Welcome To The NCC Bible Experience | Pastor Raymond Ramsey

[Music] so [Music] so [Music] and so we worship you this morning god we lift our hands thank you for your presence you're worthy of our worship hallelujah [Music] you are worthy and no one can worship you for me [Music] for all the things you've done for me and no one can worship you for me [Music] [Music] all [Music] all of my worship lord you are worthy [Music] things you've done for me [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is oh [Music] i [Music] will [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are worthy [Music] yes [Music] worthy is your name jesus you deserve the praise is your name [Music] jesus you deserve the praise [Music] worth is your name worthy is your name jesus you deserve praise you deserve praise [Music] jesus you deserve the praise is your name jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] english [Music] uh [Music] hmm [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] and how's it gonna get done and so you know you're on the field and you're you're playing the game you're striking the ball you're running and you know you look up and the fans are gone everybody's gone the game's been over an hour you don't realize that the janitors out there like sweeping are you gonna get off the field you know what i mean and as ridiculous as that sounds that's kind of how we are sometimes in life is we just don't realize when we can let our hair down and let god do the work and so and so a lot of times i call that sometimes god will let you go on a force fast or even enforce rest uh when the coach has to say listen time out make it out the game so for me then i'm back i'm excited and i want to share it um just some perspective that the lord gave me uh the title of my talk tonight is why me lord why me lord and and you may be asking that question when you look around you see uh some of the things that you're walking through and you say man you know it seems like everyone else is is doing well in life but man i just seem to be you know getting the brunt of things getting the short end of the stick i don't know if you can relate to that but i know that i can i've had seasons in my life where it seemed like everybody was advancing and maybe you're not advancing you feel like you're being held back simply because you obeyed the voice of god i mean god spoke to you and you told everybody man the lord told me to do this or not to do that and it seems like it didn't help you get ahead it actually helps you back to life and so sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we're asking the lord lord you know i did everything you told me to do so why am i the one suffering why am i the one struggling why am i the one going through hardship and if that's the case and they're signaling to me i don't know uh what is what's going on come up here i'll meet your pet oh um yes yes so you can get up there oh wow you can hear me now so i think i've just preached a few minutes uh man you just missed the whole message i think we're actually done now we're actually done or should i i guess i could say welcome to ncc bible experience now you can hear me and our audience that's here in that short period of time i actually came with an entirely new message so we're not just going to throw the first one out no i i talked a little bit about how you know oftentimes god wants us to rely on his grace but instead we refuse to i was just kind of sharing with the i guess our people here in person about how i came out of a time of sickness actually and where the lord kind of kept me through it i didn't get the brunt of the symptoms that i guess i was supposed to but you know the lord had been telling me to rest and i just wasn't doing it and i kind of liken it to you know being on the field you're playing the game you're running to the end zone you're spiking the ball and you look up they turn the lights off someone's you know sweeping the floor the fans have been gone for an hour and as ridiculous as that sounds that's how we are a lot of times in life we're still going when god is saying hey the game's over it's time for you to rest to replenish to recuperate but we just don't know how to trust god with where we are right now right and so one of the things i want to talk about is how you know we go through things in life through struggles in life and we find ourselves asking the question why me lord why is it that i am following you i'm telling everybody how amazing you are but i'm the one who's behind in life and i don't know if you can relate to that but i know i found myself getting the short under the stick many times in life because and trying to obey the lord it just seems like things you know just didn't go the direction i felt they should now i'm gonna add something here that's not in my in my text but you know when i think about the prophet elijah and how much faith he had i mean this is a man who's full of faith and the bible says that by faith he through the word of the lord was able to stop the heavens from reigning he for three and a half years but again he himself began to suffer and everyone around him suffered because there was no rain in the middle east and because of that there was a drought right so there was no harvest and he's by a brook hiding himself the brook dries up god says go to this widow he goes to this widow he's probably thinking man she probably had a rich husband was a rich family she's gonna take care of me he said man i've commanded this widow to sustain you he shows up she's broke busted and disgusted she's collecting sticks and what does she tell him hey listen man you're a little bit late because i'm gonna make this last cake you know when you you know when you don't have anything uh in the house you know you're not making something appropriate right she's like i'm just making a cake man i'm not making bread i'm not making collard green i'm making a cake and me and my son are going to eat it and we're going to die so i mean she obviously has no faith but you know he has to he has to do something really uncomfortable it's uncomfortable for me as a preacher to say hey partner with us in the gospel financially it's uncomfortable for him to say hey make me a cake first you know it's almost like are you not understanding i just said i'm making one cake so me and my son could eat it and then we're gonna die but just but you know she had faith god had spoken to her she took a risk and she did it and in the end of course the oil didn't run dry she ended up being sustained god sustained everybody the story turned but man you know we find ourselves in these times where we've obeyed the lord and we find ourselves in a crunch in a bind simply for being obedient so if you find yourself in a place tonight where you know thing it's a struggle and you're not able to pay your bills and you've got just so many things going on your life and you say but i stepped out in faith but i moved back to this city or i did this over there i just want you to know just stay just hold on and endure because god is with you just because you're favored doesn't mean you won't have a fight in fact it's the opposite in psalm chapter 34 verse 19 it says many of the afflictions of the righteous but the lord and delivers them out of them all so let me tell you something being righteous being right in the eyes of god especially in the new covenant we are right in the eyes of god not by our works but by our faith in jesus christ and what he accomplished on the cross for our on our behalf because of jesus and our faith in him we now receive his grace right and let me tell you something it does not mean you will not have struggles it does not mean you not have trouble which we'll talk about in fact it means you will attract it the fire of god on your life is going to attract demonic activity it's going to attract you know people who are two-faced it's going to let me tell you something jesus is the son of god and even jesus had a judas right jesus had a judas who was looking for an opportunity to betray him and that cost him his life but he kept judas around because he knew he trusted his father and he needed judas just as much as he needed peter and who by the way was eager to serve and eager to obey but was in it for himself and his selfish ambition caught up with them and so he was a fair weather friend but god dealt with that too we need these different people in our life and i want you to know all he did was god's will and he attracted betrayal and all the things that that we need and i'm going to talk from romans chapter 8 verse 28 we'll talk a little also in john chapter 17. can we go to romans chapter 8. i want to hit one of a fan favorite here it says and we know i like this you know when you really stop and look at some of the the verses that we just so quickly quote because we memorized