God is More than Enough: El Shaddai

sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. Welcome to week number seven

in our series we've entitled, Hello, My Name

is God. And we've been looking at the names of

God and their significance and importance to

us, okay? Are you excited? I'm excited. If you've

been here and the Word has blessed you and God's

name has blessed you, raise your hand. It's been

really good. I've gotten so much out of it. I

know it's so impacting when we get a hold of

who God is and how he can transform our lives,

right? It's so good. So let's talk about a name

real quick, try to catch everyone up. Like I

said, this is week seven. If you haven't been

here with us and would like to catch up, I just

want to remind you, you can be like YouTube,

you can go on podcasts, Apple podcasts, anywhere

you stream it, Spotify, whatever, all of the

different ones. You can go back and just listen

to an edited version of the sermon to catch up.

and be a part of what's going on here in that

word. So what's in a name? Names signify identity.

Everybody say identity. You can be a little bit

louder than that. Say identity. I'm going to

have you talking to me today. I want you focusing.

So identity. Now my full name, a lot of people

don't know this, but my full name is Jeffrey

Nathaniel Forrest. Now, you know, most people

just call me Jeffrey, but if I ever heard these

three names, it meant something. It meant something.

It wasn't just like, oh, Jeffrey, you know, that's

on your birth certificate, but if I hear someone

call me three names, I'm running. You know what

I'm saying? All right. Yeah, I was always in

trouble if I got all three names. Jeffrey Nathaniel

Forrest, what's going on? But yeah, everyone

calls me Jeffrey. If you notice, it's spelled

a little different. Some people call me Joffrey.

Some people like to call me Jeff. Don't call

me that. I just go by Jeffrey, okay? Jeffrey's

my name, and that's what I go by. Another identity

name is Christian. It's not just something that

I do. It's not just something that I practice.

It's my identity. It's my self -identity of what

God has done for me, and that's who I am, okay?

Everybody say amen. Christian is my identity,

not just something that I do and practice. It's

who I am, okay? Names also signify, so they signify

identity. Everybody say identity. Then say relationship.

Names signify relationship. I'm a cousin. I'm

a nephew. I'm a son. This is my dad. My mother

was singing up here earlier. She's helping out

with the kids. But my mom, she never called me

just son. I was always her favorite son. Now,

being the only child, that was kind of weird,

right? But I'd still take it as a compliment.

Right? You're like, you're my favorite son. And

I'm like, yeah, I'm the favorite. All right.

I'm also a husband. My beautiful wife, Caitlin,

she's usually keeping the kids. She's over here,

so I'm a husband. But she don't call me husband.

She calls me usually Jeffrey, just by my name.

We don't really do the whole pet name. Sometimes

she calls me honey, though. Sometimes, you know,

she says, oh, honey, can you do this? She don't

call me, you know, husband. That would be kind

of weird. But like, oh, husband, would you? you

know, change the air filter today or something

like, you know, she wouldn't say that. Sometimes

she would say, honey. We test drove, she test

drove one time Pookie. And that, thankfully,

that one didn't stick. Thankfully, I was like,

no, we're not doing that. I just kind of looked

at her and I was like, no, we're not doing that.

So names signify identity, names signify relationship,

and also names signify activity. Everybody say

activity. Activity, what a person does. Sometimes

you're known by a name. Like I've been a student

part of my life. I've been a musician. I started

playing bongos when I was like seven years old.

And then I moved to like a djembe and then drums

and then acoustic guitar. And I just started

playing anything, guitar, bass, or whatever,

anything that would go along with that. So I'm

a musician. I was a recording artist. I traveled

around. Even apart from my family, people would

book me in. I wrote songs and sang. Traveled

around, people would have me in, and I would

sing the music that God gave me to sing. And

so I was a part of who I was for a while. I was

a sound man. I ran sound. Got paid to run sound

and things. Got paid to be a sound engineer sitting

in studios and help produce records, things like

that. Worship leader. And then when we spent

time in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, we were

associated with a resort there. I was taking

pictures with my, just my iPhone for like the

longest time. And all of a sudden the owner one

day reached out to me and they said, hey, would

you mind running like social media? We just want

pictures for our account, things like that. So

I started doing that. And then it went from just

posting to that to all of a sudden, okay. We'll

get you a camera. So I got a camera. And then

we're shooting website photos and pictures to

hang around the resort. Then a picture is in

magazines. And then all of a sudden billboards

start popping up. So that was really cool. So

my professional photographer career, it was short

-lived, about three or four years. I finally

made some, like, family portrait money on the

side. You know, once you get everybody, let's

wear white and khaki and go stand out on the

dune and take a picture. If you know, you know,

okay? I was also, something interesting about

me, I was a senior citizen's aerobics instructor.

