FaithAct: Don't Get Offended

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. It's week number two in a series

that we began last week that I have entitled

Faith Act. Everybody say Faith Act. See that

little baby holding that dumbbell? It's like

a 300 -pound dumbbell. You see that little baby?

That little baby's performing what I like to

call a faith act. Right? How many of you know

that baby can't pick up a 300 -pound dumbbell?

Three of us, okay. Some of you think it's Super

Baby, I guess. But how many of you know that

if a weightlifter walked up behind that baby

and picked up that dumbbell without that baby

seeing it and all of a sudden it went up, how

many of you think that baby would say, wow, wow?

Look to the person beside you and say, hopefully

that'll be you. Hopefully that'll be you. Hopefully

that'll be you. So let's talk about faith a minute.

We talk about faith here a lot at Elation Church,

and we will continue to talk about faith here

a lot at Elation Church. The Bible says in Ephesians

2 .8, it says, for by grace, everybody say grace.

What is grace? You might say unmerited favor.

How many of you have that definition? It's unmerited

favor, but let's take it another step. It's actually

God's grace is God's acts. Everybody say acts.

God's acts of kindness and favor towards you.

And we can go ahead and add that we don't deserve

it, right? And by we don't deserve it, we mean

we didn't work for it, we didn't earn it, we

didn't pay for it. It's God's acts of kindness

and favor. towards you and towards me. How many

of you know God has done a lot of things to demonstrate

his kindness and favor towards you and towards

me? I mean, salvation. Everybody say salvation.

The only way that we are in Christ, the only

way that we are born again, the only way that

we are saved is because of what God did. Jesus

coming down out of the eternal throne room to

take on flesh and live a perfect life and then

willingly lay down his life to die for your sin

and my sin in our place. That's an act of kindness

and favor towards us that we don't deserve. For

by grace you have been saved. God's done a lot

of great and wonderful acts of kindness and favor

towards us. Everyone. But it says it's by God's

acts of kindness and favor we have been saved

through faith. Everybody say through faith. Just

because Jesus died on the cross for sin doesn't

mean that everyone is forgiven and everyone is

going to heaven. Are you with me? It's only the

people who reach out and take hold of what God

did in his acts of kindness and favor toward

them, they reach out and take hold of that by

faith. Everybody say faith. Right? If there has

been a time in your life before today where you

realize that you were a sinner and you were separated

from a holy God, If you have asked him to forgive

you of your sin, if you have thanked him for

dying on the cross for your sin, if you've called

on the name of the Lord, then you're saved. Those

are acts of faith. Everybody say acts. Acts of

faith. By grace you have been saved through faith.

Look at the person beside you and say it takes

a faith act. To be saved. Okay? Now, this may

be a jump for some of you who've never been here

or who aren't here much. How many of you know

the Bible is filled with all kinds of wonderful

promises that are for us? They're for us. Hundreds.

Just because those promises are available does

not mean that they're going to be evidenced in

your life. Just like salvation, you have to reach

out by faith and receive them. You have to connect

to those promises by faith. Let's keep going.

I lost half of you just then. Hang on. Galatians

3 .11. No one is justified by the law in the

sight of God. That's evident. That's evident.

You can't be good enough to be right with God.

You can't keep enough rules to be right with

God. If you could, then Jesus died for nothing.

No one's justified. No one's made right with

God. No one is righteous because of what they

did. or didn't do. It says the just, those who

are right with God, those who have been justified,

who God looks at them and says, you know, God

receives us like we've never sinned at all. Has

anybody ever heard that? Just as if. I'd never

sinned, justified, just as if. The just shall

live by faith. So not only are we saved by faith,

we're supposed to live by faith. Live. Let's

keep going. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says this, we

walk by faith. That word walk is the sphere of

our lives. It's what it represents. It's not

talking about physically walking, you know, like

I'm walking right now. It's talking about our

life. For our lives, we live our lives by faith,

not by sight. Sounds simple, right? Sounds simple.

Is it simple in practice? How many of us get

caught up in what we see all the time and live

our lives by what we see with our eyes, by what

we feel with our feelings? Our lives are supposed

to be lived by faith. When we're in Christ, we

walk by faith and not by sight. Let's keep going.

1 John 5, 4. Every child of God... How many people

are in Christ today? You're a child of God. You've

believed in Christ. You've asked Him to forgive

you. You've surrendered your life to Him as your

Lord. Every child of God defeats this evil world.

