Fortitude!

Kingdom. Welcome. I'm so glad to see, so honored to

be with you. For those that don't know me, my

name is Kylie. It's good to see such a full house.

I wanted to share a message with you today that

the Lord has been has put on my heart since Tuesday.

I put on my heart last Tuesday, and I feel

the excitement in the room, and I love that last Tuesday,

I cannot say that I was feeling excitement. I felt

like the hits just kept coming. And the season has

for the last almost nine months been hard and heavy,

and there's just been pockets of hope and joy, but

it just feels like every time. I've just never been

in a season like this before, where it's just so

many hard things, so many heavy things. And we had

found out that a friend had moved to heavy and

this week, and we found out another friend was going

through cancer treatments for the second time, and just hard

things and heavy and so on Tuesday, I was having

quiet time with the Lord and I was just lamenting

this has happened, and this has happened, and I was journaling,

writing it down, making a list of every heart and

heavy thing that we've walked through for the last nine months,

and my heart was just heavy. And as I was

praying and talking to the Lord, I heard him so

clearly say fortitude. And I was like, okay, I have

an idea of what fortitude means, but I looked it

up in the dictionary. I wanted a precise definition, and

the word the definition of fortitude is courage and pain

and adversity. Courage in pain and adverse me. The first

verse that came to mind was in John sixteen thirty three.

You can go ahead and turn there. But I was

thinking about how Jesus was talking to his disciples and

he said, Hey, in this world there's going to be

trials and tribulations, but be of good cheer, take courage.

I've overcome the world. And I, as I sat in

that scripture, I thought, you know, he you know what

he didn't say. Sometimes I like to look at what

he didn't say. He didn't say, in this world you're

going to have trials and tribulations.

So sorry, it's just hard.

I don't know what to tell you. He didn't say that.

He didn't say, in this world you're going to have

trials and tribulations, but muster up your own strength. He

didn't say, suck it up, you're gonna be fine, tough enough.

What doesn't kill you and make you stronger? He didn't

say anything about He said, Hey, you know what, in

this world there's going to be trials and tribulations. But

take courage. Take courage. I've overcome you know. I went

and handled it for you, all those hard things. I

did it for you. I already established the victory, and

you get to live from that place. And I really

like what the amplified says John sixteen thirty three. And

the amplified says, I have told you these things so

that in me you may have perfect peace. In the

world you have tribulation and distress and suffering. But be courageous,

be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy. I have

overcome the world. My conquest is accomplished, and my victory

is abiding. This word for courage to be courageous in

the Greek it's sarseo, and it means to take courage,

be of good, cheer, have heart, and be confident. But

what I found was interesting is that it is a verb.

And I don't know how many of you in here

are English majors or care deeply about grammar. But this

word be courageous as a verb, and it's not only

a verb, but it's spoken in the imperative form. I

currently homeschool are two youngest girls who are in first

grade and fourth grade, and I was telling first service

that this is technically my sixth time to go through

first grade, because I've taught first grade to all five

of our children, and I'm starting to get the hang

of it. I never feel more confident about myself than

when I'm done teaching first grade. Every single day, it's

clicking faster and faster. My other daughter that I'm currently

teaching is in fourth grade and she's learning about sentence

structure right now in grammar, and one of the things

that we've learned is that there are different types of

sentences in sentence structure and punctuation, and there's one particular

type that's called the imperative sentence. And what we know

about an imperative sentence is that it is a command.

When something is said in a command, we call it

an imperative sense. Since this word our sal be courageous,

it is not a suggestion, it is a command, it's

not a request. It's actually a command and can also

be listed as a direct order and a warning. Why

would Jesus say be courageous? He's commanding us to be

courageous so that we can have that perfect peace when

we stay in Him, so that we can also experience joy,

because without joy, when we're growing weary, his joy is

our How do you combat weariness by staying in Him

so that your joy can be full? How do you

come that fear by being courageous so that you can

have the peace of Christ? He said, I've all ready

overcome the world, and you can live through victory in me.

I'm going to, in fact, put my own courage in you.

This isn't a courage that we muster up, that we

dig as deep as we can to try to find

some ounce of courage that we can possibly come up

with in some type of hope. It is Him alone

that sustains us. It is Him alone that is our strength.

It is Him alone that is our source of courage,

of hope, and of joy. This word tharseos, which means

be courageous, is used in the New Testament seven times.

