Pick Up Your Towel | Pastor Paul Strong

Welcome to the Legacy Churches Podcast. We are so glad that you get you

in us today. We prasent God speaks to you through his message and through

his work. Now let's tune into the message. Second King chapter two,

you got to say I got him. And when the Lord was about to

take Elijah up to Heaven in a world, when Elijah and Elisha were on

their way from Gilgal, and Elisha just said to Elijah, stay here.

The Lord has sent me to Bethel. But Eliza said, as surely as

the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So

they went down to Bethel. Company to the Prophet of Bethel came out to

Elsa and said and asked, do you not know the Lord is going to

take your master from you today? Yes? I know, Elisa replied,

so be quiet. How many know that was just a very soft version of

the Bible. Amen. Then Elisha said to him, stay here, Elisha,

the Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he replied, as surely

as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.

So they went to Jericho, and then the company of the Prophet that Jericho

went up to Elijah and asked him, do you not know that the Lord

is going to take you, take your master from you today? Yes?

I know, he said, so be quiet. And Elijah said to him,

stay here, as the Lord has sent me to the Jordan. And

he replied, as surely the Lord lives, and as you live, I

will not leave you. So two of them walked on fifty men from the

company of the prophece went and stood of the distance, facing the place where

Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled

it up and struck the water with it, and the water divided the right

and to the left and to the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

And when they crossed, Elijah said to Elijah, tell me what can

I do for you before I am taken from you? And he said,

let me inherit a double portion of your spirit. He said, I want

greater. And Elijah replied, you have asked a difficult thing, not an

impossible thing, but a difficult thing. You Yet, if you see me

when I'm taking from you, it will be yours. Otherwise it will not.

What do you bow your heads with me? Father? Have your way,

do what you want to do, say what you want to say,

and God, we will be careful to give you all the glory. God.

I pray for the listening audience, those that are watching online, those

that are in the room, those that are watch it in the future,

that God, that you would give them a ram of word, speak to

their hearts, speak to their spirit today. And for every person in this

room who doesn't know you, I pray that they would discover that you are

real and you have a call on their life. And I give you the

praise and the glory for us in the strong name of Jesus. And everybody

said, Amen, Amen, come on, just tell your neighbors say,

don't be afraid. It's just a test Ah. We're in this whole series

on Elijah and Elisha. Really we're focusing on Elisha. Last week I talked

about greater and how God calls us into greater, and the greater is what

Christ does in us and through us. It's so important we recognize today that

we want to see Christ's reign in our lives. We want to see Christ

grow us from faith to faith and from glory. We don't want to be

in the same status that we were last year. I think this whole year

has been a year of growing, and as the church has grown, not

only do we want to grow numerically, but we also want to grow in

depth. We don't want a bunch of shallow Christians hanging with floaties just splashing

water. Amen, y'all not talking to me how many money. God wants

to grow your depth so that you can take a licking and keep on ticking,

that you can handle some stuff that you don't just become jelly leg when

problems hit your life. You're not just in here one day and out the

next. You're not flaky. I'm talking to you now. You're not wishy

washy mm hmm. But you have a you have a backbone, you have

some strong foundation and so the process to greater is important. When I was

thinking about that, I was thinking about all some of the great people that

have done great things in our world, especially in America. We could talk

about great titans that have built businesses and and one of the persons that was

really an icon that was in the earliest twentieth century was J. C.

Penny. Anybody and I remember J C. Penny. I know some of

y'all don't even know that that's a place anymore. Amen. But I grew

up with J. C. Penny. I grew up with the catalog.

