Bring it With You | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Lord, we thank you so much for your presence.

We we thank you for what you're doing in this atmosphere.

God, as we have sang songs, exalting you, declaring our love for you, our surrender to you.

It is from this place, God, that we posture ourselves with an expectation that we will have an encounter with you.

We recognize that, Lord, when we come to church, that this isn't a show, this isn't a performance.

We're not waiting to be entertained, but we are invited to engage your very presence.

So with our hands lifted up, it says we declare your name, knowing that you inhabit the praises of your people, that you meet us exactly where we are.

We thank you for this divine appointment.

We thank you for stirring our hearts, God.

We thank you for ordering our steps, and we thank you for what you've already done, and we're expected for what you're going to do.

Jesus, we love you.

And I pray, Lord, that your spirit just moves amongst every single one of us.

Bringing clarity and perspective and hope and healing.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen and amen.

You can go ahead and take your seats at this time.

I do want to thank everybody for coming and worshiping with us today.

My name is Keith, and alongside my amazing wife Megan, we have the privilege of serving as the lead pastors here at Celebration Orlando.

We truly count it as a privilege that we that we get to do this.

I count it as a true honor to work alongside the staff that we have, to serve alongside the teams that we have, to serve you guys.

It really does make our calling and sacrifice and purpose worth it.

So thank you so much for being with us and entrusting us with your faith journey.

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, of a new season, I know that this it can have mixed emotions for all of us.

Because I know for myself, typically around this time, maybe uh about a month or so before, um, I begin to kind of reflect on the year.

And and I'm I'm very in in my own world, I'm very like specific.

So I'm often like, okay, like if I were to give this year a letter grade, what would I give it?

Like, was this like a C year?

Was this a D year?

Was this an A year?

Was it a B year?

And and a lot of times when I come with that assessment, there's a lot of variables that I'll share with you guys at another time.

And then whatever that is, I I don't try to beat myself up about it, but I look at the things I can learn from it, I look at the ways that I can grow from it.

What are the things I need to continue to perpetuate?

What are some of the things that I need to adjust?

And and whether we have the same system that I do or not, we all have some measure of assessment that we take on the year.

And for some of us, we've been looking forward to this moment, we've been looking forward to the new year because the new year gives us permission to kind of shift gears.

The new year gives us permission to like cut some people off.

Because you know, like in the middle of the year it seems odd, but in the new year, we're like, hey man, new year, new me, no you.

Like we all understand that that the new year kind of gives us permission to make adjustments, like the grace is there to do it.

And so for some of us, we've been waiting for the new year so that we can make some adequate adjustments to our lives, but for others, we we're just scraping by.

And and we're just making it to the finish line, and and we haven't had enough time to simply breathe and to pause to even know what we need to do in the new year.

We're just overwhelmed.

And there's others that, man, this year, maybe even now, it's been a great year, and you just want to carry on the momentum.

What I know is that in our church, that all of these things are represented amongst us.

And so I feel like God has given me assignment that can hopefully speak to all of us today.

If you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in Genesis chapter 50.

Genesis 50 · chapter mention

Um, Genesis, first book of the Bible, last chapter of the first uh of the first book of the Bible.

And and I'll honestly will say this.

Maybe if you if you've been around us for this this period of time, that you'll recognize that there's been a couple of times this year that I have made reference uh to Joseph.

And and I, up until this point would have never said that Joseph is one of my favorite characters in the Bible.

I don't dislike anyone, but I would have certainly said that I'm more of a Moses guy.

Um I'm definitely a David guy, gotta be a Jesus guy, but that's the price of admission at this point.

Like, if you're not a Jesus person, then we'll have a whole nother meeting for that.

Like, so I have certain people, uh Paul and Peter, people that I go to because like their lives and their writings and other things have been so influential.

But but I never would have necessarily said that I think that Joseph is that guy for me, even though his life is incredibly impactful.

But when I went back and looked at the varying things that I've shared over this year, I've recognized that a lot of my things, directly or indirectly, I have alluded to Joseph quite a bit, and I think that he's kind of moved up the rankings a little bit.

