WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.080 I'm gonna start a new series this week. 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.480 We're calling destination addiction. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:06.639 Destination addiction. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:09.439 It's important you emphasize the right word. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.240 It's not destination addiction. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.800 It's destination addiction. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:19.039 We're gonna talk about an addiction to destinations. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.320 And this is not a term that I made up. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:44.079 It's uh actually in 2011, a guy, a psychologist named Robert Holden, uh wrote a book called Authentic Success, and he coined the phrase destination addiction is used to describe the belief that happiness is in a destination or can be found somewhere other than where I am right now. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:48.640 So it's the belief that if I get somewhere else, then I'll be happy. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:51.679 If I can get there, I'll be fulfilled. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.439 And uh it's an easy lie to buy. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.920 I think we probably all have at some point. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:05.200 Uh this whole thing has been inflamed by the information age where we are constantly aware of other people's destinations. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.000 Uh, we are flooded with images. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:15.359 And when I say destination, I don't just mean like the Bahamas, although that is enviable. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:35.439 Uh I mean it's things like uh how much money you make, or uh how much weight you want to lose, or your relationship status, or whatever that might be, whatever life goals are out there that you have that you think, you know, if I get that, okay, that's where happiness is. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:38.159 He he says a very interesting thing in this book. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:49.280 He says, um, beware of destination addiction, a preoccupation with the idea that happiness is in the next place, the next job, the next partner. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:52.719 And now get ready to digest this. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:02:00.000 He said, until you give up the idea that happiness is somewhere else, it will never be where you are. 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:02.959 That's a word. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:05.120 Preach, Robert. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:14.080 Until you give up the idea that happiness is somewhere else, it will never be where you are. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:20.879 He talks about how we do some things innocently, but they start to create this even in children. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:30.319 So think about the fact that children, it's very common to ask your child, What do you want to be when you grow up? 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:33.360 What do you want to be when you grow up? 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.000 It's all about when you grow up. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.759 And he said, you know, it would do us some good that when children come home from a day of school, it is what did you learn? 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:46.560 That we help children to focus on even the joy of learning itself. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:03:01.120 Not just that I'm learning so that I can get a degree, so that I can go to a good college, so that I can get a good job, or whatever it might be, that learning itself is a joyful experience and is an end in and of itself. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:03.680 What do I want to be when I grow up? 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.000 We have that when I grow up attitude. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:07.599 And we we tend to keep it. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:11.759 I've talked to 50 and 60-year-old folk who are talking about what they want to be when they grow up. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.759 Still waiting to grow up, trying to figure out what am I gonna be? 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:22.080 I'm still trying to figure out what I'm gonna be when I grow up, and it creates a destination addiction. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:29.199 Um, he goes through to talk about different symptoms, or here's some indicators you may struggle with destination addiction. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:33.199 Uh he said, you're always in a hurry, even when you don't need to be. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:42.479 Keep your elbows to yourself, but he said, You always promised that next year we'll be less busy. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:45.599 Anybody ever told that lie? 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:47.439 Anybody ever believed it? 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:49.039 I've actually I've said it, but I believed it. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:50.560 I don't think no, it's really gonna calm down. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:52.159 You know, it's all about the settle down. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:56.000 He said, You you keep promising that every year, but it just stays busy, you know. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:02.159 Uh your dream home is always your next home, the next home you plan to buy or build. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:06.560 Uh, you don't like your job, but you stay in it because it has good prospects for the future. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:08.159 I don't value my present. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:15.280 I'm miserable, I don't like it, but you know, it's got good upside, so I stay here because maybe someday uh I'll get there. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:23.680 Um says you you never commit fully to anyone or anything in case someone or something better comes along. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:28.639 You hope that the next big success will finally make you happy. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:32.319 You always think you should be further ahead than where you are now. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:34.079 Just live with that. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:39.439 Uh you have so many forecasts, projections, and targets that you never enjoy your life. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:48.000 Now, this is important that we hold these things in tension because uh there is some value to vision, right? 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:49.439 Vision, future-oriented. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:50.800 The future's not all bad. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:52.959 And thinking about the future isn't bad, right? 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:00.720 We don't want to be so short-sighted, we only think about today, but so it's a tension between uh awareness of the future and vision for the future, right? 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.920 The Bible says without vision, people perish. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.360 Uh, hope itself, hope is future-oriented. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.680 You're having a really bad season, you go, you know, tomorrow's gonna be different. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:12.959 Tomorrow's gonna get better. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:14.639 I'm I'm believing for better things. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:24.160 Like there, there's some good things about the future, but if all we do is live in the future and we keep believing that if I get that, I'll be happy. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:27.519 That becomes this, and now there's a new that. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:32.639 And you just keep going that to this, but now there's a new that, and I just keep buying that, and that turns into this. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:35.759 And I never find fulfillment and joy. 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:39.839 It's an addiction to what I don't have or where I'm not present. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:42.480 And uh, so we're gonna we're gonna talk about that. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:51.839 I I I wanna I'm gonna start today, and I'm actually gonna talk about when we think about destination, I'm gonna talk about the promises of God. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:53.519 The promises of God. 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:57.040 Promise, when I say promise, you we tend to think future-oriented. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:04.240 Uh, but I want to talk about promises that we have now in the present instead of just thinking about promises as they're related to the future. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:05.600 You you hear that a lot. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:06.879 God's promises. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:09.040 All of God's promises are yes and amen. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:11.920 All of God's, you know, we sing a lot of songs about God's promises. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:14.000 Everything God said, He'll do. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.399 If he said it, I believe it, and that settles it. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:17.199 God promised. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:20.879 He promised this, and everything he's spoken to the earth, it will come to fruition. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:21.920 God's promises. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:26.639 Well, have you ever been singing about God's promises and you're a little confused as to what promises we're singing about? 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:28.959 Like, what promise? 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:30.240 What are you talking about? 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.600 In the Bible, there's over 3,000 promises. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:35.439 Over 3,000. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:44.000 Now you gotta be careful, you don't just get in the Bible and start naming and claiming all 3,000 of these promises because you got to understand context, biblical context. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.879 It's important you read the Bible, but it's important you read it right. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:52.639 And not every promise in the Bible is for you and me right here, right now. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:54.240 It's part of a bigger picture. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:59.839 And I'm gonna help explain that today so that next time you sing about God's promises, you can really sing it good. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:13.839 Um, some of the promises are specific promises, they were given to specific people for a specific time for a specific reason, and they don't necessarily translate into all people for all time. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:20.560 Then there are some other promises that the Holy Spirit gives to all believers in every single age. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.839 And but how do I know the difference when I'm reading through my Bible? 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:31.519 Because if you don't, I've seen some folks get really confused, and I've seen some people get really, really hurt. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:34.639 I'll give you an example, two examples quick. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:08:01.680 Uh, one is I have somebody very close to me who, when he was a teenager, was in church, and uh in his youth group, there was uh one of his friends developed leukemia, and his parents were reading in their Bible and they were reading about healing, and and and they believed in their prayer time that God had promised them that their son was going to be healed and he was not going to die of leukemia. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:13.759 And so, with true sincerity and boldness, they stood up full of faith, and they told the church, and they told everybody who would listen, God has promised us our son will not die. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:21.199 And so the youth group prayed for him, and they were all believing and they were all full of confidence, and sure enough, he did die. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:40.480 And when he died at his funeral, they were still so convinced that God had promised them he wouldn't die that at his funeral with the casket open, they had the youth group and the church gathered around an open casket trying to pray the boy back to life. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:55.200 And it did not happen, and my friend, who is now a grown man at 13 years old, was so devastated and scarred and confused by the situation that he did like this. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:57.919 I'm out. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:07.120 What he did was he threw the baby out with the bathwater because he said all this promised stuff is hocus pocus. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:10.879 Now, I don't think there are any villains in this story. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:15.679 I couldn't blame any parent who would believe and who would pray and who would hope. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:26.320 And and to everybody's trying to do the right thing, but I think within this we have to come at this with some intelligence and to be able to really understand what the Bible's saying and doing. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:32.799 And I think when it comes to like impressions, okay, what is God telling me? 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:35.200 I think we have to hold that a bit loosely. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:42.240 Otherwise, sometimes uh it's hard for us to know the difference between what the spirit is saying and what my flesh is saying. 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:49.440 Sometimes I want something so bad it can be confirmation bias, and I'm looking for something, and so I see it in everything. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:10:02.320 Uh I I knew a woman one time who uh she went and when she moved into her house, she told me that when she reached and touched the doorknob of the house, God promised her she would never have to move out of that house. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:05.759 That that was her house and she would never have to leave. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:08.240 And she lived in the house for decades. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:14.799 And yet life circumstances hit, one thing led to another, and she ended up having to leave that house. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:20.080 And she and her family and everybody was devastated because she had a promise from God. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:31.039 I say this today not to dampen your spirit, I say this not for you to put any stock at all in an impression that the Holy Spirit gave you or something that you prayed that you felt like you heard God say. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.879 But oftentimes we throw around in church, God told me this, God promised me that. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:41.679 And I think within that we have to be very clear that God is God, we are us, we are human beings, we're all doing our very best. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:52.000 Please be sincere, please be receptive, but don't allow any confusion that happens to cause you to throw the baby out with the bathwater and be so devastated that you can't rebound. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:54.159 We're learning to work our way through this. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:56.799 But I'm gonna help us make some progress today, okay? 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:10.159 All right, I'm gonna do a uh put on my teaching hat real quick just to talk about what it what are promises, Old Testament, New Testament, because these 3,000, over 3,000 promises are scattered throughout the Old and New Testament. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.519 This is I'm gonna help you be able to read it a little clearer more clearly. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:14.960 Alright, think about this. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:25.279 God creates the heavens and the earth, Genesis, creates human beings in his image, and God begins to a relationship with people, begins a partnership with people. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:26.639 We work together. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.559 And yet, uh, you know, people made a mess of the world. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:39.759 Evil entered the world, the world got so bad and so evil that actually uh in gen in the book of Genesis, God decided to cleanse the earth. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:41.759 And so we know the story of Noah. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:48.000 One family goes in the boat, all these animals, and a flood destroys everything. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:51.919 And at the end of that, God makes a covenant. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:52.799 A covenant. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.440 It's one of four covenants we have in the Old Testament. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:59.600 And a covenant is God says, I'll make a promise if you make a commitment. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:01.519 I'll make a promise, you make a commitment. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.639 So the first covenant is with Noah. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:06.879 And and this is an interesting one. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:13.120 This is in Genesis, uh Genesis 7 uh Genesis chapter 9. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:18.639 This is the only covenant that God makes where he doesn't ask for any commitment in return. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:19.759 He just makes a promise. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:24.000 And the promise he makes is he says, I'll never do that again. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:31.120 I'm never gonna, no matter how wicked y'all get, no matter how evil you get, no matter what, I'm not gonna wipe the earth out with a flood. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:32.080 I'm not gonna do that again. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.879 So he makes a covenant with Noah. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:52.240 The second one that we have is with uh Abraham, and this shows up in Genesis 17, the Abrahamic covenant, and he says to Abraham, I'm gonna make a great nation out of you. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:52.799 Okay? 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.039 Now, the population starts to grow again, and what happens? 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:00.639 Human beings, flesh, free will, all this stuff creates chaos. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:16.879 And he says, I'm gonna take you, Abraham, and I'm gonna take a small group of people, and I'm I'm going to introduce my kingdom into the world, and I'm gonna ultimately bless, and I'm going to extend my kingdom to the ends of the earth to all people, but I'm gonna start with this small group of people, and I'm starting with one person, Abraham. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:17.919 I'm gonna start with you. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.919 And he said, Your family will be a great nation. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:20.879 That's my promise. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.960 The second thing, though, the commitment I need from you is I want you to trust me. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:36.080 I want you to raise your family and the people around you to follow me and to worship me and to make me your God, okay, and so to obey and to bring justice and goodness into the world. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:37.440 So that's Abraham. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:38.799 God fulfills his commitment. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:43.600 Abraham's family generationally turns into 12 tribes, which become a nation. 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:48.960 So then God makes a covenant with the nation, with the nation of Israel. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:54.399 And this is in uh Exodus 19 through 24. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:14:08.480 Okay, this is uh Moses and the Ten Commandments, but it's not just Ten Commandments, it's 613 laws, and God makes a covenant now with the nation and says, Hey, um, I will bring prosperity and protection to you. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:12.480 You're gonna be my representative to the world. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:15.600 He said, But what I want you to do is keep my law. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.000 Well, you know what happened, okay? 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:22.240 There was lots of hits and lots of misses, more misses than hits. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:33.360 And so there it became very complicated because uh as the nation would rebel against God or would turn from God or forget about God, then God would say, Okay, you can have, go ahead, have your life, do it your way. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:34.639 Chaos would ensue. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:41.919 They would pray, he would, okay, and so it's just this sort of cycle of of the them breaking their promise and God restoring them. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:50.159 And then eventually God makes a covenant, his fourth covenant with David, and this is in 2 Samuel 7. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.279 And he says, David, here's what I'm gonna do. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:15:00.639 I'm gonna extend my covenant to everybody, and it's gonna the the Messiah is gonna come through your line. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:04.399 It's gonna it's gonna be one of your grandkids, great grandkids. 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:08.559 It's gonna come through your line, and and and it will all be restored. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:10.720 Which then leads us to Jesus, right? 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:21.679 So up until this, Jesus has made, or God has made covenants with with nations and people, and the the covenants were good, but the problem is the flesh of human beings. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:33.519 And this is when you read in the New Testament, you'll read in the book of Hebrews, you read in the book of Romans, it talks about, hey, the law wasn't bad, okay, the rules weren't bad, it was us, our flesh, okay, and all this. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:38.399 And so he says, so this is why Jesus came now in the in the new covenant. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:44.000 New covenant, Jesus shows up, and Jesus now is the fulfillment of these covenants. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:53.759 He comes, uh, he's he's a child of Abraham, he he he's uh an Israelite, he's from the line of David, and he's the one who did not sin, did not mess it up. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:16:01.120 And Jesus, as he's as he's living, okay, he's he's ushering in a new covenant, but he says something peculiar in John 14. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.240 He says, Listen, I know I'm here, I'm the Messiah, I'm doing all this. 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:06.960 He said, but it's actually gonna be better when I leave. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:08.480 It's like, why? 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:21.279 Well, I know he's doing miracles and he's doing things, he's changing things and making things better, but he said, it's gonna be better because uh ultimately there will be a new covenant, and I'm gonna send this Holy Spirit to live inside of you. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:24.080 And then it's gonna go to the ends of the earth. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.960 So now it will be available to all people. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:33.360 And then, of course, Paul writes in Romans 8.11, the spirit that raised Christ from the dead, that spirit lives inside of you. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:39.519 So now we operate, we live in the new covenant, not within the old covenant. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:40.639 Well, what does that mean? 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:43.279 Well, look what it says in 2 Corinthians 1.20. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:50.879 What this has to do with promises, it says, for all of God's promises, covenant promises, have been fulfilled in Christ. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:59.279 Okay, you gotta come away with this verse today, because this is this is gonna filter and color everything we talk about, the rest of the 15 minutes and 34 seconds. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:03.039 For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:12.240 God's promises are fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes, and through Christ our amen, which means yes and ascends to God for his glory. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:21.680 So the promises that we have, okay, a lot of these are in the Old Testament were for a group of people at a time. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:38.079 When you're now reading through the New Testament and you're reading the gospels and you're reading the writings of Paul and James and Peter and John, and you're reading these guys, you want to look, as you're looking at promises, you're going, what can I build my life on? 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:46.000 The promises that you want to look at that are things that are told to us, like this is true through Jesus. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:51.759 Because it's through Jesus who now has the given, sent the Holy Spirit to live inside. 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:53.519 That Spirit lives in you. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:18:00.960 It's through Jesus that these promises are rock solid, that these promises are fulfilled in you. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:02.079 That's what you want to look for. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:05.279 So what I'm gonna give you today are four promises. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:06.559 These aren't the only four. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:25.519 In fact, I pray you go on a quest into your New Testament, into your new covenant, and looking for promises that are fulfilled through Jesus, that you can have through the power of the Holy Spirit right now that you look for those, but I'm gonna give you four today that you can stand on and count on. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:26.000 All right? 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:27.519 We don't have to wait destination. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:28.319 What's God gonna do? 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:30.000 Well, he'll do it right now. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:31.920 Okay, four promises we have in Christ. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:35.920 The first one is this Christ's love strengthens you. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.119 Christ's love strengthens you. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:49.440 I'm talking today to people who would be honest enough with yourself to say, I feel weak. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:53.359 That's a tough one to admit. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:55.440 I feel weak. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:59.359 I feel weak emotionally, I feel weak physically. 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:04.319 I know what I'm supposed to do, I just don't know if I can do it. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:18.079 It might be weak in that I have an endeavor or something in front of me that I've never done before, and the unknown is terrifying, and I feel weak. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:20.640 Or it could be the opposite. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:34.079 It could be I've been doing this thing so much, so many times, I've forgiven so many times, I've showed up so many times, I've helped so many times, I've tried so many times, I've done it so many times, I'm so familiar, I just don't know if I have any more in me. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.119 You're feeling weak. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:39.119 You're feeling weak. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.880 Maybe you have a problem in front of you you can't figure out. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:43.839 It's a conundrum. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:44.960 I don't know where to go. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:47.599 I've been asking for help, nobody can help me. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:49.359 You're feeling weak. 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:56.880 We have a promise that the that Christ's love will bring you strength. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:57.680 Look at this. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.400 It says in Ephesians 3, 9, 16 through 19. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:10.880 Paul says, I pray that from his glorious, look at this, unlimited resources, he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:12.480 Verse 17. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.079 Then Christ, okay, that that there we go. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:17.119 Don't miss that. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:18.640 Christ, right? 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:19.680 Christ. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.039 In Christ, all of God's promises are fulfilled. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:32.880 So it says, then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him, and your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:55.440 And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide and how long and how high and how deep his love is, as intimidating as as your situation is, as intimidated as you may feel, as feeble and anemic as you may feel. 