When The Battle Chooses You - Dr. Marvin Jackson - River of Life Christian Center

better after having heard god's word amen and amen again there is the narrative that that i want us to take a look at this morning it's familiar to many of you um it's found in second chronicles second chronicles chapter 20 and so let's go to second chronicles chapter 20 and we are going to read the first 13 or so verses i'd like to ask everyone to stand to your feet to give honor and reverence to the eternal word of god that is forever settled in heaven you all ready to read you're not sleeping you're not tired you ready all right let's go and it came to pass after this also that the children of moab and the children of ammon and other beside the ammonites came against jehoshaphat to battle then there came some that told jehoshaphat saying there cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side of syria and behold they be in hazazan tamar which is in jedi and jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the lord what did he do and proclaimed the fast throughout all judah and judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the lord even out of all the cities of judah they came to seek the lord and jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of judah and jerusalem in the house of the lord so he was in church before the new court and said oh lord god of our fathers listen to this prayer this this is how you pray art not thou god in heaven and rules not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen and in thine hand is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee art thou art not thou our god who did us drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people israel and gave it to the seed of abraham thy friend forever and they dwelt therein and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name saying if when evil come upon us as the sword judgment or pestilence or famine we stand before this house and in thy presence for thy name is in this house and cry unto thee in our affliction then thou will hear see this is what i love about god god says not only will i hear you but i'll help you i serve a god who will hear and not only when he hears he'll help now look at this and uh then we read that and now behold okay and now behold the children of ammon and moab and mount seer whom thou would has not let israel invade when they came out of the land of egypt but they turned from them and destroyed them not behold i say how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession which thou has given us to inherit our god wilt thou not judge them i'm sorry for we have no might to fight against this great company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are on you verse number 13 and all judah stood before the lord with their little ones their wives and their children you may be seated uh tonight um you all in the back you can go ahead and and put up my sermon title for today i want to talk to you from from this subject uh when the battle chooses you when the battle chooses you i'm what is that i'm trying to make out what that is it's a glove okay all right when the battle chooses you um let me ask you guys a question and you tell me if you can bear witness with this um if you can raise your hand so i'll know that you felt the same sentiment before how many of you have have have ever asked yourself this question why do good things happen to bad people you've never asked that question you you saw someone they were some some tragedy god why do good things happen to bad people and and the reason that we why do bad things happen to good people thank y'all this is my church they won't let me go too far we're on the same page virtual people why do bad things happen to good people okay now why do we ask this because somehow we equate tragedy and the bad things that happen you know when you look at the vicissitudes of life we equate the bad things with some type of judgment we say well you know they they must have done something in order for that to happen to them because you know bad things just don't happen to to to good people because we consider that to be a kind of judgment you know they they must have brought that on themselves and do you know that's human nature i want to show you something in the gospel of john um one time jesus we're about to look at it was walking with his disciples and they came upon a man who was blind and and they said jesus who did sin this man well here it is can they put it up on the screen uh and as jesus passed by he saw a man which was um blind from his birth and his disciples asked him saying master who did send this man or his parents that he should be born blind jesus said nobody sin he said this is the way that it is that the glory of the lord might be revealed in him but do you see how they had this natural inclination to believe that this man couldn't be born this way unless this was some type of judgment you know because bad things just are not supposed to happen to good people but how do you resolve how do you make sense of a senseless tragedy how do you make sense of the young pastor that was driving home from bible study with his three children in the back of the car and a drunken driver swerves across the center line hits the car kills the entire family how how do you make sense of something like that how do you reconcile within yourself someone that you knew all of your life to be just an awesome person and all of a sudden you find out that they've been diagnosed with a terminal illness how how do you make sense of all of that um i had a friend of mine that i went to to high school with and i've told you all this story before when we integrated our high schools some people out there going integration what is that we integrated high schools when i was in sixth grade and it was a lot of tension a lot of racial tension man i never met so many mean people before in my life but there was this one guy white guy named timothy fulford he was just first of all he had the face like like an angel he didn't do what all the other kids did the mean stuff he was just nice later on as we went through high school i graduated went away to the air force and then the college got a call one night around april 1st from another of my classmates who was a a pro he was a undercover detective in miami he said man he said i got some bad news for you he said uh jimmy jimmy fulford is dead and uh i said what happened because i knew he was a state trooper and he told me the story he said man he was blown to bits they had to literally find pieces of his body in the highway