Do ducks worry about drowning or birds starving?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Father God, you have touched our hearts this morning. You've gotten deep into our spirit, into our soul. And we thank you for your love. For your kindness. And I pray this morning, Lord, that you would help me speak your words to bring hope to your children. To your church. I stand humble before you. Just asking God for the anointing of God. To speak your words. In Jesus' name, amen. My title this morning is this Do ducks worry about drowning or birds starving?

unknown 1:03

No.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

When was the last duck you saw had a nervous breakdown? No. When was the last duck that you heard on the lake say, I'm really worried about drowning? When was the last bird you heard chirp and say, I don't think I'm gonna have food today? So why would I preach a sermon this morning on this? Do we trust God that he's working in our life and in the world? So why would I even preach this? I'm gonna tell you why. Because sometimes your faith gets shaken. Sometimes you're sailing along and things are really going great. And then you hit a stone wall. And you look up and you say, God, are you there? And don't tell me you would never do that. Because you'd be lying. God, can you give me a sign? Can you show me? Now you're in great company. Because in the Bible there was great men and women of God that had the same dilemma. Severely. And sometimes we think we're exempt. But this entire sermon is about the greatness of God in our life. Especially when we're at that crossroads and we're wondering if he's really gonna come through for us. What is trust? It's faith, it's hope, it's belief, it's conviction that God can. It's confidence, it's expectation, it's reliance and dependence upon God. But the opposite of trust is distrust. Weariness. You ever get really tired? You ever get beside yourself? You ever shake your head and say, Am I in this world? Am I going crazy? Have you ever asked someone this question? Do you think I'm going crazy? The weariness of life, skepticism. We become skeptics, and sometimes we become cynical. To distrust means to have misgivings, disbelief, doubt, to be suspicious of. So God says this to us. So you don't trust that I am working in your life. And you know, honestly, sometimes we don't. Now you can own that for you. I'm owner for me. Sometimes we don't trust the way we're supposed to. Sometimes we don't praise the way we're supposed to. Sometimes when we're in the thick of a fiery trial, we don't we just we we just stay put and we don't raise our hands to God or or voice our songs to the Lord. Because the enemy's got us. He's defeated us. How do we acknowledge God this morning? We acknowledge God through his greatness and his generosity. First Chronicles 29 and 10. Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation. Bless the Lord. And David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of thee. Thou reignest over all, and in thy hand is power and might, and in thy hand it's to make great and to give strength unto all. Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee and praise thy glorious name. What an acknowledgement of God. I think we come short sometimes. I felt like the Lord said to include this passage as I'm going to read. We acknowledge God not only for his greatness and generosity, as David spoke, but we acknowledge God for his hand, the hand that leads us. Listen to what it says in Deuteronomy 8 and 1. Stay with me. Every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness. To humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Look at verse 3. So he humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeded from the mouth of the Lord. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways and to fear him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs that flow out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, and which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you. Beware you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, his judgments, and his statutes which I command you today, lest when you have eaten and are full and have built beautiful homes and dwell in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the flintly rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manner which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and that he might test you to do good in the end. Then you say in your heart, My power and the mind of my hand have gained me this wealth. And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant with which he swore unto your fathers as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget your Lord God and follow other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. And as the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so shall you perish because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God. What does this remind you of? Reminds me of our country. We've been blessed. And I don't mean just blessed. You've been blessed exceeding abundantly, but all you could ask or think. Some of you are sitting here this morning saying, I can't even believe how blessed I am. And people have the audacity to say, I'm a self-made man. Look what I get. Look what I have when God says all wealth comes from. We need to be careful. We need to be careful about our testimony. Look what God did for all of these people for 40 years. Satana from heaven, quail from heaven, because they cry, baby, at about, well, we don't like the diet, we don't like the pancakes. Just like today, people are so unhappy because of what they say they don't have, and never give thanks to God for what they do have. Come on, come on. Proverbs 3 5 says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not to thy own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. It's his hand. The Bible says in Psalm 23 and 1, it's very familiar to you. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters, he restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies, thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Who has not been blessed? Whose cup has not been overflowing? Foreign flags. Crying. Wanting. Many of them coming from poverty. Many of them didn't know when their next meal was coming. Crying in our streets and demonstrating against the freedoms of America that our soldiers have fought for. Trying to justify their position. Be thankful, people. Get off the streets and be thankful and get on your knees. That you were able to cross the border, whether it was legally or illegal to come into this country. And have an opportunity to make a living. So that your children can be schooled, so you can get medical attention. So your cavities could be filled. So that your women could have their babies in a sanitary hospital with nurses and doctors that would take care of them. Be thankful, people, and get off the streets and get into your churches and fall upon your knees and thank God for what you have. The Bible says in Psalm 73 and 23, concerning the hand of God, nevertheless, I'm continually with thee. Thou hast holded me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Isaiah said it in 41 and 10, for thou, for fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will help hold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Who do you think is holding you up today? Who do