Is that your experience? Are you living in victory

every day? According to this verse, it's available.

For every child of God defeats this evil world

and we achieve this victory through our faith.

If we're not experiencing the victorious Christian

life day in and day out, it's not that God is

holding out on us. It's because we're not connecting

to what he has promised and what he has provided.

We're not connecting to it by faith like we can,

like is available for us. I did not write this.

I'm just the messenger boy, okay? Does this say

every once in a while those who are in Christ?

Have a day of victory? Is that what the Bible

says? Is that what it says? Come on, somebody.

It's like, well, maybe one out of ten will have

a great victorious day. That's not what I read.

It's not right. Right? See, this is a promise.

This is a promise. Everybody say promise. God

leads us, the Bible says, in triumphal procession.

It's like we're supposed to live our lives in

a victory parade. You might be sitting there,

well, you must not live in this broken world.

Yeah, I live in the broken world that you do,

and everything doesn't always go my way, and

sometimes it seems like it's all falling apart.

And if I am focused on what I see and what I

feel, I could be a very miserable person. I have

the opportunity to be a very miserable person

almost every day. And I'm not the only one in

the room. Because we all live in this same broken

world. Here's the deal. Am I going to... Focus

on what didn't go my way, what broke, what challenged.

Am I going to focus on that? Or am I going to

focus on my good God who's seen me through before

and he's going to see me through again? I can

live in victory in the middle of problems. I

can live in peace in the middle of problems.

I can have joy in the middle of my problems.

If everything has to go my way for me to be filled

with joy and filled with peace, then all I have

is the world's joy and peace. Because anybody

can experience that. Anybody. Hello. You're frowning

at me now. You've got to quit frowning at me.

You've got to start smiling. I'm telling you,

it's available. Do I always... Am I always setting

my mind on the right thing, saying the right

thing? No, I'm not always there. I'm just like

you. Just like you. Have the same challenges,

same feelings, same temptations. Might be different,

but they're all temptations, right? So, but I'm

telling you and I'm telling me, God's got more

for us. God's got more for us. We achieve this

victory, this victorious Christian life, we achieve

it through our faith, not just faith in faith,

but faith. connecting to God's promise, connecting

to what God has done, connecting to God's grace.

That's how we experience His victory. Hebrews

11, 6, everybody say faith is important. You

know why? Because the Bible says it's impossible

to please God without faith. Who wants to please

God? Four people in the room want to please God.

It's okay to... Raise your hand or smile or something.

Who wants to please God? I want to please God.

Well, without faith, I'm not going to please

Him. So faith must be important. If we're saved

through faith, we're supposed to live and walk

by faith. If we can only experience victory through

faith, if we can only please God by connecting

to Him by faith, it's very important. And we've

talked a lot about faith and what it is. Everybody

say hearing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing

by the word of God. We don't just have faith

in faith. We have faith in what God has said.

His divine utterance. Because, I mean, our secular

world would talk about having, just have faith.

Little faith, little pixie dust. Right? Hello?

You can have all the faith and faith and pixie

dust that you want to, but there's no substance.

There's no substance to that. Everybody say substance.

You need to connect your faith to substance,

to God, who is more than able. Everybody say,

God is able. God is able. He is almighty, all

-powerful, all -knowing. That's who our faith

needs to be connected to. Look at the person

beside you and say, I'm glad you're here today.

Because if you weren't here, I would think that

he was picking on me. I'm not picking on you.

I'm picking on that other person beside you.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word

of God, that's the divine utterance. Everybody

say divine utterance. So the first step, everybody

say first step. First step of faith is hearing

a divine utterance from God. His Word and His

Holy Spirit speaking to us. There are some things

that are very black and white in the Word of

God. There are some other things that... I never

found a Bible verse that said, Dean, you need

to marry Gaina. I never found a Bible verse that

said, Dean, you and your family need to leave

South Carolina and move to Florida. and plant

a church. I never found that Bible verse. But

the Holy Spirit of God communicated those things

to me. It's a divine utterance. Divine utterance.

God's speaking to our hearts. Now, I've had some

people tell me that God spoke some things to

their hearts that it was obviously not God. And

the reason why I tell you it's not God is because

what they told me God was telling them was in

contradiction to what was written in the Bible.

