Sermon

Not Mine, But God's: Walking in God's Victory

Elation Church

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  1. Faith is more than a feeling or a theory. It's

  2. a decision that moves your feet, opens your hands,

  3. and activates God's promises. In our brand new

  4. book, Faith Act, Jeffrey and I take you on a

  5. powerful journey through some of Scripture's

  6. most transforming moments, where ordinary people

  7. dared to obey and saw heaven move on their behalf.

  8. Order your copy of Faith Act today on Amazon.

  9. Week number four in a series that we've entitled,

  10. Not Mine, But God's. Not mine, but God's. So

  11. far we've looked at this, having the mind of

  12. Christ. Everybody say, mind of Christ. I hope

  13. I can remember all three of them. We've talked

  14. about having the strength of God. And we've talked

  15. about following the will of God. Not our mind,

  16. not our strength, not our will, but God's. And

  17. that's the way, everybody say, that's the way.

  18. That's the way that we're going to rise up above

  19. just the best we can do on our own. You might

  20. ask, why is there a rock and why is there a diamond

  21. up here? I mean, it's not a real diamond. It's

  22. a piece of glass from Amazon. It's a paperweight.

  23. Well, I'll go ahead and fill you in on that.

  24. This represents us and the best that we can do

  25. on our own. Following our, you know, just the

  26. best us. A lot of times we spend a lot of time.

  27. polishing and trying to be the best us that we

  28. can be. But there's something greater than that.

  29. A lot of times we ask God, listen, a lot of times

  30. we ask God to polish us up. But God wants us

  31. to exchange. He doesn't want to polish us up.

  32. He doesn't want us to polish up ourselves. He

  33. wants us to be in Him. to trade, to exchange

  34. our mind for His, our strength for His, our will

  35. for His, instead of us just working to make this

  36. look more spiritual on the outside. I know that's

  37. a lot. Look at the person beside you and say,

  38. that's a lot. Hopefully, We'll be able to grasp

  39. and apply. So here's the question. Who or what

  40. is your source? We talked about God being our

  41. source during the offering, but it's more than

  42. that. Look at the person beside you and tell

  43. them it's more than that. It's more than resources.

  44. Who is your source? Who do you run to? Who do

  45. you depend on? Who's your source? What is your

  46. source? Many believers love God and trust Him

  47. with their eternity, but they don't trust Him

  48. with their everyday. It's very common for people

  49. to have a religious box, a God box. And if you

  50. don't know what I'm talking about, I'll give

  51. you a picture. Men and women think differently.

  52. Has anybody figured that out yet? Gaina and I

  53. will be talking. And all of a sudden she will

  54. say something. I have no idea what she's talking

  55. about. Because I just, I'm in this box and she's

  56. already pulled out another box. And she's talking

  57. about another box. She'll say something else.

  58. I have no idea what she's pulled out another

  59. box. She's dealing in three boxes all at the

  60. same time. I'm just simple. Let's have one box.

  61. Let's try to stay in one box and let's announce

  62. when we move to the next box. Is that fair? Because

  63. we want to be in the same box. We do. We want

  64. to be in the same box. But we have to know what

  65. box it is. I mean, I'm amazed that people can

  66. be in three to five boxes at the same time. I

  67. just need to know which one we're in at the moment.

  68. Let's apply that to our faith. A lot of us, I

  69. know I'm guilty. I'm trying not to be as guilty

  70. as I used to be, but, you know, it's real easy

  71. to have a God box or even a Sunday morning box

  72. or whatever you want to call it and just pull

  73. it out when you're thinking about spiritual things

  74. and then put it back. until next Sunday morning.

  75. That's real easy. God wants me in every box.

  76. There shouldn't be boxes that we pull out that

  77. detach us from who God is. Shouldn't be so focused

  78. on something that God is not involved. Because

  79. so many people love it. They say they love God.

  80. They say they trust God even with their eternity,

  81. with their salvation. But God doesn't have anything

  82. to do with their everyday. We've talked about

  83. this every week. We depend on and we display

  84. who or what we draw from. And by drawing from,

  85. I'm saying our source. Whoever our source is

  86. or whatever our source is, that's who or what

  87. we're depending on, but that's also what we display.

  88. Somebody smile. Y 'all are thinking way too hard.

  89. And one week, I did something crazy. I plugged

  90. in the display wire to the computer. We taped

  91. it down. ran the whole thing, curtain up, turned

  92. on the projector, but I had the display plugged

  93. into here and the source plugged into there.

