Your Promise has M.A.P. | Joshua 16:1-4 | Pastor Haron Kaisa

He gave to us right, yes, And so when we

do give, the church is able to go and take

our generosity and go in, like you said, share and

give back to others within the community, within the church

and within our neighborhood.

What generosity means to me is giving back to God

for when he died on the cross for our sins.

But also it's not how much you give.

It's about your heart, and your heart behind the donation.

Even at sixteen years old, you understand that there's a

posture that we could have towards generosity, towards Jesus because

of what He did for us. See, the thing is

is generosity isn't about a number. It's not about a rule.

It really is like you said.

About the posture of our heart. Isn't that amazing?

Yes, sir. I think sometimes as a yalla doll it

may be heard sometimes because you may think, how can

I get when I barely have enough for myself or

for any of our knees or wants. It's not just

putting God first, but it's practicing sacrifice, it's practicing surrender,

it's practicing trusting God. I mean, when we can't see

the big picture and sometimes that's hard, you know, especially

trusting him when you can't really see his hand in

your life.

But I think that's what faith is.

And I think starting with tithing and generosity, I think that's.

Where our faith starts.

And like you said, even when we may not have

all the resources, it's where is our priority is going

to be. And the beauty about generosity is it's we

don't give out of obligation, We don't give out of

guil to we give because of what Christ has done

for us, and that ultimately stirs our faith and our

desire to want to honor Him and ultimately be obedient

to him.

I think if you look at the scripture, right, Luke

six thirty eight says give and it will be given

to you. Press down, shaken together, run adult, we are right.

So just the principle of abundance, right, So that person

that's struggling that they're giving what they can, I would

encourage them to stretch because when they stretch, God is

making room for their giving and He's ready.

To pour out a blessing that they check them.

And oftentimes it's just having that faith to take that

next step to believe that God's going to do something

great and begin to see that overflow. And all it

takes is that next step and the next thing. You know,

who can begin to see these amazing testimonies and blessings

of God's favor within our life.

We're always looking for ways.

It seems like more and more to give, to hand

it out.

How can we do more?

How can we do more? And you know we're on

retired fixed income.

We don't have a lot.

God has blessed us, yes, and so we just generosity

is giving out, whether it's serving my kids, serving my wife,

serving the church, reaching out to others that we know

have needs. The feeling is amazing. You know, I've gone

from disciplining to seeking it. It's the beauty of looking

back and seeing how God God has opened up those

windows a little bit. I couldn't see it from the

front end looking this way because I didn't know what

that's going to look like. But after looking back, it's

been an amazing ride.

Absolutely well, Andy, I thank you for coming in and

sharing your heart today and sharing how God has blessed

you over the years and your household, but also how

your faith has deepened, which has translated to how your

generosity has deepened as well. Here's what each perspective shows us.

Generosity isn't about a number. It's really about a.

Way of life.

It's a heart posture that you and I can have

once we recognize truly what Jesus has done for us.

It's not about how much do I have to give,

but it becomes how much more can I give?

No matter your.

Age or no matter your stage, there can always be

a next step to grow. Trust God and watch what

He can do with an open hand.

Today. If you'd like to.

Give today, there are four ways that you can do so.

You can give in person via any one of the

receptacles in the foyer. You can visit us at Patriot

dot Church. You can look for Patriot on the push

pay app where you can simply take your phone and

tap to give in front of you today. Thank you

for being a generous person. God bless family.

Hey man, Amen, Good evening family. How are we doing tonight?