And I've even looked at some friends. I talked

about this last week. I looked at some friends

and said, God didn't tell you that. They got

mad. They got offended. Everybody say offended.

They got offended because I told them that God

didn't tell them that. They told me it was time

for me to leave their house. Friends. I'm talking

about friends for 10 years telling me that God

told them to do something. I said, God didn't

tell you that. I said, if God told you that,

he would have to rewrite, he'd have to rip out

some pages out of the Bible and rewrite some

of the things he's already said for God to tell

you that. Hold me. So the first step is hearing.

Everybody say hearing. Second step. Hebrews 11

.1, faith is the confidence that what we hope

for will actually happen. It gives us assurance

about the things we cannot see. So the second

step of faith is wholeheartedly believing. Everybody

say believing. And having confidence. Everybody

say confidence. In what God has said, in that

divine utterance. You've got to wholeheartedly

believe it. And then you've got to believe it

to the point that you have confidence. Everybody

say confidence. Confidence. See, the Holy Spirit

connects us to the Word of God and to the things

of God. He makes them real in us, and as we hear

His divine utterance, then we have to believe

it and have confidence in it. Faith is the confidence

that what we hope for, everybody say hope. A

Bible. That word hope means a confident expectation.

So we have confidence to the point that we are

expecting that we are going to see the goodness

of God and the promises of God fulfilled. Hallelujah.

James 2, 26 tells us this. Faith without works

is dead faith. So the third step, everybody say

third step. Third step faith. First is hearing.

The second is believing and having confidence

and expectation. The third step is an action.

Everybody say an action. An action. Because if

our... if what we have heard and what we believe

and what we've had confidence in does not lead

to a corresponding action, it's dead. We can't

expect to see that promise fulfilled in our lives

if we don't hear it, believe it to the point

that it will cause us to act on what God has

said. Some of the actions are already listed

out. There's so many Bible verses that say, if

you do this, God will do this. So there's some

awesome promises in the Bible. And if you really

believed it, if you really believed that that

promise was for you and had confident expectation

in that promise, then you wouldn't have any problem.

doing your part on what God told you to do, and

if you do this, then I will do this, God says.

But so many times people get offended. People

get offended. Can't believe the preacher said

that I had to do something. Get mad at the preacher.

Get mad at God because God said. Here's one.

Here's one. Does anybody want favor with other

people in this world? Does anybody want favor?

Anybody? Well, the Bible says, I wish I had the

verse, but this is just like God saying, give

them this, so I'm giving them this. The Bible

says if we will show ourselves friendly and loyal,

that we'll have favor. God's promise is for us

to be able to have favor with people, but the

if part is we've got to be loyal and friendly

ourselves. Can't be mean, ugly. Talk bad to people.

Be a backstabber. Say one thing to somebody's

face and then say something else when they're

not around and expect to have favor. Don't get

mad at me. I'm just a delivery boy. I mean, that's

God's Word. That's what God says. Makes sense,

right? Makes sense. isn't God just supposed to

wave some kind of magic wand over me and say,

poof, I give you favor? Can we give you another

one some people get offended about? I've already

shared it. God says if we will honor him with

what he's already blessed us with, Boy, people

get offended when the preacher starts talking

about money. If we will honor him with what he's

blessed us with, then we can live under an open

heaven of blessing and we might say, boy, I want

to live under an open heaven of blessing. But

we refuse to honor God with what he's already

blessed us with. Everybody say, faith act. See?

Don't get mad at the preacher. Because I'll tell

you like I tell you almost every week, if you

ever feel pressure to give anything, don't give

anything. No, don't. If it's pressure, don't

give. But if you're giving in response to what

God has said and what God's promises are, come

on, somebody. Faith without works is dead. The

third step of faith is acting in obedience. Everybody

say, acting in obedience. Acting in obedience.

That's the third step. Now last week we talked

about, I hope you listened to last week. If you

weren't here last week, now we have a podcast.

Anywhere you can get podcasts, you can find that

message. You can go to Facebook, Galatian Church,

and see our live message. Also, I preach it and

post it on Saturday for a lot of people who,

friends of ours, you know, hundreds of people

who use that as like a Bible study. Saturday

morning, stuff like that. Last week we talked

about, the sermon title was, Quit Crying and

Move. And we took it straight out of a Bible

verse, so that's what God told his people. He

said, it's time to quit crying. When God's people

were between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea,

God said, quit crying and move. That's what he

said. Look it up. So, I have a testimony of someone

who was not in the room, but he wanted to share

about something that God spoke to him. So, everybody

listen up. Everybody put on your listening ears.