So because I've talked about Joseph a good amount of time this year, I won't give you a whole lot of context, but I do want to paint the picture as to what we're entering into so that we understand uh the nuances that we're about to engage in.

Joseph has a very interesting life.

He had a very interesting upbringing.

He was his father's favorite son that naturally created some hatred between his brothers who just didn't have any love for Joseph.

He was sold into slavery, but he was still faithful to God, and because of his faithfulness, God's hands on his life, he ends up being the second in command in Egypt.

A famine comes, the brothers who sold him into slavery are hungry.

They come to Egypt not knowing it's their brother, who's in a position to either bless them or ultimately sentence them to death.

And so the beautiful picture comes to a closure as as he says, Man, what you meant for evil, God meant it for good, he forgave them and he was prepared to move forward.

Joseph is a beautiful illustration of this redemptive story and how we learn to forgive, but there's some things in here that I think is worth exploring.

After Joseph forgives his brothers at verse 24, he says this to them, I am about to die.

But God will certainly come to your aid and will bring you up from this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So watch this.

So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath.

When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.

Joseph died at the age of 110.

They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

Such an interesting request.

That hey, you guys are here.

There's gonna come a time when God's gonna come and help you.

When he does, take my bones with you.

After there, there's 400 years of bondage and oppression.

In fact, Exodus starts off by reminding us who Joseph was, but it says that a king rose up who didn't know Joseph, because Joseph was the one that was responsible for Egypt's resources.

But a king rose up who was threatened by now all these Jewish Israelites that were now in the land, they felt uncomfortable with it, and so they put them into slavery.

And so that's the 400 years of slavery that Moses now enters into the narrative.

It's time to set my people free.

After 400 years of bondage, after 400 years of slavery, they are now finally being set free.

400 years after Joseph had said these words to them, and I want you to see what it says here in Exodus 13.

400 years later, verse number 19, Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelit swear a solemn oath, saying, God will certainly come to your aid, then you will take my bones with you from this place.

400 years later, they still had the wherewithal, they still had the understanding, the many generations that came after that still had the conviction that even though we're leaving this place of bondage, we can't leave Joseph behind.

Now, fast forwarding another 40 years of going through the wilderness, going through all the challenges and nuances, they finally are beginning to get settled in their varying regions in the promised land that God had established for them way back in Genesis chapter 12.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

And look at what it says here in Joshua 24, 32.

Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought with them from Egypt, were buried in Shechem, and the partial land of Jacob had purchased for the sons of Hamar, Shechem's father for a hundred pieces of silver.

It was an inheritance for Joseph's descendants.

What an amazing journey we have been on, and we're just getting started.

Today I want to talk to us that as we're looking at the things that we need to make adjustments in our lives, the things that we need to leave behind, I believe that this narrative is also meant to make sure that we don't throw caution into the wind because there's some things that as we're going into the new season that God wants to make sure that we don't leave behind.

So if you're taking notes, and of course we are at Celebration Orlando, I want you to write this message title down.

Bring it with you.

Bring it with you.

Let's pray and let's get into what it is that God wants to speak to us today.

Lord, we thank you for your constant presence.

We we thank you for the favor that you've extended to us and that you've allowed us to make it at this point of this year.

There's been some challenges, there's been some highlights, there's been a little bit of everything, but Father, we are here in your presence, waiting for you to speak to us.

So, Lord, I just pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes to see you, that you give us open ears to hear what it is you want to speak to us and open hearts to receive so that we can be truly transformed by your grace, by your presence, by your word, by your spirit.

Holy Spirit, you're welcome.

We ask that you challenge us, that you inspire us, that you encourage us, that you order our steps in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

You know, Megan and I have have been together now for um over 30 years.

Y'all can clap for that, man.

Listen.

For 30 years.

She she has been blessed to be with me for 30, 30 years.

30 glorious, non-challenging, non-conflict, just peaceful, amazing years.

And as I think about the 30-year journey that we've been on, I believe if my calculations are correct, in that 30 years, we have lived in seven different homes.

30 years, about seven different homes.

And when you can imagine that you've been with somebody for that amount of time and you've moved that many times across state lines, different cities, different homes, all those things, you have this ability to accumulate a lot of life.

