The LORD Will See To It: YHWH Jireh

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. This is week number 11 in our

series that we have entitled, Hello, My Name

is God. This is week number 11. And what are

names all about? Can you remember the three things

that names are about? First of all, names are

about identity. Everybody say identity. It's

how we identify each other. Now, most of you

probably already know this. I'm not sure. But

when I was born, when we left the hospital, my

parents had not named me yet. So when I went

to play junior high football, I could not play

football without a South Carolina birth certificate.

So when that came in, it said, no name Forrest.

And I still couldn't play football. until I got

my name changed. And to this day, my South Carolina

birth certificate has an asterisk on it showing

that my name has been changed from No Name Forrest

to the name that I've went by my whole life is

Jeffrey Dean Forrest. Most people just call me

Dean. That's my identity. There's another identity

that I have, and it's not just something that

I practice. It's who I am. I am a Christian.

And that's my identity. So names signify identity.

Names also signify relationship. Relationship.

So, what are some of my relationship names? My

mom always called me baby because I'm the youngest

of four. Even when I'm in my 50s and she's introducing

me to people, she says, this is my baby. Sometimes

she would tell them, Dean. Sometimes she would

just say, this is my baby. She called me baby.

My whole life. My dad didn't call me baby. My

dad called me son. And when I got married, I

became a husband. That's a relationship name.

But Ganna doesn't call me husband. She calls

me honey most of the time. Unless I've messed

up or said something wrong or something was misinterpreted.

When Jeffrey was born, I became a father, but

he never called me father. He started out calling

me daddy, but then he changed it to dad as he

grew up. So I'm a dad. So names signify relationship.

I'm also a cousin, an uncle, a nephew, all those

things. And as you learn my names, you may find

out something about me that you didn't know.

Remember that. When you learn my names, you learn

more about me. You know now that I've got brothers

and sisters and they have children. You know

I'm married. You know, you see, you can figure

out some things. Names also signify activity.

Everybody say activity. Activity, what a person

does. I've done a lot. I was a student and I

am a student. That's still going on to this day.

I wish. I could get finished. If anybody wants

to help write papers, well, that would be cheating,

I guess. Got a lot of papers to write still.

I was a cook, believe it or not. My junior year

of high school, I started out washing dishes,

and I very quickly became the head cook at times

at Quincy's Family Steakhouse. running two grills,

tickets on both grills, keeping it all going,

spinning plates. The strange thing is the classmate,

it was his idea to go work at Quincy's Family

Steakhouse. Guess what he was doing at the end

of the summer? Still washing dishes. But anyway,

I was a cook at Quincy's. They're closed now,

but it wasn't my fault. Been a salesman at Moore's

Lumberyard, at Custom Recording and Sound, at

Forrest Nissan, my uncle's dealership, at Mark

5 Sandcastle Recording Studio. I was selling

recording sessions. So I've been a salesman,

been a sound man, actually been paid to run sound.

Been a custodian. I was a custodian at Epcot

for a while, and I was a trainer and a coordinator,

relief coordinator. I was a janitor. Gina and

I, you know, couldn't make enough in our two

40 -hour -a -week jobs, so we started cleaning

offices at night. So I was a janitor cleaning

offices three nights a week. I bought my own

screen printing equipment and started screen

printing T -shirts. I was an A &R director for

Mark V Sandcastle Records. I was vice president

of Heartlet Records. I've been a music director

of state and national organizations, an event

planner. I figured it up yesterday. I've planned

events in like convention centers and hotels

in 10 different states. So I know all the ins

and outs of that. I've been a crusade director

for about three events, and then Jeanette and

John were the directors for the other 29 crusades.

that we were a part of working together. I've

been the president of state and national organizations

and non -profit corporations. I've been a worship

leader at times when just me and my family led

worship. I've been a conference director, an

evangelist, a chaplain, a preacher, a pastor.

There's a lot of names. There's a lot of names.

But I'm just one person. And now you may know...

a little bit more about me than you did before

you found out those names. That's important because

today's message isn't about Dean's names. It's

about, hello, my name is God. I shared with you

at least 29, maybe 31 or 32 names that I have

gone by. I'm only one person. Names signify identity,

relationship, and activity. And that's what God's

names do. God's names, signify His identity,

who He is. They signify what kind of relationship

He wants to be in with you and me. They signify

His activity, what He does, what He wants to

do in your life and in my life. And the Bible

tells us this in Psalm 9 -10, it says, and those

who know your name, talking about God's name,

will put their trust in you. So when we know

God's name, we can put our confidence in Him.

