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That One Thing Holding You Back
Are fears and doubts holding you back from God's promises? Sometimes the "what" isn't the problem—it's the "who." Dive into overcoming unbelief today!
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We often ask ourselves what is holding us back in our spiritual journey. In this message, Pastor Justin suggests it may not be about a "what," but rather a "who"—specifically, ourselves succumbing to unbelief. He the experiences of biblical figures like Joseph and Moses to illustrate how setbacks can prepare us for a greater purpose.
Our doubts and fears may manifest as unbelief, hindering our growth. You’re invited to reassess not just what you believe, but who you believe holds the truth. By focusing on Jesus, the perfecter of our faith, we find courage to let go of doubts and to run the race set before us. Listen to gain clarity and strengthen your faith.
Prayer Targets
Please join us in prayer for:
- A hunger for the Word.
- Tears for the sost.
- Testimonies to share.
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Gathering Times
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Contact Info
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
About Springhouse
If you’re looking for a church in Smyrna, TN that is focused on Loving Big, Living Truth, and Healthy Family, we’d love to connect with you. We offer a lively children's ministry, strong middle school and youth programs, and exceptional ministries for men and women of all ages. We partner with missionaries in the US and abroad, Isaiah 117 House, local retirement communities, and others for our outreach efforts.
Additionally, we are home to Springhouse Theatre, an award-winning theatre in the Nashville area. We support the Nashville theatre community and serve thousands of patrons annually. We aim to broaden our impact on culture through the arts and by building new relationships.
CCLI License 2070006
Transcript
Thank you, sir. This is, like it's
Speaker:Friday night. Right? I have to keep reminding myself this is not
Speaker:Sunday morning. This is Friday night. I am so nervous
Speaker:right now. Like
Speaker:like, if you know me, you're like, Justin doesn't get nervous. And I'm like,
Speaker:I am so nervous. And it's Tammy Sweeney's fault. I promise
Speaker:you. Because Tammy Sweeney, the first time I was gonna
Speaker:ever speak on this stage, it was not even anything like I say it wasn't
Speaker:anything. I mean, it wasn't a message. It was like, I'm gonna, like, invite
Speaker:somebody for a cookout or do a tithe message or something. And
Speaker:I was like, I'm so nervous. And she said, I pray you never lose that.
Speaker:And I swear, look. And it has been like a decade
Speaker:and I'll be in the back going, oh, God. Like, oh, God. What is happening
Speaker:right now? And I'm so I'm like the most extroverted
Speaker:extrovert, and I'm back there in a panic every time. I don't know how
Speaker:to explain it other than, like, I care
Speaker:about the word of God, and I care about
Speaker:you guys, and I care about standing
Speaker:before the Lord and having to give an account for words
Speaker:that I spoke on his behalf. That's a kind of
Speaker:a big deal to me. Right? So it's no wonder why I'm back there
Speaker:like, please don't let me die. Please don't let me die. Please don't let me
Speaker:die. Be one of those moments like, yeah, well, you
Speaker:know what not to listen to if he died tonight.
Speaker:It'd be easy. You might you wouldn't have to do much weighing. You would be
Speaker:like, nope. Got it. We're good. Moving on.
Speaker:I'm just being honest. That's where I'm at right now. It's Friday night. Okay? And
Speaker:we're here at church at this conference. This is amazing. You guys have
Speaker:committed to this. You've given up your time. You've, you've
Speaker:been set apart for this time, and I believe that God does have a word
Speaker:for us tonight. And so I'm honored to share. Do we stand
Speaker:and read? Is it is it it's Friday? Let's stand, and let's
Speaker:read the word. I, got a lot of Bible
Speaker:tonight. You know, I feel like it's better than what I bring. So we're just
Speaker:gonna start with two verses now, and then you'll get to sit down as we
Speaker:read the rest. So if you could oh, I have it. Here we go. It's
Speaker:Friday, y'all. Therefore, since
Speaker:we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
Speaker:let us also lay aside every weight and
Speaker:sin which clings so closely, and let us
Speaker:run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Speaker:looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of
Speaker:our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Speaker:him endured the cross, despising the
Speaker:shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne
Speaker:of God. Oh, Jesus,
Speaker:help me tonight, and help us
Speaker:to hear clearly from you. We've come and gathered
Speaker:in this place to hear your word, and I pray that it would
Speaker:transform us radically more into the image of your son.