  94. Now, short HDMI wires, the signal will go both

  95. ways. But guess what? When you get over a certain

  96. length, I don't know how this works, but the

  97. signal only goes one way. That's why, If you

  98. come up here and look, it's got source written

  99. on this red plug and it's got display written

  100. on that red plug. And if you plug it up backwards,

  101. it will not work. And we've been doing this for

  102. years, but I plugged it up wrong just two weeks

  103. ago. Had it all taped. You know, we like to tape

  104. up the wires real neat and straight. Had to rip

  105. it all up and do it again. Listen. Whatever or

  106. whoever you're plugged into as your source will

  107. be on display for everybody else to see. If you

  108. consider yourself and your talent and your abilities,

  109. the source that you're drawn from, when everybody

  110. looks at you, whether you're a believer or not,

  111. when everybody looks at you, they're going to

  112. see you. Look to the person beside you and tell

  113. them, not good. Because as ambassadors of Christ,

  114. when people look at us, they're supposed to see

  115. Jesus. That's what the word Christian means,

  116. actually. It means a little Christ. And that

  117. doesn't just apply to Sunday morning. It's supposed

  118. to apply to every day. Because how is the world

  119. going to hear? If we're just displaying ourselves

  120. all the time. I don't know if that's still in

  121. or not. I just dropped the mic. All right. Now

  122. you might say, well, Dean, I've got a job, you

  123. know, and I get a paycheck every week. Well,

  124. here's the deal. We're not supposed to look at

  125. that as our source. After all, God is the one

  126. who's given you talents and abilities and even

  127. breath. Listen. Is the Bible true when it says

  128. that every good thing, everybody say every good

  129. thing. Every good thing that's coming to your

  130. life has come from God. Is the Bible true? Well,

  131. then that means God should be our source. God

  132. uses avenues. All right? So we have avenues.

  133. But it's God who is using the avenue to bring

  134. blessing into your life. The avenue is not the

  135. source. We need to make sure we keep those things

  136. separate. The avenue and the source. In everyday

  137. life, we should learn to rely on God's supply.

  138. and God's ability instead of our own. Here's

  139. the problem. Ever since we were born, we were

  140. trained to rely on our own supply or someone

  141. else's supply, our own ability or someone else's

  142. ability other than Christ. But we need to learn

  143. to rely on him in every area. Acts 17, 28 says

  144. this, in him, everybody say in Christ. In Christ,

  145. we live and we move and we exist. In Christ is

  146. where we're going to find life, right? In him

  147. is where we move. In him is where we exist. After

  148. we come to Christ, our existence should be in

  149. him. This is a lot. Some of you are going to

  150. have to go back and listen to the podcast from

  151. the three previous weeks. Okay? Jesus is our

  152. example. He's our example. He came to this earth.

  153. He stepped down out of heaven from the right

  154. hand of the Father at just the right time, the

  155. Bible says. He stepped down out of heaven and

  156. he added humanity to his deity. And when he did

  157. that, he laid down some of the things that he

  158. had in heaven. He laid those things down in order

  159. to be our example. So on earth, he operated as

  160. a man that was completely connected to the Father

  161. and empowered by the Spirit. That's the way he

  162. lived his life. He tells us this, John 14, 10.

  163. He even brings it this far. He says, the words

  164. I speak are not my own. But my Father who lives

  165. in me does His work. The work's not His own either.

  166. The Father who lives in me does His work through

  167. me. Do you see it? Look to the person beside

  168. you and ask them, do you see it? Do you see it?

  169. Jesus wasn't speaking his own words. He wasn't

  170. doing his own deal. He was speaking the words

  171. of the Father, and the Father was doing his work

  172. through him. 1 Corinthians 3 .9 says this, we

  173. are God's fellow workers. If you're in Christ,

  174. you are God's co -workers. Anybody ever had a

  175. co -worker before? Some co -workers. It can be

  176. hard to work with some of them. Are you with

  177. me? It can be hard to work with some of them.

  178. How many of you are happy when you go to work

  179. and you get assigned to a person that is as good

  180. as you or more committed than you? That makes

  181. for a good day, right? It's hard when you get

  182. assigned to an area where there's a person who

  183. likes to not work and go hide. Then you've got

  184. to do double work. Know what I'm talking about?