And we're gonna look at some of the scriptures where

we see it. And there was I want to read this.

The rf nt be I believe is how you say

his name. In the scripture John sixteen thirty three, he said,

Jesus promises his disciples three things, that they would be

completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. Completely fearless,

absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. Let's look at some

of the other references where this tharsus be courageous is used.

Let's turn to Matthew nine, verse two. Jesus is in

a boat with his disciples, and it says, I'm start

in verse one. Actually, so he got into the boat.

Jesus crossed over and came to his own town. Just then,

some men brought him to a paralytic lying on a stretcher.

Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, be courageous, son,

your sins are forgiven. Turn with me to verse twenty two,

same chapter, chapter nine. This is talking about the woman

with the issue of blood. Let start in twenty Actually,

just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for

twelve years, say twelve years, approached from behind and touched

the end of his robe, for she had to, For

she said to herself. If I can just touch his robe,

I will be made well. Jesus turned to her after

seeing her and said, have courage, daughter, Your faith has

saved you. And the woman was made well. From that

moment turned with me to Mark ten, verse forty nine.

Some of you may be familiar with this story about

a man that is known as blind Bartimaeus and Chapter ten,

verse forty six. They came to Jericho, and as he

was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus,

a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. When he

heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth. He began to

cry out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying

out all the more, have mercy on me, son of David.

And Jesus stopped them and said call him. The ones

that were telling him sh quiet, you're embarrassing us. Jesus

doesn't have time for that. Can't you see he's on

his way out. Don't be ridiculous. Jesus looked to those

people and said, you call him. So they called to

the blind man and said, have courage, get up, he's

calling for you. He threw off his coat, jumped up

and came to Jesus. Then Jesus answered him, what do

you want me to do for you? Rabbi the blind

man said to him, I want to see Jesusesus said

to him, go, your faith has saved you. Immediately he

could see and began to follow Jesus. Immediately he could

see and began to follow Jesus on the road. The

very people that told him to hush, to not trouble Jesus.

Jesus used those very people to yell, hey, have courage.

He's calling for you, who in your life has said

to be silent and has turned into your true leader.

All three of these people that we see Jesus healed

have suffered from incurable diseases, from paralyzation, from an issue

with bleeding, and being blind. And every single one of them,

when they got into the presence of Jesus and they

took hold of the courage, they answered the call and

the command to be courageous were healed immediately. I one

should also look with me in Matthew fourteen twenty seven.

We're going to see where Jesus is talking to his disciples,

and let's go up a little bit. Let's start in

twenty two. Immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the

boat and go ahead of him to the other side

while he dismissed the crowds. After dismissing the crowds, he

went up to the mountain by himself to pray well

into the night. He was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat

was already some distance from land by waves because the

wind was against them. Jesus came toward them walking on

the sea very early in the morning, and when the

disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified.

It's a ghost, they said, and they cried out in fear.

Immediately Jesus spoke to them, have courage, it is I

don't be afraid. The disciples had been in the boat,

battered by the waves and the wind, and I just

wonder how many of us in here have felt battered

by life that every time you try to stand up,

you get knocked over again. And maybe it's not even

in your own life, and you're maybe you're not not

your own hardship, but maybe it's somebody you love dearly

going through something hard, and there's just only so much

of it you can take before fear sets in and

Jesus is calling out to you, have courage. He's not

just calling out, it is a command, and it is

a warning. We are in hard times. I know you're

in pain. I know you're faced with adversity. But listen

to the voice of the commander of the host of

heaven saying, have courage. I will fill you with myself.

I will fill you with my own courage. But stand strong.

These incidences, these four incidences where Jesus is calling out,

have courage, it's when he's in the physical body, here

present on the earth. I want to show you another

example in Acts, chapter twenty three. We know that the

Book of Acts was telling of stories after Jesus had

already died, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. Many of you

may be familiar with Paul, and Paul used to persecute Christians,

and then he was radically wrecked by an encounter he

had with Jesus on the road to Damasus. And now

he's out spreading the Gospel and preaching the good news

and being met with persecution. So at this point in

Acts twenty three, he's actually been put in prison for

talking about Jesus, telling people about Jesus, and I want

you to go with me to verse eleven of Acts

twenty three. When the dispute became violent, the commander feared

that Paul might be torn apart by them, and ordered

the troops to go down, take him away from them,

and bring him into the barracks. The following night, the

Lord stood by him. Say The Lord stood by him

and said, have courage. The Lord stood by him. The Lord,

who already ascended into heaven, saw Paul in the prison

cell and said, have courage. He came near. He didn't

look at Paul and say, ah, once you're out of

that grungey place, we'll talk. I just can't go into

a place that dirty. No, he went where Paul was.

