheritance as the firstborn through a sequence of events Jacob stole that from Esau Esau hated Jacob he despised Jacob he wanted to kill Jacob Jacob fled for his life created his own life and there was never full reconciliation some scholars say they never fully reconciled because they never fully trust each other some say they had too much wealth and livestock so they couldn't live in the same region because the land couldn't support them okay maybe but I think at the end of the day I would go with the first answer and that is you don't want to live to near someone if we think they're not fully gonna be safe if you think that someone sells a little bit of murder in their heart towards you you probably you're like well you know he's light-weight murder toward me you know you're too unit not like heavyweight murder but like lightweight kind of wishes I'd die right would it be super sad if that happened you're probably not gonna want like set up life with them it's not fair so there's never like full reconciliation fast forward Jacob catch this Jacob has all these sons joseph has dreams he begins to share them probably immaturely but shares him nonetheless hatred in their heart toward their brother they hated him because they felt like he got the inheritance and the blessing and he wasn't supposed to have it he was the father's favorite and they despised him and they had murder in their heart toward their brother they wanted to take him out that is a generational curse that has been passed down the hatred the division that betray on the dissension between Jacob and Esau because it was never resolved when things are not resolved they are carried on to the next generation so Jacob is watching different details same motives same demonic principality going after this generational line Esau because he was the one that was quote quote the victim of the situation he was the one that had been too betrayed how he responded was one of vengeance so it kept the cycle going on but because Joseph and this next generation was the one that was betrayed he had a moment to decide that he was either going to carry on the cycle of division murder hate between the brothers in the family line or he was going to respond from a different place and in his choice to respond in a place of forgiveness and he brought the whole family and he put him in a place and he took care of them when he made that decision it changed the entire narrative of their family line and here's what's incredible go with me here just for a moment I just want to give you a little bit study and the reality is this the sons of Jacob are the twelve tribes of Israel so not only did he break a family curse he changed the course of history because the 12 tribes of Israel were not only saved in the natural because he actually was the one that physically provided them food when they would have died so not only did he physically save the 12th of Israel he saved the Trel twelve tribes of Israel being established because there was actually unity in the family line to do it that could have never happened it could have been maybe the ten tribes of Israel but it was always intended to be the 12 tribes of Israel it would not have happened had that not happened in the reconciliation of the family he broke a family curse and he changed the course of history all because he responded with a comma instead of a period here's what's incredible did you know that Jacob's brothers lived for 17 years in relationship with Joseph before Jacob passed away so when that initial reconciliation happened 17 years they're back in relationship 17 years they're sharing meal 17 years they're reminiscing 17 years they're catching up on memories 17 years they're getting to know each other again 17 years they're doing life together and then dad passes away and they're like oh my gosh were your slaves there's some of us that have been living in relationship with Jesus for 17 years but you've never stepped into being a son and a daughter because you've never let yourself free from the past because you can do relationship with someone but it was always created to be family and authentic and vulnerable but if there's a fundamental distrust in your relationship with God God wants to set you free this morning I'm gonna ask someone from the worship team just to come up are you catching this this morning cuz I feel like in 2019 if it's truly a new season that means you have to shift from one place to the next last night we did this with the women and we physically walked across the altar and we physically left the wilderness and we literally walked in the promise and what could look kind of silly in the natural and like they're just walking no there was nothing silly about it actually felt really holy and it felt incredibly profound we're not necessarily gonna do that this morning it's gonna look different in this group of people but I feel like the Lord is saying that that truth and that principle has to be grabbed this morning because I feel like the Lord is saying you have access to full relationship full freedom full identity full access to the kingdom of God and you have looked at other people maybe maybe you can relate to this you look to other people you're like well that's amazing because they've served God their whole life they've done everything right the Bible is riddled with people that did everything wrong but then when there was the real surrender that actually believed in my weakness then you're strong in every part of my story you really get the glory you really are the God that can make all things possible you only are the God that can make all things work together for your good every one of our stories in this room merely represent a story of restoration that God is still writing you come from a line of divorce you're the one that's gonna break that cycle you come from a line of chronic health issues a specific thing that's passed down you're the one that's gonna walk in healing and victory and break the family curse that cycle of depression that's been passed down you think it's just