it in sunday school if you stop and just read it slowly it kind of will speak to you he says and we know that in all things god works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose now i want you know this hooked on phonics did work for me i read it that way for a reason i read it that way for a reason paul starts out not by saying all things work together for the good of those who love him speaking of god and have been called according to his purpose but he starts out by saying we know this and we know this you know this no matter what you're facing tonight you know this that in all things how many things all things every situation but what if it's my fault pastor ray in all things what if i can't make ends meet in all things what if i don't have the connections or the knowledge or the skill to get where i need to be in all things god is working just tell yourself that now god is working he works for what for your good he works for the good of those who love him let me ask you something i don't care where you are in life right now i want you to ask this question do you love god yes do you love him and have you been called according to his spirit how do you know when you've been called did you hear god speak to you to do something to be something did you hear the call of god for salvation and respond to it are you called not just according to your purpose it's one thing when you're doing your thing when things get shaky you start to wonder is this me is it god is it but there's something about knowing i'm only tolerating this person because god told me to there's something about knowing i only reason i haven't walked out on this job like everybody else is because god has me on assignment here to minister there's something about knowing that i was called according to his purpose there's something about it and it's the love of christ the scripture says which constrains us it's the love of god that has me not talk to you the way you talk to me right and so and so in all things i know that in all things god is working for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose so though that's a fan favorite we love to talk about this verse i want you to really get that in your bones tonight read it out loud tonight read it slowly and digest the fact that in your situation no matter what it looks like god is working and sometimes god will sit you on the bench to make sure that you don't get in his way so he can work on your behalf that's why the scripture says vengeance is mine says the lord i will repay when god settles the score is a little bit of discipline on both sides he's not just reigning lightning bolts on your enemies because let's be honest you're a little wrong too you might be a lot of wrong but he loves everyone involved that's why he says pray for those who despitefully use and persecute you here to pray for your enemies you're to love your enemies and it takes god's power to help you do that but i'm gonna say something again in case it was caught when my mic was not being obedient to the lord and that is just because your favor doesn't mean you won't have a fight in fact it is what it is the opposite because the favor of god on your life as a child of god will actually attract the fight if you don't believe that ask our friend job you guys know the story of job in the story of job here's a man that god himself said is upright i mean he's living the life he's not just talking to talk he's walking the walk and so what happens satan comes before the lord with the angels and the lord asked him what have you been doing he said man i've been you know just going around the earth you know going to and fro just looking around and he left something out that the apostle peter said he's going around the earth he's the scripture says to and fro like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour which means he can't devour everyone but he's looking for somebody who's weak who's not paying attention so the scripture says be sober be vigilant why because he's going around looking for someone who's caught sleeping but he doesn't tell the lord that as though god is dumb he says man i just been you know kind of just strolling around looking around in the earth and god says oh cool man have you noticed have you considered my servant job how he's perfect there's none like him i mean this guy is amazing he's hype you ever hyped somebody up and you realize the person you're hyping them up to doesn't feel the same way you do you're like man that dude is amazing man did you see what they did and they just started getting it yeah yeah yeah you know what i'm saying all right and so what does he say well you know the reason he's like that i mean if you you got a hedge of protection around him but if you took that away and you know i promised you he'd curse you i said around verse 8 i believe 2 11. something along those lines what does he do he's like you know but if you remove this and god's like okay check this out you can do some things with life take everything away but you're not able to take his life what happens job's minding his business and in one day he loses his children he loses his livestock he loses his property he loses everything in a day and when he finds out one servant comes to say man your kids are dead another servant comes assistant in your livestock state another servant comes and says there's been a fire you lost your property and he's so overwhelmed that the bible says he stops and says why me lord right no he doesn't he tears his clothes and he says the lord gives and the lord takes away blessed be the name of the lord you know when you scream squeeze an orange you don't get apple juice you get orange juice when you squeeze something to the max you get what's inside of it and when you squeeze job which you got was blessing the lord even when he couldn't understand and one point he says though he slays me though he's killing me right now you ever looked like you're killing me that's what he saying god you're killing me right now i can't handle any more but he says he says he says listen though he slays me yet will i trust him i'm asking you tonight are you trusting him even though it looks like god is letting everybody get by but he's coming for you even though it looks like god's protecting everybody but he's not protecting you even when it looks like god is blessing everybody and promoting everybody and speaking to everybody and breathing on everybody and healing everybody but he's not doing the same for you my question is this even though it looks like god is hurting you do you trust him do you trust him and job had a revelation that and it's funny this whole hedge that that um he's talking about seems like you've you've hedged him in and to the point where what i can't get in job from a natural perspective in chapter three is saying man you've hedged me in so i can't get out and it's funny how the protection of god looks a lot like god trying to control your life it's like we're like children like teenagers you know mom and dad won't let me run the streets wild and play with guns it's like they're trying to protect you and there's some things that god's saying no to and some things that god's you know not letting you try to walk through the door door everyone walk through the door you go the knob is not there why because god's trying to protect you he says not you son not you daughter why because he's heads you in to keep someone else out it was the apostle paul who said in first corinthians chapter 16 he said listen he said man i gotta stay where i am a little longer he says because a great door of opportunity has been open to us but man there's so many adversaries you ever been in a place where you know you know god wants you to walk through a door but everywhere you look it's like man there's so many things against us walking through it don't think because there's something difficult ahead of you don't think because there's so many things you don't qualify for the loan you don't quali don't think that because it's not easy god's not in it god would much rather give you grace to get through the difficulty than he would make things easy for you so that you don't develop the dogs of doom stand at the doors of destiny as i said before and you've probably heard this saying before when god closes one door he opens another but there's hell in the hallway often times the road god has us on is laced with all sorts of difficulties this flies in the face of some people's theology because they simply believe that to walk with god is to walk in a bubble and it's just not true just because you walk with god doesn't mean you're going to live free of struggles let's go to john chapter 17 i started in this uh this year teaching from john chapter 17 about being one let's go to 17 13. i love to give a lot of context jesus is praying his pastoral prayer he