FaithAct: Quit Crying and Move

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. Now the series is called Faith

Act. Faith Act. Everybody say Faith Act. And

I'll tell you what that picture has to do with

it. You think that baby can pick up that dumbbell

that weighs 300 pounds? How would that baby feel

if somebody big and strong walked up behind it

and just started picking up that bar? Like, yeah!

That's the way it'd feel. Look at the person

beside you and say, that's you. That's you. God

wants your hands on the bar so that he's going

to pick it up, right? It'll make more sense in

the next. Five to 15 weeks. It'll make a lot

more sense. I'm going to talk about faith. And

if you've been around Elation Church, you've

heard us talk about faith. And faith is important,

right? Ephesians 2 .8. I mean, actually, faith

is of ultimate importance because we're saved

by grace. Everybody say by grace. Through faith.

So if we are in Christ today, if we are born

again, if we are children of God, we came to

him with faith. That's the entry point, right?

Now we come to him based on what he's done. Everybody

say grace. Grace is God's acts of kindness and

favor towards you. That you didn't work for,

you didn't earn, you didn't deserve. I mean,

none of us deserved for Jesus to step down out

of the throne room of eternity and put on flesh,

live a perfect life, and then willingly lay down

His life and die for us on the cross. There's

not a person in this room who deserved that.

It was a demonstration of God's great love for

us, right? But just because Jesus did that, it

doesn't mean that everybody is now a child of

God. It doesn't mean that. It means that everybody

has the opportunity to be a child of God, but

we have to connect to God's grace with our faith.

I talk about that a lot, but it's easy to see

in salvation, isn't it? Hello? Nobody shook their

head. It's easy to see when it comes to salvation,

right? That we have to connect to God with our

faith. We have to believe that God loved us so

much that he laid down his life for us and died

in our place for our sin. We have to believe

that. We have to confess our sin to him. We have

to call on him as our Lord. We give ourselves

to him, right? That's our faith act in salvation.

And without that faith act, we're not in Christ.

There has to be that faith act attaching to God's

acts of kindness and favor towards us. Now, I

want you to look at the person beside you and

say, it works the same way. Everything else,

the Bible's filled with promises. That Jesus

has earned and worked for and deserved when he

came to this earth. And then now the Bible is

filled with promises. And his resurrection stamped

those promises as these are real promises. And

we can only have these promises come to fruition

in our lives when we attach to them by faith.

Just because there's a promise doesn't mean it's

going to be fulfilled. I have to attach to it

with my faith, just like salvation. Now, I haven't

known this my whole life. So there were a lot

of times when I was like, well, God, you promised

this, but I don't see it happening. And God's

like, well, you didn't attach your faith to it.

That's why it's not happening. But we live in

a world where nobody wants to take any responsibility

about anything, don't we? It's got to be your

parents' fault. It's got to be your ex's fault.

It's got to be, you know, your kid's fault. It's

got to be somebody's fault, your spouse's fault,

somebody's fault, but never me. It's got to be

God's fault. Hello? But we have to attach. To

His promises with our faith act to receive His

grace gifts. That's a lot. Let's keep going.

Let's keep going. Galatians 3 .11 says this,

No one is justified by the law. What does that

mean? No one is right with God by keeping a set

of rules. I've got something else to say. I'm

just letting that sit there a minute. No one

is justified by the law in the sight of God.

That's evident. For the just, those who have

been justified, those who have been made right

with God, are living by faith. Everybody say

faith. So we connect to justification and salvation

and righteousness. We connect to that with our

faith. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says this, we walk

by faith. That means every aspect of our life.

That's what that word walk means. Everything

in the sphere of our life is done by faith, not

by sight. Not by sight. So if we're in Christ,

we're supposed to walk by faith. We're supposed

to live. By faith. Everything. Every day that

we encounter, faith needs to be part of it. Because

we're living our lives walking with God. We're

not just coming to visit Him for an hour and

a half on Sunday. No. It's life. Somebody smile.

