WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.879 So we're with my messages, we're on this series called A Journey of Faith. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:18.800 And you know, we are we're we're learning about what this walk of, not just walk of being a Christian is, because there's so many people that are Christians who left their faith at the door of salvation. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:24.800 They walked through that door, they believed God for their salvation, and they never really believe God again. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:29.519 They never really put their faith into exercise, exercise their faith again. 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:30.960 We don't want to be those. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:41.200 We want to be those that are constantly exercising, using our faith to believe God, to receive from God, and to get the things that He's He has ready for us. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:47.520 But, you know, a journey isn't a journey unless we start, and that's what we talked about last time. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:49.280 Um it begins with believing. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:55.039 And believing was turning on that switch, believing was starting the car with the good news of salvation. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:03.840 We learned that we that when we first heard that good news of salvation, we had to we had to turn the switch on to believe it. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:06.480 But then faith is that accelerator. 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:14.400 Faith is that let me get this car out of park, out of my driveway, and let me get going on this faith this life of faith. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:19.439 Too many people have started the car and sit in the driveway, and they're just waiting for heaven. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:24.480 They're waiting for that, Lord, take me to heaven, get me out of this place. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:28.000 They just sit in the car and don't go anywhere with their journey of faith. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:40.560 Step after step in our journey is only progressed by believing the word and acting on it in faith, keeping our conscience clear and our obedience on the ready. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:42.879 But that takes work, as we heard last time. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.719 In fact, the verse we ended on last time is the verse I'll start with this one. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:57.760 Hebrews 4.11, let us labor, therefore, to enter into the rest that God has for us, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:20.080 So there's kind of a contrast here that if we're not really working or laboring to enter into the rest that God has called for us, that land, that promised land, that that area of faith that we're believing for, it could fall, we could start falling off into the example of unbelief that the children of Israel did. 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:23.360 It's not, you know, I use the example of the car. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:26.159 It's not really, well, it kind of is. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:33.199 I can sit in my car, I can start the car, I can sit in my car all day long, I've got the air conditioning running or the heat, whatever the day is. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:43.360 Uh and I have the music going, I'm not going anywhere, but you know, I'm in, I'm I'm comfortable, I'm I'm okay, I'm doing good, I'm not out on the elements. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:45.520 And then I run out of gas. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:47.520 What am I going to do now? 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:51.439 And that's that's us falling off that example of unbelief. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:56.639 If we just sit there and don't do anything, it's really entropy takes over. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:02.879 And it's really, we start, we're not really just maintaining, we're just really kind of going down after a while. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:08.400 But for most of us, that initial journey didn't take that long. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:19.520 In other words, and you may remember it, you may, it may have been so long ago you don't remember the details, but when you first got saved, you heard the good news. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:26.879 You may have been in a church service, you may have been somewhere, and you heard the good news of salvation, and then you believed. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:37.439 And that point from hearing the good news to believing to calling on the name of the Lord could have been minutes, could have been an hour, could have been not that long. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:44.800 Now, maybe you heard it once and didn't act on it and didn't do anything, and then you took a second or third time for it to really go, you know what? 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.000 I do believe that. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:48.639 So maybe it was a period of time. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.199 But that first journey didn't take that long. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:04:00.319 So Christians tend to start thinking, hmm, okay, good, all my prayers are going to be answered just like just that quick or just that long. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:04.800 But journeys are not called journeys because they're short. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:10.960 They're called journeys because there's duration involved in the journey. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:21.839 You know, much like the children of Israel leaving Egypt in one day, that was their salvation moment. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:27.600 They God called them out of Egypt and they packed up their stuff and they left Egypt in one day. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:33.120 That's an example, a type and shadow that God put in the Bible of us getting saved, called out of the world. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:34.639 So they did that in one day. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:36.959 The Bible says there is no feeble among them. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:48.240 400 years of enslavement, and all of a sudden they're leaving, no matter what the age, the Bible says there wasn't one feeble or sick among them of the millions of people that were leaving that day. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:05:01.759 And they left in one day, they got saved, and then all of a sudden they start running into other areas of the journey, and they're like, hmm, this isn't really all I thought it would be. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:08.800 I thought, you know, we're we're excited to get saved, we're excited to get out of the world, but I didn't think there'd be other problems here. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:11.439 I mean, there's we're we still need something. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:20.079 We need water, we need food, we need, we're, we need, we're, we, we run into this Red Sea, we gotta get across this, there's an army coming. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.240 They started running into other parts of their journey that they weren't ready for. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:31.199 And they didn't think that there would be more to come once they got out of Egypt. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:38.000 Specifically, leaving Egypt wasn't their final destination. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:42.079 They had just started their journey, not finished it. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:48.240 So salvation for us as a Christian isn't the end of our walk. 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:49.680 Salvation is the beginning. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:55.759 It is the open is the how we step into this life of faith, how we start our journey. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:57.920 Don't let that be you, though. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:05:59.439 Don't let that be your kids. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:05.360 We'll teach our kids to, yes, you need to be saved, yes, you need to be born again. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:13.199 But just like Jesus commanded us before he went to heaven, he said, go and make disciples. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:15.839 He didn't say go and get people saved. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:17.839 Go and make disciples. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.759 Making disciples is a process, it takes time. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:26.319 And it also means you have to be a disciple to make a disciple. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:28.240 You can't make what you're not. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:37.120 So for us to be able to make a disciple, it means there's gonna be this element that we don't like to talk about, time. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:48.959 It's gonna take time, which means it's gonna take effort, it's gonna take labor, it's gonna take work on our part to make us a disciple, and then to make disciples of others. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:53.759 Yes, parents, we're commanded to you know, basically make our kids disciples. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:07:01.120 Doesn't say it like that, but that's pretty much our job is to train up a child in the way they should go so that when they're old they won't depart from it. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:10.720 But we're making those disciples in our in our kids, but also with the people that we that that we are influenced to meet. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:25.839 It doesn't mean everybody you meet, but it means that there's people in your life that there's an opportunity for you to share the word consistently and to live a life that shows the example of God to a person. 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:28.160 But that's part of our journey. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:36.720 The labor of entering into the rest of the rest that God has for us is the rest of the journey. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:49.600 For the children of Israel, you know, we know it took them 40 years, partly because of their own unbelief and their own disobedience, but God still had a destination for them, the promised land. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:56.000 And it they it took them a while to get there, it took them a whole lot more effort to get there, but they got there. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:00.240 The ones, the ones that trusted God and the ones that did believe. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:04.319 So this is for us, the Christian Christian life, it's a marathon. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:15.519 It's not a sprint, it's not um, it's not always gonna be quick, it's a long-distance drive, it's a post-uh graduate education, it doesn't happen quick. 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:19.199 You know, everything is there's a duration to it. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.920 But there's a reward at the end. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:23.759 It's not just heaven. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:29.040 You know, there's a reward that we get in heaven based on the work that we do here. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:35.919 And there's too many Christians, and I've I've talked to some that are just happy they're saved, and they've said that. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.120 I'm just happy I'm saved, I'm going to heaven, that's it. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.720 That's all I'm gonna do. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:45.279 Basically, I've got my high school diploma, I'm not doing anything, any other education. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:51.360 I'm gonna, I'm not doing, I'm done with this, you know, basically life of faith. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.720 I believe God enough to know that I'm going to heaven when I die. 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:56.000 And they will. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:01.279 But in heaven, there are still a reward for what we do here on earth. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:06.879 And the only place we get to increase that reward is here on earth by what we do. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.440 There's not, there's no uh extra graduate levels in heaven. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:20.879 We'll all be learning more and more, but the reward that we're gonna get in heaven is all based on what we get here on this earth, or what we do on this earth. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:28.639 The journey of faith brings the end result of our prayers, our petitions. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:32.159 The Lord says He's given us all things to enjoy. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:40.320 He wants you saved, he wants your needs met, your desires met, he wants you healthy and strong, he wants your children saved and protected. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:44.720 Those are things that we can start seeing on the journey of faith. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:48.399 But this journey is a journey. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:52.399 And how many have been in a car with your kids and said, Are we there yet? 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.679 I had my daughter say it as soon as we backed out of the driveway. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:58.799 I'm like, we just backed out of the driveway. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:01.200 We got a three-hour drive in front of us. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.120 So let's at least uh give me a few more minutes. 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.080 Let's at least get on the interstate before we say, Are we there yet? 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:14.559 I don't know if she was joking or just wanted to play with me, but literally, we had I haven't even put it back in drive yet. 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:15.919 We're still in reverse. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:18.159 Are we at grandma's yet? 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:19.120 No. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:21.279 Doesn't look like it. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:26.000 But this is where it gets, this is where the labor can get tiresome. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:28.799 So let's not get tired of doing what is good. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:34.000 At just the right time, we'll reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:35.360 Galatians 6.9. 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:53.600 Because it's this getting tired of doing what's good, because you're constantly going against the flow, you're constantly going against the enemy who's trying to stop you, you're constantly going against your flesh, which wants to just kind of sit back and let what be, what will be, will be. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:01.279 But your spirit knows if I don't get tired of doing what's good, I am gonna get the harvest that I'm asking God for. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:02.879 I am gonna reap it. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:07.519 But it's it that's where that's where our part comes in. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:08.720 Don't give up. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:10.159 Keep the faith. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:16.320 God's part, there's a lot of verses we can use for this, but this is the one I landed on. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:17.519 Philippians 1.6. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:28.159 And I'm certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus returns. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:29.360 Philippians 1.6. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:32.559 He's the one who begins the work. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:37.519 He's the one who has that outcome that he wants for us. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.200 And he's gonna keep working on it, but we have to agree with it. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:42.320 We have to go with him. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:46.799 We can't work against him, or we can't do nothing and just say, okay, God, work in me. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:49.759 There's gonna be some effort on our part, too. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:57.519 Just like saying, if I just enroll in a college, okay, I'm enrolled, okay, do your work in me, college. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:04.320 They're gonna go, uh, no, there's some there's some homework, there's some uh lab work, there's some things you gotta do. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:05.919 We'll work with you. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:10.480 But to get this degree, uh, you're gonna be doing some work too. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:18.480 So I think too many Christians have tried to go, tried to just float on the lazy river of life. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.759 The problem is the lazy river usually goes the wrong way. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:27.039 It's floating against the against the path that God wants for us. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:36.559 Many there be that take the big, wide road, but few take the narrow road, the narrow gate, because that's the road that has a little more challenges on it. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:40.159 And it just requires an effort that goes against the world. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.759 That's the road, though, that has the life and the peace on it. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:49.120 That's the road that has the blessing and the and the desires of our heart. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:56.799 But the other wide road is the one that looks easier and and and more comfortable, at least to our flesh. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:01.600 But in the end, it's not the one, it's not the we'll we know that's not the right road. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:05.759 Revelation 22, 13. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:13.679 God says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:22.879 I love the way this says it multiple times because to God, he's at the beginning, he's at the end. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:30.720 Now we saw in Philippians that he'll he'll he'll he'll keep performing that work in the middle, but God is really all about the beginning and the end. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:34.240 He's about, let's get this thing started. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:38.399 And once I say it started, to God, it's done. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:40.559 This is a done deal. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:47.120 Once God said that the children of Israel were gonna go to Israel, he's like, in God's mind, it's done. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:50.240 When God said, let there be light, there was light. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.879 When he says something, his word is his promise. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:57.679 It's gonna get done. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.039 He's the beginning and he's the end. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:06.480 Now sometimes we we have to start, this is the the middle of that is the journey. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:12.799 We have the start, we have the end, we have the we have the promise of salvation, we've all accepted that. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:19.679 We have the promise of heaven, we're still working toward that, and we're in this life of life in the middle. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.559 But God is already already there. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:26.159 He was there at the beginning, he's there at the end, he never changes. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:28.879 Romans 4.21. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:34.559 And being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:36.480 That's talking about Abraham. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:42.240 In other words, as soon as Abraham heard the promise of God, he was like, okay, it's done. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:44.000 That's gonna happen. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:53.440 Now, there were there was a duration though between that, between the promise and the performing of that promise. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:15:02.960 Now, we've been hearing in our in Faith Alive, in Sundays and our Bible studies on Wednesday nights, we've been hearing so many good testimonies here lately. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:04.799 And I even said that Wednesday nights. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:14.720 Like, it's so pleasing to hear that because one, it's it's showing that we're making it to the end of these little journeys. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:21.919 We're making it to the we're we're seeing the results of God working in us and the answers to prayer. 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:31.200 You know, from Denmark to Gabby to you know Angela's uh grants and and so many things we've heard about recently. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.840 Um keep them coming. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:34.879 Keep them coming. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:44.240 All of us want the testimony, but many times we get mired in the test part of the testimony. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:54.720 You know, I was curious what the what the original word in the in the Greek for testimony was, and I had if I had looked it up before, I completely forgot. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:59.200 The word for testimony is martyria, martyr. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:02.720 In fact, the word martyr simply means witness. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:06.000 It doesn't mean somebody who died who gave their life for God. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:08.559 The word martyr simply means witness. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.480 So testimony is coming from the same word. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:24.559 In other words, we're laying our will down, we're laying our flesh down to be a witness for God's purpose and what God wants for us. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:30.879 So if we want a testimony, when we all do, if I said, who wants a testimony? 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:32.080 Who can give a testimony? 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:36.320 We have to go through the test of the testimony. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.080 And that's the journey. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:39.679 That's the life of faith. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:43.039 That's the journey of faith, is us going through that test. 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:48.159 It's not God testing us because he's curious what's going to be the outcome. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:55.600 It's just the test itself making sure that we have that we're staying on the walk of faith. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.080 God knows what the outcome is supposed to be. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:05.680 He knows the children of Israel are going to get to the promised land, but there's a whole bunch of them who failed the test. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.119 The children of Israel got to the promised land. 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:14.720 God's word came true, but not everybody in that got to receive that. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:29.359 So for us, when we're trusting God for something, when we're believing God for something, the test is us keeping our mind, keeping our eyes on Him, keeping our eyes off the things that we're seeing, off the things of the world, off the things of the natural. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:36.720 We look at not at the things that are seen, but we look at we look at the things that are not seen, not the things that are seen. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.440 That's our test, is like, okay, where am I looking? 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:40.319 Where am I looking? 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:45.119 I gotta keep looking at on what God has promised. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:50.240 That's the are we there yet? 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:51.359 Are we there yet? 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:53.119 Lord, I've been praying for this. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:18:07.119 Lord, I'm I'm I'm I'm trusting you, but it's been X number of months, it's been X number of years, it's been, you know, we've been believing you for a church building, Lord, and and you know, it's been over a year now, and we're in the test. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.359 We're in the middle of our testimony. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:17.440 And when I that that phrase came into my mind this week, and it's like, we're in the middle of our testimony. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:25.119 In other words, we've done the right things to be obedient, to start the car and to go on the journey. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:27.920 We've started our journey, and we know God is good. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:32.160 We know God has a promise at the end, we know our answers to prayers will come. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:35.279 But we can't give it yet. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.519 We're in the middle of our testimony. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.079 We're looking for, we're looking forward to. 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:45.519 I can't wait to give the testimony of this healing, of this provision, of whatever this is I'm looking for. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:53.759 But we have to be fully persuaded at the beginning and all the way through it, that what God has promised, He's able also to perform. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:56.799 Even while we're in the middle of the test. 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:06.400 You know, think about your students who are taking a test right in the middle, they're like, I'm not, I can't, I can't do this test. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.440 I can't do it, I'm gonna send, I'm gonna stop, I'm gonna do it. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:19.279 And they're you know, a page or however many, how long from the end of the of the test, that they don't complete it. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.920 An incompletion is a fail. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:36.400 And there's too many times where we are walking and waiting for the promise of God, and we're right in the middle of the test itself, and we only have a few more questions left, and we're like, I don't know, I don't know about this. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:42.400 And our the devils are right in there going, Yeah, you know, it's been it's been 10 months, you know. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:44.559 You never thought it'd take this long, did you? 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:51.359 Never thought it would be, you know, well, maybe, maybe this, maybe that, and and start all these other thoughts start coming. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:52.640 That's the test. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:59.039 And that's where we have to state going, nope, I'm gonna keep on, I'm gonna keep move, I'm gonna keep doing this, I'm gonna keep doing this test. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:19:59.680 I'm gonna 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:01.359 Keep making it through. 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:14.480 Believers, even those who have been walking in this life of faith for years, want the miracle events in our lives. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:18.640 You know, Jesus, we have 5,000 men to feed. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.279 Right now, they're gonna be hungry. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:22.480 We got what are we gonna do? 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.920 And she's like, Well, we got, oh, we got five right here. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.799 Break, bless, give out, we're done. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:30.559 You know, we want those quick ones. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.720 We want those, uh, that took, you know, what, an hour? 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:39.119 You know, when you think about timing, it's like from the time that they realize that everybody's hungry, we need to go get we need to get some food. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:40.400 Oh, we got it right here. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:44.799 Okay, bless it, break it, pass it out, eat, everybody's full, we're done. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:46.160 Okay, maybe two hours. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:46.559 I don't know. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:49.839 You know, don't know how long it takes to give out the 5,000 plus people. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.400 But you're still looking at just a couple of hours. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.720 So we we're all we all love those, oh, a quick, a quick answer to prayer. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:01.920 A quick, here's the problem, here's the need, and less than a day later, we're done. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:02.400 Good. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:05.119 Hey, that's that's the kind of miracle I want. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:09.440 And we kind of start to look at that as for everything that we're praying for. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:11.119 I mean, that's not a journey. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:16.240 That's just that was just an event, basically, for the for the disciples and the people there. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:18.240 There was no journey in that one. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:23.119 How about Joseph in the Old Testament? 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:30.160 It's one of the few stories in the Bible where it gives his age in different parts of the story. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.519 We won't go back and read it, but it's 22 years. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:42.240 From the time he had his dream when he was 17 to the time he was 39, and it said Joseph remembered his dream. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:44.640 22 years. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:46.000 That's a journey. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:54.079 That's a journey of he knew that at some point some people were gonna bow down to him, that he was gonna be in a spot of leadership. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:59.279 He didn't know everything that was gonna go about that, but he knew there's some destiny for me. 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:08.640 God's given this to me twice now, and I know there's a plan for my life, I know that God has good things for me, I know that the, I don't know how this is gonna happen. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:14.960 And 22 years when God says that Joseph remembered his dream. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:20.079 And it was even after he'd gotten to be second in command. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:26.640 So even being second in command, it was still a few years later that the Bible says he remembered his dream. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:30.640 So he was still on that journey, he was still walking that. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:33.279 You know, we look at the life of Paul. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:47.200 Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, but it says in Galatians he spent 13 years in the desert after that moment, after he met with the leaders of the church. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:56.240 He went out into the desert, and many believe that's where he got the revelation for most of what he wrote to the churches in the letters. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:20.559 But we look at it in the Bible, especially when you read through the Bible, it's so funny because I've been reading through a lot of the Old Testament this year, you know, and they'll, you know, one verse to the next verse, you know it's like 12 years, you know, so many years, because it'll say, you know, and especially in the life of the kings, that this king was king for two months, and this king was king for ten years, and nothing happened, so they just said that king gets two verses. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:26.000 Like, okay, he lived, he died 10 years, okay, we're now on the next king. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:32.559 You know, so we can't, we we read through the Bible and we have, we don't really get a good concept of the duration that it took. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:34.960 We just go, oh, look at Paul. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:39.839 He went on the road to Damascus, he met with the disciples, and all of a sudden, boom, he's preaching. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:53.279 But when you start looking at the whole story, the whole timeline, you realize, oh, he lived a normal life like the rest of us did, where things didn't happen overnight immediately, every, you know, day by day, everything was happening. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:57.920 It's just condensed down into the words of the chapters of the Bible. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:02.079 They were people just like us, they had the same kind of journeys we do. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:10.799 So we're many of us are in the middle of our testimony for different things. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:43.200 You know, Israel, going back to them, because I'm gonna read some verses on them, they vision visibly saw the acts of God, you know, in delivering opening up the Red Sea and giving them miracles of water and food and stopping the armies of Egypt, but yet they kept the next time it came up, the next test that came, they failed it again. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.759 They failed and failed over and over again. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:57.920 How much more when we don't see those visual things like that, we don't see a big pillar of cloud and fire following us every day and every night, we still have to trust God. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:02.160 We still have to believe on the things that we can't see with our physical eyes. 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:11.839 You know, in the analogy of our car and our journey, the children of Israel turned off the car right in the middle of the interstate. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:16.160 And that doesn't usually have very good, very good results. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:24.880 You know, they you know they started the car, they they believed in salvation, they they got going on the journey of faith, and then are like, eh, let's turn this thing off. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:26.319 It's not working for us. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:33.759 And they started complaining, they started grumbling, and all the things that we we see with Hebrews 3. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:41.759 And who it was who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice, wasn't it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:43.519 Hebrews 3 16. 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.319 And who made God angry for forty years? 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:50.160 Wasn't it the people who sinned whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:56.799 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath, saying that they would never enter into his rest? 00:25:57.039 --> 00:25:59.359 It wasn't it the people who disobeyed him. 