Tony Evans Sermons - Don`T Rely On People Rely On The Word Of God July 13 2021

we have been studying and we are studying the armor of god from ephesians chapter six we have explained that you and i are engaged in a spiritual battle and our premise is very simple until we address the invisible spiritual cause of a matter we can never fully address its visible physical manifestation most of the things that happen into our lives come from a visible physical reality but paul wants us to know that it emanates from an invisible spiritual source it is your ability and my ability to address the invisible spiritual cause that leads to the visible physical cure the unfortunate problem today is that most of us address physical visible problems in physical visible ways which means on our best day we're dealing with fruit not root we're dealing with a cure without addressing its cause paul wants you to know flesh and blood the physical realm is not the source of your problem it is merely the vehicle through which the source works to bring you your problem so if you spend all of your time addressing the physical visible manifestation flesh and blood and very little of your time dealing with the invisible spiritual cause or source or root then the best thing you can do with that issue is manage it not fix it because you're not dealing with where it came from the scripture says that we died with him we were buried with him we were raised with him and now we are seated with him in heavenly places he says that in the book of ephesians we are now living spiritually in another realm so that unless you operate in this realm from that realm you will be controlled by this realm so much of our defeat frustration misery anguish agony and difficulty comes from the fact that we're forgetting our primary location because we have forgotten the fact that the spiritual realm and your ability to function in it determines how you make out in the realm of the five senses the problem occurs because the realm of the five senses we're used to the realm of the five senses that's the way we flow the five senses that's the environment that we know about hearing and seeing and tasting and touching and smelling we we know that world this other world seems so out there so otherworldly so spacey so twilight zonish it seems so untouchable so because it doesn't seem as real as the five senses it's not given the priority of the five senses which means we're controlled by the five senses what paul wants you to understand is that what jesus christ achieved we ought to stand firm in that's why he says over and over again stand firm stand firm stand firm beginning in verse 10 because he wants you and i to understand that we don't have to leave what christ did to deal with what we face the moment you leave it you lose your positioning so we started off with his first piece of armor we call it dressing for success he calls it in verse 13 he calls it the belt of truth if you're going to operate from the spiritual realm of verse 14 you must first of all put on your truth belt we explain truth is god-based knowledge truth is more than facts you can have facts and not have the truth if you only operate on the facts you may never graduate to the truth and only the truth sets you free but the truth that sets you free must be the truth you know you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free so if you don't know the truth you won't be free and if you settle for facts without graduating to the truth then you're settling for information that's not transforming so a lot of us operate on facts and information never getting to the truth which is the god-based reality behind the information and if you never get to that you never get to god if you never get to god you never get the truth if you never get the truth you never get to the origin of a thing if you never get to the origin of the thing you never get to the cause and cure for the thing you're dealing with that the facts have indicated to you facts are not enough facts are essential you got to start with facts to get to the truth but facts are never enough facts are just the starting point to deliver the truth facts are the truth is objective absolute reality it's subjective it operates outside of you it's absolute it's non-negotiable and it's reality in its original form therefore the only original person is god so the only way you can arrive at truth is to start from what god says about a subject that's why we told our young people when you start with truth but david said you can know more than your teachers because they're occupied with facts never arriving at the truth he then says you put on the breastplate of righteousness in verse 14. he says the breastplate of righteousness when you learn the truth you know the right way to go so then you move in the right way because of the truth you've now discovered once the truth governs the decision then you are now protected why because the devil operates in a lie and he operates wrongly so if you're operating in the truth and moving rightly he has no influence over you so you need truth god based knowledge that leads to right decision making right choices where satan cannot enter or operate from which blocks him the moment he can function on the lie or function on facts without truth or get you to move wrongly rather than rightly gotcha in the spiritual realm which manifests itself in the visible physical realm he now comes to verse 15 our verse for the day and he wants to talk about your shoes he wants to talk about your shoes he's moved from your belt to your breastplate which is the heart of righteousness heart to please the lord heart to move in the way the truth has directed you and now he wants to talk about your shoes this is a day of shoes there are shoes for everything they're dress shoes they are casual shoes there are a million kind of athletic shoes there are shoes that you put on your feet appropriate to every occasion i am sure most of the ladies in here have a wardrobe full of shoes shoes all over the place designed to adorn your feet guess what paul wants you to know paul says in verse 14 there are shoes that if you wear them and don't take them off will address a major issue of spiritual warfare in your life he says in verse 15 having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace shad means what you have on he says on your feet ought to be some footwear and this footwear is preparation for the gospel of peace the greek word for preparation means readiness you will be ready for the devil if you got your shoes on you will be ready for his attacks if you're wearing your shoes he says if your feet are shot you will be in readiness you will be prepared to deal with the enemy but you got to have your shoes on now to understand why he is saying this you have to understand that the roman soldier had what most football would all football players have they had cliques they had spikes that emanated out of their shoes and the purpose of the spike in the roman soldier's shoe was to give him sure footing it was to keep him from going james brown slipping and sliding it was to keep him mobile it was to keep him stationary in battle and in conflict so he was not easily knocked over so he was not evilly dismantled because the click the spikes that came out of the bottom of the shoe gave him sure footing when he was under attack because we talked about spiritual warfare so when the roman soldier was under attack the the spike the clique would give him footing so that the enemy would not knock him down knock him over would not remove him from his place of stability when he says have your feet shod he is talking about positioning yourself in a stationary position so when the devil comes which he calls the evil day in this passage he can't knock you over he can't knock you off of your feet he can't knock you out and knock you down because what you have on you is stationary it has sunk itself in deep giving you a stationary position or sure footedness in order to keep him from knocking you over i know what it is you know what it is at various levels to be knocked over by the evil one you've been knocked over your circumstances have knocked you over your situation has knocked you over other people have knocked you over your finances has knocked you over your job situation has knocked you over it has removed you from your place of stability your sure-footedness has slipped you have slipped and slid because you were not able to hold on to the turf he has told us over and over again stand firm stand firm stand firm he now tells us at 15 you can't stand firm without shoes on you need shoes on you need shoes with clicks to hold you steady when you're under attack so what he wants to do is create here it is stability he wants to create sure-footedness he doesn't want you sliding he wants you steady he wants you holding on to the ground he wants you solidified in the turf he wants you holding on under attack because this is a war frame under attack i