and i never will forget when i went to the funeral that was the largest funeral i have ever gone to in my life in his seat in the choir his robe was draped over the seat law enforcement came from across the united states to his funeral and as we sat there the person that eulogized him his name was reverend thad enzminger and he took a post he took a text from ephesians i think it's 1 and 11. he says unto god who works all things after the council of his own will you see and that's how he reconciled it because some things in life just don't make sense and you know i've heard people say this in life how many of you have heard people say this you got to choose your battles you ever heard people say that but what about when the battle chooses you what do you do when the battle chooses you you you weren't thinking about it you definitely weren't looking for it what do you do when the battle chooses you last year in 2020 say this like i feel it well nobody think about no pandemic but the pandemic shows us some of you you didn't plan on being a virtual homeschool teacher but virtual homeschool teacher chose you you didn't choose you didn't choose to stay inside for a whole month and and have all kinds of hardships and whatnot but listen the quarantine chose you you didn't choose to have to rearrange your finances you you didn't choose the layoff you didn't choose the situation that's looking you straight in the eyes but the situation chose you do you know that jehoshaphat was not a bad king his father's name was asa asa was a good king jehoshaphat was a great king i i mean you could kind of make sense of it if he was a bad king but jehoshaphat was a reformer he did not do like many of the other kings uh in israel when they came to the throne you know they worshiped god but they kept the high play the high places and they would steal off into the groves and worship the asteros and the bales no he didn't do that he tore down the high places he restored right worship to god to the degree that he sent levites to all of the provinces that he governed to instruct the people and to teach the people in the ways of god but even though he was a good king he didn't choose that battle that battle chose him have y'all ever felt like god was picking on you god listen i ain't in the streets i am womanizing i ain't gambling i ain't trying to take nobody's money i'm going to church every time the church door opens i pray you like that righteous self-righteous pharisee i pray three times a day i pay my tithes and everything else god why did you let this show up in my life what do you do when the battle chooses you so there's just a couple of things i want to talk to you about from this particular passage so first thing tell your neighbor before we get started look at them and say suit up yeah before you go into battle you better suit up you can't just go in there any kind of way you better suit up so let's talk about a couple of things just about four or five things i want to share with you this morning go to second chronicles chapter 20 verse one through five and this is the first thing i want you to remember what do you do when the battle chooses you when the battle chooses you strengthen yourself in prayer the word and in faith i'm sorry in fellowship when the battle chooses you anchor down anchor down and begin to strengthen yourself in prayer the word and fellowship why do i need to strengthen let's take a look at jehoshaphat give me a second chronicles chapter 20 1-5 i want to show you something and it came to pass when all these people came next verse go ahead then told your host father saying that gracie among them okay we got that next verse okay and jehoshaphat feared but this is what he did and this is what i wanted to get to he set himself to seek the lord and proclaim the fast throughout all judah and so when battles come into your life that you did not choose number one anchor deep and pray and get into your word and do not forsake church this is listen there was power in the fellowship where jehoshaphat was they went out there by themselves when he came and greeted them and spoke to them and gave them god's battle strategy they were in the sanctuary do you all remember that you see and a rookie mistake among believers is this when i get in trouble when a battle hits my life that i did not ask for that is overwhelming for new believers and an immature christian their first move is to move away from church and you don't want to move away from church but i wasn't about it none of my business god knows your business and let me tell y'all something it i i don't understand pastors who get in trouble especially with physical ailments and you try to hide it from your church if pastor jackson ever gets into a health challenge i am going to be calling you i'm going to be texting you i'm going to send out carrier pigeon notices i'm going to send out letters and tell y'all please pray for pastor marvin i am in a faith fight people scared of losing members and then you run around here not tapping into the supernatural power of prayer then you go away somewhere and die no pray for me amen all right and so he began to seek the faith of the lord now you got to understand something no matter what the battle looks like no matter what you think of it no matter how it looks like it's how it's formulating or coming together at the end of the day whether it's financial whether it's a health issue whether it's a family issue whether it's a career issue at the end of the day it's going to boil down to a faith issue but before we get to that let's go back to why you need to be in church give me psalms chapter 20 psalms chapter 20. lord send thee help out of the sanctuary hear me in the day of trouble the lord hear thee in the day of trouble when is that day is it february 3rd is it july 17th we don't know but what we do know is there's there is going to be a day of trouble how do you know how can you stand there and say that because the bible says many are the afflictions of the righteous but don't stop there because there's a big old but it says many are the afflictions of the righteous but the lord will deliver him out of them all so i know there's going to come a day of trouble so he says the lord hear thee in the day of trouble the name of the god of jacob defend thee send thee help look at this send the help from the sanctuary see when you're going through you don't have to go through by yourself we are a community of faith we are a family of believers and when you are a part of a family listen you don't share one another's burdens you bear one another's