  185. Here's the great thing about being God's co -worker.

  186. Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is

  187. light. So when we're co -workers with God, it's

  188. like, does everybody know what a yoke is? Maybe

  189. everyone doesn't. You take two oxen. You can

  190. call them big cows if you want to, but you take

  191. two oxen, and there's a wooden piece, and you

  192. team them up together. So it's a team. So two

  193. big strong oxen put their heads in a yoke, and

  194. then the farmer, this is before tractors, the

  195. farmer stands behind them with a plow. And then

  196. both of those oxen work together. Now, it's really

  197. difficult for one oxen to pull a plow, even though

  198. some people do that. But when you have two, it's

  199. a lot easier. So they put their heads in, and

  200. they both pull together, and there's a chain

  201. or a rope going back down to the plow, and they're

  202. pulling together, and they're plowing the ground.

  203. And Jesus said, my yoke is easy. And my burden

  204. is light. So when we are co -workers with him,

  205. hey, get this. When you put your head to be a

  206. co -worker with God in Christ, when you put your

  207. head, when you yoke up with him, you just yoked

  208. up to omnipotence. That means all power. You

  209. just yoked up with him. So his yoke is easy.

  210. If you're positioned correctly in Christ, it's

  211. so easy you don't even know if you're doing any

  212. work or not. 2 Corinthians 6, we then are workers

  213. together with Christ. So we are joined with him.

  214. As co -workers with God, we have the opportunity

  215. to exchange our natural. Everybody say natural.

  216. We're going to exchange it for his supernatural.

  217. Everybody say supernatural. We're going to trade

  218. what we have so it won't be mine, it'll be his.

  219. Not mine, but God's. God did not take up residence

  220. in us. For us to live our lives apart from him.

  221. And that may be why we have so much difficulty

  222. sometimes because we're trying to do it apart

  223. from him. And then pulling out that God box just

  224. when it's time to go to church. Remember, it's

  225. not by working to be the best person we can be.

  226. but allowing God's life to flow through us. Amen.

  227. Galatians 2 .20. Let's continue. I've been crucified

  228. with Christ, and I no longer live. This is what

  229. Paul is saying about himself, but it should be

  230. what we're saying about ourselves. I've been

  231. crucified with Christ. I no longer live. Christ

  232. lives in me. The life I now live in the body,

  233. I live by faith. Everybody say faith. Faith in

  234. the Son of God who loves me and gave himself

  235. for me. That should be a description of the life

  236. of a Christian. And when we live that way, we're

  237. going to display, not ourselves, We're going

  238. to display Christ. But you might say, boy, that

  239. don't look like my life today. John 16, 33. Jesus

  240. gave us something wonderful that we can celebrate.

  241. Because if you think what I'm talking about is

  242. you're never going to have a struggle, you're

  243. never going to have any... you're never going

  244. to face any difficult situations because I'm

  245. in Christ, right? Life's going to be a better,

  246. not a better roses because they have thorns,

  247. but life's, I don't want to lay on thorns. Here's

  248. what Jesus tells us. In this world, in the world,

  249. in this fallen, broken, messed up world, you

  250. will have tribulation. Oh, gee. Thanks, Jesus.

  251. You're going to let me know that I'm going to

  252. have some problems. I'm just going to float around

  253. on a cloud and eat bonbons all day. There's going

  254. to be some challenges in my life. Because we

  255. live in a fallen, broken world. Now, has anyone

  256. in here ever had a problem before? Some of you

  257. did not raise your hands. I think it's amazing

  258. that you have never had a problem. In the world,

  259. you have tribulation. It goes on to say, but

  260. be of good cheer. I have come to overcome. I

  261. have overcome. Not come to overcome. I have overcome

  262. the world. Read it right, Dean. That word tribulation,

  263. that's the Greek word. I'm not going to try to

  264. pronounce it. Here's what it means. In this world.

  265. Everybody say, in this world. In this world,

  266. we're going to face some pressure. We're going

  267. to see some affliction. We're going to experience

  268. some anguish. Might even have a burden or two

  269. or ten. We're going to face some persecution.

  270. If we're living for Christ, we're definitely

  271. going to face some persecution. There's going

  272. to be some tribulation. There's going to be some

  273. trouble. Has anybody ever ran into trouble before?