wish i could tell you now that you know jesus you won't be attacked but that's a lie we know it's a lie ain't nothing but a lie from hell because sometimes you haven't seen hard until you met jesus because once you meet jesus you are now under attack now now let me tell you the essence of the attack and we'll deal with this the shoe that you're supposed to be wearing the essence of the attack of the spiritual realm satan and demons the essence of the attack is to keep god's purposes will provision blessings from being manifested in your life the purpose of his war now that you're saved he can't take away your salvation but he can sure make you a miserable christian so since he can't take away from your salvation what he does want is to keep your salvation from working for you now he can't keep you out of heaven but he can make you have hell on earth by keeping what has happened to you when you accepted christ from being manifested in your reality so that's his goal in spiritual warfare to keep you in defeat and to keep you playing defense he doesn't want you in an offense position but we're going to change the side of the ball we on he says i want you to put on the shoes and what is this pair of shoes you and i are supposed to be wearing we started with truth god based knowledge objective absolute reality in its original form god based form we go to right decision making rightness in light of the truth that i learned he now says put on some shoes and these shoes are the gospel of peace he says the shoes i want you to wear under attack is the gospel of peace let's talk about peace all of us know the opposite of peace anxiety worry that's the opposite of peace so if you don't know what peace is if you know what where he is not doing that that's peace okay the biblical definition of peace is come and tranquility of soul peace is calm and tranquility of soul in the midst of difficult circumstances let me give you that definition again the biblical definition of irene the greek word for peace is calm and tranquility of soul despite external turmoil two painters one day were asked to paint a picture of peace in a contest and they wanted to see they were gonna win a thousand dollars whoever painted the best picture of peace the first painter painted his picture and oh what a serena portrait it was it was a picture of a lake the sun was glistening off of the lake so you could see the shine across the water the water was still the painting included a shepherd walking sheep by this serene lake trees were on the side of the lake with birds in them and it was a picture of calm and tranquility and ease and peace what a great picture the second gentleman came out with his portrait and it wasn't like the first one the sky was pitch black lightning was shooting through the thunder was roaring the waves on the water were billowing up and down boats that were on the water were being tossed about trees were blowing in the wind horrifically it was a portrait of disaster but in the corner all the way at the bottom on the left-hand side of the portrait right there at the edge of this horrific circumstance in life was a little bird standing on a rock with its mouth open songs coming out of its mouth and one little light coming from the darkness of the cloud shining down on the bird as it sung in the midst of its darkness when they made the decision about the portrait they said the second man won with the dark surroundings because that's biblical peace biblical peace is when nothing's wrong i'm calm when nothing's wrong you're supposed to be calm something wrong with you if nothing's wrong and you worried if nothing's wrong and you're anxious you have issues biblical peace is when everything is wrong there is thunder and lightning and the wind's blowing and circumstances are against you and nothing looks right and you're still singing it's when nothing should be creating a song and you still have a song it's when there is tranquility on the inside despite chaos on the outside it's when things are at ease when trouble is all around you don't know whether you have biblical peace until things are not peaceful the only way you got biblical peace as opposed to peace that anybody would have when everything's okay is because all hell is broke loose and you're still singing guess what the bible calls that it calls it a peace that passes understanding in philippians chapter four he says the peace that god gives is a piece you don't understand and the reason you don't understand it is because based on the situation you shouldn't be peaceful right now so why am i singing when there is no song why am i calm when everything's chaotic why can i be stable when everything around me is trouble because god has given me a peace that passes understanding because i don't even understand why i'm singing right now so nobody else understands why i'm calm right now nobody else understands why when i lost my job i didn't lose my mind nobody else understands why when there's no money in the bank i'm still praising the lord for his provision nobody else understands why the doctor gave me a bad prognosis and i'm still laying here blessing the lord on my soul and all that is within me i'm blessing his holy name nobody else understands why when my world is falling apart i'm not falling apart with it because you got a peace that passes understanding that's peace in the bible in fact so important is this peace this calm that colossians 3 verse 15 says let the peace of god rule in your heart let the peace of god rule in your heart the greek word for rule means umpire what does an umpire do in a baseball game ball strikes he calls it that's what an empire does he calls it if it's a ball calls the ball of his strike calls it a strike and guess what whatever he calls it that's the way it is he makes the call let the peace of god make the call in your life now why do you need to know that because life is full of decisions and choices life is full of you know do i go this way do i go this way do i go that way he says once you've aligned with truth you found god's view on a matter once you've now begun to do righteousness based on the truth let the peace of god make the call in other words god will show you what to do once you're operating on the truth you know by giving you a calm about the decision he will calm your heart by the holy spirit giving you peace sometimes you'll look at a situation and all the facts may line up but you'll say but i just don't feel right about it something not right about this something that god hasn't released me i do not have peace or calm about this thing you always hold up where there is no peace because what he says is i want your feet and remember the greek word is to have is the verb is to have meaning don't ever take these shoes off you are to flow in peace once you've picked up truth and righteousness peace is to be your flow okay now now let me explain something here if peace is not your normal way of operating you ought to sing spiritually let me say it another way if weary is your normal way of operating if weary is your modus operandi if anxiety is how you roll you just go from one worry to another one anxiousness to another and that's how you roll you're not wearing your shoes you're going out with no shoes on you supposed to roll with peace not roll with weary so the mere fact that work now everybody has moments of worry because we still live in our flesh but i'm talking about what's normative for you is peace normative or is worry and anxiety normative if worry and anxiety is normative then that means you are not wearing your shoes but don't worry cause i'm gonna tell you how to put your shoes on and how to tie them up okay but i just want to get this straight peace is to be the normal ruling operative program in your life john 14 27 john 14 27 jesus is getting ready to go into a very non-peaceful situation again be crucified guess what jesus says on his way to be crucified he turns to his disciples in john 14 27 and he says peace i leave with you he says and then he goes deeper he says my peace i leave with you not as the world gives you peace see the world can give you peace momentarily okay the world can give you peace in the form of a pill they give you pill pop and peace okay the world will give you pill popping peace the world will give you peace in form of an ejection okay the world will give you peace and in form of prozac the world will give you peace and form of entertainment if i get entertained then for two hours three hours i wanted to think about how miserable i am because it'll be so the world will give you peace but here is the difference between the peace god gives and the peace the world gives the peace the world gives is outside in it's something they do outside that you put in here that makes you feel better temporarily jesus says that is not the peace i'm talking about peace i leave with you and the peace that i leave with you will be my peace and what kind of peace do you have peace that can even