You guys doing good? All right? Awesome? I know it's

back to school weekend, we're kicking off that and so

definitely be praying for the next gen generation. But you know,

first of all, I just want to just give honor

honors due, can we just give honor to our lead pastor,

to Pastor Adam and Pastor Astudy. We love them, we

believe in them, we believe in the next beyond, and

we're running with you. But uh second, I just want

to say good to see your faces here. I love

midweek Bible study because it shows not only to staff here,

but you're doing a mid checkpoint, but not only a

mid checkpoint, but you are more of God. And it's

so great to see you every Wednesday night here. We're

gonna be in the Book of Joshua, but we're gonna

be in a short chapter. If you were here last

week with Pastor Joe, believe it or not, he covered

almost about fifty verses. It's a lot of verses. Chapter

sixteen is only ten verses, and so it's not a

lot of verses that we're gonna be covering tonight. But

I want you guys to listen closely because I believe

when you read Joshua, specifically chapter sixteen, it's stacked with

God's fingerprints and we'll see very soon. So would you

stand with me for the reading of God's where we

do this to honor God. We're only gonna read four verses,

and that's the four verses that I'm preaching tonight, and

it's Joshua sixteen verses one through four, reading from the

ESV version, and it says he in verse one, the

allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan

by Jericho, east of the water of Jericho into the wilderness,

going up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.

Then going from Bethel to Lose, it passes along our Atharoth,

the territory of the Archives verse three. Then it goes

down westward to the territory of the Jactatites, as far

as the territory of Laura Beth Haram, then the Gezert,

and it ends at the sea. Verse four. The people

of Joseph, Manassa and Ephraim receive their inheritance. You may

be seated. Let's pray, Father God, We invites you to

the space. We ask you that you would have your way.

I pray you were moving in distraction. Help us to

hear your word. But not only hear your word, apply

it in Jesus' name. We pray in God's people. Say

amen and amen. You know most of us if we

were to look at Christianity, if we were to look

at God. I don't think we struggle with God's promises

that he loves me, that is for me, that He

is with me.

Uh.

You know that every territory I take that I believe

that He's gonna help me take. But I think we

struggle with the path that leads to the promise. The

promise is clear. We know that the promise of God

is very clear throughout the Old Testament and New Testament.

But what are the steps, like, how do I get there?

That's where I believe we wrestle with and sometimes we wander,

and sometimes we wander, and so it leads us in

this space because I think I think the hardest part

of knowing isn't knowing the promise, it's knowing how to

get there. The maps show us the way. You know,

my daughter CARLINI and my daughter Alana, they love watching

this TV show Alice in Wonderland. And if you if

you watch Alice in Wonderland, it's like a maze. You're

trying to get out of here, right and so and

so her knowing that she has a guide and she

has someone that helps her a map. So to speak

that guides her to her next step and her next movement. So,

Joshua sixteen, here is more than just the land boundaries.

We heard that last week. We also heard it from

Pastor Diego. But it's showing God. It's God showing his

people exactly where they belong. We know what boundaries are,

and when you read verses one through four, that's what

it's talking about. It's talking about the lines within this

tribe of Ephraim and Manassa. But here's the question. If

God handed you a map for your next season, if

he came down it was like, here's your map for

your next season of marriage, or the next season of

dating or whatever it is, would you follow it? If

the path surprised you, would you continue on it? Would

you trust him? If the route took longer than you expected?

Would you keep walking? If the map let you through

territory you didn't choose. I don't want to do that, God,

I don't want to do this. Would you still believe

if the road didn't look like the promise yet? And

so here's the context before we jump in. Here's a refresher.

If you've been with us for the past a year

or so, We know that we are in chapter sixteen,

but the context of Joshua is broken into four big movements.

We know that chapters one through five is entering the land.

Chapter six through twelve is conquering the land. The battlefield

is the warfare, but chapters thirteen to twenty two is

dividing the land. That's where we're at. We're in this

section that talks about the allotment and inheritance. Then we

know that Joshua chapter twenty three to twenty four is

his final farewell, his final exhortation. And so where are

we at currently? What has happened from chapter one to fifteen.

Here's what's going on. We've crossed some rivers, right, We've

marched around the wall. We've had plenty of warfare, but

now the focus shifts to distribution, dividing the land. Here's

the allotment that's been given to you. Here's a spoil,

so to speak. It's the inheritance. God is giving each

tribe their portion. And so in chapter sixteen specifically, it

mentions two tribes. It's the tribe of Ephraim and the

tribe of Manassa. Who are they? They are the sons

of Joseph. If you notice verse fourteen, it says that

right their inheritance, believe it or not, is a fulfillment

of promise that stretches back fives five decades. We're talking

about almost four I mean five centuries, almost four hundred years.