Look at the person beside you and say, you need

to listen faster than you're listening because

any time we go over, it's because you were listening

slow and not listening. Because I'll just keep

saying it a hundred different ways until I think

you get it. 1 John 5, 4. This is just an introduction,

by the way. For every child of God who is a child

of God, who has come to Him by faith, received

His gift of eternal life, every child of God

defeats this evil world. My question is, does

that look like your daily experience? If not,

we have a faith problem. Every child of God defeats

this evil world and we achieve this victory.

How? Through our faith. Hebrews 11, 6. Does anybody

want to please God today or this week? Well,

guess what? It is impossible to please God without

faith. Hello? Anyone who wants to come to Him

must believe that God exists. He rewards those

who sincerely seek Him. Do you believe that God

exists? Everybody's quick on that one. Do you

believe that He rewards those who sincerely seek

Him? I didn't write this. I'm just reading it.

So if I was you, I'd believe it. So if we are

saved, through faith, if we're supposed to live

and walk by faith, if we can only experience

the victorious Christian life through our faith,

if we can only please God by our faith, then

faith must be pretty important. Three of you

are shaking your head. So, how does faith work?

Where does it come from? What is my response?

How does that look? I just talked to you about

it when it comes to salvation. Let's talk about

it when it comes to do with everything that we're

engaged in in our life. It says this, so then

faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word

of God. See, we don't just have faith in faith.

I mean, you can go to the trinket shop and buy

all these little plaques that say faith and hope

and love. But our faith is not in faith. Our

faith is in what God has said and what God is

saying. This isn't just talking about written

Word of God. It's talking about divine utterance.

Supernatural utterance. See, the Bible gives

us a whole lot of black and white about how to

live our lives and how to respond. Hey, the Bible's

filled with that, but the Bible don't necessarily

tell you where to work, who to marry, who to

date. Right? So we've got to be led by the Holy

Spirit of God who is in us. Are you with me?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, go

to YouTube and look at our series on spirit -led

that we did last year. Because we have to be

led by the Holy Spirit. Our body, when we're

in Christ, our body is the temple of the Holy

Spirit. God is alive on the inside of us. Not

just to give us warm fuzzies, even though that's

cool. Has anybody ever got warm fuzzies? Because

God's inside of you. Anybody know what I'm talking

about? It's not just the warm fuzzies. It's for

life. How would you like to always be able to

talk to someone who actually knows everything

about everything? Would anybody like some of

that advice? That's the Holy Spirit. That's the

Holy Spirit. He wants to lead you and guide you.

I mean, I can't tell you how many years I was

a Christian and didn't even understand that or

even have any concept of that because I just

thought it was about going to church on Sunday

and then doing the best I can the rest of the

week. Now, you might not have grown up like that,

but I'm just telling you how I grew up. Even

preaching. Hello? Even preaching. That's all

I had. Give God all I can on Sunday morning and

then just figure it out the best I can. Listen.

God is... God didn't stop speaking when he wrote

a book. But I'm going to give you a warning.

When God speaks, it's going to be in agreement.

With the written word of God. That's our foundation.

To know God's word and to discern. Everybody

say discern. Discern the voice of God. Because

there's a whole lot of things that can pop in

your mind that are not the Holy Spirit talking

to you. Do I need to give you examples or are

you good? One time I had a preacher tell me that

God told him that him and his wife needed to

separate from ministry. And I looked at him and

I said, oh, okay. So if God's telling you and

your wife to separate, to devote yourselves more

to ministry, that means that you'll never get

married again, right? Oh, no. We can get married

again to somebody else. And I looked at him and

I said, you know, I'm going to go ahead and tell

you this. God did not tell you to separate from

your wife. He puffed up. I mean, we were sitting

there with him and his wife, Gannon and I were.

Jeffrey was up playing with their two daughters.

And I said, God didn't tell you that. And boy,

he bowed up in me. I said, you want me to tell

you why God didn't tell you that? Because if

he did, he would have to rewrite a lot of the

Bible. He said, I think you need to leave now.

I said, if that's what you want, I'm just telling

you, God, you're not listening to God. Because

there was no even biblical grounds for anything.

It's just come to find out he was having an affair.