I kid you not. Yeah, a lot of people don't know

this about me. It's a good time. So what is it?

It was good money. I about said something I shouldn't.

Anyways. It was good money at the time, and we

did like circuit training. It was a part of like

a Weight Watchers program, and you would do like

a minute at each station, and I kind of facilitated

that class. Also, I was a DJ for a short period

of time. I'd set up sound on the beach. I'd play

top 40 hits and all the fun dance music that

you hear at weddings. We'd have 200 or 300 people

out there dancing every Saturday night. It was

good money. I was, when we moved here, I was

a custodian for Disney, coordinator and trainer

for a while. And then I've been an evangelist,

been a chaplain at that same resort, preacher,

and now the associate pastor here at Alation

Church. Everybody go, glad that's over. That

was a lot. Enough about me, though. It's 16 names

I just gave you. 16 names, but I'm just one person.

Everybody say one person. And one thing that

I just want to be clear about, like when we're

talking about the names of God, there's only

one God. When we hear these different names,

they're not talking about different gods or lesser.

No, we're just talking about one God. Everybody

say one God. One God. And what's in a name? Again,

because this wasn't about me, this is about who

God is and God's name. So in a name is identity,

it's relationship, it's activity, what a person

does. Come to God when we learn these names as

a church, as we're learning these names, let's

keep these things in mind, that this is who he

is. This name reveals his identity. It reveals

the relationship that he wants to have with each

one of us. And then his activity, the things

that he wants to do in our lives, through our

lives, in our world around us. Okay? Our main

text is Psalms 910. It says this. And those who

know your name will put their trust in you. For

you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

So when we seek God by his name, right, we can

put our trust in who he is, in that relationship

that he wants to have with us, in that activity.

We can trust that he will do those things in

our lives. And he will not forsake us when we

seek him according to who he is. He won't turn

his back on us is what that word means. He'll

never leave you. He'll never forsake you. Ain't

that such a blessing? Isn't that such a promise?

And as we've been looking at each one of these

names of God, there's a promise connected to

his person. There's a promise connected to his

identity. There's a promise connected here that

we can take a hold of by faith. Amen? Amen. The

name of God we're looking at is El Shaddai. El

Shaddai. This has just been like stirring in

my heart. I'm really jacked up and excited about

it. Might have had a little too much coffee too,

but we're going for it. El Shaddai. Everybody

say El Shaddai. Now in the first week, we've

looked at Elohim and Yahweh. This is another

compound word, Hebrew word here. So the first

El, short for Elohim, means great, mighty. Supreme

God, okay? And then Shaddai is usually translated

in your English Bible as Almighty. As you're

going through, it's translated as Almighty God,

okay? It's derived from that word. It's actually

two different words put together. It's derived

from the word breast, Shadd, and it implies something

physical nourishment, satisfaction, and supply.

I want to say that again, because I think we

need to take a hold of this. It implies physical

nourishment, so the physical, satisfaction, the

emotional, and the supply, the material, okay?

So listen, die, so shad means breast, die meant

enough in the language, in Hebrew. So when we

put these... Names together, it means the one

who is mighty to completely nourish, completely

satisfy, and completely supply. That's who God

is. If you're having trouble taking a hold of

this, this is just the direct translation of

what this name means, okay? So it's going to

be a long morning. You've got to bear with me.

Come on. El Shaddai means the one who is mighty.

Everybody say, God is mighty. God is mighty to

completely nourish me. Say this again. Don't

worry about the phone. God is mighty. Come on,

say it with me. God is mighty to completely nourish,

satisfy, and supply me. Do we believe that? That's

who he says he is. That's who the word says he

is. El Shaddai means, and a lot of you may have

heard this, it also means... God is, and it gives

us this picture in the Septuagint of being all

-sufficient. And this kind of sticks out to me

a little bit because he's not just sufficient

to meet these things. It's not just sufficient.

It's not just enough. He's more than enough.

He's all -sufficient, all -encompassing, sufficiency,

supply, nourishment. Come on. That's good. That's

who God is. That's who God is. He is more than

enough. That's the God that we serve. To get

this image, how many of you like buffets? Have

you liked buffets? Yeah, we like some buffets.