And so what looks like boundaries on a map is

really the blueprint of God's promise. This isn't just about

the land that we're reading about. This is about legacy.

And what we're reading here is God's precision in motion.

Every detail, every every boundary, every line, every city is

orchestrated by God's hands. And that's what we see, right,

So it's not just history on the page. We can

easily skip overs chapter sixteen because chapters thirteen to twenty

two it's kind of boring, to be honest, because it's

just land here, city, here, here's your here's a tribe.

Now go, and that's all and that's all you're reading.

But it's more than that, because it's a picture of

how He's setting things in place for you to walk

fully into promise He has planned for you, and that's

what we see here. And so our title Tonight's Sermon

and your Promise has a map. Your promise has a math.

So when we read through Joshua sixteen, it may seem

like that right, cities and lines and landmarks. But it's

not just reading the land. We're witnessing divine precision of

God's sovereign hand inness. Everything you see in this land, allotment,

the borders, the lines, the cities, is proof that God

is very intentional. And not only is he intentional, but

he's intentional for his people. And that's what we see right.

That God is a god of detail, and this chapter

reveals his intentional care for his people. God's precise with

his promises, not vague, not uncertain. Here's here's what I

looked up in the Bible of some promises that his

promises are not vague. He numbers the star, and he knows,

he knows, and by name Luke twelve seven. He knows

when every sparrow falls Matthew ten twenty nine. He measured

and marked the dimensions of the earth Joe thirty eighty four.

He sets the boundaries of the sea. Proverbs eight twenty nine.

He fashions every human in the womb Psalms one, p.

Thirty nine thirteen. He instructs Noah on the exact measurements

of the arc Genesis six fourteen. He gives precise details

to the tabernacle Exodus twenty five to thirty one. He

records your tears Psalms fifty six, verse eight. He appoints

the exact times and places for nations and people, Acts

seventeen twenty six. So if he's that detailed about land

and all this stuff, guess what he's careful with the

life that he's shaping in you. You can best believe

that if God can orchestrate that, and that God can

keep his promise, he'll keep his promise with you. So

each tribe receive their rightful inheritance, every single tribe. There's

twelve tribes in the Bible, And in doing so, it

kind of reminds us right of this simple truth that

God will always keep his promise and it's forever. His

blessings don't always show up the way we picture them. God,

I want it this way, God, you gotta show up now.

I need you now. Sometimes they're wrapped up in detours,

you gotta go this way. Sometimes they're wrapped up in delays,

and sometimes they're wrapped up in directions. We never saw coming,

but hear me, and I want us to get this.

His plans are always deeper than our understanding, wiser than

our strategies, and rooted with the purpose we can't yet see.

We just got to trust the process. We gotta trust

him because in his timing, in his providence, in his sovereignty,

he will make a way where there seems to be

no way. Amen. And so if you're taking notes, I

want you to write this down, write the word map, map,

because that's our three points for today, Okay, Because a

map guided Israel to God's promised land. Right. It was

God's map that they stepped into the inheritance that they

received in chapter sixteen. And so you and I we

need directions sometimes in what God has given us and

what God has planned for us. And so the first

thing we see point number one, write this down, m

is marked by God's promise. Look at verse one. It

says here the allotment of the people of Joseph, underline

that one from Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters

of Jericho, in the wilderness going up from Jericho into

the hill country of Bethel. Joshua sixteen says the allotment

of the people of who, of who Joseph? Right, Think

about this, Think about this. When God gives an allotment, right,

when he marks out a portion, he's not guessing. It's

not a guessing game. He's not estimating, he's not hoping

that it works out. He's working with divine precision. This

allotment is for the people of Joseph. That's what he's

saying here. And this portion we're actually reading about is

his inheritance that started in Genesis chapter twelve to Abraham.