Because I caught him in Myrtle Beach. He was

from Charleston. I caught him in Myrtle Beach

with another woman not long after that. Somebody

say, uh -oh. Uh -oh. But you want some good news?

They couldn't afford to get a divorce. And their

parents called me and, you know, I'm just like,

good for you for not giving them the money to

get a divorce. Guess what? They're still together

today, pastoring a church in Anderson, South

Carolina. Everything is wonderful. They're working

together in ministry. They made it through. Hallelujah.

And if he was standing here today, he would say,

you know what? God didn't tell me to do that.

That's just what my flesh wanted to do and I

decided to put God's name on it. Hmm. See how

that works out for you. Faith comes by hearing

and hearing by the Word of God. Y 'all don't

need another example, do you? I got all kinds

of examples. But we got a lot to cover. Look

at the person beside you and say, listen fast.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word

of God. Hey, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us.

The Word of God is guiding us. We've got to hear

from God before we can say that we're standing

in faith. First step. Everybody say first step.

First step of faith is hearing a divine utterance

from God, knowing that this is what God says.

Okay? Let's keep going. Hebrews 11 .1. It's our

definition of faith in the Bible, just straight

up. I didn't write it. Here you go. Faith is

the confidence. Everybody say confidence. That

what we hope for, everybody say hope. Now, when

the Bible talks about hope, the Greek word is

elpo, and it means, you know, just you believe

it, you know it, you're expecting it to such

a point that you're already happy about it before

you see it. That's what the word means. It don't

mean hope so. It don't mean like shake dice and

roll, ooh, hope. Maybe needs a new pair of shoes

or whatever. I mean, that's not what it's talking

about. It's not hope so hope. It's a confident

expectation that you're going to see the goodness

of God and you're going to see the promises of

God revealed in your life. Somebody smile. I'm

about to get happy. It's a pitiful preacher that

can't preach himself happy. Faith is the confidence

that what we hope for will actually happen. It

gives us assurance. Everybody say assurance.

It gives us assurance about the things that we

cannot see. Because we're walking by faith and

not by sight. We're not walking by what we see.

Second step of faith is wholeheartedly believing

and having confidence in what God has said. And

you can't just hear it. And you can't just say,

well, you know, maybe, maybe not. No, you've

got to wholeheartedly believe what God has said

and have confidence in His Word, just like salvation,

right? I believed it. I have confidence that

I am a child of God, that I'm born again, that

I'm on my way to heaven, that I represent the

kingdom of God in this world. Hey, I've got confidence

in that. I don't wake up tomorrow morning and

say, well, I don't know if I'm saved or not.

Hello? Y 'all got to smile. Y 'all got to help

me. Somebody help me. Y 'all are thinking way

too hard. James 2 .26 Faith without works is

dead. Everybody say corresponding action. Because

when you hear and when you believe, let me tell

you something, you can hear, you can believe,

you can have confidence, but if there's never

a corresponding action, it's not complete. It's

not complete. You can hear and believe all you

want to and not receive the promise of God in

your life because, You didn't follow through

with the corresponding action. So the third step

of faith is acting. Everybody say acting. Acting

and obedience. The same Holy Spirit that gave

you that Word, that empowered the written Word

of God, where you can take it and say, it's mine,

because the Holy Spirit takes the things of God

and makes them real and reality in our lives.

That's what He does. That's what He is doing

and wants to do. But He's going to tell you something

to do in response to what you have heard and

what you believe. Sometimes those responses are

written in black and white in the Word and we're

trying to hold on to some kind of promise and

we haven't done our part of it yet. We haven't

acted in it yet. That's why this is called Faith

Act. We're going to focus on the acting part.

Not just the hearing part. Not just the good

note -taking part at church. Not just... Not

just the listening to it over and over again

to get it in your soul where you actually believe

it and have confidence in it, but we're talking

about the acting part. Everybody say acting part.

Here we go. We're going to Exodus 13 through.

Okay. This is where God's people have been slaves

in Egypt for 430 years. And we went through all

the plagues and all the different things. They

were released to go worship God in the wilderness.

They were actually going to the promised land.

