The LORD is Here: YHWH Shammah - Emmanuel

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. Our series is entitled, Hello,

My Name is God. We've been talking about names.

What's in a name? Names, first of all, signify

identity. Everybody say identity. Because that's

how we differentiate between each other, is by

our names, right? There's a curious thing about

me that... Hey, we got a lot of neighbors today

from Citrus Ridge. If you're from Citrus Ridge,

wave at me. Got a big neighborhood group over

here. And then we have another visitor with us

today. But names signify identity. Many of you

probably don't know this, but my real name is

No Name Forrest. And you're like, how could your

name be No Name Forrest? Well, my parents didn't

name me. Before we left the hospital. And we

didn't even figure it out until I was like 13

years old. I want to play junior high football.

I have to have a state birth certificate. It

comes in. We order it. Get a copy of my state

birth certificate in South Carolina. And it said

no name for us. Guess what? I still couldn't

play football. Because... They weren't going

to let no -name Forrest play on the team. So

I had to get my name changed. And even to this

day, my birth certificate has an asterisk on

it where my name was changed to the name I had

gone by my whole life. I guess a day or two after

we got home from the hospital, I got a name,

and my name is Jeffrey Dean Forrest. Most people

just call me Dean. Everybody say, hey, Dean.

Most people just call me Dean. I have another

name that is my identity. And that name is I

am a Christian. That means I'm a Christ follower.

It's not just something I do. It's who I am.

It's my identity. So those names signify identity.

Names also signify relationship. Now you might

not recognize how many names you have, but you

probably have a lot of names. Just like I have

a lot of names. A lot of my names are relationship

names. My mom always called me baby. Even when

I'm 50 years old, she's introducing me to someone

that I don't know. She'll say, this is my baby.

Baby Huey, maybe. But for those of you who know

Baby Huey. But I was the youngest of four. So

I was always the baby. Any other people, the

youngest sibling and you were always the baby?

Always the baby. My dad didn't call me baby,

my dad called me son. So that's a relationship

name. Got married in 1984 to Gayna and I am her

husband. That's a relationship name. But she

doesn't say, oh husband, would you like to go

shopping? Or oh husband, would you like to go

to the beach? We had a beach getaway on Thursday.

She doesn't say, oh, husband. Most of the time

she calls me honey. If I've been good. Sometimes

people look at me strange and they're like, you're

the preacher, you're always good. No. I wish

that was true. But she calls me honey. I'm also

Jeffrey's father. 1992, he was born. But he doesn't

say, oh, father, can I have $20? He never said

that growing up. He called me daddy, and then

that changed to dad. So all of these are my relationship

names. I'm also an uncle. I'm a cousin. All of

those are relationship names. But names also

signify activity. Everybody say identity, relationship,

activity. Names signify activity, what a person

does. I've done a lot of things. Like most of

you, I've been a student. I've probably been

a student more years than you've been a student.

So I took that on with a mission. I was actually

a cook. I mean, I was a junior in high school,

and that was my summer job. I worked for Quincy's

Family Steakhouse. They're out of business now,

but they were still in business when I left that

summer. I've been a salesman at a lumberyard,

at a recording supply and audio equipment place.

I've been a salesman at a Nissan dealership.

I've been a salesman at a recording studio. I've

been a sound man. I've actually been paid money

to run sound. I had a job for a while over at

Epcot where I was a custodian. and I was a trainer

and a coordinator, a relief coordinator there.

I've been a janitor because it took more jobs

than one or two to pay the bills. Gina and I

got a cleaning contract at an office. So when

we would leave our 40 -hour -a -week job, we

would go clean offices three nights a week for

a while. I was a screen printer. I had my own

screen printing business, all my own equipment,

printed T -shirts for all the recording groups

that came up in my later jobs that are listed.

I was an A &R director for Mark V Records, Heartlook

Records, Evidence Records. I was a vice president.

One day they came in and gave me a business card

that had that I was the vice president of Heartlook

Records. I didn't get a raise, but I got a business

card. I've been the music director of state and

national organizations. I've been an event planner,

planned events, rented space, all over the place,

as far as Phoenix, Arizona, to all up and down

the East and Midwest. So I've been an event planner,

been a crusade director, been the president of

state and national organizations, nonprofit corporation.