knows he's going to be taken away from the disciples he's he's trained them you know he's just got to trust the father that they're ready to go he said man i've kept them i've protected all that you've given me except the son of perdition the one who didn't see my value speaking of judas he's saying listen i'm praying not only for them but i'm praying for everyone who believe on them through you know through their words he's talking about you and i and all those who believed on christ through the generations through writings that should have been lost to antiquity but god preserved them through the millennia that came after them but he's saying here i am coming to you now but i say these things while i am still in the world so that they may have the full measure of my joy with them why does jesus want us to have the full measure of his joy within us because the scripture says that it was the joy that was set before him that enabled him to endure the cross and despise its shame the scripture says the joy of the lord is our strength jesus's joy came from his his faith in the vision of victory that god put before him what has god put before your eyes to promise you what has he declared that's going to happen in the end if you just hold on what did he say is going to happen in the end did he say you'd have the marriage did he say you'd have the children did he say you have the businesses did he say those things don't matter in the in eternity but they matter now why because everything you get in the natural god's gonna speak to the rest of the world through that he's going to speak to the rest of the world through those things the bible says god satisfies our mouth with good things so our youth is renewed like the eagles god wants you to have a good life but there's some things we got to walk through in order to become the diamonds that god has called us to be to shine with the radiant brilliance of god's grace with the knowledge of god's will we've got to walk through some hardship in order to become the per i've said this so many times before god's way more interested in who you're becoming than he is and what you're going to do it's not just about you writing a best-selling book it's about who you are becoming and it's so funny to me that people want to have a good story to tell that he leaves the world on the edge of their seats but they don't want to walk through the things that are in the story the greatest success stories someone was sleeping in their car someone was struggling someone lost everything and got it back and then went to the top and we go that's amazing and god says i've got success for you i've got good things for you but next thing you know we lose the house and we go god's not with me and we huff and we puff it i can't believe i'm in this car i just can't get it and you're you're freaking people driving by looking at you the car's just going crazy they're like what's going on with that person you're in the middle of your success story but you're complaining do you trust him his favor has attracted fights but it's not for your demise it's for your victory and jesus is praying for them i want them to have the full measure of my joy which means they've got to see the vision god father they've got to see the vision that it gives them joy because the joy of the lord is your strength next verse he says i have given them your word and the world has hated them for they are not of the world any more than i am of the world i love this because and i'm you know you guys okay we're on a guided tour tonight in this these scriptures what i love about this is that jesus said woe to you if all men speak well of you because they did this to the false prophets if everybody just says man that's a stand-up god man that's an amazing it's okay to have a good reputation but if everybody loves you i promise you something's wrong you're a chameleon if everywhere you go you fit in something is wrong because fitting in one place means you shouldn't fit in the other place i can't be your best friend and your best friend and you guys are enemies something is not jiving well it means when i go over here i got to be one person i go over there i got to be another per god's not with that he wants us to live in truth what am i saying be who you really are that's who god's anointing that's who god's blessing you may be rough around the edges but god would much rather have that person than the clean tidy pretender that the church has taught you you're supposed to be in order to attract god's favor god's totally into touching people whose lives are a mess and making them into something beautiful and brilliant but he's saying listen i want them to have the full measure of my joy how do i do it i give them your word and he says and i gave them your word and and the world has hated them for they are not of the world any more than i am of the world next verse he says here my prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one stick a pin in that one go to the next verse they are not of the world even as i am not of the world i'll do one more verse just for kicks and giggles sanctify them by the truth your word is what truth but why is he talking so much about the word and so much about about the word the world and the word because the world system is actually the word we've mentioned this before is the word cosmos in the greek it literally means system jesus said that he's the satan is the god of this world right the scripture says he's the god of this world which um simply means that what and it might not have been jesus who said that but it's in the scriptures he's the god of this world look it up you've got a bible or you've got a phone here's the idea jesus calls him the prince of the power of the air right he's the god of the airwaves here's what he does he has created a system that's built on a lie so everything in the world system around you which is governed by finances what does it do it's designed to make you not be on god's side in first john chapter two it actually talks about loving the world it makes you an enemy of god you put on a different jersey and inadvertently play for the wrong team without meaning to you're just trying to be bloody buddy with everybody and what happens as you go to god's enemies and you buy into the system of the enemy without meaning to it begins to drain you of the father's love we don't have time to hit all these verses you can go to first john chapter 2 verses 15-17 on your own uh james chapter 4 verse 1 and through 10 etcetera etcetera all right here's my point though my point is this jesus is saying this he's saying father the world's going to hate him if they believe my word the world's going to hate him if they preach my word the world's going to mock them if they say what i say is true sanctify them by the truth your word is truth sanctify them set them apart set them apart set them above make the world make them a spectacle to the world that makes them wonder make them something that when the world sees them they say man there's got to be a god i'm asking you to do it father but but here's the deal i'm asking you not to take them out of the world don't remove them from the system just keep them safe from what the evil one the evil one the evil not two not the evil five your family members right right not the evil you know 200 in your church right was it what's this not the evil person in the mirror he he's saying keep him safe from the devil the one who rules the system but in order for them to impact the system i need you to keep them in the system which means you're going to get bumps and you're going to get bruises and you're going to get scraped and you're going to fall down you're going to get back up it means that when you held onto the word which is the the football in this case which i just mentioned again you you caught the ball and you looked up and everybody was running at you but what some of us do is we go we may have on different jurists but we can all be friends and you're they're running to you and you're running to them try to hug them and the angels got to come and block because you're being dumb the word that's in your heart the word that's in your mouth the word that's working in your life the vision god be put before you the difference that god put on you is the reason your family hates you is the reason your co-workers you know leave the room when you come in is a reason why and if they don't despise you in some way god will create a scenario that the only way you can have their favor is to compromise your relationship with him he will create that scenario so you will have to put your big boy or big girl pants on and choose a side god's favor attracts the fight it means that even though i walk with god i'm still gonna have the same trouble that other people have in the world i'm still gonna have to go through bitter