There's a buffet in Plant City, Florida. I encourage

you to go there. This is a shameless plug for

them. It's called Fred's Market. And if you go,

it's like country cooking. You know, I'm from

the Carolinas, and sometimes it's hard to get

country cooking. In Florida, for some reason,

even though we're farther south, we have less

country cooking. So anyways, I found this place.

And if you go down there, it doesn't matter how

hungry I am. It doesn't matter how much, you

know, how much I want to eat. I walk in the door.

I eat everything that I wanted. I get completely

full. And then I eat a little bit more than I

intended to eat. And then there's still. There's

still more, so I've got to go back and eat that

dessert that I missed out on because I was still

full. And then still, there's more than enough.

I can't eat it all. There's just more. A thousand

people will walk through that door, and there's

just more. There's just always food. I don't

know if it ever shuts down. There's just food

there. I imagined it in my sleep, like in my

dreams. It's just 24 hours a day, this endless

country cooking buffet. More than enough. Okay,

come on, come on. It's okay to laugh in church.

It's okay. It's kind of like a power line. The

power line up and down 27, it has the power within

it, listen, has the power within it to supply

the needs of my house so that when I plug in

my vacuum cleaner, I don't go, I wonder if it's

going to work today. I wonder if I have enough

power today, right? I plug it in, and so it supplies

the power to my house and everything that it

needs. But then it also has more within it than

I could possibly ever draw from it. More than

I would ever need. It's available to me. And

that's who God is. He's trying to give us this

picture of I am more than enough. I am all sufficient.

I am mighty. It reminds me of a few verses. We

have a lot of scripture coming at you today.

So sit up on the edge of your seat. Listen, Philippians

4 .19 says this, And this same God who takes

care of me will supply all your needs from his

glorious riches which have been given to us in

Christ Jesus. I want you to see that his riches

far exceed your need. Who he is far exceeds anything

that you need in your person. And this is a promise

connected to his person of who he is. Amen? His

supply is way more than my need, than my want.

Ephesians 3 .20, I love this. Now to him who

is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above.

I just want to stop there. Not just sufficient.

Not just enough. exceedingly, abundantly, above

all I can ask or think. I can think about a lot.

I can ask for a lot. And it's interesting to

think about this in the context of prayer and

God knowing in his omniscience, him knowing what

I pray before I ask it. And he's able to supply

that need because everything that you need is

already found in him. It's already available

to you in Christ. According to the power that

what works in us. Exceedingly, abundantly, above.

And is that your image of who God is? When you

think of God in your life and what that means

to you. Your relationship with him. His activity

in your life is a descriptor of that, him being

exceedingly, abundantly above. God's identity

reveals that his ability is above our perception.

It's above our perception. His provision is beyond

our perceived needs and wants being met. It's

beyond that. So let's look now, let's turn in

our Bibles to Genesis, Genesis 17. We're going

to be looking at when this first, when God revealed

himself as El Shaddai, okay? Genesis 17, 1, listen.

When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared

to him and said, I am El Shaddai, God Almighty.

I want you to take note of... The order in which

these things are given. I am El Shaddai, God

Almighty. Serve me faithfully and live a blameless

life. I will make a covenant with you by which

I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.

At this, Abraham fell face down on the ground.

Then God said to him, this is my covenant with

you. I will make you the father of a multitude

of nations. What's more, I'm changing your name.

It will no longer be called Abram. Instead, you

will be called Abraham, for you will be the father

of many nations. He could have just said, you're

going to be the father of Isaac, and that would

have been miraculous. But here we're seeing him

being more than enough. He's like, you're not

going to be just the father of Isaac. You're

going to be the father of nations. Anywhere your

feet will tread, you'll have, lead you into the

land of Canaan, all those things. I will make

you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will

become many nations and kings will be among them.

And I just want to point out something. The order

of events is that God reveals to Abram. that

he is El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough.

And then he gives him a vision, which is a vision

that he had already given him, and he keeps expanding

on it, keeps counting it to him. But he wanted

Abram to get it. He wanted Abraham to see it,

just like God wants you and I to see it. He wants

you and I to see. Not it, excuse me, but the

person of who God is. Because once we see that,

we can have faith that the vision and the destiny

and the call of God on your life will come to

pass. But first and foremost, you have to see

God as I am, El Shaddai. So he tells him who

he is. God tells Abram who he is. He gives him

the vision of what that's going to look like

in his life, what God being El Shaddai is going

to play out. It's his high calling, you could

say, as the father of our faith. Then something

special happens. God changes his name. Have you

ever thought about it? God changes his name.