I hadn't said that since I was in school, I don't

think, or since I was doing vacation Bible school,

but here we go. Everybody listen up. Good morning,

Olathean Church. Happy Sunday. For those of you

who may not know who I am, my name is PJ Crouch.

I'm Buffy Crouch's son. So if she's sitting somewhere

with a shot clock on her face, somebody please

take a picture and send it to me because she

had no idea I was doing this. I had emailed Pastor

Dean a couple weeks ago asking him some advice

on how to do some ministry stuff to surprise

my mom at the same time. And through some conversation,

this is what we came up with. This series, at

least from what I've seen, is awesome. It worked

in my life because I'm at a point in life where

I'm going to have to make some decisions on where

I think God wants me and how he wants to use

what I know. But one thing he said in Sermon

1 that stuck out to me was faith is basically

two parts. One, we believe is what it says, but

two, and two is the hardest part for me, is we

have to put that belief in action. So, one of

my favorite verses, especially in this chapter

of my life, being an adaptive rock climber and

CrossFit athlete, And hopefully by the time you

guys watch this, I will have completed my first

Tough Mudder. But one of my favorite verses is

Philippians 4 .13. That I can do all things through

Christ who strengthens me. So, I believe what

it says. But how do I put that in action? So

I started thinking. about my rock climbing. So

I do belay, which is when rope coming down from

the top of where you're wanting to climb, you're

hooked into a harness. The harness is hooked

to the rope by a deep cliff, and then you've

got somebody at the bottom holding the rope so

it doesn't get away from you if you come off

the wall. either intentionally or unintentionally.

And I started thinking, that has a lot of moving

parts. I've got the rope, I've got my harness,

I've got the D -clip, and I've got the person

at the bottom. I believe that it all works. But

until I actually clip in with that D -clip on

that rope and start climbing the wall, does my

belief mean anything? point in life right now

where I'm kind of at a crossroads. I've got multiple

ways I can go and be really, really good at whatever

is at the end of that path, no matter which way

I decide to go. Because I feel God's called me

to multiple things. But until I step out I'm

just waiting at the bottom of the mountain and

this is a call to me as much as you whatever

that mountain is God's your rope you gotta clip

it and trust that he's gonna hold you till you

get to the top so once again Thanks, Pastor Dean,

for the opportunity. And Mom, I'm sorry I hid

this from you. I love you. Hope to see you soon.

What a surprise. Quit crying. If you start crying,

I might start crying. All right, I'm just playing.

So this week, all that was introduction. Everybody

say introduction. Now it's time for the message.

Look to the person beside you and say, listen

fast. Listen fast. If this takes a long time,

it's your fault because you weren't listening

fast enough. 2 Kings 5, 1 through 14 is where

we're focusing as we look at an act of obedience,

a corresponding action that completes faith.

2 Kings 5, 1 through 14. The king of Aram had

great admiration for Naaman. Everybody say Naaman.

The commander of his army, because through him,

the Lord had given Aram great victories. But

though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered

from leprosy. At this time, Aramian raiders had

invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives

was a young girl. who had been given to Naaman's

wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her

mistress, I wish my master would go see the prophet

in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.

So Naaman told the king what the young girl from

Israel had said. Go and visit the prophet, the

king of Aram told him. I will send a letter of

introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.

So Naaman started out carrying as gifts 750 pounds

of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 sets of

clothing. Everybody go, that's a pretty nice

gift. That's a nice gift. I should have figured

out how much money that would be in today's money,

but it would be a whole lot. Since gold is like,

what, $2 ,500 an ounce this week? I mean, it's

crazy. Pounds. Okay. The letter to the king of

Israel said, with this letter I present my servant

Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore

his clothes and this man said, this man sends

me a leper to heal. Am I God that I can give

life and take it away? I can see that he's just

trying to pick a fight with me. So it scared

the king of Israel. But when Elisha, everybody

say Elisha. Everybody say a prophet. Someone

who hears God and says what God told him to say.

That's what a prophet is. Let's don't get too

spooky with prophet. But when Elisha, the man

of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn

his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to

him. Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me.