experiences i'm still gonna have to go through hardships i'm still gonna have to go through heartbreak rejection i'm still gonna have to go through moments where again my finances aren't right i'm gonna have to go through the same trials the scripture says of jesus that he even had to grow up as a human being and go through normal things like everybody else the high priest in the old testament had to be able to relate he had to come from among the people to be able to relate to the weaknesses of the people the scripture says of jesus that he is a high priest of our profession he literally had to come and identify with the weaknesses of the people that he served that's hebrews chapter four we might get to that so we're gonna have to go through the same troubles number two we're gonna have the same struggles first peter five let's go to verse eight first peter five verse eight if you don't mind if we can get there as i read this be alert and of silver mine your enemy of the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour next verse we'll just keep reading some of these verses resist them standing firm in the faith because you know what that the family of believers throughout the world they're undergoing the same kinds of suffering i don't care how good their social media profile looks i don't care if they have a church of 90 000 people i don't care if they're young and hip and cool millennial pastor i don't care if they just always every time she takes a picture looks like the wind is blowing just perfectly like gold is just on her skin i mean her body is photoshopped as she walks along she just had six kids at one time how is she already snapped back in place i don't care what they look like on the surface the scripture says if they're a believer yeah they're struggling i don't care i don't care how good you think you look let's be honest you're struggling right now you're struggling who can anybody say amen to that anybody get that yeah you're like i never say that man i'm too cool at home i mean honestly you're struggling right now i don't care what it is and if you're not struggling you've just kind of given up i saw a meme one time this dog was sitting in there and it's like smiling and the house was on fire sometimes the struggle's so real you don't you just think it's a dream you just sit there let the house burn struggle is real right what are some struggles as believers we have our number one struggle is not with satan although it's one of our struggles we struggle against the enemy fighting against us and demonic power that's coming from the kingdom of darkness that's one of our struggles the next struggle we have is i'll just throw this out there our struggle with sin right hebrews chapter 12 tells us though that you and i have not yet struggled i'm come to blood in our struggle against sin like jesus did it hadn't been where we've gotten to our our battle with sin so much that it's cost us our life we ain't we ain't really god because there's a point that let's just be honest there's a point for all of us the scripture says that when a person's tempted don't say you're tempted by god because if you're god is not tempted with evil evil so he doesn't tempt anybody right it says but when we're tempted we are drawn away by our own lust our own desire and enticed right and lust when it is conceived you guys know what conception how conception happens right there's got to be an engagement right between our lust our desire to meet a need of ours right at any means necessary right um and and there has to be enticement if there's a lust but there's no enticement you are not tempted i'm sorry you walk into the room you see her she's beautiful everybody wants her she doesn't look your way at all and you say i'm so tempted right now you're not tempted all right we could flip it you see him bulging muscles you know what i mean and then he opens the door for you and you're i'm girl was so tempted by what he didn't even look at you right because because lust has to have with the enticement to be tempted there's got to be opportunity right there can't be enticement with no lust and be temptation someone can come in you know and they can be they can open up their jacket and have a bunch of fake you know rolexes if you have any measure of taste you're not tempted they could say it two dollars and your pride won't let you do it no a louis button i don't know about that it's an lv and then the lb baby i don't know about that i'll give it to you for a dollar i'll give it to you for free you know what you're going to do you're going to take it and you're going to use it for a trash bag why you taste more you just won't let yourself do that i can't go that low right enticement but there's no lust i'm not tempted there's got to be there's got to be lust and enticement and when the two come together and it is they're conceived it brings forth sin and when sin is full grown it brings forth what god be dead so so we're struggling here's my point the reason why as hebrews 12 says you have not yet come to blood and your struggle against sin like jesus did is because at some point everybody has a price that's why you can't judge people you can't j you're judging you're judging the cocaine addict you know why because they have a struggle that you can't financially afford if the lord gave me millions i wouldn't fall into those temptations you know why you wouldn't because you can't afford the temptation you can't afford the enticement so you don't know what she would do right you might be on the 80s cocaine if you got the good stuff you know what i'm saying if you could afford it and so god won't let you afford it until all right until he works some things out of you we have a struggle with sin and everybody has a price because everybody has a lust you have your struggle against satan this is the good one though you have a struggle i'll just throw this one in there the system the world system it's fighting against you here's your big one though let's be honest your biggest struggle in life is against yourself let's be honest if you could just get yourself together think think about it that's why they call it self-discipline you shouldn't always need someone else to discipline you right you were in the military and you were disciplined you were in shape you were you're sir yes ma'am look got attention you got out of the military you know you still wear the watch just let yourself go a little bit because there's no one barking at you no one holding you and now you know i'm not i got military people in here you don't have the fate anymore you know saying you might get a little rough but you need what self-discipline and that's why one of the fruit of the holy spirit in your life is self-control god won't control you but it'll put a spirit in you and tell you to control you the scripture says a person without self-control is like a city with broken down walls back then that's how back in ancient times the city would be protected by walls tall walls with one gate or so right okay so so a city with broken down walls meant anyone could come in and anyone could go out in other words there were no boundaries what does self-control look like self-control looks like this i can tell myself yes and i can tell myself no and stick to it that's what it looks like self-control is i can say yes to the right things and i can say no to the wrong things boom that easy so i don't wake up and decide do i feel like going to work self-control is self-discipline says i go to work because i i'm supposed to go to work i don't have to feel like it because these bills somebody got angle pay themselves okay after a while the hustle doesn't work anymore you know what i'm saying people they see your number they go oh and then they see then they see uh block numbers and stuff like that oh no that's them let me let this wave go by why because they know it's the first of the month coming up and because you refuse to be self-disciplined to get up and go to work even when you don't feel like it you don't have the harvest that you should have from doing the work so let's just be honest your biggest struggle is with yourself and let's stop being let's stop doing this let's stop holding other people responsible making them responsible for controlling us some people get into situations and relationships with people hoping that that person can control you complain about everybody else but why won't you leave because they're controlling you to do what you can't control you to do they make you keep in the house stay in the house and then control i'm sorry i can't go out there the streets are calling you and you can't respond you know why because if they weren't in your life every time the streets called you'd go let's just be honest and let's stop being offended with people when they say you know what i'm not going to control you