WEBVTT 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:10.960 You may grab a seat. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:20.000 I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks as we get ready for our next sermon series. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:24.480 I had two weeks to interject just one short little mini-series. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:26.079 I'm really looking forward to it. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.399 How many of y'all have ever made a decision in your life? 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:29.679 Come on. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.399 Anybody make a hard decision in your life? 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:36.399 Anyone ever wish you could make the decision over again? 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:40.079 That's well, I I don't have a genie in a bottle. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:46.960 I can't give you that today, but I do believe that God's word speaks to how we make decisions. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:53.439 And one of the questions I get asked the most is often, what should I do? 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.920 And I always look back at them and think, I don't know. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:01.679 What do you mean you don't know? 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:11.439 Well, well, I don't know for your life exactly the details of how everything is mapped out, but I know the one who does. 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:24.319 And so this morning the heartbeat behind, the burden behind today is this is that we would allow God's word to instruct us on how to make spirit-formed decisions. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:26.719 Spirit-led decisions. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:32.319 Not I'm I'm I'm a CEO or I'm a president of a company and I know how to make decisions. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:37.200 Not I'm the mom and we all know who runs this house kind of decisions. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:39.519 Man, you're not supposed to laugh at that. 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:44.879 I'm talking about God-informed decisions. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:50.640 You've heard it said, but we don't just want good decisions in our life, we want God ones. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:54.560 We don't want just good decisions in our life, we want God ones. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:59.599 So this morning I'm gonna be talking to you out of 2 Samuel chapter 5 in just a moment. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:06.239 And uh we're gonna go through the life of David and some times in his life where he had to make some very big decisions. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:09.919 And so I brought my weekly uh sermon illustration today. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:12.319 Little element of suspense here. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:14.319 Here we go. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:23.840 I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I well, I'm just gonna start this illustration by saying I'm gonna need lunch plans after this. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.719 Uh anybody go into Perry's for lunch? 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:35.840 Because uh I may not have a date after this illustration, but I uh I'm putting these down for my wife so I don't get our bedroom pillows on the dirty floor. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:39.680 Just I'm a well-trained man, I know how to make good decisions now. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.360 Uh men, this sermon is for you. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:45.919 Anybody's bed look like this? 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:54.560 14,000 pillows because home goods was running a sale. 00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:56.479 Sale? 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:58.240 Honey, I saved us money. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:02:59.120 Really? 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:06.159 And uh, you know, it started young in marriage, but it seems like every year it just grows and it grows. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:08.159 Babe, by the way, I love you very much, okay? 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:12.800 Just thank you for serving the Lord this morning through your ministry of sacrifice. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.759 Uh you know, you know, there's pillows on our bed for decorations, right? 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:27.759 Every night, we men, we come in, turn down service one by one, make sure they're stacked neatly in the corner. 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:29.039 They can't get dirty. 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:31.759 We take all these pillows, these are useless. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.319 Have you ever tried to sleep on one of these? 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:38.479 I mean, they c they look good, I guess, but they don't. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:48.479 And then and then you finally get to the stack of pillows that you've been waiting on, and you realize, listen, here's my wife's pillows on top, because she likes to sleep on rocks. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:51.280 So you set those aside. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.400 Oh, these ones are mine because I love a good soft pillow. 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:56.000 Anyone, come on, somebody. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.439 Man, just fall into that thing. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.879 But then these are the pillows I got because I got old, you know? 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.360 The temperatic pillow right here. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:13.439 You know, I'm saying the really expensive fancy pillow that's supposed to, because I I asked my old friends, I started waking up sore in the morning. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:15.199 I asked my old friends, why am I so sore? 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:16.879 They said, try your pillow. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.720 So I bought this big fancy pillow, expensive, it done work. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:25.439 So this is the 20-year-old pillow I've my wife maybe put in the closet. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:26.399 It came back out. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:26.720 Why? 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:28.959 Because I don't feel so old anymore. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:36.560 And now I've now spent three minutes of my life getting the bed ready just to sleep. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:39.360 And then what's the first thing I do in the morning? 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:42.160 Come on. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.600 Oh, that's a proud mama right there. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:47.199 Come on. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:55.199 And every morning I go back and I do the very same thing again and again and again. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:56.480 Men, amen. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:02.800 And I start to think these thoughts in my head that I know are not from the Holy Spirit. