Andre Butler

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, this is Andre Butler, pastor of Faith Experienced Church.
You're listening to the Faith Experience podcast. Thank you for
joining us. We hope that this message helps you engage
your faith and experience the future God has for you.
So today we're beginning a series called God, Where Are You?
And I want to begin by reading to you from
Jeremiah chapter twenty nine and verse eleven. I'm gonna read

(00:23):
to you from the message translation, it says, I know
what I'm doing. I have it all planned out, Plans
to take care of you, not abandon you, Plans to give.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
You the future you hope for.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Well know does God promises to take care of us,
not abandon us. And He was actually saying that to
his people in a very difficult time in their history.
And the bottom line is what the fact is, difficult
times come to all of us. Luke chapter six talks
about two different men, one who did the word of

(01:04):
God and one who didn't, and how the one who
did the word of God built their house on the
firm foundation of obeying God's word, and then the other
one who didn't build his house on a flimsy foundation.
And Jesus, of course, is making a point about doing
the word. But one of the things that I've noticed
about that opening a scripture is that it talks about
how storms came against both houses. Both people, the one

(01:28):
that was doing God's word and the one that wasn't
doing God's word, dealt with storms of life. And everybody
in his room has dealt with storms of life, and
everybody in his room will deal with storms of life.
And there just are some right now who are in
this room are connecting with his own line, who are
dealing with some storms right now. And the thing about

(01:50):
tough times is that in those times, we can feel
like God has abandoned us, we can feel like God
hasn't taken care of us, that this scripture I'm reading
is not really true for me. And so I want
to just take a couple of weeks here and help
you to find God in the middle of this storm,

(02:14):
to find God in the middle of this trouble, because
I guarantee you he has not abandoned you, but you
may need a little bit of help recognizing where He
is and how to flow with Him so you can
get out of the trouble.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
That you're in.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
So I want to start in March chapter four and
verse thirty five. And in March chapter four, if you
were to look at verse one, you find that Jesus
is teaching a group of people. The Bible says that
he's actually on the sea side, and he goes and
gets in a boat to teach the people on the seaside, right,
And in verse thirty five, the Bible says, as evening came,

(02:52):
Jesus said to his disciples, let's cross to the other
side of the lake.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
So they took Jesus in the boat.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
And started out, leaving the crowds behind, although other boats followed.
But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were
breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
So notice what's happened here is that Jesus was preaching
from this boat. Then they take that boat, they take
him out. You know, he's going to go to the

(03:21):
other side. And as they're going, suddenly a storm arises.
And I think suddenly is an important word because it
feels like this storm just comes out of nowhere. You know,
it just comes out of nowhere. I mean, you can
imagine that if you're thinking about taking the boat to
the other side, and it looks like there's going to

(03:42):
be a storm. They would have said something, right, well, Jesus,
you know, it looks like it's about to be a storm.
Maybe we can do this tomorrow a little bit later.
But none of that happened. This things looked clear and
then suddenly they didn't anybody ever had that happen in
your life. You know, this thing came out of left field,
and it is a major storm.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
And so that's what they're dealing with.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
They've gone from a place of safety to outright mortal
danger in no time. And of course, if you read here,
the Bible says that the boat began to fill with water.
If you look at the King James version, it literally
says the ship was full of water. What happens when
your ship fills with water?

Speaker 2 (04:24):
What are you doing? Sinking? What's next? Death? And don't
forget it was nighttime.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
So can you imagine being on a boat, particularly a
boat that was built back then, and the middle of
the sea, in the middle of a storm, that is
sinking at night. That's where these guys are. And so
you know, this is a horrible situation. They're an imminent danger.

(04:58):
And then the Bible says in verse thirty eight that
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with
his head on a cushion or a pillow. He's sleeping
with his head on a pillow. The disciples wokeme up, shouting, teacher,

(05:18):
don't you care that we're going to drown? I noticed
this on Wait, wait, wait a minute. We're in this
major storm. The boat is full of water, and you're sleep.
You're sleep You're sleeping so hard they had to.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Wake you up. Come on, now, you they Jesus, come
on here, Come on, Jesus, wake.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Up, and they're like, wait a minute. And what really
jumps out at me is then what they say to him,
don't you care that we're going to drown? I mean,
it looked like he didn't care. It's almost like they're saying,
we know you're gonna be okay, but do you care

(06:09):
about us?