And he will learn that there is a true prophet

here in Israel. So Naaman went with his horses

and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha's

house. But Elisha sent a messenger. Sent a messenger

out to him with a message. Go and wash yourself

seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin

will be restored. You will be healed of your

leprosy. Somebody say easy enough. But Naaman

became angry and stalked away. Got mad. Here's

what he says. I thought he would certainly come

out to meet me. I came all this way. Come on.

I came all this way. I'm standing in front of

the prophet's house, and does he not know who

I am? Does he not know how important I am? I

mean, I'm the commander of the army. We've defeated

them, and then now I'm here to talk with him,

and then he just sends out a messenger. I thought

he would certainly come out. Meet me. Here's

the deal. You can't be offended by the word and

receive the promise at the same time. That's

so good, I'm going to say it again. You can't

be offended by the word and receive the promise

at the same time. How many of you know that the

prophet sent him a word, and Elisha just didn't

make this up. I mean, God told Elisha to tell

him this. Right? He's coming to seek healing

from God through God's prophet, and he gets a

word. He gets a divine utterance. He gets a word.

But he got offended. Why didn't he come out here

to see me? And he got mad. It says he stalked

away. I mean, he's just fuming. He's like, ain't

no telling what he was saying as he was walking

and getting back on his horse or in his chair.

You know, we came all this way and the man wouldn't

even come out and see me. There's somebody that

lives right here that came one... Sunday to Elation

Church. Had no idea they were coming. How many

of you know that I talk about peace a lot? And

it just so happened that the children's church

message and our message was all about Jesus speaking

peace, calming the storm. And then Jesus looked

and said, Where's your faith? I mean, you were

overcome with fear so you were not in faith.

And I said, you can't be in fear and in faith

at the same time because they're opposite of

each other. We talked about the peace of God

and God wanted you to have peace and not be just

overwhelmed with fear and overcome with fear

all the time. That's God's name. One of his names

is Yahweh Shalom. He is the Lord, our peace.

He is peace. Jesus came to give us peace and

not like the world's peace. Hello? That same

week, we got an email saying that I'm not coming

to this church. I'll never be back at this church.

And you know what? I'm not going to expose my

family to somebody who says that, you know, God

wants you to have peace. God don't want you to

be overcome with fear. You want me to tell you

what had happened in this person's life? I mean,

they had come to the point where they embraced

their fear. And they came to the point where

they were comfortable with their fear. They want

their fear. I don't know why somebody would embrace

fear and anxiousness and want that. I've experienced

it, but I didn't want it. I didn't embrace it

like, this is who I am. Hello? Come on, somebody.

Look at the person beside you and say, God wants

us free. God wants us free. And his promises

and his word are very clear that he wants us

free. I mean, but it's like, how dare you tell

me that God doesn't want me to live in fear the

rest of my life? Everybody say offended. She

got offended. Got offended. Because she loved

her fear more than she would love her freedom.

How many of you know that that works in a lot

of people's lives? It might not be them embracing

fear, but they're embracing something that's

destroying their life, and they would rather

hold on to that than grab freedom. You know what

I'm talking about. Is anybody with me? I'll get

off your toes. Here we go. Verse 11. I'm going

to lighten up for a second. I'm going to read

a verse. Here's Naaman. I expected him to wave

his hand over the leprosy and call on the name

of the Lord his God to heal me. So he'd already

decided how this was going to work. Coming into

it, right? I'm going to this prophet. He's going

to wave his hand over me. He's going to call

on the name of the Lord and I'm going to be healed.

This is the way it's going to happen. Has anybody

lived long enough to figure out God doesn't always

do it the way we expect him to? Anybody? Anybody

know what I'm talking about? If you haven't figured

that out, I'm going to let you know. God doesn't

always do things the way that you expect him

to do it. He doesn't always do it like we expect.

Let's continue in his offense. The display of

his offense. Aren't the rivers of Damascus where

I'm from? I mean, our rivers are a whole lot

better than the Jordan. Jordan's pretty muddy,

right? Most of the time, the Jordan's pretty

muddy. Pam was just at the Jordan last year.

Jordan's pretty muddy. I've never been, I've

seen pictures. And he's saying, aren't the rivers

of Damascus, the Abana and the Far Park, aren't

they better than the rivers in Israel? Why shouldn't

I wash in them and be healed? So Naaman turned

away. He turned and went away in rage. He was

so mad. Came all this way. You didn't come out

to see me. And then you tell me to dip in the

Jordan seven times. I could have stayed at home

and did that. Makes no sense. Everybody say,

makes no sense. Listen, if you don't act because

you don't understand how the action connects

to the promise, you won't receive. I don't know

if you understood that by the look on your face.