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:13.519 And I begin to think about all the mountains I could climb and how much money I could be making, or all the big dreams I could have fulfilled in my life. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:24.319 Did you know ChatGPT told me that by the time I'm 95 years old, I will have spent 55 consecutive days of my life doing this right here. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:30.079 55, 24 hours a day. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:32.800 Now I want to ask you a question. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:35.120 Where did this all begin? 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:42.160 It began in home goods when we were making a decision about what pillows to buy. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:44.480 We thought we were just buying pillows. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:48.959 What we didn't know is that we're making a decision about the rest of our life. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:50.399 Am I right? 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:59.199 Craig Craig Rochelle would say it this way: he says, the decisions that you make today will determine the stories that you tell tomorrow. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:04.399 The decisions that you make today will determine the stories that you tell tomorrow. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:19.040 And I know I'm being ridiculous and I know I'm being funny, and I know I'm not gonna have lunch plans now, but I just want to do this today because I want to illustrate how such a small decision can make such a big impact in our life. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:20.879 Every day we make decisions. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:22.399 We have big ones. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:28.160 The obvious should I sell my house or should I move or should I take the job? 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.560 Should I get married or not get married? 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:35.040 Should we make a decision with our kids to do something we didn't do last year? 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:38.720 Do we do this activity on our calendar or do we not? 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.600 We all have these big decisions that we make in our life. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:45.360 But then we all have these seemingly small decisions. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:46.560 The small ones. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:52.160 Everybody knows, you know, oh, I'm I'm getting ready to uproot my life and change everything about my life. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.120 I should maybe stop and pray for just a moment. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:04.160 But what about the small decisions of everyday life that actually become the fruit that we walk in for the rest of our life? 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:22.399 What about the seemingly small decisions of should I say this to my kids, or should we interact this way, or should I forgive in this relationship, or should I act this way at work, or all the small decisions of everyday life. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:29.279 What I want to do this morning is I want to talk to you about decisions that are being made with the Spirit of God. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:34.480 Because every decision we make in life, we all already know this is not the message today. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.680 We all already came in the room with the presumption inside of our heart. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:42.319 We all know that the decisions we make have consequences. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:44.000 Good or bad. 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:45.120 We all know that. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:46.959 We've all experienced that in our life. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:51.920 I'm not here today to tell you about the bad decisions that you made and the impact that it's having on your life. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:08:03.759 I'm here today to tell you how to make a God-informed decision so that the fruit that you're eating for the rest of your life is good, that it's blessed, that it can walk in the strength of the Lord. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:08.240 And I want to do that through a story of a guy in the Bible named David. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:10.879 David in the Bible was the king. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:16.399 And in 2 Samuel chapter 5, we're gonna read his story here in just a minute. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:23.199 And part of what I love about David is he always had a heart that stayed postured before the Lord. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:28.959 And his posture before the Lord meant there was no decision that was spiritual and unspiritual. 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:32.960 How many of you know every decision you make in life is a spiritual decision? 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:41.200 It's not just when we planted the church, we made a decision, a spiritual decision to start a church. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:52.480 But how many of you know our budget discussions, and that's what we call them in our house, our budget discussions around our house are just as spiritual as the decision to plan a church? 00:08:52.720 --> 00:09:04.559 How many of you know the conversations we have about how to raise our kids are just as spiritual as the decisions we make about the direction and the future of our church in Magnolia? 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:09.200 There's no such thing as an unspiritual decision before the Lord. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:16.559 That when you bring something before the Lord, there's a spiritual component to everything that you do in life. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:25.600 Only in our American world have we segregated or or or pulled the two apart and said, I have a spiritual life and an earthly life. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:27.039 That's not how it works. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:36.879 And what I love about David is David, being the king, knew how to go before the Lord to ask the Lord the hard questions and sometimes the seemingly easy ones. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.919 2 Samuel chapter 5, if you're ready, say, I'm ready. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:47.600 Now, when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek out David. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.559 And when David heard about it, he went down to the stronghold. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:55.360 How many of y'all ever started a new job and feel like they saved all the fires for you on day one? 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:57.600 Like, thanks, glad to be here. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:03.919 David, anointed king, steps up to the plate, and now the Philistines are coming out to get them. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:08.159 In verse 18, the Philistines came and overran the valley of Repham. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:13.120 So David inquired, you try saying the hard words of the Bible in front of a couple hundred people, all right? 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:18.000 David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.559 Will you hand them over to me? 