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:06.079 So we see that because of their unbelief, they were not able to enter into his rest. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:13.519 It wasn't God's will for them to not enter into the kingdom, into the promised land. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:17.119 But those who didn't did it because they turned the car off. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:19.039 They stopped believing. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:25.279 They didn't even just say, okay, I believe God for salvation in heaven. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:28.400 They just said, nope, we're not we're not even gonna believe God anymore. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.160 We're not even gonna trust him. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:34.960 It was their fault, not God's. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:41.279 They were in the middle of what would be their testimony, and yet they failed it. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:42.640 They failed the test. 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.799 Now, how does this all come together with with some of the things we're talking about? 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:52.319 We've all been on road trips, all of us, I think. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:58.319 Um, road trips can be good if you plan them right, if you you know take the time. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:03.200 But what to me, one of my favorite parts about a road trip is the stops. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:05.039 Well, the getting there, yes. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:09.039 Um especially when you know you're gonna have a long trip ahead of you. 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:12.160 It's like, okay, this is let's plan for this. 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:24.559 Let's let's let's get some places that we know we're gonna stop, let's get recharged, refreshed, let's let's make sure that we're just not completely worn out by the time we get there. 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:28.319 Not just the driver, but all everybody in the car too. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:35.119 So to me, that's part of the fun about a road trip is kind of planning, okay, where are we gonna stop? 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:36.480 Let's have something good to eat. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:49.839 Let's, you know, if we have kids, let's go ahead and make sure the kids can run around for a little bit, get out of their cars, car seats, and kind of get some get some exercise going, um, you know, find a playground if they're whatever. 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:58.319 In this life of faith, what this means, this journey of faith, these are the little answers to prayer that we get. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:01.039 These are the testimonies that we're hearing. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:05.359 These are the kind of things that keep us charged for the longer journey. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:17.680 And that's why I love hearing them, because they when we start hearing of an answer to prayer that's similar to what I need or you need, we're like, oh, okay, this is charging me up. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:19.759 Because I'm still waiting for mine. 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:30.480 I'm still in the midst of my testimony, but I just heard a testimony about the same thing or about how good God is or about something that's happening, that's gonna get help me get toward the end. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:32.880 That's gonna help me stay charged toward the end. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:39.200 That's where the excitement comes, that's where the joy comes. 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:41.519 These are the kind of things that propel us. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:48.000 You know, back when I was in college, um I enjoyed college. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:58.400 I did pretty good at it, I say, because I did really good in high school, but by the time I got to college, I ended up taking, I changed my major twice, ended up taking six years to get my four-year degree. 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:02.079 And by the time the sixth year was around, I was just done. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:03.759 I was like, get me out of here. 00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:07.359 I'm ready to start doing something besides going to school all the time. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:18.640 Um and so it was January of the year I was to graduate, and I was just like, Lord, I just I want to get I'm ready to be done. 00:29:19.119 --> 00:29:23.200 So I prayed, and I was like, there were three things I had on my list. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:33.200 I had, you know, I want to graduate, um, I want to, you know, get into a good job and career because I was working part-time, not making much money. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:38.799 Um, and you know, I want to get married, what, 23, 24 years old. 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:55.119 And within a few months, I graduated and got the job teaching software that ended up propelling my career into being a software instructor and even getting me into the company I've been with now for 17 years. 00:29:55.440 --> 00:30:00.400 Um those two answers to prayer happened very quick, five months. 00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:03.200 And it was like, okay, Lord, this is good. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:07.599 It took another 14 years to get married. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:18.720 But those two answers to prayers of a of something that was had come in a group of prayers, it's like, Lord, I know you've you've done, you've answered these two, I know you're gonna answer that third one. 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:24.240 But I had to keep walking on that journey for that answer to the prayer for that third one. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:31.359 But it was because God answered the two other two, it's like, Lord, I know you're faithful, I know you're gonna do it because I've seen you do it. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:35.680 So when we're in the middle of our testimony, think back to the last time. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:37.920 Think back to the last testimony you had. 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:44.160 Think back or just talk to somebody who's in a similar situation or who's been through a similar situation. 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:47.839 Because it's those kind of things that we can encourage each other with. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:55.440 In fact, the when I start looking at this in the Bible, the Bible is full of these kinds of scriptures that say, do just that. 00:30:55.599 --> 00:31:01.279 In Romans 15, you'll see a lot of these are toward the end of Paul's letters. 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:12.960 Such things were written in the scriptures long ago to teach us, and the scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be filled. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:16.480 So even Paul saying, Yeah, there's going to be some lighting. 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:20.000 There's going to be there's going to be part of the journey that we're waiting for. 