  274. Trouble, trouble, trouble. In this world, we're

  275. going to face that. But Jesus said he has overcome

  276. the world. In the world, we're going to face

  277. some trouble and some pressure. But Jesus said

  278. he overcame it. Everybody say, Jesus overcame

  279. it. That word is coming from the Greek word that

  280. Nike tennis shoes are made from. And Jesus says,

  281. you're going to face some trouble. I just want

  282. you to know I've conquered it. I just want you

  283. to know that I've overcome it. I just want you

  284. to know that I prevail over it. I have gained

  285. victory over it. That's what Jesus said. How

  286. many of you believe Jesus told the truth? Okay.

  287. And because he has overcome it, he tells us to

  288. be of good cheer. Look to the person beside you

  289. and tell them, cheer up, buttercup. Be of good

  290. cheer. Here's what that word means. Good cheer.

  291. Be of good cheer means to take courage. Everybody

  292. say, take courage. Be of good cheer. Everybody

  293. say, be of good cheer. Be confident. Everybody

  294. say, be confident. What are we taking courage

  295. in? That Jesus has already overcome. That's what

  296. we're taking courage in. That's what we're being

  297. confident in. So here's my question. When trouble

  298. or pressure comes your way, who is your source?

  299. I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Whoever your source

  300. is, is going to be displayed. I'm going to go

  301. ahead and get this straight. I'm not talking

  302. about faking it until you make it. What I'm talking

  303. about is a real deal. It's a real spiritual position.

  304. It's not make -believe acting. So when pressure

  305. and trouble comes, what is displayed? If there's

  306. confidence and courage displayed, that means...

  307. That Jesus, who has already overcome, is your

  308. source. Hallelujah. I might just run around the

  309. gym. What does this look like? This be of good

  310. cheer. This is what it is. God is empowering

  311. the believer with a bold inner attitude. You

  312. know what attitude is, because all of us have

  313. attitude every once in a while. but we're talking

  314. about a bold inner attitude based on who God

  315. is and what God has done and what God has made

  316. available, who he says I am, what he says I have.

  317. Now I've got a bold inner attitude about it.

  318. It's God, it's us displaying boldness, but it's

  319. a boldness that's coming from... An inner confidence.

  320. An inner bolstering. This is in the word help

  321. study of this word. I didn't just write this

  322. myself. And that displaying boldness is spirit

  323. produced. It's not flesh produced. It's spirit

  324. produced. Remember, we are spirits. We have a

  325. soul, a mind, a will, desires, and emotions,

  326. but we are spirits. And our spirit, who we are,

  327. is who connects to the Holy Spirit. The Holy

  328. Spirit comes to live on the inside of us, and

  329. that's our divine connection where we're going

  330. to draw this strength from. It's not going to

  331. come just in our human reasoning. That's not

  332. where it's going to come from. Now you can say,

  333. God, you know, and this is what most of us have

  334. done all of our lives, even when we're trying

  335. real hard, we're asking God to make us and our

  336. situations, God, I want you to make mine look

  337. like yours. And God is saying, Just lay yours

  338. down and pick up mine. That's what God is saying.

  339. Hallelujah. This is the result of the Lord infusing

  340. His strength in us, and we receive that through

  341. faith. So this bold inner attitude, this inner

  342. confidence is infused strength. It is spirit

  343. produced and received by faith when we exchange

  344. ours for his. It's all his. Look at the person

  345. beside you and say, it's all his. I mean, the

  346. Bible talks about the challenges we face and

  347. the fight that we're fighting. And sometimes

  348. we try to engage in the fights from the... from

  349. the pressure and the trouble and the enemy. Most

  350. of the time, we're just trying to engage out

  351. of our souls and out of our flesh when we are

  352. spirits. Because ultimately, it's all God's armor.

  353. It's His. Look at the person beside you and say,

  354. it's His. It's His armor. It's his armor. Let's

  355. look at it real quick. Ephesians 6, 10 through

  356. 18. If we're going to walk in God's victory,

  357. we're going to have to be clothed in his armor.