Then it was reaffirmed to Isaac, then it was repeated

to Jacob, spoken again over Joseph's children and Ephrap and

Manassa in Genesis forty eight, and now in Joshua chapter sixteen,

four one hundred and seventy six years later, the promise

came to fulfillment. That's a long time. Who in here

got that time, right? I don't think we do. Four

hundred years have passed. But God is still faithful to

his word because when he writes a promise, he signs

it with faithfulness. That's who he is, which means that

even when the even when people change, even when government changed,

even when currencies changed, even when enemies rose, and fell,

and generations passed. The promise didn't expire, it still went,

it kept going, and we see that all over the

Old Testament. We see it all over the Old Testament.

Here's some examples. He promised Noah after the flood that

he would never the earth again by water, and so

every rainbow when the sky still exists, because he meant

what he said in Genesis chapter nine. It's his promise,

it's his fulfillment. He promised Abraham a son when he

was seventy five years old. Think about that, and it

took twenty five years for Isaac until Isaac was born

because God exactly said what he was said to do.

Genesis twenty one. He promised Abraham's descendants a land, and

then it took centuries under Joshua and it was fulfilled

in chapter twenty one. We'll see that later. He promised Hagar,

her son Ishmael, would become a great nation, and God

preserved him in the wilderness and he made it out.

So Genesis twenty one eighteen, he promised Jacob at beth

El that he would be with him and bring him back,

and not one mile of that journey was missed. Genesis

twenty eight thirty five. He promised to deliver Israel from Egypt,

and after four hundred years of slave he brought them

out with a mighty hand. I can keep going promised

after promise after promise, from Noah to Jeremiah, from rainbow

to royal thrones, from barren wombs to burning altars, not

one word failure, because He's a God of promises. That's

who he is. He keeps his promises. His promise was

sealed with his hands. But some of you guys in

here might be thinking it's been too long, it's been

a while. Maybe God changed his mind. I've been waiting.

You've been watching the years pile up. You've been watching

other people get what you prayed for. You've been wondering

if the moment passed you by. But hear me, family,

hear me tonight. If God can hold a promise for

almost five centuries, four hundred and seventy six, for an

entire tribe, he can old yours for the exact right moment.

Just gotta wait instead of believe in it. When God

gives a word, he doesn't go back and rewrite it.

Oh my bad, Let me let me fix this. He

doesn't put an asterisk by it. Only if they go

to church, only if they tie. He doesn't. He doesn't

put it on clear and sell. No, his promises do

not have an expiration date. If he said what he said,

what he would do, he would do it. Amen. And

that's why I believe if you to ask me what's

what's what's the solution to the next generation, I would

say this, They need hope because because hope is this,

it's confident expectation that God would do what he says

he would do according to his word. And there's a

difference between godly hope and worldly hope. See wordly hope

is temporarily, but golly hope is eternal. Worldly hope is circumstantial. Right,

but golly hope is in God's hand, It's sovereign, He

has it in control. So I believe hope is what

we need. But we also see that sometimes the waiting

and the delaying can could seem a long time for us.

And sometimes we think that delay is not necessarily denial

because because sometimes the delay is the proving ground that

God is trying to build character in your life, because

He wants to shape something in you. He wants to

elevate something. He wants to shape your character because what

he's going to give you right you may not be

able to handle. And so he puts it later. Because

the blessing you're not ready can can crush you, can

hurt you. But a blessing at the right time will

build you. That's why he back at two three says this,

though it linger, wait for it, everyone say wait for it.

It will certainly come. It's coming and will not delayed.

It might miss your schedule, but it will never miss his.

He's always on time. And Joseph's life is proof of this.

Think about his life. He was seventeen years old. Seventeen

years old, but he had to go through betrayal from

his own family, slavery, false accusation, and even prison before

he ever saw the fulfillment. I don't think any of

us could handle that. I would have gave up from betrayal.