burdens the reason why people don't come to the church and say listen i have an issue is because we are full of gossipers the bible says if a brother be overtaken in a fault it's in galatians chapter six it says you who are spiritual bear one another's burdens not share one another's burdens when people come to you in confidence and tell you i am involved in a battle my marriage is falling apart i am involved in a battle i've got a health issue i i just don't want to talk to everybody about it i am in a battle i lost my six-figure job they don't need you on social media and on the phone telling everybody what they just told you and what that makes us do is we bottle up our pain we bottle up our frustration and the body of christ doesn't work the way that it's supposed to work because in the book of james the word of god says this pray ye for one another that you might be healed [Applause] it does mean good when i pray for you pray ye for one another that you might be healed that the body might be healed and so i've got to double down on my prayer life but the word of god says send thee help out of the same where's that scripture again send the help out of the sanctuary and strengthen the out of zion if you go to church and you leave church and you don't feel some new level of strength some new level of faith some new level of get up and go if you leave church and all of your get up and go has got up and left something didn't happen the way that it was supposed to happen in that fellowship a long time ago when people had a rough week and the bottom had fallen out they caught hell all week long they looked forward to going to church on sunday because they would ask this question is there a word from the lord in the house today and so they went to church because they knew that even when they could lift their hands if somebody beside them lifted up their hands if another sister over here lifted up their hand if a brother jumped up like brother cohen started clapping their hands see you gotta understand something this thing is contagious and that's why everybody that comes in the house ought to have a praise because praise is contagious it will jump off one person and jump on you so don't you stay away from the house of god this is a community of faith this is a family of believers we get more heat when we come together as opposed to standing alone as a single coal that's burning by itself i'm uh i'm a grill master i've been smoking foods for a long time and one thing i can tell you is how to start a fire if you get charcoal and you like one charcoal and you leave one charcoal out there by itself anybody that's a real cook and i'm not talking about folks that offer burnt offerings how many of you if you are a real cook what's gonna happen to that cold if you leave that cold it's gonna go out but what happens if you take that one hot coal and drop it on a pile a dead coast i dare you to walk away and go do something something in the house and come back and you will find that the heat that was on that one hot coal jumped over on the other coals now we got a fire and we can cook some folk when you come to church you need to make sure you come in the door hot pastor how do i come in the door hot well what did you do when you woke up this morning when you woke up this morning did you say god i thank you i thank you that i'm clothed and in my right mind did you have a song in your mouth before you left the house you don't have to wait to get to the praise team to send up a praise you got to sing and make melody in your heart or were you fighting when you ended up in the parking lot but if you get ready before you get here when you walk into the door nobody has to ask you to lift up your hand if you're not careful you lift up your hand while you're walking in the parking lot when you're really on fire and you're hot you walk into the door this is the day that the lord has made i will rejoice and be glad it is i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord our feet shall stand within thy gate i will bless the lord at all times and his praise they shall continually be in my mouth oh magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together for the lord is good and his mercy is everlasting i came in hot i came in on fire i don't need the praise team to light me up i don't need any of that the lord is my life oh lordy [Applause] [Music] now remember i said you got to anchor down and pray and you got to realize this is a faith fight i want to show you something in ephesians chapter 6 verse number 10. you got to understand i don't care what it looks like it's going to all boil down to your faith look at this finally finally after you've done everything else after you've called everybody that you know how to call finally my brethren be strong in the lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of god that ye might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places i needed you to see that but what and the next verse says wherefore taken to you the whole armor of god that you might be able to uh withstand in the evil and having an altar stand but this is what i want you to see verse uh verse 16. look at this and above all over everything else he said i need you to take up a shield that's called the shield of faith and no matter what the devil throws at you during this battle lift up that shield i told you you got to stay in prayer stay in the word stay unfilled lift up the shield of faith now why is it important that i stay in an atmosphere of faith when the battle is going on remember i told you it's a faith fight so i need to be inundated with things that build my faith you don't have time to be listening to smooth jazz when you're going through a faith fight [Laughter] you you don't have time to be watching housewives of atlanta when you're going through a faith fight you have to turn all of that down and get serious with god and listen because if you will lift up that shield of faith everything the devil throws at you you'll tear it down but pastor what happens when i get tired when i feel like giving up because it happens you know what jesus said and luke he said men ought to look oh they they on it today and he's making parable unto them say to this thing that men ought to always pray and not train we know that but yet we faint i'm gonna say it again don't we know it but yes we faint okay this is what you have to realize when you feel like fainting you have to know that you have a supernatural resource for super natural strength i'm going to say it again never forget you have a super natural resource for