Speaker:Father, we love you. May your anointing rest on me tonight. In Christ's
Speaker:name, amen and amen. You can be seated, guys.
Speaker:Have you ever said to yourself something along the lines of,
Speaker:man, I'm just not where I wanna be in my walk?
Speaker:Have you ever done some self evaluation and been like, man, I'm
Speaker:making progress, but I feel like there's more, or I
Speaker:feel like I'm in a season where I'm just spinning my
Speaker:wheels, like I'm not making much progress. Right? And
Speaker:if you're anything like me, once you have that
Speaker:question released into the atmosphere, then
Speaker:you begin to self destruct and self reflect
Speaker:on all of the ways that you're probably not meeting up or making
Speaker:the mark. And I do wanna start by giving, an encouragement or
Speaker:hope to you guys that it is okay to be in progress.
Speaker:Okay? It is okay to be in progress.
Speaker:In fact, sometimes it is not a what it's holding
Speaker:you back, it is who is holding you back, and it's the archer himself. I
Speaker:was reminded this week of a teaching that Barbie did by
Speaker:arrows in the hands of the master archer.
Speaker:And in order for the arrow to fly, it has to first be
Speaker:drawn back. Are you hearing me? K?
Speaker:It has to be drawn back. And sometimes we feel like we're
Speaker:being held back and like we're not making much progress. God, I'm
Speaker:doing all the right things. I'm I'm praying all the prayers. I'm
Speaker:fasting. I'm I'm making the checklist items. I'm
Speaker:doing all the Christian things. I've confessed all known sin and I
Speaker:still feel like I'm being held back. But just like pastor Barbie
Speaker:said, remember the arrow is closest to the master's
Speaker:ear when it is drawn back. And the further it's drawn
Speaker:back, she reminded me this week, the farther that
Speaker:arrow flies. Isn't that amazing? So sometimes
Speaker:the setback is by design. We just walked through the
Speaker:greatest story, ever told about the story of Joseph,
Speaker:and every position in his life felt like a
Speaker:setback. Did it not? He's like,
Speaker:man, I'm doing great. God's given me dreams and visions.
Speaker:I'm gonna tell all my bros. And they're like, we hate you. We're going to
Speaker:kill you. Right? And he come out
Speaker:flexing his coat. He was like, look at what dad got for me. And I
Speaker:was like, we hate you. Right? And we're going to kill you. And then
Speaker:the one brother felt bad. He was like, we can't kill him. Right? Let's
Speaker:sell him. Like, that's it. He no. Help him.
Speaker:Help him. Right? You know what I'm saying? He was like, we can profit off
Speaker:of this, but and then I my conscience is cleared. So and then and then
Speaker:he goes and he sold, and he's in Potiphar's house. Right? And
Speaker:then and then it gets worse for him even there. Right?
Speaker:And then he's in prison, and then he's like, hey, I'll interpret this dream. Remember
Speaker:me when you get out. And the guy was like, if you've ever been to
Speaker:jail, they don't remember you when you get out. Put
Speaker:some money on my books. And like, I got you. I got you. And they
Speaker:don't they're not. They're not. Y'all were friends in jail.
Speaker:K? That's it. You were friends in jail. You got out. You might see him
Speaker:at a gas station, but, hey, man. Thanks for putting $20 on my
Speaker:account, bud. Right? No. Because y'all were friends in
Speaker:jail. It got worse for him. Right? But then he finally gets
Speaker:out, and then and then we find that even in the
Speaker:reconciliation with his brothers, Joseph said, hey. What you meant for
Speaker:evil, God meant for good. You see what I'm saying? And
Speaker:so his season of being held back, the
Speaker:things holding him back wasn't necessarily a what, it was a who. So
Speaker:sometimes be encouraged to be in progress.
Speaker:Okay? That doesn't give you permission to wallow,
Speaker:and complain and cry about your
Speaker:plight and your situation. Okay? Because
Speaker:there are stories of people in here who had it way worse
Speaker:and didn't complain about it, and they were in progress. And we're
Speaker:gonna look at some of those tonight.