handle a cross because he's on his way to be crucified peace that can handle you getting ready to be slain that's the peace because i'm getting ready go to the cross and i'm chilling they get ready put crown of thorns in my head and i'm i'm cool you know i don't prefer it i don't like it let this cup pass from me but we gonna roll with it he says that's the kind of piece i want you to have and that's the kind of piece i want to be normal for you not showing up every now and then worries should show up every now and then anxiety should show up every now and then peace you're supposed to roll with as long as you leave your shoes on okay so he says put on or have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel jesus said in another place he says in john 16 33 he says um peace i leave with you in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer i have overcome the world now in order to overcome something you got to have something to overcome that's why peace is always tied to you overcoming something so many things go wrong in a day in a week in a month in a year some of it you have control of it some of it you have absolutely no control of and it'll send you spinning so hear me out now how do you put the shoes on tie lace them up and don't take them off he tells you have your feet shod with the preparation here it is of the gospel of peace peace that jesus is giving away he says is in the gospel okay follow me now peace that jesus is giving away is in the gospel let me say that again peace that jesus is getting away is not in the pill and not in the shot not in your homies not in your favorite television program not in the movies not in a vacation not in more money not in a better job that's the world's peace he says the peace that i am talking about that you wear on your feet that hold you stable regardless of external situations is in the gospel he calls it the gospel of peace so to understand the peace that jesus is talking about you got to understand the gospel so let's go back to the gospel the greek word for gospel is the word juan galeon that's how it's pronounced huangyan is simply translated good news so i got some good news for you the good news of peace now watch this you stick it with me man because we can go deep sea diving okay the good news of peace the huron galleon the gospel this word is used a whole lot in the new testament but it was rarely ever used outside of the new testament either in classical greek or koine greek cornegreet means the greek of the common people so classical greek was the more sophisticated greek coin a greek was greek of the everyday folk okay the word gospel is rarely found in classical or cornea greek but it's all over the new testament why didn't they use it much because the word gospel in the normal greek dialect and dialogue and greek speaking the people would only be used when the good news was so good it was too good to be true so they didn't use this word i mean it's like going around talking about supercalifragilisticexpialidocious i mean that's just not something you do you know that's not a normal used word well they wouldn't use you on galleon too often because the news had to be so good it had to be too good to be true yet in the gospels and in the epistles it's gospel gospel gospel gospel gospel gospel why because the good news is too good to be true so the question is what's the good news then that's so good that is too good to be true well we all know that the gospel refers to the death and resurrection of jesus christ as our substitute for our sins we know that and we know that when a person trusts christ alone for the forgiveness of sins and for the gift of eternal life they are forgiven for time and eternity for sin we know that okay and that means we are saved or born again because you say i'm saved but i don't live with peace i live with worry well here's a problem you either don't believe or understand the gospel i don't believe or understand the gospel and here's the problem most christians apply the gospel only to what it takes to get to heaven see we only apply the gospel to getting saved so that'll go to hell and i go i go to live with jesus christ forever that's just the part of the gospel the gospel has a bunch to do with earth i love romans 5 verses 5 to 10 read it when you get a chance he says you know when we were sinners christ died for us but then he says if we were saved by his death how much more shall we be saved by his life in other words we save for heaven by his death but he says when he rose from the dead and went up to heaven and seated on the right hand of the father he's delivering you for life we know the gospel because of the death what we have missed is the gospel of the life all right now i do want you to turn here first thessalonians 5 23. first thessalonians 5 23 okay here is where we're going to go deep sea diving here now may the god of peace did you hear that now may the god of peace himself oh i love that word himself it means god with nobody else's help may the god of peace himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our lord jesus christ let me read that again may the god of peace all by himself himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame of the coming of the lord jesus christ okay here we go here we go here we go when you accepted jesus you were justified that means god declared you righteous and now you got a free passport to heaven but the rest of your time on earth is being sanctified that is being transformed in your soul he says the god who gives peace does it as part of his sanctification process and the god who gives peace who does it as part of this part of the gospel the sanctifying part of the gospel does it here it is from spirit to soul to body and the order is everything he does not do it from body to soul to spirit he does it from spirit to soul to body so if you're looking out here for peace you're looking in the wrong direction he does not start with the body then go to the soul then wind up with the spirit he starts at the spirit he says the god of peace and he moves to the soul then he moves to the body the reason why we can't find peace is we're doing it backwards christian soldiers we're trying to find peace in the wrong direction all right let me explain your spirit that's the god part of you that's the perfect part of you if any man is in christ he's a new creation all things pass away and behold all things become new in 2nd corinthians 5 17. he says the spirit is the thing of god the nature of god that's been deposited into every believer and it is perfect all of god is operative right now in your spirit everything or god's power is in your spirit god's presence is in your spirit joy is in your spirit peace is in your spirit powers in your spirit righteousness is in your spirit holiness is in your spirit everything that's perfect is in your spirit that is the one part of you the devil does not have access to because if the devil had access to it it wouldn't be perfect it is the perfect divine nature of god and it is the only place the spiritual realm of darkness does not have access to if you've accepted christ you've got a pill inside of you a spirit pill a seed the bible calls it that is full of the dna of deity all right the problem is your perfect spirit is lodged in your imperfect soul your soul is your personality it's your mind your emotions and your will that's your personality and that is distorted and damaged so if your body is malfunctioning it's because it's got a malfunctioning soul the mind is malfunctioning the emotions are malfunctioning and the choices are malfunctioning a malfunctioning soul which all of us have leads to a malfunctioning body well now if i got a malfunctioning body and i got a malfunctioning soul how is my malfunctioning body gonna go out and fix my malfunctioning body when my body is malfunctioning i can't fix me i can only try to manage my mess that's why new year's resolutions don't last because that's managing your mess that is trying to get the outside of you to fix the inside of you god doesn't work that way he works first only 5 23 from spirit to soul to body that's how he works so here it is so if i want my body to work right i got to get my soul working right because my body only does what my soul tells it to do but the problem is my soul doesn't work right my soul has been affected by the way i was raised my soul has been affected by the sins i've committed my soul has been affected by people who committed sins against me my soul has been affected by scenarios my soul has been affected by what my peers think my soul has been affected by television and radio and and movies and my soul has been affected by things i've learned in school and my soul has got all this information coming to it and that's why my soul is one way one year in another way another year that's why my personality is all up and down and and my i got a problem in my soul and my soul is telling my body what to do so when my soul is