He went into the deepest, darkest place that Paul had lived,

and he stood with him, and in his presence said,

have courage. Why would he come and tell Paul to

have courage? Because the very next morning, when it was morning,

the Jews formed a conspiracy and found themselves under a curse,

I'm sorry, bound themselves under a curse to not eat

or drink until they had killed Paul. There were more

than forty who formed this plot. These men went to

the chief priest and elders and said, we have bound

ourselves under a solemn curse that we won't eat anything

until we have killed Paul. So now you, along with

the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he

may bring Paul down to you as if you were

going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But before he

gets near, we are ready to kill him. But the

son of Paul's sister, hearing about their ambush, came and

entered the barracks and reported it to Paul. Paul called

one of the centurions and said, take this young man

to the commander, because he has something to report to him.

So he took him and brought him to the commander

and said the prisoner, Paul called me and asked me

to bring you this young man because he has something

to tell you. And the commander took him by the hand,

let him aside. Inquire privately, what is it that you

have to report to me? The Jews, he said, have

agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the

Sanhedrin tomorrow. And though they are going as though they

are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him.

Don't let them persuade you, because there are more than

forty of them lying in ambush, men who have bound

themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until

they have killed him. And now they are ready waiting

for your consent. So the commander dismissed the young man

and instructed him, don't tell anyone what you have informed

me about this. Just prior to that, we see the

Lord standing with Paul, saying, have courage, for as you

have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary

for you to testify about me in Rome. He knew

that Paul was probably weary. He had been tried, he

was innocent and treated as guilty, and he knew that

the next day, when he heard this report that there

was over four men bound to a curse to kill him,

that he might give up hope. So he came to

be present with Paul and infuse his own courage into

Paul and said, I am not done with you. Don't

believe the report that you're about to hear tomorrow. I

still have a plan for you. You're not done, just

as you have testified about me here you're going to

go testify about me in Rome. I have it under control.

I'm working on your behalf. So the next day, when

Paul's nephew was reporting to him, Paul was able to

stand encourage and have a plan. Here's what you're gonna do.

You're gonna go let them know. We've seen the equivalent

of this word tharsaus, which is Greek in the Old Testament,

in the Hebrew. Many of you might be familiar with

the Book of Joshua and his story, and it opens up.

He'll turn to Joshua Chapter one. Joshua. Moses has just died,

and Joshua is now the new leader for the children

of Israel, commissioned to lead the children of Israel into

taking the promised land that the Lord had given them.

And in verse four we hear we see the Lord

say saying to Joshua, be strong and courageous, for you

will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to

give them as an inheritance. Above all, be strong and

very courageous. To observe carefully the whole instruction, my servant

Moses commanded. You do not turn from it to the

right or to the left. So that you will have

success wherever you go. The Lord's presence was the reason

for Joshua's courage. I will be with you wherever you go.

Be strong and courageous. You might feel beaten down, afraid,

worn out, hopeless, or lost your joy. Maybe you're weary

and you just feel like you can't take one more

blow or hear one more ounce of bad news. But

I am here to tell you that the Lord is

with you, and he is commanding you. He is commanding

me to take courage. This is a new season that

we have entered in the earth. It feels a lot

like uncharted territory, at least to me. I don't have

answers for everything that's taken place, but I know that

the world is looking because they're experiencing it too, But

they don't know this is Jesus that you know, and

they're looking for an example. And when you're the example

and you go through all of this, and you experience this,

and you hear bad news after bad news after bad news,

and you're still standing strong, they're going to want to

know why it is Jesus who is with me and

he can be with you too and give you walk

and peace and courage. It isn't possible to stand without him.

You can't go through these hard things without him and

keep standing. He is the reason. And let me tell

you something. I have felt like we have been on

the precipice of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit for

a while now, and I have great anticipation that it

is going to happen. And I feel the Lord is

saying fortitude to his people. Find courage in the midst

of the pain. Find courage in the midst of the adversity,

because I'm about to move on my church, and I

want you looking for me. In the New Testament scripture

we read earlier, we read that Jesus was on the

scene with them. In acts, he stood next to Paul,

he was in the prison. The Lord's presence was the

reason for Joshua's courage to lead the children into the

Promised Land. The lord's presence was the reason for Paul's

hope after he heard the report of the plot to

kill him. The Lord's presence was the reason the disciples

could face courage in the midst of being of the storm,

where they're being exhausted from the winds and the waves.