Speaker 2 (06:12):
You can walk on water, but you know we can't.
Don't you care?

Speaker 1 (06:21):
And really what was going on here was that they
were offended, and Jesus had just finished preaching about that
in Mark chapter four, just in verse fourteen through eighteen,
how one of the things that Satan uses to get
people off is a fence, and so they're going through
this storm. They're panicking, and you understand why they're panicking.

(06:44):
You probably would be two. Then he's in the back
of the boat sleeping and they're having to wake him up,
and they're like, man, what's going on. Don't you care?
You don't even care about us, You don't even care,
And that just might be where some of us are
right now. You're sitting in the middle of a storm,

(07:08):
you're barely hanging on, and it looks like God is
doing absolutely nothing about your problem.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
And you might have been crying out. You feel like
you've been having to wait God. Up. God, you know
you're there. Hello, remember my address.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
And as a part of you that's like you you
don't even care, you don't even love me. And if
you're in that place, let me say, first of all,
you're offended at God, and that is not the place
that you need to be. But second of all, you

(07:51):
may need a revelation. Let's go to One Peter chapter five.
In fact, let's look at song thirteen. First of all,
David wasn't it in many situations like this?

Speaker 2 (08:07):
And so a number of.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
His psalms were written in times like this, And it
says in Psalm thirteen, Verse.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
One, Oh Lord, how long were you forgetting me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way? Now?

Speaker 1 (08:23):
Don't feel bad if you prayed these kind of prayers.
And David was David and he still prayed these prayers.
It's okay to talk to God about how you feel.
Just that's for somebody. You do not have to go
before God and say, then, saith the Lord, how llelujah,
praise the Lord Lord to God, God Lord. No, just
be real, Lord, I feel like I'm going crazy? Where

(08:45):
are you at? Come on now, so David saying, now,
how long is this going?

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Where are you at?

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Did you forget about me? Are you gonna forget about
me forever? Are you gonna look the other way? How
long must I struggle with anguish in my soul? You
see how I feel, God, with sorrow in my heart
every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
Turn and answer me? God, return, restore the sparkle to my.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Eyes, or I will die.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
Don't let my enemy's gloats saying we have defeated him.
Don't let them rejoice in my downfall. Nothing wrong with that.
If that's where you stop, though, that's what we have
a problem very similar to what we just read. The
disciples saying, don't you care? But David goes a step

(09:34):
further and says, but I trust in your unfailing love.
I know you do care. I will rejoice because you
have rescued me. I'm a by faith rejoice that you've
already gotten.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Me out of this thing. And I will.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Sing to the Lord because he is good to me.
Not abandoning me, but he's good to me. He got
a revelation that God cares. Somebody turned out and tell
him God cares. But then the comments God cares one
Peter chapter five and verse seven. If you were to
read verse six, the Bible talks about humbling yourself before

(10:17):
the almighty God and then he'll exalt you and do time.
And what's very interesting is that then the very next
thing he says, after saying humbling your humble yourself, is
this casting all your care on him, for he cares
for you, casting all your care on him. So number one,

(10:42):
humbling yourself means recognizing you can't fix this by yourself.
Pride says, I'm gonna figure this out. Gotta I gotta
make this work. I gotta find a way through this,
I well, no humbling yourself. Reckognize is that. Yeah, I
may have a part to play, but when it's all

(11:03):
said and done, I got to put this in God's hands.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
And trust him with it.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
Right, So Denny tells us, so cast all your care
on him. And of course the word casts here means
to throw it on him. If you came in here
with sickness, you know, on your body. You're worried about that,
throw that on him. You're worried about what's going on
in your marriage, Throw that on him. You're worried about

(11:31):
what's happening on the job, Throw it on him. You
worried about where you are emotionally, whatever it is. You're
worried about your level and that's going don't that doesn't
know God, And you're worried about their future.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
He says, take whatever your care is.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Cast all every single one of your cares on him.
If you keep one care for yourself, you are disobeying
this scripture. Don't keep one care for yourself. Cast all

