August 29, 2025 • 48 mins
You’ve got a reputation with the devil. And believe it or not, that’s a good thing.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our
podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope
it gives your perspective to see God is moving.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
In your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Are you excited for the Word of God today? I
sure am grateful to preach and share this with you.
Thank you worship team. If you want to look at
Joshua chapter two today with me for a moment, very
interesting story in scripture. Those of you at our Uptown
location and our Melbourne campus, you heard me share from
(00:39):
this scripture.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You heard me share from the scripture at our Vision
nights over the last few weeks. And I want to
share this with the church today and it's a subject
that I think will be relevant for each of us.
And I pray that you'll hear this personally for yourself.
By the way, what an awesome advantage it is when
(01:03):
everyone in the church is leaned in to hear the
word of God. I was telling one of the people
who helps me on the weekend how exhausting it is
when preaching feels like mixed martial arts, you know, And
I don't want to be like Connor McGregor up here.
And it's not like that, you know, it's not.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Even a performance. When we do this, God speaks.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
And when everybody comes with that attitude and that perspective,
we realize that it is our responsibility to receive the
word of God. And we don't put all this pressure
on some guy with a microphone as if somehow I
could fix your life.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
I can't.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
My opinion is empty. But God's word is powerful. And
so when you bring that expectation to the Word of God,
it really makes it dynamic and explosive. So all that
just to say, look at your name and say wake up,
pay attention. I know you're ready. Joshua Chapter two, verse one,
then Joshua's Son of None secretly sh secretly. You don't
(02:13):
have to tell everybody everything you're doing secretly. You don't
have to post every time you pray on Instagram. You
don't have to put a coffee mug post for every devotion.
You know, I'm talking about the coffee mug and the
Bible and spread open and then you highlight a few
extra verses before you take the picture make it look
like then Joshua's son of none, sh don't tell everybody,
(02:36):
but just secretly sent two spies from Shiitem. And that's
a long eye when you pronounce shi them. You want
to be careful when you pronounce shyt them if you
ever preach from Joshua, chapter two, verse one, Go look
over the land, he said, especially Jericho. Notice he didn't
(02:59):
tell them to look at every city, because you can
get overwhelmed if you think about all the battles you
have to fight.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
This is just the first one, the next one.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And when we get so focused on everything that we
have to overcome, it SAPs our strength and we can't
take our next step because we're thinking fourteen steps ahead.
And you can wreck looking at your GPS instead of
keeping your eyes on the next turn. Okay, So they
went and entered the house of a prostitute ooh named
(03:36):
Rahab and stayed there. Why there there was nothing else
available on Airbnb, so they.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Stayed in the house of a prostitute named Rahab.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
King of Jericho was told, look, some of these relights
have come here tonight to spy out the land. So
the King of Jericho sent this message to Rehab bring
out the men who came to you and entered your house,
as they have come to spy out the whole land.
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Now,
if there's one thing that Rahab's profession has taught.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Her, it is discretion.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I'm saying she might not have lived the most holy life.
The Bible says she was a prostitute, but she knew
how to hide men.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And so I point that out to let you know.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
God is going to use everything, even the stuff that
you're not proud of, if you offer it to him.
He'll use even the things that you want to hide.
And Rahab hid the men because that's something she knew
how to do. I won't say any more about that,
because y'all are looking at me so angelic. She said, Yeah,
(04:48):
the men came to me, but I did not know
where they had come from.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate,
they left.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I don't know which way they went by the way.
All of this is a lie. This is a lie.
So we got a lying prostitute that God uses to
fulfill his purpose and demonstrate his glory in the earth.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Put that in your theological pipe. And to that vape.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That so she's lying and she's hiding the men, and
then she uses misdirection. TuS can go after them quickly.
You may catch up with them parentheses. But she had
taken them up to the roof and hidden them under
(05:30):
the stalks of flax she'd laid out on the roof.
This was not her first time hiding a man in
her house. So the men set out in pursuit of
the spies on the road that leads to the fords
of the Jordan, And as soon as the pursuers had
gone out.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
The gate was shut.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Before the spies laid down for the night, she went
up on the roof and said to them, I know
that the.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Lord has given you this land, and that.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
A great fear of you has fallen on us, so
that all who live in this kind of tree are
melting in fear because of you. These are the same
enemies that the Israelites were so afraid of forty years
earlier that they wouldn't go in. But what they were
running from was actually afraid of them. You realize sometimes
(06:16):
you're running from a defeated foe. You realize sometimes you're
running from stuff God has already dealt with if you
would move forward. And so she says, we've heard about
you firstin we've heard how the Lord dried up the
water of the Red Sea.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That was four decades ago, they're still talking about it.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
We heard how the Lord dried up the water the
Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt,
and what you did to Sion in Augu, the two
kings of the Emirites east of the Jordan, whom you
completely destroyed. And when we heard of it, our hearts
melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
For the Lord, your.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
So turn to the person next to you and tell
them what Rehab told. The spies say, you got a reputation.
The title of this message is reputation Rehab. You didn't
just come to church today, You came.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
To reputation Rehab.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
How many realized that everything people called you is not
something you should respond to at this stage in your life.
You got to move past some things and see yourself
in a new light. At least that's what God told
Joshua when he stated him as the new leader of
Israel after Moses left. He said, it's a new day,
and you are the leader I have chosen and appointed
(07:36):
to lead these people into the land that I promised
their ancestors. And God in Joshua Chapter one reminds Joshua
of his reputation, not the reputation of Joshua, the reputation
of Jehovah.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
He said, I am the God.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Who spoke to the forefathers of this faith tradition, which
you are a continuation of. But it didn't start with you.
God says, I have a reputation. And when you face
the resistance, when you go into this new land that
I've called you to conquer, I want you to remember
my reputation.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
God said, I have a.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Reputation of picking people out that are obscure and unknown
and using them to accomplish my purpose in the earth.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
I have a reputation.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I have a reputation for calling men like Abraham and
taking him from her of the Chaldeans. And even though
he's too old to have babies and there's no prescriptions
available to help him pro create, I have a reputation
for doing what cannot be done in the flesh. For
it's not by might nor by power. But by my spirit,
(08:46):
says the Lord.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I have a.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Reputation, and sometimes we need to be reminded of God's reputation.
You know, we need to be reminded every once in
a while that the wind and.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
The waves know who he is. They know that voice.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
To you, my sheep, know my voice. I'm the one
who dried up the red Sea. I just want you
to remember my reputation. That's why I mentioned Bible stories
in church, like Daniel and the Lions den because the
lions knew that when God speaks, their mouths had to
stay shut. They knew that voice, they knew that voice.
(09:20):
I'm encouraged to know that God's reputation is the basis
of my faith, not mine, not mine. I think it's
really funny sometimes how much time we spend trying to
build our reputation with people whose opinions don't ultimately matter.
(09:46):
You know, when I first started the church, a well
meaning minister gave me a piece of advice. He said,
protect your reputation. You only get one. I wish that
were that's true, you know, I wish you could protect
your reputation and that if you always did the right thing,
(10:07):
people would always say the right things about you. The
fact is we live in a world that doesn't know
the difference between a rumor and a reputation anymore, and
to spend all of your energy trying to protect your reputation.
The Lord really spoke to me and dealt with me
the first time that I would defend myself against people
(10:27):
who were critical of my ministry. And you know, you
can spend so much time trying to protect your reputation,
which is really ego wanting people to have a certain
image of you, that you start preaching to the people
who don't like you, and you're angry at people who
(10:47):
are smiling at you because you're not really talking to them.