supernatural strength if you don't believe that if you don't know that you will faint and you don't want to faint jesus said that men ought to pray and not faith now what do you mean i have a supernatural force and supernatural power all right now let's look at something second chronicles chapter 12 20 12 through 15. i want to show you something about fainting because when when a battle chooses you that you didn't choose that thing will knock the breath out of you it'll take your strength away now look at how he prayed he said oh our god will not thou judge them and this is what i mean by feeling like fainting he says we have no might anybody ever been there we have no might i don't feel like talking to nobody i don't want no church people calling me i'm tired i'm worn out god i'm ready to throw in the towel and quit we have no might do you see that look at verse number 15 in that same chapter 20 and verse number 15. and he said how can ye all judah and ye inhabitants of jerusalem and thou king jehoshaphat thus saith the lord unto you be not afraid of god's talking to somebody he said be not afraid nor be dismayed by reason of this great multitude for the battle ain't yours it's god's listen when the battle chooses you that means you didn't choose it if the battle chose you before it shows you it had to go grow across a couple of deaths and get a couple of signatures the battle had to first go to god's desk and god had to look at it and say okay i think i've equipped him to take care of that then they shifted over to jesus jesus said okay listen i'm his intercessor i ever lived to intercede for him so i know he's gonna make it then they pass it off to the holy ghost holy ghost said don't worry about it you know i live on the inside of him i'm gonna give him supernatural power i'm gonna when when they feel like they can't put one foot in front of the other i'm gonna help them put one foot in front of the other because listen in that day the burden shall be removed and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing so i'm gonna increase my anointing upon their life so they're gonna be able to withstand it you see and so he lets that battle come didn't that happen to job before the devil could put his what am i trying to tell you if god allowed the battle he knows you can win you see and so the devil came to job and uh and and he the lord said so where you been he said oh i've i've just been walking around to and fro and um and and god said he started bragging on job he said have you considered my server job you see the test was not job's faithfulness the test was about god's faithfulness because job didn't choose that battle the battle chose him are you understanding what i'm saying and so what god is saying is i'm going to give you strength to endure the battle and you're going to make it through what do you mean he's going to give me strength when i feel like fainting isaiah 14 29 yeah have y'all ever felt like quitting walking away i mean leaving the just forget it i can do better without this okay say god will give me strength look at this he gives power to the faint and to those that have no might he increases their strength he gives power to the faith and to those that have no might he increases their strength have you ever gotten a second wind before deborah and i we started working out in the garage or at least i started working out and we got this little little jazzy machine that i fell in love with when i was at orange theory fitness it's a rower and we try to do between 500 and a thousand meter road and before you just dismiss that jump on a roar and try it for yourself okay and after you get around five when you first start off man that thing is so smooth oh it's just smooth and and you just rolling you got it going on but after a while when you start approaching that 500 meter mark your strokes per minute decrease your wattage decreases your breathing becomes labored and when your breathing becomes labored and you can't maintain your form through the stroke if nobody's looking you know one of the easiest things for you to say i did my workout now you didn't go over 100 meters all right but how many of you know when you get really really tired quitting is an easy option but i dare you to stay in there don't get out of the rain even if you can barely find the strength to do it god let me t jesus i know this to be true god will breathe on you and when he breathes on you it's a second wind and see that's why the bible says they that way upon the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount upon wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary walk and not faint david said i had faith if i had not believed to say you got to learn how to wait [Music] and don't quit and god will give listen god will give you supernatural strength that you didn't even know you had [Music] see the anointing shows up when you need it it's not like you just call it and pick it and grab it you see when you find yourself in dire situations shadrach meshach and abednego daniel in the lines then david when you find yourself in those situations the anointing will come upon you and give you supernatural strength you will be see you don't even know what you can endure yet i hear people say this all the time oh i couldn't do that i don't know how they did that how you know do you know what god will some the bible says he who faints in the day of adversity his strength is small you don't know what you're made of and the only way sometimes that you can know what you're made of is god has to allow a storm to choose you god didn't allow the storm to choose you to destroy you but the bible says he will perfect those things that concern with me how does he perfect those things that concern with me all right let me put this in a word picture imagine god is a sculptor he's a woodworker and he finds a stump in the mud in the muck well he has to take it clean it off a little bit cut off some of the rough and then put it on a little spindle thing that rolls and as it begins to roll at high speed he takes a little chisel and he chisels away a little bit oh that hurts ah but he's getting rid of that pride he's getting rid of that selfishness he's getting he's getting rid of that unforgiveness listen he's shaping some humility in your heart he's putting some and all of that process hurts but when the spindle stops turning and you look at the final thing see god knows what's really inside you you don't [Applause] the worst situations in your life believe it or not are designed to make you better let me say that again the worst situations