You accumulate a lot of memories, you have all types of things that you begin to accumulate.

But as you begin to move more frequently, you begin to ask the question like, hey, like, do we really still need this?

Like, is this something that's necessary for the move?

Because at some point you find yourself moving it from one junk closet to another junk closet, and you're asking yourself, why do we have to have this?

So for me, I am the type of person that I get to a breaking point where I'm like, let's just throw it all away and start all over again.

See?

Val gets it.

Julian's like, absolutely not, absolutely not.

I get it.

So I'm at a point where, like, hey, if we haven't seen it, haven't thought about it, haven't engaged it in about three months, we're probably not gonna miss it.

So let's just move on and throw it away.

My wife, however, is the complete opposite.

She is incredibly thorough.

I mean, very, very thorough.

So she wants to make sure that before we throw out the junk mail, that we look at every single item.

She's the type that wants to shred drunk mail.

Like she's very, very thorough.

So you can naturally understand that in the 30 years, the source of our conflict is determining what stays and what goes.

What stays and what goes.

And so I remember just a couple of months ago that while she was out getting her hair done on a Saturday, I still remember it so vividly, it was a beautiful spring day.

And she was going and getting her hair done.

I said, you know what?

I'm finally gonna clean out this garage.

I'm gonna go ahead and get this garage started.

So I began to kind of get things in order.

I'm moving some things away.

Some things obviously were trash, but then other things were like, hey, maybe it's 50-50.

I'm just gonna take my shot and throw it away and see if she even misses it.

Because she's not home.

And I'm thinking to myself, if she doesn't see it, she doesn't know.

I'm confessing it's right in front of her.

This is the first time she's hearing this.

Um, I'm kidding.

Like, I'm I'm thinking to myself, I'm gonna get rid of some of this stuff that's taking up space for no uh apparent reason.

I get to this one bag and I open up and I look into it, and there's a bag, and there's a whole bunch of like like jump mail three houses ago.

I'm like, what and I just say, like, why do we have this?

I look down a little bit further, I'm like, this is ridiculous.

And and so I bag it up, I put it in the trash, and as I'm moving the trash can, I'm like, man, she's not gonna see it anyway.

The moment that I say that, I hear this voice saying, Hey babe, I see that you're cleaning the garage out.

Make sure you don't throw away anything important.

I look around.

The car's not home, she's not home.

So I'm like, okay, like the Holy Spirit doesn't refer to me as babe.

So so so so what's going on right now?

Megan was watching me on the ring the entire time.

Just looking.

I was like, that's kind of creepy.

I said, oh no, babe, it's it's all good.

Like I made sure everything was good, but there was that one bag that I that I just knew that I had thrown away that I didn't double check, so I was like, just for me to do my due diligence because just my luck, she'll come out, she'll say something, she'll find it, and then there's a whole nother thing I gotta deal with.

I said, So let me do my due diligence, let me open up this bag and empty it all out to make sure that I can confidently say I examined every piece of mail.

Birth certificates came out, like family heirlooms were in that bag.

Like it was like some serious, some serious memories, like our first date.

Like I'm talking about like the first time we went on the roller coaster together, six flags in Jersey, remember that girl?

Like all of those things, all of those things were were in there, and I'm seeing this, and like I almost threw this entire bag away because on the top it looked like it was a bunch of junk.

On the outside, it looked like it was a bunch of things that didn't have any value.

On the outside, I was sitting in a corner, and I was like, it's becoming an inconvenience, it's taking up space, there's other things I can do with this.

But deeper beneath the surface was literally our actual identity that was hidden beneath all of it.

But I almost threw it away.

Here's the plot twist.

I think for many of us, as we begin to go on our journeys and we're trying to figure out a way to simplify our lives, as we're trying to examine what are some things that we need to take with us, what are some things we need to let go of, my concern that I see in culture now is that we're getting away of traditions that are literally the pillars of our actual identity.

I've seen real recently that people are more anti-church and more anti-God than I've ever seen before in my life.

People have gotten to a point where they don't feel like they need Jesus anymore because they got a person on TikTok that tells them the three things they need to do to have a holistic life.

I've seen people they're more influenced by followers instead of people who have actual experience.