There's a lot of significance in a name. But

he changes him from just Abram to now all of

a sudden Abraham, which was more in line with

his vision and his promise that he had called

him to. God wanted Abraham to know him, to believe

his word of blessing, and to see himself standing

in those promises to the degree that his identity

changed. to align with his God -given destiny.

God is El Shaddai. He's more than enough. He's

not just the father of Isaac. He's also the father

of nations. But listen, this is so big. God,

help us to take a hold of this. Help it to be

planted in good soil. Give us eyes to see, ears

to hear what your word is speaking. Listen, for

you to become who God wants you to be, you must

believe God is who he says he is. Not just mentally

agree with. Not just intellectual. This is not

an intellectual pursuit. That's religion. You

must believe, know, trust that God is who he

says he is. And you must believe you are who

God says you are. If we could get a hold of this

church, that's all we need. This is it. This

is what you need. You think I'm missing, I'm

coming up short, I need to go deeper with God.

No, you need to believe him more. You need to

know who he is and believe that God is who he

says he is and that you are who God says you

are. As a Christian, what does that look like?

That means seated with God in heavenly places.

You're raised up in him. You're made alive in

him. Because in him, through him, we have our

being. We have life to the fullest in excess

until it overflows when we are in Christ. And

if we can see ourselves like God sees us, not

with all this weight of self -condemnation, if

we can see ourselves the way God sees us instead

of the lies that the enemy tells us, if we value

what he speaks to us over the value of the enemy

trying to speak to us, if we value who he is

and what he says to us, man, if that was the

most important thing, it would change your life.

Believe who God says he is. and believe you are

who God says you are. In the New Testament, it

talks about Abraham too, and it's very important

what it says here. Let's listen. Romans 4, verse

Romans 4:16

16. Therefore, it is of faith, everybody say

faith, faith that it might be according to grace,

so that the promise might be sure to all the

seed, not only to those who are of the law, but

also those who are of the faith of Abraham. who

is the father of us all. As it is written, I

have made you a father of many nations in the

presence of him who believed, God, who gives

life to the dead and calls those things which

do not exist as though they did, who contrary

to hope and hope believed, so that he, Abram,

became the father of many nations according to

what was spoken. so shall your descendants be.

And get this, in not being weak in faith, he

did not consider, I want to pause there, he did

not consider the natural. He did not consider

the limitations in the natural. And in order

for you to be who God wants you to be and step

into, The high calling of God that he has on

each one of your lives, which is all unique to

you individually. The destiny, the high calling

that he has given you, that he has for you. In

order for you to step into that place, listen,

you cannot consider the natural. Your eyes cannot

be on your ability in the natural. What I can

do in the natural. He did not consider his own

body already dead, since he was about 100 years

old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did

not waver. This is so hard for us to do. We're

so bad about wavering at the promise. One day

we see it, one day we take a hold of it, and

then the next, with our words and our actions,

we do otherwise. But Abram... There was a point

in time in his life that all of a sudden he believed

that God is El Shaddai. It was settled in his

life. And it can be settled in your life. By

faith, you can be settled. You can say, God,

this is who you are no matter what I see, no

matter what I feel, no matter what I face. God,

I know who you are. He did not waver at the promise

of God through unbelief, but was strengthened

in faith, giving glory to God. In being fully

convinced that what he had promised, he was also

able to perform. Amen. What he had promised,

he was able to perform. God is more than enough.

Amen. What he promises in his word, he's able

to perform in your life. God's name was given

as a promise for Abraham to trust. Because remember,

we don't have faith in faith. We have faith in

God. So without knowing who God is and standing

upon that, you can't have faith. If you have

faith in the vision, maybe God's given you. some

kind of direction or heading in your life, you

can't put your faith in that and see that reality

become your reality. You have to ground, settle

your faith in who God is, in his person, to see

the promise revealed in your life. God wants

you to see yourself the way he sees you, seeing

yourself as if the promises of God have already

been fulfilled. What are some things, I just

want to ask you this, what are some things in

your life, because it's important to remember,

we talked about this in life group, it's important

to remember the things that he's brought you

through. Those help strengthen you individually

when you recognize that God was at work in my

life. And I think it's important to realize that

things that have come to pass in your life may

be something that you've prayed about, and then

all of a sudden you're in it today, and that

thought might be a million miles away, but I

think it's important for us to remember. That

you can live in and see yourself as if the promise

of God has already been fulfilled. An example

of that, here's, listen. An example of that is

before we moved here. I feel like I need to say

this. Before we moved here, I was in a single

wide trailer. My wife and I got married and I

was praying for a house. We were moving down

here. And I said, God, you know, wouldn't it

be great to have a house to do things in? That'd

just be such a blessing. God, I'm such a baby.