It happened to me early in ministry, and the Lord
spoke to me.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
He spoke to me very specifically.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
He said, why don't you worry about protecting your integrity
and let me protect your reputation. When you stop to
think about it, even the premise that you only have
one reputation is faulty. I mean, really, you have as
many reputations as you have relationships in that room.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
What I mean is some people at work think.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You're quiet because you are around them, because you don't
trust them or like them, or have anything to say
to them. But if we ask your family like I
will never forget when our middle child, Graham, first went
to school and the teacher emailed us how he talked
too much in class, and it was so funny because
(11:46):
we could not get him to talk at home.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
He was so quiet at home.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And the teacher said, he will not shut up in class.
He's a wonderful child, but could you just talk to
him about talking out of.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Turn in class? I said, well, could you talk to
him about talking intern at home? Because we can't get
him to say anything. And now he's.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Eleven and he talks all the time. But I remember
thinking how strange it was that he could be known
as the talkative kid in class. But maybe the birth
order or something at home. Maybe we won't shut up
long enough to give him a chance at home. And
you know, it's really true, because sometimes we only get
(12:23):
to know church you.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I wonder how big is the gap.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Between your reality and your reputation, because it's never been
easier to develop a virtual reputation. You know, where I
see people online and in their profile it says life coach,
and they're thirteen I don't understand.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
How you're going to coach me, and you've never been
on the field.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
It says public figure, and you got a private account
with twelve followers.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I don't understand it, but I do because we are
living in a world that wants to watch this. Reputation
without repetition, and a true reputation is not built by
what you occasionally do or wish that you were, or
want people to see you as.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
It's not something that you project or perfect.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Your real reputation comes from relationship and repetition, and relationship
and repetition. And I had to come to the point
where I realized it is not what people who don't
know me think about me, or what I can convince
them of that brings me peace in my heart and.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Fulfills my calling.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I want to focus my life on developing a reputation
that is based on repetition and relationship, that I would
do the right thing over and over and over and
over and over again, and when I don't, I'll apologize
and I'll get back on and do it over and
over and over. Isn't that how God built his reputation
(14:06):
in your life?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Because he helped.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
You over and over and over and over again, and
he gave you mercy over and over and over and
over again. And he made ways over and over and
over and over again. And he heard your cry over
and over and over again. And he forgave you for
that same sin that you committed over and over and
over again. But when you needed grace, you found it
(14:29):
over and over and over again. And he woke you
up over and over and over again. And he lets
you see another day over and over and over again.
So I will praise Him over and over and over again.
Because God has a reputation with me. I know him
as faithful. And watch this. I don't let anybody else
(14:52):
build my belief about who God is. I don't need
to believe somebody else's report about God.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I have a.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Personal relationship with Him, and God's reputation with me is
based on his faithfulness in my life.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I don't go off of what I heard about. I
go off what I know.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Don't ever let somebody else misrepresent God and run you
away from church.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
You ought to know God for yourself. It's a it's
a relational thing.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
So we're losing that, and we're so quick to tear
people down, and God forgive us for all the times
where we've believed a report about someone that we didn't
even know. In a day where it is so easy
to project a false reputation and so easy to destroy
a reputation, you can destroy your own reputation with two
(15:50):
hundred and eighty characters.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Am I right?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I don't call names from this pulpit, but you know
what I'm talking about. And yet we stand between the
reality of who we are and kind of who we
think we need to be.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
And into that gap.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
God speaks and it's the most amazing thing. I can't
get over this, and it doesn't seem like a smart strategy,
but God chooses over and over again. The faithful God
entrusts his reputation.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
To faithless people.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
And so for forty years the Israelites will wander in
the wilderness because they believed a bad report, even though
they had a history with God.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Now Joshua does something interesting.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
After he calls the people together and tells them prepare
and consecrate yourselves for what God is going to do,
and reminds them of what God has already done. He
sends back to verse one, two spies, two Spies, instead
of twelve. When Moses got ready to check out Canaan
four decades ago, he sent twelve spies and ten came
(17:07):
back with a fear report. So it's almost as if
Joshua has learned from that exploit, being one of the
two spies who said, if God is with us, we
can't fail, and he made up his mind this time.
I only need to, somebody shout, I only need to
look at the person on either side of you and
(17:28):
tell both of them I.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Only need to. I don't need too many opinions in
this stage of my life.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I'm out of middle school now, and I can't live
by what everybody else thinks or does not anymore. I
only need too, somebody say, I only need to. And
I read in my Bible that surely goodness and mercy
will follow.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Me all the days of my life.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
So I got goodness and I got mercy.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I only need to say it again.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I only need to, and I can't afford to consult
everybody's opinion and every cable news channel. I got goodness
and I got mercy. I don't need Fox, I don't
need CNN, I don't need Twitter, I don't need Facebook.
I don't need Instagram. I don't need my past to consult.
I don't need to consult too many people. You know,
(18:17):
we start calling people and asking them for advice. You
really don't want advice anymore after you've called the third person.
You want affirmation and attention. I have a shortcut now
as a pastor. When people say I'd like your advice
on whatever they say next, I don't respond to I
(18:40):
say what do you want, because I'll just say what
you want to hear and save you the time from
calling the next person and the next person until somebody
will finally tell you what you want to hear. Because
a lot of us, maybe not you, maybe somebody. You know,
(19:05):
a lot of us live our whole life consulting opinions.
And when you get too many opinions, it really crowds
out the voice of God. And you know what's funny
about people. You got to be so careful because people
will a lot of times and situations will a lot
(19:25):
of times feel they will categorize stuff. Look, the Bible
says they went into Jericho and entered the house of
a prostitute named Rahab. Why would you go into the
house of a prostitute in order to discern the promise
of God. Let me tell you a little secret. God
(19:46):
uses who he wants to use. I'm losing amens by
the minute. You must be from out of town. God
uses who he wants to use.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
And so.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Isn't it fascinating that the God, who has a spotless reputation,
when he gets ready to bring his people into the promise,
uses a woman with a reputation, not a reputation like
we think God can use, not a reputation of perfection.
(20:21):
But God uses someone with a reputation. And furthermore, someone
who the spies would consider an enemy. Technically, Rehab was
an enemy of Israel, and yet God used their.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Enemy to show them who they were. She said, I
know who.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
You are, and I know that God has given you
the victory. Is it possible that your enemy knows more.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
About who you are than you do?
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And is that why he's been fighting you like he's
been fighting you.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
It's just a question, saints.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Is it possible, just a little bit possible, that the
trial that you're going through is actually a testament to
the power that lives within you.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
The devil doesn't waste bullets if he's leaving you alone.
He knows you aren't anything worth fighting against. God used
their enemy to show them who they were God.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
God used their struggle to confirm his word.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
It's crazy, how I said, Now let me teach you.
It's crazy how we have set.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Up a false expectation that the proof of God's favor
in our life will always be that our fights will
decrease and our comfort will increase. But when God was
revealing himself in the Book of Job, the devil was
(22:27):
going all through the earth trying to look for somebody
he could tamper with. And when the devil presented himself
before the throne with the angels, because the enemy can't
do anything without God's permission, I'm afraid in a lot
(22:49):
of our churches we've given the devil a reputation that
he is an equal power with God.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
He's not. He's not.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
And God asked a quest question to Satan. He said,
have you considered my servant job? Have you thought about
picking on him? Because he's my guy? Now, whatever you
have to do to get on that list where God
tells the devil he can mess with you, I don't
want to be that holy. I want to find that
mark a.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Slipping of men. But God said, have at his stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
You can touch him, his family, you can't touch him.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And when the devil came back and said, I.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Tried it and you were right, he didn't curse you.