I've seen how we've gotten to a place where we no longer listen to the voices of elders and people who've gone before us, the people who have experience and wisdom and have navigated struggles and triumphs and have somehow managed to make it to this point, but we're listening to someone who was 23 years old who has a bunch of followers.

How do we get to a place where we've gotten to a spot where we're throwing out traditions, we're throwing out culture, we're throwing out these values because we're looking for ways to simplify and make things convenient.

Now, I gotta be honest because if I'm gonna talk about that, I have to talk about the other side.

The other side is I understand because I truly do believe that some things and some traditions need to be examined.

Some things we need to make sure that they actually are fitting contextually, that we're looking at it in a proper context, that we're understanding culture and the nuances that go with it.

So I understand that often in the hands of tradition, a lot of pain and damage have been done, which has often caused people to turn away from the very things that we just talked about.

But I believe that there's a delicate balance in making sure that as I evaluate and look at the things that are actual substances I need to keep, that I'm not throwing away the structures that I need that's gonna help me to survive.

I believe that what God is ultimately challenging all of us to do is something that I remember my grandmom saying to me many years ago, we gotta learn how to eat the meat and leave the bone.

I got I've got to learn how to make sure that I absorb the things that are from God that are good for me and leave the things behind that are not good, that are actually a hindrance to me.

When we look at this narrative, I find myself being so thankful that the people of God didn't have my posture when they were on this journey.

Think for a moment about traditions being passed down.

From the time that Joseph said, Hey, you guys are gonna be here for a while, but a time's gonna come where you're gonna be rescued, and I want you to make sure that you take my bones with you.

Now I can imagine maybe for the first generation, they're telling them stories around the campfire, they're telling them who Joseph was, what he did, how he preserved their entire family legacy.

Like Joseph had a lot of value to that people group because they were only one generation removed from it.

You get the two generations removed, and Joseph is just this guy, our ancestor that's on the tree that we don't even understand his significance.

You get three generations removed, his name is not even mentioned anymore.

He's just a title.

Four generations removed, he's not even discussed at all.

So I often wonder what ways did they talk about Joseph to ensure that in 400 years that they still prioritize bringing the bones with him because they understood the value and the significance of it.

What are the things that God has put into our lives that we may think of as being outdated, that we think of being too traditional, that God is actually saying, no, that these bones represent the structure of the essence of what I want you to carry with me as you move forward.

I believe that as they spoke about Joseph and as they passed down his name from one generation to the next, they said that these bones are not just bones, but it's about what the man represented who once used to walk in these bones.

So I believe we have to back up and look at Joseph as a person to understand the significance of his bones and why the children of Israel felt it was necessary that while they are leaving Egypt, they wanted to carry these bones with them.

Because when they left Egypt, they were given a blank check.

They were literally said, look, man, we want you to leave, take everything that you can carry with you.

That means that instead of carrying another bag of jewels, somebody was carrying his bones.

That instead of carrying more wealth, they were carrying the tradition.

That instead of carrying the more resources, they felt it was more important to make sure that they carried the traditions with them.

What was so significant about Joseph that they thought it was necessary to bring it with them on this journey?

I'm glad you asked because there's three things I want to share with us before we go back into worship.

I believe that when we look at Joseph, there's a couple of pillars that are in his life that I think can be synonymous to the things we need to bring with us as we're going into our new seasons.

Here's the first one.

The first thing that you gotta make sure you bring with you as you're going into the new season is bring your dreams.

Bring your dreams.

Somebody say dreams.

Say it with your chest.

Say dreams.

Dreams are the space where our imagination has no boundaries.

Dreams in a biblical sense was a place that often God spoke to people with divine visions and instructions.

Dreams are very powerful and often we don't even get a chance to engage our dreams until we're in an adequate state of rest.

We need to make sure that we bring our dreams with us, but it's possible for us to lose our dreams because of the highs and lows of life.

Let me share something with you that I think is really interesting.

Within the family systems model of psychology, they break down these different psyches that all of us have as individuals.

The child self, which is basically the part of us that represents our innocence, our curiosity, our visions, the adolescent self, that's a part of self-discovery, the part of us that's that's looking to be autonomous from our family, the part that is looking to explore.