(12:04):
your care on him. Cash your care on him, because
solving your problem is not your business.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh I'm gonna say that, because again that's good.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
I said solving your problem is not your business, is
his business. As a scripture in Philippians four, will look
at it later says, be anxious for nothing, don't worry
about anything, but pastor, this is a horrible situation.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
God says, don't worry about it.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
In fact of Matthew six, Jesus talks about he says
that phrase over and over and over again. Don't worry
about it, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it.
He was saying, take no fault. In the King James version,
he said, by thinking about it, by worrying about it,
do you change anything? He says, which of you by
worrying about it can grow? Doesn't work? He said, no,

(12:58):
don't worry about it. Cast all your care on me.
Don't don't be anxious for anything. And in Philippians four
he says, go ahead and just pray to me, supplicate
before me, and thank me that I've taken.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
Care of it.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
So he's shown us here that solving your problem is
not your business. But what I really want you to
see here is why this is in the Bible.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Gos has cast all your care on me.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
Why for I care about you? He cares for you now.
I'm actually asked Darrel to help me for a second,
and I got this bag and he says, a little heavy, okay, Tina,
we got a little something in here. And you know,

(13:49):
so many of us go through life with this bag
of cares, worries, problems. You wake up in the morning
and as you literally put it on. Anybody ever had
that experience, like when you wake up, you immediately started
thinking about your problems.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
You're like, can I just go back to sleep? Come on?
Am I the only one? I mean?

Speaker 1 (14:08):
He immediately like, oh, yeah, I forgot I'm broke. Oh
I'm still're still married this crazy person? Oh oh, I
still got to go to that crazy job, you know,
and so so many people this is how they live life.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Nigger. What's up, bro? What's up?

Speaker 1 (14:24):
Man?

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Good to see you.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
We talk to people, we smile at people, but if
people could really see where we are, we're like this,
that's how we.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Live our lives, carrying all of our care.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
So you can imagine the quality of our life isn't
where God wants it to be. And God cares for us.
So he's got his hands out saying just give it
to me. And this is what he wants. He wants
you to He wants you to allow him to take it.
You can stand up. See he's big and strong. This
ain't nothing for him, he like whatever. But for you,

(14:56):
it's oh my gosh. And God says, well, just let
me carry you because I care about you. I don't
want you hurting and suffering. Thank you so much, that's
what he said, Man, cash or care on me because
I care for you. Somebody's said again, God cares. Luke

(15:17):
Chapter twelve and verse seven says, and the very hairs
on your head are all numbered, the very hairs on
you God has He keeps track of every hair on
your head. You're that important to him. Anybody here who
is a parent, any parents in here? Okay, So if

(15:39):
you're a parent, you've had the experience of holding your
newborn baby and you notice everything.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Am I right?

Speaker 1 (15:50):
They get a little tiny bump, You're like, wait, they
get a little rash, a tooth comes in, You're like, oh,
look at day two. Who you gonna FaceTime?

Speaker 2 (15:58):
Look at day two? Look at they baby? Like, let
me alone. Look at that tube.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
You know, because you care about them, you cherished them.
That's how God has always been about you. Because you know,
as a parent that doesn't stop. I still I think
my girls get on they get tired of me because
I'll be like, I remember when you was. I told
one of them yesterday, I remember when you was this big,
crawling looking up at me. She's like thirteen, Like, I'm
almost shore. Hey, will you stopped talking about this?

Speaker 2 (16:23):
You know?

Speaker 1 (16:24):
But as a parent, you just cherish your kids. And
the Bible says that when you were in the womb,
God was paying attention to every detail of your development.
He literally wrote down everything. You're that important to him
as a parent. Don't you care enough about your kids
that if you see them suffering, particularly as a dad,

(16:46):
wouldn't you say, let me, what can I do?

Speaker 2 (16:48):
I'm gonna take this off of you.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
If they're in physical danger, You're like, hey, you're gonna
have to come through me to get to them.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Come on? Am I right? Because you care about them? Right?
And that's how God feels you're that special to him.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
He don't care that you've grown. You ain't too grown
for you to not be his child. He cares all right.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
Sat Corinthions, chapter one.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
God is our merciful father and the source of all comfort.
He comforts us in all how many and how many
all our troubles that would include troubles that we created.