Speaker:So the question of what's
Speaker:holding me back, God? Or why is this happening in
Speaker:my life? Or I I just wish I was further along. Those questions are
Speaker:not inherently wrong. I don't feel like it's wrong for us to
Speaker:ask those type of questions because we are trying to When
Speaker:we ask that question from a genuine place, what we're really trying to say is,
Speaker:God, I wanna keep growing. I wanna keep working. I wanna I feel
Speaker:like I wanna be holy like you were holy, not
Speaker:perfect. I don't wanna be perfect because then I find
Speaker:my righteousness in myself within my own
Speaker:body or within my own mind. But I wanna
Speaker:strive to be like you, Jesus. It's a good question. I feel like it's the
Speaker:wrong question. I feel like it's the wrong question or not necessarily the
Speaker:wrong question. Maybe it's not the right way to ask it.
Speaker:So here's what I wanna propose to you tonight. Do
Speaker:you believe? Do you believe?
Speaker:Do you believe? So chapter
Speaker:12 begins with a powerful directive
Speaker:and some very interesting phrases. Look at this twelve one.
Speaker:It says this. Therefore, since
Speaker:we, you and me,
Speaker:are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
Speaker:Let us also lay aside every
Speaker:weight and sin, which
Speaker:clings so closely. I really love the way the King James puts
Speaker:it. He says, which so easily entangles us.
Speaker:Whoo. What a phrase. The weight and sin that
Speaker:easily entangles us. Let us lay it
Speaker:aside and run with perseverance the race that is marked out for
Speaker:us. Isn't it interesting that the Holy
Speaker:Spirit chose to delineate weight
Speaker:and sin? Have you ever looked at that? He said,
Speaker:here's what I want you to do. I want you to lay aside the weight
Speaker:and the sin. They're two different things. I'm not gonna
Speaker:talk about sin tonight in your life because sin needs to
Speaker:be dealt with. Got
Speaker:real quiet on that one. Start talking about
Speaker:sin instead of a shortcoming, a habit, a
Speaker:struggle. We love that one. Struggling, bro.
Speaker:I probably said it this week. I got
Speaker:buddies in the back fact checking me on text message. Like, here you go. Screenshot
Speaker:this. Screenshot that. Post it on your Facebook, not mine.
Speaker:Don't tag me. I'm
Speaker:struggling, bro. Both the
Speaker:weight and the sin are to be laying aside. Why?
Speaker:Because they hinder our walk. There
Speaker:are things in our in our life that are holding us back and
Speaker:weighing us down that are not sin, and yet they are just
Speaker:as detrimental to our walk. The Holy Spirit
Speaker:knew this and knows that, and that's why he said, you have to
Speaker:lay them both aside because you can be walking
Speaker:with the Lord with a load of unforgiveness on your back
Speaker:and thinking you're making progress and wonder, what's
Speaker:holding me back? God, I'm
Speaker:not walking in sin, but you've got unforgiveness strapped to your
Speaker:back like a weight. You've
Speaker:got fear that rises up in your heart or insecurity,
Speaker:complacency, or this deep anger that if anybody
Speaker:micro crosses the line. Like, you're just wait, knock this pen
Speaker:off my shoulder. You know what I'm saying? Like,
Speaker:what? You know
Speaker:what I'm saying? That's a wait. Nobody wants to live like that.
Speaker:We're just always on edge ready to explode. And if you're
Speaker:around that type of person, it's
Speaker:misery because you're not free because you don't know
Speaker:when the next time they're gonna lose it. Could it be
Speaker:in the parking lot of church? Could it be at the grocery store?
Speaker:Could it be at home when nobody's around to hear you blowing up
Speaker:on them?
Speaker:Contentment. Contentment can be a wait.
Speaker:Failure can be a wait. And we're told
Speaker:to lay these aside. The Lord
Speaker:says, lay them aside, and
Speaker:he gives us the reason. The answer is
Speaker:therefore. When I read this passage, I'm like, you can't start a
Speaker:whole chapter with therefore. Because I'm
Speaker:like, what for? Right? Imagine
Speaker:look. Somebody just sends you by verse twelve one. This is
Speaker:the start. And you're like, what does that mean? Therefore.
Speaker:Right? Like, what are we talking about? How do I know? Whenever you
Speaker:run into that English word therefore, that means you need to go back to what
Speaker:there was before that. You hearing me? It in
Speaker:order to understand what because this is the conclusion.