Been a worship leader. Sometimes I didn't preach.

Me and my family just led worship many times.

I was a conference director. We started a conference

for teenagers over New Year's called the Big

God Conference. There were several years that

we were running like 1 ,900 students over New

Year's. I was an evangelist on the road for 20

years. That's why we have the bus that you know

that I live in. Went around the United States

in that bus telling people about Jesus. I've

been a chaplain at Lakewood Camper Resort. I'm

also the chaplain at Giovanni's. The team chaplain

at Giovanni's right here at the corner if you're

looking for some good local Italian food. I'm

a preacher. Some people call me preacher. Some

people call me pastor. Most people just call

me dean. I was a youth pastor. I was J .T.'s

youth pastor when he was in middle school for

a season. Different than pastor. It is definitely

different than a pastor. So I've got a lot of

names. I think now I've told you about 33, 34

names. But I'm just one person. And God has told

us in His Word. A lot of different names for

Himself. I don't know if you realize that or

not. But just because we have a lot of different

names for God, it doesn't mean that there's more

than one God. Okay? Just like I have 30 -something

names, I'm still one person. God tells us His

names, listen, God tells us His names so that

we can know who He is. So we can know the relationship

that He wants to have with us. And so we can

know what He wants to do or who He wants to be

for us. Somebody say amen right there, please.

Somebody say amen. Alright. So in names we find

identity, relationship, and activity. Psalm 9

.10 says this, and those who know your name,

everybody say God's name. Those who know God's

name. will put their trust in Him. Here's the

deal. If you don't know who God is and what He

wants to do for you and what kind of relationship

He wants to be in with you, then you can't put

your confidence in Him that that's who He's going

to be. You've got to know before you can apply.

You've got to know before you can have hope.

You've got to know before you can have confidence.

You've got to know before you can have faith

in who He is to see His activity and His relationship

manifest in your life. You've got to know who

He is. Those who know your name will put their

trust in you. That Hebrew word there can easily

be translated confidence. Everybody say confidence.

For you, Lord, have not forsaken. Those who seek

you. Hello? When you seek God based on who He

is, He's not going to turn His back on you. Never

has, never will. If you think He has, maybe you

were trying to seek Him in some area that you

don't even know that that's who He is and what

He wants to do for you. Maybe it's some imagination

that you've come up with. Because when you seek

Him based on who He is with complete confidence,

somebody say confidence, with complete confidence

in who He is, you know that He's going to hear

you. And you're going to see Him at work in your

life. Hello, my name is God. Today we're looking

at a name of God that is connected to one of

His divine attributes. Divine attributes, that's

just... That's who God is. That's how theology

has looked at the Word of God and God's interaction

with mankind. And theologians have come up with,

well, this is what God is like. That's His divine

attributes. And the one that's connected to what

we're talking about today is God is omnipresent.

God is omnipresent. Now, most people say when

they hear me preach that it's just simple. Everybody

say simple. I don't know if they're trying to

talk down to me or if they're saying it as a

compliment. I normally take it as a compliment.

Now, the reason why I said that is because I'm

about to read just some segments, some sentences

from a paper that I wrote in seminary. So it's

going to sound real intellectual. And when you

hear it, you might say, I wonder where he got

that from. It was from one of my papers where

I'm trying to be intellectual. But when I preach

on Sunday, I don't want to be intellectual. Because

I want you to get it. I want you to get it. Here

we go. A divine attribute of God that can be

comforting to those who love God and terrifying

for those who embrace sin is his omnipresence.

Proverbs 15 .3 said, The Lord is watching everywhere,

keeping His eye on both the good and the evil.

The evil and the good. So, there's nowhere you

can go to hide from God. He's everywhere all

the time. And for people who want to be embracing

sin and doing things that they know that are

connected to evil, It should be terrifying that

God is watching, right? But for those of us who

are embracing the kingdom of God, embracing His

love, embracing His life, oh, it should be encouraging

to us. It is impossible for humanity to be purposefully

or accidentally separated from God's presence.