But if you let me hurt him, it's one thing
for everything around him.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
To be affected.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
But if you let me hurt his body, he'll curse you.
And God said, you can do it, but you can't
kill him. And after that period of testing had been completed,
after Job survived all.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Of the rounds.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Now, this means he lost not only his income, not
only his business, not only his belongings, but his children.
And the only person who stayed alive with Job was
his wife.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
And if you read about her.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
He'd probably praying God would go ahead and wipe her
out too, because she wasn't a very good wife. She said,
go ahead and curse God and die. Let's get it
over with. You're really gonna put up with this and
still serve God. But Job would not charge God with wrongdoing.
And yes, at the end of God's at the end
of Job's life, he was doubly blessed. But I don't
(24:36):
think the point of the book of Job is that Job.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Got double for his trouble.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
That's nice for a bumper sticker, but he still lost
his children.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
What's the point.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
The point is that the devil didn't mention Job's name.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
God did.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Job had a reputation with Heaven, and Heaven knew about Job.
He can be trusted with trouble. He won't break beneath
the weight of a burden.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Heaven knows about you.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
You can raise those ADHD kids, those abcd fghijk.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Elemento pea kids.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
God knew he could give you the whole alphabet and
you wouldn't kill him. God knew he could trust you
with sorrow. God knew he could trust you with trial
and with tribulation.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
He knew that about you. And if the devil isn't
messing with you, maybe he doesn't even know you're here.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Like one time in the Book of Acts, these seven
sons of a Jewish priest, they saw Paul laying hands.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
On people and they were like, oh, that's cool. Huh.
Maybe we say what he says, we can do what
he does, and maybe we can make money off of it.
All right, in the name of Jesus, come out. And
when they said it.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
The demons for and said, I heard you say Jesus,
and we know him. I heard you say Paul, and
we know him. We hate him. We're an assignment against him.
We send snakes to bite him. We put Paul through shipwrecks.
(26:23):
We stir up people and create contentions so that stones
are thrown at Paul.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
We've heard of Jesus, We've heard of Paul. But who
are you?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Look at somebody next to you and say it in
that falsetto voice like I said it, like prince, say
who are you? Who are you? Who are you?
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I'm concerned.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I'm concerned that a lot of times we are convinced
that our trouble is an indication of the absence of
God's resence, when more times than not, in the scripture
you can find that trouble accompanies God's presence. He is
(27:13):
an ever present help in the time of trouble.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
So if you're in trouble, you're in God. Who are you?
Who are you? The Devil's looking at some of y'all,
Who are you? I don't even have to I don't
even have to mess with your life. You're doing a
(27:37):
good job by yourself. Who are you? Who are you?
I'll get paid to argue, would you no, So they.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Go to the house of Rehab the prostitute, and y'all
probably would not preach about a prostitute if she were
only mentioned in Joshua chapter two, because I would figure
that's the Old Testament. But a funny thing happened in
(28:15):
the Book.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Of Matthew.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
When the writer started listening the genealogy of Jesus and
all of the generations that he came through. It's like
fourteen generations and then fourteen more, and then fourteen more.
And this is the stuff that we skip over sometimes
when we're reading the Christmas story because it's all these
(28:38):
names that we don't recognize, and so and so begot so,
and so begot so, and so begot so and so.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
And really, all I want to do is get to
verse eighteen. Then came Jesus.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
But some of the stuff you skip is some of
the places where God speaks. I said, some of the
stuff you skip is some of the stuff God speaks through.
And Matthew said in Matthew one, verse five, I feel
like preach him Salmon the father of Boas, whose mother
was Rayhab, whose mother was Rehab. Now to get to
(29:11):
Jesus in the genealogy, you got to go through Rehab,
the prostitute. God works through who he wants to work through,
and all things work together for the good of Him
that loved the Lord whose mother was Rayhab. Stop being
so stuck up. Stop categorizing people and casting them out
(29:33):
like you don't have issues.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
You ought to be glad to see Rahab's name in there.
Hope for me too.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
If Rahab made it, maybe I can by faith shout
it out by faith by faith. So then you get
to Hebrews eleven, and not just once, but for the
second time. In the New Testament, Rehab gets an honorable
mention in the Hall of Faith where they're inducting all
(30:06):
of the Sunday School heroes. All of the classic events
on which redemptive history hinged are mentioned in.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Hebrews chapter eleven. By Faith twenty nine.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
The people passed through the Red Sea on dry land,
but when the Egyptians tried to.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Do so, they were drowned. Side note.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
God doesn't bring you into deep waters to kill you.
He brings you into deep water to drown your enemies.
He knows they can't swim, and in deep waters that's
where you deal with your doubts, and in deep waters,
that's where you come face to face with your dysfunction
and have to lean and rely on the grace of God.
So the Egyptians drowned by faith. The walls of Jericho
(30:49):
fell not because they fought so well, but because the
faith that they had enabled them to do what made
no sense naturally. And by faith, the walls of Jericho
fell after the army had marched around them for seven days.
And here comes Reyhab, by faith, the prostitute Rayhab, because
she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who
(31:11):
are disobedient. And what more shall I say? I don't
have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jefta, David, Samuel,
the prophets.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
You mean you don't have time to talk about David.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
The greatest king that Israel ever knew, a man after
God's own heart, But you had time.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
To mention Rayhab.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
God says, I don't look at people based on your
standard of importance. I don't look at people based on
your standard of significance. God doesn't check your followers to
see how much favor he gives you.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
God is looking at your faith.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
And then James jumps in and for a third time,
this Harlot is mentioned alongside the heroes of scripture.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Hero Harlot, Harlot hero.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
And now I can't tell the difference because God calls
someone that I call a Harlot a hero, and.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I know you don't like it, and.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
I know it doesn't go down easy, and I know
we can't eat it with vanilla wafers and put it
on a flannel graph because.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
The story of Rahab is r.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Rated and it doesn't teach very well.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
In the kids.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
But James said, in the same way till twenty five,
in the same way, was not even Rayhab the prostitute
considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging
to the spies and sent them off in a different direction.
And keep calling her that Rahab the prostitute, keep labeling her.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
God didn't change her before he used her. You know
how we think God can't use me because I currently
struggle with It's not like she was a prostitute and
(33:19):
then she became a prophet.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
She was still a prostitute.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
This doesn't excuse bad behavior, but it helps me to
see that the love of God is not the reward
for change. It is the resource by which I am changed.
That revelation of the love of God is so powerful.
And you know, I was telling you my son Graham,
he talks a lot more now and he actually says
(33:44):
some really funny stuff.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
I'm praying that he will not become a stand up comic.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I'm praying that you know, he'll well, I'm not praying
that he'll.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Be a preacher either. I really don't.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I really don't care if my kids take on this
profession or not like that. I might even tell him,
you know, do something else if you can, because you
got to be called to do this. But all my
kids have heard so many sermons. They come up with
funny little questions about the Bible that I never thought
of before, but just from a child's mind is so funny.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
And Graham asked me the.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Other day, he said, I hear people say all the
time when I get to Heaven, I want to see Jesus.
And he said, but have you ever thought about how
long the line is going to be? And we had
just been to Disneyland, so he had that in his mind,
like the you know, and he said, it's going to
(34:37):
be a long line to see Jesus. I wonder if
you could get somebody to hold your place in line
to see Jesus and then go see some of the
other characters in the Bible. So I kind of played
it out, and I was thinking, you know, you probably could.