we think is holding us up today? Who do we think goes before us and holds our hand? Man, we're so prideful sometimes on how intelligent we are, how spiritual we are. When God says, if it wasn't for me, you'd fall like a fly to the floor. Jeremiah said it in 31 and 31, he says, Behold, the day is coming, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, a contract, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. Can you imagine God to say, you know what I did to them when I read to you in Deuteronomy? God says, I want to do even greater for you. Wait, wait a minute. What are you talking about? Did you hear the words in Deuteronomy that I read to you? What he did to them for 40 years for them? And he says, I want to do better. I have a greater covenant, a greater high priest. That actually blows my mind. That he wants to do more than what he did for the Jews in the Old Testament. Jesus said in John 10 and 27, he says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. The enemy might fight you tooth and nail. The enemy might bring you to the brick of the fiery furnace and the lion's den. But always remember, God says, You're in my hand. And I will take care of you whether you're in the fiery furnace, because I am the form of the fourth, or will you go to the lion's den because I am the Lord thy God that will go in the lion's den and shut the mouth of the lion. Sometimes we forget that. And I believe God understands our humanity at times because he understood the human the humanity of Elijah sitting under a juniper tree, wanting to die. He understood Job on an ash heap full of boils and with a rock trying to scrape the infection out of his body all over. I believe God understands that. And he comes to us and he ministers to us. A lot of times we don't like to acknowledge God in our adversity. You see, when adversity happens, we go to pieces. Why is this happening? Why what did I do wrong that this is going on in my life? It's a test. The Bible says in Job chapter 1, verse 20, Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Man, he lost everything. And then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship, and he said, I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will leave naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord, and all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. How many people blame God today? For their fighting wife that has arisen out of their own choices. Their own unbiblical carnal choices, and then they cry to God about their situation. We have to acknowledge God in our suffering at times. The Bible says in Psalm 119, verse 71, My suffering was good for me. How come do we say that? Adversity has been good for me. Oh, we want to be anointed with oil and God take all this away. We want comfort and never want to suffer. We want comfort, we want it to go away. And God says, I can't do that. Because I have to test you in the days of adversity. He said in Psalm 119, 72, Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver. In our adversity, God wants to instruct us. He says in Psalm 119 and verse 75, he says, I know, O Lord, your decisions are fair, for you disciplined me because I needed it. And we don't like discipline. We don't like to be told. We don't like to say, I'm sorry, with a real oncology that comes from God. It's like kids, you know, when they have a spout. Mom says, say you're sorry. Sorry. That's not sorry. That's not sorry. Godly sorrow worketh repentance. What's the difference? You see, when people have tears, what they're crying about is, I got caught. And I'm embarrassed. But when you have godly sorrow, you say, God, I really blew it. I'm sorry. I repent. Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse 14 says, Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both came from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. We don't like adversity. We don't like to be tested. We don't like to be told. We don't like to be disciplined. We don't like to be chastened by the Lord. And most of all, we don't like anybody coming to us in the Lord and in God's Spirit telling us that. Oh, that sets off a trigger. That sends off the gunshots. Who are you? Nobody. Sinners saved by grace. But when God moves upon me with the spirit over the wisdom of knowledge or the word of knowledge, man, you gotta say it. We have to remember God's hand in our life. The Bible says in Psalm 37 and 23, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, though he fall, he shall not utterly be cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. How many times have I fallen to the ground? Come on. But God has come along and scooped me up with the right hand of fellowship. Psalm 16 and 8, one of my favorite verses, I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. He says in Psalm 20 and 6, now know that I the Lord saveth and saveth his anointed. He will hear from his holy heaven with saving strength of his right hand. Isaiah 41 and 10, fear thou, fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed, for I am the Lord thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. It's that hand that leads us, it's that hand that takes our hand and says, Follow me. You didn't get where you are by yourself. You didn't get there by yourself, my friend. You had some help. You didn't give birth to yourself, you didn't conceive yourself. Somebody helped you. And when we stop acknowledging God, we're in trouble. We need to acknowledge Him. Our country needs to acknowledge Him in the way that is respectful according to the word of the Lord. God rules over the heavens and the earth. See, this is to bring hope back to us sometimes when our faith gets shaken. Listen to what the word says. Psalm 103 and verse 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. Isaiah chapter 15 and verse 2. So why didn't anyone come when I knocked? Why did anyone answer when I called? Do you think I've forgotten how to? Help? Am I so decrepit that I can't deliver? Am I as I'm as powerful as ever, and I can reverse what I once did. I can dry up the sea with a word, turn river water into desert land, and leave fish stinking in the sun, stranded on dry land. What is God saying here? I rule over this entire world. We've forgotten that. Man thinks he rules because he sends a rocket up somewhere. Man thinks he's so smart that we're gonna conquer the space. They tried that at the Tower of Babel, didn't they? We're gonna build a stairway to heaven. And God came down to mess with them. He said, You know what, people? I'm gonna confuse all your languages. You're not even gonna understand each other. You're gonna wake up this afternoon and you're gonna wonder, what in the world happened? It's because I visited you. God preserves nature. Look what it says in Genesis 8 22. Well, the earth remaineth seed time and harvest, and cold and heat and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. That's why we have seasons. He said in Psalm 104, verse 10, You make springs gush forth in the valleys. They flow between the hills, they give drink to every beast of the field, the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell, they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains, the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You can cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he might bring forth food from the earth. Man, this is like God. I can trust you.