Everybody say the promised land. God's great

promise for them. He had already given it to

them. He gave it to Abraham. Now he's like, now

you're going to get it in a good way. Because

I've been told now you're going to get it in

a bad way so many times. I had to clarify that

growing up. You're going to get it when you get

home. No, this is a good getting it. So they've

left Egypt. They go up to the Red Sea. In Exodus

13, 3, it says, this is a day to remember forever.

Everybody say remember. The day you left Egypt,

the place of your slavery, today the Lord has

brought you out by the power of His mighty hand.

They've seen the power of God. They've seen the

work of God. Now they experience freedom. They're

no longer slaves in Egypt, and they're experiencing

freedom, and they walk up to the Red Sea, and

guess what happens next? All of a sudden, a dust

cloud comes over the horizon behind them. Listen,

God's people left Egypt. They left Egypt celebrating.

I mean, they were free. I don't know if you've

ever read this or not, but God told them to go

ask the Egyptians for gold and silver and clothes

and all this stuff. I mean, they were loaded

up with gold and silver and everything they needed.

Hello? Get this. There's at least 1 .4 million

people. That's the most conservative estimate

that I can come up with. Some theologians say

as many as 4 to 6 million. So we're really backing

up to say 1 .4 million. There were 600 ,000 strong

men that were... Within like fighting range.

Age. Okay. Warrior kind of men. Even though they've

been slaves. So there were 600 ,000 of them.

That's not counting the women. That's not counting

the children. That's not counting the people

above that age. At least 1 .4 million. And guess

what? Every single one of them was strong and

healthy. There was not a single person feeble

among them. That in itself is a miracle. Hello?

Because sometimes if I've been sitting too long

and I get up, you might say the preacher's a

little feeble, you know, from three back surgeries

and all kind of stuff. Not a single one of them

were feeble. That'd be a time to celebrate, right?

You're free, you're rich, you're healthy and

strong. They were celebrating. Look what God

has done. All of a sudden, they see a dust cloud

on the horizon. And they hear horses and chariots

and a bunch of noise and there's dust. Right

in the middle of their celebration, here comes

the dust. You know what? They lost their victory

in one second. Somebody say, oh me. Because we're

not just talking about them. We're talking about

us too. How many times are we just walking in

the victory of what God has just done and then

a little dust cloud comes and then it's like,

oh no. What am I going to do? How am I going

to make it? What's happening? Oh, I'm going to

fail. Y 'all are thinking way too hard. Exodus

14 .10. As Pharaoh approached, The people of

Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the

Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to

the Lord, and they didn't cry out in faith. They

cried out in whining and complaining and just

lost it. One dust cloud, they immediately lost

their victory. Here's what they began to say

to Moses. Why did you bring us out here to die

in the wilderness? Weren't there enough graves

for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why

did you make us leave Egypt? I mean, just straight

out of their celebration, this is where they

went. Didn't we tell you this would happen while

we were still in Egypt? We said, leave us alone.

Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. They've been

praying for 400 years to not be slaves to the

Egyptians. It's better to be a slave in Egypt

than a corpse in the wilderness. Hello? Here's

the deal. If you think God has brought you here

to kill you, you don't know who God is. I'm saying

that to them and I'm saying that to you. If you

think that God, you've walked with God to this

point in your life and God just brought you here

to hurt you, to take from you, to kill still

and destroy you, You don't know God. You need

to get to know God. Because you don't know Him.

If you think He's brought you this far to take

you out. And I'll stand on that. God's a good

God. Jesus said that He came to give us life

and that we would have it to the fullest. I'm

not going into all that again. It's not talking

about stuff, even though God's not against stuff.

It's talking about life and hope and peace and

joy. Jesus came so that we could live that. He

said the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Some people think that God has come to kill,

steal, and destroy, but they don't know God.

Just like these people. they didn't really know

him if they're saying that he's brought them

out here to kill them. And here's what we've

got to deal with. Our sight is real. Everybody

say, sight is real. I mean, they look back, they

saw the dust, they saw the chariots, they saw

Pharaoh's army, probably the greatest army on

the face of the earth at this time. What they

were seeing was real. It was not an illusion.