Some have, I don't know. But it's amazing to

wake up in an answered prayer. It's amazing to

live in the place that God has for me. Because

when I followed him, I stepped into the promise

that he had made me. And I saw myself here. I

saw Caitlin and I in a house. I saw it. And now

I'm in it. I can't tell you how many things in

my life I've prayed for and it happens. But I

have to see it in order for me to know that it's

going to take place. I've got to see me having

it. That's just a part of how it works. God is

the revealer. Everybody say, God is the revealer.

He's the revealer of, in his word, we gain knowledge,

we gain information. He's also the revealer by

the Holy Spirit, special revelation in our lives,

giving us day -to -day direction, guidance, plan,

illuminating our path, illuminating our minds

to the truth of the word, of the written word.

He's also the supplier. And then here at Alation

Church, we talk about God being our source. And

that's such a strong image to take a hold of,

is that God is the source of my provision. But

I want you, in this study today, in this lesson,

a lot of my life, I looked at God being my source

of enough. And I looked at... His ability in

the box of my natural understanding. But God

is the God who is not just enough. He is the

God who is more than enough. And he is the sustainer.

He sustains you by a life lived in faith. By

standing upon. His word, by knowing it, agreeing

with it. We all face situations and circumstances

where our natural abilities, our natural abilities

are not enough to take care of our need, our

present need, right? We all face that. I'll run

into those situations where I'm like, you look

at it. Think about it. You go, I don't know.

What I can do in my flesh is not enough to take

care of me, to supply for my family, to supply

for anything. We face those situations and circumstances,

and I want to look at two different stories today,

one in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament,

that I feel like really demonstrate and give

us better clarity on who God is. When we face

these trials and tribulations, what has happened,

okay, and how we can expect God to move in our

lives. 2 Kings 4, 1 through 7, if you're reading

along. One day, the widow of a member of the

group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out,

My husband who served you is dead, and you know

how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has

come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.

It was a bad situation. But what can I do to

help you, Elisha asked. Tell me, what do you

have in the house? Nothing at all, except a flask

of olive oil, she said, she replied. And Elisha

said, borrow as many empty jars as you can from

your friends and your neighbors. Then go into

your house with your sons and shut the door behind

you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the

jars, setting it each one aside when it is filled.

So she did. She acted on the word from God, from

the prophet. She did. She acted. And just as

she was told. So she not only did what she was

supposed to do, she obeyed and did it just like

she was told to do it. Another day, another time.

Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled

one after another. Soon every container was full

to the brim. Bring me another jar, she said to

one of her sons. There aren't any more, he told

her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.

This is who God is. God's the same yesterday,

today, and forever. And this is who God is. And

often we just expect him to be just enough. This

lady, it would have been great to just even give

her enough for her sons not, you know, to be

sold as slaves. That would have been enough.

That would have been huge. That would have been

a huge miracle in her life. But it didn't stop

there. Why didn't it stop there? Look at this.

Let's go back to it. Now sell all the olive oil,

pay your debts, and you and your sons can what?

Live on what is left over. More than enough.

God is El Shaddai. Mark 6, another great story.

Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the

boat. And as he did compassion on them, as he,

okay, excuse me. And he had compassion on them

because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

So he began teaching them many things. Late in

the afternoon, his disciples came to him and

said, this is a remote place and it's already

getting late. Send the crowds away so they can

go to nearby farms and villages and buy something

to eat. But Jesus said, You feed them. If you

look at Jesus' responses, this is great. You

feed them. You feed them. And they said, with

what? They asked. We'd have to work for months

to earn enough money to buy food for all these

people. Everybody say natural. Natural. And Jesus

asked, how much bread do you have? Go and find

out. They came back and reported, listen to what

they said, we have five loaves of bread and two

fish. Five loaves of bread and two fish. Everybody

say, not enough. Not enough to feed 5 ,000. It's

not enough. But to the little boy, as we know

in different accounts of this same story, the

little boy, The mother had packed the lunch,

and to the little boy it was just enough. Verse

39, Jesus told the disciples to have the people

sit in groups on the green grass. So they sat

down in groups of 50 or 100. Jesus took the five

loaves and two fish. Everybody say, not enough.