So I'm going to say it again. He had a word.

Say, Naaman had a word. Naaman had a word. He

was offended because he didn't get it personally

and then all of a sudden he starts reasoning

it and thinking about it. There's better rivers

than Damascus. So why do I need to go dip in

this muddy Jordan seven times? So he wasn't going

to act because in his mind he couldn't understand

how that action, dipping in the Jordan seven

times, was connected to God's promise to heal

him from the prophet. So he left mad. He left

mad. Here's where we are in this series and we're

going to be here every week because you can't

just come to the preacher and say, what does

God want me to do? What does God want me to do?

What does God want me to do? Because if you are

a Christian, if you're a Christ follower, God

the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you.

Don't you know that your body is a temple of

the Holy Spirit? That's what the Bible says in

Corinthians. So God's in you, right? And He speaks

to you. God didn't speak to anybody in this room

to marry Ghana except me. God didn't speak to

anybody in this room except me to... to move

here and start a church called Elation Church,

right? Did you know that before COVID that Dean

and his family are coming to Four Corners to

start Elation Church? Did you know that? Now,

he could tell you and be like an affirmation

of what he told me. I've experienced that in

my life. But I didn't act on the affirmation

until I had a word from God. Sometimes a word

came later in my life. So I can't tell you, unless

it's something black and white in the word of

God that's written out like the things that we've

talked about, I can't tell you what the action

is. But I'm telling you. If the Holy Spirit of

God has connected you to the Word of God and

to the promise of God, and you have wholeheartedly

believed it, and you have confidence and expectation

in it, that there's going to be something that

you're going to have to do. While you wait, I

can tell you, I believe, from looking through

the Scripture, something that you need to start

doing immediately. It may be all that you have

to do. It might just be one step in what you

have to do. Like last week, we looked at so many

different steps that God's people had to do.

You know, not fear, take up the staff, hold out

your hand. All those things didn't seem to connect

to the miracle of parting the Red Sea. In my

little brain, that didn't open the Red Sea. Those

acts of faith. Doing what God told them to do.

It didn't do the work. God did the work. But

without their acts of faith, it wouldn't have

happened. Hallelujah. So God may tell you to

go here, do that, give this. We talked about

it in our spirit -led series last year. I told

you about times when God told me to give something

and I didn't give it. And it was like... Should

have gave that when God told me to. Went back

to that Publix and tried to find that little

girl with the red glasses. I mean, I went six

or seven times trying to look for her. I still

can't find her. Never seen her again. God told

me to give her, at that time, I had a $100 bill

in my wallet. God told me to give it to her and

say that it was from him, but I didn't do it.

I thought, she's going to think I'm crazy. I

mean, she was probably late teens, early 20s.

I mean, I just started reasoning and thinking,

well, she's going to think I'm trying to hit

on her or something. I mean, it's like this could

go south in a lot of different ways. Are you

with me? So I didn't do it. And here's the deal.

I believe that that was connected to something

in the spirit realm. Maybe God was trying to

do something for Dean, and Dean didn't do what

God told him to do. Hello? So, a few weeks later,

I was in Dairy Queen. Probably shouldn't eat

at Dairy Queen. I'm trying to not eat at Dairy

Queen as much as I used to. Those chocolate -covered

strawberry blizzards are hard to resist. But

I was in Dairy Queen. I was obedient at that

time. I don't know what it's connected to. Hello?

And it's not always about giving this. Sometimes

it's... Go here. Sometimes it's do that. Sometimes

it's say this. Sometimes it's give this. See,

the Holy Spirit's the one telling you what to

do. But what he's telling you to do might be

connected. You don't realize it. You can't figure

it out with your brain how it could possibly

connect. Just like Naaman couldn't figure out

how Duncan and the muddy Jordan River was going

to bring healing to him and there's a whole lot

better rivers and the guy didn't even come out

and talk to me. I mean, just like that. Something

that he in his mind couldn't connect to his healing

was connected to his healing. Selah. Think about

that a minute. Look to the person beside you

and tell them obedience is important. Obedience

is important. It's very important. It might be

that God's telling you something. I'm going to

say it again. It might be that he's telling you

to do something. You don't see how it connects

to what you want him to do for you based on a

promise in his word. You might not see how it

connects, but trust me. It connects. Thank you,

Jesus. Don't get offended or overthink or try

to reason it. Act. Just go ahead and act. I'm

glad Naaman had some people around him that tried

to talk some sense into him. Verse 13 says, but

his officers tried to reason with him and said,

sir. If the prophet had told you to do something

very difficult, wouldn't you have done it? Wouldn't

you have done it? So you should certainly obey

him when he says simply go and wash and be cured.