God's omnipresence reveals that He is ever -present

within His created world. that He is transcendent

over it, that He remains distinct from it. An

understanding of God's omnipresence in light

of Scripture also discloses the idea that God

can be present in different places within His

creation in different degrees or manners. God's

Word declares that He indwells every believer.

1 Corinthians 6 .19 says, Don't you realize your

body is the temple? of the Holy Spirit who lives

in you and was given to you by God. The fact

that the presence of God dwells more in the believer

than the unbeliever reinforces the principle

that God manifests himself in some places more

than others, yet the presence of God is everywhere

present. When we speak of God's omnipresence,

we mean that God is not conditioned, are limited

by space in His power of acting and is able to

put forth His entire power of action anywhere,

at any time, without any need that He move from

place to place to reach the scene of action.

Did you get that? God's not limited in space.

And where He is. If you need a touch from God,

He doesn't have to come all the way from heaven.

It doesn't take Him days and months to journey

to get to you. He's here. And His entire power

is available all the time, right where you are.

He doesn't have to move to reach you where you

are. Now, it's been so long since I've written

like that, I can't really read it to make sense.

But today's name of God comes out of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 48:35

48, verse 35. The distance around the entire

city will be six miles. He's talking about Jerusalem

when they're coming back from captivity. The

walls around Jerusalem. The distance around the

entire city will be six miles. And from that

day, the name of the city will be, the Lord is

there. The Lord is there. Now, Ezekiel is prophetically

talking about God's people coming out of captivity

and going back to Jerusalem. He's prophesying

that God's people are going to return from their

time in captivity in Babylon. They're going to

come back. And where are they going? They're

going to the place of Yahweh Shammah. Everybody

say Yahweh Shammah. Now, most people know some

names of God like Jireh. And different things

like that. I don't know. I had to study to find

out that one of God's names is Yahweh Shammah.

Yahweh Shammah. Now in week number one, we talked

about God's name being Elohim, the Most High

God. And God's name, His personal name given

to Moses is that He is Yahweh. I am that I am.

Today we're looking at the compound name Yahweh

Shammah. Yahweh Shammah is translated, I am there.

Everybody say, I am there. I am there. And we

talk about God being omnipresent. He's everywhere

all the time. But why through this prophecy would

Ezekiel say, oh, this place where you're going?

That's where God is. Well, if God's everywhere

all the time, why are they saying, well, God's

in Jerusalem in the six -mile gated city? Why?

What does that tell us? I mean, we know that

God is everywhere all the time. We can't go anywhere

to escape from His presence. But there are some

places and sometimes, listen, When God is more

there. Now you and I, we're either there or we're

not there. But God can be there and more there.

Because He's God. It's like either I'm here or

I'm not here. Well, sometimes I'm here and I

don't feel like I'm here mentally. I mean, you've

probably been there, right? Sometimes you're

in a place, but you don't really feel like you're

there. Like today, I'm driving down the road.

I'm late already. And I get in my head so deep

that I come almost all the way to Sand Mine Road

before I realize I didn't have the trailer with

all the equipment for church in it. So even though

I was driving my vehicle, I wasn't all there

at the moment like I should have been. So I had

to U -turn back around, go all the way back down

to Ronald Reagan, get the trailer, come back.

That made me even more late than I was going

to be. I should have been more there. When I

got to Ronald Reagan. Yahweh, I am. Shom, the

first part of that, means there. God is there.

And sometimes God is more there or more here.

I want to draw your attention to some stories.

We're not going to read all the stories in the

Old Testament because you don't want to sit here

that long. But we find some times in the Old

Testament where... God was more here at that

moment. The burning bush. Would you say that

God was more there? The pillars of cloud and

fire where God led His people across the wilderness

to go to the promised land. Would you say that

when that cloud was there, when that column of

fire was there, that God was more there specifically?