He did something. He did something. What did

he do? He looked up. It's interesting that these

things are included in Scripture. Why would we

notate that? Is Jesus not the living example

how we're supposed to live our lives? And when

we face situations and circumstances that look

not enough, You have a choice. You can look down

at what's in your hand, which will always be

not enough. You can look up. Church, it's time

to look up. Time to stop messing around. You

either believe God or you don't. Lukewarm Christianity

is puke Christianity. It's time to look up and

see not what's in your hand, but look up into

the realities of who God is. Jesus is looking

up to the Father. He's not looking at the bread

and the loaves of not enough. He's looking up

to the Father and he keeps his eyes on El Shaddai.

Saying, God, you are more than enough. Not just

in his spiritual, but no, he's more than enough

physical. He's more than enough emotional. He's

more than enough material. It goes beyond just

money. He's more than enough joy, more than enough

peace. Come on. And Jesus looks up into heaven

as our example and looks up to God as El Shaddai.

And it never says that he takes his eyes off

of looking up. And I can just kind of see it.

All of a sudden, he just starts. Breaking the

bread. Eyes are on heaven. Eyes into the supernatural

realm, the spirit realm, where God is, where

there's always enough. Heaven doesn't run out,

folks. God's not going to look around one day

and be like, oh, God, you know, there's not enough

food here to eat. There's not enough, you know.

He is more than enough. Then breaking the loaves

into pieces. He kept giving the bread to the

disciples so they could distribute it to the

people. Listen, he also divided the fish for

everyone to share. That just seems really messy

to me. I've always wondered about that. That'd

be nasty. They all ate as much as they wanted.

All their wants, all their need, their greatest

need in that moment was to be fed. It was all

satisfied. And afterward, the disciples picked

up, get this, could have just been enough. It

could have just ran out. Have you ever thought

about this? If you've heard this story before,

have you ever like really thought about why the

disciples pick up 12 baskets of leftover bread

and fish? Why? Seems like a waste. Uh -uh. It's

not a waste. Because when God gets involved,

there's more than enough. Come on. Come on, church.

Are you dead or alive? How long? How long do

we got to keep sharing these truths and sharing

this until we take a hold of it by faith? Wake

up. Come on. We're not called to stay sheep.

We're called to be an army. Fighting the good

fight of faith. Soldiers. Mighty. Strong. Not

in muscle, but in faith. I'm strong. Unwavered.

Unwavering. I don't say, oh, God, you're barely

enough for me today, and then now you're, oh,

now you're this, you know, and oh, now you're

enough, and no, and then, you know. On Sunday

morning, we're like, oh, yeah, praise Jesus,

bless the Lord. You're so good. You're everything.

Monday, you're going, what do I do? What do I

do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do

about my family? What do I do about my kids?

What do I do about my mind? What do I do about

the finance? What do I do about the car? What

is the car? We all do it. You're not alone. If

the enemy can tell you you're alone, you've already

listened to him. You've already lost. What you

face is no different. what everyone else faces,

you're not alone. For with God, he doesn't forsake

you. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake

you. His promises are yes and amen. He doesn't

have to manufacture things. God doesn't manufacture

things. Who he is is more than enough. And God

doesn't want to just meet your need. He wants

to exceed your expectation. Twelve baskets left

over. A total of 5 ,000 men and their families

were fed from those loaves. God is El Shaddai

more than enough. I'm almost done. This is a

reality of who God is that I believe you and

I, we often lose sight of. No matter what's going

on in the natural, listen, your outcome is dependent

upon who you believe God is and what he will

do, what he is able to do in your life. In every

circumstance or situation, you have a choice.

Let's apply this. Let's apply this to our lives.

In every situation, in every circumstance you

and I face, you have a choice to believe. We

have free will. Choice to believe that God is

not enough. Choice to believe God is just enough.

Or to take hold of who God is. Being more than

enough. And what do these three areas look like?

Not enough is lack. It's complaining. It's characterized

by complaining and talking about the things that

you don't have. Talking about the things that

you wish you did. Always without. Never satisfied.