We can put our trust in Him. We can put our faith

in Him. That He's going to be who He said He

was going to be. He's going to do what He said

He's going to do based on His name. And I tell

you, Our problem, I'm going to put myself in

there with it. Our problem is our lack of confidence.

That's our biggest problem. Is our lack of trust

and confidence in God. Now you might say, well,

I trust God. I have confidence in God. But when

trouble hits, Do you stand in confidence? Or

do you let your mind start pouring on the trouble?

Your mind, your feelings, your emotions, all

of a sudden they start attaching to the trouble

and they turn away from the confidence. And I

want to tell you today that if we can stand in

trust, and confidence when trouble comes our

way or when challenges come our way then the

trouble and the challenge won't last as long

as it will if we lose our confidence hello because

if we never have faith and never have confidence

will we ever rise above the challenge or rise

above the trouble It's possible because people

that don't know God rise above challenges, right?

They rise above trouble. But we have somebody

on our side. I have somebody on my side. And

when I know Him, when I know who He is and what

He does, then I can trust Him. And you know what?

He can lift me up even when I'm right in the

middle of the trouble. He can lift me up when

I'm right in the middle of the challenge. I can

have joy. I can have peace right in the middle.

Now, if you don't know God, you're not going

to have joy and peace in the middle of your challenge

or the middle of your trouble. But with God,

You can. I guarantee it. You can. It's available.

Look to the person beside you and say, it's available.

It's available. When we know His name, we can

put our trust in Him. And here's why we can put

our trust in Him. Because He has not forsaken

those who seek Him. And when we seek Him, We

can know, we can be confident that He's not going

to turn His back on us. See, I don't care what

you feel. Because I've had some pretty negative

feelings in my day that God's turned His back

on me. I don't care what you feel. We have to

be established in what the Word says. Y 'all

got quiet on me. I'm trying to help you. And

I'm trying to help me. Our biggest problem is

a lack of confidence in who God is. Today we're

looking at a familiar name. Been a lot of songs.

Has anyone ever sang a song that had Jireh in

it? Jehovah Jireh? Today we're looking at Yahweh

Jireh. And normally it's translated. My provider.

Everybody say, my provider. But today we're going

to look at the literal translation from the Hebrew

words, which is not my provider. I mean, it means

that, but the literal translation from the Hebrew

word is this. I am. Everybody say, I am. I am.

We'll see to it. We'll see to it. I am. We'll

see to it. So what are you facing today? Is anybody

facing a challenge today? Listen. I want you

to know that I am. We'll see to it. We need to

leave here today saying, you know what? I am

is going to see to it. Because that's who he

is. That's who he is. That's what the Bible says.

That's who he is. Let's look at a story. Sometimes

people get shocked at this story because why

would God ask? someone to do something that he

asked Abraham to do. But in Genesis 22, starting

in verse 1, it says, Now it came to pass after

these things that God tested Abraham and said

to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. Now

I want you to think about a test. What are tests

for? What are tests for? Why do we have tests?

It's like the end of the school year. Do you

guys take some tests? Why did you take a test?

Did you take a test because your mom's mean?

She's trying to hurt you? I know you go to some

classes away from mom, but did you take some

tests there? Took some tests there? Did they

give you those tests just to torture you? No.

Why do we have tests? See what you know. That's

a good answer. Teachers don't give tests to punish

or fail students. There's no such thing as a

teacher that makes a test with the intention

of failing every student in their class. Right?

The object of the test is not to cause someone

to fail. Tests are given to determine the progress.

Everybody say progress. Tests are given to determine

the progress, to see what you know. Because we've

got to figure out what you know before you can

advance to the next level. Because if you don't

know what you're supposed to know, then you've

just got to keep taking the same thing until

you know it. I'm looking at you. I'm looking

at you. It's good to write. If the test says

that you don't know it, then you've got to keep

taking the same thing until you get it. Now that's

not fun. Let me just go ahead and throw this

out there. If you don't pass the test when trouble

or challenge comes your way, if you don't pass

the test of having confidence and trust in God

and faith in Him and His promises, guess what?