Mount Sinai. When God's people got to Mount Sinai

and all of a sudden a cloud. descended on the

mountain. Moses went up and spent time with God,

face to face with God. Would you say that God

was more there? What about in the tabernacle

and in the temple? There are multiple times recorded

in Scripture where God was so much there that

you could almost see that He was there. It was

like a cloud. A cloud. 2 Chronicles 5 .14 Here's

one example. The priests could not continue their

service because of the cloud. For the glorious

presence of the Lord filled the temple of God.

Could you imagine being in a place that all of

a sudden it just became cloudy and it's like

a fog rolled in? And it's just cloudy. And the

glory of God is so present. God is so much here,

more here, that you can see His presence with

your eyes. That's what happened that day. And

these guys were so overwhelmed by the glory and

the manifested presence of God that they couldn't

even continue. their religious duty at that time.

The glory of the Lord. Now in our Bibles, in

the Old Testament, it talks about the glory of

the Lord being there. That word glory is a Hebrew

word that means weight. Like a heaviness. See,

most of the time when we think about heaviness,

we think that that's bad. Has anyone ever experienced

a heaviness before that was really bad and dark?

Anybody? Come on, be honest, people. We experience

that. But this is a good heaviness. This isn't

a bad heaviness. This is a good heaviness. Where

you sense the manifested presence of God. Has

anyone ever heard the word Shekinah? Who's heard

the word Shekinah? Now, Jewish literature, this

word Shekinah is not in the Old Testament. But

Jewish literature uses the word Shekinah, and

it's derived from the Hebrew word Shekan, which

means to dwell or to reside. So when the glory

of the Lord is here, it means that God's manifested

presence is here, that He is residing here, He

is dwelling here. In a greater way. Everybody

say a greater way. In a greater way than His

omnipresence. Matthew 18, 20 tells us today that

if we understand it and if we acknowledge it,

even today, right here, for where two or three

gather together as my followers, I am there.

among them. So when we sing songs about God being

here or His presence being here, you know what?

He really is. The sad thing is, I can't tell

you how many times I went into a worship service

with other believers and I didn't even expect

the manifested presence of God or the glory of

God. I didn't expect Him to be there. It was

more like I was just going through some kind

of religious duty. Now you may have never done

that in your life. You may have never done that.

It's amazing how spiritual people get when they're

in church and they're thinking about how spiritual

they are. They've never gone to a worship service

without expecting to meet the living God. That

He is here in His manifested presence in His

power. He promises to be. So if we miss out on

it, listen, if we miss out on it, is it the preacher's

fault because he didn't bring it? Is it the singer's

fault, the singers up front, is it their fault

because they didn't bring it? If you miss out

on it, whose fault is it? Individually. It's

our fault if we miss out. Because we didn't expect.

We didn't have a confident expectation that we

were going to meet with God. Sham means there.

The last part of that, shama, ma indicates direction

and purpose. So God is Yahweh, shama. I am is

there with direction and purpose. I got excited

studying this. I'm excited now. Yahweh Shammah

lets us know that the Lord is not only there,

that the Lord is not only here, He is here with

directed or targeted purpose. Sometimes we're

not here with directed or targeted purpose, but

God is always here with directed and targeted

purpose. Got another name that goes right along

with Yahweh's Shema. Matthew 1 verse 23. Look,

Matthew 1:23

the virgin will conceive a child. She will give

birth to a son. And they will call him Emmanuel.

Everybody say Emmanuel. What does Emmanuel mean?

You've never been to church at Christmas if you

don't know what Emmanuel means. It means God

is with us. God is with us. Look to the person

beside you and tell them he's really here. His

name is Yahweh Shammah. His name is Emmanuel.

The Lord is not only here or there or here. His

targeted purpose, listen, is to live with his

children, to dwell with his children, to reside

with his children, to abide with his children.

That's his targeted purpose. It's that intimate

fellowship that he wants to have with his children.

He wants to be with us. I guess this was the

last name we looked at was pater and abba. What

difference does it make when our loving father

is here? I want you to think of a child. A child

that is in danger and they recognize that they're

in danger. What does it take for them to be comforted?