that you ever encounter in life are not designed to destroy you they're designed to make you better and what you have to understand when the storm chooses you god is more interested in changing you than he is about changing your situation see what you're doing is you're praying and asking god to stop the battle stop the storm stop the situation circumvent what's going on god's not listen the circumstance doesn't nearly concern god as much as you do because believe it or not this circumstance is working on your behalf even though it doesn't feel good it's helping develop your character can i get an amen from one somebody all right okay now let's talk about this never forget this you were created to overcome did you know that when god created you he put overcomer status inside you the word of god says that we are more than conquerors through him that loves us another scripture says that he always causes us to triumph in christ jesus another scripture goes on to say greater is he that's within me then he that's within the world listen you were built for this but this is what i want you to know i'm almost done got a couple of things i want to say when the battle chooses you the god that i serve is so smart he will give you a battle strategy okay you say i don't believe that pastor all right let's take a look at it second chronicles chapter 16 second chronicles chapter 16. now before we read that what do you mean pastor he will give me a battle strategy okay have you ever heard of this little guy in the bible whose name was gideon and and the lord came to gideon one day and called him a mighty man of valor and gideon did like some of us would do who god said no you okay and he tells gideon he said i am going to use you to overthrow the midianites as one man did it and so get in in his misunderstanding of who god was and how god operates he goes out and he gathers together he summons together 32 000 foot soldiers to go to war when he summons those 32 000 foot soldiers to go to water let me tell you how how pitiful that was the bible says that the midianites covered the ground like grasshoppers without numbers so even with 32 000 men he was still out man and guess what god did now remember i'm talking about god giving you a battle strategy okay um god says hey gideon he said uh you got too many soldiers there i imagine gideon says who you talking to because gideon knew he was going to have to face almost a million people god says you got too many he said what i want you to do he said go out and make an announcement to your troops go out and stand among your troops and ask them who's afraid out of 32 000 people 22 000 went home gideon's army was greatly diminished and you know what god said god didn't say go ahead i got you back you know what he said he said get him he said you still have too many he said well now listen i'm trying to show you how he will give you a battle strategy because sometimes the battle will involve other people can i tell you something everybody's with you not gonna fight with you there are some people if you get in the gym they're going to run why because they're afraid man let me tell you something from the streets all right that is one of the worst feelings you can have when when you know it's getting ready to go down and you were one of the main trash talkers up in front and y'all go to throwing hands and you look for the people that said they were going and you see they in the wind man please now you got to catch them and beat them all right what was i talking about uh but gideon okay and so now he uh he says take those ten thousand people that you have and go down by the the pond there i want i want you to watch them how they drink and they went down and god said pay attention to people that drink like this do you know how many people there were that drink like that 300 now gideon has 300 facing about a million and you know what god says that's just the way i want it because if you had won it with the 32 000 you would have taken the glory if you had won it with 10 000 we did it god says no all right now this is what he tells him he says gideon he said early in the morning before the sun comes up take your 300 men see god is crazy this is what he said don't take a spear don't take an arrow don't take a bow don't take a chariot don't take a sling he said take a clay pot put a candle in the clay pot and get a horn and y'all go up in the hill and surround this million man army and god said when i give you the signal he said the first thing i want you to do is everybody all 300 of you blow your horn and crack the pot okay now this is me talking to god right god what you saying you you've taken away my army the little bit of folk after you took the first bunch you took them away and now i've got 300 men that are not trained soldiers you tell us to go against an army that's over a million strong don't take a sword don't take a shield don't take an arrow don't take a sling take a candle a pot and a horn and surround the camp and we're going to get the victory when we blow the horn see i'm gone some of y'all y'all say please i'm out you know guess what they did early in the morning when god gave the signal they blew the trumpet and it startled the enemy army when they woke up from the slumber remember this is before day in the morning they cracked the clay jars and when they looked to the hills all they saw were lights in the hills all around them so they thought that they were surrounded by an enemy army and in such haste to get up and get ready they killed one another y'all don't know the god that i serve this is why i don't worry about folks that talk about me and i dare you to mess with me come on bring it because i got a god if you come messing with me if this god here i go give them god you get them you get them i'm not gonna run out there not one time see the reason that you're so tired is you are fighting battles that god never intended you to fight i told you that god will give you a battle strategy and sometimes he'll say this stand still now this is what y'all have the problem with standing still because everything in you says i need to do something i need to pull my resources i need to get in touch with this person that can help me i need to get my legal team together he says no no no no stand still do you know that sometimes the greatest act of faith requires no act at all why do we always feel like we have to be doing something don't you know that god was fighting battles before you showed up and don't you know he'll be fighting battles after you leave so god says stand still go to sleep go to sleep