anymore it's hard enough controlling myself i can't raise you in you and me okay so so we're gonna have the same struggles that other people have we struggle with sin we struggle with satan and his powers we struggle with the system the godless system of this world designed to drain us of the father's love and we struggle with ourselves we're going to struggle with the rubble of life what do i mean i'm talking about the fragments of life we come into families that are broken who give us broken values who give us broken mindsets and broken perspectives it's one thing you know the world's not fuzzy and and the world's not blurry it's your vision that's blurry and you can put on corrective lenses but if the corrective lenses are cracked you'll think the world is is a kaleidoscope when in reality no it's not the world it's the way you see and i want you to know that you know sometimes you ever meet somebody and talk to them about something you think makes perfect sense but they can't see it you try to talk what you think is common sense to them but they can't perceive it common sense becomes uncommon why because they're coming from a broken place and if we're honest most of us let's no all of us have areas of our life that are fragmented that are broken that aren't put together i don't care how much jesus you have you're broken and you look around the world and and the last thing they need is someone with the bible telling them how broken they are when they themselves are broken you're broken and you're giving them your flawed theology expecting them to live something that you can't live i remember one time i was talking to a pastor he was planting a church out in l.a and they were they looked apart they were cool and he said i called him one time and i remember talking to him and he came from a family with his dad it's like got this world renowned ministry all of a sudden and i'm talking to him he said man sometimes it feels like people are calling me telling me to run and man i can't even get out of the chair he's like my legs don't it's not that i don't want to run instead i can't even walk i can't even stand up and he was just being so honest with me and he ended up having to make a move back home across the country and i was proud of him for it wow he was just being real with the brokenness but as funny as how god was able to take that broken piece and put him back into a certain place and now he makes where he is perfect he's not the main guy where he is but he's one of the guys and it makes everything per it's like a mosaic that's beautiful and that's why jesus is praying in john 17 not for us individually to be whole but for us collectively to be whole each of us being a piece of the puzzle are you okay with being a piece of a puzzle this is the struggle that we have god spoke to nations as though they were a person god spoke to abraham and said in him is a great nation when god spoke about um isaac right i mean spoke to rebecca when her boys were in her fighting we talked about this before her boy her twin boys were fighting and he said there are two nations in you struggling when when hagar left her mistress and and was running because sarai was mistreating her the angel lord says go back why because your son is a as a nation god spoke to an individual as a nation and god speaks to a nation as an individual god speaks to generations through his promises but let i'm gonna tell you something here's where we struggle especially in uh the western hemisphere here's what we struggle we want all the blessing i want it all i want it all to be about me so god gives you a promise that's for you and every child that comes from you your children your children's children and you're trying to figure out how to have it all in your generation and where you're struggling with this you're looking at where you are and where the promise of god is supposed to take you and you're saying there's no way i can get this and reach for that it's not for you but if you don't focus on your part the next generation cannot continue the story and then god's ultimate narrative will never come to pass that's why we struggle with self because self says i want it all forget these children they're in the way of me having my blood god says you don't get it you don't get it you're not all gonna win if you don't you get what i'm trying to say you know what i'm saying you know you're playing a pickup game of basketball and uh you need five people on the court and you got you got three solid guys on the corner three solid girls on the court and then you look over you have a pickup game and you see these two that you just know they got two left feet two right feet you know what i'm saying they they're patting the ball like this and you're like man ain't gonna be on my team you gotta pick somebody and nobody wants to but the game can't start if you have three people so you have to have these two weaknesses these two weak links on your team if you're going to even get started in the game and god does that on purpose because again you want to have the victory and dominate the court and god's saying i want to develop you right by having you to help other people because he doesn't want you to look like the devil in the end he wants you to look like jesus and jesus oftentimes he'd sit back and go man how long am i going to be with you guys how long am i going to tolerate you you know they feed they multiply bread and fish and from one child's food and they feed thousands of people they don't do it just once my friends they do it twice and they get in the boat and they're going somewhere and jesus says in this deep metaphorical way beware of herod and the leaven of herod and of the the pharisees leaven has to do with bread b beware of the leaven of herod you got to look off to the side and the fear and then of the pharisees right uh i don't think he stuttered through it like that but but the disciples said he's saying that because we didn't bring bread you got the bread i don't know the other bread and jesus said why do you reason that we have no bread don't you remember the we just ah he was freaking out i mean he's getting ready to go to the cross he has trained these people they have been in the same quarters with him they've seen him transfigure and turn to a light bulb they've seen miracles they've seen him walk on water they've seen the waves and the wind they obey him they've seen demons flee they've seen i mean the bible says listen the apostle john said this there's not enough paper in the world to write down all the things we saw him do and all we want you to know is it freaked us out these guys are the most well-trained miraculous people in the history of the world and jesus says you know it's time for me my hours come hey peter james john can you just could you just pray with me real quick i just need you to comment to the prayer service and he goes a stone's throw away and he's he's praying he said there's another way let this cup pass from me all the kingdom of darkness is pressing against him he's fighting against his own will he's fighting against everything he knows they're not ready he knows things just aren't right have you ever been that place where you go to transition and everything falls apart and it's like now so you're thinking wait a minute if i do it now things won't be right god does it every time he does it every time things fall apart when it's time to transition god burns the nest and you say well it's not writing and i don't and what happens god's trying to to test jesus faith here and so he what's he saying he's saying okay nevertheless not my will but yours be done what's his will have to do with his will has to do with what he wants to happen his will has to do with who he wants it to happen with his will has to do with the timing in which he wants it to happen his will is everything against what jesus would have done in the natural but jesus said it's not my will but yours be done he gets up and goes man let me go check on these disciples i mean if i'm feeling this pressure surely the people who love me are surely my praying grandmother is feeling it you go in there you see praying grandma sitting there with her feet up watching her stories he goes back he sees the disciples and they're asleep he he's like kicking dust on you couldn't watch with me for one hour you guys are the most well trained not one hour and they're like well she look oh you know like i said holy ghost trying to speak into i said about it you know what i mean like they're trying to figure out how to look like they were being spiritual you know i mean one of them's got to scroll over his face trying to act like he's and she's like i know you're not reading it's upside down you know you couldn't watch with me one hour and he goes back and he prays again he's like look are you sure i mean if there's another way