There are probably some characters in the Bible that no
(34:57):
one will want a selfie with, and you could probably
just walk right up to him, like Jonah, who wants
to meet Jonah. He's the most dysfunctional, discouraging prophet in
the Bible. He preached and God sent a revival, and
he went outside and wanted to die.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
So Jonah's available.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
You could go see Jonah for a few minutes, a
few hundred years while you wait to see Jesus, you know,
eternities long, and then you could probably go see You
could probably go see Bartholomew. Apostle Paul might be unavailable,
and John the disciple who Jesus loved. He might he
might have a little wait list, but you can probably
(35:33):
see Bartholomew. Jewish legend says that Rahab was one of
the most four beautiful women.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Who ever lived. I don't know if that's true, but maybe.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
You want to see for yourself, you know, get to heaven.
There's Samson. Walk over to the front desk. There's Peter,
got his iPad and uh, you say, hey, I'm in
line to see Jesus. I'm number fifteen million, nine hundred
and seventy three, two hundred and twenty three.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
While I'm waiting. That was kind of stranger class. Could
I see ah? I see Rahab the prostitute.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
You know feeders loud, Rayab the prostitute.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Let me check sounds bad man, Keep it down. Oh,
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
We do have a rehab up here, But you said
Rehab the prostitute.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
There's nobody here by that name because up here we
don't call people what they want her.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
We don't call people what they did. We don't call
people what they were labeled. Up here, she doesn't go
by that name. So you can see ray Have, but
make sure you call her by her new name. Up here,
we call her Rayhaf the righteous. There is a righteousness
(37:26):
that comes from God by faith. I said, there is
a righteousness that it's not of worse, so.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
That no one can boast.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
And I don't know about Sue, but I'm grateful for
the blood of Jesus that covered my pan.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
I'm not what I did, and I'm not what I was,
and I'm not what I think, and I'm not where I'm.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Broken, and I'm not what they said.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
I got a new name, I got a new name,
I got a new reputation.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
I am a child of God.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, look
at somebody, say, don't call me that.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
You don't know me like that.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Don't call me according to how you memorized me in
my past. God is doing a new thing in my life.
And when condemnation comes in, you know, to remind you
of all of those reasons that God can't use you.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Remember Rehab.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Remember Rehab who had nothing to offer except faith.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
And God said even.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
She was considered righteous. Because that's what church is. It's
a place for you to come and leave all of
the labels that you've accumulated in your life because of
your behaviors.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Oh yeah, some.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Of the stuff people said about you is facts.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
It's not always that they were lying.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
It's just that there is a greater truth that supersedes
whatever they can say about you.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
And every weakness is potential strength.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
But when I was writing this message, I made a
critical mistake. I was typing so fast in my phone,
I kept misspelling Rehab's name, and I kept spelling it
our eh Ab because I was writing fast, not because
my IQ is love. And after writing it down ten times,
(39:55):
I noticed I keep spelling it Rehab.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
And God said, you got it right.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Because what I want you to tell the people when
you preach it is that I am in the business
of rehabilitating. In my title again on the screen, you
did not come to a religious service today. You came
to rehab. And the place it starts is not with
(40:26):
what others think of you. We spend so much time
on that, and we fail to realize that really the
issue is how you see you. The greatest place my
reputation needs repair is within myself, because I've let myself
down so many times, and I've made promises to myself
and others over.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
And over again.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
And I'm really going to have a better attitude this time,
and I'm really good at this time, and I'm really
going at this time. And some of you have developed
a reputation with yourself that does not reflect your reputation
with Heaven. God doesn't see you like that, and see
you like that and the gap between your reality and
(41:09):
your reputation with yourself could cost you the opportunity to
see God use you in the future. If if you
don't deal with that, it costs the spies. Ten of
the twelve said we can't go in. That's eighty three
points sixty sixty six sixty six percent of the people
that went into the land came back with the wrong report.
(41:32):
And I think eighty three point sixty sixty sixty sixty
six percent of stuff I tell myself is probably wrong
at least at least And if I don't deal with that,
I can have a new reality, a new nature. I
could be chosen by God, loved by God, accepted by God,
and He can even have an assignment for me. He
(41:54):
can even want to use my house to bring forth
the promise. If I don't see myself that way, I'll.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Be like those spies.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
The reason they didn't go into the land wasn't how
they saw God, with how they saw themselves. And the
reason they saw themselves as small is because they had
spent four hundred and thirty years enslaved, and sometimes you.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
Carry that with you.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
The Bible actually says that before they could go into
the land God had to roll away the reproach of Egypt.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Their past, their shackles, their former condition.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
And when you carry forward with you the reproach of
different things that you struggled with or currently struggle with,
it will always keep you from realizing your righteousness in Christ,
always always, and you.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
See your life through the lens of self. It's very small.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
That's what the spies came back and said they had
totally lost sight of God's reputation because they were so
concerned about their own.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Numbers.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Thirteen thirty three says that they gave the men of
God Moses this report. They said, we saw the Nephilim there.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
The Nephelom were giants.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
It might represent anything in your life that's too powerful
for you and your own strength. It might represent your fear,
your insecurity, that chronic thing keeps creeping into your life,
taking you down.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Thought.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Pattern doesn't have to be a physical giant or a
physical enemy. In fact, the Bible says, we wrestle not
against flesh and blood. There's a good chance that your
Nephilim has a different name.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
And we saw the.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Giants, and we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
Why were you comparing yourself to the giants?
Speaker 2 (43:50):
You were supposed to be comparing your giants to your God.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
But you lost sight of that, didn't you. And you
start thinking, what's.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Wrong with me is more powerful than what's right with God.
We look like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we
look the same to them. Because when you don't know
who you are, you depend on the rest of the
world to tell you. And now you're empty, and now
you're projecting, and now you're trying to perfect this reputation.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
But God brought you here for rehabit. God brought you
here for a reminder of who he is.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger, abounding in love,
maintaining faithfulness to a thousand generations.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
That's who he is. He has a reputation.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
He's picked up people like you and like me at
our lowest point. He's picked up people like you and
me on our highest mountaintop. He specializes in imperfection. Would
you stand to your feet, no one leaving, no one moving.
I'd like to pray for you, please, If this word
(45:05):
has ministered to you today and there is a reproach
that you have been carrying forward into your future, that
needs to be rolled into your past. I would like
to pray for you today that God would remind you
of his reputation. He's never lost a battle, He's never
(45:31):
met a need that he couldn't meet. He never created
a life he did not intend to use. And so
we find hope today in this story of Rahab, that
God is rehabilitating our eyes, that we could see him
(45:53):
as he really is.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
Father.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
I pray that not one of your children but brush
this message off. I pray that it would not fall
on death fears, and I pray that our pride would
not keep us from receiving it, because probably we could think, well,
I'm not that bad, I'm not some prostitute. We all
have broken places, we all have many reasons why we
(46:20):
feel useless and unworthy, and yet you call us righteous
by faith.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
Speak over your.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
People today, Lord, in direct contradiction to every lie that
the enemy has planted in their mind, it is not so,
and it will not prevail. Whatever has been spoken over
their life by others or by themselves that does not
align with your word. We come against it now. In
the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus,
(46:51):
the name that is able to heal, saved, deliver, and
set free in the name of Jesus, the name that
is above every name, the name that is above every nephilum,
the name that is above every dysfunction, the name that
is above all shame and sin.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
And we ask you that.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
In this moment of worship, we would remember who you say.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
We already are chosen, not forsaken.
Speaker 4 (47:19):
I am who you say I am.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
You are for me, not against me. I am who you.
Speaker 4 (47:27):
Say I am, saying I am who you say I am.
Lift your hands to your father, say I am who
you say I am.