When God tells you what to do, it's not time

to pray about it. That day in Publix, it wasn't

time, even though I did. I went home, I left,

and I started praying about it. God, do you really

want me to give that girl? I mean... And I went

back and back and back and back, and I could

never find her. Even talked to other employees.

Even talked to the manager. Now, there was this

little girl here, and I described her, and I

said she had red glasses. And, you know, God

wanted me to give her something, and I didn't

do it. I mean, I was just fessing up to total

strangers. And get this, nobody knew who she

was. I mean, it looks like if she worked with

the people, they'd know who she was. And not

many people wear bright red glasses. Maybe I

was the only one who saw her. When God tells

you what to do, it's not time to pray about it.

Oh, God, I'm going to have to pray about this

for two weeks before I give somebody a $100 bill.

I mean, this is serious, God. It's not time to

overthink it or reason. God, what's she going

to think? She's going to think I'm some kind

of creeper, you know. Look and see if I've got

a van out in the parking lot or something. It's

not time to post on social media for opinions.

You know, I feel like God's telling me this.

What do y 'all think about it? It's time to act.

Everybody say it's time to act. Say it again.

It's time to act. When God tells you what to

do, it's time to act. Act immediately. Don't

question. as long, you know, again, it'll never

be in contradiction to his written word. So if

you have a check in your spirit, it's like, no.

And it's not coming from your head, but it's

coming from your spirit, then check the word,

all right? Because the Holy Spirit will put up

a big stop sign for you just as much as he'll

tell you to do something. Everybody say discernment.

See, that's why we've got to pray for discernment,

for spiritual discernment. We've got to know.

Here we go. Time to land this plane. So Naaman

went down to the Jordan River, dipped himself

one time. Two times. Seven times as the man of

God had instructed him. And his skin became as

healthy as the skin of a young child's. And he

was healed. Everybody say faith act. Faith act.

Everybody say seven times. Seven times Naaman

dipped. One thing about leprosy is, I mean, it

eats all the cartilage, you know, and it's like,

you know, his nose is caved in, his skin has

big sores all over it. He's going to be sent

off to a leopard colony. If he was part of God's

people, he would already be there and couldn't

be around them. But he's the commander. Where

he lives, they got different rules. But when

he came up the seventh time, everybody say obedience.

Everybody say faith act. When he came up the

seventh time. It didn't happen on the sixth time.

It didn't happen on the third time. It just happened

on the seventh time when he came out of the water.

I bet he was standing there just looking at it.

Mark 11, 22, Jesus said to the disciples, have

faith, everybody say have faith, in God. It's

not just having faith, it's having faith in God.

Having faith in God. It's not just acting, it's

acting on what God has said. Have faith in God.

So does God need your faith action? What you

think about it? Did God need Naaman to dip in

the Jordan seven times to be able to heal him?

Think about this. If Naaman would not have dipped

in the Jordan seven times, would he have been

healed? No. So we think, you know, God can do

anything God wants to do and He don't need my

faith action. But guess what? He chose to do

it this way. Just dipping in the Jordan seven

times won't heal anybody. Unless God told you

to and it was connected to your healing, like

Naaman. And if God told you to do that, it would

heal you every time if you did what God told

you to do. God doesn't need our faith actions,

but He's chose to connect what He does for us,

His promises that are manifest in our lives.

He has chosen to involve our actions with our

blessing and with our provision and with our...

See, He chose that. It's not just all up to God.

He's chosen to involve you. And here's the deal.

You can hear, you can believe, you can speak

and still not receive if you don't act. If you

don't act. For 25 years of me being a Christ

follower, I thought faith was just hearing and

believing. Then I got to the point where faith

is hearing and believing. Then I've got to change

my words, put my words in agreement with what

God says about me. All those things are important,

but we can do all those things and still not

receive the promise. If we don't act. This online

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