worried my body starts twitching so when i get nervous and i stay nervous long enough my eyes start twitching because because my soul is damaged and it's telling my body what to do it's called psychosomatic illnesses that's what psychology calls it psychology the study of the soul is so you can have psychosomatic illnesses you go to the doctor and you say this is her natural and they say i can't find anything wrong well what has happened is that the damaged soul is rubbing off on the body so the body is expressing the damage and that's what happens when we lose our peace the peace is not lost in the body the peace is lost in the soul so the body can't sleep the peace is lost in the soul so the body wants to stay laying down the peace is lost in the soul so the body gets mad and you get a temper and you cuss and fuss and stay mad because you got an angry soul it just comes out in your vocabulary it's the angry soul the unpeaceful soul that's telling the body that you got to let everybody else know how miserable you are so when you say somebody don't you ought to stop cussing you are not cussed like a sailor when their soul has not been fixed all they can do is manage language they can't be changed by it so but most people started the body and hope they can do something with the toe so they go for analyzing and counseling so i'm gonna save you 300 an hour right now okay because this is free may the god of peace the god who gives him peace all by himself himself sanctify you the greek word sanctify means to set apart as unique or special to something about something special now may the god of peace sanctify you in your spirit soul and body so here's how it works the goal of the spirit is to release into the soul the dna of god the goal of the spirit is to release into the soul the dna of god so that the soul gets changed because of what's being released into it by the spirit then the goal of the soul is to release the dna that came from the spirit into the body so the body piggybacks off the soul because the soul is piggybacking off of the spirit the reason why we don't have peace is that the soul is not piggybacking off the spirit so the soul doesn't have that information to pass on so the question is how do i get the soul to piggyback off of the spirit so that i can have peace because i need to go to sleep i need to be able to rest i need to stop worrying i need to stop twitching i need to stop being so anxious but my soul has got to get back to my spirit not talk to my body okay it is in order for the soul to grab the spirit here it is the soul must agree with the spirit okay follow me now if the soul disagrees with the spirit the spirit won't release anything because the spirit is perfect and it won't partner with imperfection the spirit will only partner with the soul when the soul agrees with the spirit which is why you must start with truth you must start with truth because that's the way things really are despite how you feel despite what mama taught you despite what you learned in school despite what you know all your life the spot what your posse thinks if it doesn't agree with the spirit it must be rejected once the soul accepts the outside the inside will close up clam up and release nothing so you could be searching for peace for the rest of your life and all you will get is management on the outside and no change on the inside because nothing is being released from the spirit into the soul because the gospel only relates to what jesus christ accomplished not what the doctor can prescribe it only relates to what jesus christ has accomplished may the god of peace send peace from the spirit into the soul so that it winds up in the body so here's the only way to get peace i'm talking about real peace not fake peace the only way is when the soul has to make a decision when you have to decide which way to go which road to take how am i going to not worry in this situation i just lost my job there's no money in the bank i got the facts the facts don't look good the facts are causing me to worry i must then retreat to what the spirit says the spirit says i don't have anybody in my pocket but the spirit says my god shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in christ jesus now that's what the spirit says in truth my soul says you broke as a skunk my soul says how you gonna pay your life bill my soul says they're gonna kick you out of your house my soul said and that's a fact the fact is i'm broke the fact is my soul is telling me the truth they're gonna cut my lights out it's not that my soul is wrong is that my soul doesn't have the truth it just has the facts but once my soul goes to my spirit and the spirit says the truth of god's word and the soul and the spirit agree a release valve is opened up and out of the spirit flowing into the soul is the peace of god that passes understanding because last year this time i would have lost my natural mind but the spirit has been able to release into the soul so now my body can go to sleep at night knowing i'm going to sleep on the truth and i can tell my soul you're lying you ain't nothing but a liar and i'm calling myself a liar you are a liar cause god is the truth [Music] so the god of peace will flow peace listen the moment you begin to worry you ought to tell yourself the moment that worry pops up you can't stop it from popping up but the moment it pops up and seeks to control that's the moment you want to run to the spirit and the only way to run there is to find out god's view on the subject that's the only way to run to the spirit you know that's why i love philippians 4 7 it says be anxious for nothing but in all things through prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to god and it says and watch this now i love this and when you go to god during those worries and moments watch as it says philippians 4 7 says go with thanksgiving why does he tell you to go with thanksgiving okay watch this you don't miss this this is sweet because when god deposited the spiritual seed in you it's like an acorn all the oak is already located you don't have to infuse anything into an acorn to help it become an oak once it's planted in the right location it will become an oak because all the oak is already in the acorn all the god is already in the spirit you don't have to add god to god to get god all the god you're ever going to get is already there so when you go to god and say i have a need i have a situation i have a circumstance what i'm giving thanks for is that the answer has already been deposited in the spiritual realm lord i got this problem but you talked about this answer that answer is already been deposited so i want to thank you even though i don't see it manifested yet that it's going to be manifested because the spirit already houses it it's already there see that's why i can give thanks and you can give thanks even in tough times because god has already answered in advance in the spirit your goal isn't to try to get something new your goal is to draw out what god has already deposited it's a change of direction look submarines don't have to get nervous in a storm because they're going deep fish fish don't have nerve attacks when it's storming because they know storms or as bad as storms get they will only get 25 feet below sea level on the worst day so they go 26 feet in other words they go deep when things get chaotic when your world gets chaotic that's the time to go deep that's time to dip down that's the time to say okay god you're sending me to the spirit realm where there's calm down there there's peace down there there's cool down there i can chill down there because down there is the perfect mind of god in the spirit but we retreat out there to that which can't give us real peace only world peace so my challenge is you just put on your shoes and don't take them off don't take them off this is something you keep on you at all times in all situations don't take them off isaiah 26 3 says and you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon you when your mind agrees with god's mind you will get god's spiritual results and then you'll know you've just experienced god i love the story of the three hebrew boys meshach schrader rack and the bendigo they got fired and i do mean fire nebuchadnezzar said we're firing you when they heard the bad news now you talk about something that will take away your peace you get ready to be burned alive that'll take away your peace they looked at nebuchadnezzar and said oh nebby we do not have to be concerned about answering you according to this matter our god whom we serve is able to deliver us from your furnace of burning fire and then he went on to say but even if he doesn't we're not going to bow before your gods nebuchadnezzar got so ticked off that he told them to light the furnace and make it seven times hotter than it normally is because he was upset that they didn't quiver at the threat they were thrown in see following god doesn't mean you don't hit the fire they were