Speaker 1 (47:40):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (47:41):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give now,
or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more
information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (48:00):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our
podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope
it gives your perspective to see God is moving.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
In your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Are you excited for the Word of God today? I
sure am grateful to preach and share this with you.
Thank you worship team. If you want to look at
Joshua chapter two today with me for a moment, very
interesting story in scripture. Those of you at our Uptown
location and our Melbourne campus, you heard me share from
(00:39):
this scripture.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You heard me share from the scripture at our Vision
nights over the last few weeks. And I want to
share this with the church today and it's a subject
that I think will be relevant for each of us.
And I pray that you'll hear this personally for yourself.
By the way, what an awesome advantage it is when
(01:03):
everyone in the church is leaned in to hear the
word of God. I was telling one of the people
who helps me on the weekend how exhausting it is
when preaching feels like mixed martial arts, you know, And
I don't want to be like Connor McGregor up here.
And it's not like that, you know, it's not.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Even a performance. When we do this, God speaks.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
And when everybody comes with that attitude and that perspective,
we realize that it is our responsibility to receive the
word of God. And we don't put all this pressure
on some guy with a microphone as if somehow I
could fix your life.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
I can't.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
My opinion is empty. But God's word is powerful. And
so when you bring that expectation to the Word of God,
it really makes it dynamic and explosive. So all that
just to say, look at your name and say wake up,
pay attention. I know you're ready. Joshua Chapter two, verse one,
then Joshua's Son of None secretly sh secretly. You don't
(02:13):
have to tell everybody everything you're doing secretly. You don't
have to post every time you pray on Instagram. You
don't have to put a coffee mug post for every devotion.
You know, I'm talking about the coffee mug and the
Bible and spread open and then you highlight a few
extra verses before you take the picture make it look
like then Joshua's son of none, sh don't tell everybody,
(02:36):
but just secretly sent two spies from Shiitem. And that's
a long eye when you pronounce shi them. You want
to be careful when you pronounce shyt them if you
ever preach from Joshua, chapter two, verse one, Go look
over the land, he said, especially Jericho. Notice he didn't
(02:59):
tell them to look at every city, because you can
get overwhelmed if you think about all the battles you
have to fight.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
This is just the first one, the next one.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And when we get so focused on everything that we
have to overcome, it SAPs our strength and we can't
take our next step because we're thinking fourteen steps ahead.
And you can wreck looking at your GPS instead of
keeping your eyes on the next turn. Okay, So they
went and entered the house of a prostitute ooh named
(03:36):
Rahab and stayed there. Why there there was nothing else
available on Airbnb, so they.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Stayed in the house of a prostitute named Rahab.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
King of Jericho was told, look, some of these relights
have come here tonight to spy out the land. So
the King of Jericho sent this message to Rehab bring
out the men who came to you and entered your house,
as they have come to spy out the whole land.
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Now,
if there's one thing that Rahab's profession has taught.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Her, it is discretion.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I'm saying she might not have lived the most holy life.
The Bible says she was a prostitute, but she knew
how to hide men.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And so I point that out to let you know.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
God is going to use everything, even the stuff that
you're not proud of, if you offer it to him.
He'll use even the things that you want to hide.
And Rahab hid the men because that's something she knew
how to do. I won't say any more about that,
because y'all are looking at me so angelic. She said, Yeah,
(04:48):
the men came to me, but I did not know
where they had come from.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate,
they left.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I don't know which way they went by the way.
All of this is a lie. This is a lie.
So we got a lying prostitute that God uses to
fulfill his purpose and demonstrate his glory in the earth.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Put that in your theological pipe. And to that vape.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That so she's lying and she's hiding the men, and
then she uses misdirection. TuS can go after them quickly.
You may catch up with them parentheses. But she had
taken them up to the roof and hidden them under
(05:30):
the stalks of flax she'd laid out on the roof.
This was not her first time hiding a man in
her house. So the men set out in pursuit of
the spies on the road that leads to the fords
of the Jordan, And as soon as the pursuers had
gone out.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
The gate was shut.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Before the spies laid down for the night, she went
up on the roof and said to them, I know
that the.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Lord has given you this land, and that.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
A great fear of you has fallen on us, so
that all who live in this kind of tree are
melting in fear because of you. These are the same
enemies that the Israelites were so afraid of forty years
earlier that they wouldn't go in. But what they were
running from was actually afraid of them. You realize sometimes
(06:16):
you're running from a defeated foe. You realize sometimes you're
running from stuff God has already dealt with if you
would move forward. And so she says, we've heard about
you firstin we've heard how the Lord dried up the
water of the Red Sea.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That was four decades ago, they're still talking about it.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
We heard how the Lord dried up the water the
Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt,
and what you did to Sion in Augu, the two
kings of the Emirites east of the Jordan, whom you
completely destroyed. And when we heard of it, our hearts
melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
For the Lord, your.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
So turn to the person next to you and tell
them what Rehab told. The spies say, you got a reputation.
The title of this message is reputation Rehab. You didn't
just come to church today, You came.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
To reputation Rehab.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
How many realized that everything people called you is not
something you should respond to at this stage in your life.
You got to move past some things and see yourself
in a new light. At least that's what God told
Joshua when he stated him as the new leader of
Israel after Moses left. He said, it's a new day,
and you are the leader I have chosen and appointed
(07:36):
to lead these people into the land that I promised
their ancestors. And God in Joshua Chapter one reminds Joshua
of his reputation, not the reputation of Joshua, the reputation
of Jehovah.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
He said, I am the God.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Who spoke to the forefathers of this faith tradition, which
you are a continuation of. But it didn't start with you.
God says, I have a reputation. And when you face
the resistance, when you go into this new land that
I've called you to conquer, I want you to remember
my reputation.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
God said, I have a.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Reputation of picking people out that are obscure and unknown
and using them to accomplish my purpose in the earth.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
I have a reputation.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I have a reputation for calling men like Abraham and
taking him from her of the Chaldeans. And even though
he's too old to have babies and there's no prescriptions
available to help him pro create, I have a reputation
for doing what cannot be done in the flesh. For
it's not by might nor by power. But by my spirit,
(08:46):
says the Lord.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I have a.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Reputation, and sometimes we need to be reminded of God's reputation.
You know, we need to be reminded every once in
a while that the wind and.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
The waves know who he is. They know that voice.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
To you, my sheep, know my voice. I'm the one
who dried up the red Sea. I just want you
to remember my reputation. That's why I mentioned Bible stories
in church, like Daniel and the Lions den because the
lions knew that when God speaks, their mouths had to
stay shut. They knew that voice, they knew that voice.
(09:20):
I'm encouraged to know that God's reputation is the basis
of my faith, not mine, not mine. I think it's
really funny sometimes how much time we spend trying to
build our reputation with people whose opinions don't ultimately matter.
(09:46):
You know, when I first started the church, a well
meaning minister gave me a piece of advice. He said,
protect your reputation. You only get one. I wish that
were that's true, you know, I wish you could protect
your reputation and that if you always did the right thing,
(10:07):
people would always say the right things about you. The
fact is we live in a world that doesn't know
the difference between a rumor and a reputation anymore, and
to spend all of your energy trying to protect your reputation.
The Lord really spoke to me and dealt with me
the first time that I would defend myself against people
(10:27):
who were critical of my ministry. And you know, you
can spend so much time trying to protect your reputation,
which is really ego wanting people to have a certain
image of you, that you start preaching to the people
who don't like you, and you're angry at people who
(10:47):
are smiling at you because you're not really talking to them.