What you see, The things that you see in this

fallen, broken world that are headed your way,

that you're dealing with, it's real. What you

see is real. Their fear was real. Their fear

was real. Are you with me? The feelings that

they resulted, that resulted from what they were

seeing, Those feelings, it's like, they were

real. They were real. So we're not supposed to

deny that what we see is real, or what we fear

is real, or our feelings being real or not. We're

not supposed to just completely deny that. Like,

oh, that don't exist. Because it's real. Everybody

says it's real. Even though it's real. If we're

going to be people of faith, we can't be overwhelmed.

Can't be overwhelmed by what we see, by our feelings,

by our fear. We can't be overwhelmed. Now that's

what the story that we just read, that's the

picture that we're seeing. They're overwhelmed

by what they see, by what they fear, by what

they feel. And they yielded to that. And it threw

them, listen to me, it threw them into a loop

of fear -based words, of failure -based words,

of doubt -based words, of death -based words.

Is that a faith act? Some of you aren't sure.

Some of you aren't sure. Well, let's let God

answer it, because I didn't write it. 1 Timothy

6 .12 tells us this, to fight the good fight

of faith. See, faith is fighting. It's fighting.

When we are overwhelmed by what we see, by the

fear that's coming on us, by the feelings that

are overtaking us, we've got to fight. Somebody

say fight. We've got to fight. These people weren't

fighting. They were yielding and succumbing to

it. We've got to fight. Fight a good fight of

faith. How does that look? 2 Corinthians 10 and

5 tells us to bring every thought into captivity

to the obedience of Christ. So if what we see

brings thoughts, negative thoughts, thoughts

that are a result of our fear and our feelings,

you know what? We've got to bring those thoughts

into captivity because God has told us something.

God's told us something. And you might say, I

can't. I can't do it. Yes, you can. Yes, you

can. I want everybody to say this with me. My

mind is my mind. I don't have to think about.

Is everybody saying it? I don't have to think

about. I don't have to dwell on. Go ahead and

say it. Every thought. That pops into my head.

I can take them captive. You know why? Because

God's going to help me take them captive. If

y 'all could only see your faces right now, you'd

be smiling with me. Your mind is your mind. You

don't have to dwell on every thought that pops

into your mind. If it's going to take you into

some kind of loop of where you're just talking

failure and defeat and fear and all this, quit

thinking it. Quit. Take that thought captive.

Everybody say, smack it down. Smack it down.

And take hold of what God has said. Think on

that. Think about that. Think about what God

has said about the situation that you're going

through right now. Think about that. What I'm

telling you today will revolutionize your life.

But I can't make you do it. You have to want

to have victory. You have to want to have peace.

To the point that you're willing to fight for

it. Boy, I'm having fun. Everybody say this.

I'm in charge of my feelings. I have the power

to choose which ones I yield to. You do. All

feelings aren't bad. How many of you got some

good feels every once in a while? You got some

good feelings? Yeah. Well, choose to yield to

that. God talks about it. I mean, the kingdom

of God, I've said this the last several weeks,

the kingdom of God is not about rules. It's not

about what we eat or drink and acts. It tells

us the kingdom of God is about righteousness,

peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We need to...

Have that feeling of confidence in what God has

done for us. We need to have that feeling of

peace because that's what Jesus has given us.

We need to have joy because the Holy Spirit is

in us. And there's no such thing as a sad, depressed

Holy Spirit. I'm about to start amening myself.

Hebrews 10 .23 Does it say let's hold on to our

fear -based words? Our sorrow -based words? Our

failure -based words? Is that the words that

we're supposed to hold on to? No, let us hold

fast the confession of our hope. Our hope is

our confident expectation that we're going to

see the goodness of God. Hold fast to what God

has said. Hey, when you see the dust cloud coming

over the hill, you say, boy, I've been seeing

my God do some amazing things in my life. And

you know what? I know that He didn't bring me

out here just to kill me and bury me in this

sand. I know that my God is going to see me through

because He made me a promise and I'm going to

the promised land. Boy, I don't normally get

this happy, but I like it when I do. Hold fast.

The confession of our hope without wavering.

For he who promised is faithful. Somebody say

God is faithful. Somebody say God keeps his promises.