Then we have the critical self.

That's the part of us that begins to be a little bit more critical of ourselves.

We're a little bit more fearful, and that's often the voice of our parents and teachers and people that have told us that we're failures, and so that voice begins to become a part of our narrative, and then you have the loving parent part of ourselves, which is basically where our wisdom and compassion and love and discernment are all at.

It's interesting that when the Bible speaks about our faith journey, it doesn't say that our faith should be just like an adult.

But it says that we need to have a child-like faith, a faith that is characterized by curiosity, a faith that is filled with dreams and the impossible.

But you know what happens?

All of us at some point, when we're filled with all the ideas and the options and the opportunities and the way that we see our lives and what we're hoping for the best, you know what ends up happening is we get introduced to disappointment.

We have a setback, we have struggle.

And then what happens is instead of that childlike innocence that's dreaming for a better future, becoming the most prominent voice in our life when it comes to exploring what God has for us, the critical parent begins to speak the loudest.

And before long, the dreams get suppressed and we become very cynical, very critical, and very fear based.

You mean you're gonna start a business?

You know that this economy is not the best time for you to start that business.

Wait, wait, so you're talking about having kids?

Weren't you and your husband just arguing like six months ago?

Are you sure this is the time that you should be having?

Wait a minute, you're you're talking about giving to the church?

Don't you recognize how drip that pastor is and how he must be spending all the church's money on his the dope shoes?

No, I don't actually.

Um you're gonna give the critical parent is that voice that begins to kind of whisper in to take away any idea of hope and faith in our dreams, the idea of believing something bigger for ourselves.

And this becomes very critical for us because here's the thing that happens with dreams dreams spark ideas, ideas create vision, vision establishes discipline, and discipline creates results.

But if the enemy can speak enough to our disappointment and shut down our dreams enough, we stop believing God for better and we just settle for what is.

And we just move forward in mediocrity.

We just move forward why this is the best it's ever going to be.

We just move forward that this is as good as my marriage is ever gonna get, this is the most money I'm ever gonna have, and we just live a life of mediocrity and it is so beneath what God has for us.

So as the children of Israel were bringing Joseph with them, they were bringing with them the structure of a man who was a dreamer.

Joseph was a man who understood how to dream.

That even when he faced adversity, he never let go of the gift of dreams that God had given him.

The very first dream that he had was God showing him that he was going to be a man of influence.

And when Joseph shared that dream with some people in his life, they couldn't handle the dream and they began to hate on him because of his dream, and they tried to put him in a prison because of his dream.

Listen to me, everybody can't handle the dreams that God is showing you.

Everybody can't handle the vision that God has showed you.

Some things you just need to keep it closer to your heart because some people can't handle it.

So when Joseph began to share his dream, even his father became the voice of the critical parent.

What are you talking about?

Have you ever had such ambition and such drive that it offends somebody else?

Have you ever had a vision for your life that, hey man, I believe that God wants me to live in that neighborhood?

Who do you think you are?

It's interesting how the enemy gives us a whole concert full of reasons why we can't accomplish what God has laid out before us.

But what we see in Joseph is that even though this man has struggles, that even though this man has some opportunities that he could give up on God, that he never gave up on his dream, that even while he was in prison, and you could have certainly seen there was a moment where he could have said, Man, maybe I didn't interpret my dreams appropriately.

But the Bible says that the Pharaoh had a dream and that they brought Joseph in front of him.

Now you could imagine that in that moment that Joseph could have gone quiet because he would have been able to say, I haven't even seen my own dreams come to pass yet.

I'm not sure I'm qualified to be the person to speak to the dreams of the king.

If I get this wrong, it could cost me my life.

But even though Joseph was in prison, his dreams were in prison.

That even though Joseph had some setbacks, his dreams didn't have any setbacks.

He still understood who he was, what God was calling him to do, and he still led from that place, knowing that God has called him.

He didn't let go of his dreams.

Somebody shout, dreams.

I believe that as we step into new seasons, that is important for us to get our dreams back.

Because as I look out into this room and as I discern in my spirit on what people who are watching online, there are some of us who stop dreaming.