your normal it's not your normal Jesus wants to set you free remember I talked about the beginning of this service things that are learned behaviors from our family whether biological or spiritual God's like are those really me those sound good they feel good they've worked but it's a new season and it's a new day are you catching this this morning I hope oh Jesus I hope I did justice to what I felt like the Lord wanted to release I feel like there is so much freedom and Jesus available for people and for too long people have been held hostage and Jesus wants you to experience full Redemption and the full comma see Joseph could live by a comma because he knew he had a purpose when you know you have a purpose isn't it a lot easier when tough things happen and difficult things are walk through your life I know this isn't the end of my story I know it's not done now it's tough it's hard but I know God you it's not finished when you know there is a dream in your heart when that word has been spoken whether it's a prophetic word from someone else or God Himself has spoken to you whatever that looks like when you know you have a purpose that is greater than the contradiction it's eight you're able to walk through the contradiction and I feel like that's what God wants to release this more some of you need to be reminded of your purpose the brothers didn't know there were the 12 tribes of Israel that were going to change the whole course of history all they knew was the grievous evil they had done against their brother it wasn't until Joseph was reconciled into their life that they actually saw the fullness of their identity who had that not happened the fullness of who they were created to be wouldn't have been lived out see when you and I walk in the fullness of who we are we then release other people to walk in the fullness cuz we're all connected are you catching this so Jesus I thank you there's breakthrough in the room there's forgiveness in the room some hostages are gonna be some hostage negotiation took place in the spirit this morning and Jesus is the greatest negotiator because he simply says it's finished it's done the mouth of the enemy has to be shut the enemy doesn't win because I fight for those that I love it's gonna require some bravery to respond to this next invitation but I saw a picture and I'm simply going to just follow the picture I saw people getting let out of jail and be handed the key and saying you never have to go to that place of captivity again because freedom is yours and I just see the Lord handing out keys this morning and you're opening up the jail cell and you're letting yourself out because it's about you walking out understanding you have access to full freedom and it's a choice this morning to walk that out who here this one I'm gonna ask you to stand if that's you because I want I felt like the Lord goes I want people to own the process of freedom because it's available but you choose come on you choose you choose because you're let out of captivity you're not held to the things of the past that the blood of Jesus is for real it's not just a nice idea you and I come on friends weren't you and hiring a blood covenant you are when you ask for forgiveness you're like legit forgiven it's done so with your own mouth you're just gonna do this individually I want you just to focus on Jesus right I feel like this is a powerful moment for so many of you standing I want you if you haven't asked for forgiveness in the sense of Lord forgive me for that because there needs to be a divorce there needs to be a repentance there needs to be a separation from that because when you separate yourself and you repent you close access we're closing access if that's you I just want you on your own we're not trying to figure out what you're doing this is about you and Jesus right now is there an area you need to ask for forgiveness where there has been a hostage situation oh Jesus forgive me with your own mouth I just want you to begin to have that conversation and when that is done I want you to shift into I receive your forgiveness therefore I receive your freedom I want you to receive the freedom that is available to you like for real every captive is set free every hostage is set free the enemy is silenced and the voice of the Lord rules and reigns and where there has been a cloudiness and even a confusion of purpose and the ability to hear your voice Lord has been difficult because there has been such a war over their mind lord I thank you that the war and the battle is won and the confusion and the cloudiness is broken and the clarity of your voice rules and reigns and Lord released your purpose over your sons and your daughters release your freedom and your victory they're no longer held hostage to the previous seasons of their lives but merely those are gonna be reminders of your glory and your mercy and your grace and your Redemption we're not gonna beat ourselves up anymore we're gonna live under the merciful grace of Jesus and we're gonna receive a comma in our story so I want you just to say Jesus I receive the comma [Music] I received the comma in my story that you're not done writing my story and where have I have thought it was finished I now know it is not that you're gonna use every part of my story for your beautiful narrative that you are writing that puts your mercy on full display that puts your kindness in full view so I am daily reminded that you are my Savior you are my redeemer you're my deliverer you're my refuge and you are my safe place that I am forgiving that I'm set free and I'm called and I'm chosen and I'm redeemed just receive that just exhale we let go you just breathe in you [Music]

Channel: Expression 58

Views: 9,197

Rating: 4.8497653 out of 5

Keywords: Christa smith, jen toledo, jennifer toledo, jona toledo, shawn bolz, cherie bolz, expression58, expression 58, e58, church, glendale, los angeles, gods story, letting god write your story, revival

Id: KiPBM_EMGg4

Length: 61min 15sec (3675 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 05 2019