He does. He does. That's a faith act. Everybody

say this. I take control of my mouth. Let's say

that again. I take control. of my mouth and speak

words in agreement with God with complete confidence

in His faithfulness. Hallelujah. Go back to the

story. Exodus 14, 13. Now we're going to see

God's response to them getting caught up in this

loop from their fear and their feelings and their

failure. They're just like, what are we going

to do? What are we going to do? Oh no, we're

going to die. Why did you bring us out here?

We didn't want to be out here. We'd rather be

slaves in Egypt than be in a corpse. You know,

they were in a loop. But then God's representative

said, don't be afraid. That's all in the Bible.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1 .7, is that where

it is? God hasn't given you a spirit of fear.

Anytime fear tries to overtake you, know that

it didn't come from God. Moses told the people,

faith acts. Don't be afraid. Everybody say, don't

be afraid. Next time you see something coming

over the horizon, And it looks like it's coming

to take you out. Don't be afraid. Stand still.

Has anybody ever been a parent of kids and it's

just like, there's just so much, you just say,

just be still a minute. Anybody know what I'm

talking about? You just need to be still a minute.

Stand still. What's this saying? Get out of this

loop. Just be still. Just be quiet. You know?

Your words aren't helping you. Your words are

hurting you. So just be still and watch. What

are we watching for? The goodness of God. Don't

be afraid. Stand still and watch the Lord rescue

you today. I mean, just think of all the miracles

that He had just done for them, and then now

they're in this fear loop. And then He's like,

don't be afraid. Stand still. Watch. I'm going

to do it again. The Egyptians you see today will

never be seen again. Listen, the Lord Himself

will fight for you. Faith act. Just stay calm.

Everybody say, stay calm. Everybody say, don't

be afraid. Stand still. Watch. Stay calm. Those

are faith acts. Then the Lord said to Moses,

this is where I got my title, even though I hadn't

talked about my title. Everybody say, quit crying

and move. The Lord said to Moses, why are you

crying out to me? Now, there's a difference between

crying out in faith, sometimes crying out in

faith. I mean, it's not like tear crying, like,

oh, pitiful me. Okay? There's a cry of faith.

It's a proclamation. A confident proclamation

can be called a cry. That's not the kind of cries

he's talking about. He said, why are you crying

out to me? Tell the people to get moving. Everybody

say faith act. I want to tell you something.

Don't get mad at me. Crying and begging will

never bring victory. It will never bring deliverance.

It will never bring breakthrough. It will never

bring salvation. Crying and begging. Oh, God,

please. I don't know if I can make it anymore.

I just need you to do something, God. We've all

done that. Doesn't move God. That's not faith.

Everybody say, not faith. That's not faith. Crying,

whining, begging. Those things don't move God.

Know what moves God? Say it louder so the people

in the back can hear you. Faith moves God. God's

a faith God. It's faith that pleases Him. We

just read all those verses. We've got to apply

them to our lives. It's faith. It's hearing.

It's believing. It's confidence. It's agreeing.

It's doing. That's how you're going to see results.

Not by begging. God said, quit crying and move.

And you might say, move where? Move where? Where

are we going to move? Well, you've got to get

moving. How many of you know it takes a little

while to get 1 .4 million people moving? It doesn't

happen just by a snap of the fingers. It takes

a little preparation, a little work to get 1

.4 to 6 million people moving all together. It

takes effort. Quit crying and move. Move where?

Go where? Get going. Where are we going? We got

the Red Sea here. We got the Egyptian army here.

Where are we going to go? Look at the person

beside you and say, where are we going to go?

Let's keep going. Verse 16. Pick up your staff.

Raise your hand over the sea. Everybody say faith

act. Say quit crying is a faith act. Get moving

is a faith act. Picking up your staff is a faith

act. Raising your hand over the sea is a faith

act. I mean, what's that going to do? Okay, so

I pick up a stick and I hold out my hand. It's

like that little baby on that dumbbell. What's

that going to do? Are you with me? Are you seeing

it? I want you to see it. It's like that little

baby holding that 300 -pound dumbbell. This baby

weighs, you know, 12 pounds. Pick up your staff,

raise your hand, divide the water so the Israelites

can walk through the middle of the sea on dry

ground. Somebody say, that don't make sense.