I'd be like, I'm out, I'm walking away God. And

even then, he never saw this land with his own eyes,

the promised land. He didn't get the chance to see

the promised land. But God wasn't just keeping a promise

to Joseph right, he was keeping it for Joseph's son

Fhroim and Manessa. So here in Joshua sixteen, they're standing

in the land their father never touched. Because God's promises

are not just personal, their generational. It's going to affect

your children's childrens. Right, it might be your children or

your children's children. You may be walking by faith now

so that they can walk in faith later. So you

might be what they need now so that they can

walk in it later. He's marking the land, right, He's

marking the land. He's measuring the borders. He's setting things

in place for you to walk into. Your map. You're

marking your assignment, your possession. And I said, sometimes people

like I hate waiting. Sometimes when I'm on the freeway,

I gotta pray a prayer because I don't know who's

gonna cut me off. It could be a parent in here,

you know, it could be someone at UCA. So I

just I just blast that worship music really loud. I

got no patient, Like, Bro, you could have put on

your your blinkers like you could have put a hand up,

you could have did something. But I believe there's some

people here who've been ready to quit because they're tired

of waiting, you've been counting the years, you've been wondering

if it's even worth it anymore. You're here by just

an invitation. You're here by by just an ounce of

energy like whatever brought you here. You're here. But but

I want to remind you because because I'm reminded of

this every single morning when I wake up, that I'm

loved by God and He hasn't forgotten about me. And

I tell myself that every day to take me throughout

my day. But I want to tell you tonight that God,

God has not forgotten you. I want to pray for

you real quick, Father God. We just want to lift

up those who may feel like they're for goodden may

feel like they're they don't belong, or they're seen. I

pray that they're reminded tonight, Father God, that there's a

God in heaven who loves them so much. In Jesus name,

we pray Amen. Amen. You know, when God remembers, he

moves with purpose, and when he moves with purpose, things

start moving. And that's exactly what we have here in

verse two. If you're taking notes, these aren't just random

place that God just put names here. This is God

assigning land with intentionality. So point number two write this

down is a assigned with purpose. Notice what verse two

says then going from beth El, underline that highlighted to Lose,

underlining that it passes along to Atharoth. Underlying that highlight

that the territory of the archives. Now watch this. God

doesn't just give an inheritance. It's one thing for him

to give something. But he defines this right, How does

he define it? He defines it in the boundaries, in

the cities and the markers. But here verse two mentions

three places. Beth L in the Hebrew means house of God.

Louise means the old Canay knight name before it became Bethel.

This is important because you'll see a progression here. And

then Atharoth means crowns. Bethel. Is what we see here

that when in Genesis chapter twenty eight, when Jacob saw

the latter right, it was a place of divine encounter.

So they name that place house of God aka Bethel.

And then Louise, which is an old Canaan knight name

before it became Bethel. This was God changing name because

he claims territories. And think about it, because he renames

a lot of names in the Bible, for example, Abraham

to Abraham, right, sorry to Sarah, Jacob to Israel. Here

lose to Bethel. Then we have the third city. Athothis

means crowns. It's symbolizing authority, it's symbolizing responsibility and stewardship.

But here's the progression that we have here. From House

of God comes transformation. From transformation comes a place of authority.

That's your formation pathway that God is trying to orchestrate here.

