You Are Still Strong

Thank you. You guys are you guys are great. Appreciate it. I told my wife this morning, so grateful for you. And I’m also ready to turn the page to where the church doesn’t have to be about her and I. We can turn our attentions back to Jesus, and I’m really grateful to do that. I don’t know. I just I just woke up grateful for God’s faithfulness and how good He is. And man, it’s a I think we’ve got a bright future ahead. There’s a lot of a lot of unknowns, a lot of things we do know, a lot of things we’re gonna discover together. But man, God’s so good. I’m so honored that you’d be a part. Hey, can you stand on your feet just for another quick second? We’re gonna recite our believer center creed, and then I’ve got a word I’m really excited to share with you. I hope it’s gonna help you. This is our confession of faith. If you don’t know it, we recite it often, and the words are on the screen. Invite you to read along with us. Here we go.

I am deeply loved and graced by God. His life is a gift to me. My life well lived is my gift to him. I am determined to live the life I could never deserve from the place of his grace. My faith is audacious, my spirit relentless. I will not be deterred. I will not quit until Jesus is fully honored and a hurting world has heard the good news. If not me, then who? If not here, then where? If not now, then when. I am deeply loved and graced by God. Can give God some praise for his grace. Thank you, God. Amen.

Well, you can turn to you turn to a neighbor, give someone a hug, let someone know you love them. Y’all can take your seats. Marshall and Cindy wanted to point out the irony that they’ve spent the last month or so saying they’re not going anywhere. Then the first week post-transition, they’re gone. We fired them. No. They’re actually they’re traveling. We can’t do that. They’re traveling, but they send their love. They look forward to being back with you on Tuesday. Is that right, Jordan? They’ll be back on Tuesday. So love you guys so much. And they send their blessings to us and what we’re doing.

Numbers chapter 13. If you have your Bibles, Numbers chapter 13. Some of y’all got your Bibles all marked up and highlighted and pen and notes written in the margins. If you go to Numbers chapter 13, I bet those pages are brand new. Still crispy. Numbers chapter 13, beginning in verse 1. It says this.

The Lord said to Moses, send some men to explore the land of Canaan.

And then here’s the phrase I want you to focus on, which I am giving to the Israelites. So we’re starting a new series today, probably four weeks or maybe three, I’m not too sure. And the title is this: You are still strong. You are still strong. You are still strong. Turn to your neighbor and say that. You are still strong. Now turn to your other neighbor. Your second choice. So you are still strong. Yeah, you’re still strong.

So God, we thank you so much for your church. We thank you so much for your word. We ask that you would speak to us and that you would help us to listen. And most of all, we say thank you for your son who makes all of this possible. And we say thank you and we love you. It’s in your sons that we pray. Everybody said. Amen. Amen. You are still strong. You are still strong.

Life Has a Way of Making Things Weaker

Years ago, 20 years ago, I was in Bible college. I lived in Colorado Springs. And you know that. I worked at this restaurant called Joe’s Crab Shack over there. And one day I was at work and some friends from work came and said, Hey, and it’s Colorado Springs, so that there’s a lot of lot of weather, it’s a lot of snow, and there’s a lot of winter sports, and so they said, Hey, we’re gonna go sledding. Would you like to come sledding? And I was like, You bet. And they said, Cool, bring a sled. I said, Right on. I didn’t have a sled though. So, and I didn’t have any money in Bible college. I didn’t have any money for a sled, but I remember I lived in an apartment complex, and I remember seeing just a couple days ago when I was taking out the trash that in the dumpster by the apartment complex that there was an old sled that someone had thrown away in there. And so I’m thinking, cool. So I hop in there, I grab the sled, I throw it out, I hop out. The sled was clearly very old. I think it probably used to be red at some point. It’s like an off pink light, because it had some weather, it’s had some sun. I throw it in the back of my car, hop in, and we go sledding. So the first time I walk up the hill, I hop on my little sled, and there’s like this little jump. And I’m like, okay, I’m gonna wow these folks with the jump. So I get on the sled, I go down, I take this little jump, get a couple inches of air, land, and as I land on this old aged and ailing sled, it breaks apart into a thousand razor sharp pieces. And one of the pieces, it cuts through my pants, through my underwear, and cuts my butt. And the trip was ruined, and you might be thinking, well, what’s the moral of the story?