It happened to me early in ministry, and the Lord
spoke to me.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
He spoke to me very specifically.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
He said, why don't you worry about protecting your integrity
and let me protect your reputation. When you stop to
think about it, even the premise that you only have
one reputation is faulty. I mean, really, you have as
many reputations as you have relationships in that room.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
What I mean is some people at work think.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You're quiet because you are around them, because you don't
trust them or like them, or have anything to say
to them. But if we ask your family like I
will never forget when our middle child, Graham, first went
to school and the teacher emailed us how he talked
too much in class, and it was so funny because
(11:46):
we could not get him to talk at home.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
He was so quiet at home.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And the teacher said, he will not shut up in class.
He's a wonderful child, but could you just talk to
him about talking out of.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Turn in class? I said, well, could you talk to
him about talking intern at home? Because we can't get
him to say anything. And now he's.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Eleven and he talks all the time. But I remember
thinking how strange it was that he could be known
as the talkative kid in class. But maybe the birth
order or something at home. Maybe we won't shut up
long enough to give him a chance at home. And
you know, it's really true, because sometimes we only get
(12:23):
to know church you.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I wonder how big is the gap.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Between your reality and your reputation, because it's never been
easier to develop a virtual reputation. You know, where I
see people online and in their profile it says life coach,
and they're thirteen I don't understand.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
How you're going to coach me, and you've never been
on the field.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
It says public figure, and you got a private account
with twelve followers.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I don't understand it, but I do because we are
living in a world that wants to watch this. Reputation
without repetition, and a true reputation is not built by
what you occasionally do or wish that you were, or
want people to see you as.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
It's not something that you project or perfect.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Your real reputation comes from relationship and repetition, and relationship
and repetition. And I had to come to the point
where I realized it is not what people who don't
know me think about me, or what I can convince
them of that brings me peace in my heart and.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Fulfills my calling.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I want to focus my life on developing a reputation
that is based on repetition and relationship, that I would
do the right thing over and over and over and
over and over again, and when I don't, I'll apologize
and I'll get back on and do it over and
over and over. Isn't that how God built his reputation
(14:06):
in your life?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Because he helped.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
You over and over and over and over again, and
he gave you mercy over and over and over and
over again. And he made ways over and over and
over and over again. And he heard your cry over
and over and over again. And he forgave you for
that same sin that you committed over and over and
over again. But when you needed grace, you found it
(14:29):
over and over and over again. And he woke you
up over and over and over again. And he lets
you see another day over and over and over again.
So I will praise Him over and over and over again.
Because God has a reputation with me. I know him
as faithful. And watch this. I don't let anybody else
(14:52):
build my belief about who God is. I don't need
to believe somebody else's report about God.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I have a.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Personal relationship with Him, and God's reputation with me is
based on his faithfulness in my life.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I don't go off of what I heard about. I
go off what I know.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Don't ever let somebody else misrepresent God and run you
away from church.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
You ought to know God for yourself. It's a it's
a relational thing.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
So we're losing that, and we're so quick to tear
people down, and God forgive us for all the times
where we've believed a report about someone that we didn't
even know. In a day where it is so easy
to project a false reputation and so easy to destroy
a reputation, you can destroy your own reputation with two
(15:50):
hundred and eighty characters.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Am I right?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I don't call names from this pulpit, but you know
what I'm talking about. And yet we stand between the
reality of who we are and kind of who we
think we need to be.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
And into that gap.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
God speaks and it's the most amazing thing. I can't
get over this, and it doesn't seem like a smart strategy,
but God chooses over and over again. The faithful God
entrusts his reputation.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
To faithless people.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
And so for forty years the Israelites will wander in
the wilderness because they believed a bad report, even though
they had a history with God.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Now Joshua does something interesting.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
After he calls the people together and tells them prepare
and consecrate yourselves for what God is going to do,
and reminds them of what God has already done. He
sends back to verse one, two spies, two Spies, instead
of twelve. When Moses got ready to check out Canaan
four decades ago, he sent twelve spies and ten came
(17:07):
back with a fear report. So it's almost as if
Joshua has learned from that exploit, being one of the
two spies who said, if God is with us, we
can't fail, and he made up his mind this time.
I only need to, somebody shout, I only need to
look at the person on either side of you and
(17:28):
tell both of them I.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Only need to. I don't need too many opinions in
this stage of my life.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I'm out of middle school now, and I can't live
by what everybody else thinks or does not anymore. I
only need too, somebody say, I only need to. And
I read in my Bible that surely goodness and mercy
will follow.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Me all the days of my life.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
So I got goodness and I got mercy.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I only need to say it again.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I only need to, and I can't afford to consult
everybody's opinion and every cable news channel. I got goodness
and I got mercy. I don't need Fox, I don't
need CNN, I don't need Twitter, I don't need Facebook.
I don't need Instagram. I don't need my past to consult.
I don't need to consult too many people. You know,
(18:17):
we start calling people and asking them for advice. You
really don't want advice anymore after you've called the third person.
You want affirmation and attention. I have a shortcut now
as a pastor. When people say I'd like your advice
on whatever they say next, I don't respond to I
(18:40):
say what do you want, because I'll just say what
you want to hear and save you the time from
calling the next person and the next person until somebody
will finally tell you what you want to hear. Because
a lot of us, maybe not you, maybe somebody. You know,
(19:05):
a lot of us live our whole life consulting opinions.
And when you get too many opinions, it really crowds
out the voice of God. And you know what's funny
about people. You got to be so careful because people
will a lot of times and situations will a lot
(19:25):
of times feel they will categorize stuff. Look, the Bible
says they went into Jericho and entered the house of
a prostitute named Rahab. Why would you go into the
house of a prostitute in order to discern the promise
of God. Let me tell you a little secret. God
(19:46):
uses who he wants to use. I'm losing amens by
the minute. You must be from out of town. God
uses who he wants to use.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
And so.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Isn't it fascinating that the God, who has a spotless reputation,
when he gets ready to bring his people into the promise,
uses a woman with a reputation, not a reputation like
we think God can use, not a reputation of perfection.
(20:21):
But God uses someone with a reputation. And furthermore, someone
who the spies would consider an enemy. Technically, Rehab was
an enemy of Israel, and yet God used their.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Enemy to show them who they were. She said, I
know who.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
You are, and I know that God has given you
the victory. Is it possible that your enemy knows more.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
About who you are than you do?
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And is that why he's been fighting you like he's
been fighting you.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
It's just a question, saints.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Is it possible, just a little bit possible, that the
trial that you're going through is actually a testament to
the power that lives within you.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
The devil doesn't waste bullets if he's leaving you alone.
He knows you aren't anything worth fighting against. God used
their enemy to show them who they were God.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
God used their struggle to confirm his word.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
It's crazy, how I said, Now let me teach you.
It's crazy how we have set.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Up a false expectation that the proof of God's favor
in our life will always be that our fights will
decrease and our comfort will increase. But when God was
revealing himself in the Book of Job, the devil was
(22:27):
going all through the earth trying to look for somebody
he could tamper with. And when the devil presented himself
before the throne with the angels, because the enemy can't
do anything without God's permission, I'm afraid in a lot
(22:49):
of our churches we've given the devil a reputation that
he is an equal power with God.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
He's not. He's not.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
And God asked a quest question to Satan. He said,
have you considered my servant job? Have you thought about
picking on him? Because he's my guy? Now, whatever you
have to do to get on that list where God
tells the devil he can mess with you, I don't
want to be that holy. I want to find that
mark a.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Slipping of men. But God said, have at his stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
You can touch him, his family, you can't touch him.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And when the devil came back and said, I.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Tried it and you were right, he didn't curse you.