like this oh you know and he fights himself and he he gains victory the receipt of peace he gets peace okay all right things don't look right these guys are morons i don't feel right about this but you know what not my will but yours be done he comes back and you know these guys you think these guys are up there hold hands shut you think that's what they're doing they're asleep again he says i mean if you go and read it greg just read the verse out loud as dramatic as you can it still only takes a few minutes i i mean if you stretch it out if there's another way left this cup pack it's you still only get a few minutes squeezed out of that they're asleep again they're stressed out and you know he comes back he goes you know what y'all just go ahead and just sleep you know a little while longer and you know right and and here's here's the point though he didn't he didn't understand why things were a mess and they were in broken pieces and uh and yet this was his human experience he had to trust the lord with all of that and and when jesus came who's fully god to have a fully human experience he was able to firsthand experience how jacked up this world really is through sin he was able to really experience how messed up every you ever had where someone gave you an opportunity and you blew it you know you had to kind of tell a different narrative of what had really happened you lost your job because you were lazy she's not going to tell that story right every advantage that could be given to the disciples and they couldn't come through and we're no different than they are aren't we god sets you up for success blew it every time and that's why paul wrote to the roman church and said this is what we know all things work together for the good of those who love god and are the called according to his purpose i want you to know this no matter how messed up things look i want you to know before you stop and say god why am i going through this why me what before you do that i want you to know that god sets you up to win here's what he did he gave you the faith to endure hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 says that what that jesus is the author and finisher he's the pioneer the perfecter of your faith he gave you faith to steward to be able to go and do what he called you to do jesus is still carrying you in his hand giving you the strength to believe jairus's daughter was dying he said please come and help her jesus is going the crowd presses against him a woman touches to him of his garment it stops jesus in his tracks he says who touched me and this story begins to unfold someone comes taps jairus and says trouble the master no longer your daughter is dead jesus is listening to this woman and he hears this and he stops he grabs jars and says hey listen fear not only believe don't let anything else enter in because anything else would make your faith null and void it would make it doubt right fear not only believe don't let fear enter in do you believe god's going to heal you have you been saying god's going to heal you does this word say he sent his word to heal you believe nothing but that i don't care what doctors say believe nothing but that have common sense but believe nothing but that a friend of mine came and preached here recently wrecked shot man wrecked shop i'm you know i'm at home i'm sick i'm watching him he decides to pray for healing and i don't mind being vulnerable and saying that it's not you know he's praying for healing and um and someone wrote me on facebook and they said they had had an ailment for like 20 years something in their brain a spot on their brain or something those lines and uh and that they were in the service and he prayed and they they're one of the effects of this issue with their brains that their vision was blurry for 20 years they felt something changed they went and got checked the spot was gone and they have 20 20 vision now i got an issue with that because i don't have 20 20 vision god here's my point here's my point what makes them any different than you they just they heard the word romans chapter 10 verse 17 they heard the word and they believe the word and when we believe the word the word produces faith faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god it's romans 10 17 jesus gives you faith to endure how by you hearing the word right number two what does he do he fixes the fight that you're in in other words in psalm chapter 118 verse 24 says this is the day the lord has made it i will rejoice and be glad in it we hear this in a song we say this in our services this is the day the lord has made it i will rejoi what is he trying to say by that if you go and you read this he talks about the stone that the builders have rejected has become the chief cornerstone it's a messianic psalm but that's not the point here's what he's trying to say this is the day the lord has made god strategically set the day up for you to succeed it's not just the physical day you're in but the season that you're in he literally gave you i don't know if you guys played video games back in the day but i did i was addicted just like anybody else right i had to get help like anybody else but you know i'm old enough to remember when there was you know the original nes nintendo entertainment system you guys remember that you guys remember atari you guys remember sega masters some people don't remember that i'm showing my age right right there was laserdisc i remember we had a sega genesis right we almost fought our cousins over at nintendo because they came and they lived with us for a second theirs had a jelly stain on it and theirs didn't work and suddenly we had one with a jelly stand on ours didn't work we had an issue with that okay you fight over that we used to go to school swap out the cartridges right you put it in there you blow it you put it in there you know what i'm saying i mean i remember those days right but if you went and you got a game that was really difficult to beat you know what you do you'd go and look up the codes right i remember one was like up up down down left right left start or something like that and you know if you played something like mortal kombat something ungodly and you put in a code abacabb i don't even know what that does but it did something right you'd hear like or something like that the screen would change i think that was like the code to turn blood on that's how listen that's how stuff was back then you didn't even have blood right you had to put in a cold to see i want to see blood i want to see teeth fly somewhere when i hit you but you put in a code and it alters the game and if you knew enough codes you could get past certain levels that you couldn't get past on your own in fact you could even skip levels if you knew certain cheat codes right but here's the deal sometimes you can't get through the game yourself and so someone has to come ahead of you and put in all the codes so when you play the game you're not really doing anything you know what i'm saying i remember my son we'd play a game together and and i would we'd be playing a game we'd be winning and he would be like yeah yeah daddy look look look and in the end he never even noticed that his controller wasn't even plugged in yeah son we did it yeah we did it same thing my brother probably did to me i'm like yeah we're killing it jay we're killing it yeah bro but like wait my controller's not plugged in touch that and that's what jesus does for us he designs the game he puts all the codes in the game and he leaves your controller unplugged everything that sets you up for success all you have to do is trust him all you have to do is trust him because the fight has been fixed and let's say that you do get in the game and you reset the game when he walks out the room you keep on what happens it doesn't matter in the end because even the enemies in the game their weapons are faulty the scripture says in isaiah chapter 54 verse 16. let's go there isaiah 54 verse 16. we're almost done here hope you guys are okay with me going here taking a little time with you he says this see it as i who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work and it is i who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc next verse no weapon forged against you before we get too excited i want you to let the sink in your bones no weapon forced again against you will prevail let me tell you something what are you facing right now who is threatening you right now who's telling you what they're gonna do they're gonna expose you they're gonna hurt you they're gonna you know do this or that to you i don't know what it you know are is your family under attack are you are you facing losing your house right are they saying you can't get back into school you know that god told you that you're going to be a doctor or whatever it is you need these credentials