There's some of us who stop believing for things greater than what we're currently dealing with.

That we've gotten to a place where we've accepted the reality that God has said that is not my best for you.

It's time for you to get your dreams back.

It's time for you to get the dream back for your marriage.

It's time to get the dream back for your finances.

It's time to get the dream back for your health.

It's time to get the dream back for your family.

It's time to get your dreams back.

That as we're moving into the new season, don't leave behind the dreams that God has placed on your heart.

He is not done with you yet.

Joseph represented dreams, and they were going to need those dreams as they were moving into some different territory.

Here's the second thing that I believe that the bones of Joseph were meant to represent as they were on this journey through the wilderness.

Devotion.

Somebody shout devotion.

Devotion.

Joseph was a man who managed to stay devoted to God when all else failed.

I mean, think about this for a moment.

That he shares his dreams with his brothers.

His brothers are offended by his dream.

They then say, hey, let's let's let's kill him.

Another brother says, nah, man, that's too extreme.

But we'll sell him into slavery.

Fine.

But they sell him into slavery.

And even while he's on this journey, the Bible says that he continued to function with this true devotion to God.

Now, I don't know about you.

But if there's ever a reason to pop off, it would be when your brothers try to kill you.

If there's ever a reason to kind of step outside of your salvation, I would imagine that that would be the moment.

Like, like, I love y'all.

I've been walking with God for decades.

You try to put me in prison, man.

We're gonna throw hands.

Like, I'm just being completely honest with you.

I'm just being real with you.

But Joseph, he never stepped out of his godly character even when his life was in jeopardy.

What the Bible says is that this brother was so devoted to God that even in the face of temptation, he was able to resist it.

Watch this, when no one was looking.

See, watch this.

I truly believe that private devotion equals public power.

Devotion is my commitment to God when no one is looking.

Devotion is you will see the fruit of the spirit in my life because of the time that I spent with God when you know one's looking around me.

Joseph was in his boss's house, and the Bible describes Joseph as being an attractive young man.

The scriptures say it.

I like to envision myself as a Joseph when I read the Bible.

I said, That sounds like me.

So he was a good looking guy.

I'm like, man, I just went to the barber yesterday.

I'm tight.

So Joseph is a good looking man.

And so the Bible says that the boss's wife was looking at him and was like, hey, listen, listen.

My husband is gonna be out of town for a minute.

Nobody will even know.

So Joseph is like, nah, weave.

She throws it on, nah, weave.

Like he dipped, he's just weaving and weaving, like, nah, nah, I'm I'm good, I'm good.

And she's like, listen, so day after day after day, this brother is literally being harassed on the job, and he just wants to do his job and go home.

Every single day.

And then eventually, I'm not sure what happened, but eventually she lays hands on him.

She literally got a hold of his clothes, like, listen, we're doing this one way or another.

No one is looking, no one is around.

Joseph could have very well given in to the temptation in that moment, knowing that nobody's gonna see this.

No one will ever know about this.

But the Bible says that Joseph said, I cannot do this thing to my God.

He didn't say, I don't want to offend my boss.

He didn't even say anything about what are people gonna think about me.

His conviction was, I'm so devoted to God that I don't want to let him down.

What if our devotion to God was so strong that we looked at the sins that we do as an offense to him instead of being concerned about whether or not we're gonna get caught?

What I truly believe that we see in Joseph is a man who was able to study, I don't care what this cost me, my relationship with God is more important than anything else.

I don't care what temptation is around me, but I'm drawn to God more than anything else.

It doesn't mean I don't have temptation, it doesn't mean that I don't have cravings, it doesn't mean I don't have desires, but the truth of the matter is my soul desires Jesus more than anything else, and I'm gonna make sure that I make that my priority.

Joseph was a man who was devoted.

I truly believe that the true essence of a person is who they are when no one is looking.

And what Joseph shows us, he embodies this person who understood that in order for me to have godly character, I have to have godly devotion.

He was a man who was profoundly devoted.

But but here's the third and final thing that I believe that these bones were meant to be representations of as they're in the wilderness, as they're on this journey, they also needed to take with them deliverance.

Y'all knew I was gonna hit y'all with another D.