unknown 23:48

I can trust you.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

I can trust you. Wait a minute. Sometimes we get into a really tight spot. Really tight. And we wonder if God has an underlying purpose in helping us escape the tight spot. I'm confident to say in this house this morning. Some of us, or maybe most of us, have said, I don't know how I'm gonna get out of this. Come on, help me preach it. I don't know how God's gonna fix this. Because we've looked up and said, I think this is just maybe too much for you two. Haven't we? Haven't we said that? Oh, come on, church. You're not helping me here. I don't know if God can help me, preacher. Alright, hold on. Hold on. What's God saying? In Genesis chapter 45 and verse 4. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Joseph, you know the story. Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Wow. Here are these grown men that have kept their brother from seeing their father for 20 years. That dad thought the boy was dead because they lied to their father. I'm your brother! And you will listen to what I'm saying. Oh, they must have been shaking in their legs. I'm pretty sure they must have had an accident. Yeah. You see, we've lost the fear of God. I said we've lost the fear of God. We look into the face of God with our with our face of. God says I'll laugh at your calamity. Hear what he says. Now therefore be not grieved. Oh, there was a relief. Nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. But how did this guy get there? How did he have so much love and long suffering for people that put him in a pit, sold him into slavery, caused him not to see his dad for 20 years, and he stands before them and says, There was an underlying purpose in all of this happening to me. And listen, when this thing's happened to you, you don't see the underlying purpose at that moment. Hardly. You see it later, sometimes years later. And he said, For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and there are five years in which there shall neither be earring nor harvest. Seven years of famine. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither. Don't take no credit for this, voice. But God. But God. And he hath made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all of his house and a ruler throughout all of Egypt. You thought you had the last word, you thought you did me dirty. God's hand was in it all the time. And you know why you're here? So I could feed you and send you back to my dad that I want you to bring him to me. Because I haven't seen my dad in 20 years. When you think it's impossible, when your adversity gets so difficult and deep, and you think there's no way out, God says, I'll show you the way if you hold my hand. I'll prove to you. See, God is righteous and just. He says in Psalm 145 in verse 17, the Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. You know what that says? He never is wrong and never makes a mistake. When people defy God and point their finger to God and tell him that he's wrong and you made a mistake. That's the reason why I wrote on the app this morning. We have such identity and gender problems in America. Why? We're telling God he made a mistake by making me a male. God, you made you made a mistake by making me a female. And the brain trust of this world wants to change the DNA of someone's body that God created in their mother's womb. You better be careful. You better be careful. Because God is a God of justice, He's a God of righteousness. And when you start messing with these things, you better be careful. God is also unsearchable and mysterious. You know, you ever hear this saying? I hear it all the time. God works in mysterious ways. What in the world does that mean? And I agree with you. Because sometimes when God gives you the solution, you turn around and say, Well, why didn't I think about that? And God says, Because you're not God. That's right. It's so simple. Why didn't I think of that? Because he said you're not in the kingdom. You're not in the throne. You're not sitting on the seat. I'm not talking about the Pope. I'm talking about God. I'm talking about the Almighty that created the heavens and the earth. And we look at heaven and we say, that's just too easy. How come we go in? It just went right because God says, I am mysterious. I am unsearchable. Job chapter 11, verse 7 says, Can you solve the problem, the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty? Such knowledge is higher than the heavens. And who are you? It is deeper than the underworld. What do you know? It is broader than the earth and wider than the sea. Everybody thinks they're smart now. Everyone's looking for knowledge as Eve did in the Garden of Eden. We're a knowledge-driven society. We want to know the unknown. And it takes us to the Garden of Electronics. And the Garden of Electronics gets us in trouble. Man, does that get us in trouble? Because we want to come to that tree and eat of the fruit. Tell me, God. Tell me. And God says, I already did. I left you the word. But man's not satisfied with that. Man wants to go beyond. Because I gotta hear what so-and-so says. I gotta hear what this podcast said. I gotta hear what his interpretation says. I gotta hear what his views are, and we're being influenced by the world and the Garden of Electronics. And we're puppets. Because