Come on now, the J C. Penny catalog. I circled everything,

went through all the diamonds that I was gonna wear. Amen, all the

bling. J C. Penny highlighted things when I was for Christmas. But

the J. C. Penny catalog, you know, J C. Penny's

has kind of digressed. But people don't know that J. C. Penny

was actually a preacher's son and he actually wanted to become a lawyer. And

in that process, he went to he was going to go to school,

but he started in sales and became very gifted as sales person, and through

the process he kind of got undercuted by other people. So he decided that

through a number of events, that he was going to become entrepreneurial and start

his own business. One of the things that he developed in that process is

he developed a heart for service and a heart for people, and so he

started a butcher, a butcher a butcher shop, and he started a butcher

company and he was serving people cuts some meat and he was doing very well,

but there was some high end clientele that wanted some preferential treatment, and

J. C. Penny, because he was a man of integrity, decided

that he would not serve them more just because they had more money. That

he wanted to treat everybody like they had value. And because of that,

it upsets some of the very wealthy clientele and they sabotaged his business and created

all types of rumors and he lost his business. He started, he started

back from scratch and started to join the the company called the Old and Rule

Company. Eventually he became a partner that he bought it out and the rest

is history. And throughout all of his life you can read about his story

about how he went through trials and tribulations and difficulties. His wife died,

he was remarried, he went through he went through about of tuberculosis and had

asthma issues with all of his physical health. But in the end he learned

the value of integrity and character. And I think it's important today is I

start out the series on Greater because I want you to really understand that God

is more interested in building the dreamer than he is about building the dream that

a lot of times we're so focused on the dream and the aspiration and the

ambition of what we want to see God do through us, that we forget

what God wants to do in us, That He actually wants to do more

in us than he does through us, That He wants to develop our character,

and that our character is greater than our gifting, and we need to

understand that our gifting can take us places, but our character can keep us

in those places. Let me say that again for some of you that didn't

hear what I just said. I said that our gifting can take us to

places, but it's our character that can keep us in those places. And

so today when I talk about greater, I want us to understand that there

is a process that God brings us through, and he brings to the life

of Elisha through. Before he ever walks into greater, he goes into a

space for ten years between the mantle that was being thrown on Elijah, when

Elijah decided that I'm going to take this mantle and I'm going to throw it

on Elisha. From that moment on, for ten years, we didn't hear

nothing about Elisha. For ten years, we hear nothing about his life.

We didn't hear any miracles that he did we didn't hear any signs and wonders.

We hear nothing. It's dead silence. It's the silent season of his

life. And how people know today that God brings us through silent seasons for

a reason. There is a reason, and the reason is is a test

of service. God wants to check our hearts to understand that there is importance

to service, that the road to greater begins by becoming lesser, that there

is something beautiful about us going through this process of being a servant. And

God wants us to understand today that for us to go up in the Kingdom,

we got to go down. That if we will humble ourselves, God

will exalt us. We live in a culture that is me, me,

me, It's all about what I can get and ambition and success. But

in the Kingdom of God, it's all about service. It's all about us

serving one another. And he learned to turn that that title into a town.

And he just learned that I'm going to become a servant of the Lord.

In this season that I am in, I am going to be a

servant because I recognize it's in this season of me serving that God is developing

something on the inside of me. I know it doesn't look like that anything's

happening. I know it doesn't look like there's any type of development. I

know it looks like that the chapter is getting really long. But can I

tell you there is something that God is doing on the inside of me that

is perfecting that work that he's started. He's growing my fruit, He's growing

my patience, he's growing my kindness, he's growing my lover. I used

to cuss them out, but now I learn how to bite my tongue.

I used to hank my horn, but now I say, come on in.

I used to give them the eye, give them the stink God give

him the side, But now I smile at him and I bless if God

is doing something on the inside, and God does that through our service.

There's too many people that got first class talent serving a second class cause.

Too many people in the church that are trying to promote themselves and push their

agenda and become a seen on this platform when it's not about the platform,

and it's about the town that God has placed. That God has called us

all to be the chief servant. Even the apostle Paul says, I am

the chief servant. We need to learn that God wants to develop our character.

I know you can sing, but can you also stay straight? I

know that you're gifted in that, but can you also have character of words

of integrity? And I want to quote the great Theologian and saves mister Miagi

because it's just like karate kid, how mean? Gonn know? God is

doing something and sometimes we don't even notice it. You may be in a

hiding place right now, but I thank God for the places of anonymity that

God puts you in. That God is developing you. Wax on, wax

off, sand, the floor, sand the floor, paint defense, paint

defense. It don't look like much, but I can tell you while you're

pushing the broom, God is pushing his purpose in your life. While you're

serving with the towel, God is doing something on the inside. God is

setting up things in your life while you're out there taking care of sheep.