Come on, use your brain. What does it take for

that child that realizes they're in trouble,

what does it take for them to be comforted? A

loving parent. Wouldn't you think so? I remember

times when Jeffrey was in trouble. Most of the

time when he was in trouble, he didn't even realize

the danger that he was in. Like climbing on the

roof of the church on Wednesday night when he

was hiding in the ditch right beside the road

on a road that had about as much, well, not as

much traffic as 27. But for our little country

town that only had a yellow light, flashing yellow

light, there were a lot of transfer trucks that

cut through to get on 85. So there was like transfer

trucks just flying. I mean, they're running 60

miles an hour down this little two -lane road.

And Jeffrey and his friends are like playing

right beside the road. When he got afraid. What

did he do when he got afraid? He either ran to

mama or ran to daddy. I want you to think about

that and I want you to think about you being

a child of God. I want you to think about the

situations that you face and the trouble and

pressure that you face. And I want you to come

to the... understanding that if you can experience

Yahweh Shammah, if you can experience Emmanuel

during those difficult times, His manifested

presence, that all the things of this world will

just melt away. And you might say, I don't believe

it. Well, if you don't believe it, you're not

going to experience it. I believe it because

I have experienced it. Listen to the benefits.

Sometimes when we read Scripture, we look at

it different ways. But I want you to consider

these verses that I'm about to read with the

benefits that come along with it. Is that okay?

1 Chronicles 28 .20 Don't be afraid or discouraged.

Why? For the Lord God, my God, is with you and

He will not fail you or forsake you. So what's

the benefit? When we realize that God is with

us, that He's not going to fail us, He's not

going to forsake us, what can we do? Can you

see it? We cannot be afraid or discouraged. Deuteronomy

31 .8, in case you just think I'm just cherry

-picking some verses, I'm going to cherry -pick

some verses. Deuteronomy 31 .8. Do not be afraid

or discouraged. Why? For the Lord will personally,

everybody say personally, personally go ahead

of you. He will be with you. He will neither

fail you nor abandon you. You want some more?

Psalm 46, 1 and 2. God is our refuge and strength.

He's always ready to help. King James puts it

like this, a very present help. Everybody say

God is here. A very present help in times of

trouble. And what's the result? We will not fear.

Hello? Somebody smile. Mike's the only one smiling

at me. He's the only one I saw. Because when

I said that, I looked and I saw some other smiles.

Isaiah 43, 2 through 3. Listen to this. This

is God's Word. Hello? This is... The Holy Spirit

talking to you and to me. When you go through

deep waters, has anybody ever been in a situation

where you thought you were about to drown? I'm

talking about metaphorically, not just in water.

When you go through deep waters, when you feel

like you're going under for the last time, listen,

I will be with you is what God said. When you

go through rivers of difficulty... Has anybody

ever gone through any difficulty in the house?

Like a river with rapids in it. Has anybody ever

gone on a whitewater rafting trip? That's what

I imagined when I saw this. Whitewater rafting

trip. It's just like... Has anybody ever felt

like that in life before? When you go through

rivers of difficulty... You will not drown. When

you walk through the fire, has anybody ever felt

like you were walking through the fire? At work?

At home? Just life? Come on, somebody. When you

walk through the fire of oppression, you will

not be burned up. The flames will not consume

you. Why? For I am the Lord your God, the Holy

One of Israel, your rescue, your Savior. Joshua

1 .9. You might have even memorized this one.

Be strong. Look to the person beside you and

tell them, be strong. Be strong. Be courageous.

Tell them to be courageous too. Be courageous.

Do not be afraid or discouraged. Why? For the

Lord your God is with you wherever you go. He

is there. He is here. He is with you. He's a

good God. He's for you. So I ask you a question.

When does fear, discouragement, trouble, oppression,

worry, and thoughts of failure, when do those

things overwhelm you? I'm just letting you think

about it. When do they overwhelm you? Has anyone

ever been overwhelmed with fear? Has anyone ever

been overwhelmed with discouragement? Overwhelmed

with trouble? You can just leave your hand up

like I'm going to leave mine up. Overwhelmed

with oppression? Overwhelmed with worry? Overwhelmed

with thoughts of failure? Anybody? If not, you're

probably not alive. But when does that happen?