(17:38):
Some of the troubles we're dealing with is self inflicted.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
You know, sin. I've heard it said that sin is
what is that? Ah?

Speaker 1 (17:47):
Well, I think it's self inflicted nonsense, the s, I
and the end. And so you know, sometimes through our
sin we find ourselves dealing with storm in trouble. And
yet God still comforts us in all our troubles so
that we can comfort others. So God's supernatural comfort, because

(18:12):
it's Heaven's comfort. It's not the earth's comfort with somebody
that loves you just sitting next to you and they
really can't do anything but kind of patch your hand.
Thank God for that. But God's comfort is supernatural. God's
comfort is a type that can actually make you feel
better in a terrible time. God's comfort is a type
that can actually heal you. And his comfort is available

(18:34):
to all of us, everybody in his room, everybody watching
this online. His comfort is there is on the menu
for every one of us. Just like if you went
to McDonald's. I don't care who you are, what your
color is, what your name is, how old you are.
French fries are on the menu. Now there a bunch
of other stuff that is on the menu that ain't

(18:54):
actually there. Anybody know what I'm talking about, You like
anybody's been able to get a sleshy from McDonald's in
the last ten years.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
Time I go, we don't have it. We run out anyway,
moving on, But.

Speaker 1 (19:05):
You can always get French fries, right, It's available to everybody.
God's comfort is always available to everyone. He comforts us
and all of our troubles, physical troubles, financial troubles, emotional troubles,
mental troubles, relationship troubles, whatever kind of trouble you can
ever have. God says, I've got comfort for that. Remember

(19:26):
when they used to have those commercials.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Doesn't act for that. God's got comfort for that.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Whatever you're dealing with right now, God's got a ball
of supernatural comfort available for you right now. Why think
about this comfort? God is about feeling.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
Right.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
When you say God's comforted someone, we're literally saying God
has helped them feel better. So God has made comfort
available to you no matter what. What's your problem? Because
God cares about how you feel. Now we're in a
day and age and even in the Body of Christ

(20:10):
where we rightfully focus on the spirit man, because that
is the main that's the main thing.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
Who you are on the inside.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
You know you, your spirit is what becomes born again
and you're supposed to live.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
From the inside out. But you aren't just a spirit.
You have a soul.

Speaker 1 (20:30):
Your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions.
And God doesn't just want your spirit man strong. He
wants your soul comforted because He cares about how you feel,
just like you care about how your kids feel.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
Or a friend feels. He cares about that.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
Jesus said, I have come to heal the broken hearted.
Remember that Joe chapter five talks about how God will.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Bind up the wound.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
There talking about your emotions even after being corrected. And
one reason why God wants you to feel better is
we just finished reading, is that is that He comforts
us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
God knows that healed people, heal people, so he.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
Wants you to feel better and be healed emotionally because
He doesn't just care about how you feel. He cares
about how the people around you feel. So God cares
about how all of us feel, even when we're in
the middle of a sinking boat at night, wondering if
we're gonna survive until the morning, even when it feels

(21:42):
like this is it and I can't take it anymore
and I'm losing my mind.

Speaker 2 (21:46):
God, where are you? God cares about how you feel.
Of course, he wouldn't abandon you. He cares might turn
them tell him. God cares. He cares about how you feel.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
John chapter sixteen. God knows that some of you are
hurting right now. I'm gonna say that again. God knows
you're hurting.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
He hears your crime, he hears your prayer, and he's
here to help you, and he.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Will if you'll let him, because he cares. He wants
you happy. Oh my God's passion. The Bible don't say
nothing b being happy. The Bible says a ton about
being happy. And one of the things we gotta do,
is Christians, is stop believing in people's religious philosophy and
actually open.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
The bi b l e.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
But the Bible says over and over again, happy is
the man who does this, and happy is the man.
In Proverbs three talks about how wisdom will make you happy.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
God does want you happy.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
He doesn't want the focus of your life to be
your happiness of.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
Your life is him.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
The focus of your life is recognizing that it's not
about me, it's about others. But while you're busy walking
with Him and you're helping make a mark in this world,
God wants you happy too. He's not interested in you
being his slave doing the work, but having a miserable existence.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
And that's what a lot of people.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
Christians seen to believe, and even preachers seem to preach
that I'm supposed to work for God and win people
and serve the poor and do all this other stuff
and God doesn't care if I'm sick and if I'm
broken and my marriage is torn up and all that's
prosperity gospel. You need to shut up with that foolishness
because you're speaking against my God.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
He's not treating you as a slave. You're his son.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
He sees you as a partner in Jehovah and sons,
doing great things for him, doing great things for people,
and then coming home and enjoying Him and the life
he's provided for you. Because He cares about how you feel.
John sixteen, verse twenty four. Jesus is talking to his disciples.