There's old Samuel looking for the next thing, but he's looking for somebody that's

willing to pick up the towel and serve. God got any servants in the

house today, Say Lord, you can use me, Oh yeah, you

can use me. Picking up trash, you can use me. Parking cars,

you can use me. Ushering people, you can use me. I

know they're thinking that they're abusing me, but they're not abusing me. I'm

just being used by the Lord. I'm not a doramator. God is opening

up doors by my service. Well, the culture today they learn. Listen,

young person. I know you want to be talk famous. I know

you want to be a YouTuber, but cannot tell you you can get all

the clicks and all the likes and all the views and still be empty on

the inside. But if you learn to take on the mantle and his yoke

is easy and his burden is life, you'll find significance that's more than popularity.

That's more than money, that's more than fame, that's more than fortune,

than more than the car that you drive, because you've found somebody that's

greater. I know you want the corner officer, and I know you want

the the Q sweet and you want all that in a pack of chips.

But can I tell you today, it's not about you going up, it's

about you going down. And I can tell you today, I'd rather have

Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather how Jesus than riches. And I'd

rather how Jesus then houses. And I'd rather how Jesus and be led by

his nail shot hand. I'd rather how Jesus. Oh, come on,

just tell you names. I'd rather have Jesus. I'd rather have Jesus because

he's the only one that can bring me through. He's the only one they

can give me Pisa in the troubled water. He's the only one to give

me choice instead of morning. He's the only one they can take the shame

off my life. He's the only one that can bring hope to the whole.

It's Jesus. And I find my fulfillment in serving him. Who are

you hearing what I'm saying? Uh? Huh are you hearing what I'm saying?

And God develops us, He develops us, He develops us in the

process. And can I just say this, If it's serving is beneath you,

then leading is beyond you. And I'm not just talking about here at

Legacy Church. I'm talking about wherever you are at. God will not promote

you because he wants he's looking for some servants. He said, where's that

in the Bible? Well, can I just take you to David. David

was taking care of sheepa when they found him about. Moses was taking care

of a sheepa when God promoted him. And God we even promote Peter and

James and John while they were serving by their nets. God is looking for

some servants today who don't mind putting on a towel. We live in a

world that's full of titles, but where are the towels? Where are the

servants of the Lord. And in this process I see that not only does

he move him from service, but for ten years he's just serving, and

he's serving, and he's serving, and he's serving, and he's serving.

And now he's getting closer. And this is the hard thing when you know

that something is coming imminent and you want to jump to next, but he

gotta stay in the now. Probably one of the hardest things is when you're

trying to itching to jump in, but you know you gotta stay right here.

And in the process that you can see God's working, but you gotta

stay. You gotta stay right next to him. You don't need to get

ahead of it, and you don't need to open up your mouth, and

you don't need to help the Lord that's not in my notes. But for

somebody of this dream who feels like, Lord, I'm almost there. I

can take it. No, no, if you take it, it will

fall Ah apart sincerity. And this is the test of sincerity. He checks

our heart. He's checking to see how sincere. And in this process,

Elijah and Elisha are getting ready to transition. Says it in the verse,

very verse, very first verse. And so he goes to guild Goal.

And there's some significance to this because in guild God is the place that God.

It's the place of the stone. It's the place where God removed the

reproach off of Israel when they came out of the wilderness into the promised land.

It was a place of sanctification. It was a place of separation where

God says, I'm preparing you to promote you. And so he goes to

Guildgal and is he's going to Guildgal. The Lord says, we're going to

Bethel. He says, you stay here. Eliinha says to Elisha, you

stay and I'll go up. And every time that Elionjah makes a move,

Elisha says, I'm not leaving you. I'm not letting distance get between me

and you. And so he starts here in guilt Gal. Then he goes

here to beth l which is north, and he goes back down to Jericho.