You might just keep... staying in that level

until you progress enough spiritually to pass

that test. Let's continue. Verse 2, Then he said,

God said to Abraham, Take now your son, your

only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the

land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt

offering. on one of the mountains of which I

shall tell you. That's a big test. Now Abraham

had had quite a few tests, and he had passed

quite a few tests to get to this point. So Abraham,

guess what he did? He rose early in the morning,

saddled his donkey, took two of his young men

with him, and Isaac his son, and he split the

wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went

to the place of which God had told him. Everybody

say, no hesitation. Why? Because he trusted.

Because he had confidence. He had confidence.

Then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes

and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said

to his young men, Stay here with the donkey.

The lad and I will go yonder and worship, and

we will come back to you. So Abraham took the

wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac

his son, and he took the fire in his hand and

a knife, and the two of them went together. But

Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, My

father. He said, Here I am, my son. Then he said,

Look, a fire? The wood? But where's the lamb

for the burnt offering? We got fire, we got wood.

Where's the lamb? And Abraham said, everybody

say confidence. My son, God will provide for

himself the lamb for the burnt offering. So the

two of them went together. Then they came to

the place of which God had told him, and Abraham

built an altar there, placed the wood in order.

He bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the

altar upon the wood. Isaac wasn't a baby. I mean,

I think he's probably older than you, Riley,

at this time. Abraham stretched out his hand,

took the knife to slay his son. But the angel

of the Lord called to him from heaven and said,

Abraham, Abraham. So he said, here I am. And

he said, don't lay your hand on the lad or do

anything to him. For now I know that you fear

God. Since you have not withheld your son, your

only son from me. Then Abraham lifted his eyes

and looked. And there behind him was a ram caught

in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and

took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering

instead of his son. And then what happened? And

Abraham called the name of the place, Yahweh

Jireh. The Lord will provide. As it is said to

this day, in the mount of the Lord, it shall

be provided. I could probably preach a whole

series on just this text. And we could look at

it from a lot of different angles. And, you know,

the word of God is multifaceted at times. And

you can look at it from this side, look at it

from this side, look at it from over here. The

Holy Spirit just keeps causing it to come alive.

And like I said, I could preach a lot of sermons,

but today we're focusing in on who God is and

what God does. This is where we find the name

Yahweh Jireh. Now in Genesis, you know, we've

even done a study. Through Abraham. I forgot

how many weeks that was. We went through the

highlight moments of Abraham's life. In a few

weeks, we looked at some low -light moments of

Abraham's life when he made some bad decisions

and when he tried to do something on his own

instead of following God. But we see the stages

of his development in his faith. Everybody say,

from faith to faith. That's the way Abraham lived,

and that's the way we live, from faith to faith.

And we could even put it like this, even, from

test or challenge to test or challenge. And you

might say, well, I don't like tests and challenges.

Well, just stay where you're at. Don't grow.

And pray to God that you can make it to heaven

by the skin of your teeth. Right? Don't plan

to grow in your relationship with Him. Test to

test, challenge to challenge. God sees how much

confidence we have in Him. How much trust we

have in Him. Now, He doesn't send the bad stuff.

But we live in a fallen world, and guess what?

Because we live in a fallen world, bad stuff's

going to come our way. Has anybody ever dealt

with some bad stuff? Well, you can look at it

like, woe is me. Or you can look at it like,

I have victory in Christ. He causes me to triumph.

I have the peace of the Lord. I have the joy

of the Holy Spirit. Right in the middle of this,

I'm going to stay with God and have confidence

and trust in Him. Then you can grow in your faith.

God doesn't send all the terrible things that

this fallen world brings our way. But that doesn't

mean He's not concerned. That doesn't mean that

He doesn't want to see you through. That doesn't

mean that... He's not going to see to it. But

here's the deal. You've got to know who He is

to put your trust in Him, to put your confidence

in Him, to receive what He does. Just because

that's who He is doesn't mean that you're going

to receive it. That's the hard part for us. Because

we're like, oh, well, yeah, God is my peace,

and God is there. and God is my good shepherd,

just because I have a head knowledge of those

things, then that's going to happen in my life.