Well, like the old sled, I think sometimes life has a way of making things weaker. And of course, that’s true, like with people, where experiences come, trials come, challenges of life come. And for lots of people, that comes and makes them weaker. We see this all the time in ministry, where there’s people who come to church and they’re passionate and they have purpose and they have enthusiasm and they have excitement, and then life happens, and they’re never the same. As I’ve told you before, setbacks are inevitable and unavoidable, and they come from a few different places. Setbacks come from an imperfect world. It’s like nobody’s fault, it’s just life happens. Man, what happened to you? Life. Life happened to me. Imperfect world, imperfect people. Man, what happened to you? People, people happen to me. Lastly, three imperfect choices. I happen. What happened to you? Me, I happened to me. Right, but setbacks are just a matter of life. It’s just the way that it works. And for lots of people, life comes and takes away their strength.

And that’s not just a phenomenon with old people. In fact, when I was coming up with this title, I was I was telling, I was talking to the young people, I’m like, Y’all don’t think I’m just talking about like old people, right? Like you’re still strong in spite of being a senior citizen. I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about in spite of a million things. And I meet some cynical young people. It’s like I’m like, you’ve been on this planet for 20 years, and you’re already like that disillusioned with the way things work here. It’s like you just alligator skin and scar tissue. It’s like, what’s gonna happen when you live another 50 years? And so it’s just it’s it’s true that life is going to happen, but they but you have a choice between whether or not life is going to take you down or life is gonna bring you up. And scripture actually has a lot to say that I think is really helpful.

The Story of Caleb and the Twelve Spies

Numbers chapter 13. If you don’t know, this is a scripture God has promised his people, these are the Israelite people, a land to occupy. Does anyone know the name of the land that he has promised them? Canaan, so many are like the promised land, yeah. Yeah, but specifically it’s called Canaan. And so Moses comes and he sends these 12 spies, and he tells them, Well, go spy and come back and report to me what you see there. Does it seem like we’re gonna be able to go there, just walk right in or what? And so they come back and they give this report, Numbers chapter 13, verse 30 says this.

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.

So there’s this guy, Caleb, and he’s one of the 12, and he goes to Moses and says, Like, hey, let’s do it. Like, it’s cool, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Like, we can definitely do it. Verse 31. But say that word with me, but there’s always someone being a but.

But the men who had gone up with him said, We can’t attack these people. They are stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, the land we explore devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there.

If you don’t know the Nephilim, it’s like this mythological, but probably real creatures. They’re like half angel and half human, like a Minotaur. So human and then angel on, but but they’re but they’re big. And so we saw Nephilim there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our eyes, and we looked the same to them.

So okay, so Moses sends out 12 spies. I just need you to understand the story. They all come back, two of them, so Caleb and his boy Joshua, they say, Let’s do it. It’s not a problem. We can totally do it. And the other ten say, We can’t do it. We’re tiny and we’re awful. And if you think about it, like they’re doubting their own abilities. That’s true, but maybe more than that, they’re doubting God’s ability to make good on his promises. Because what we read at the beginning, you can you can say that God clearly said that this is the land that he is giving to the Israelites. And so these people, they think we can’t do it because they see the problem, and so they go and they spread a negative report. And because of that negative report, fear enters the people’s hearts. And then listen to this instead of entering into the promised land, they spend 45 years in the wilderness. 45, like I like I’m 42. 45 years is a long, long time, y’all. Like even if you’re 80 in here, think back 40 years, that’s a long time. 45 years, they enter into the promise before they are in the wilderness before they enter into the promised land. Two spies say we can do it. The ten others say we can’t. And the people believe the ten, and because they believe the ten, they wander the wilderness for 45 years. Are you tracking with me?

Okay, so then we’re gonna jump to Joshua chapter 14. So 45 years is passing between these verses. 45 years has passed. Caleb now, instead of being 40, is 85. And look at what he says. Remember, he’s he’s the original one that came to Moses and said, We can do this. Joshua chapter 14, verse 7.

I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Bernea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions. But my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the heart of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.

Verse 10.

Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for 45 years since the time he said this to Moses while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, 85 years young.

Come on, anybody. He says this,

I am still as strong today. As the day Moses sent me out. I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day.