Then he goes back over here across the Jordan, and it looks like

a circle. And how maneople know, Sometimes when you're right on the edge

of your breakthrough, it seems like nothing is happening, and you're walking in

circles. I can see it, but I can't seize it. Why is

it not happening for my life? I feel like God, you got something

prepared for me, but I can't understand why I'm going through circles. And

this is the most important test of our sincerity. How we can learn how

to walk with God when it doesn't make sense. Lord, I know it

doesn't make sense. It feels like I'm taking one step forward and three steps

back. It seems like we're going around and around. But God is teaching

us how to trust his heart when we can't trace his hand, that we

can say God, I'm gonna go with you no matter where you go.

I'm gonna walk with you and talk with you. Because I learned the longer

that I walk with you and talk with you, the sweeter you grow.

Come on, did anybody know what I'm talking about? The sweeter your presences,

the sweeter your pieces, the sweeter your graces. I can't do this

by myself. If I did it by myself, I fall apart. But

if the Lord, if I stick with the Lord, if I stand beside

him, no matter where I go, I'm going with him. Just tell

your names. I'm going with him, hell or high water, I'm going

with him. Go backwards, I'm going with him, going around. I'll

go with him because I'd rather be with him than any other place. God's

shaking your heart, He's testing your sincerity. Do you want his hand or

do you want his face? Do you want his blessing or do you want

the blessing her? Do you want the healing or do you want the healer

her? Do you want the provision or do you want the provider? Do

you want the one that can deliver or do you want the deliver? And

that's the challenge. And I don't know about you. I walked. I

you know, when I'm walking through circles in my life, I recognize that

sometimes God's got me in a holding pattern. Sometimes they may feel like I'm

losing energy, I'm losing time, I'm losing any Why are we doing this?

Why are we going up this way? Why are we going down this

way? But I grew up in those old school kind of toys. Where

do you remember those whose things where they wind them up, or what they

would do back in the day. They would have the cars. Now they

don't have this today. But when I was a kid, the only way

for it to go forward. I didn't have a device, I didn't have

an RC power thing, I didn't have something. I'd have to do this

go backwards. Come on, now, let me break it down. I've

got to roll it back. I'd have to wind it back. I'd have

to wind it back, and the more I wound it back, the faster

it would go. But when I put it back down, it would five.

And you feel like I'm just going backward. No, God's winding you

up. He's moving you into his greater car. And while you're going backwards,

God's about to propel you into your purpose. I'm come to tell somebody

today, God's about to wind you up for the next assignment that he had.

He just looking for some people. He's gonna stick close, stick close

this morning, I'm gonna stay next to him. I'm wound up for a

reason. I'm wound up for a reason. I'm wound up for a reason

because I'm about to go somewhere. I'm about to see greater in my home.

I'm about to see greater in my family. I'm about to see greater

in this church. But he's winding me. Uh just hi five, somebody

say he's winding you up. He's winding you up. You're not wasting time,

You're not wasting energy. He's winding you up for his plan. Are

you hearing what I'm saying? I got anybody that want to see God take

him to the next place that he has for their lives. It's sincerity.

Not only do we see him fight off distance, but he has to fight

off distraction because while he is talking and he's ministering, being ministering to Alionja,

wherever you go, I go, He's got a bunch of profits saying,

don't you know that Elijah is gonna leave you today? And I've learned

you either have to master distraction or distraction will master you. Some of you

get sideways right next to your miracle. Hello, you get so close and

then you mess it up because you listen to the wrong person. You can

be in the right place amongst the wrong crowd. And you've got to learn

how to discern the voice of God for your life and remove distraction. And

distraction is anything that's bringing away energy and effort towards God's plan and purpose for

you. And how many no He's given you his word as a role map.