Never at peace. Never full of this joy that we

sing about at church. Always seems so distant,

like I might try to chase it, I might try to

have it, but I lose it so easily. It's misplaced

dependency. What does that look like? A lot of

us are dependent upon other things. We'll say

things like, well... You know, if this works

out well, then I'll be good, right? Like if the

stock market does good this year, I'll be, you

know, my family will be fine. If, I'm sorry,

if my job does good this quarter, then my raise

will go up and everything will be okay. And so

we start. When you're in the land of not enough

and God's not sure enough, you start processing

things a little different. You start depending

on the outside world. And you really think that

you can pray to manipulate the outside world

to be, and you think you're doing the right thing

because you think you're like manipulating the

world around you to be because this is what God

has for me. You're going to give me a mean face,

I'll give you a mean face. We try to use our

prayers as for God to somehow come in and swoop

in and rearrange people's minds and hearts and

manipulate their will so that I will all of a

sudden live in the blessings of God. We laugh,

but it's true. Misplaced dependency. And I would

categorize this as no faith. You know, just because

you might have mental knowledge of who God is.

Maybe you spent time in church. Maybe, like,

you have these things, but we can enter into

seasons where we just, you know, we're so dependent

on everybody else and everything around us and

all lining up, thinking that... That has to happen

in order for God to bless us. When the Bible

says this in Matthew 6, 25 and 30, that is why

I tell you not to worry about everyday life.

You know, you can tell if someone's in faith

or not based upon if they're in worry or not.

Can't be in faith and in worry. Cannot coexist.

If you believe it can, you're in, it's just,

you're believing the lie of the enemy. You can't

be in worry and can't be in faith. What you're

in faith for, you're most excited about. Worry

is often categorized in fear, what you're most

fearful of. That's why you worry. Don't worry

about everyday life, whether you have enough

food or drink or enough clothes to wear. Thankfully,

I don't think anyone in this room is worried

about those things. But I think all of us have

worried about material things at one point in

life or another. Don't worry about it. Don't

look to the material things of this world. Whether

you have enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more

than food? Isn't your body more than clothing?

Look. Tells us where to look. Look at the birds.

They don't plant, harvest, or store food in barns.

Think about that. They don't plant, harvest,

or store food in barns. For your heavenly Father

feeds them. Aren't you far more valuable to him

than they are? Can all your worries add a single

moment to your life? And why worry about your

clothing? Look, again, at the lilies of the field

and how they grow. They don't work or make their

clothing, yet Solomon in all of his glory was

not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if

God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that

are here today, Thrown into the fire tomorrow.

He will certainly care for you. Listen to what

he says. Why do you have so little faith? It

means faith is on a scale. You can have little

faith. You can have no faith. You can have great

faith. And again, there's these three areas.

God is either not enough, just enough, or more

than enough. to you and your outcome, your outcome

is dependent upon your faith. Getting ahead of

myself. If we do not have faith in God's promises,

listen, look this way, we will live beneath our

divine privilege. If we do not have faith in

God's promises, if the reality of who he is is

not bigger than the realities of your natural

world. You will live beneath your divine privilege.

What does just enough look like? I believe all

of us, you know, kind of sit here for given times.

What does just enough look like? It means being

unsettled about God's will. We've talked about

that a little bit. Sometimes question his ability.

We're wavering. Basic needs are met. Often we

go through seasons, I would say, of faith. And

we see miracles even happen. But we get to this

place of, God, where are you at? And how are

you going to provide? I don't know. And so God

does some things in your life to show you who

he is. And in this area, even though you're wavering,

God is still merciful and he still does some

miraculous things. But that's not who he wants

to be and that's not all of who he is. That's

not what he wants for you. Not his will for you.

It's to just have just enough. Again, this is

not just, This is not some good message on prosperity

or something like that. This is talking about

faith. Because without faith, it's impossible

to please God. You might believe, well, I have

just enough joy today to make it through. To

have just enough peace today to make it through.

Self -condemnation means like, you know, maybe

you doubt his righteousness enough. for me for

the sins that i've committed you don't know what

i've done you know like you don't know what i've

thought you don't know what i've said and his

and is his grace and you know who he is is it

enough to cleanse me is his righteousness enough

covering so that when god looks at me he sees

Jesus, he sees the blood of Jesus. We often want

to limit God's work to our natural understanding.

This is how we pray. This is how we process reality.

And a key indicator, you can always tell when

you're in it or you hear you're talking to someone

and they're in this mindset of God just being

just enough because the focus is all on self.

and personal needs. And if all you are in this

life, if the world just revolves around you,

every word that you say, every thought that you

think, and you're just preoccupied with you,

listen, you're ineffective for the kingdom of

God. You're ineffective. It's not about you.

The kingdom of God is not about you. And if all

you're focused on is on yourself, guess what?