  358. Be strong in the Lord. And in his, guess whose

  359. power it is? It's his mighty power. It's not

  360. be strong in the Lord and your own power. It's

  361. be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

  362. And then it says, put on all. of your armor no

  363. it doesn't say put on all of your armor it says

  364. put on all of God's armor so that you will be

  365. able to stand stand firm against the strategies

  366. of the devil that's how we stand for we're not

  367. fighting against flesh and blood most of the

  368. time we think that we're fighting against flesh

  369. and blood We're not fighting against flesh and

  370. blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities

  371. of the unseen world, against mighty powers in

  372. this dark world, against evil spirits in the

  373. heavenly places. The fear that we experience

  374. so often is not from God because He's given us

  375. a sound mind. Listen, it's his. Jesus said it's

  376. the enemy who's coming to steal, kill, and destroy.

  377. It's the thief who's coming to steal, kill, and

  378. destroy. So if that's your pressure, if that's

  379. your trouble, isn't it very obvious where it's

  380. coming from? Jesus said he came to give his life

  381. to the fullest. Everybody say life. We can take

  382. hold of his life. Therefore, put on every piece

  383. of whose armor? God's armor. So you'll be able

  384. to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then

  385. after the battle, you will still be standing

  386. firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt

  387. of truth. And the body armor of God's righteousness,

  388. not my ability to keep all the rules, but God's

  389. righteousness for shoes put on peace. Where does

  390. that come from? It comes from God's good news

  391. so that you will be fully prepared. In addition

  392. to all these, hold up the shield of faith to

  393. stop the fiery arrows of the devil. He's talking

  394. about a big shield that you can stand behind,

  395. not a little arm shield. Full and complete protection.

  396. I have a picture somewhere of a Roman shield.

  397. Because there's different words describing different

  398. shields. And this shield is a big rectangle shield

  399. that goes to the ground that you can be behind.

  400. That will stop every fiery dart of the devil.

  401. Put on salvation. Who's that come from? Who's

  402. that of? Who is salvation of? Help me out, somebody.

  403. Put on salvation as your helmet. Take the sword

  404. of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Whose

  405. word is it? It's God's Word. So it's all His.

  406. And even when we're praying, it doesn't say pray

  407. as hard as you can. Come up with a big list of

  408. what you want from God and beg Him for it. It's

  409. not what it says. It says to pray in the Spirit.

  410. When? All the time. On every occasion. We need

  411. to be praying Spirit -directed prayers. Not our

  412. soul prayers. Remember, you're a Spirit. And

  413. when we engage, we use God's weapons. Everybody

  414. say God's weapons. It's God's armor. It's God's

  415. weapons. We are human, but we don't wage war

  416. as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not

  417. worldly weapons. God's weapons, well, I'm going

  418. to go ahead and tell you this. Putting on the

  419. armor of God is basically aligning yourself with

  420. the Word of God. Every day, in those areas, you

  421. align yourself every day with the Word of God.

  422. And you stand in the Word. It's all about the

  423. Word. Everybody says it's all about the Word.

  424. It's all about the Word. Right? And listen, we've

  425. got to realize that the war, the battle that

  426. we're facing is not against other people, even

  427. though sometimes it feels like it really is.

  428. Who has some trouble and some pressure and you

  429. think, boy, that's coming from a person? Hello?

  430. Why is everybody looking at me like they don't

  431. know what I'm talking about? You got those faces.

  432. The mighty weapons of God, listen, they're not

  433. worldly weapons. It's truth. It's his word. That's

  434. the weapons that we're engaging with. It's a

  435. faith fight. Fight the good fight of faith. To

  436. knock down. I'm going to go ahead and throw this

  437. out there. It's a bad confession, but everybody

  438. in this room has negative strongholds built up

  439. in your life. So we're in a journey to tear those

  440. down to where there's no more negative strongholds.

  441. And we're in a fight to tear down. Everybody

  442. say tear down. Tear down the negative strongholds

  443. and then we're in a fight to build up. Everybody

  444. say build up. build up some godly strongholds

  445. in our lives and in our minds. So we're going

  446. to tear them down. We're going to knock down

  447. the strongholds of human reasoning. We're going

  448. to destroy false arguments to obtain God's victory.

  449. Everybody say God's victory. Because that's...

  450. That's where he wants us to live. Is in his victory.

  451. Because he's already overcome. And we can live

  452. in his victory. And all these things. All these

  453. things. We are more than conquerors. The word

  454. here is hyper Nike. It's even above. Just victory.