The Bible says a just shall live by faith. We

walk by faith and not by sight. See, if we don't

know who He is, then we can't believe. that who

He is, that we're going to experience who He

is. We have nowhere to stand if we don't know

that that's who He is. How many times did Jesus

say to people, well, you know what? What just

happened to you was because of your faith. How

many times did He say that? He doesn't say, because

I'm God and I just did it. When Jesus was walking

on the earth, He would routinely say, you know,

this happened because of your faith. In who I

am. In my goodness. In my faithfulness. That's

why you received it. Let's bring it back down

to salvation. How many of you know it takes more

than just having a head and all, is it? God...

that Jesus brought salvation and forgiveness,

how many of you know you've got to receive it

by faith? It doesn't just happen. Jesus is Savior

and Lord. But in order for Him to be your Savior

and your Lord, you have to receive that by faith.

Hello? Are you with me? It works the same all

through Scripture. It doesn't change after salvation.

It still works the same. See, God promised Abraham

that he would have a son. God changed his name.

Jeffrey preached a message where God identified

who he was that God told him, I am El Shaddai.

Right? That's the way he approached Abraham when

he changed his name from Abram to Abraham, from

exalted father to the father of a multitude before

Isaac was even born. How many of you know that

Abraham had to have confidence that he was El

Shaddai? He's the God who is more than enough

before a hundred -year -old man can have a son

and a ninety -year -old wife. How many of you

know you've got to believe? and have confidence.

So that's when God told him that his name was

El Shaddai. The one who is mighty to completely

nourish, to completely satisfy, to completely

supply. That's who God is. I said that's who

God is. He's the one. who is mighty to completely

nourish, satisfy, and supply. So, Isaac is born.

Isaac grows up, most likely 16, 17 years old

at this time. And then now God asks Abraham.

At this point, Isaac is still his only son. Everybody

say, only son. He asks Abraham to sacrifice his

son. I want to point out some things to you.

In verse 8 that we read, when Isaac said, I see

the wood, see the fire, see the knife, where's

the sacrifice? Well, in our English Bibles, it

says, Abraham said, My son, God will provide

for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. But

in Hebrew, which is what this part of the Old

Testament is written in, Abraham said, get this,

My son, Elohim Jireh. That just flew all over

me. Before the fact, he's going up the hill with

Isaac. God told him to sacrifice his son. His

son gets a little nervous, I would think. And

all of a sudden, Abraham said, son, Elohim Jireh.

God's going to see to it. See, here's the deal.

Come on. Stay with me. It's easy to say Yahweh

Jireh after the ram is in the bush. That's easy.

Huh? We need to learn something. Look to the

person beside you and say, I need to learn something.

We've got to start putting our words in agreement

with who God is before we see it. And if you'll

do that, you'll see it a lot quicker. He said,

Isaac, Elohim, Jireh. Elohim, Jireh. Let's look

at some New Testament verses. Romans 4, verse

Romans 4:20

20 and 21. Listen. Abraham never wavered. Wow.

Wow. Abraham never wavered. Did he ever waver?

This isn't saying like his whole life he never

had a wavering moment. Alright? Because he's

not perfect. But when it came down to it in the

stories, in the parts of the stories that we

see where he faced and where he was victorious

in his struggle, he never wavered. He didn't

waver. He didn't waver in believing God's promise.

Here's my question. How often do you waver in

believing God's promise? I don't mean to step

on your toes. I mean at your heart. Abraham never

wavered in believing God's promise. In fact,

his faith grew stronger. And in this, By not

wavering, we bring glory to God. He brought glory

to God by not wavering. And if we can get to

the point where we have confidence, complete

confidence, complete trust in God, our faith

is going to grow stronger and we're going to

bring glory to God. Because people are going

to see what we're going through and they're going

to say, how in the world could you have the peace

that you have right now when you've just gone

through what you've gone through? I know what

you're going through. I would be falling apart

right now if it was me. And what's up with you?

Are you cold -hearted? No. I just know that God's

going to see to it. Abraham never wavered in

believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew

stronger. And in this, he brought glory to God.

Fully convinced that God is able to do whatever

He promised. Fully convinced. I would love for

somebody to say that about me sometimes. You

know, that means just fully convinced that God

is able to do whatever He promised. I don't ever

see Him in worry. I don't ever see Him in fear.

Because he's fully convinced. Does anybody in

the room want somebody to say that about you?

Here's some more good verses. Hebrews 11, 17.