When does that happen? It happens when we don't

have confidence. When we don't have trust. When

we don't have faith that God is with us. When

we don't have confidence, trust, and faith that

God will never leave us. When we don't have confidence,

trust, and faith that God will never turn His

back on us. That's when we're overwhelmed. We've

lost confidence in God, in His faithfulness,

in His goodness. That's when we're overwhelmed.

So what do you have to do to not be overwhelmed?

You've got to know Yahweh Shammah. You've got

to know it. It's got to be His name, who He is,

who He wants to be for you, what He wants to

do for you has to be established in your heart

to the point that when you face those opportunities,

listen, we're all going to have opportunities

to be overwhelmed with fear and failure. We're

all going to have those opportunities. You may

think you're the only one with an opportunity.

Every single person in this room has the same

opportunities to be overwhelmed. Everyone. But

when you know that you're not alone, when you

know that God is there, when you know. It can't

overtake you. It won't overtake you. I know I've

shared this story. And guess what? I'll share

it again after today. Just going to go ahead

and let you know. I'll share it again. But I

can't talk about God being there without telling

you again this. It's probably one of the top

five stories of me encountering God. in my entire

life. I tell you, I was overwhelmed with worry.

I was overwhelmed with fear. And listen, I'm

a preacher. At this time, I've been preaching

for 10, 15 years. But I was overwhelmed. It was

like I was in the deep water thinking that this

was my last breath. Before I was done. I told

you in everything that I did, we started a youth

conference. I know that God laid it on my heart

to do it. I prayed and talked to God about who

we're going to invite and who's going to be there

on the program. All those things. I spent a lot

of time in prayer. I wouldn't have even started

it except one day we were in the motorhome. up

in Hickory, North Carolina. Gayna went in to

see her mom and dad. She came back. I said, guess

what? I just had an experience talking with God,

and we're going to start a youth conference.

And I said, and here's the theme song. Because

I got the song right at the same time that we

sang. We Serve a Big God was the name of the

song. She said, how are we going to do that?

I didn't know. But I felt like that's what God

wanted me to do. So we rented the Myrtle Beach

Auditorium, Convention Center Auditorium. We

rented it. So many things. Had to rent a stage.

Had to rent lights. Had to rent sound equipment

for 2 ,500 people. Look to the person beside

you and say, that's not cheap. It's not cheap.

It was right when all these intelligent lights

came out. It was like moving around. So that

was like the most expensive thing you could get

at the time. I booked Rebecca St. James. Most

people don't even know who that is anymore. If

you've heard of For King and Country, that's

their sister. Nobody would know For King and

Country if it wasn't for their sister. So we

had the power team, we had Rebecca St. James,

we had Audio Adrenaline, which was the youth

group singers. Everybody had motions for come

and go with me to my father's house. Every youth

group was doing that. So I booked in. It was

amazing. We'd been on the road for all these

years. I just knew all my pastor friends, all

their students, they would bring their youth

groups and come. It was going to be a wonderful

time. I think we had 2 ,300 seats. All we had

to have was about 1 ,300, 1 ,400 people to pay

for it. We got 900 extra seats. That was going

to help us do it again next year, right? Only

problem is, my friends didn't show up. Most people

in the room were strangers. And there wasn't

very many of them. I wish I could remember the

exact number. Between two and three hundred.

How many of you know if it takes thirteen hundred

to pay the bills that when you have two or three

hundred people there, you're probably not going

to be able to pay the bills? It was a bad day.

All these groups were there. All these people

were there. All this equipment. I did a terrible

thing. I don't recommend anyone in the room.

ever doing what I did because I did something

terrible. I just wrote everybody a check for

what the contract was. Some people call those

faith checks where you don't have the money and

you write the checks. It's not a good deal. You

can write a faith check, but keep it in your

hand until the money's there. That's all. Because

it's kind of illegal to do it the other way.

It's not kind of illegal. It's definitely illegal.