Speaker:He's saying there are things that you need to understand so that when you
Speaker:get here, you can recognize the weight and how to lay it
Speaker:aside. Go back eleven
Speaker:thirty nine through 40. Do I have it? Boom.
Speaker:And all these, another mysterious sentence. Like,
Speaker:I'm reading the Bible the wrong direction. I started in twelve and I'm
Speaker:like, I don't know where I'm at now. Like, I keep
Speaker:going back. And all these,
Speaker:who? Though commended through their faith, did not
Speaker:receive what was promised since God had
Speaker:provided something better for us that apart from us they should not be
Speaker:made perfect. All who was committed for
Speaker:their faith? I was like, I gotta figure this out. So I flipped back until
Speaker:I got a correct grammatical sentence And
Speaker:I had to go all the way back to the beginning of chapter 11. I
Speaker:went the wrong way. See, I don't even know which way I'm going anymore.
Speaker:And this is what it says in eleven one. Now,
Speaker:currently, faith is the assurance of things hoped
Speaker:for, the evidence or conviction of things
Speaker:not seen. Faith is the assurance
Speaker:of what we are hoping for and is the tangible
Speaker:substance, the evidence, the conviction, that deep I know that
Speaker:I know that I know that I know that I know
Speaker:of things that are unseen. You walked by faith the
Speaker:whole night. When y'all went into there, how did you know that we
Speaker:didn't poison the food?
Speaker:How did we didn't, by the way, but how did
Speaker:you know how did you know? How did you know?
Speaker:By faith, you trust it. Right? You're like, this is it's a church
Speaker:that I go to. Surely, there's not arsenic in the fajitas.
Speaker:Right? That's laugh all you want, that's
Speaker:faith. You sat down. You didn't think nothing about that chair
Speaker:holding you up, did you? You just sat down.
Speaker:Some of you sat down ten minutes early, but you sat down in
Speaker:faith. Then we
Speaker:read on. Says, by faith,
Speaker:Abel offered to God a more acceptable
Speaker:sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended
Speaker:as righteous, God commending him by accepting his
Speaker:gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still
Speaker:speaks. By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not
Speaker:see death, and he was not found because God had taken
Speaker:him. Now before he was taken, he was commended
Speaker:as having pleased God.
Speaker:Then in seven and eight. Now by faith,
Speaker:Noah, being warned by God concerning events
Speaker:as yet unseen in reverent fear constructed
Speaker:an art for the saving of his household? Build a boat. What's a
Speaker:boat? Can
Speaker:you can you trust God
Speaker:when what he's asking you to do doesn't make sense?
Speaker:Does it make sense when you can't logically put all the pieces
Speaker:together and figure out how you're gonna do it?
Speaker:By faith, Sarah herself received power to
Speaker:conceive even when she was past the age since she
Speaker:considered him faithful who had promised. You're gonna have a baby,
Speaker:and you are way past baby having age.
Speaker:I didn't mean for my eyes to fall on you.
Speaker:I feel so bad now. I should probably close.
Speaker:You're not way past baby making stage. Okay?
Speaker:Jesus help me, God. She's pregnant. Yeah. I know. I just blew it up. I'm
Speaker:sorry. It was on Facebook. It was on Facebook. If you put it on Facebook,
Speaker:it's out there.
Speaker:By faith. By faith. Abraham,
Speaker:when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the
Speaker:promises was in the act of offering up his only
Speaker:son of whom it was said through Isaac shall your
Speaker:offspring be named. He considered the
Speaker:Jacob and Esau. Abraham was willing to go through with what God had asked him,
Speaker:because Abraham was willing to go through with what God had asked
Speaker:him because he said, even if I do kill him, God, you can bring him
Speaker:back. What? What?
Speaker:What kind of faith is that?
Speaker:By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each of
Speaker:the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his
Speaker:staff. By faith, Joseph at the end of his life made
Speaker:mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions
Speaker:concerning his bones. He said, when y'all leave this
Speaker:place, take me with you and bury
Speaker:me in the same cave you buried my fathers in.
Speaker:And he believed that they would do it. By
Speaker:faith, Moses listen to this. I'm
Speaker:just reading the Bible. I'm not even preaching. Like, this is the Bible. I was
Speaker:sharing I shared this with my wife, two days ago. I was like, babe,
Speaker:listen to this. And she didn't know I was reading Bible verse.