all we do is mimic what other people tell us, except we don't mimic the word of God sometimes. What are you talking about? Daniel. Man, he's a mysterious guy. He says in Daniel 4 and 5, he says, I saw a dream which made me afraid. There's the fear of God. And the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Some people are never troubled. They got it all down a path. Copy and paste. Copy and paste. Copy and paste. As if it's their word. He said, man, I was laying on my bed and I had a dream of me. I want to tell you something. It shook me up. Trouble. What are you talking about? Go to Daniel chapter 4, verse 32. You see, there was a king that looked at his terrace and sat on the balcony of his castle. And he said, Look what I have done. Look at my gardens, look at my buildings, look at all of this. And he boasted. And he forgot the Old Testament that all wealth comes from God. It's God that wakes you up to go work. It's God that makes somebody sign your paycheck after 40 hours a week. We don't know that. We think we did that. You couldn't move one step without your heart beating the blood through your body all day. But yeah, we forget that. We forget that wealth is generated by God, that God gives us the ability to go do work and to learn. He said in Daniel chapter 4, 32, concerning this king, this is the most powerful man in the world. You will be driven out of human company and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like an ox. The sentence is for seven seasons, seven years, enough time to learn that the high God rules human kingdoms and puts whomsoever he wishes in charge. You beat your chest. You said, I did this. Look at me. Look at me. Aren't I smart? Aren't I intelligent? Don't I know stuff? Yeah, you do. Now you're gonna know what God says. And verse 33, it happened at once. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human company and ate grass like an ox and was soaked in heaven's dew. His hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a hawk. At the end of seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked to heaven. I was giving my mind back and blessed the Lord High God, thanking and glorifying God who lives forever. His sovereign rule lasts and lasts. His kingdom never declines and falls. Life on this earth doesn't add up to much, but God's heavenly army keeps everything going. No one can interpret his work, no one can call his rule into question. At the same time, I was giving back my mind. I was also giving back my majesty and splendor, making my kingdom shine. All the leaders and important people came looking for me. I reestablished myself as king in the kingdom and became greater than ever. And that's why I'm singing, I, Nebuchadnezzar, singing and praising the king of heaven. Everything he does is right, and he does it the right way. He knows how to turn a proud person into a humble man or a woman. Proud says I know better than your instructions, Lord. Proud says, I know more than your good orally direction in my life, Lord. That's what Proud says. It was pride that caused Lucifer to be thrown out of heaven. And the pride of man who thinks he's so smart will cause many to go to hell. Because they're proud. And they're thinking, look what I've done. God is not only unsearchable and mysterious, but he's also in control. You've heard me say this a hundred times the clock, the planets did not collide last night. Genesis chapter one and verse one says, In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning. Look what it says in Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse 6. Thou even thou art Lord alone. Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all the things that are therein, the seas and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all, and the host of heaven worship thee. God has created all of this because he's in control. He told the oceans how far you can go. You stopped, right? You stopped right there. When I tell you to stop, God says, You stop. But listen to this. He says in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 22, it is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent of dwelling. Isaiah chapter 40 and 22 in the message version, it says this God sits high above the round ball of earth. This is for the flat earthers. A round ball. God sits above the round ball of the earth, and the people look like mere ants. He stretches out the skies like a canvas, yes, like a tent canvas to live under. People think they're so smart. And we have no clue. No clue. Because many don't know him. You understand what God's saying here today? When I when I get into that mully grub, when I get into that moment where I'm shaking my head and I'm saying, Lord, I don't know. God says, just go back to the word I've given you. Just go back to the word. I've proven to you over and over and over that I can take care of you. I can help you. I can solve your mysteries. I can solve your issues. Why? Because he's a provider. Abraham found that out when he was gonna put Isaac on the altar and he did. And Isaac said, Oh, he died. It's like, is there like an offering here? And Abraham found out in Genesis 22 and 14. And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah Jireh, where that ram came out to sacrifice, because it was said this day in the mountain, Jehovah does provide. Jehovah Jirah provides.