Your outcome is just going to be what you can

perform in your natural ability. If it's based

on my works and my effort, all on my need. I

need this. I need this. It's like a selfish child.

God doesn't want us to be that. He wants us to

grow up. He wants us to look up. And what does

it look like when God is, you're more than enough?

It's a confidence in El Shaddai. That's who he

is. And it's characterized by living in his promise

by faith. Every need generously provided for

with what? Plenty left over to share with others.

It's a focus on God and his kingdom work in the

earth and others. The measure of your faith in

God, and this is what we've been saying, the

measure of your faith in God is the measure your

reality will mirror God's perfect will and plan

for your life. We receive not according to God's

ability, but according to our faith in who He

is and what we are confident He will do. More

verses on who God is. 1 Corinthians 2 .9, we

just read it. No eye has seen and no ear has

heard. No mind has imagined what God has prepared

for those. God has prepared some things for you.

Just like he had a plan and a purpose for Abraham,

and he calls him to go stand in the promises.

There's a place of provision for you. There's

a place, spiritual place, that God wants you

to enter into, full of his life, full of his

joy, the abundant life of Christ. Not based on

your circumstances, but based and grounded in

faith of who he is. And it's greater than you've

ever seen. It's greater than you've ever heard.

His plans for you are greater than you can wildest

dreams imagine. I can imagine a lot. But he has

something for each and every person in this room

that's as unique and as identical, as unique

and special as your fingerprint. And he is waiting

for you, his children, the called out ones, the

church, to believe him, to see him, to know him,

and see yourself living in those promises and

start moving out in faith, marching forward as

an army of the living God and stepping into his

life of promise. Stepping into that promised

land that he has for you. Because in that season,

without complaining, right? If you're just stuck

in the land of just enough, you're never going

to make it to the promised land. If you're just

complaining about God, we don't have it out.

I have manna, I have quail, I might have, but

it's not, you know. You're going to wander in

the wilderness, church. God's either, you're

more than enough and you... take hold of it today

and you walk out this door different and changed,

or you will keep wandering around in the wilderness.

You will keep not having what God wants you to

have, and your life won't look like what God

wants you to have and live in. Jeremiah 29, 11.

Very popular verse, but I want you to see it

in this light. For I know the plans I have for

you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and

not for disaster, to give you a future and a

hope. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

What does he try to steal, kill, and destroy?

Your hope. Your confident expectation of who

God is. He's wanting to kill, steal, and destroy

that. If he can make you doubt the promise, he

can take any promise away from you. If he can

make you doubt who you are in Christ, you've

lost the battle. You have to be confident in

who God is and who he says you are. 2 Corinthians

9 .8 And God will generously provide all you

need. He cares about your need. We learned last

week, the Lord is our shepherd, I shall not want.

Powerful. Then, you will always have everything

you need and plenty left over to share with others,

every good work. I put every good work in there,

other translations. Translated different. I like

what the Amplified says. It's just amplifying

those Greek words. Kind of carries them out into

their extent. Sometimes it's hard to read, though.

But it says, abundance for every good work and

charitable donation. That's when we're useful

to the kingdom of God. And that's what his promises

of him being El Shaddai, that's what that looks

like in your life. Self -sufficiency is not self

-worth, self -action, my abilities and my things.

It's being satisfied physically, emotionally,

materially. satisfied, seated in, unwavering

in the knowledge. Listen, and I'm done. Psalms

910, those who know your name, what does that

mean? To know fully, to recognize, intellectual

awareness, experiential knowledge, intimate familiarity,

deep personal relational knowledge, activity,

relationship, identity. Those who seek you. What

does seek mean? Inquire. Require. Investigate.

Demand. Diligently search with the intent of

obtaining information and understanding. As received

by the Holy Spirit, bringing the truth of Scripture

alive to you. him speaking to you in fellowship

with him, daily communion with him, will put

their trust, remember, confident expectation,

for you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek

you. My God is El Shaddai. God completely nourishes,

satisfies, and supplies me. All my needs are

taken care of. And I have more than enough to

give to every good work. I want us to say it

together. I think it's important to confess this.

You can take a picture of it. Take a picture

of it. Say it until you believe it. Until you

take a hold of it. Let's say it together. One,

two, three. My God is El Shaddai. God completely

nourishes. satisfies and supplies me. All my

needs are taken care of, and I have more than

enough to give to every good work. That promise

is connected in his person, who he is. When you

know him, when you seek him accordingly, you

will experience it in your life. This online

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