drink some more milk rest i got this you stayed up all night long worrying and the morning came and the battle was still there learn how to let it go do you know we have a problem letting stuff go the bible says humble yourself under the mighty hand of god why how do we do that casting all our cares on him we pray for 10 minutes and cast our cares on god and when we say amen we walk over and we pick them up and now we're carrying them around the same weight that you had before you went to him in prayer why we don't know how to leave stuff alone trust god to help you with raising your children sometimes all you need to do is leave it alone if you are a parent and you love god and you pray he'll tell on your children god will give you a dream and listen show you what they're trying to hide can i get a witness from anybody that's out there he will fight that battle for you you don't have to worry about god providing for you you don't have to fight that battle if you are a giver if you are a sower he gives seed to who to sowers so he would be an unwise god to ask you for something that he didn't provide and so as long as i keep my seed in the ground i never have to worry because the job was never my source god is my source jehovah jireh is my source he's the one that made her know a way out of nowhere he's the one that put bread on the table he's the one that put clothes on my back he's the one that helped me get through college he's the one that built this ministry it was god all along [Applause] now let's look at one other thing i don't know if i'm gonna close with this i'll talk about it go to second chronicles chapter 20 verse seven through nine do you know you have history with god if you're an adult and even if you're a young teen how many of you can raise your hand and say i have history with god this is my first rodeo i've been in some rough places before i've been between a rock and a hard place before i've been in a situation where i had more month than money i've been in a situation where my money was acting funny and my change was acting strange and my credit couldn't get it i've been in situations like that before but god when i look back over my life have you ever wondered how you got here think about this think about everything you had to go through from the cradle up until this very second a whole lot of folk didn't make it but you did i guarantee you there are some people that you know that didn't make it this far but look at you and not only did did you make it he brought you out without a scratch he brought you out without a scar he brought you through the fire he bought you through the wind he brought you through the rain and when you came out of the fire he brought you out with a high hand and not only did he bring you out with a high hand he brought you out sweetly and neatly you know what i mean when i say he brought see some people look like what they've gone through you don't even look like what you've gone through when you came out of the fire nobody could even smell smoke on you your hair wasn't even sent because while you were in the battle you don't realize it but there was another man that was in the battle that was fighting for you see that's why the word of god if god be for us who can be against us don't make me do that all right now okay last thing i want to tell you even though you didn't choose the battle the battle chose you you're going to be better after the battle did you hear what i just said nobody wants battles they didn't choose but i promise you you will be better after the battle you're going to be stronger you're going to be wiser your faith is going to be off the chain this is what you have to understand about a child of god we never lose we just learn children of god how can you lose when i'm more than a conqueror when he always causes us to triumph everything that i go through people may say well you lost no i learned what i was doing when i was going through that battle is god was giving me information he was making me wiser he was making me stronger because that's not the last time that i'm gonna see that devil but the next time i see that devil i'm going to call on isaiah because isaiah said that in that day the burden shall be removed and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing and you didn't realize god was increasing your anointing with the battle you came out with a deeper anointing your prayer life was deeper your prayer life was richer you're reading the bible more than you were ever reading it before god has put a word in your mouth first peter well let's let's hit this one first hebrews 12 and 2. looking unto jesus [Music] when that battle comes that you didn't ask for be careful what you gazed at looking unto jesus the author don't miss this and the finisher of our faith which means if he's the author and the finisher and i'm not at the end but a battle is here he must have written the battle jesus thank you he included the battle in your story before the battle ever showed up that's how he knows you have everything that it takes to endure the battle looking unto jesus the author and the finisher of our faith who for the joy see you don't understand listen persecution precedes promotion [Music] somebody bring me an offer persecution precedes promotion what you're going through right now is getting you ready for a greater glory there is something on the other side of this looking unto jesus the author and the finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross must jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free no there's a cross for everyone and there's a cross for me he endured the cross despising the shame but look at him now what does that thing say well y'all better get them other verses i'm trying to preach this thing he says for consider him that endured such great contradiction to sinners against himself lest she be wearied and consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest you get tired have they listen have they laid your back open with 29 stripes did they beat you all night long did they pluck your beard out did they put a thorn of a crown of thorns on your head did they do all of that to you no jesus did it so that we can be free amen so you're gonna be better after the battle last scripture first peter five and ten pastor why do we have to suffer why do we have to go through some things why does god allow storms that we didn't ask for but the god of all grace that will preach all by himself the god of all grace he's got saving grace he's got redeeming grace he's got restoring grace he's got reviving grace he's