That’s real interesting that Caleb believed God and he believed the promises of God. But he became a part of this whole generation collectively that did not believe in God and did not trust God. And because of that, he missed out, or they all missed out on the promised land. In fact, the only only two people from that entire generation came into the promised land, and that was Caleb and Joshua, the ones that didn’t doubt. And every time I read this story, I’m I’m so amazed at Caleb’s faith. For 45 years, he keeps believing. And you know what I think is really sick is that Caleb had to wait 45 years, not because of the mistakes that he made. He had to wait around 45 years because of the lack of faith in other people.

And you know, patience is never easy. Like I I don’t know if you guys are like me, but I have recently our house has become eligible for Amazon same-day shipping. Am I the only one? So, and or or get it overnight from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. And so, like for me, when we when I go on Amazon, I just click that. That’s all I want to see. If you can’t get it to me by 8 a.m., I don’t want it. I’ll I’ll find something that’s like I know that case is pink, but it’ll be here in two hours. Let’s go. But patience is never easy. Caleb waited for 45 years for the promise of God to be fulfilled. And every time there’s any kind of delay, I think like we can get so discouraged. But Caleb teaches us what faith really looks like, and Caleb teaches us what perseverance really looks like. For 45 years, guys, he stands on God’s promise. 45 years. Think about that. Some of us, I think the word of God expires in like maybe six months. Right? It’s like, I need a new word. I need a new word from Caleb is standing on a word he got 45 years before. And I don’t know who I’m talking to, but I want to tell somebody to keep standing on the promises God gave you. You might you might feel like it’s taking forever, but what God said to you is more real than anything that’s going on in your life right now.

Caleb at 85 years old says, I’m just as strong today as I was when I was 40. Now he probably is not talking about physically. I mean, maybe he is. He’s like, I’m ready, I’m battle ready. I’m blessed, go. But y’all, you you’ve seen an 85-year-old. Like, cool, grandpa. Sit down. He’s 85. And he’s like, I’m ready to go. He says, I’m still as strong now as I was when I was 40. Not physically, but his faith, his determination, his zeal for God, his readiness to fight the enemy was as strong then as it was 45 years before. And I want to tell someone as a new pastor of this church, you are still strong. Yeah. You’re still strong. I know the loss you suffered. You are still strong. I know what the devil told you. You’re still strong. I know the disappointment that you encountered. You’re still strong. I know life didn’t go the direction you were expecting it to go. Hear me, you’re still strong. I know the challenges you’re up against. You’re still strong. In fact, in fact, I want to say it like this you’re stronger now than you were before it happened.

I don’t know if you can think back. There was this really interesting year that happened collectively, 2020. Y’all remember that? That was pretty weird. It’s really interesting as a, you know, because a church is not primarily an organization, but we are an organization. It’s really interesting when your income instantly goes to zero. But that’s something that a lot of you have probably experienced. Right? That’s like how life just comes and brings something. But you know what? I’m thinking back myself as a pastor, going through that heart. You know, I’m stronger now. I’m stronger now than I was in 2019. And I want you to know that that the challenges in life, it’s such a cliche. It’s a cliche for a reason, can either make you bitter or better. Bitter or better. And the story of Caleb that we’re talking about this morning, it teaches us three things about saying strong that I’d like to share with you.

Your words still matter

If you’re taking notes, write this one down. Number one is this your words still matter. Your words still matter. Your words still matter. Look again at what Caleb says in verse 7. He says,

I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions.

He’s talking about when he said, he said this, hey, we can do it. It’s cool. It’s not a problem. We can do this. And he’s saying, I brought that report according to my convictions. I believe it says in the King James, according to what was in my heart. But think about this that Caleb went to the same place as the ten. He saw the same giants that the ten saw. He saw the big cities just like the ten. He saw the terrifying enemies just like the ten. But the ten used their words to strengthen their doubt, and Caleb used his words to strengthen his faith. The ten used the their the ten used their words to weaken themselves, but Caleb used his words to strengthen himself.