thrown in after a while nebuchadnezzar came up and looked inside and said what is this we put in three men shadrach meshach and abednego we tied them up i'm looking through this glass and i see four men and they're all walking around in the fire full of peace full of calm in a bad situation that's because there was a fourth person in the fire god joined the minute let me explain something to you god's not going to join the world to help you out he knocked on you going out there and you calling on god and praying to god so god can come out here to the world to give you the peace because god would be compromising his peace to join their peace but if you will take your stand with the mind of god the god of peace all by himself will show up in the fires of life and take off the ropes take off the chains and give you peace they were under fire there's somebody in here today and you're under fire you've lost your job listen don't panic run to the spirit realm david said i've never seen the righteous forsaken and i've never seen that seed begging bread and you hold on to what god said and watch what god does some of you were fired from your job and you don't know where your new job is while you run back to the spirit realm and say god you said that if a man doesn't work he ought not eat i'm willing to work so i can eat so i thank you for the job you're already preparing that hasn't become manifest yet you go back to the spirit realm every time satan wants to remove your peace you look down at your feet you hold your ground you connect with the spirit world so that you let this world know that that world is telling you what to do and he will give you a peace that passes understanding thus says the lord as the new wine is found in the cluster and one says do not destroy it for there is benefit in it so i will act on behalf of my servants in order not to destroy all of them or bring forth offspring from jacob and then heir of my mountains from judah even my chosen one shall inherit it and my servants will dwell there sharon will be a pastor land for flocks in the valley of igor a resting place for herds for my people who seek me but you who forsake the lord who forget my holy mountain who set a table for fortune and who fill cuffs with mixed wine for destiny i will destin you for the sword and all of you will bow down to the slaughter because i called but you did not answer i spoke but you did not hear and you did evil in my sight and chose that in which i did not find delight now lord teach us about the idol called luck and help us to destroy it in jesus name amen the fictional story is told of the frog that went to the fortune teller the frog went to the fortune teller and he wanted to know his fortune he wanted to know his destiny the frog wanted to know what what awaited him the fortune teller did her little thing and she looked at the frog and says well there is a very beautiful woman who's dying to meet you she's fascinated at the thought of seeing you and when you get to meet her she is going to want to know everything about you before i kind of got excited he said when would i meet this beautiful woman the fortune said teller told him next semester in biology class i'll wait he was thinking life was going to work out one way and he was actually waiting to be cut up and examined by a student i thought i'd help some of y'all out because you all of us are concerned about our destiny how things are going to wind up with our lives whether things are going to get better ever whether things are going to change in my circumstance what does my future hold we're concerned about our destiny and there are many things that offer to help us many things that seek to operate as a god to help us to kind of get a clue for understanding what's happening now and to give us an anticipation of what may be coming down the line we want to know our destiny one of the chief false gods idols in our culture an american idol if you will a designer idol is the idol of luck or its siblings chance happenstance or fate that's a whole family the family of luck is a belief system that says there is operating in the world an impersonal random force this impersonal random force i need working for me and if i can get this impersonal random force that i'm looking to to help me get through get over and guide me to a good place then then i can get the help i need i just need me more luck the concept of luck while i know many people just use it as a throwaway word it is more than that it is a competing god of destiny impersonal it's kind of random but we wish for it we hope for it we ask people to fight for it with us and luck is a god that the bible says must be rejected you're getting ready to join me now on a journey because i want you based on the word of god that we give today to reject the idol of luck for something much more substantial he says the prophet isaiah says in chapter 65 verse 11 god says you forsook me for the table of fortune and for the mixed wine of destiny the hebrew word for a fortune is the word god g.a.d the hebrew word for the word destiny is menai me and i god means luck midnight destiny means fate you forsook me the true god for luck and faith you notice both words are capitalized in your bible because they are both proper nouns so he's not just talking about a concept he's talking about a thing the personification of an impersonal force that randomly determines how good or how bad your life is going to go we have surrounded this word of luck with many phrases there is a lucky dog there is wish me luck there is plain luck there is luck be a lady tonight there is tough luck there is good luck there is bad luck there is blind luck there is rotten luck there is plain luck and then there's pot luck as we eat our lucky charms one man said if it wasn't for bad luck i'd have no luck at all the word luck is used to express my hope that this impersonal random thing that floats out there will work for me we roll the dice looking for luck casinos are driven by the search for luck not only is luck tied to this impersonal sense of randomness that i hope makes things better for me it's also tied to how we look at the world zephaniah 1 verses 4 and 5 says that people look at the heavenly host hoping to get clarification on their destiny anyone in here who looks at your horoscope to get clarification of your destiny what you need to know is you just worshiped another god because as romans 1 verses 18 to 25 says you looked at the creation rather than the creator to determine destiny a form that's somehow the arrangement of the stars or if you believe that you're signed what sign are you what side were you born under you have given power to the creation as a determining factor of your destiny another way that this chance fortune-telling destiny-looking luck obsessive culture looks at is what isaiah chapter 2 verse 6 calls sorcery or witchcraft if you go to a palm reader to have them look at the lines on your hand to give you a destiny if you throw tarot cards or have them turn them over so that somehow they will give you a clue about tomorrow he calls that witchcraft and what you've done is worship another god but more than worship another god first corinthians 10 verse 21 and 22 says you sit at the table of demons so when luck becomes this force that you look to or the stars or your sign or the palm readers what you have to understand is you've invited demons into your destiny because god says you cannot sit at my table and the table of demons and still expect me to do something. so if luck chance fate is your focus another form of this witchcraft is superstition folks with rabbit foot hanging from their rearview mirror of course the rabbit wasn't lucky they lost his foot but hoping this is my lucky rabbit's foot or i don't deal with the number 13 because that's an unlucky number and if a cat crosses part my path black cat then i'm gonna be unlucky or i can't walk underneath this ladder and of course i'm crossing my fingers hoping that my luck can knock on wood all of those are indications that we don't get it and this view of luck chance happenstance faith and the use of the creation and superstition and witchcraft has alienated us from the true god in the name of idols because all those are false gods false gods that make us afraid false gods that make us shriek in fear and insecurity because we're believing in an idol so let me begin by making it clear luck in this sense should not be part of your dictionary should not be part of your vocabulary and i know people just use it casually and just kind of throw it out there but for many people even christians it's not just a word it's a philosophy i need luck so if not luck what what if he says if he says i'm going to destroy your tables of luck fortune because you bow down to them and your mixed wine of destiny making concoctions you're making concoctions to to whip up something to guide your life if not that what so now we're going to go swimming a little deeper in the ocean the most