unknown 39:30

He provides.

SPEAKER_00 39:32

And every one of you, under the sound of my voice, he has provided for you day in and day out, for year after year, decade after decade. Oh, has there been length times at all? Because he said it in the word. Cherish the moments when you had. And don't be so discouraged when you don't have as much as you used to. He tells you, take it easy. The ducks are not worrying about drowning on the lake today. And the birds are not worried about starving. Somehow. Hey, listen. How many birds? Listen, my wife has this bird app. You can't believe how many birds are in our area. You can't believe how many birds with different names are in our area. When she puts that app on a bird and all these birds show up, let me ask you a question this morning. How many dead birds, when you were coming to church this morning, were in the street? I bet you didn't see one. What is that? Somebody's feeding them. I know I buy seed. Joe and Tammy buy seed. I know some of you buy seed. But my seed isn't feeding all these birds. They find a way. Sometimes I sit on the porch and I see this fierce rain coming. And I'm saying, well, what's gonna happen to the birds? Nothing. They're just getting a bath. Because it's Saturday night. What else you do on Saturday night? You get a bath. Come on, people. In the winter, in the snow. I watch them. It's not like they're standing out the window saying, I'm really cold, can you let me in? I'm freeding you down here. Can I fuck in today? No, they eat their seat and they go fly away somewhere and then they come back later. With buddies. The doves come with their partner. It's amazing. The cardinal, the male cardinal, the female cardinal, they come together. The yellow finch was eating with the cardinals the other day, kissing the cardinal. I'm saying, what's going on here, people? There's love in the kingdom of birds. There's a hugathon in the kingdom of birds. It's amazing. God is a provider. He says in Matthew 6.26, Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not new, neither do they reap, nor gather into bonds. Yet your heavenly father feedeth them. Who does? Your heavenly father, are you not much better than they? Matthew 6.33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Philippians 4.19, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Psalm 34 and 8, David said, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Oh, fear ye the Lord, you his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Are you wanting for anything today? Are you wanting for anything today? Is there something that you really need to go to God for and say, God, I really need this today? I'm not saying we don't have needs. I get it. Are we content with food and raiment? Are we content? A lot of people in America are. And they're so discontent they have to steal from you and break into your house. Because they want what you have. When we sent clients to the shelter after they left the drug program, and they took their nice sneakers off. And they tied them together with the shoelaces and tied it around their neck or arm. Why? Because they knew someone was gonna try to steal their sneakers. And they had to walk, and they needed sneakers or their boots that we gave them when they left. What are you saying? Listen to this now. I hear people saying this. I'm gonna close in a few minutes. I hear something. Why was I born now? I didn't ask to come into this world. No, you didn't have a discussion with your mom and your dad when they were on the conjugal bed, I'm for it, because you weren't even born. But somehow you made it. So now you've passed your mother's loins. So now you came into this world. And people are asking, why am I here? I'll tell you. Because it says in Acts 17 and 26, and he hath made one blood of all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord if haply they might after find him and find him, though he might not be very far from one of us. What is this saying? Here's the easy work version. From one man he has made every nation of men to live all over the earth and has determined the appointed times and the boundaries of where they live, so that they might seek God and perhaps might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each of us. What is this saying? Listen, have you ever thought why you weren't born in Gibeah? Have you ever thought why you weren't born in Pakistan or Russia? Have you ever thought why you were born here when you were born? Because look at your age, that's when you were born? Because God appointed that time for you to pass into this world. It's not without purpose. People are saying, well, why am I here? Because God's appointed you to be here. We're living in the last day, and man, I want to tell you that's a privilege. I'm sure the prophets who prophesied about this would like to see what's going on right now. Enoch, who prophesied the rapture of the church way back in the book of Genesis. And I believe God's gonna send him back to see it during the tribulation. We're here. Hey, I don't know your parents. Maybe they were good, better, or indifferent. I don't know. It doesn't matter. Because you came forth because God decided that you would come forth. And he's put all of these different people in all of these different countries. And look at the privilege of him putting us here. Man. Listen, outside of heaven, is there any better place that people want to live than America? That's why they come here. They've come here from over a hundred and something countries. Why? Because their country's not that good. Food's not that good. Stores aren't that good. And although our politicians may be missing a few cards in the deck. We're still free. Church doors are still open. I can still pray and praise God. Because I live here. You can ask my wife, who's been in many, many foreign countries. She'll tell you there's no greater feeling. When those wheels of the plane come down and you're descending into an airport and touch ground in America, there's a feeling. She said, There's a feeling that just overwhelms your entire being that you're home. You're home. It's kind of like when you go on vacation and you may have a great time. But I want to tell you something. When you get home and you sit in your own chair, get on your own tractor and drink from your own coffee cup, you say to yourself these words, there's no place like home. You could have been to Paris, France. You could have been to wherever in the world that people go to. But when you hit home and you can sit on your own toilet, come on now, and sleep in your own bed and drink from your own coffee pot. Let me close here. God orders our life. Listen to this Psalm 75 and 6. Exaltation, promotion does not come from the east, the west, or the desert. For God is the judge, he brings down one and exalts another. Think about that. People boast, man, promotion. If you got one, thank God for it. Because He created it. He caused it to happen. And when we don't do that, be careful. God controls minute details. Matthew 10, 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a father? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, you are more valuable than many sparrows. God is into the minute details of our life. Now let me deal with this. Because this is apparent in our lives. God is aware of violence and death. And sometimes it's a hard pill to swallow, especially when it happens to a youngster. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 1. I'll read from the NLT version, then the message. Again I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living. But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born, for they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun. This is Solomon who said this. In the message version, it says this. He said, Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet. The tears of the victims, no one to comfort them, the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive. But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth. He says in Ecclesiastes 7 and 1, a good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die, this is crazy stuff, is better than the day you were born. Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies. So the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter.