Don't make sense. What's that going to do? Listen,

here's what we're learning today. When God tells

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

against praying. But when God tells you to do

something, it's not time to have a prayer meeting.

Hello? Because sometimes when God tells us to

do something, I've got to pray about that. I

might have to spend a year praying about that

before I actually do that because that don't

make sense. When God tells you what to do, it's

not time to think about it and reason it and

say, well, how's that going to work? Because

a lot of times we want to try to figure out everything

in our mind, how it's going to work before we

act. Because we want to reason out if this is

something, just in case God doesn't show up,

because I'm not really expecting Him to, I've

got to just set my goal to what I can accomplish.

It's not time to overthink it. It's not time

to reason. It's not time to put out a post on

social media so that you can get everybody's

opinion. I thought that'd get more than two chuckles.

You know, I think God's asking me to do this.

What does 3 ,000 people that don't even know

God, what's their opinion? Because I need to

know if that makes sense or not. Depends on how

many likes I got on whether I'm going to do what

God told me to do or not because I hate to be

stepping out there. It's not time to do those

things. It's time to act. Everybody say, it's

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

you what to do, it's time to act. Mark 11, 22.

Jesus said to the disciples, have faith. Everybody

say, have faith. In God. Everybody say, in God.

So what does this tell us? It's not all up to

God. A lot of people live their lives, que sera,

sera, whatever it will be, will be. It's just

whatever God has, you know. I'm just, whatever

God, if God wants to beat me up this week and

bless me next week, then that's just good because

it's all up to God. It ain't got nothing to do

with me. It's just all up to Him. This tragedy

that came into my life, you know, God brought

it to me for some kind of purpose. It's just

all up to God. Jesus said have faith in God.

Now, does God need your faith action for your

miracle to take place in your life? For your

victory to take place in your life? Does God

need your faith action to do it? Is God incapable

of doing it? Without your faith action. Remember

the picture. Does a muscle man picking up a 300

-pound dumbbell need that kid to hold on? Technically,

no. We're going to talk more about this in coming

weeks, but here's the deal. It's not all up to

God, but He's chosen to involve us. And here's

the deal. How can God do something in somebody

else's life when they're going through this situation,

and then somebody else is going through the same

situation, And God doesn't do the same thing

for them. I'm going to let you think on this

one all week. I'm going to let you chew on this

one. The difference is faith act. You can't ever

say that God is unfair. God is fair. God is just.

Hello? God is fair and God is just. So the outcomes

are the two different situations that look exactly

the same on the outside. I'm just going to toss

it up for you. Could it be a faith act and a

lack of a faith act? Think about it. Look to

the person beside you and say, think about it.

Think about it. Here's the deal. You can hear,

you can believe, you can speak in agreement with

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

you don't do what God told you to do. And you

know what? Sometimes what He tells you to do

seems so disconnected from what He's about to

do in your life. Really? Pick up a stick and

hold out your hand? Really? What's that going

to do? Well, it's an act of obedience in faith

to what God said. And then we see the Red Sea

split wide open. They walk across on dry land.

The Egyptian army is all drowned in the bottom

of the sea, never to be seen again. But without

the faith act that we looked at, it wouldn't

have happened. How do I know that? Because later,

when it's time to go into the promised land,

there was no faith act. Those same people that

God wanted to go to the promised land died in

the wilderness because of their lack of faith

and their unbelief. Well, I'm because God didn't

want them to go in. Are you with me? Well, I'm

because God didn't want them to go in. It's because

of a lack of faith, a lack of belief, and a lack

of acting and having confidence in what God had

told them. Oh, those giants. We can't have what

God said because we're reasoning it out now.

You know, we can't have it. Because they said

they couldn't have it, they didn't have it. God

will tell you to go here. God will tell you to

do that. God will tell you to give this. It might

seem unrelated to the work that He's about to

do in your life, but if you will obey Him in

faith, I'm telling you, you can confidently see

the goodness of God. This online worship experience

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