It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as

a burnt sacrifice, or as a sacrifice, when God

was testing him. Abraham, listen, who had received

God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only

son Isaac. He was going to do, hey, he's come

so far, he's going to do whatever God tells him

to do. Even if he don't understand it, even if

it makes him feel strange, he's going to do what

God told him to do. And he's going to do what

God told him to do, even though God had already

told him, Isaac is the son through whom your

descendants will be counted. How many kids does

he have? How many Isaacs are there? Right? I

mean, he had a son with Hagar, but God didn't

recognize that son as a covenant son. He said,

take now your son, your only son. That's what

God said. That was his own plan when he messed

up. Even though God had told Abraham, Isaac is

the son through whom your descendants will be

counted, it says, even though God had told him

that, he was ready to sacrifice his only son.

Listen to what the Holy Spirit tells us in verse

19 after the fact. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac

died, God was able to bring him back to life

again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his

son back from the dead. That's how much confidence

he had. God, I'm going to do what you tell me

to do, and I know you're going to keep your promise.

I don't know how. This don't make sense to me.

So I guess if I offer him as a sacrifice, you're

going to raise him up. In my brain, you have

to. Listen. Abraham knew that God would have

to raise him up. God will have to. I want you

to think about that. He was so confident in God's

promise that he knew that God was going to have

to do something. Listen, don't be distracted.

God's going to have to keep his word. God's going

to have to keep his promises. It's okay. For

you to have faith and confidence and trust in

God, where you say, God's going to have to keep

His promises. Because I'm doing what He told

me to do. Now you might say, well, He's God.

How could you ever have the gall to tell God

that He's going to have to do something? Some

of you are smiling, some of you are looking at

me mad. How could you have to go out and say

that God's going to have to do something? Because

if God said He was going to do something, and

He doesn't do it, then God's going to be a liar,

and I'm here to tell you today, God's not a liar.

He's not a liar. Listen, because Abraham was

fully convinced, That God would keep His promises.

Before the fact, Abraham could boldly say, Elohim

Jireh. He could look at his son and say, God's

going to see to it. This is an amazing statement

of faith. God's going to see to it. God's going

to see to it. The next challenge you face, don't

get all twisted up and knotted up. Just start

saying, you know what? God's going to see to

it. Because that's who He is. I mean, do you

really believe that that's who God is? Is that

His name? And when you know His name, you can

put your trust, you can put your confidence in

Him. God will see to it. Because Abraham's...

Bold statement of faith before the fact. And

then after God provided, Abraham named the place,

the Lord will provide. Yahweh, Jireh, which means

I am, will see to it. And sometimes we look at

this and we say, well, this is just the name

of the place. See, this is God's Word. God wants

us to know who He is and what He does. He is

Yahweh Jireh. He will see to it. I Am has seen

to it. I Am has seen to it. Back in 1992, I was

just working my regular job at the recording

studio. I went to a revival service. Does anybody

know what a revival service is? Back in the day,

we would have meetings like it would start on

Sunday morning, then we would have Sunday night,

then we would have Monday night, we would have

Tuesday night, we would have Wednesday night.

Now during the day that I was on the road, that

was a normal pattern. How many of you would say,

wow, that'd be crazy for the preacher to expect

me to go to church on Sunday morning, Sunday

night, Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday

night? Well, there were some that had it Thursday,

Friday, Saturday, and ended it up the next Sunday.

And then dig on this. I preached a revival just

outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It went for

two weeks. Every day for two weeks. I went to

a revival. I was there Sunday morning. I was

there Sunday night. I was there Monday night.

But it happened on Tuesday night. And I found

out later on that the big, powerful moves normally

started happening on Tuesday night. Didn't normally

happen on Sunday morning, Sunday night, or Monday

night. It started really getting good on Tuesday

night. And I was sitting in the back row on this

side because that's where I sat. That was my

assigned seat. My dad was a preacher. I didn't

sit in the front. I hate to go to Bible conferences

and they recognize me in the back and they say,

Hey, Dean, we've got a seat for you up here on

the front row. Well, I like to hide, even now.

I like to be back there in the back. Anyway,

I always sat. That was my assigned seat at the

church that we were going to. And this guy from

Ohio, believe it or not, originally from Ohio,

he's there preaching. Boy, he can preach. He

can talk fast. He can talk faster than I can

listen. And all of a sudden, he stopped after

preaching about 15 minutes without taking a breath.

