WEBVTT 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:09.679 Welcome to Sharper Sword, the publication ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:16.480 Lighthouse believes that individuals can reach their potential for the Lord as they grow in Christ. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:22.399 We want to hear our Lord say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:29.600 Let's join Pastor Doug Fisher as he preaches another important biblical message from the Word of God. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.240 Would you take your Bible and look at Exodus chapter number three? 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:36.079 Exodus chapter number three. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:47.840 This morning I'm going to preach a message to you and a thought that I've never preached before, although probably for at least seven to eight years now, I've been using this for personally with people. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:54.320 When I sense the Spirit would have me to do that, and I'm going to give you a concept this morning that you'd like I'd like you to consider. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:01:02.000 I show you very quickly three places in the Bible where this concept of how the Lord may work with us. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:07.920 And when somebody says that God always does something a certain way, don't believe them. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:18.560 God does a certain something in someone's life, but he may do something totally unique and individuistic in someone else's life. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:29.680 When we say God always does this a certain way, may I say God is consistent, but he surprises us sometimes how he works. 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:32.640 And his ways are past our ways. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:37.840 And doesn't he sometimes do something and you just kind of go, wow. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.640 Never heard him do that before. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:45.760 I want to show you a pattern that he may use in your lives. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:48.799 He's used this in my life in a certain way. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:50.079 And I'll show you the pattern. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:51.920 Look at Exodus chapter 3. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:53.519 Exodus chapter 3. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:55.439 And notice verse number 12. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:57.120 Verse number 12. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.719 Moses is being spoken to by the Lord. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:09.120 And Moses right now is in the bottom of the Sinai Peninsula down near Horeb or Mount Sinai. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.039 And he's down there in that wilderness, that desert place watching sheep. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:20.240 And verse number 12, he said, God speaks to Moses, certainly I will be with thee. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:24.960 And this shall be a token unto thee. 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:28.000 Here's something that I'm going to ask you to take note of, Moses. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:29.199 Here's a token. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:30.800 Here's a pledge. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:34.639 Here's something to remind you of my pledge to you. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:42.080 A token would be like a wedding ring that reminds us of the pledge that's made at the wedding altar, a token. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:46.800 He says, Here's what I'm going to pledge to you, that I have sent thee. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:48.240 Here's the pledge. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:49.520 Here's the token. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:52.560 Here's how you're going to know that I sent you. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:54.319 Here's the authentication. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:55.919 Here's my signature. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:02.560 When thou hast brought the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:15.520 He said, Here's the token, here's the pledge, here's the problems, how you're going to know, how it's going to relate back to you in times that Moses later on doesn't know that he's going to wonder, is God in this? 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:17.039 How are we doing? 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:19.599 He says, I want you to remember, this is the token. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:28.560 When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain, this very mountain. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:34.400 This mountain that you've been watching the flock on, I'm going to bring you back here again. 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:35.840 Please listen to me. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:42.479 What's going to take place is uh let's say that this is Moses in the bottom of the Sinai Peninsula. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:52.080 He's near Horeb, he's near Mount Sinai, and the bush burns, and the bush doesn't consume, the bush burns. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:56.080 And God says to Moses, Take off your shoes, it's holy ground. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:01.439 And God speaks out of that burning bush and says, Now I'm calling you. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:02.639 Now I'm calling you. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:04.319 Moses is 80 years old. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:11.039 Now I'm calling you to go and deliver my people, which are your brethren, out of Egypt. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:16.639 And he says, The token is that I sent you is I'm going to bring you right back here again. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:27.759 You're going to go in and you're going to go in a way that you're not so much thinking about what you're doing or how you're doing, you're obeying me. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:39.360 And by the way, 40 years earlier in the book of Acts, when Moses was 40 years old, he left off being the son of Pharaoh's daughter because something came into his heart. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:41.439 It says it came into his heart. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:48.240 What came into his heart was to deliver his brethren, to go and free his brethren from that slavery, the Hebrews. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:53.040 But it was 40 years later that God said in the burning bush, now it's time. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:55.120 Now it's time, and I want you to do this. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:02.480 And I'm going to give you a token, a pledge, a promise, something that will authenticate this, something that you will remember this by. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:05.839 I'm going to bring you right back here again. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:07.519 Now please listen to me. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.480 Moses is not going to lead himself. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:12.720 He's going to be led by God. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:13.920 What do you mean? 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.959 He is going to leave Horeb in Sinai. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:26.240 He is going to go 250 miles or so through the wilderness, through the desert, from down in the Rephidim area, the Horeb, the Sinai area. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:32.639 He's going to come up the peninsula and he's going to go to Pharaoh, where Egypt is, 250 miles away. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:37.120 And by the way, you say, you're calculating right now, 250 miles, 60 miles an hour. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:38.720 Didn't work that way then. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:42.079 Didn't work that way. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:44.079 He goes up to Egypt. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.120 He goes in and says, Let my people go. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:55.680 And then may I remind you, there's a cloud, a pillar of cloud in the day, a pillar of fire at night that's going to lead him. 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:58.800 Moses is not choosing where he's going. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.519 The cloud is choosing where he's going. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:03.839 And the cloud is sent by God. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:09.120 The cloud is a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:11.920 And that pillar of cloud is going to lead him. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:13.600 And that pillar of fire. 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:29.040 And may I say to you, Moses is not leading himself, but that pillar of cloud, that pillar of fire, watch this, please, is going to lead him back, and he's going to loop back around to where God says, here's where I'll bring you back to. 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:34.720 Once in a while, God allows a person to do a loop. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:38.319 Let me say that again. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:42.959 Once in a while, God leads a person to do a loop. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.800 But I don't want you to just think about that geographically. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:48.319 There's more to it than that. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:49.279 Stay with me. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.360 When Moses leaves, he goes. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.519 Look at Exodus chapter number 13. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:55.279 Exodus chapter number 13. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:56.399 Stay with me if you would. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:59.519 In Exodus chapter number 13, notice verse 21. 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:01.040 Verse 21. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.639 And I want you to see this clearly if you're new to the Bible, verse 21. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:06.319 The Lord went before them. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.000 The Lord was leading them. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:09.439 Exodus 13, 21. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:14.399 The Lord was guiding them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:20.560 And by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:26.639 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:31.519 Brethren, God went before them, and God was leading Moses. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:40.879 And when he went up to Egypt, if he would, he got up there and he knew he was supposed to have the reliefs of those people. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:42.399 Let my people go. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:59.759 I won't go into the whole scenario, but when he leaves with who knows how many hundreds of thousands of Jewish people, hundreds of thousands of former slaves, hundreds of thousands in family. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:05.279 Let me say it again. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:15.439 We think man or woman is leading, and I'm telling you, if the Holy Ghost is in it, it's not the man or the woman leading, it's God leading the man or the woman. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:16.879 I'll say it again. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.000 Sometimes we think, well, they're they're doing what they want to do. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:22.240 Moses did not do what he wanted to do. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:25.519 Moses was obeying the cloud. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.639 He was obeying the pillar of fire. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:34.320 He would get up in the morning also and see if the cloud was still over the tabernacle or not. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:38.240 He would get up in the morning and see if the cloud was getting ready to move or not. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:42.720 He didn't know when the cloud was moving, he didn't know when it was staying. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:46.960 He just knew when that cloud began to move, everybody was supposed to pack up their tents. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:48.159 We're getting ready to go. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:49.600 Where are we going? 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:50.960 I don't know. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:52.960 How am I supposed to know that? 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:54.960 I'm just following the cloud. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:58.720 Brethren, we're supposed to be following the Holy Ghost of God, is that right? 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:02.320 And sometimes the Lord will loop us around. 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:03.440 What do you mean, loop? 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:08.080 Loop like we go in a place where we were and come back again. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:08.960 Wait a minute. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:12.799 Not just a geographical place, it could be a spiritual place. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:16.799 It could be a commitment place, it could be a ministry place. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:19.200 There's a lot of looping in the Bible. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:20.960 You say, why do you say looping? 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:22.320 It's just the term. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:23.360 What do you mean? 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:24.320 Is loop in the Bible? 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.000 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:27.840 That's just the term I put on it. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:29.360 You say, is it inspired? 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:31.279 No, it's not an inspired term. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:34.960 It's just a way that I'm thinking about he made a loop. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:47.759 But the token was, I'll bring you right back to this place where the bush burned, and I called you, and when I bring you back to that place, you'll remember that I called you. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:53.039 You'll know in authentication, you'll know of a certainty that I'm with you. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:57.039 And by the way, he didn't know the stress he was going to be under at that time. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:01.360 He didn't know that these people were not going to be totally in agreement with him. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:05.519 He did not know there was going to be fights and feuds and different things going on. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:07.679 He didn't know they were going to complain a lot. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:10.480 He didn't know how he was going to provide for them. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:14.799 How in the world would Moses know how to get water and how to get food for them? 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.200 How in the world did Moses know about manna? 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:19.200 He didn't know about any of that yet. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:23.600 All he was told was to go and do it, and God said, I'll provide along the way. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:37.519 And so when they went out, may I say to you, God uh fed them with manna, and he got over here and looped back around to Horeb and Rephidim, and that's where he brought water out of that rock with his rod. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:42.559 And that's where Joshua defeated the Amalekites because that rod was lifted up in the air. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:42.960 What? 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:43.919 Mount Horeb. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:53.200 And then Sinai was the place where God came down in an inferning fire and spoke to Moses and spoke to the people, if you would, in that fire. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:58.159 And Moses went up, and Joshua went up, and then the 70 elders that went up. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.320 May I say to you, that was the area. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.240 Did Moses know that area well? 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:04.080 He was watching a flock. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:06.720 And the flock had to move once in a while. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:11.919 The flock had to, you'll see them grazing over here, and then the flock grazing over there. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.480 He knew Horeb and Sinai very well. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:15.840 He knew Mount Orab. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:17.840 He knew Mount Sinai very well. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:23.279 He had walked it for 40 years, following sheep, leading sheep. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.720 I'll say it again, leading sheep. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.720 He didn't know he was going to lead a bunch of other sheep that way. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:32.320 He didn't understand. 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:37.600 Don't you think he was out there going, man, that that little rebellious bat sheep? 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:39.039 I gotta go get that. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:40.399 I gotta go with that person. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.200 They just ran away. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:43.440 He didn't know he'd have people like that. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:45.440 That he'd have to go get. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.279 Come on, are you still with me or not? 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.320 The idea he was learning shepherding. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:56.320 But he didn't know how to shepherd lead like a shepherd in Egypt because they didn't believe in shepherding. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:59.600 They believed in dictatorial leadership. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:06.000 Pharaoh's leadership style, Egyptian's leadership style, that Moses was well versed in. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:10.159 He was a man mighty in words and deeds in the Egyptian culture. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:11.679 Come on, that's what Acts says. 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:16.240 He knew how to lead that way, but God was going to teach him how to lead as a shepherd. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:22.320 May I say, as sometimes in leadership in the Pharaoh community, you command. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:27.120 May I say, when Moses was leading, he told him what God told him to do. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:30.799 He commanded at times, but he commanded from out front. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:32.080 What do you mean? 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:37.120 Shepherds in Israel, they don't command and drive their flocks. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.159 Shepherds in Israel never drive their flocks. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.720 They would consider that a bad shepherd. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:46.320 Shepherds in Israel lead their flocks. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:49.039 They're out front, and the sheep follow. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:55.360 If you ever saw a shepherd beating and leading their flock from behind in Israel, they would think, culture, that was a terrible thing. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:56.879 You got to get to know their sheep. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:58.960 You got to know their voice, and they heard his voice. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:05.120 And he led those sheep, but the thing that was leading him was the pillar of cloud and the fire. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:11.440 And he led, and God led, and they went right back to where they were supposed to be in God's will. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.840 And they made, he made, Moses made this loop. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.600 Look, if you wouldn't stay with me, uh look at Genesis, the book of Genesis. 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:21.279 Look at Genesis chapter 12. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:22.480 Everybody okay today? 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:23.200 Say amen. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:25.519 Genesis chapter number 12. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:28.960 And watch Genesis chapter number 12 carefully, if you would. 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:32.960 Genesis chapter number 12, let's study Abram a little bit, or Abraham. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:34.080 We just studied Moses. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:35.279 Look at Genesis 12. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.960 Look at verse 7, please. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:38.080 Verse 7. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:47.200 And it says, The Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed, your offspring, your family, will I give this land. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:51.600 And there builded, Abram builded an altar. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.960 And notice unto the Lord who appeared unto him. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:14:12.480 And notice what he says, and he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Hai on the east, and there he built an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:13.200 In where? 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:14.240 In Bethel. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:22.240 And may I say to you, this Bethel is a term, a Jewish term, that means a place of worship, a holy place. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.879 It's where he built this altar, it's where God, if you would, appeared and spoke to him. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.039 But now notice verse number 10. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:34.399 There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:38.159 So I want you to look up here, if you would, just for a moment. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:40.960 Here is Abram at uh at Bethel. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:44.720 And God appears and he builds this altar at Bethel. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:52.480 And then God, knowing, has got a famine going on, and so Abraham journeys to Egypt. 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:52.960 Why? 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:57.279 Because there's a famine back there, and he journeys down to Egypt. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:06.080 Not that this is uh set in stone, but the distance between Bethel and where he went into Egypt is about 250 miles. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:09.120 And may I say to you, it's over the top of that peninsula. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.519 If you remember Moses, he was at the bottom. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.519 Uh Abram, he was on the top of that peninsula and went over to Egypt. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:16.559 There was a famine. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:18.480 And then I want you to look, please look. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:19.919 Look at Genesis 13. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:20.559 You're doing great. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:21.759 Genesis 13. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:24.000 And notice what it says in verse number one. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:25.360 Verse number one. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.000 And Abraham went out of Egypt. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:33.200 He and his wife and all that they had in Lot with him in the south. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:38.159 And God had sent him down, and now he was sending him back up again. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:40.480 And he's going to take him back to Bethel. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:51.039 But I want you to notice, and we didn't read chapter 12, the rest of it, when Abraham returns, verse 2, Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver, in gold. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:16:06.639 And he went on his journey from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai, unto the place of the altar where he had made there at first. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:11.200 And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:12.559 So please look up here. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:18.000 Or what happens is he's at Bethel, builds an altar, Hai there. 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:24.240 God appears to him, speaks to him, and then they go down, if you would, and there's a famine in the land. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:35.919 And in an unusual way, which I don't want to focus on right now, if you don't mind, Abram became very rich, please, not because of Abram, but because God blessed him in a very unique way. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.039 I'll let you read that yourself sometimes. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.759 Because God's ways are past finding out. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:49.840 In a very unusual way, when he leaves Egypt, he's very rich in cattle, he's very rich as a husbandry. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:17:01.519 He's very rich, if you would, and he's led back up, right back to Bethel again, where God appeared to him, and the idea is he returned back to Bethel. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:03.679 Please look, it was a loop. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:09.519 It was somewhere he traveled, he got done what he got done there, and he came back. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:13.599 Now, please again, don't think just geographical. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.799 I've looped personally in my life in San Diego. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:19.680 What do you mean? 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:20.640 You mean you left? 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:21.519 No, no, no. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:23.519 I I I've been living here all this time. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.680 Since 1980, I've been living here. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:27.759 But you can loop where you're at. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:29.279 Huh? 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:32.160 You can loop right where you're at. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:38.960 You can leave something for a while, go out for a little bit, and return back to that something. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.319 Because the something is not always geographical. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:45.039 Sometimes the something is a ministry. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:47.279 Sometimes the something is a calling. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:49.839 Sometimes the something is a relationship. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:54.480 Sometimes the something is a calling, a commitment, a value made. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:18:03.759 Sometimes it's something that you didn't expect, that you didn't even notice, and it's you you go out from it and you come back again and you realize and go, you know what? 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:05.279 I've been here before. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:07.599 But something's different now. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:10.240 What do you mean something's different now? 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:13.039 That loop taught me something. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:16.079 That loop educated me. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:19.359 That loop matured me. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:33.920 While I was in San Diego all these years, I went from hope to a loss of hope. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:38.000 For about nine months called depression. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:43.359 The hope again. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:46.559 You say, What did you learn? 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:48.400 I learned what hope is. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:54.240 The best way to learn what hope is, is to not have it for a while. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:56.960 You say, what did you just get rid of your hope? 00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:59.119 I had nothing to do with it. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:01.519 Well, I did have something to do with it. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:10.880 I began to look at myself in a way, maybe, but I believe the Lord led me to a place where he took his hope away for a while. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:13.039 Now, wait a minute, God wouldn't do that. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:14.480 Read your book. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:16.079 Read your book. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:20.880 You say, why do you hope we we talk in the Bible about faith, hope, and charity. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:23.039 And we talk a lot about faith. 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:26.000 And we talk a lot about charity because it's defined. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:31.599 I want to tell you though, some people don't know what hope is until you run into somebody who's lost hope. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:40.559 And I want to tell you, I didn't, I don't think I lost hope totally, but if you live over here without hope long enough, it can really mess your mind up. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:42.960 That shaken mind. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:46.160 That mind that has imaginations. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:51.920 That mind that crosses over from unworthy to worthless. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:58.799 That mind that puts blame on yourself, even in things you hadn't even done. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:01.119 But you just say, I must have done it. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:04.880 That mind that exaggerates all the negative. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:09.599 Because when you lose hope, all you see is negative. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:15.839 Sometimes it's negative about yourself, and sometimes it's constant negative about other people and about life. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:25.519 And may I say, if you've ever been in that place of where hope was lacking, to return back to hope again is a wonderful journey. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.759 You say, no, wait a minute, you're saying God would allow that? 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:32.000 Read the book of Job. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:34.559 Job looped. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.240 What do you mean he looped? 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.160 He looped spiritually. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:50.720 He went away after his children died, after all his health problems that Satan was bringing about under God's allowance. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:57.440 And by the time he gets over here in this loop, he said, I wish I would have never been born. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:00.400 I wish I would have never existed. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.960 This has all come upon me. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:04.319 Blaming himself. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:08.559 Then Eliphaz, Bill, Dad, and Zophar show up and they blame him every more. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.599 But by the end of the book of Job, he's looped. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:15.839 He's back over here and he's closer to God than ever before. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:19.200 And he knows God in a better way than he ever did before. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:20.000 Why? 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:22.720 Because that loop taught him something. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.720 That loop, that bad experience, that situation taught him something. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:34.799 I'll guarantee you, when Moses looped and came back again, he knew more when he came back to that same mountain than when he left. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.799 He knew more about shepherding people than ever before. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:47.200 When Abraham went into Egypt, left Bethel, and came back to Bethel, Abraham knew more about God than when he left. 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:51.839 I'm saying to you, once in a while, God puts us through a loop. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:54.799 You call it whatever you want, a journey. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:57.599 Whatever you want to call it, it's a journey. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.839 And sometimes it's relationship and communication. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.720 Commitment and maturity and growth. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:04.160 Look at one more if you would. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:04.640 Stay with me. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:05.759 You're doing great this morning. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.680 Let's go to the book of Acts real quick. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:09.359 Just so you know I read the New Testament. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.039 Acts chapter 13. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:12.960 Acts chapter 13. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:14.000 Everybody all right? 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:16.960 Sometimes the loop is very unusual. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:18.640 Acts chapter 13. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:22.640 Sometimes the loop, the journey, doesn't make any sense. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:24.960 Sometimes it looks like the journey. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:26.880 How can God be in this? 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.759 There's just no way God can be in this. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.519 And God shows up later and said, I've been with you all the way. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.240 I've been directing you all the way. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:42.000 Maybe you didn't see the pillar of cloud, but I had the Holy Ghost in you telling you what to do. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:44.640 I mean, we matured you. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.079 Job, when he got there, you're in Acts 13. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:54.480 Job, when he got over to Job chapter 40, 41, 42, Job said, I thought I knew you. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:57.680 Now I know you. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:02.559 And by the way, Job in chapter 1 was a perfect man. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:10.079 Upright, eskewing evil, even sacrificed for his children just in case they didn't. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.200 He was a man that walked with God that God had blessed. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:18.240 But by the time he got over there, where he lost in his mind everything. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:27.200 Lost all his children, lost the confidence of his wife, lost all that he owned, lost the respect of his friends. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:28.720 Come on, are you still with me? 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:33.680 Slandered, all kinds of things, and was down on himself. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:41.200 When God brought him back, God says, now I have a couple questions to ask you while we're coming back. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:44.160 Where were you when I formed this? 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:46.559 Where were you when I did this? 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:49.200 Where were you when this happened? 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.279 Where were you when I did this? 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:55.359 Job, explain to me this, if you would, that I've done. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:57.200 And he brought him back that way. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:00.160 And Job was like, I don't know the answers to any of that. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:03.839 You say, What was God doing? 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.960 Showing Job how great God is. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:09.759 In a new way. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:11.839 In an unusual way. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:14.559 In fact, you say, What do you mean he brought him back closer? 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:16.240 He brought him back closer. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:20.720 He said to the three friends, You pray, I won't accept it. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:22.960 Eliphaz bend down and so forth. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:27.599 You go down to Job and ask Job to pray for you. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:30.640 When Job prays for you, I'll accept it. 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.920 Otherwise, I'm going to do with you according to your folly. 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:35.599 You need to go to Job. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:37.200 And you need to get right. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:39.359 And by the way, Job needs to get right with you. 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:45.200 And when he prays for you, and by the way, when Job prayed, God released him from his captivity. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:46.319 What was that? 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:47.440 That was the loop. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:48.480 What do you mean? 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:50.880 What was coming out of his captivity? 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:59.839 His mind returned, his thoughts, his confidence, uh, his his abilities, his outlook, maybe his hope. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:06.559 Because he went back again and built something much greater than he'd never built before, but it wasn't him, it was God. 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:08.319 And why would God do that? 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:10.720 So Job had greater influence. 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:14.240 Greater influence doesn't come without greater humility. 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:16.400 Everybody's still all right today? 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:20.720 And sometimes this loop is a journey to say, I want to elevate you. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:23.119 I want to make you more influential. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:25.279 Not popular, influential. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.119 It's not popular. 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:28.240 It's not look at me. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:31.440 It's look at God, look at God, look at God, look at God. 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:34.799 It's the influence to look at God, look at God, look at God. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.039 Why did God give him all those things again? 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:39.920 Because God, Job could say, I really know God now. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.640 I thought I knew him before, but I had some self-righteousness in me. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:46.960 And by the way, read it, you'll see it in there. 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:49.279 I'm not condemning Job. 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:53.119 I respect Job greatly, but in the middle, God purged something. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:55.119 And the loop can do that. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.000