important thing you need to know as a person is the gospel of jesus christ you need to know that christ died on the cross for your sins in your place and that you need to trust him alone apart from works as your personal sin bearer for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life so that you are saved converted justified and that you have a home in heaven the most important thing to know is the gospel but the second most important thing to know is the sovereign providential nature of god the second most important thing to know after you have gotten converted is that god is sovereign and providential in how he runs the universe and your life and when you have i'll explain in a moment a sovereign providential understanding of god you don't need luck in fact when you have a sovereign providential understanding of god you will understand there is no such thing as luck with you grab this concept it will reshape how you view everything that takes place in your life about everything one plus one equals two it always has equal to it does equal two it will always equal two and because that is a fixed reality of basic math all other mathematical equations bank on it you can't study algebra if one and one don't equal two you can't study geometry if one and one doesn't equal two you can't study calculus if one and one it doesn't equal two you can't discuss trigonometry if one and one doesn't equal two in other words if you don't get basic math right complicated math will be meaningless to you we have complicated lives in a complicated world but if you don't get the basic right the sovereign providential nature of god then you won't be able to make sense of the complicated equations of life sovereignty the sovereignty of god means that he is the ruler of all creation and that absolutely nothing happens of which he is unaware he's never caught by a surprise he never goes oops and you can't throw him a surprise party he is fully aware of all that is was will be and what could have been so as romans 11 36 says from him to him and through him are all things god is sovereign which means he rules over all all there is nothing that takes place under a sovereign god by chance because then he wouldn't be in control because he was lucky but married to the word sovereignty is another word providence this is the word you need to understand sovereignty he rules over everything providence is the methodology he uses to do his ruling sovereignty is the fact that he rules over all providence is that aspect of sovereignty that brings together diverse events and circumstances in order for god to accomplish his sovereign will so the sovereign god accomplishes his sovereign will through his providence here's what you need to understand god's providence looks like luck his sovereignty is what he wants to happen but his way of accomplishing it has a lucky look to it so what you would call luck or lack of luck is providence at work because providence is god working in a hidden way he hides in providence in order to accomplish his sovereignty the bible is clear that god is hidden in what he does isaiah 45 15 that he when he works it out he often works it out behind the scenes and you just thought you were lucky or unlucky no no no no no luck does not exist he rejects luck the table of fortune the mixture of destiny uh-uh no no let's go a little deeper god's sovereignty and his providential working allows for and incorporates human freedom so he gives you the opportunity to choose football in football there are sovereign lines sidelines gold line hash lines they they got lines that don't move but the teams can call their own plays their plays don't move the line the line does not move but their play calling affects where they are within the lines so if they call a good play they're making forward progress if they call a bad play or the opposition stops them they're regressing in progress their forward movement or backward movement doesn't affect the lines but it does affect how well well-off they are within the lines god's sovereignty has lines and the lines are non-negotiable you can't move them they are determined for example it is appointed unto man once to die that is a fixed lie your death date is fixed by appointment you may have been late for church but you won't be late for that so he will be sovereign and within his sovereign he will allow choices to take place by us that can make us better off make us worse off without moving the line because he's sovereign while he works providentially that is works behind the scenes so providence will feel like luck but i want you to get luck out your mind because it can't exist and have a sovereign god you can't have the two together how specific is god's sovereign providence let me tell you how specific it is scripture says that not one hair of your head comes out for which god is not fully aware that's getting pretty uh picky not one hair of your head that comes out on your comb god says i didn't miss that scripture says not one sparrow falls down to the ground anywhere in creation of which he is not fully aware so god's sovereignty is not just some big general thing it gets down to the knit and the grit the idiosyncratic elements of every aspect of your be not one hair of the few you have left falls to the ground of which he is not fully aware so when i talk about the sovereign providence of god it gets around to the minutia of life the little things that you didn't think mattered that's how specific god is god leaves no room for luck because he's involved in the details of what happens and where you go and if i were to turn this way and didn't turn that way and if i met this person and didn't meet that person and what boom boom boom boom all of that god says i got that i got all of it now i'm gonna give you freedom you can cooperate with me or you cannot cooperate with me but it won't change me because god is sovereign providence is how god gets to happen what he wants to happen god's sovereign providence is so fluid that he can turn things on a dime downtown dallas is 11 miles from this church and there is a direct route 35 you get on 35 you're going downtown dallas and that will be the fastest way to get there however it's not the only way to get there if you're going down 35 and the highway is blocked you get off on illinois you turn left you go to zang you turn right until you get to jefferson you turn right again you cross the jefferson street bridge you downtown or you can get off on illinois and turn turn turn right instead of left it'll take you down to south dallas through fair park zip you right into downtown in other words if you get stuck on the direct route you're not stopped from getting to your destination that is if you know your options okay anybody have ways you got waze apple on your phone that it's that's trying to tell you i know stuff you don't know i can tell you what's blocked where it's blocked how you can take another way the long route around and guess where waves is taking you still where you're trying to go god's got ways [Applause] god knows his destination but don't think you doing your thing is going to block him from getting the way he trying to go he got ways he can do he can do all that because our freedom will not block his arrival to his determinant it just will determine how we are in relationship to arriving it's not luck it's not chance it's not faith it's a sovereign god who's providentially at work to accomplish his sovereign will through often operating in absentia it seems like so that it feels like luck looks like love tastes like love but it's god in control i mean god can be like a quarterback at the line of scrimmage when he calls an audible you know quarterback sends the lines of scrimmage and the defense does something that wasn't expected so what he does is he audiblizes the play he quarterback will say iowa iowa iowa that means i'm not doing what i just told you i was going to do in the huddle because i see these fools out here are doing something that we didn't plan on them doing so what i'm gonna do is i'm gonna audibilize and i'm gonna call another play and i'm still gonna score a touchdown because i can work even when the enemy is trying to trick me so see that's the that's the god we're talking about and the more you get to understand this god the less you're gonna be looking to be lucky you're going to be talking more about providence and his sovereign will and work than luck let me tell you how sovereign and providential god is even the devil has got to be get permission from him to be a good devil the devil has to ask god can i be devilish [Music] you remember job it says the devil went to god and say can i touch job so job only got touched by the devil because god okayed it jesus told peter satan has requested to sift you as we do hear me satan has requested to sift you as wheat and i'm not going to stop him i'm going to pray for you now i know what you're asking why would god let the devil be devilish but one of the