unknown 51:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 51:14

For sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool only thinks about having a good time. Why would God say it's good to go to a few? Well, first of all, to thank God that you're still alive. But to put in perspective mortality. Because eventually we're all going to vanish. Perish. Some sooner than life. It's a reality. And he's saying, think about. God says, I see the violence and I see the death. And when I hear of a youngster especially dying, I immediately go to these scriptures in Isaiah. Isaiah 57 and 1 is also another one. Ecclesiastes 4:1. I say, Lord, you know best, don't you? Look at all the evil that this youngster will never, never know. But will know the splendor of heaven. Closing. And here's my conclusion, the Lord's conclusion. And please understand the following. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 19. Paul said, I also pray that you will understand. I pray that you will understand this sermon. The incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. What's Paul saying? He's saying, please understand what I'm telling you. Please understand the incredible greatness of God's power in your life. The blood of Jesus was shed for you. You have been forgiven by the kindness and long-suffering of God. And you have the power of God in your life to go about this world and its business. Because Philippians 2.13, two different verses, it says, For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2.13, again, for God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

unknown 53:56

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 54:04

Not what pleases me. Not my agenda, not my to-do list. God, what pleases you? What am I supposed to be doing that pleases you? So this sermon, I believe, was constructed for the moments that sometimes we don't really trust God the way we could or should. You may not own that. That's fine. But there are times in my life where I shake my head. Not because I don't believe God's there. I shake my head at my own weakness, frailties, and sometimes instabilities. To believe God for what he can do. Father, thank you. Thank you for the sermon today. Thank you for the words, scriptures. Thank you for the assurance that we can't trust you. Especially in very adverse moments that we all experience. So, Lord, we thank you and we praise you. You are glorious God in our lives. And we thank you this morning for the opportunity to come together in the Word and to fellowship around that word. That word has given us hope, especially in our dark moments. I pray, God, that anyone that would see or hear this sermon would be touched, Lord, by the words that you have spoken, the scriptures that you have prepared in this word. Reach out to them, Lord. Give hope to people and bring healing to their soul and their spirit. Bring healing to their home. I pray, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you stand with us?