The Lord's presence is the reason that blind Bartimaeus could see.

The Lord's presence was the reason that the woman with

the issue of blood was healed, And the Lord's presence

was the reason that the man who was paralyzed could

now walk. The key is his presence. Are we seeking

his presence? Are we finding ourselves pulling away into his

presence when things feel overwhelming, not shrinking back. But just

like Jesus did when he was here on this earth

and he administered and he had poured out, he pulled

away to be with God, to be with his Father,

to be in the presence so he could be refilled.

That's what we have to do. That is our key today,

to pull away to be with our father, which is

not the same as shrinking back. In Deuteronomy thirty one,

verse six, it says, be strong and courageous, do not

fear or be in dread of them, For it is

the Lord your God who goes with you again. He's

with us. It's his presence that's with us. He will

not leave you or forsake you. Isaiah forty one to ten,

Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed,

for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I

will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous

right hand Hebrews thirteen five and six. Keep your life

free from the love of money, and be content with

what you have, for he has said I will never

leave you or forsake you, so we can confidently say,

the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what

can man do to me? Tharsaos. It portrays courage as

a gift spoken by the Lord into difficult and painful situations.

It is a gift, this courage. It is a gift

spoken to you by the Lord and difficult and painful situations.

So today, when you walked into those doors, the Lord

is here to meet with you and give you the

gift of his own courage inside of you in the

midst of the painful and difficult situation that you're going through.

And he is saying fortitude, your word, our word, my word,

fortitude this week, every day that you wake up, as

you're going about your day, fortitude. Lord, you are with me.

Your courage is inside of me. You've given me strength.

And because of that, I have the mind of Christ.

I have your peace. I have joy overflowing and it

doesn't make sense. Can you imagine the paralytic man getting

out to walk, and people who weren't present there to

see the miracle happening saying what happened? What did you do?

And he's like, I, I didn't do anything. This man

named Jesus healed me, and I can't make sense of it.

I don't have any answers. I just know that I

received the gift of healing in his presence. It doesn't

make sense to my mind. I have no explanation to

give you. Can you imagine the woman with the issue

of blood returning to her family, now cleansed and clean,

able to participate in public activity, and people saying, what happened?

I need an explanation? Explain this to me. I I've

grabbed the hem of his garment and he healed me.

I don't have an explanation other than that it's something

I could have done. He did it for me. Imagine

people meeting you and saying, listening to your story and saying, wow,

how did you survive? I don't have an explanation for you.

Jesus stepped into my world and he infused courage in me,

and he gave me strength and I have peace that

doesn't make sense that I can't explain to you. And

I'm experiencing joy that doesn't make sense. I shouldn't have

this joy in this peace, but Jesus did something for me.

Imagine how those testimonies can transform and change lives around you.

The world needs what you have. They need this peace,

They need this Jesus. They need this Forude that we

can only find in him. Theirsaos often implies having a

bold inner attitude or radiating warm confidence, and is used

as a command to stop fearing. That's why you see

it so often. Be strong and courageous and do not fear.

They go hand in hand. It is a command to

stop fearing. Don't look at what's going on around you.

Keep your eyes on me. I'm not done with you.

So we can look inside today and say, do I

trust his promises? Am I rooted in his presence? Do

I believe his word? I don't have the answers for

what's happening, but I give up my right to understand,

and I'm not asking why anymore. I'm just looking for

my King. I'm stealing away with him, soaking in his

presence and letting him infuse me with peace. I'm taking

him out his word and I'm obeying his command, and

I will take courage. In the middle of the hard

raise your Hallelijah, in the middle of despair, don't accept defeat,

and in the middle of pain, remember and hold on

to his promises. You can do this. He believes in you.

There's a lot going on in the world right now,

and He chose you for this very time on earth.

You get to live in these unprecedented times, and you

get to bubble forth his courage, and you get to

be the light on a hill for others to see

and draw from. So be bold and speak forth what

it is that's inside of you, the very one that

you know that's given you the strength, that's commanded you

to hold.

On to fortitude.