Deliverance.

Somebody say deliverance.

Now I realize that in a Christian context, a lot of us may have different images and ideas about what deliverance is.

Some of us look at it as an expression of being completely delivered from bondage, and it certainly is that.

Some of us may look at it as being freed up from anything that's hindering us, and it absolutely is that.

But deliverance is actually in the most biblical form, is it's recognizing the hand of God on your life no matter where you find yourself.

See, when we look at Joseph, we see a person who embodied what it looked like to have the hand of God on you no matter what.

See, the Bible describes deliverance as not the absence of challenges, but the presence of God saving power in the midst of those challenges.

Deliverance, victory, moving forward.

Life, Joseph's life is a vivid portrayal of deliverance.

I I like to say it this way.

I was reading through this narrative again, and there's a couple of phrases that come up over and over again in Joseph's life, but it shows up at some of the most critical, harmful moments.

The repeated phrase is this and Joseph was put in prison, comma, but the hand of God was on him.

Joseph was falsely accused, comma, but the hand of God was on him.

Joseph was thrown into the pit by his brothers and he was supposed to die, comma, but the hand of God was on him.

What that meant is no matter where Joseph went, the hand of God went with him.

He functioned and walked in this deliverance of knowing that I survived everything the enemy has thrown at me.

Let me back up for a moment.

Because I know that when I think about deliverance, I'm often thinking about the absence of chains.

I'm thinking about the absence of struggle, I'm thinking about the absence of problems as I perceive them.

But then God told me that you're looking at the wrong thing.

Because what you're not recognizing is that the enemy does not do down payments on destruction.

What the Bible says is that he's come to kill, to steal, and to destroy.

And the very reason that the enemy was not successful in employing his strategy is because the hand of God is on you.

Maybe we're counting the wrong scoreboard where we're thinking that victory is the absence of problems, but in the hands of God, victory is being found and that the enemy could not defeat you.

These are where the words of the prophet says that there's no weapon that is formed against you that shall prosper.

It doesn't mean that it won't form, it doesn't mean that it won't hurt, it doesn't even mean that it won't hit, but it won't accomplish what it was supposed to do because the hand of God is on you, and because of that, I can walk in the power of deliverance.

I'm talking to some people in here today that the enemy has hit you with everything that he's got, and you are still here because the hand of God is on you.

I'm talking to some folks whose marriages that should have been torn down, but somehow you're still here together because the hand of God is on you.

I'm talking to people who had dreams to have more money in their bank account, but their account is in the negative.

But the hand of God is on you because you still have exactly what you need.

Maybe we need to stop looking at what we lost and look at what we still have.

And what you have is Jesus.

And when you have Jesus, you have the foundation of everything you will ever need.

The hand of God is on you, the same hand that survived you, the hand, the same hand that delivered you, the same hand that broke the chains off of you is the hands that are on you.

You have been delivered because you were submitted under the name of Jesus.

That for the children of Israel, that while they were on their journey, walking through the wilderness, carrying these bones that seemed like they had no value, they faced some opposition from time to time.

I remember their first battle that they faced, and the first battle that they faced was against the Amalekites, and the Amalekites were these enemies that should have been wiped out, but now they're opposing the people of God.

And what the Bible says is that as the Amalekites closed in, that the people of Israel they had no fighting abilities, they never had to fight in their lives, they were slaves.

But somehow, somehow, that because Moses had lifted his hands up and he was surrendered around those bones, that the power of deliverance became upon them, and that every time that Moses lifted his hands up, the enemy was defeated.

They faced so much opposition, but because they had the power and victory that is found in the presence of God, they had not been consumed.

What I want you to know is that as we're going into the new year and going into the new season, don't leave your dreams behind.

Have a vision for your life that is bigger than anything you could ever imagine.

Don't leave your devotion behind and being committed to God when no one is looking, but don't leave the deliverance behind because you are a survivor, you've made it to this point, and God is not done with you yet.

You are a survivor because the hand of God is on you.

You know, in the same way that I came so close to throwing away vital documents that really was an essence of who I am, who we are, who our family is.

I think the same thing can happen to us.