reasons is because we're not listening to him so he's going to let the devil help teach us or as paul said paul said a messenger of satan was sent to buffered me i prayed three times first second corinthians 12 that god would get the devil off my back and god said no i'm not gonna get the devil off your back because i got some pride in you i need to deal with so i'm going to let the devil mess with you but most of us will say boy devil mess with me i'm sure i'm lucky that couldn't have happened unless god allowed it but if you don't have that view of god and you're just looking at luck and not luck and chance and fate and happy stance and you know you then then all of a sudden you're going to be confused and mad and upset and frustrated because you have put god in this box so you need this other god called luck to help you out so god is sovereign everything that happens he oversees under his sovereignty is his providence him working behind the scenes to guide things toward his sovereignty which includes allowing us freedom of choice for our good or for our bad depending on our choice but it won't control his sovereign result it will control how we are doing in the midst of him accomplishing that goal so the issue is not to look for luck the issue is to cooperate with providence ah you don't need lucky you need to cooperate with our freedom with providence so that sovereignty is working for us and not against us this takes us to the main point if you get in these next few minutes what i'm getting ready to share with you all of life will take different shape because you won't exclude god from any of life since you won't need luck anymore romans 8 28 29. romans 8 28-29 paul the apostle writes and we know that god causes all things to work together for good to those who love god and to those who are called according to his purpose i need to read that again for we know god causes all things to work together for good to those who love god to those who are called according to his purpose walk with me through this for we know we don't think we don't hope we don't conjecture we don't wish we know what exactly do we know just what i just taught you god causes we know god causes we know no such thing as luck if we know that god causes but what about the things god doesn't cause or you didn't read the verse we know god causes all things so there's nothing outside of god's causation everything that happens happens because he made it happen or he let it happen but he was never caught by surprise that it happened we know now that you know god causes by direct making it or by allowance all things so there is no thing that is in your life coming on your life attacking your life good for your life bad for your life there is nothing that sits outside of the sovereign providential hand of a causation god all things stay with me we know that all things work together for good work together for good don't read that too fast because many people misread it what many people think the verse says is that all things work together and are good no he doesn't say all things are good he says all things work together for good that's different we all know a lot of things are bad bad things happen bad people bad us we know there's a lot of bad but god's sovereignty is so constructed to take all things good bad and ugly good bad and bitter and can work it in such a way that it comes out being beneficial the greek word good means to be of benefit all things work together through the causation of god not through hoping for luck to be a lady tonight to work together so that when he finishes whatever he's doing it will come out beneficial stay with me if you go and you see an orchestra warming up before a concert there is discord nothing makes sense the guitarist is is getting his guitar tuned up and the uh percussionist is on the keys and getting things set up everybody doing their own thing there's discord that is until a conductor comes out the conductor comes out with the one pop pop and all of a sudden what was disconnected becomes connected and now you got a sweet sound all the instruments operating independently and not working together don't make sense you won't want to listen long because it doesn't sound like it's going anywhere but when the conductor comes out and does this and he takes over the individual parts that are in discord you have a happy sound you have a nice sound you have a beneficial sound you have a melodious sound i know this is happening over here that is happening over there this is happening over here and you you you some of you may be here this morning you say i i didn't i didn't count on my life being like this i didn't count on me dealing what i have to deal here but just let the conductor come out because when the conductor comes out and he goes tap tap tap all of a sudden that which was chaotic i don't understand it doesn't make sense it's not fair maybe i need to call joseph to come testify because if joseph was in the house today joseph would say it wasn't fair my brother sold me into slavery for no reason at all put me in a pit to die left me without water it wasn't right and then i finally get a good job and the boss's wife accuses me of rake when i didn't rape her it ain't fail and then i got thrown into jail for something i didn't do it ain't fair and then they forgot me in jail after i tried to help some of the prisoners out kept me there for an additional two years it's not fair it's not fair and i went 13 years up and down this roller coaster of life and i just want to tell you it's not fair but then it comes to genesis chapter 50 and it comes to the conclusion of the chapter and then he says to his brothers y'all meant it for evil y'all were working against me it wasn't fair but let me tell you you meant it for evil but god meant it god watch this minute you didn't hear me god meant it god meant it god meant it for good and god meant it for good to bring me to this place he meant it for good to take me from where we were into egypt because he could rebirth a whole nation so he used joe junk he used your abuse he used you messing over me to accomplish his sovereign will so if you being messed over toe up from the flow up you don't understand why it's going on wait till the conductor shows up because when the conductor shows up you will understand it was beneficial let me have ruth come testify her husband died she goes to take care of her mother-in-law her hope for a future she's a morabitis is gone but all of a sudden boaz comes along one day and he sees ruth gleaning in the field he's attracted to her she couldn't have a baby from her first husband but boaz was old but he wasn't cold and all of a sudden the bible says ruth got pregnant and when ruth got pregnant she had a baby boy named obama obed was the father of jesse jesse was the father of david and when you read matthew chapter one and the line of jesus ruth's name is right in there because god knows how to take a bad situation and put him in the line of the twink uh let's get esther to testify if esther was in the house this morning it is the only book in the bible where you don't find god's name god's name is nowhere but his fingerprints are everywhere the whole book about a mordecai cousin said esther you've been called to the kingdom for such a time as this you just haven't been blessed so you can have a good job a big house and niceties you were put in this place because god has a divine program the whole book the whole book of esther turns on insomnia the king couldn't go to sleep he up there can't go to sleep can't go to sleep can't go to sleep so he gets his servant and he says this servant bring me something boring to read so they bring him a boring book so he can make make and make him sleepy they bring boy book of a whole lot of names in the history of the empire here it says that the servant opened the book to the page not to a page to the page where mordecai's name was it says mordecai saved the king's life king says who is this mordecai well years ago king he saved your life from some folks who were trying to kill you so it took years before god had insomnia before the right page was opened in the book for him to see mordecai and he says well what should i do for a man who saved my life that i never recognized well he said you should do something great for him while he's doing that haman who tried who's planning on killing the jews walks in he says here i am king king looks at haman not knowing he's planning to kill the jew you say hey man what should i do for somebody who saved my life what should i do for somebody who protect me guarded me guided me what should i do haman thought he was talking about him so haman thought of every great thing he could think of haman say you put him in the king's chariot you put him on the king's horse you give him the kings clothes you got you just you just you just you you just make him lit you just make him woke you just you just you just you just ride him out you just give him everything you