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:08.079 He said, I pray that in that feeling you would stand on a promise, that you would have a revelation of how wide and how high and how deep his love, that his strength would fortify you through his love. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:12.480 That you would stand on that, that you would be undergirded, that you would have a foundation. 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:18.559 It says in verse 19, may you experience, may you experience the love of Christ. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:25.839 Not just having a head knowledge, but to be hit with a wave of the love of Christ, though it's too great to fully understand. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:26.960 He said, Look at this. 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:32.000 Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.559 What do you do when you're powerless is you stand on a promise. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:40.720 You stand on a promise that Christ's love strengthens you. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:44.559 The same guy that wrote this said, I have been crucified with Christ. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:49.680 Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:52.559 And he said, This life I now live in the flesh. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:57.440 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.440 Listen, there is strength available to you. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.559 The strength that you don't have in your own flesh. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:04.160 I don't have the willpower for it. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:05.119 I don't have the determination. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:05.920 I don't have enough grid. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:07.359 I'm fresh and out of grid. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.119 I'm full equipment and I'm at a grid. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:14.319 Where am I gonna find strength? 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:19.839 Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:24.240 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:29.039 That includes whatever faces you, whatever's next, to be able to get through this moment. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:30.400 That's a promise. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:31.519 That's a promise. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:33.200 That wasn't for somebody else. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:34.319 That's for you. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:36.640 That wasn't a different era, a different time. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:38.240 Paul brings it right into the present. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:41.519 He says, The Holy Spirit gives this to you right now. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:42.799 Right now. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:44.319 God's love strengthens you. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:46.720 If you're weak today, you don't have to stay weak today. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.559 God wants to fill you with his strength. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:50.240 He wants to fill you with his love. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:55.359 Number two, nothing can separate you from him. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:03.200 Nothing can separate you from him. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:08.720 I'm talking to somebody today who feels completely and totally isolated. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:11.920 Completely alone. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:22.799 Romans 8, 38, and 39, Paul says, I'm convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:30.079 Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither fears for today or worry about tomorrow. 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.599 Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:35.039 Verse 39, look at this. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.920 No power in the sky above or earth beneath. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:45.839 Indeed, look, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:47.279 Oh, there he is. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:56.400 The one in whom all promises are fulfilled, is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:59.440 Nothing can separate you from Him. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:00.559 You are not alone. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:02.240 God is committed to you. 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:04.319 He's committed to you. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:05.839 He's with you. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:07.759 He's made up His mind about you. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:09.839 Jesus is perfect theology. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:11.839 He's perfect theology. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:13.599 Nothing can separate you from Him. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:16.319 You know, we we use a term in church often. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:17.920 Far from God. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:18.960 Far from God. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:21.359 Yeah, man, we're here for people who are far from God. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:25.519 Nobody's far from God. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.599 What do you mean, far from God? 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:28.000 What? 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.119 Because you sinned a lot. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:31.440 Because you're a heathen? 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:33.279 Is that what happens? 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:34.000 Is that how it works? 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:37.119 God's here, and every time you sin, you get a little further from God. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:41.440 And if you sin too much, you get so far from God, just can never cover the gap. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:42.400 Is that what you think? 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:44.400 That's horrible theology. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:46.480 Wretched, terrible. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:48.880 Unlearn it, please, right now. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:49.839 It's not true. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:51.119 Nobody's far from God. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:51.920 He's right there. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:53.279 Right there. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:54.640 He's right there. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:57.279 He's a whisper away, man. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:58.960 He's closer than a brother. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:00.240 He's right there. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:01.599 You see. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:11.119 You see, the guy who's close to me, who at 13 years old got really disillusioned, really confused, and decided to take his own path and meander. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:15.440 And decided to go down some addictions. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.799 And decided to do what he thought was running from God. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:20.960 He didn't create distance. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:23.119 God was right there. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:28.079 Have you ever read the parable of the lost sheep? 