this is not something you're just doing for fun you need this and you slacked a little bit last semester and now you need the money to to pay your bill what are they saying what is someone in the school system blocking you because they don't think you deserve the grace you've gotten god said i you know it's funny i made that person and uh and you know i i kind of inspired the system that they're using and i made a loophole i made a loophole in what they're doing and it may have worked on everybody else he said but no weapon forged against you will prevail hold up all my saints getting excited and you will refute every tongue that accuses you why this is the heritage of the heritage of the servants of the lord and this is their vindication from who their good works for me declares the lord here's what's funny right you know you don't have to be the sharpest knife in the drawer to notice that in our justice system we have a little the scales tend to tip a little you know in the favor of who might have a little more money right it kind of did i mean lady justice has a blindfold but i think i think she can see through the blindfold i think this might be like a little something on one side and she's trying to see who's got a little more green you know what i mean it just kind of tips in that favor you know so sometimes somebody gets uh you know life in in prison without the possibility of parole for doing things that other people do recreationally you know for fun after they finish their white collar duties for the day okay hey i'm not here to judge i'm not here to say what's what i'm just saying i got eyeballs i see this stuff even without having 20 20. i've got contacts in god's healing that he's stealing that from me too bring my friend back in pray and i'm gonna receive it all right but here's the thing i've noticed that people who are the children of prominent or powerful people they may do some things that could embarrass the family and and somehow it has a way of going away it has this like secret kind of way of like disappearing or maybe it happens and it just goes away like you're like what in the world how did that happen like poof be gone right because somehow powerful people have the ability to create favor for other people you know if you're the child of a celebrity it might happen for you if you're the child of someone in the judicial system it might happen for you if you're the child of a politician it might happen for you if you're the child of let's say royalty maybe your indiscretions might be covered over what if you're the child of divinity i'm talking a little step above royalty because royalty dies what if you're a child of someone immortal who doesn't rule like a country or like a bank or you know what if they rule i don't know a galaxy or like or like the universe or or like they created it all and it's sustained by their existence and the power of their word i'm just saying i'm just saying what if that's true you know you could go out there and say you know like sometimes children of powerful people want to be rebellious right they want to show they're down for the cause you know what i'm saying the streets come calling they're like forget this i don't care that you're a judge i'm gonna go out here and tarnish the family name and just go and do go wild and do whatever and help comes for them they say i don't want your lawyers i'm gonna do it on my own ah they're on their own but what if they come running home you see them in court what do they have a black eye and a nice suit on you've been through some things sir but you're you're you've got a suit on you're in court with daddy's lawyers her mommy's lawyers what if you what if you went home like the lost son in luke 15. i'm just saying you you spent all your inheritance on riotous living and you didn't want to go home because you probably wouldn't let you do that so you're going to try to make the money back there's a famine that hits the land you're working for someone who doesn't even have the same customs i mean this is a jewish guy i mean jesus would be speaking to jews but he's feeding pigs and the jews didn't play with swine so he's in a foreign land and he's so hungry wants to eat with them and he comes to what he comes to himself his man my father's hired servants have more than enough food to spare i'm going home i gotta do this i'm gonna tell my dad i've sinned against heaven and against you i'm not worthy to be called your son make me as one of the higher servants he comes home his father sees him from a distance runs off to him because powerful families are huge on loyalty and family usually they are i don't even have to like you but but the name but the name but the name that's why one of the prophets was calling out to god greg who was it and he says he says god you gotta hurry up you gotta you gotta defer not don't wait any longer harken and do free for your city and your people they're called by your name the ironic blessing in numbers chapter six god tells moses and to tell aaron to speak a blessing over the people may the lord bless you and and protect you may the lord you know cause his face to shine on you lift up his countenance upon you smile on you etc and he says may the lord give you peace right in the end what does he say by doing this you will place my name on my people and i the lord will bless there's something about the name of the lord being called by his name you got my name so even if i don't protect you for you i may not protect you for your first name but i'm gonna protect you for your last name but if you change your name because you're ashamed of our values if you change your name because you don't want to be called by my name if you reject the house i can't help you out there but if you come home and end with this i'm in with this you're out there and you're struggling you're going through you give me some juice greg listen you're out there you're going through hardship and you're thinking lord why why am i going through why i want to i want to remind you something god sets you up to win but you've got to do something on your part here's what you got to do remember this number one you have access to god hebrews 4 verse 12 hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. let's go there and you can turn that up please it says for the word of god is alive and active sharper than any double-edged sword it penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit joint and marrow it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart i love love love talking about the word of god the longest chapter in the book of the longest um chapter in the bible psalm 119 it's about the word of god it's called the sword of the spirit it's called the hammer that breaks the rock and pieces the scripture says though the heavens and earth will pass away the word of the lord will endure forever uh the grass withers in the flower face the word endures forever jesus said you are clean because of the words which i have spoken unto you sanctify them by your truth your word is truth your word is a lamp until our feet is a light into our path it has the ability to give you salvation it has the ability to make the simple wise the word of god is it's active and powerful i mean let me tell you something god's word is no there's no uh nothing to sleep on the scripture says in one of the visions that john had in the book of revelation that jesus is in his majesty and what is he doing he's wearing a coat of armor on his thigh is written king of kings and lord of the lord but it caused his chest it is written word of god why because the scripture said he is the word that created the world that was made flesh and dwelt among us so i wanted to start in verse 12 for that reason verse 13 it says this nothing in all creation is hidden from god's sight everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account god sees everything next verse therefore since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven jesus the son of god let us hold firmly to the faith we profess it says in the next verse for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet he did not sin next verse for so this here's what we need to do let us then approach god's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need here's what this means here's what it means it means this jesus is our high priest jesus paid the penalty for our sins jesus atoned for our sins it was his blood that was shed for our sins so that when god looks at us he sees us through the blood of jesus and says you are clean not because of your works but because of the work that christ did on your behalf he couldn't do it from heaven he had to come in as our near kinsman redeemer do a little study he's our high priest here's what it means he can empathize with your weakness so when you're praying and he's the scripture says he ever