(24:06):
He says, until now you have asked nothing in my name,
Ask and you shall receive that your joy may be
what full? What?

Speaker 2 (24:22):
Wow?

Speaker 1 (24:23):
This is something here. As I was meditating on this
that it dawned on me that Jesus said, until now
you have asked nothing in my name, which means that
God keeps track of what you ask him for. Think
about that God keeps track of what you ask him for.

(24:47):
And Revelation chapter eight we see a picture of the
prayers of God, or the prayers.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
Of men on the altar before God in.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
Heaven, and how they lift up as incense prayer on
the altar in heaven, coming up before God.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
And Acts chapter ten.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
An angel appeared to Cornelius and he said, your prayers
and your alms have come up as a memorial before God.
God keeps track of all of your prayers when you
prayed in his name, means he cares about it. Some
of us we prayed some prayers and we were like, God,
you know what happened. Well, hang in there, it ain't

(25:27):
over yet.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
Keep reading.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
It says, until now you've asked nothing in my name ask,
and you were received.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
Now, if you were to back up a little.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
Bit in the story of Jesus and the Disciples, you
might remember that Jesus sent out the twelve and then
he sent out the seventy two by two to preach
and to do miracles.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
In his name.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
Anybody remember that, Well, he tells them, you know, go
and preaching. Here is what he told the twelve the seventy.
He said, heal and preach, And the Bible says, for example,
when the seventy came back to give a report of
what they had experienced, they said, even the devils are
subject to us.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
Through your name, through your authority. That's what the word
name there means.

Speaker 1 (26:18):
So they have been using his name to minister to others,
just like we should be. But even though they had
been doing that, Jesus then said, Okay, you've been using
my name to minister others, but you haven't asked anything
for yourself. You haven't asked anything for yourself.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
Ask. I want you to ask so you can receive,
because I want your joy to be full.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
Now, it was the last Christmas season I got bombarded
with the question from people in my family and it
was what do you want for Christmas? What do you
want for Christmas? What do you want for Christmas? And
the problem for me, I wasn't thinking about what I
wanted for Christmas, just like any other dad or you know,
I'm thinking about making sure everybody else get what they need.
I'm looking at the budget and the money and main

(27:08):
body else. I'm like, you know, I want for Christmas money, Lord, money, money,
so I can take care of everybody.

Speaker 2 (27:14):
Right. But they kept asking me what do you want?
Why are they asking me that?

Speaker 1 (27:18):
Because they wanted to get me what I wanted, and
they did. And Jesus here saying, hey, man, you've been
ministering for me. That's great. I want you to keep
doing that. That's the main thing. But you know what,
you haven't asked anything for yourself. Go ahead ask so
you can receive from me. I want you to receive
from heaven. This is why you have scriptures in the

(27:39):
Bible to say things like delight yourself and the Lord. Yeah,
we should do that as Christians. And he will give
you the desires of your heart. Oh God wants me
to have the desires of my heart. Mark eleven two,
Bey fourth, what things whoever you desire. When you pray,
believe you're receiving and you shall have it. There's a
scripture in Ecclesiasts, chapter five. I think it is worth reading.