But if you let me hurt him, it's one thing
for everything around him.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
To be affected.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
But if you let me hurt his body, he'll curse you.
And God said, you can do it, but you can't
kill him. And after that period of testing had been completed,
after Job survived all.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Of the rounds.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Now, this means he lost not only his income, not
only his business, not only his belongings, but his children.
And the only person who stayed alive with Job was
his wife.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
And if you read about her.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
He'd probably praying God would go ahead and wipe her
out too, because she wasn't a very good wife. She said,
go ahead and curse God and die. Let's get it
over with. You're really gonna put up with this and
still serve God. But Job would not charge God with wrongdoing.
And yes, at the end of God's at the end
of Job's life, he was doubly blessed. But I don't
(24:36):
think the point of the book of Job is that Job.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Got double for his trouble.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
That's nice for a bumper sticker, but he still lost
his children.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
What's the point.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
The point is that the devil didn't mention Job's name.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
God did.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Job had a reputation with Heaven, and Heaven knew about Job.
He can be trusted with trouble. He won't break beneath
the weight of a burden.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Heaven knows about you.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
You can raise those ADHD kids, those abcd fghijk.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Elemento pea kids.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
God knew he could give you the whole alphabet and
you wouldn't kill him. God knew he could trust you
with sorrow. God knew he could trust you with trial
and with tribulation.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
He knew that about you. And if the devil isn't
messing with you, maybe he doesn't even know you're here.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Like one time in the Book of Acts, these seven
sons of a Jewish priest, they saw Paul laying hands.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
On people and they were like, oh, that's cool. Huh.
Maybe we say what he says, we can do what
he does, and maybe we can make money off of it.
All right, in the name of Jesus, come out. And
when they said it.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
The demons for and said, I heard you say Jesus,
and we know him. I heard you say Paul, and
we know him. We hate him. We're an assignment against him.
We send snakes to bite him. We put Paul through shipwrecks.
(26:23):
We stir up people and create contentions so that stones
are thrown at Paul.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
We've heard of Jesus, We've heard of Paul. But who
are you?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Look at somebody next to you and say it in
that falsetto voice like I said it, like prince, say
who are you? Who are you? Who are you?
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I'm concerned.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I'm concerned that a lot of times we are convinced
that our trouble is an indication of the absence of
God's resence, when more times than not, in the scripture
you can find that trouble accompanies God's presence. He is
(27:13):
an ever present help in the time of trouble.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
So if you're in trouble, you're in God. Who are you?
Who are you? The Devil's looking at some of y'all,
Who are you? I don't even have to I don't
even have to mess with your life. You're doing a
(27:37):
good job by yourself. Who are you? Who are you?
I'll get paid to argue, would you no, So they.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Go to the house of Rehab the prostitute, and y'all
probably would not preach about a prostitute if she were
only mentioned in Joshua chapter two, because I would figure
that's the Old Testament. But a funny thing happened in
(28:15):
the Book.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Of Matthew.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
When the writer started listening the genealogy of Jesus and
all of the generations that he came through. It's like
fourteen generations and then fourteen more, and then fourteen more.
And this is the stuff that we skip over sometimes
when we're reading the Christmas story because it's all these
(28:38):
names that we don't recognize, and so and so begot so,
and so begot so, and so begot so and so.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
And really, all I want to do is get to
verse eighteen. Then came Jesus.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
But some of the stuff you skip is some of
the places where God speaks. I said, some of the
stuff you skip is some of the stuff God speaks through.
And Matthew said in Matthew one, verse five, I feel
like preach him Salmon the father of Boas, whose mother
was Rayhab, whose mother was Rehab. Now to get to
(29:11):
Jesus in the genealogy, you got to go through Rehab,
the prostitute. God works through who he wants to work through,
and all things work together for the good of Him
that loved the Lord whose mother was Rayhab. Stop being
so stuck up. Stop categorizing people and casting them out
(29:33):
like you don't have issues.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
You ought to be glad to see Rahab's name in there.
Hope for me too.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
If Rahab made it, maybe I can by faith shout
it out by faith by faith. So then you get
to Hebrews eleven, and not just once, but for the
second time. In the New Testament, Rehab gets an honorable
mention in the Hall of Faith where they're inducting all
(30:06):
of the Sunday School heroes. All of the classic events
on which redemptive history hinged are mentioned in.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Hebrews chapter eleven. By Faith twenty nine.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
The people passed through the Red Sea on dry land,
but when the Egyptians tried to.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Do so, they were drowned. Side note.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
God doesn't bring you into deep waters to kill you.
He brings you into deep water to drown your enemies.
He knows they can't swim, and in deep waters that's
where you deal with your doubts, and in deep waters,
that's where you come face to face with your dysfunction
and have to lean and rely on the grace of God.
So the Egyptians drowned by faith. The walls of Jericho
(30:49):
fell not because they fought so well, but because the
faith that they had enabled them to do what made
no sense naturally. And by faith, the walls of Jericho
fell after the army had marched around them for seven days.
And here comes Reyhab, by faith, the prostitute Rayhab, because
she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who
(31:11):
are disobedient. And what more shall I say? I don't
have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jefta, David, Samuel,
the prophets.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
You mean you don't have time to talk about David.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
The greatest king that Israel ever knew, a man after
God's own heart, But you had time.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
To mention Rayhab.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
God says, I don't look at people based on your
standard of importance. I don't look at people based on
your standard of significance. God doesn't check your followers to
see how much favor he gives you.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
God is looking at your faith.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
And then James jumps in and for a third time,
this Harlot is mentioned alongside the heroes of scripture.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Hero Harlot, Harlot hero.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
And now I can't tell the difference because God calls
someone that I call a Harlot a hero, and.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I know you don't like it, and.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
I know it doesn't go down easy, and I know
we can't eat it with vanilla wafers and put it
on a flannel graph because.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
The story of Rahab is r.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Rated and it doesn't teach very well.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
In the kids.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
But James said, in the same way till twenty five,
in the same way, was not even Rayhab the prostitute
considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging
to the spies and sent them off in a different direction.
And keep calling her that Rahab the prostitute, keep labeling her.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
God didn't change her before he used her. You know
how we think God can't use me because I currently
struggle with It's not like she was a prostitute and
(33:19):
then she became a prophet.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
She was still a prostitute.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
This doesn't excuse bad behavior, but it helps me to
see that the love of God is not the reward
for change. It is the resource by which I am changed.
That revelation of the love of God is so powerful.
And you know, I was telling you my son Graham,
he talks a lot more now and he actually says
(33:44):
some really funny stuff.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
I'm praying that he will not become a stand up comic.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I'm praying that you know, he'll well, I'm not praying
that he'll.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Be a preacher either. I really don't.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I really don't care if my kids take on this
profession or not like that. I might even tell him,
you know, do something else if you can, because you
got to be called to do this. But all my
kids have heard so many sermons. They come up with
funny little questions about the Bible that I never thought
of before, but just from a child's mind is so funny.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
And Graham asked me the.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Other day, he said, I hear people say all the
time when I get to Heaven, I want to see Jesus.
And he said, but have you ever thought about how
long the line is going to be? And we had
just been to Disneyland, so he had that in his mind,
like the you know, and he said, it's going to
(34:37):
be a long line to see Jesus. I wonder if
you could get somebody to hold your place in line
to see Jesus and then go see some of the
other characters in the Bible. So I kind of played
it out, and I was thinking, you know, you probably could.