Elizabeth Elliott. I was at a conference last weekend in Dallas,

and I can't remember who it was. Somebody shared this

quote by Elizabeth Elliott and it was really powerful and

impacted me, and I want to share it with you.

If you are breathing, you have a job to do.

To be awake is to do the next thing with

a heart focused on the King. We aren't just waiting

for the end. We are working toward the beginning. We're

not the church that's going to be found sitting around

hiding in a hole, waiting for Jesus to come rescue us.

We have a job to do. We're on assignment, and

we're going to step forward and courage in his courage

because of his presence, and we're going to go forth

in boldness declaring the word of the Lord in this

earth because he is worthy, because he already paid for it,

and those are his people that he wants to see

brought into the kingdom all One of the ladies, one

of the speakers at the conferences, was telling us that

she was recently in San Antonio. I'm talking recently in

San Antonio, our backyard, and we've heard all of these

stories of revival happening. How many are hungry to see

revival happen here. I'm ready. I feel like it is

on the precipice. We're about to enter into it. Recently,

she was in San Antonio asked to come to the

San Antonio Community Bible Church for a Wednesday night prayer meeting.

And at this Wednesday night prayer meeting, the Lord's presence

was poured out. They had three hundred salvations and baptisms

that night. That is real close to home. If he

will do it for them, he will do it for

Kirk County. Don't pull back in fear, don't pull back

in weariness. He is breathing on his bride, and it

is time to dust yourself off, to stand up and say,

I will stand in your presence. Fortitude is my word.

I will obey your command to not shrink back in fear,

and I will walk forth encourage, full of your peace,

your presence, and your joy, anticipating your hand at work,

anticipating the next move of the Holy Spirit. So if

that is you today and you've been weary, rightfully, so

can I just validate that for a minute. We've been

through a lot in our community, so it is understandable

that we may feel weary. It is understandable that we

have questions. But your Lord and Savior is with you

and he's not done working through you. So if you've

been weary and maybe full of fear or anxiety, and

you're ready to stand up in his courage, would you

stand up? I want you as loud as you can

to let it be known to the enemy and to

the world I'm not done. I will stand encourage. Can

you imagine, Can you imagine the enemy shaking in his

boots because he tried left and right. He tried last June,

he tried last July, he tried in January and February,

in March, and he didn't take you out. Because the

Lord is with you and with me. So I want

you to for a minute, I want you to come

before the Lord. Anything that's been weighing you down, all

the heavy things that have laid on your shoulders. I

want you to bring it to the foot of the cross.

Lay those heavy things down. Lord. We bring you the

things that have made us feel weary, the heart and

heavy things. Lord, you see them, you know them, you

validate them. You said that we would have troubles and trials,

but you've already overcome. So Jesus, thank you for the Cross.

Thank you that we can lay down the loss. Thank

you that we can lay down the questions. Thank you

that we can lay down the tears, the herd, the heavy,

the exhausting things at your feet. We want to be

filled with a renewed strength and courage. Thank You for

seeing us where we're at and knowing that we need fortitude,

not just telling us that we need it, but you

are that for us. Lord. May the world look at

us and say, how how did you go through those

things and still be standing, so that we can tell

them it was Jesus. Jesus, you are worthy, Jesus, you

are good. We keep our eyes up focused on the

one who redeems, focused on the God of justice and

righteousness and strength, and we anticipate that you want to

breathe and move on, your bride. We are ready to

obey your command to take courage, and we choose today

as we lay these heavy things down.

To pick up courage.

We choose today to live in peace, enjoy. We receive

it from you, and we thank you for it. Thank

you that when we weren't able to keep going on

our own, that you stepped in and fortified its. Us

may receive all the glory and may this region look

different because your bride is stepping out encourage in Jesus'

mighty name. Amen, Amen, if I can have a prayer

team come forward, please, If you have any thing that

you would like somebody to come into agreement with you on,

to stand with you, to go to war with you.

We have a prayer team that would love to do

that for you. Otherwise, be blessed, have a courageous week,

and live in His joy and peace. We love you.

Well.

I trust that you were blessed by the Lord today

and we look forward to seeing you online next Sunday.

In the meantime, if you would like to learn more

about us, about our School of Ministry or other resources,

or you would like to sew into Cross Kingdom Ministries

and help us further the Gospel to the ends of

the earth, simply go to Cross Kingdom dot org. We'll

see all next week.

It's the sa