That as our lives get filled with clutter, that as our lives get filled with disappointment, it begins to look like junk mail.

And before long, we we stop dreaming and believing that life is better than what it currently is.

We we stop being devoted to God.

We think that hey, if devotion to God was going to be the thing, then why am I dealing with this?

So let me just throw this away as well.

I don't I don't need to be devoted to God and and I'm not delivered, I'm not victorious.

I just have to accept my my my thorn in the flesh, if you will, for what it is.

But what I believe God's assignment for me is to say, bring these things with you, bring your dreams with you into the new year, bring your devotion with you into the new year, and bring the deliverance.

That same ability to survive that you had in one season will be the thing that helps you to thrive in the next.

You know, I want to lead us back into a moment of worship.

Because Joseph had made this statement that when he was talking to his brother, this full circle moment as he was talking with him, and he's like, what you guys did for me was awful.

He was able to look at his entire life and contextualize it in such a way that he was able to recognize God's hand over every bit of it, and how God used it for his glory.

And I'm confident that if he could rewrite it, he would love for them for certain things to be avoided, and he understood the goodness of God, and he was gonna enter into a new season completely free.

This is what I want for us, this is what I want for those who are joining us online as we go into a time of worship and just reflection and surrender.

I'm gonna be up here and I would just love to touch and agree with anyone that is that is looking to enter into a new season where I want my dream and my vision.

You're believing God for something.

I I want to pray with some people that are saying, Keith, this is a year that I'm gonna be committed and devoted and strengthened in my faith more than I ever have before.

And I want to pray for some people that are saying, Keith, I'm a survivor.

The hand of God is on me, and I'm bringing that with me into this next season.

So as we go into prayer, I'm not going to belabor the point anymore.

Let's stand on our feet.

The team is gonna come and lead us in and worship.

I I have my uh anointed oil, and and and maybe there's some amongst us who who are unfamiliar with this.

This is not some, this is not some Christian sage version.

This is simply what the Bible says in the book of James, where it says, If there's any be sick among you, let them call for the elders and anointing them with oil, let them pray the prayer of faith and let them be healed.

The Bible speaks about the anointing oil as simply being the contact point where we're inviting the Holy Spirit to come in.

There's nothing special about it.

This is some oil blend that we prayed over and prayed that the Holy Spirit will move through it.

But what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna just rub some of my hands.

And if people want to come to the altar, I just want to simply touch and agree, and believing that whatever you're believing God for, that we're in agreement with you.

That the devotion and the conviction that you want to see God in your life, that we're gonna touch and agree with you.

And that, and that the deliverance and strength that you believe that God has for you in this next season, that you're gonna bring it with you and me and our prayer team, we're gonna simply come alongside, touch shoulders, lay hands, but just simply pray along with us.

But what I want you to do is just move as God is leading you to move.

But I believe that the altar represents the meeting place with God.

And maybe what you need right now is a step out of your comfort zone, leave some things behind, but step in with boldness, meet us at this altar, and let us pray for you.

Let me pray for us and let's just see what it is that the Holy Spirit wants to do.

Lord, we thank you for your presence.

We thank you, God, that that even in spite of the highs and the lows and the challenges and triumphs, that that we have the ability to recognize there's some things that we can't leave behind.

That is, we're auditing our lives and getting rid of things that are that are problematic, taking up space, Father.

But our desire is to ultimately make room for you.

So, Father, we go into this moment saying, God, that we're gonna bring our dreams and submit them to you.

We're gonna bring our devotion, being committed to you when no one else is looking, even when it's alone.

And God, we're gonna bring our deliverance, our victory, because your hand is on our lives and the best is yet to come.

So, Holy Spirit, I pray that you stir our hearts, activate our hands, and motivate our feet.

That as we lean into this moment, we make room for you and allow you to do what only you can do.

I want us all to move and as God leads us to go.

But the altar is open.

The team and I would love to touch and agree and pray.

But whatever you do, engage this moment with hands lifted up, declaring the goodness of God.

Let's seal out this moment, let's seal the new year by making sure that we're saying, I'm bringing dreams, I'm bringing devotion, and I'm bringing deliverance.

Let's worship together.

Thanks again for listening.

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