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:30.000 Verse 5, may God, who gives the patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other as is fitting for the followers of Christ Jesus. 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:36.240 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:42.079 So he's saying that, hey, these scriptures are given to us for an encouragement. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.000 Make sure you're staying in the Word. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:47.119 Make sure you're looking at the life of the people who made it. 00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:52.960 Don't dwell on the ones who didn't, dwell on the ones who did as an encouragement for yourself. 00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:55.759 Then we can all start encouraging each other. 00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:02.960 So when you need encouragement, when you're in the middle of your testimony, don't dwell on the negative thoughts. 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:09.680 Don't let that loop start happening in your mind because it'll start to get you off of that. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:15.119 Instead, and I like this, go to your find a faith buddy. 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:28.480 Should be your spouse, but it could be a fellow, you know, a friend, another female friend if you're a woman, another male friend if you're a male, and say, you know what, I just need some encouragement right now. 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:34.960 And then we, as the people who are who are asked to encourage, we should jump right in and say, hey, let me tell you what the Lord has done. 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:36.400 Let me tell you what the Lord's gonna do. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:40.400 Let me tell, and just jump right in rather than, well, tell me how you're feeling. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:49.119 No, we don't need to be, we don't need to be dwelling on how we're feeling, because we all know that we can that'll pull us both down if we start dwelling too much on that. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:53.279 We need to start jumping right into, let me tell you what God can do. 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:56.240 Let me remind you of the victories we've had. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:02.559 Let me tell you about the time when God answered my prayer, when God answered your prayer the last time. 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:08.640 You know, Paul Paul again told the churches to do this in 1 Corinthians 16. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:13.359 He actually tells us, I like the way it starts here, be on guard. 00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:17.359 Stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:27.759 These are very simple commands, but these are the kind of things that help us stay on the journey and stay in the middle of our testimony longer. 00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:32.960 Because it takes effort to do that. 00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:36.480 And do everything with love, verse 14. 00:33:37.279 --> 00:33:45.839 He says, And you know that Stephanus and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to God's people. 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:55.359 I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to submit to them and others like them who serve with each, who serve with such devotion. 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:00.319 And I am very glad that Stephanus, Fortunus, and Achaeus have come here. 00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:04.319 They have been providing you the help you weren't here to give me. 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:07.599 They have been a wonderful encouragement to me. 00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:12.000 So even Paul needed encouragement, as they have been to you. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:15.679 You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well. 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:20.000 So Paul's saying, hey, this Stephanus, he was the very first fruit. 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:30.400 He was the first one that heard our message and received salvation, and now he's actually going around helping the other churches and helping us where there's been a need for help. 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:33.840 He's that's encouraging me, and he's encouraging you. 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:46.400 So Paul's encouraging the church of Corinth, which is in Greece, to say, Hey, be like Stephanus, encourage others, be encouraging to those who are around you. 00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:58.480 And that's the one, you know, again, he started with be on guard, be courageous, be strong, and be like this other person who is being an encourager himself. 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:02.880 I'll read one more example. 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:06.480 This one's a little bit longer, but it kind of gives a really good story of this. 00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:10.320 1 Thessalonians 3 1. 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:17.519 Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, and we sent Timothy to visit you. 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:21.760 He is our brother and God's co-worker in proclaiming the good news of Christ. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:29.280 We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:32.320 But you know that we are destined for such troubles. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:37.840 Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come, and they did, as you well know. 00:35:38.079 --> 00:35:43.840 That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. 00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:48.559 I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:53.840 But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us the good news about your faith and love. 00:35:54.079 --> 00:36:00.480 He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. 00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:10.159 So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. 00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:14.719 It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:20.800 How we thank God for you because of you we have great joy as we enter God's presence. 00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:29.199 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith. 00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:47.119 So here is Paul who sent his son in the faith, Timothy, who was a pastor, to go check on the church, because they didn't have Facebook, they didn't have phones, they couldn't text, they were hundreds of miles or thousands of miles away, days or weeks by travel. 00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.599 So they couldn't just run, check on them, and hear back. 00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:57.360 So all Paul knew was well, I started this church, haven't heard back from in a while, have no idea where they are. 00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:05.119 Because historically they're in a pagan environment and we're surrounded by pagan shrines and pagan worshipers. 00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:09.840