got grace for the prostitute he's got grace for the pimp he's got grace for the addict he's got grace for the ambassador he's got grace but the god he's got all different kinds of grace i don't care what you did i'm the god of all grace i've got grace for that abortion i've gotten grace for that divorce i've got grace you walked away from ministry but i'm the god of all grace but the god of all grace and you know why you keep getting up and coming back because he called you see you don't even understand how you were able to get back up other people were looking at you wondering how did they come through that the call keeps jesus because he called me who has called us until eternal glory by christ jesus look at this after that ye have suffered a while don't you wish you could take a highlighter or a red marker and just scribble that part out and just jump over to the other part no because without that part you won't appreciate the other part because he's describing to you the process but after that you suffered for a while god could you please listen is there an expiration date god on my awhile when is it gonna be is it when is a while when you don't see people sometimes and you wonder what's going on with them sometimes they're fighting a battle that you don't know about so don't put your mouth on it yet because they're still in there a while but a wild doesn't last always weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning you know what job said job said all the days listen joe said listen i didn't ask for this trouble i wasn't looking for this trouble i didn't expect this trouble but yet and still i'm in this trouble but he said this all the days of my appointed time he said i'm going to wait until my change comes because i'm here to tell you that god is changing some things in your life so he says after i get teary because i'm preaching my life and my testimony doesn't come from the bible my testimony comes from my relationship with him because i've been laid low in my life i don't know if y'all know what it means to be laid low i don't care what you think i don't care what nobody else thinks i can't deal with this but he said after that you suffered for a while y'all forgive me for a moment he says if after i suffer for what he says god's gonna make you perfect now what does that mean does that mean you're not gonna do anything wrong no that's not what perfect means we we try to put everything within the the the confines of western culture and civilization that's not what that means that word perfect means mature see some things you behave a certain way when trouble comes as a child you behave differently when you're an adult how many of you went through one thing at one season in your life and you behaved a particular way but that storm came right back about 10 and now guess what i'm you like marvin step i'm stronger i'm wiser so much better and so now when you bring that one to me remember i told you and in that day the burden shall be removed and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing you all have seen that in colonial times when they wanted to make a mockery of you they took you in the public square they put your head in the yolk and your arms in the yolk and your mobility was limited that's what the devil wants to do limit your mobility and people could walk along it and mock you and throw tomatoes at you and spit at you and then you're ashamed you couldn't do nothing because you were yoked up but he said in that day the burden shall be removed and the yolk shall be destroyed because of the anointing look at the word anointing it literally reads because your neck shall be made fat now what does that mean oil oil fat oil is going to be on your neck okay now what he's saying is the oppressor that held you with this because you've been oiled up [Applause] let me move this hand look i got that one out you remember he used to grab you by that one and pull you in the bondage all down i got that one to loose and now all of a sudden i'm i'm working on this one but i realized i got a little bit more movement i snapped that one out my head is still there all right but i heard the words i'll keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me my hands are out right now but i got my mind on the lord and the lord told me no weapon that's formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that rises against me in judgment i shall condemn he told me that all things are working together for my good he told me that he would be my deliverer he told me that he would bring me up and so now i'm gonna shake myself now what the enemy used to send in my life to hold me down i'm free thank god i'm free and whom the son set free you are free indeed you are heavenly free people in the house that can say the devil thought he had me but god turned it the devil thought he had canceled me out but god saved me you ought to give him praise hallelujah you may not have chose the battle the battle may have chosen but it didn't come without a reason god knew exactly what he was doing you want to give him can anybody clap can you get it can you give him praise from the fire can you give him praise in the flood can you give him praise in the pit can you give him praise from your sick man can you give him praise when you don't have any money can you give him praise yeah you can the lord is good and his mercy endureth forever come on say that for me the lord is good and his mercy endure forever come on give him one more phrase [Music] nobody told me that the road was going to be easy but you didn't bring me this far to drop me off you didn't bring me this far to leave me you didn't let me come out of that just to let me fall right here if you brought me out of that you'll bring me out of what i'm looking for hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] thank you god thank you god thank you god thank you god [Music] so let me share something with you all [Music] y'all hold on i got i got to share something with you [Applause] this is important this is important when the battle chooses you i have people that i love very very dearly but have health situations they didn't choose that situation that situation chose them i prayed and i said god i said put it on me so they can be okay i said i'll take it and i'll bear it and let them be all right but this is what the lord told me he said some battles you can't take for them they have to go through that themselves because listen when the battle chooses you that battle has your name on it nobody else's name is on it sometimes we see our children going through we say