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:30.079 Shepherd can hunt. 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:31.920 He knows where his sheep are. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:33.839 Sheep know my voice. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:35.200 I'm right there. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:37.839 Nothing can separate you. 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:39.440 He's committed to you. 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:40.079 He's with you. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:46.240 And no matter how far you might think you are, how much distance you think there is, he's right there. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:49.119 He's a thought, a whisper away. 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:52.880 You don't have to go climb up a hill to find him. 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:54.720 He climbed up a hill to find you. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:57.920 Nothing is separate you. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:05.359 Number three, his peace is available right now. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.160 His peace is available right now. 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:11.920 Philippians 4, 6 and 7 says, Don't worry about anything. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:13.759 Instead, pray about everything. 00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:14.240 Okay? 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:14.880 Alright. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.599 So it's not saying that you're never gonna have worry or stress. 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:20.240 It's saying here's what you do with your worry and stress. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:21.279 Pray about everything. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:22.720 Stand on promises, right? 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:23.599 Here, here's the promise. 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:24.720 He said, Tell God what you need. 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:25.519 Thank him for what he's done. 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:26.720 Now here comes the promise. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:30.960 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds everything we can understand. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:34.240 His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live. 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:36.400 Oh, there he is again in Christ Jesus. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:39.440 All the promises have been fulfilled in Christ Jesus. 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:48.880 So he said, no matter what you're going through, there is a supernatural, beyond logic peace that will show up and will guard your heart. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:55.920 The same guy that wrote all of this, the Apostle Paul, and trying to help us understand promises. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:00.720 There's an interesting text in 2 Corinthians 1. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:09.519 So right before he says that all of God's promises are fulfilled in Christ Jesus, he he talks about his personal experience. 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:19.119 Okay, so if you go read 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 8, it says, uh, he said, I thought you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:23.599 He said, we were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:26.240 Anybody ever been there in that spot? 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:30.400 Okay, he said, if you've been there, uh he's been there too. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:35.119 He said, I thought uh beyond my ability to endure, and he said we thought we would never live through it. 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:38.079 In fact, look at this, we expected to die. 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:45.039 But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:49.759 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.079 We have placed our confidence in him. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:54.480 Look at this, and he will continue to rescue us. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:28:07.200 Now, here's what's interesting in that season of Paul's life, God still had work for him to do, he had life left to live, but he's at these near-death experiences. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:12.559 And he said, in the near-death experience, he goes, the first one, I thought I was gonna die. 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:18.079 I expected to die, but we lived, and with that, I was granted a wave of peace through the Holy Spirit. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.759 And so he said, and from there he goes, I believe God's gonna keep rescuing me. 00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:23.680 Now, here's what we know. 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:25.759 Let's keep going, let's not end there. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:28.799 Because he didn't write off into the sunset live happily ever after. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:32.079 He actually ended up going to prison and dying a martyr's death in prison. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:40.960 But what's really interesting is if you read 2 Timothy, which is the last book he wrote, and you read Paul's language, you can feel his peace. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:44.960 And he even knows is about to be done. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:49.440 You see, 2 Corinthians, he's going, This one ain't gonna take me out. 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:50.880 This one ain't gonna take me out. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:52.319 God's gonna spare me from that. 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:55.759 When he gets to 2 Timothy, he says, I've been poured out like a drink offering. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:03.039 I've been poured out like a drink offering, but I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:04.240 You see what I'm saying? 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:08.079 He had peace when he had time left, he had peace. 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:09.039 God's gonna deliver me. 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:12.799 When it came to the end, he had peace that the closure was coming. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:24.960 And what I want to tell you is God can grant you and will grant you have the promise that you will have supernatural peace that passes all understanding to guard your heart and mind, whatever season you're in. 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:26.880 Some seasons are seasons of closure. 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:34.880 Sometimes people and things and ideas and dreams and businesses and brothers and sisters and spouses die. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:49.920 Sometimes we lose things in every season, regardless of how tumultuous it might be, how emotional it might be, the promise we have is that the peace that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind as you live. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:50.319 How? 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:51.359 In Christ Jesus. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:52.319 It's in Christ Jesus. 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:54.720 All the promises are fulfilled. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:00.480 Before you leave today, I want to give you the last promise for today. 00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.960