This is the pattern of purpose. How do I find

my identity and my purpose in this life in the

House of God in church. But there's some things that

you got to get rid of. There's some old numbers

you gotta delete. There's some old relationships that you gotta

get rid of. There are some old habits you gotta

put away. Because when in that we see that God

will assign you a place athos, responsibility, stewardship. That's the

progression we have here. Because God doesn't just assign you

to a place. He assigns you to a transformation that

leads to authority. Beth l lose to Athos. Some of

you are looking at your current assignment and thinking, this

is this is the one I pictured, This is a

husband I wanted to marry, This is like what we're

saying all these things. This isn't where I thought i'd

be ten years from now. This isn't the kind of

land I wanted. But your assignment isn't your preference. It's

about God's purpose and plan, and your purpose will always

listen to this. His purpose will always pull you through

places you wouldn't have chosen, to prepare you for places

you wouldn't have believed you could stand on. What you

gotta trust God in that. You gotta believe in God

in that. You gotta know His plan is greater than

our plans. His ways are greater than our ways. I

love this quote by Augustine of Hippo. I highly encourage y'all,

whenever you read the scriptures, whenever you read the Bible,

just look up some church history, because I believe the

church history gives us wisdom and insight of how they

process things. Right. And here's Augustine of Hippo. He says,

God's call is not a general summons, but a precise appointment.

Everyone's say appointment. He orders the times and places of

our habitation for the accomplishment of his divine design. Wow,

what is he saying? He Augustine reminds us that God

doesn't simply send out a vague invitation for anyone to

serve in any way or any time. What does he do?

He calls you with a name, with the location and

a purpose in mind. It's not broad. He calls you

by name, pastor Kenny. He calls you by name Josh,

he calls you by name Jennifer, he calls you by name.

Your assignment is not a coincidence of family or history

or opportunity. It's the outworking of divine intervention and divine

intention for your life. That's what God is doing every

detail where you live, your address, the season you're in,

the relationships you have, even the challenges you face tonight,

even that has been woven into the sovereignty of God's

plan for your life and what He's still in control.

You can look at our word today. You can look

at our government today. You can look at our neighborhoos

to day. You can look at our education system today.

You can look at social media day. You can look

at our generation today. But you can always trust that

God is in control all the time Acts seventeen twenty

six says this, he determine allotted periods and the boundaries

of their dwelling place. That means you're not misplaced. God

knows your name. You're not filling in for someone else.

He's created uniquely and wonderfully. You're not a random piece

on God's chest board. He's moving you to this place

and moving you to this place. Right. You've been strategically

placed so that your life can accomplish one thing, his glory,

and his glory alone. You know, one of my favorite

scriptures in the Bible is the Phesians two ten. You

know some of us may know is this. It says

we are His world workmanship, His workmanship created, and what

in Christ Jesus for what for good works which God

prepared when beforehand for us to walk in. That means

your assignment was mapped out before you even took your

first breath, like it was already mapped out for you. Right.

You may not like your job. Some of us don't

like our job. I'm not going to say raise your hand.

If you don't like your job, your boss may be

sitting next to you, right, But God's using it to

shape your character. You may not feel qualified for your

ministry or where you served, but God's training your faith here.

You may not understand why you're in this season, but

the exact training ground will help you for what's next

in his plan. And so for Ephraim and Manassa, this

assignment wasn't just farmland. Here's the inheritance. Here's a promise,

Now go farm the land. It was about fulfilling a mission,

to occupy, to cultivate, to display God's glory in the land.

You're a wonder why God chose Israel. I believe God

chose the nation of Israel for one reason, to be

a light, to be a light. Who's around him the

enemies of God. So there needed to be a people

group to be a light amongst the dark world. And

so God chose this specific people group to be a light.

Your land could be your family. Your land could be

your workplace. Your land could be your ministry. Your land

could be your neighborhood. Your land could be your mission. Field.

Doesn't just give it to you so you can sit

in it. Here, here's your allotment, here's your inheritance. Now

sit down and watch Netflix. No, says he gave it

to you, so what you can steward it. So don't

despise your borders, don't hate your assignment, don't hate where

God has given you. Don't and then don't compare your

territory to someone else. Don't waste time looking for a

different land. I want, I want, I want that land.

And here's the thing. When you know what's yours, you

can finally step into this third point. And that's where

we land a night point number three for taking notes.

Write this down. Possess what's yours? Can we say together? One, two, three,

possess what's yours? Us Verse three and four says this.

Then it goes down westward to the territory of the

Jephletites as far as the territory of lower beth Huron.