(28:00):
It says in verse nineteen, it is a good thing
to receive wealth from God and the good health to
enjoy it. That's in the Bible. Wealth and health in
the Bible. Oh my goodness, it's a good thing. Keep
reading to enjoy your work and accept your lot in life.
This is indeed a gift from God.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
Verse twenty.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they
take no time to broad over the past. He said,
that's a good thing. God says, that's a good thing.
The King James version says, God has given this man
riches and wealth and the power to eat of it.
God says, a good thing for you to enjoy your
life the fact first time with each other. Six Verse
seventeen says that you know, charge them that are rich

(28:45):
in this world. He talks about not being high minded,
not trusting in money. Once again, we're not saying, mate,
these things you're God. There's a balance to it. But
there's a balance to it, meaning there's two sides, he says,
because cause God is the one who gives.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
Us richly all things to what enjoy.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
And if you think about it, in our life, even
people that have a problem with the idea that God
wants you to prosper they sure enjoy.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
A lot of things. Sure enjoy a lot of things.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
You enjoy eating your favorite food, drinking stuff, watching the game,
being with your wife or your husband, hanging with your kids.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Buying something you want to buy.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
And that's actually a good thing because God wants us
to enjoy our lives. God actually cares about your prosperity. Well,
he cares about my soul, absolutely, but he also cares
about God.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
Can you gum and walk? At the same time.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
He cares about your prosperity, he says, asking you received
and so your joy may be full. And what really
jumps out of me here is that you know, if
you were to back up in John chapter fifteen, you'll
see Jesus mentioned two types of joy.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
He says, I've given you my word, so my joy
might be in you. Well, what's that?

Speaker 1 (30:07):
What the Bible says, The fruit of the spirit is
love and joy. Write in peace and all stuff that
joy that comes from Heaven is in your heart. You
can stir up that joy any time you need it.
If you're sitting in the valley of life, you can
stir up the joy of the Lord and be on
an emotional high on the mountain, emotionally and spiritually, even

(30:31):
though everything has fallen apart.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
David did that.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
He was about to be stoned by his own men.
He was greatly distressed, but he encouraged himself in the Lord,
his God. You have access to the joy of the Lord,
so that even if you are hurting and you're struggling
right now, you don't have to stay that way. You
can walk out of here happy because you've stirred up
what's in you.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
That's His joy in you.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
So as far as God is concerned, you ought to
be able to rejoice in the Lord always, no matter
what's going on, because His joy is in you. But
He doesn't want you to always have to stir it
up to be happy.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
Do you hear it? I just said.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
There are times where God wants you to say, God,
I ask you for this, and you gave it to me.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
And your joy is full because God gave you what
you asked for. Now his joy can be stirred up
so your joy can be full.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
That's one way to do it, praising God, worshiping God,
you know, getting around believers. But another way is Lord,
I'm asking you to do this in my life. And
God says here and like a kid on Christmas, You're like,
thank you God.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
He may ever have one of those thank you God moments.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
Thank you Gee. We had it as a church. We
walked into this building and we were like, Hallelujah, thank
you Jesus. God wants you to have those moments as well.
Jeremiah Twain I left. We started with that.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
God says, I want to give you the future you
long for.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
Why God cares about your happiness, about your prosperity.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
God cares.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
Let's go back to Mark chapter four. Turn it in
and tell him. God cares about you. Find somebody and
tell him God cares about you. Find one more person,
tell him God cares.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
Put it online. God cares even if you're going through
right now, hang in there.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
He cares about you. Mark chapter four. Remember where we
found where we left these guys. They're in the middle
of this storm. The bolt is sinking, Jesus is sleeping
on a pillow.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
They have to wake him up. They're offended. Don't you care?
Don't you see what's happening. We're about to die. Verse
thirty nine says, And when Jesus.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
Woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the ways,
silence or peace.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
Be still.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.
Jesus had authority over the elements. He was able to
speak to the wind, and it obeyed him. And you
know what, he has authority over the elements in your
life too. I don't know what your wind is, but

(33:28):
he has authority over it. But can I go a
step farther? He gave you authority over the winds in
your life? And Bible says in James chapter four, resist
the devil. Not ask God to resist the devil. Say
you resist the devil, and he will flee from who you.