  455. It's more than victory. You want to know how

  456. to be more than a conqueror? I hadn't shared

  457. this in a while. Let's pretend that there's a

  458. heavyweight boxer and he's training to fight

  459. in the heavyweight championship of the world,

  460. right? So he's training and he's training and

  461. he's training. And if he wins, after this year

  462. -long... training. When he wins, he's going to

  463. get a check for $25 million. That's a good prize,

  464. right? So he trains and he trains and he trains

  465. and he gets ready and then he steps into the

  466. ring and he wins the fight. So they bring out

  467. a check for $25 million and they hand it to him.

  468. Everybody say a conqueror. He's a conqueror,

  469. right? Because he won. He obtained victory. He

  470. won. But here's what more than a conqueror looks

  471. like. He goes home. He walks in the front door.

  472. His wife is standing there. He hands her the

  473. check for 25 million. She didn't fight. She didn't

  474. win. But she just got to $25 million. That's

  475. what more than a conqueror is. That's the definition

  476. of more than. She's more than a conqueror. Here's

  477. the deal. God wants us to live in his victory.

  478. He's already won. And then he hands it to us.

  479. So we are more than conquerors. He is the conqueror,

  480. but now we are more than conquerors because we're

  481. in. Hallelujah. Why? Because he loves us. You

  482. are children of God, little children, and have

  483. overcome. Everybody say overcome. Everybody say

  484. obtain victory. You're of God, little children,

  485. and have obtained victory. Here's why. Because

  486. he who is in you is greater. than he who is in

  487. the world. Just in case you don't believe those

  488. two, here's another one. 1 Corinthians 15, 57.

  489. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through

  490. our Lord Jesus Christ. So our victory is given

  491. to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, in Christ,

  492. through... That's where real victory comes from.

  493. A couple of stories. Look at the person beside

  494. you and tell them to listen fast. Israel finds

  495. themselves, after they've left Egypt to go to

  496. the Promised Land, they find themselves trapped

  497. between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea. They're

  498. definitely in between a rock and a hard place.

  499. Does anybody ever find yourself in between a

  500. rock and a hard place? That's where they are.

  501. But this is what God tells them. And I believe

  502. that the Old Testament is there for us to see

  503. who God is and what God does. God told them,

  504. listen, because they were overcome with fear.

  505. God says, don't be afraid. Quit that. Everybody

  506. say, quit that. Don't be afraid. Quit that. And

  507. here's what he said. Stand still and watch the

  508. Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see

  509. today will never be seen again. The Lord himself

  510. will fight for you. And what are you supposed

  511. to do? Stay calm. Don't be afraid. Don't let

  512. fear overtake you. Be at peace. Awesome. Peace.

  513. Where's peace come from? Well, my peace depends

  514. on what's going on around me. My peace always

  515. looks like this because it's completely dependent

  516. on what's going on at the moment. And sometimes

  517. we say, God, polish my peace to make it look

  518. like yours. Let's go for his peace. Because his

  519. peace, the Bible says, Jesus says, my peace isn't

  520. like the world's peace. It don't matter how much

  521. you polish that rock, it's never going to look

  522. like that. Jesus said, my peace doesn't look

  523. like the world's peace. My peace is not dependent

  524. on what's going on in your life at any given

  525. moment. You can have my peace even when it looks

  526. like everything's falling apart. Because my peace

  527. surpasses human reasoning and understanding.

  528. Woo! Thank you for bringing that up. That gave

  529. me some more. You know, it made the message about

  530. two or three minutes longer, but how many of

  531. you liked it? All right. Here's another instance.

  532. David is standing in front of Goliath. Teenager.

  533. Standing in front of somebody. If this basketball

  534. goal was down, he couldn't walk under it without

  535. his head hitting the net. It's not him like reaching

  536. up or jumping. I mean, he has to. To dunk the

  537. ball, he's got to go down instead of up. David

  538. is standing in front of Goliath. This is what

  539. confidence looks like. This is what spirit -empowered

  540. confidence looks like. Everybody else, the king,

  541. all of God's people, they were shaking in their

  542. boots. Here's what God's victory looks like.

  543. Because Goliath had been talking a lot of junk.

  544. And David just said, look, big boy. You come

  545. at me with a sword and a spear and a javelin.

  546. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of

  547. heaven's armies. The God of the armies of Israel.