Then together and it ends at the sea, where as

for the people of Joseph van Nassa and Ephraim receive

their inheritance. Now that we've seen point one, you've been

marked by God's promise verse one, and now we've seen

in point two that you've been assigned with purpose. Verse two,

Verse three and four shows us possession right. And here's

the truth, A promise that you don't act on stays

a prophecy on paper. There's gonna be a time in

morment where you got to act on that. You got

to possess what's yours. God has promised it. God has

marked you, God has assigned you. Now possess it. Here

Ephron the Manassa had the landmarked, they had the boundaries drawn.

They were given the assignment. But there's a difference between

having it and holding it. Because notice in this chapter,

just ten verses verse one through four is one part

of this verse. Verse five through ten is the second

part of this verse. Notice what this verse says. This

chapter says they receive their inheritance. Okay, but if you

jump down to verse ten, if you have it on

the screen. If not, don't worry about it. It says

they here. However, they what They did not drive out

the Canaan knights who live in gether So because they

didn't obey God's command to drive them out. Here's what happens.

The Canaan knights have lived in the midst of Ephraim

to this day, but have been made to do forced labor.

That means they had the title deed but never moved

all the way in. God gave them the inheritance. God

marked them for the promise. God assigned them for their purpose.

But they didn't possess it. Why because they did not

drive out who the Canaan knights. It's like owning a

house but letting the old tenants live rent free. Who

in here would do that? I'm thinking of us? We

do that right? They stopped short. They settled for partial possession.

I only want half because that's my half, and this

is what I can only do. God had already promised

them to victory. We go all the way to Joshua

chapter one. We talked about that, but the land was

still occupied, and instead of finishing the fight, they made

peace with what God told them to remove. And so

here's the question for us tonight as we close, where

have you done the same? Where have you told God?

I'll go this far but all the way? God Our

commits to purity, God, God, Our commits to be faithful. God,

Our commits to whatever it is you fill in the blink.

Where have you accepted almost when He promised you all?

I believe the word almost is the greatest oxymorl on

ever all most like you're either all in or not

Your geezer may be an old habit you've learned to

manage instead of killing it. Your geezer could maybe a

bitterness you've been locked inside of you from trauma or

past history. Or your geezer may be fear that been

sitting at your kitchen table. Every morning you wake up

and you're reminded of this family. If you can't conquer

what you're not willing to coexist with, if you don't

drive it out, it would drive you out. If you

don't kill the sin, the sin will kill you. That's

what we're saying here. That's why Colossians three to five says,

put to death, Put to death. Therefore it was earthly

in you, sexual morality, imperity, passion, evil, desire, and covetousness,

which is idolatry. Not negotiate, not tolerate. It says put

to death. Gotta kill it. And this is where faith

and fight me. This is where you gotta you gotta activate.

This is where you gotta do your job. Because God

will give you the land. He already has a promise,

He already has an inherence for you. But he won't

do your pushing for you. You gotta do it. Yourself.

You gotta wake up and say I'm ready to go

to battle. You have to take the steps, swing the sword,

pray the prayer, forgive the person, break the habit. Because

possession doesn't happen by accident. It happens by action. Talk

to talk, and walk the walk. That's why this third

point matters so much in this text, because next week

we'll talk more about that verse five through ten. Because

it's not enough to be marked for his promise. It's

not enough to be assigned for his purpose. You have

to step into it. You have to act, You have

to move, You have to possess what's yours. For Efra

manassa possession meant driving out the enemies. Did they drive

out the enemies? No, they did not. For you, possession

might mean driving out doubt, driving out fear, driving out compromise,

maybe even driving out a toxic relationship you're in. Here's

the good news. Though you're not fighting for victory, you're

fighting from victory. Jesus already sealed it. Still your part

because the Holy Spirit is right next to us, helping

us in those moments. And that's why the matter is

marked by God's promise. He's never forgotten, you assigned with purpose.

Your boundaries are intentional. Possess what's yours. Don't stop short,

keep going, keep moving, keep fighting, fight the good fight.