lord take it off my child and put it on me but god says you don't understand that battle doesn't have your name on it that battle has their name on it and then he says this you have to trust me because i know exactly what i'm doing you may not know what i'm doing you may not understand what i'm doing but you got to trust me trust in the lord with all thine hearts leave not to thine own understanding but marvin if you will just acknowledge me in all of your ways i'll show you how to navigate the battle i'll bring you in i'll bring you out when your enemies even your foes come upon you to eat up your flesh you don't have to stay up and worry all night i'll put my foot out and they will stumble and fall marvin i need you to understand something no weapon that's formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that rises against you in judgment i shall condemn marvin i'm here to tell you you are victorious not because of what you've done but because of what was done on an old rugged cross almost 2 000 years ago jesus is my captain jesus is my warrior jesus fight for me he is the lord of hosts lift up your head oh ye gates and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors and the king the king of glory he shall come in who is the king of glory the lord the lord he is mighty in battle [Music] he knows how to deliver [Music] [Music] come on y'all let's pray [Music] god [Applause] most of us who are in this building those of us who are of praying age we've been through some stuff in life and it wasn't always easy there were days god when we couldn't even raise our heads there were days god when we knew they were talking about us behind our backs god and just like paul after we came through the storm serpent latched on and rather than them playing for us they were looking and hoping we would fall over and die but god i thank you for an overcomers anointing i thank you for the holy ghost that lives on the inside of us and god i want to thank you for our own personal resurrection because the devil thought he had us laid low you revived us you resurrected us you brought us back and god we just want to say thank you hide this word in our hearts that we might not sin against you heads about eyes are closed you may be in this place today and when you came in today you were just tired life has beaten you up and you don't have a relationship with jesus and this word was tailor-made just for you and you may not see him but his hand is out stretched to you right now and what he's telling you is i want to help you but i can't help you unless you let me there's about isaac oh saying to god of praying the story was told of a man his pipes were broken in this house and he could not repair his own pipes he didn't have the expertise of a plumber so he called the plumber and the plumber came at a time when he was not expecting and the plumber knocked on the door the house was in a mess everything was in disarray he said i wasn't expecting you he said my house isn't a mess how can the plumber fix the pipes if you don't open the door and let him in through the mess so what jesus is saying now is there is a joy there's a peace that belongs to you but i cannot give it and i can't fix it unless you open the door and let me in he said behold i stand at the door and knock if any man opens the door i'll come in and i will suck with him heads are bowed eyes are closed saints and god are praying i want to challenge you today that if you're in the sanctuary i just want you to slide out of your seat and come up here if you want to know the lord your savior if you're watching us here at the internet or via the television broadcast do you know that god is closer to you than the very breath that you're breathing right now the word of god says with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord they shall be saved so if you're watching with me right now just simply stop and say lord save me i believe you died for my sins i'm asking you this day to be my lord listen if you prayed that prayer get in touch with a bible believing bible teaching church i'm partial i'm prejudiced i believe the river of life christian center is one of the best bible teaching bible believing churches here in the central florida area and so get in touch with the local church if you're here and you made that decision today stop by the information booth we have some material we want to put in your hands it is very important where you go to church it's very important where you connect with let me tell you why hosea 4 and 6 says my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge if you read down a couple of verses it says this like priests like people whatever anointing rests upon the heads of the house the anointing flows down like the beard of aaron down to the hymns of his garment that's why the bible says and it shall be said like priests like people whatever anointing is in that house that anointing is going to be on you choose carefully when you choose a church home if god has spoken to your heart to become a part of this ministry you can do it like we used to do years ago just walk up here and debra and i will shake your hands and greet you or if you're uncomfortable with that stop by the information booth when you leave get a new members form complete that if you're in a rush when you get home get on your computer [Music] r-o-l-c-c dot tv click membership do it that way someone will get in touch with you we'll get you enrolled in our virtual new beginnings classes and by faith deborah and i want to say thank you for becoming members of the river of life christian center did you all get anything out of the word of god today how many of you can say i've been in some situations where i didn't choose that battle that battle chose me but look at you on the other side of it now didn't god bring you out don't you have a testimony can't you say like you hear people say a lot of them wanna do it look at somebody with a smile well they can't see you i just don't think won't he do it yeah he'll do it now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask our think to the god who says i am able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before my presence with exceeding glory until we meet together again may god's richest and may god's best be yours and all of god's people said amen and amen you guys have a wonderful sunday god bless you thank you for being with us today [Music] wow [Music] testing one two [Music] you

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Length: 63min 19sec (3799 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 31 2021