But I just knew, because I had a great relationship

with the bank, I just knew that I'd be able to

call the bank and borrow the money. Well, I called

them. And he said, Dean. He said, I think you're

good for the money. But if I let you borrow that

much money, you've got to understand something.

I need my job. And if I let you borrow this money

and you don't pay it back, how am I even going

to find you? You live in a motorhome. And at

that point I said, well, Let me see if I can

get some people to co -sign. Let me see if I

can get some family and friends to co -sign.

And I said, whatever you do, please don't return

the checks. Call me when you get them. I called

some friends. I called family. Boy, I had some

great friends and family. After talking with

several people, I got up to the point where they

were willing to co -sign for $5 ,000. The only

problem is I owed more than 10 times that much.

So it was a bad day. We were in Myrtle Beach.

We were parked. Our motorhome was parked right

there where the dune goes over to the beach.

That time of year, first, second week of January,

nobody's there. It's just completely empty. We

were there, and several days went by, and the

banker's first name was Forrest. Forrest called.

He said, I think I have all your checks. What

was I going to do? Gannon and I, well, I pulled

out the atlas. Anybody know what an atlas is?

It's those paper maps. It's a book of all 50

states. Pulled out that atlas. I mean, we're

laughing now. It wasn't funny then. Pulled out

the atlas and we looked at it and we said, okay,

is it quicker to get to Canada or Mexico? Because

our ministry is about to change. We're either

going to be Forest Ministries International,

or I'm going to have a really good prison ministry.

I'm serious. We've looked at the maps, figuring

out where to go, what to do. I've been praying

the whole time. See, I prayed before I did it,

and I just knew that God was walking with me,

and we were... talking about it, and I was trying

to follow what he was leading me to do. He didn't

lead me to write those bad checks. But I was

asking him, God, where'd you go? Here I am. I'm

in trouble. I'm about to go to jail for doing

ministry. I'm about to go to Mexico or Canada.

Where did you go? The banker said, we've got

to do something about this in the morning. So

we went to bed that night. I'm rolling, I'm tossing,

I'm turning. We're in bed, but I can't sleep.

I was so overwhelmed with fear. So overwhelmed

with worry. So overwhelmed that I was a failure.

So overwhelmed. It's probably the lowest day

of my life on this earth. So I'm rolling, tossing,

turning. And all of a sudden, people think I'm

crazy when I say that God talks to me, but God

was talking to me. Still small voice. Inside.

Holy Spirit. We're supposed to follow Him. We're

supposed to know His voice. Right? I want you

to go to the beach. It's about 3 o 'clock in

the morning. It's cold outside. It had to be

at least in the 40s. It's cold. At least I'm

warm. I'm not sleeping, but at least I'm warm.

I want you to go to the beach. I had the audacity

to start arguing with God. I mean, I've been

asking where He was and why He wasn't speaking.

Now He's speaking and I'm like, why would I need

to go to the beach? Finally, because I'm thick

-headed, I'm glad somebody didn't say amen right

there. Finally, I got up, got dressed, walked

out of the motorhome. The thickest fog that I've

ever seen in my life. I stepped down off the

steps of the motorhome and I did this. I held

up my hand in front of my face this close. I

could not see my hand. That's how thick the fog

was and how dark it was. No moon that night.

Just thick fog. All I can see is a little white

speck. That was a street light that went over

the dune to the beach. So I knew the direction

to head in. So I walk over to that little bridge

over the dune. I walk up the steps. I get in

the middle of it. And then all of a sudden, God

says, stop. And then He asked me a question.

He says, where is the ocean? So I'm out there.

You might think I'm crazy, but now I'm talking

to God out loud. I said, it's right there. I'm

pointing. I'm talking. It's right there. He says,

you can't see it. How do you know it's there?

Because you can't see it. I said, it's there

because I've been here before. It's there because

I can hear. The waves. I've been here before.

And then God said in the loudest and audible

voice that I've ever heard, I'm here. I've been

asking Him, God, where'd you go? I'm drowning

here. Where did you go? Have you turned your

back on me or are you going to let me go under?