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:26.240 And the Lord said to David, Go up, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.000 Then David came to Baal Perazim and defeated them there. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:36.480 And he said, The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:40.720 And therefore he named that place, Baal Perazim. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:43.679 And the Philistines abandoned their idols there. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:47.840 So David and his men carried them away. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:49.600 Here's David. 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:51.360 He steps up on the scene. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:55.440 God, I want to do what it is that you're asking me to do. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:11:00.000 I want to be the kind of king and the kind of man you want me to be. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:02.720 And how many of you know trouble found him, day one? 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:09.120 Because anytime you begin to advance what God wants to do in your life, there's always all this other stuff going on. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:11.600 There's always all this other noise. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:15.120 And in the midst of that, you have a decision to make. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.000 What do I want the fruit of my life to be? 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:22.320 What do I want to be doing for 55 consecutive days? 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.200 What kind of things have value? 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:27.279 What direction is God going? 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:30.320 Because that's the direction I want to go. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:34.080 And David, as the king, here's what I love about what it says about him. 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:36.080 He came up and he had a decision to make. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.840 And the word that it uses is that David inquired of the Lord. 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:41.759 In other words, he made it a point. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:47.600 I'm not going any farther until I stop right here and figure out what God is saying about this matter. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:48.799 I'm not moving. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:50.960 I'm not going to think that I have the answers. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:55.200 I'm not going to pretend like I'm a leader and I just have everything in life figured out. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:00.480 By the way, the leaders in our life don't have all the answers, they just pretend like they do. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:02.639 And the best ones? 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.600 The best ones are the ones that don't know. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:08.240 They know they don't know. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:13.039 And they have a heart about them that says, God, I don't know. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.120 That's why I'm asking you. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.960 That's why God would pick a guy like David. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:24.320 Because David had the humility to say, God, I don't know what I don't know. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.559 And I don't know how we're going to get there or if we're going to get over there or there. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.559 But I do know this, God, you do. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.519 So I'm going to inquire of you. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:40.080 Every great decision in your life requires you to inquire of the Lord. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:45.200 Have you asked God lately about the decision that you're making today? 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.039 Have you asked him in your heart? 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:48.720 And this is what David did. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:50.159 He said, Shall I go up? 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:56.240 In other words, he's saying, Listen, just because the bullies on the other side threatening me doesn't mean I have to go. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:04.320 Listen, just because there's a fire in front of you, or listen, an opportunity in front of you doesn't mean you have to take it. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:05.759 I hear this all the time. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:08.960 I got offered a promotion and I knew it. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:10.480 I just knew I've been waiting. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:11.840 I knew it was for me. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.879 But the second I took that promotion, it feels like all of a sudden I don't have any purpose anymore. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:20.559 And my family, we feel like we don't have any time together anymore. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:27.039 And we have the job and the money we didn't have before, but we don't have the life we had before. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:34.000 Listen, every great opportunity is an opportunity to ask the Lord, is this of you? 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:38.240 Because just because it looks good on the outside doesn't mean it's God. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:39.360 Well, how could it not be God? 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:40.799 We're gonna make more money. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:45.279 Just because it looks good on the outside doesn't mean that it's God. 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:46.639 And here's what David knew. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:48.960 David knew the enemy's up threatening us. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:54.879 And listen, I know we live in Texas and we got a bunch of good country boys up in here all packing heat, okay? 00:13:55.200 --> 00:14:01.759 But just because the enemy comes threatening doesn't mean it's your job to go out and do the fighting. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:06.559 And David knew I could go out to battle because that's just what kings do. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:08.480 Lots of kings go to war. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.120 This is just part of the job, it's just what we do. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:13.279 Everybody does it. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:19.759 But David said, No, I'm not going until I ask the Lord what I should do. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:21.519 And I love the question he asked the Lord. 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:23.200 Will you hand them over to me? 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:24.960 He just gets right to the point. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:30.639 God, I God, um, I want to know what it is you want me to do, but most of all, I don't really care. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:34.000 I just want to know, are we gonna win when we do it? 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.519 Because he just wants to know the outcome. 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:41.840 He wants to know the fruit before he ever even makes the decision. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:42.799 He wants to know this. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:44.080 God, are you going with us? 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:48.720 Because God, what I already know about the fact is that if you go with us, we're gonna win. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.000 But if you don't go with us, we don't want to go there. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:55.600 This is the posture and the position of David's heart. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:56.720 Shall we go? 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:58.399 Will you hand them over? 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:00.240 These are great decisions. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:05.039 These are great questions you should be asking God in the midst of your really big decisions. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:06.960 God, are you in this? 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:08.879 God, should I do this? 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:10.799 God, should I talk to this person? 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.519 God, should we go in this direction? 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.639 God, should we list our house or sell our house? 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:21.519 And what I love about David is this he could have said, but I'm the king. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:23.279 I'm the king. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:26.879 At my word, everybody's gonna do what I say. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.759 He could have said, This is my house, and we will not be having this many pillows. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:37.840 He could have said, I'm the leader, I'm the president, I'm the CEO. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:42.399 He could have said, I I I am, I know how to do, but you know what he said? 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:44.399 Not at my word, at God's word. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:47.120 There's a difference in the decisions that we make. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.440 It's not just a matter, do we know best? 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:53.360 It's a matter of, is this the direction that God is leading? 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:59.519 It's not at my word that my family should follow me, it's at God's word that my family should go with me. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:02.879 And so we ask this, and and then David does this. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:04.720 He asks the next question. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:06.799 And then David could have said this. 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:10.639 He could have said, I have thousands and thousands of soldiers and chariots. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:12.960 We're strong enough to do it. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:16.000 But he doesn't rest in his own strength. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:20.240 He doesn't say, Yeah, we we got the power to do this, we should do this. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:21.039 What does he do? 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:24.080 He trusts in the strength of the Lord. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:27.919 And before David pursued his plans, listen to what David did. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.960 David pursued the promises of God. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:41.279 Before he chased after his own plans, he made the decision, I'm gonna pursue the promises of God, not only for himself, but for the people that he was leading. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:45.679 And that's why I love the next word that comes through, the word breakthrough. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.639 In the scripture, right here, we we learn of who our God is. 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:55.360 The nature, the DNA of our God is that he is a God of breakthrough. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:01.519 Here's what he said The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:07.759 David stopped, he asked the Lord, the Lord said, Go up, we're gonna do it, it's gonna work, you're gonna win. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:15.200 And and David took his men, they go up, they fight against the Philistines, and here's what it says, and they broke through. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:22.559 I don't know about you, but there are times in my life where I've gotten to a place where I've said, I really need a breakthrough on this decision. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:27.519 I really need something to go in a direction different than it's been going. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:29.200 I really need something. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:31.599 The idea of a breakthrough is this. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:35.680 The breakthrough is the idea that the waters, he said, were bursting forth. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:39.920 It's the idea that the waters are moving into a place they weren't before. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:50.480 It's the idea that the waters were were up against the dam and the force of the waters were pushing on the dam, and there was no movement, and there was no movement until God breathed on it. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:53.680 And all of a sudden the waters break through the dam. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:18:01.039 It's the idea of a force that that the Lord is moving and working behind the situations in our life. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:04.880 Listen, in the decisions of your life, you need a breakthrough. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:08.400 You you don't just need a good idea, you need a breakthrough. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:13.839 You don't you don't just need something that somebody's done before, and so you think you should try it, it'll be a good plan. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.000 Maybe if it worked for them, it'll work for you. 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:17.519 You need a breakthrough. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:17.920 Why? 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:25.839 Because there are times in our life where all we feel like we are doing is taking the pillows off and putting them on again and taking them off and putting them on. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:27.440 Have you ever gotten a situation in your life? 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:28.799 Sorry, baby, got dirty. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:37.759 Have you ever got to a decision in your life where you feel like you're trying everything you possibly can and nothing is working? 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:40.000 You need a breakthrough. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.559 That's that's what David says of my God. 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:50.559 Here's what he says: he says, Baal parizim, he named the place Baal Parizim, which meant the God of breakthrough. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.319 How did he get to a place of breakthrough in his life? 00:18:54.559 --> 00:19:00.640 It wasn't by accident, it wasn't by chance, it wasn't God shooting an arrow and hoping that it landed on them. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:04.079 Here's what it was David inquired of the Lord. 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:14.160 And because he inquired of the Lord, he was in a place in a position where he got to see the Lord break through a place that he could have never broken through on his own. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:17.599 So anybody in the room today, and you're like, I need a breakthrough in my life. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:22.640 Man, there's a thing that just keeps coming against my family over and over and over again. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:23.680 We need a breakthrough. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.000 Man, there's this thing that I just can't break in my life. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:30.559 I've tried to make all the right decisions, but it seems like none of them are going in the right direction. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:31.920 I just need a breakthrough. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:33.680 I need a breakthrough in my marriage. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:35.839 We need a breakthrough in our finances. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:45.680 Listen, the word from David this morning is this that when you inquire of the Lord, you have a God who works behind you to break the damn. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:54.799 But if you never stop to inquire of the Lord and you stare at the dam and wonder why it's not breaking, we have a problem. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:20:02.079 When we're staring at the dam, wondering why it's not breaking, it has nothing to do with the power and the strength of our God. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:04.799 It has everything to do with the position of our heart. 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.599 Lord, I'm coming before you because I don't know what to do. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.519 God, my family wants me to be a better leader, but I don't even know how to be a better leader. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.039 Father, my family, we're going through some financial struggles, but I don't even have an answer. 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:16.160 I've tried everything I can. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.000 I don't really know what to do. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:22.960 You get in a position, in a posture, in a place that says, Lord, I'm coming to you. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:26.640 I've tried Google, I've tried all the blogs, I've tried Chat GBT. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.960 Man, we're really moving up these days. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.279 But none of it works. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:33.039 What do I do now? 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.240 David had a heart that inquired of the Lord. 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:39.440 I want to give you some things this morning on how to make spirit-led decisions. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:40.319 Number one is this. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:41.440 We learned from David. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:42.720 Number one is this. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:46.000 Don't assume you know what to do. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:49.680 Don't assume you know what to do. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:51.039 Ask God what to do. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.160 You're like, Clayton, did you really pray all week about this message? 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:57.359 And that's the best you could come up with is ask God what to do. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:20:58.559 There it is. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:01.599 That's all the revelation you need on the matter. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:03.440 This isn't rocket science. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:07.200 This isn't looking for something nobody has ever heard before in their life. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:19.599 This is coming to a place where we make the understanding and the realization in our heart that oftentimes we are guilty of assuming that we know what to do instead of asking God what we should do. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:22.960 I know this because I have kids, somebody. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:28.799 My kids, when I took them to Silver Dollar City, they thought it was Disney World. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:35.200 Silver Dollar City, if you don't know it, it's they call Branson, Missouri, the uh Las Vegas of the Midwest. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:36.799 Christian Las Vegas, you know. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:37.359 Come on. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:51.680 We took them to the lake, we went by Silver Dollar City, and I had no idea what that decision was gonna make for my family because every day for the next year, my three year old at the time asked me to go to Silver Dollar City. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:52.559 What are we doing today? 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.640 Dad, can we go to Silver Dollar City? 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.519 No, it's 11 hours away. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.680 Dad, can we go to Silver and one day? 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.440 We rolled up on the way to school. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:03.920 We rolled through Chick-fil-A, our daily stop. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.000 You know, just get the blessing from heaven right there before we go to school. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:12.160 And the lady asked through the window, she said, What are y'all doing today? 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:16.960 And my three-year-old son shouted out the back window, We're going to Silver Dollar City. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:19.039 She said, Really? 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:20.240 I said, No. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:26.559 I said, That's his plans, but listen, they weren't my plans. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:32.960 And how many of you know out of three-year-old, they were cute plans, but they still weren't my plans. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:33.519 Why? 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:36.640 Because he had no perspective how long it takes to get there. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.640 He had no perspective of how much money they were going to steal out of my wallet. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:42.240 He had no perspective. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:44.319 What am I saying? 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.599 I knew things that he did not know. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:49.839 Buddy, you're going to school today. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:51.039 I don't want to. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:53.039 Because it's the best thing for you. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.960 You're going to school today. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:00.160 And I we joke about our kids, but how many of y'all know we just grown up kids? 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:02.000 My wife doesn't like when I say that. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:04.240 Y'all just a bunch of grown-up kids. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:08.640 And here's what happens we have cute plans. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.680 And sometimes I think the Lord says, Yeah, that's cute. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:12.799 I love ya. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:15.759 Great idea. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:16.480 Yep. 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:18.640 Your friends did that too. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:24.720 It didn't get good results for them, so I don't know why you think that's a good idea for you, but I'll let you try. 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:33.519 And sometimes I think the Lord would just stop us right here and say, if you will go back to the basics, you'll get real far. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:35.599 What are the basics? 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:38.720 Don't assume you know what to do. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:42.720 Even when you've done it a hundred times already. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:46.960 Listen, we never graduate from asking God. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:48.319 Isn't that right? 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:52.319 Where's my believers who've been a believer for years and years? 00:23:52.640 --> 00:24:03.119 You never reach a level of spiritual maturity in which you can no longer ask God and think that that's just gonna be okay. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:11.519 In fact, the longer you go, the more you should realize I can't make this decision without God. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.440 Listen, I know people who have moved on a word from God. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:18.400 I know people who have sold houses on a word from God. 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:31.759 I know people who have bought companies on a word from God, and they will tell you this: they will say, I had no idea what I was doing, but God told me to do it, so I just did it, and here we are, and look what God is doing. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:35.839 We never graduate to a place where we become so smart. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:42.799 I I think that's part of a challenge in the Western civilization in which we live, the American church culture in which we live. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:45.200 I'm not knocking because I'm one of them. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:46.640 Here's what I'm saying. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:50.079 I'm saying, I think sometimes we think, well, I've done this a few times, God. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:50.960 I know. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:56.559 I think sometimes, God, I've been to seminary, I've I've read the Bible, and I know what you would want. 00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:57.680 Do you really? 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:02.400 You know my least favorite line from my kids? 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:04.799 I already know that. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:08.319 I already know that. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:22.000 That line doesn't work with the Lord, and it's not because he's mean, and it's not because he's harsh, it's because he's kind and he's patient and he's loving and he wants the best for your life. 00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:24.640 Listen to this, even more than you do. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:33.680 There's nobody in all the world who wants you to win at his plan more than he does. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:53.119 There's nobody in all the world that in the midst of all your failures or your setbacks or the times you feel like you've messed it up, there's nobody in all the world who is who is more willing to help you than the Lord when you ask him. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:26:04.319 So before you list your house and uproot your family from what God is doing in the place that you're in, ask the Lord, is this my plan or is this your plan? 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:10.720 Before you take the promotion, you stop and say, God, is the enemy behind this or are you behind this? 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:13.440 Because listen, here's what I know about my heart. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:15.279 I'm just being truthful and honest with you. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:16.559 Here it is. 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:20.880 I know that my heart will often take me to places that God is not. 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:23.119 Clayton, that's not possible. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:24.559 God, he's everywhere all the time. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:26.319 Oh, I know that he is. 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:33.119 But there are times that my heart will take me to places that God cannot bless. 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:41.599 But here's what I know about the leading of the Lord God will never take you to a place where he is not already. 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:56.000 And when we ask the Lord, and when we lean in, and when we trust him, what we will find is that we get to the place we've been waiting for, and we didn't even know we were waiting for it. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:57.680 So don't assume. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:26:59.359 Don't assume you have all the answers. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:26:59.680 Why? 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:04.640 Because David could have said this God, I already fought the Philistines. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:05.759 I'm already strong. 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:12.720 I already know, I already know their weak spots, I already know their strategy and their tactic and how they fight. 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:21.680 But David, when the Philistines came back up against them again, said, I'm not gonna go based off what I assume or what I think to be true. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:23.359 I'm gonna go back to the same place. 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:29.200 You're telling me, Clayton, I I can't just pray one time about selling my house and that work for the rest of my life. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:32.319 No, I'm saying every time you do it, you go before the Lord. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:35.200 I'm saying every day you wake up, you go before the Lord. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:35.519 Why? 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:39.839 Because he has some days where he's gonna tell you to go, and some days he's gonna tell you to stay. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:45.519 He has some days he's gonna tell you to open your big mouth, and he has some days he's gonna say to shut your big mouth. 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:49.440 We have a God who doesn't work the same way every single day. 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:57.680 Listen, David learned this because when the Philistines came back up against them, here's what it says in 2 chapel Samuel chapter 5, verse 22. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:04.960