can give him king said okay haman do that for mordecai because even when god's name is not front and center even when you don't see him his fingerprints are moving things and staring things and turning things you don't need luck when you got a god who can keep you up at night to save a whole nation you don't need luck when you got a sovereign providential god okay sit down i ain't finished sit down okay so watch this watch this watch this thing [Applause] [Music] if you want that god if you want to see him working for you if you want to see it not just know about it notice what he says for we know that all things there are no exceptions so no luck are working together for that which is beneficial to those who love god oh wait a minute wait a minute there's a qualification there cause folk who don't love god won't see it folk who don't love god won't see it they'd be still looking to be lucky you say but i love god or what but do we because most of the time when we talk about loving god we talk about a feeling we talk about oh i i got you know i'm in church so i heard the song i heard the sermon and i'm feeling something so i must love god no that was pizza loving god does not start with your emotions it can include your emotions uh-uh let me define loving god loving god boils down the one thing passionately pursuing his glory loving god is passionately pursuing pleasing him if there is no fire for his glory which means the advertisement of his attributes it would mean showing him off it would mean demonstrating him if there is no passion for that you may have good feelings about god but you do not yet love him without the passion to pursue his glory his name his advertisement love has not yet taken root in your life it may include an emotion but sometimes you have to love god when you're crying some god you got to love god when you don't want what god is doing but you make the decision to pursue his glory and then you will see the conductor at work at whatever timing he has in place he says you must love god and watch this as a second qualification and who are called according to his purpose what is his purpose verse 29 for those whom he foreknew he predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn of many brethren guess what god's purpose is god's purpose is for you to look more and more like his son for me to look more like his son you have to understand you and i are caught up into something much bigger and what we're caught up in is the relationship of the father to the son you read the book of john and god the son says the father does all things for me and i do all things for the father we got this love thing going on between us so he wants jesus to be the firstborn of many brothers or sisters so you and i he wants him to have god the father loves god the son so much that he wants him to have look-alikes the image of his son an image is a mirror it's a character god will wants to conform you to his son and he will do whatever it takes to do it he will make your life miserable he will bring trials in your life he will bring difficulties in you whatever it takes and as long as it takes because he wants our attitudes and actions character and conduct to be increasingly mimicking what jesus would do if he was in the same situation we're in he's trying to conform us to the characteristics of his son that is his purpose so if you don't want to be like jesus you won't see all things working together you won't see it you won't see it because because that is god's goal that is god's purpose and that is should be our passion that's why this can't be just about us coming to church it's got to be us becoming disciples visible verbal full-time followers of jesus christ that's why you can't be ashamed of jesus that's why you can't ignore jesus because god's goal is for you to be like jesus but the more you're passionate to be like jesus because you love god you can now see the conductor working stuff out i'm not supposed to be in dallas i'm in dallas for one reason i'm in dallas because a professor came by me and uttered one phrase have you ever thought about dallas that's all they said have you ever thought about it we have plans to go somewhere else have you ever thought about dallas and that phrase led into a series of events that brought me to dallas i'm in dallas because god is so specific he can take a phrase to change a direction to put me in a city that i never planned to come to but if you don't love god and you don't want to be like jesus you'll never catch the phrase [Applause] but when you love him his glory becomes your passion being conformed to christ becomes your purpose then you will see the conductor wave the wand and at the right time see the supernatural benefit of the good the bad and the ugly he told peter peter you're getting ready to mess up you're going to deny me three times and satan has offered to sip you as we but i got some stuff i'm gonna do with you but i gotta humble you first so i'm gonna let the level d i'm gonna let the devil loose on you i'm gonna let him loose on you before cock-a-doodle-doo before the crow the crow crows you you go before the bird sings you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna deny me three times i don't know about you but if i heard that from jesus i'd have found me a hotel room i'd had a hidden somewhere but he said it ain't gonna happen to me no because i love you more than the rest of these disciples he said oh you you you think you got it going on well i'm gonna let the devil have you but then jesus said to him but when you are converted i'ma predict your failure but then i'm gonna predict your repentance and when you are converted now i can use you to strengthen my brother in because now you're gonna know you ain't all that in a bag of chips you're gonna you're gonna be humbled by the ugly i'll allow you to do in your life i'm not going to endorse it you're going to have consequences from it but if you get back right with me i'll still be able to use you you don't need luck you have a sovereign providential god who covers all things in closing when the kids were growing up one of the favorite desserts sister evans would cook would be seven up cake seven up k she would line ingredients out on the counter flour sugar butter nutmeg and whatever else she'd line it out on the counter i never i never i don't ever remember taking a spoon put it in flour and eating flour i don't recall i've been doing that i never remember putting the spoon in sugar eating a spoonful of sugar i don't remember that i remember cutting butter and putting butter a slab of butter in my mouth and swallowing that i remember doing that but this is what i remember i remember sister evans getting a bowl putting flour in the bowl and sugar in the bowl and eggs in the bowl nutmeg in the bowl pouring some seven up in there she and and then she began to stir it she began to blend it when she blended it i couldn't see the flower anymore i couldn't see the sugar anymore couldn't see the egg anymore because it had been blended together and she had it working together she had it working together she had she had now i got dough i'm looking at dough now it was all these separate things but now it's all confluence it's all tied together in dough but then something else happened something else happened took it in put heat under it put it in the oven let it burn for a minute let it suffer for a little while she put the dough that had been mixed together in the suffering of heat and all of a sudden with the heat suffering and and the dough mix i saw something rising and i began to smell something and all of a sudden it got pulled out the oven and all i could say was good you see when all the elements were separate i wasn't impressed when all the elements were separate it didn't look like much was going on but when the master took and began to put it together began to mix it and then put a little heat under it oh it was worth the wait to see what happens when things are worked together for good for good now i know you got stuff happening in your life over here stuff over there stuff over there bad things you've done bad things others have done to you good opportunities that have come your way and you got all this random stuff but if you let the blender come and loving him and his purpose stare it in the pot of his purpose and then even put you in a little fire of trials fire of circumstance and yeah it's going to be hot up in here for a little while but when god is finished with you david said i shall come forth pure is gold so look give god his sovereignty his providence let luck alone cause when he's finished cooking you baking you and shaking you you're gonna come out the oven and you're gonna be good let's stand to our feet [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] today oh [Music] [Music] foreign

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Id: ItnX1l2j9qY

Length: 103min 26sec (6206 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 13 2021