Speaker:And, she said, yeah. But how do they know that that's
Speaker:what really he was thinking? I said, it's in the Bible.
Speaker:And she was folding laundry. She was like, well, okay. Then then alright.
Speaker:I swear. I swear. I was like, babe, look. I'm reading right out of the
Speaker:Bible. And she was like, well, then keep reading.
Speaker:Look at this. By faith, Moses, when he was
Speaker:grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
Speaker:daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of
Speaker:God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of
Speaker:sin. Period. Have you made a
Speaker:decision to be mistreated with the people of God or have
Speaker:you made a decision to embrace the passing
Speaker:fleeting pleasures of sin? This verse tells us sin is
Speaker:pleasurable, but it's fleeting. It's not sustainable.
Speaker:It doesn't give you life. He can
Speaker:he considered the reproach of Christ greater
Speaker:wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was
Speaker:looking to the reward.
Speaker:Come on, Moses.
Speaker:By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for
Speaker:he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the
Speaker:Passover, sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer
Speaker:of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith the
Speaker:people cross the Red Sea is on dry land, but the Egyptians when
Speaker:they attempted to do so were drowned. By faith, the
Speaker:walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for
Speaker:seven days. By faith, Rahab the prostitute
Speaker:did not perish with those who were being disobedient because
Speaker:she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. And
Speaker:what more shall I say? For time would fail me to
Speaker:tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of
Speaker:David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith
Speaker:conquered kingdoms, enforced justice,
Speaker:obtained promises, stopped the mouths of
Speaker:lions, quenched the power of fire,
Speaker:escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness,
Speaker:became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Speaker:Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were
Speaker:tortured, refusing to accept release so that they
Speaker:might rise again to a better life.
Speaker:Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and
Speaker:imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. And
Speaker:when I tell you they were sawn in two, not this way.
Speaker:This way. They were killed with the
Speaker:sword. They went about in skins of sheep and
Speaker:goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of
Speaker:whom the world was not worthy.
Speaker:These are unnamed people who suffer for the kingdom,
Speaker:and the writer of Hebrews says the world was not worthy of them.
Speaker:Wandering about in deserts, mountains, in dens, and caves of the
Speaker:earth, And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what
Speaker:was promised. Since God had provided something better for us, that
Speaker:apart from us, they should not be made perfect. Basically,
Speaker:he's saying, they won't receive the full recompense for the reward
Speaker:until we're all there together.
Speaker:The what that we're supposed to do is lay aside the weight and the sin.
Speaker:The why is because we're surrounded by such a great cloud of
Speaker:witnesses. The how is by looking unto Jesus.
Speaker:The way that you lay aside the weight and sin is by
Speaker:looking unto Jesus, the author and
Speaker:perfecter of our faith for the joy that was set before
Speaker:him endured the cross, despising its shame,
Speaker:and he sat down at the right hand of the father. So I'm gonna ask
Speaker:you again, what's holding you back? What's holding me back?
Speaker:What's holding us back? And I'm gonna tell you guys, it's
Speaker:the same thing that's holding every one of us back.
Speaker:It's unbelief. We
Speaker:just read story after story of people who live
Speaker:lives of incredible faith. The
Speaker:one thing that's holding us all back is unbelief.
Speaker:Now it manifests itself in different ways. It's
Speaker:not fear. It's unbelief. Fear says, I'm
Speaker:afraid I'll fail or that you won't catch me.
Speaker:You don't really believe that he is who he said he is.
Speaker:You don't believe that he's gonna catch you if you fall, and you don't believe
Speaker:that it's okay if you do fall. Some of them
Speaker:didn't see the and time would
Speaker:I wish I had the writer got so fired up telling
Speaker:stories, and he was like, I wish I had time. He must have been on
Speaker:a Sunday. Look. He was like, it's 07:44. I wish I had
Speaker:time. I'm just gonna tell you about
Speaker:the type of people they were. It's not anger.
Speaker:It's unbelief. Anger says my way is better.
Speaker:My way is better. It's not complacency. Complacency
Speaker:says if I step out I might fail, so why not stay where I'm at?
Speaker:You don't believe. It's unbelief.