He stopped to breathe. And he said something

that was God speaking to me. I went into work

the next day. I quit my job. That don't make

no sense. It doesn't make any sense at all to

go in and quit my job. I mean, Gayna was out.

I mean, this was October of 92. Jeffrey was born

in January of 92. December of 91, we moved into

a brand new house that we designed and built.

You know, now you can find a lot of houses like

this. In the 90s, you couldn't. It had one bedroom

on one side, two bedrooms on the other side.

We always wanted a house like that. We designed

this house. We moved in. Gayna never went back

to work after having Jeffrey. I was the only

one working, and I'd go in the next day and quit

my job because God spoke to me and told me that

he was calling me to be an evangelist. So I just

quit my job. I've shared that story before, but

it's fine. Can't you see I've got five stories

I'm going to tell? This is the abbreviated version.

I've shared that other story before. Anyway,

quit my job. We had two concerts booked. Dana

and I were singing in churches, but we had two

concerts booked. The week that I quit my job,

one of them canceled. Before we even got to that

first concert, another record company, Horizon

Music Group called me and asked me to come be

their A &R director. Offering me a car, a lot

more money, company credit card, take people

out to eat, never buy a drop of gas. I couldn't

do it. Because I had to do what God told me to

do. And I want to tell you something. It wasn't

easy. To be on the road for 20 years. There were

challenges. There were challenges. Listen. But

God saw to it. 20 years on the road. 1995. God

wanted us to. Sell that brand new house. Move

into a motor home because we couldn't keep it

all up and going. Needed to travel farther and

stay longer. But it was our house. We designed

it. It's what we wanted. As soon as Gannon and

I got together and said, it's time. Listen, within

one week, everybody say one week. Within one

week, we closed selling our house. Tell me it's

not possible. It never went on the market. We

mentioned it to a pastor friend of ours. He went

and got the money. Lawyers did it. We closed.

Well, guess what? We didn't have anywhere to

live. In that same amount of time, We went to

an RV dealership and bought a brand new Holiday

Rambler. Now listen, none of that makes sense.

I'm not smart enough or wealthy enough to be

able to make all that happen. You know who made

it happen? God saw to it. God saw to it. In 1998,

I've shared this story recently. He spoke to

us, and he wanted us to start the Big God Conference.

And I told you about the challenges that we faced

and the things that we went through. But you

know what? Over that 21 -year run, over 5 ,000,

oh, I'm sorry, 3 ,000 students and chaperones,

more than that, that's a conservative number,

3 ,000 students and chaperones came to Christ

in that 21 -year run. I'm telling you. We didn't

have anything. But we knew God told us to do

it. It's not like we were just sitting there

with enough money to do it. You've heard the

story, maybe. We didn't have anything. God told

us to do it. So how did it keep going for 21

years? God saw to it. Look. Look at me. I couldn't

do it. Still couldn't do it. I can't make it

happen. God saw to it. 2012. In 2011, people

at Lakewood Camping Resort, they talked to me

and they said, what would it take for you to

stay here all the time? Because we've been ministering

there. five or six weeks out of the year for

over 20 years. They wanted us every week during

the summer that we were off. And they're like,

what would it take for you to stay here? And

then we felt like God was telling us to go there.

So all year during 2011, all year we were telling

people, because when we were at their church,

they would say, won't you come back next year?

Let's go ahead and have a date. I'm like, won't

be able to do it. So all year. Because our ministry

got to the point where all we did was answer

the phone and go. We didn't ask anybody to go

anywhere. People were just calling us. Every

time somebody called, I'm sorry, we won't be

able to do it. We can't do it. The people who

are booking us, the people who are there, they

want us to come back next year. I'm sorry, we

won't be able to come back next year. Just turning

it all down and all the way. I don't know if

I've ever shared this part of the testimony.

But after we turn down all of our scheduling,

and we are ready, and it's Easter, and we're

going to Lakewood Camping Resort, we are met

with severe opposition. It's like... Now, don't

get me wrong. The people who were over the ministry,

they still wanted us. But a lot of other people

are like, we don't want a new chapel. So there

was a fight. We had bought furniture. There was

a fight. Hello? What am I going to do? I've just

turned down everybody all year. I'd have had

a full schedule if I wouldn't have said I would

come because we were invited to come. Now I've

done giving it all away. I've done turning it

all down. I've got nothing. You know what happened?