(33:52):
Isn't this what Jesus said in Mark eleven twenty three.
Whosoever shall say to this mountain be removed and be
cast into the sea, and shall not dollar in his heart,
but shall believe that whatever he says will come the past,
he will have whatsoever he says. In other words, when
you speak to the mountain, the mountain will obey you
because of my authority. It's not that you're so great,

(34:15):
is that he's so great. Is that he gave you
his name, He gave you his authority. And part of
the reasons some of us are dealing with the storm
is because you haven't told the storm to shut up yet,
and you waiting on God, and God's waiting on You
heard this story that kenep Hagen told, and he talked
about how he literally had a vision from God, and

(34:37):
his life.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
Surely demonstrates these things.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
But he said, one day, Jesus literally appeared to him
and he's talking to me. And if you can imagine
the kind of revelation he's getting, and Jesus talking and
he's here and everything, and he said, this little imp
demon jumped in between him and Jesus and it's jumping
and it's making all kinds of noise and and Jesus.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Is still talking, so and he can't hear what Jesus
is saying. So he's thinking, I can't Jesus.

Speaker 1 (35:06):
Jesus sewed up and he's talking to me and I
can't hear it because of the little heaven And he's
looking at Jesus going, why won't he do anything about it?

Speaker 2 (35:13):
And he finally got so frustrated he finally just.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
Said, get out of here in Jesus' name, and fell
down and it ran off. And then Jesus said to him,
if you didn't do anything about that, I couldn't. And
he said, what did you say? He said, if you
didn't do anything about that, I couldn't. And he said, well, Jesus,
you got to give me scripture for that. I can't
just accept an experience. Show me scripture. And he took

(35:36):
them to James Chapter four and three other scriptures that
revealed that God has actually given you authority in this realm.
That's why when you use the name, Satan has to
obey you. Sickness has to obey you, circumstances have to
obey you when you use.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
The authorities God has given.

Speaker 1 (35:56):
This is one reason why you don't just let Satan
mess with your kids or your family, because you have
authority over your family life. So when he comes against
your family, even though far from God, you need to
let him know, say and I rebuke you.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
Get out of here now in the name of Jesus.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
And then if you got family far from God, ask
God to send people across their path who they'll listen
to to tell them the truth about Jesus. But one
reason why some of us are dealing with storms is
because you haven't dealt with the storm.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
You got Goliath in front of you.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
You've got some serious you know, you got a serious
sling shot and some serious stones, and you just haven't
slung it yet. You're saying, God, don't you care, and
God saying I do. Will you please do something about this.
I don't want to see you hurting. I don't want
to see you broken. I need you heals so you
can help other people use what you've got. Well, Jesus

(36:54):
had authority over the elements and he used it. And
I think what's very interesting about this story is that
Jesus got in this boat.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
I believe because the Lord told him. There's really a
couple reasons.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
Number one, Jesus had him preaching all day long, and
he was tired.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
He got in a boat and went to sleep. Now,
if Jesus needed sleep, you do too.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Talking to somebody in here, it makes a difference. It's
amazing how your perspective changes. The world isn't ending when
you get a good night of Sleep.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
Number two.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
Remember how when they got in the boat, it appears
that there was no storm arising.

Speaker 2 (37:44):
The weather looked fine.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
As soon as they get in a boat and start
going pulling, this storm shows up. If you know anything
about Satan, the Bible talks about not being ignorant of
his devices. You know that when you're on the way
to doing something great for God, Satan will attack you
right then. He'll do everything he can to get you
from your destination. If you read the story, I won't

(38:08):
take you there for time's sake. But in March chapter five,
they do get to the other side, and who meets them.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
There is a man possessed with.

Speaker 1 (38:18):
A legion of demons spirits. Anybody remember that story six
hundred and sixty six demons in one man's spirit. The
man has terrorized the whole town. When Jesus gets there,
the man runs to him. Jesus cast the demon out,
the demons out.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
They run into it.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
They go into a bunch of pigs and they dive
into the water and they die. The man is delivered.
Then Jesus gets back in the boat and goes back.
He made the whole trip to.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Deliver one man. But that one man had a legion.

Speaker 1 (38:57):
Demons spirits have been terrorized in an entire region, and
that one man then went and told the gospel to
ten cities. He went to the decopolist, and he preached
about Jesus. So he did all this.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
To get some rest and to reach one man. And
Satan did not want him.

Speaker 1 (39:18):
To reach that man. That's why the storm came. For
some of you, you're saying, why am I dealing with this?
What's going on?

Speaker 2 (39:25):
Sometimes?