Speaker:It's not insecurity. Insecurity says, I believe what the world
Speaker:says, not what you say, lord. It's not contentment. Contentment
Speaker:says, I'm good with god. We have an understanding. I don't need to
Speaker:grow.
Speaker:Me and God are good. We gotta He knows that I like this tree stand
Speaker:on Sundays.
Speaker:So he did it now or whatever. Fill in the blank. That's not a shot
Speaker:at my dad or any of the other guy. I
Speaker:swear I've never Listen, I I promise dad, listen. He just bought a
Speaker:brand new convertible. Dad, it's not about you. It's not
Speaker:failure, it's unbelief. Failure says I've screwed up so many times, why should I
Speaker:try again? And here's the thing, guys.
Speaker:What if he doesn't come through in the way you expected him to? Is he
Speaker:still good? What about them three Hebrew boys?
Speaker:Right? Y'all like to call him Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
Speaker:but I refuse to call them by their slave names. If Daniel
Speaker:don't go by Belshazzar, then
Speaker:then we are gonna I'm bringing back justice for Hananiah, Azariah,
Speaker:and Mishael. K? Bring it back.
Speaker:No. That It's either Belshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Speaker:Abednego, or it's Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and
Speaker:Mishael. You can't have both. I'm bucking. I'm
Speaker:bucking. It's in there. K? And let let me just say a
Speaker:disclaimer. I may have mixed up who is who, but those
Speaker:so so Shadrach may not be Hannah. I gotta look at that. Just
Speaker:disclaimer. Don't be like, man, that's not who they is. That's their names.
Speaker:Go look it up. But look what they said. They said,
Speaker:listen, they're gonna throw you in the fire. They're gonna throw you in this furnace.
Speaker:And they said, throw us in it. We're still not gonna
Speaker:bow because we believe we believe that god
Speaker:can rescue us. And even if he does not, He's still
Speaker:good. What about when He doesn't answer that prayer in the way you've been
Speaker:expected? Can you see?
Speaker:Unbelief is what's holding us back. We either don't believe He
Speaker:can do it, or He will do it, or if He doesn't do it, then
Speaker:He's still good. And some of us have gotten a hard
Speaker:heart towards God because your mom died.
Speaker:The baby died. The cancer didn't get healed. Now
Speaker:we're hard against God. And then
Speaker:we blame him because we feel like we're being held back and say, God, I'm
Speaker:not holding you back. You're holding yourself back because you don't believe I am
Speaker:who I said I am. I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Speaker:Abraham, son of promise. Isaac, son of promise. Jacob's a trickster.
Speaker:He didn't say to God of Abraham, Isaac, Israel. He said, yeah, yeah, yeah. When
Speaker:you were still pulling tricks, I was still that same God. When you were
Speaker:still playing games around here, I was still good and I'm
Speaker:still God. I
Speaker:sat up here on Christmas and cried about a pardon. It wasn't gonna
Speaker:happen. Right? Sat up here and cried, God, it's not
Speaker:gonna happen, guys. I got thirty thirty minutes before the governor goes home
Speaker:for the year. I did.
Speaker:I was crying. I was like and y'all watched me come to to
Speaker:Jesus in real time. Y'all literally could see it happen. He was like, he's
Speaker:okay with it. I had to get to a place where I was okay with
Speaker:it. Because I knew, because I talked to the governor personally, and he
Speaker:said, I only do it in December. I'm like, it's the twenty first,
Speaker:and Christmas is the twenty fifth. He is not sticking around.
Speaker:But I had committed in my heart that even if it don't happen, He's still
Speaker:good. If I gotta wait another year, another ten years if it don't happen. I've
Speaker:been set free. I've been set free. I don't need I don't
Speaker:need man's approval because I've been approved by God.
Speaker:Do you believe? If you can really believe that, you're not holding you back.
Speaker:Nothing's holding you back. We have a tendency to go, well,
Speaker:is it this? Is it that? Is that? It's all some level of unbelief,
Speaker:whether it's 2% or 20%, or
Speaker:200%. There is some level of unbelief in your
Speaker:heart that is holding you back in a situation or an area for
Speaker:believing that God is who He says He is and He can do what He
Speaker:said He's gonna do, and that even if He doesn't, He's still good.
Speaker:What about when you when you're hiding in a cave or you're
Speaker:sawn in two? Though he slay me.