God saw to it. God saw to it. We were there for

nine years. Over 5 ,000 people came to Christ

in nine years. As the history of the campground,

I'm the second longest tenured chaplain at the

campground. They kept calling us, wanting us

to come back after 2021. They kept saying, please

come back, please come back, please come back.

But you know what? In 2021, we moved here. We

only knew one adult that lived here. And she

doesn't come here anymore. How many of you know

there might be some challenges in that? Leaving

security again for the umpteenth time at this

point. Leaving a paycheck. leaving a nice, bigger

house than the one that we sold that, you know,

had two golf carts. I could ride one to the beach.

Gannon could ride the other one to the beach.

It was less than a quarter of a mile to the Atlantic

Ocean. Bunch of people coming to Christ. But

God wanted us to come to Four Corners. Between

192 and I -4. And look at you. You're here. How

do we keep going? A whole year we had... We thought

we were doing awesome if we had 12 people every

Sunday. Year and a half. Is that even possible?

When the gym costs, for the first part, $430

a week. Not a month, a week. Got 12 people. How

are we still here? Look to the person beside

you and say, God sees to it. God saw to it. He

saw to it. I'm telling you. I could preach a

whole series on the miracles that I've seen God

do in my life. Miracle after miracle after miracle

after miracle. And I'm not giving you a concept

today. This is not just a little spiritual exercise

to tell you that God is Yahweh Jireh. If you

will have confidence in Him, if you will have

trust in Him, if you will do what He asks you

to do, He's going to see to it. He's going to

see to it. He has for me. He has for me. Daniel

11, 32, this applies to you. Listen, the people

who know their God, who knows God? The people

who know their God shall be strong. Everybody

say, I'm strong. The people who know their God

shall be strong. And what are the strong people

that know their God going to do? They're going

to carry out great exploits. God wants to do

some great things through you. Here's my question.

Do you believe that God wants to do some great

things through you? Do you believe He does? Do

you really believe He wants to do some great

things? Do you believe He wants to do some great

things through Relation Church? When we talk

about 100 ,000 people and we talk about every

community, do you believe God wants to do some

great things? We have to be strong. We have to

know God. And we have to do it. We all have a

part to play. All of us. It's not just, you know,

I'm just going to ride everybody else's coattails.

No, we all have a part. He is Yahweh Jireh. And

He will see to it. Look, when you step out in

faith to believe God's promises, this applies

to God's personal promises to you, as well as

His promises to our church. When you step out

in faith to believe God, to believe His promises,

stepping out in faith and doing is... That faith

act, it's when you trust that God will be who

He said He would be and do what He said He would

do. Again, those who know your name will put

their trust in you. For you, Lord, have not forsaken

those who seek you. I want you to stand up and

say this with me. We're going to put our words

in agreement with who God is. Is that okay? I'm

glad two of you want to. Let's say it together.

One, two, three. My God is Yahweh Jireh. He is

my provider. I have faith in His faithfulness.

I have confidence in His promises. My God...

Always cease to it. Do you believe it? Take a

picture of it on your phone or something. I mean,

is one thing to say it right now? While we're

here at church, with everybody with their church

halos on, you know, it's like, ooh, I'm at church.

Right. But when a challenge hits, maybe this

week, when a struggle hits, when trouble comes

your way, maybe this week, you need to rise up.

Look to the person beside you and tell them to

rise up. You need to rise up and you need to

say, my God is Yahweh Jireh. He's my provider.

I have faith in His faithfulness. No matter what

I see, no matter what I think, no matter what

I feel, I have faith in God's faithfulness. I

have confidence in His promises. He's made me

some promises and He's going to keep them. You

know why? Because my God always sees to it. He

doesn't see to it sometimes and not other times.

But when I put my faith and confidence in Him,

He's going to see to it every time. I might not

see it in three seconds, but I'm not going to

waver. I'm not going to waver if it takes a day.

I'm not going to waver if it takes two days.

I'm not going to waver if it takes a week. I'm

not going to waver if it takes a month. I'm here

to tell you, I'm not going to waver even if it

takes more than five years. I'm not wavering.

We're going to have a place of our own. It's

coming. You know why? Because God's going to

see to it. I don't know how. I was asked today,

where are you going to put it? I don't know.

I'm believing for the land and the building.

The land's probably going to cost more than the

building. But God's going to see to it. God's

going to see to it. Because that's who he is.

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