lives to make intercession on your behalf he's praying to the father on your behalf here's what he's saying i know what it's like to struggle even as divinity i and my human experience father and i'm telling you from here it looks different than it is down there it's really not easy having human weakness the scripture says that more that he literally took a human body and that was called poverty for him think coming to america coming and having the american experience for the prince was poverty right he was impoverished in this this human body having to need sleep and needing to eat and having being subject to frustrations and you know so he understands and so because he can empathize here's what he's saying when you come to god you can come boldly to the throne of grace here's what grace means grace means what i don't deserve it i didn't earn it but it's working for me here's what it is it's manifested as operational power god has power to solve your situation it's waiting on you it's waiting on you but you've got to go there not with your head down but with your chin up not because of what you've done or not done but because of who you are to god you're god's child so he says because of jesus you can come with confidence or boldly to the throne of grace so you could do what receive mur you would be surprised how many of god's children refuse to come and humbly receive mercy you receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need how how do you receive mercy by asking for it and and it's in your time of need which means you're going to do something at some point or not do something at some point that's going to put you in a deficit where you're going to need god's mercy my question is are you smart enough to know when that time is instead of complaining about where you are say god you know what if i'm honest it's not that you're picking on me it's that i'm lazy it's not that you're picking on me is that i blew this opportunity i i blew this relationship i blew this marriage i blew this job i blew this ministry i blew this season i didn't do the things you said too but remember this you have access to god because of jesus number two you have angelic assistance i have too many verses psalm chapter 91 verse 11 through 12 he's given his angels charge over you to keep you matthew chapter 18 verse 10 jesus said that the children you don't don't sleep on these kids man he said listen their angels are before my father's face how do i activate the angels you don't speak to the angels angel go here and there no they hearken to the voice of his word according to psalm chapter 103 verses 19-21 what does that mean it means that when you declare the word of the lord it may look like nothing's happening but the angels of god and their power and in their splendor go to do what god's word says to do [Music] you have access to god you have angelic assistance and finally you have authority in the earth matthew chapter 28 verse 18 through 20 and luke chapter luke chapter 10 verse 19 and 20. i said it for the record so if you go back and watch this you have that information here's the idea jesus this makes it very plain he has authority he gave us authority so use your authority what does that mean when you have authority you speak and things happen if you have authority over your children when you speak things happen right when jesus said because of our authority we can say to a mountain be removed and be cast in the sea and if you believe and don't doubt it will get up and it will end up in the sea that's why oftentimes jesus spoke a word and a thing happened the centurion his servant was sick to the point of dying he said listen i'll come and heal jesus said no no no i mean the centurion said i'm not worthy that you come under my roof i'm not hey but check this out i am a man set under authority i say to one go when he goes and another come and comes he says so check this out here's what i'm perceiving i'm going to throw this in there for you if you can unless in case you can't make the connection for him to speak of authority what he's saying is i have authority so i understand how authority works he says speak the word only and my servant will live and jesus said after i've seen faith like this in all of it i haven't seen faith like this anywhere you know what you get it you get it and he said co you're away your servant is well and he went back and guess what i mean you get it the servant was well in the hour that jesus did what spoke it how did he speak it and why did he speak it because he knew he had authority and jesus said this man all authority in heaven and earth is mine and he tells them in another place i've given you authority to trample upon serpents and upon scorpions and over all the power of the devil he says another place as the father sent me so i'm sending you he says another place in matthew 10 he said go and preach the gospel and when you go i want you to not only tell them i want you to show them i want you to heal the sick i want you to raise the dead i want you to cleanse lepers i want you to cast out demons but but what if it's covered 19 i want you to heal the sick i want you to raise the dead i want you to cleanse lepers i want you to cast out demons [Music] what about this one and that one and that one it went but the devil's doing this stuff i've given you the power to tread upon serpents upon a scorpion upon over all the power of the devil how do you release authority the same way jesus did what if i do it and it doesn't work when they couldn't cast out the devil from the boy they went to jesus and said how come we weren't able to do it and jesus said because of your unbelief nevertheless this kind doesn't go out except through prayer and fasting jesus did not stop to pray and fast however jesus had been collecting prayer and fasting along the way what he was saying is if you want to win some fights you got to get in shape at the level of your opponent but what he's saying is this the fight is fixed but you got to learn how to participate and do your part are you understanding this i'm done here's my point though you've been strategically set up to win this fight just because you have favor doesn't mean you won't have a fight in fact it's the opposite it will attract a fight however whatever fight you're in tonight you have been given victory now walk it out amen i hope you receive that tonight um thanks for being here for our bible experience it's so much fun just to share god's word this is kind of like a relaxed moment for us just kind of to break open the word and you know get it in us and digest it together thank you so much for being with us and and as always you know if you want to partner with this ministry we want to give you an opportunity to do that as god lays it on your heart the scripture tells us as new testament believers that we're not to give out of some law we're not to give in response to pressure or any kind of manipulation or obligation but we're to give as as we've purposed in our heart and so here's what that looks like man ask the holy spirit now if he would have you to give something if not hey go go buy some ice cream for your kids right but if the lord has laid something on your heart then you just give that just pray and ask him right now and whatever it is god's laid on your heart here's what we'd like you to do number one we thank you for partnering with us we're not playing money games we're just saying give us your purpose in your heart you go online to nccfamily.org click on the giving tab we're doing redoing that website i'm so excited you give to the ncc family app you can give by texting ncc family with no spaces to 77977 come to one of our campuses and give i recommend coming on a sunday morning 10 30 a.m wearing a mask in dolphin 200 dome lane uh at 10 30 a.m on sunday we're having services man guys been moving i see amazing things happening god's bringing in different cultures i'm excited in montgomery come at 9 00 a.m 500 eastdale loop or just come during the week and drop your offering off or you can mail your gift to 200 known lane delta alabama 36303 listen thanks again for joining us don't don't sleep on the word of god get in the scriptures even if you're someone who says i don't know the bible that well maybe get a devotional or like listen to some preaching or something just start where you are because god's gonna speak to you and it's not enough for us to say i got it no no one has it just getting in the word wherever you can and let god speak to your heart so he can give you direction of where he wants you to go we love you we thank god for you have a great rest of the week and we'll see you on sunday you

Channel: Pastor Hart Ramsey

Views: 801

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: b5s1xlsoZGg

Length: 90min 21sec (5421 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 28 2021