I mean, that's basically what I was saying to

God. But he reminded me. I'm here. Listen, the

peace of God, when he said I'm here, the peace

of God just flooded me. It flooded my mind. I'd

been so overwhelmed. But at that point, I walked

back to the RV, I walked in, I got back in bed,

and listen, as soon as my head hit the pillow,

I fell asleep. I want to ask you a question.

Had anything changed? It's not a trick question.

Did I find a... Did I find a treasure chest on

the beach? Did I trip over a bag full of cash?

Drug deal gone bad. Now I got $50 ,000 worth

of cash. Had anything changed? Was I still facing

the exact same thing that I was facing when I

was rolling and tossing and turning in the bed?

Nothing had changed. Besides God telling me that

He was there. Here's what changed. My confidence,

my trust, my faith in Yahweh Shammah had changed.

So I went fast asleep. You want to hear the rest

of the story? Next thing I heard was a telephone

ringing. Somebody called and said, Dean, God

told me to call you this morning and ask you

if you needed anything. I said, I hem -hauled

around. You know why I hem -hauled around? Because

I didn't think any one person could help me.

And then this person on the phone said, well,

if you're too proud to tell me what you need,

I'm going to hang up and don't call me back.

About that point, I swallowed a lot of pride.

And I told them the number. Within one hour.

Everybody say one hour. Within one hour. Everything

I needed plus another $1 ,000 was wired into

our ministry bank account. Why did I go through

all that? Maybe since I called the conference

the Big God Conference, maybe God was wanting

to let me know just how big He is. That's the

way I look back on it. So, what I have experienced...

Hey, you can't convince me that God has left

me anymore. I'm established in that now. You

can't convince me that He's not here with intended

purpose, directed purpose. You can't tell me

He's not. The reason why I shared that wasn't

so that you can be impressed by my faith because

I showed you how little faith I had through multiple

steps of that. I don't want you to be impressed

by me. I want you to be impressed by God. No

matter what you face. No matter what you face,

He's there. But you've got to believe that He's

there. He is there, but if you don't acknowledge

Him being there, you're not going to see the

deliverance. You're not going to see the victory.

You've got to acknowledge Him. In your darkest

days, in your darkest hours, you've got to acknowledge

Him. You've got to know that He is Yahweh Shammah.

He told you that in the Bible, that He is here

with a directed purpose to abide with you, to

live with you, to reside with you. You've got

to know it. You've got to know that when you're

in deep waters, you're not going to drown. When

you're in troubled waters, you're not going under

it. When you walk through the fire, you're not

going to be burnt up. You've got to know it.

Because that's who He is. And that's what He

does. Hebrews 13 .5 God has said over and over

and over and over again, I will never fail you.

I will never abandon you. But it's up to you.

It's up to me to walk by faith and not by sight.

It's up to you. It's up to me to walk by faith

and not by sight. It's up to us to live by believing

and not by seeing. Back to Peter stepping out

of the boat. When he was focused on Jesus, he

was walking on water. But when he focused on

the waves and the storm and the wind, he began

to sink. It's up to us to focus on Yahweh Shammah.

For us to focus. on Emmanuel, that God is with

us. Because when we know who God is, when we

know His name, we can put our trust, we can put

our confidence in Him, and we know that He will

not forsake us when we seek Him. His name is

Yahweh Shammah. His name is Emmanuel. I want

you to stand and say this with me. We need to

put our words in agreement with God's words.

Say this with me. Repeat it after me. God's targeted

purpose is to live, dwell, and abide with me.

I do not live by what I see or feel. I live by

God's established truth. I will not be afraid.

I will not be discouraged. I am strong and courageous.

God is always with me. He will never leave me

or fail me. Do you believe it? Do you believe

it? God, I thank you for your word. I thank you

for your truth. I thank you for who you are.

Thank you for showing us this. God, I pray that

we can be established in this truth. Not just

visit it this week and forget it when we visit

some more truth next week, but help us to be

established in this truth that you are with us.

That's your targeted purpose, is to be with us.

Help us to acknowledge that. In Jesus' name I

pray, amen. This online worship experience was

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