Speaker:Many of us have no problem believing for somebody else.
Speaker:I ain't got no problem agreeing with Barbie,
Speaker:but I don't believe that God will do it for me. You look at the
Speaker:powerful testimonies, the exotic testimonies. I coined that phrase,
Speaker:by the way, just just so y'all know.
Speaker:Had to turn it around, make it by me at some point. Right?
Speaker:Ain't that what we do anytime we get out? You
Speaker:can be walking right there. It don't take but one slip step, and you're right
Speaker:back in your flesh. Right?
Speaker:Do I believe that He's enough? Do I believe the Word's enough? Do I believe
Speaker:I can just get up here and read Scriptures to you, and that's enough to
Speaker:feed you? I gotta add a whole bunch of things to entertain
Speaker:you, and tickle your ears, and make you be like, Justin's so smart. That's such
Speaker:a great word. I laugh so much. I feel so good. Or can I give
Speaker:you the word of God? It'd be enough. Can it be enough
Speaker:for you?
Speaker:In Mark chapter nine, we read a
Speaker:story about a little boy
Speaker:with unclean spirit or a demon in him, and they're
Speaker:explaining the situation to Jesus. They're explaining
Speaker:what's happening to Jesus, and and this is
Speaker:his response. He calls them a faithless generation.
Speaker:It sounds like a rebuke, but it it is a
Speaker:rebuke. A faithless
Speaker:generation. They're like, Jesus, this this boy, he's been this way his whole
Speaker:life. He said how long am I to be with you? How am I
Speaker:long Bring him bring him to me. You don't
Speaker:believe? Bring him to me because I believe because I know what my father can
Speaker:do. And then Jesus asked the father
Speaker:how long this condition has afflicted the boy. And if he believes
Speaker:that Jesus can help and the guy I love, it's such a human response to
Speaker:God's like, I guess, like, come back and read it. It's mark chapter nine. The
Speaker:guy was like, Jesus, like, do you think I can do this?
Speaker:Do you do you believe that I can do this? And the guy says,
Speaker:I mean, I guess you can. Is
Speaker:that is that our our interaction when we come to the Lord? When
Speaker:God says, do you, do you believe I can do this, Kevin? Do you believe
Speaker:that I can do this miracle in your life? Do you believe that I see
Speaker:this small prayer request you're asking for? Do you believe that I hear this
Speaker:prayer for your daughters? Do you believe that I see the tears
Speaker:that you saw in this altar when it's a Saturday night and nobody's in
Speaker:here, but you praying over the word trying to say, is this what
Speaker:you have for your people, God? Because I care so much. I wanna honor you
Speaker:and I wanna give the people that you've entrusted me to. He says, Kevin, do
Speaker:you believe that I hear you? Do you believe that I see?
Speaker:And the guy says, I guess. And then what we do sometimes,
Speaker:God's like, do you do you think I see you, Cole? Do you
Speaker:believe me? Do you believe? I'm just
Speaker:asking, I'm not asking you anything else, but do you believe
Speaker:that I can do this? And the
Speaker:guy says, I guess.
Speaker:And Jesus tells him in '23, if you
Speaker:can, if I can, all
Speaker:things are possible for the one who believes. And I love this
Speaker:response from this dad whose boy has been afflicted
Speaker:his whole life. He says,
Speaker:immediately, the father of the child cried out and said, I
Speaker:believe help my unbelief. I do
Speaker:believe God, God, but there's a part of me that's got unbelief.
Speaker:At the end of the day, I know there's a part of me that says,
Speaker:yeah, but but will you really come through for me?
Speaker:Will you really see my situation? Do you
Speaker:really hear my prayers? Do you really see my
Speaker:fears and my insecurity and the complacency that's going on in
Speaker:life? And and he's saying, yes. All things are possible
Speaker:to anyone who believes. It's not
Speaker:fear. It's not insecurity. It's not complacency. Those are
Speaker:the ways that unbelief manifests itself in our lives.
Speaker:So as we enter in this time of worship, I want you to
Speaker:reflect, and I want you to ask this question.
Speaker:Do you believe?
Speaker:And then I want this response. If it's true and genuine, then say to
Speaker:the Lord, I believe. Help
Speaker:my unbelief.
Speaker:Let's worship, church.