His word is a limp and to my feet and a light and to

my path. And I gotta hear his word over their opinion. I gotta

learn how to hear God for myself because I've been in places where I was

close to something. Have you ever gone like you were looking for something and

the place was new and you didn't know exactly where it was, and you

asked somebody and they didn't know either, But they actually like they knew,

like you know, like they got a brand new like where I live,

they got they got more ice cream shops than we got people. I mean,

we got brewsters, we got cold stone, we got marble slab,

we got we got Jeremiah's all within like one mile distance. And if you

don't know where when they start popping up, they they don't necessarily know where

the map is, and there'd be people that will like, do you know

where this is at? And because they don't know, they'll point you in

the wrong direction. Have you had somebody that you were real close to or

or you were real close to the place, but the people gave you the

wrong direction and you lost time because they didn't know. And so many times

in our lives we get so close to what God has for us, but

then we listen to the wrong people and they move us from where God wants

us to be. God, have mercy on us. God help me to

stay the course. Come on, help me Lord that I don't get distracted

by people. Even good people can be a can be a roadblock. Even

good people can be a hurdle. Even good people can even family who's got

good interest in you can give you the wrong device. That's why you got

to learn how to hear God for yourself. You gotta know. You gotta

know today. You gotta know. And he says every time he hears them,

he tells them to be quiet. He is telling them, I am

not letting distraction master me. But I I am mastering distraction today. And

I recognize in a transitional period that I gotta make sure my eye is on

him, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and the perfector of our

faith. Don't you get your eyes on me? Please, don't get your

eyes on me. Don't get your eyes on your neighbor. Don't get your

eyes on somebody in this house. Don't you get your eyes on someplace.

Get your eyes on the Master today. Get your eyes on Jesus. Keep

your eyes. Do not get distracted by things or events or what's happening around

the world. So many times we get caught up and what's happening around us.

We forget that He is still the master of the seas. Today,

I just need to king to tell you that you're closer than you think.

I came to tell somebody you're closer than you think. You're closer if you'll

just stay committed to the cause, you'll say committed to the call of God

on your life. And today the Bible tells us not only do we see

the test of service and the test of sincerity, but we see the test

of significance. Because as he gets ready to go to Jordan, the Jordan

is a place of transition. Anytime you see the word, that word Jordan.

It was at the Jordan that they transition from the Promised Land, from

the wilderness to the Promise. And it's hearing this that he's coming into transition.

He's getting ready to receive the mantle. And the question that he asked

him, he said, Lord, he said, Elijah, He asked Elijah.

Elisha asked Elijah. He said, I want a double portion. So

it's a difficult. Why was this so difficult? Because it's easy to receive,

it's hard to carry. That's why you got to go through the sincerity

test and the serve tests, because the significant test will break you if you're

not built for what he has on you. Let me just say that.

I say it'll break you if you're not built for what He has on you.

Because the burden and the blessing weigh the same. That's why some of

y'all are praying for stuff you're not prepared for. Oh, I'm praying that

God will send me my man. No, you ain't ready for your man.

You're still looking for him. You haven't fallen in love with the monk,

the one that made you. When you fall in love with you don't

need him. That's the problem. You keep on looking for somebody to fulfill

you, when I'll find my happy place? No, No, you're a

happy place. Isn't in a person or a thing, It's in him.

And keep on going in circles you get distracted. Oh who's that? Or

vice versa. You're praying for your wife, I'm praying for my good thing.

No, you need to pray that God will make you the man for

your good wife. It start praying for missus right and be mister right.

Come on, I'm meddling right now because some of y'all praying for stuff you're

not prepared for. You can't even take care of your bedroom. How you

gonna take care of a marriage? Oh? My god? You want,

you want the next elevation and you can't even show up on time. You're

talking about God promoting you know you need to show up early. First.

You gotta learn how to make coffee before you can make business. I'm keeping

it real because a lot of us are praying for stuff that we're not prepared

for, and if we ever got it, it would kill us. That's

why I'm praying. That's why there's something beautiful about Lord. Hire me in

inanity. I don't want to be famous. I don't want stuff. I

just want you. So whatever you put on me, I can carry something,

y'all for things in your lives. I want God to do this.

You're not you you. I want God to use me on this platform.

You get offended when I don't shake your hand. All it got real?

Could you see how the room just shifted? Can't be on a platform if

you can't be If you can't get on good with a towel, I'm gonna

let it set right there. Offended. You gotta look. Do you know

how many days I wake up and somebody offends me? But you know what,

bad people can't get offended. I can't get offended. I can't get

sideways on stuff. I can't get sideways on people. I got a mission

to serve my I got a high calling to go after. I got a

prize to receive, I got a crown to receive. I gotta walk to

walk out. I gotta race, Saruna, I gotta fight to fight.