Speaker 1 (39:26):
And I was on a call yesterday with a bunch
of pastors and they talked about how, for whatever reason,
in our camp, people tend to think that if you
are under attack, it must mean you did something wrong.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
That is not always the case. Sometimes it's because you're
on the way to doing something right.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
You're about to have something happen on a level you've
never experienced before. That's why the storm is here. That's
why you feel like you're about to die. But God
sees it and he's there to deliver you. Let me
say this, I love how this story ends. He rebuked

(40:03):
the wind and said to the waves, silence be stilled. Suddenly,
Oh we got some good Suddenly he's coming. I like
them I like how this is defined. You know, things
are going one way and then suddenly they're going another way.
Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great calm.

(40:25):
The day is coming when your battle will cease. Come
on now, the day is coming where there will be
a great calm. The day is coming where you'll have
an even greater victory than you've ever experienced. The great
calm is coming. I'm gonna say it again, the great
calm is coming, Pa Pastor. You don't know what I'm

(40:46):
gonna through right now. Calm is coming, but it hurts
right now. Calm is coming, but I don't see how
I'm gonna get out of here.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
It's so dark. Calm is coming.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
You're gonna have that moment where you're in the boat
and you're looking back and say, we started off good.
Satan attacked us, but we made it through. Look what
the Lord has done. And now we're about to deliver
this man, deliver these people God has called us to deliver.
You will get through this because God cares about you.
And if you'll just believe in him and all use

(41:18):
the authority he's given you, he'll give you a victory
greater than you've ever experienced before in your life. Suddenly,
and that's what the Lord has said this year, right,
It's a year of double for your trouble. And we
hear that and we go, yeah, thank God for the double.
But we missed the fact that God is saying there
would be trouble. So we're like, have my year of

(41:43):
a double for my trouble. It's January twelve and January eighteen. Bam,
boom bam. We like, where the audience come from. This
is the wrong kind of double. What's he telling you?

Speaker 2 (41:54):
Yet?

Speaker 1 (41:55):
Trouble may come, you might be in it right now,
but that is not the end of the story.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
God's gonna bring you out.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
God's gonna bring you into the destiny hass for you,
and then He's gonna look at everything that should win
through and say I got to repay them and give
you double for your trouble. That's your year this year
because He cares about he wants you to win.

Speaker 2 (42:17):
He is your biggest fan.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
He's wearing your jersey around Heaven saying go, he.

Speaker 2 (42:26):
Cares for you.

Speaker 1 (42:28):
This man said again, God cares. Let's go to John
Chather three. I'm just gonna stop here.

Speaker 2 (42:39):
I got more, But I'll just I'll be here next week,
y'all just.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Come on back and we'll pick up, because there's more
to this story, but I want to end here. John
three sixteen says, for God's soul love the world.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
What does love do? Love cares right?

Speaker 1 (42:58):
If I love you, I care about what happens to you.
So let's read this another way. God so cares about
you that he gave his only begotten son. One scripture
romans A says He's spared not his son, And what
did he not spare him from?

Speaker 2 (43:18):
He was spit on, he was beaten, he was whipped,
he was nailed to a cross.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
He hung on that cross for I believe it was
six hours. His spirit was dragged down into hell. He
was tormented. God so cared about you that he allowed
his son to go through that that if you would
so that if you could just believe.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
In him, you would not perish eternally.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
He wouldn't go to the devil's hell, hell that wasn't
created for people, but instead have ever lasting life. God
sent Jesus, yes, because he cares about your future, not
just the future here on earth, but your eternal future.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
And God's got some of you. Here today, Perhaps somebody.

Speaker 1 (44:11):
Bring you to church, send you a link, because he
cares about your future, and he's knocking her door in
your heart, saying, man, just believe in me. I soul
wants you to not go to Hell. I want you
to go to heaven. I don't want you suffering anymore.
I don't want you with this hole in the middle
of you. I don't want you trying to figure out

(44:31):
why I exist and trying all these different things to
make you happy and just feeling even worse.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
I didn't grade you for that.

Speaker 1 (44:39):
I created you to have fellowship with me, to walk
with me, and to be with my people, and to
have the joy of reaching people and making a difference
in this world. I created you so you can enjoy
the great things that I have given you in this world.
I created you so for the age is to come.
I can sh oh you how good I am.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
I just need you to believe.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
Thank you for tuning in to another Faith Experience podcast.
Remember God as a future for you.