  548. Whom you have defied with your big old mouth.

  549. Today. Everybody say today. Today the Lord will

  550. conquer you. He's going to use me. But God's

  551. the one who's going to conquer you. He says today

  552. the Lord will conquer you. I will kill you and

  553. cut off your head. And then I will give the dead

  554. bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals

  555. and the whole world will know that there's a

  556. God in Israel. Everybody say display. Everybody

  557. say source. You see where his source is. You

  558. see where the source of his victory is. So now

  559. what's on display? His source is on display.

  560. God's on display. In the middle. Hey. No fighting

  561. has been done yet. How many of you think that

  562. there are hundreds and hundreds of people who

  563. have confidence in David? I would dare say not

  564. a one. David is the only one with a God -given

  565. confidence. His brothers are saying, well, go

  566. ahead and start writing the letter to dad that

  567. David died. The king says, you're just a boy.

  568. And he's been bigger than a grown man since he

  569. was a boy. Now he's not a boy anymore. No one

  570. had confidence in David except David and God.

  571. Everyone assembled here. will know that the Lord

  572. rescues His people. Listen to what he's saying.

  573. Listen to the confidence. Everyone here is going

  574. to know that the Lord rescues His people, but

  575. not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's

  576. battle. And He will give you to us. Did it happen?

  577. Did it happen? I mean, that's just him talking

  578. before it happened, but did it happen? Happened

  579. just like he said, right? Remember, you will

  580. display who or what you draw from. And here's

  581. my last point. It's God's armor. It's God's weapons.

  582. It's God's victory. But it's your choice. It's

  583. your choice. It's your choice. It's your choice.

  584. Here's what you can... Well, I got to move. Yeah,

  585. it's on the right side. It's on the wrong side

  586. right here. Display's reversed. You can choose

  587. pressure, affliction, anguish, burdens, persecution,

  588. tribulation, and trouble. You can continue to

  589. choose that if you want to. But you can choose

  590. to side with God and be in Christ. And you can

  591. choose courage, strength, confidence, peace,

  592. victory. You can take it up because that's His.

  593. And He's offering it to you. The battle you're

  594. fighting today may look impossible. Has anyone

  595. ever stared in the face of impossible before?

  596. To you, you've stared in the face of impossible.

  597. The battle you're fighting today may look impossible,

  598. but I want you to remember something. You don't

  599. have to fight for victory in this battle that

  600. you're facing. You can stand in Christ's victory.

  601. The cross was the turning point that made this

  602. available to you. Salvation. made this available

  603. to you. The resurrection of Jesus is your receipt.

  604. You can say that. You know, we're buying Christmas

  605. presents already and we've got to keep the receipt,

  606. right? Keep the receipt. The resurrection is

  607. your receipt that God has already purchased victory

  608. for you. And the Holy Spirit. Who is in you,

  609. sealing you until the day of redemption. He knows

  610. everything about everything. We need to acknowledge

  611. him on a daily basis, a moment -by -moment basis.

  612. He is in us. He is our comforter. He is our teacher.

  613. He is reminding us that our victory is in Jesus.

  614. But we have to acknowledge him. It's so easy

  615. to just keep picking it up. Here's my last illustration.

  616. A child learning to swim keeps thrashing in the

  617. water and sinking until the instructor tells

  618. them, stop fighting and float. Look to the person

  619. beside you and tell them, stop fighting and float.

  620. Stop fighting and float. Listen, when the child

  621. relaxes, the water begins to work for them. As

  622. long as they're thrashing and flailing, they're

  623. going to sink because they're changing up the

  624. laws of buoyancy or they're working with it.

  625. I mean, they're thrashing and they're like disturbing

  626. everything. The water's trying to help them.

  627. The water wants to help them float. But they're

  628. thrashing and flailing and they're sinking. When

  629. the child relaxes, the water works for them.

  630. It holds them up. Same is true with walking in

  631. Christ's victory. We stop flailing and start

  632. trusting. Based on who he is and his promises.

  633. When we start really trusting, it's one thing

  634. to know him. It's another thing to be established

  635. in them. When we stop flailing and start trusting,

  636. that's when we begin to walk in God's victory.

  637. Because God, Jesus, has overcome already. Right?

  638. As long as we want to take it on our own, you

  639. know, we're actually fighting against what He's

  640. already made possible for us. He's not working

  641. against us. We're fighting against Him by taking

  642. it up on ourselves. This online worship experience

  643. was brought to you by the friends and partners

  644. of Elation Church.