And I had to time to get stuck on stupid something petty like that.

See that's a maturity issue. And see some of us are praying for things

that are significant when we haven't grown into it. Staying with me today because

this is the road to greater. This is the road to greater. I

need God to do something on the end side. I need God to help

me. I got to die daily to the cross, and today that's what

we need in the church, what we need in the house today. We

need God to help us to be the chief servant. Paul said, I'm

the chiefess of sinners. Every time he's started with you, the apostle,

he started as the servant of the Lord Elion. Sha had learned to serve.

He learned to serve, and God prepared him so he could carry what

he was asking for. And I'm telling you, I've been praying for stuff

and God's just building me so I can not only receive it, so I

can carry it. Oh God, I want to carry it. I don't

want to have a great sunrise. I want a great sunset. I don't

want to be a great starter. I want to be a great finisher.

I don't want them to say, well he started well, but then he

flaked out at the end. No, no, no, I want him

to say well done without good and faithful servant. I want him to say,

you should have seen him in his seventies, said you should have seen

him in his eighties. He was like Caleb, I can still take the

mountain. I can still go after what God had. I'm still stronger because

greater is He that's in me. Anybody in this room, that just God's

just stirring your heart. I want to be more. I want to be

more. Come want God to shape me and make me and mold me.

And that feels like I'm being I'm going in circles, but He's just winding

me up. Eyes have not seen. I'm prophesying the people right now.

Ears have not heard what God has in short for them that believe. But

the Spirit of the Lord has revealed it or not? Can I tell?

Can I just tell your church? The Greater is coming to us, greater

in dimension, greater in power, greater in service, and greater in suffering.

After we suffered a while, he'll establish us. Can I just tell

you? Everything you're going through right now is not gonna be wasted. I

feel the Holy Ghost right now. You keep on sending the hold Lord,

I gotta go through this. That's here. He don't waste anything, He

don't waste a tear. He don't waste the sweat on your brow. He

don't waste nothing. He don't waste the heartache. He don't waste the pain,

He don't waste the struggle. He uses it, he takes He's hour

all things together for the good of those who love God and are called according

to Every setback was a set up, every pushback with a push forward for

what God has for you, like hey, hey, hey, come oh,

come come on, idiot, just receive it right now, Come on,

just receive it right now, Come on, just receive it right now.

God. We just thank you right now for what you'll do it.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He's doing it. He's

doing marvelous things. He has done, marvelous things. He has done marvelous

things. Who Jesus, every head about, every I closed, no one

looking around. My God. I don't know who's watching this online. I

don't know who's in the room today. But I came by is to tell

you today that God has His calling is real. The greatest calling is you,

is for you to become who He called you to be, not what

you do. He said pastor day, I don't have Christ in my life.

Oh my friend, that's the beginning of greater he said, Pastor,

today, I want to surrender my life to Jesus. You may have came

here for a friend, you may have came here because of a baptism.

You may come here. But today God is calling you. Right now,

He's calling you. He's bidding you. He's saying, come out, come

out, come out, Come out of sin, come out of darkness,

and come into my marvelous Just raise your hand. Come on, come on,

just raise your hand, raise your hand, Come on, come on,

Jesus, this is in the rooms. Thank you, Thank your Lord,

Thank your Lord, Thank your Lord. Thank you Jesus. I want

you to pray this prayer right now, say Jesus today with all the sayings,

say Jesus today. I asked you right now to come into my life.

I believe you have the power to change my life. And today I

confess my sins, everything I've done wrong, to you and to others and

to myself. I ask you to forgive me, cleanse me, make me

righteous with your precious blood. I turn away from sin, and I turn

towards you, and I ask you to be the lord of my life.

The Savior of my heart. And today Jesus, I choose to follow you.

I give you my life. I surrender in Jesus' name. And all

gospeople said, come on, give the Lord of praise. Come on,

come on,