There are probably some characters in the Bible that no
(34:57):
one will want a selfie with, and you could probably
just walk right up to him, like Jonah, who wants
to meet Jonah. He's the most dysfunctional, discouraging prophet in
the Bible. He preached and God sent a revival, and
he went outside and wanted to die.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
So Jonah's available.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
You could go see Jonah for a few minutes, a
few hundred years while you wait to see Jesus, you know,
eternities long, and then you could probably go see You
could probably go see Bartholomew. Apostle Paul might be unavailable,
and John the disciple who Jesus loved. He might he
might have a little wait list, but you can probably
(35:33):
see Bartholomew. Jewish legend says that Rahab was one of
the most four beautiful women.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Who ever lived. I don't know if that's true, but maybe.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
You want to see for yourself, you know, get to heaven.
There's Samson. Walk over to the front desk. There's Peter,
got his iPad and uh, you say, hey, I'm in
line to see Jesus. I'm number fifteen million, nine hundred
and seventy three, two hundred and twenty three.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
While I'm waiting. That was kind of stranger class. Could
I see ah? I see Rahab the prostitute.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
You know feeders loud, Rayab the prostitute.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Let me check sounds bad man, Keep it down. Oh,
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
We do have a rehab up here, But you said
Rehab the prostitute.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
There's nobody here by that name because up here we
don't call people what they want her.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
We don't call people what they did. We don't call
people what they were labeled. Up here, she doesn't go
by that name. So you can see ray Have, but
make sure you call her by her new name. Up here,
we call her Rayhaf the righteous. There is a righteousness
(37:26):
that comes from God by faith. I said, there is
a righteousness that it's not of worse, so.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
That no one can boast.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
And I don't know about Sue, but I'm grateful for
the blood of Jesus that covered my pan.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
I'm not what I did, and I'm not what I was,
and I'm not what I think, and I'm not where I'm.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Broken, and I'm not what they said.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
I got a new name, I got a new name,
I got a new reputation.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
I am a child of God.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, look
at somebody, say, don't call me that.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
You don't know me like that.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Don't call me according to how you memorized me in
my past. God is doing a new thing in my life.
And when condemnation comes in, you know, to remind you
of all of those reasons that God can't use you.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Remember Rehab.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Remember Rehab who had nothing to offer except faith.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
And God said even.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
She was considered righteous. Because that's what church is. It's
a place for you to come and leave all of
the labels that you've accumulated in your life because of
your behaviors.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Oh yeah, some.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Of the stuff people said about you is facts.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
It's not always that they were lying.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
It's just that there is a greater truth that supersedes
whatever they can say about you.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
And every weakness is potential strength.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
But when I was writing this message, I made a
critical mistake. I was typing so fast in my phone,
I kept misspelling Rehab's name, and I kept spelling it
our eh Ab because I was writing fast, not because
my IQ is love. And after writing it down ten times,
(39:55):
I noticed I keep spelling it Rehab.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
And God said, you got it right.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Because what I want you to tell the people when
you preach it is that I am in the business
of rehabilitating. In my title again on the screen, you
did not come to a religious service today. You came
to rehab. And the place it starts is not with
(40:26):
what others think of you. We spend so much time
on that, and we fail to realize that really the
issue is how you see you. The greatest place my
reputation needs repair is within myself, because I've let myself
down so many times, and I've made promises to myself
and others over.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
And over again.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
And I'm really going to have a better attitude this time,
and I'm really good at this time, and I'm really
going at this time. And some of you have developed
a reputation with yourself that does not reflect your reputation
with Heaven. God doesn't see you like that, and see
you like that and the gap between your reality and
(41:09):
your reputation with yourself could cost you the opportunity to
see God use you in the future. If if you
don't deal with that, it costs the spies. Ten of
the twelve said we can't go in. That's eighty three
points sixty sixty six sixty six percent of the people
that went into the land came back with the wrong report.
(41:32):
And I think eighty three point sixty sixty sixty sixty
six percent of stuff I tell myself is probably wrong
at least at least And if I don't deal with that,
I can have a new reality, a new nature. I
could be chosen by God, loved by God, accepted by God,
and He can even have an assignment for me. He
(41:54):
can even want to use my house to bring forth
the promise. If I don't see myself that way, I'll.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Be like those spies.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
The reason they didn't go into the land wasn't how
they saw God, with how they saw themselves. And the
reason they saw themselves as small is because they had
spent four hundred and thirty years enslaved, and sometimes you.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
Carry that with you.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
The Bible actually says that before they could go into
the land God had to roll away the reproach of Egypt.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Their past, their shackles, their former condition.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
And when you carry forward with you the reproach of
different things that you struggled with or currently struggle with,
it will always keep you from realizing your righteousness in Christ,
always always, and you.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
See your life through the lens of self. It's very small.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
That's what the spies came back and said they had
totally lost sight of God's reputation because they were so
concerned about their own.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Numbers.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Thirteen thirty three says that they gave the men of
God Moses this report. They said, we saw the Nephilim there.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
The Nephelom were giants.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
It might represent anything in your life that's too powerful
for you and your own strength. It might represent your fear,
your insecurity, that chronic thing keeps creeping into your life,
taking you down.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Thought.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Pattern doesn't have to be a physical giant or a
physical enemy. In fact, the Bible says, we wrestle not
against flesh and blood. There's a good chance that your
Nephilim has a different name.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
And we saw the.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Giants, and we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
Why were you comparing yourself to the giants?
Speaker 2 (43:50):
You were supposed to be comparing your giants to your God.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
But you lost sight of that, didn't you. And you
start thinking, what's.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Wrong with me is more powerful than what's right with God.
We look like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we
look the same to them. Because when you don't know
who you are, you depend on the rest of the
world to tell you. And now you're empty, and now
you're projecting, and now you're trying to perfect this reputation.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
But God brought you here for rehabit. God brought you
here for a reminder of who he is.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger, abounding in love,
maintaining faithfulness to a thousand generations.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
That's who he is. He has a reputation.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
He's picked up people like you and like me at
our lowest point. He's picked up people like you and
me on our highest mountaintop. He specializes in imperfection. Would
you stand to your feet, no one leaving, no one moving.
I'd like to pray for you, please, If this word
(45:05):
has ministered to you today and there is a reproach
that you have been carrying forward into your future, that
needs to be rolled into your past. I would like
to pray for you today that God would remind you
of his reputation. He's never lost a battle, He's never
(45:31):
met a need that he couldn't meet. He never created
a life he did not intend to use. And so
we find hope today in this story of Rahab, that
God is rehabilitating our eyes, that we could see him
(45:53):
as he really is.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
Father.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
I pray that not one of your children but brush
this message off. I pray that it would not fall
on death fears, and I pray that our pride would
not keep us from receiving it, because probably we could think, well,
I'm not that bad, I'm not some prostitute. We all
have broken places, we all have many reasons why we
(46:20):
feel useless and unworthy, and yet you call us righteous
by faith.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
Speak over your.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
People today, Lord, in direct contradiction to every lie that
the enemy has planted in their mind, it is not so,
and it will not prevail. Whatever has been spoken over
their life by others or by themselves that does not
align with your word. We come against it now. In
the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus,
(46:51):
the name that is able to heal, saved, deliver, and
set free in the name of Jesus, the name that
is above every name, the name that is above every nephilum,
the name that is above every dysfunction, the name that
is above all shame and sin.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
And we ask you that.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
In this moment of worship, we would remember who you say.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
We already are chosen, not forsaken.
Speaker 4 (47:19):
I am who you say I am.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
You are for me, not against me. I am who you.
Speaker 4 (47:27):
Say I am, saying I am who you say I am.
Lift your hands to your father, say I am who
you say I am.
Speaker 1 (47:40):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (47:41):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give now,
or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more
information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (48:00):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Host
Steven Furtick
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.