And so as we close, the question tonight isn't has

God been faithful? I believe because we all know that

he has. I believe. The question is will you walk

in everything he's giving you? Because He's given you everything?

Will you walk in that purpose? Will you walk in

that promise? Will you walk in that assignment? Will you

walk in that possession that he's saying, Hey, this is

your inheritance, this is your land. Take it. I've given

you the map, it's the Bible, it's your GPS, it's

your navigation system. It helps you move from this place

to that place. It tells you where to turn, it

tells you how to act, it tells you how to move.

So let's not leave here tonight holding a promise on paper,

leave holding it in our lives. Here's what Roman's seventeen

says says. Here for if children, then heirs heirs of

God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him,

or that we may also be glorified with him, you

are an heir of God, your royalty. You're God's child,

your God's daughter, you got son. That's what you gotta

walk in. That's what you gotta possess and walk in

that nature, walk in that manner because God will be

with you in those moments. And I believe the Holy

Spirit is speaking to us in this moment because I

think a lot of us may may understand that we're marked,

may understand that we have an assignment, but we're afraid

to possess it, We're afraid to take it. Some of

us been wrestling with different assignments, some of us been

comparing our boundaries to other people. But I believe God

wants you to walk in that God is saying, drive

it out. No more roommates, It's just God and God alone.

We're gonna believe that, Amen, that old promises will be remembered,

callings will be embraced, and every geszer will be driven

out by the grace of God. You know, when we

look at the Bible, the Bible talks about eternity a lot.

You know, in Matthew Chapter seven, verse thirteen, and fourteen.

I want to read this to you because it gives us,

it shows us what eternity is going to be right,

and it gives us like this map of how to

get there, and it says, here, enter by the narrow gate.

For the gate is wide and the way is easy,

and that leads to destruction. So what we see here

is we have a gate, we have a road, we

have a destination. Then it goes on to verse fourteen.

Here's a comparison, for the gate is narrow and the

way is hard, but that leads to life, and those

who find it are few. You know, the Bible talks

about this, right, Jesus made it clear that there are

many ways to live, but there actually are only two

ways to live.

Right.

Call it, I call it which h road are you on?

Heaven or Hell? Which h roy are you on? And

it tells us that there's these two gates. And sometimes

the narrow gate may say enter this gate that leads

to heaven, and it's Satan holding that sign. Like what

because Satan is the ultimate deceiver, and the best way

he deceives is with his word and action and what

he does through our generations. Right, But the Bible says,

enter this gate. So we see two gates, the narrow

and the big. We see two roads. We see two destinations.

We see two groups of people, those who know God

those who don't know God. And so my question to

you tonight is, if you die tonight, where would you

spend eternity? How do you know in your heart that

you know Jesus that's between you and him. I'm not

gonna ask you to raise your hand if if if

that's you, what I'm gonna ask you is I want

you to spend a moment with God and get real

with him. Because the Bible says in John fourteen, verse six, right,

Jesus says, I'm the way truth in life. No one

comes with the Father but through him. What does that mean?

There's only one way to heaven and a million ways

to hell? Only one. He's the truth. There's only one

truth in a lot of all these false religions and

false truths, that he is the only life to ever live.

We have access to that simply by simply doing this.

Romans ten, verse nine to ten says, if we confess

with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, then and we

will be saved. So, if that's you tonight, if you

want to know this Jesus, if you want to get

to heaven, if you want to be on this heaven road,

if you want to enter this gate, if you want

to know this map, that map requires you to know Jesus. Amen.

So that's you tonight, We're just gonna say the simple prayer.

I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand. And

if we all about our heads, and if you already save,

you can repeat this prayer with me. If you made

that decision tonight, God knows words don't save you, but

your heart, posture, and your connection and your repentance towards him.

I want you to repeat after me and say this,

Dear God, I confess my sin and turn away from

this world. Help me to live for you, Help me

to love you with all my heart, all my mind,

and all my soul in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Can

we just give him around a plot for those who

made that decision. If you made that decision night, we

have a free resource for you if you go to

our