And this just this is so huge. I think some of some people, especially like young people in here, you know, you’ll look at people in this room that are like the heroes of the faith. Like they’ve been following God for 60 years. And it’s like, it’s not like life has necessarily been easy for them. It’s like just been coasting, no problems. Like you know some of the problems that they’ve been through. And it’s like, how are they strong and passionate and full of faith, even in spite of all those challenges? And you’re thinking, like, man, how do they do it? I can tell you, one of the keys is this is that they use their own words to strengthen themselves. Think about that song we sung that song earlier. It says this, Bless the Lord, O my soul. Who are you talking to right there? Your soul. Did you and that’s like you’re talking to your soul, isn’t that kind of weird? It’s actually not. David does it in the book of Psalms. He says, he says, O soul, why are you so downcast? Did you know that you can talk to your own soul? Did you know you can talk to your own heart? You can talk to yourself and say, Why, O soul, are you so depressed? Like, why, O soul, are you so angry? And that’s how people do it, man. People who follow God faithfully with joy, year after year after year after year, I can tell you, almost without exception, they know this secret that they use their words to strengthen themselves.

If you want to stay strong, then you need to realize that your words still matter. What you say about your situation still matters. What you say about yourself still matters. You ready for this? What you say about your city still matters. Oh, this place is going to hell in a handbasket. Be quiet. Come on now. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Life and death. Y’all probably know that verse, right? Do you know the second half? And those that love it will eat its fruit. What does that mean? Well, eat its fruit. It means this is that your words, your tongue is producing fruit. Your tongue is producing things that exist in your life and exist in the world. See, Caleb didn’t deny the giants, like that they were in the land, but he used his words to build his faith. He used his words to it wasn’t like, oh, there’s no problem. There’s no problems. Everything’s cool. There’s no, there’s no issue. That’s not faith. It’s denial. But he uses his words to not magnify the situation. He uses his words to magnify the promises of God.

Look, Joshua chapter 14, verse 10.

Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for 45 years since the time he said to Moses while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, 85 years old. I am still

listen to what he’s saying. He’s strengthening himself. Who’s he talking to here? Himself.

I am still as strong today.

Who’s he convincing? Himself.

I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I am just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.

Listen to this, verse 12.

Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day.

Now give me that country the Lord promised me that day. What day? That one day. How many thousands of times did Caleb have to confess this? How many thousands of times did he have to come and speak to his soul, saying, The promises of God are still true today. The promises of God are more real than any of my circumstances. The promises of God are still coming to pass. God is a promise keeper. God is a promise keeper. God is a promise keeper. For someone to be standing in faith of a word in a word that they got 45 years ago, you can only imagine how often they have spoken and to strengthen themselves, right? Like in your thing, like, man, this is like a wild old guy, right? He’s like, man, I’m just as strong now, I’m ready to go to battle. And you can tell he’s a wild guy, but you can tell he’s strong. And the reason that you can tell he’s strong, it’s like I don’t I don’t know what he looks like, but I can tell his, I can tell his strength. I can I can picture what he looks like. Maybe not in the outside, but I can picture what he looks on the inside, because he used his words to strengthen himself in the Lord.

People, people, they’re so proud of like being able to like tell it like it is. Oh, I tell people come to me. I should like to tell it like it is. Listen, any imbecile can tell it like it is. Any knucklehead can point at a problem and say, that’s a problem. Like, no kidding. Like that, that’s not that’s not a that’s not a talent, that’s not a gift of the spirit. I’m an I’m a problem identifier, right? But it takes strength to speak by faith. It takes strength to say, God, give me the land that you promised me. It takes strength to speak things into existence. You know, God, when he created the universe, he did it through speaking. And you speak the universe into existence. Some of y’all are like, oh, I’m not a prophet, I can never prophesy. I can never prop. Look, you are prophesying all day long. You are creating the world with your words. It’s like, do I do none of you are omnipotent, none of you have eternal, never-ending power. That’s not that’s not what I’m saying, but I’m saying that God has invited you in to be co-creators with him, and one of the ways that you do that is with the words that you speak. You’re prophesying over your children all day long. You’re prophesying over your city all day long. Your words still matter.

That’s why I speak blessing into this city. I do. If you’re new to that, get ready. It’s gonna happen a lot. Like I declare in the name of Jesus that this church is and will continue to be a lighthouse to this city. I declare that people will be set free through this church. I declare that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be spread through this church. Chains will be broken through this church. Addictions will be broken through this church. People will be helped through this church. So what am I doing? Am I just trying to like pump you up? Trying to get no. I’m speaking things into existence. You could do the same thing in your family. You can do the same thing in your business. Look, I declare over each and every one of you that God is going to do things through you that you never thought possible. What am I doing? Try to flatter you. No, no, I’m speaking things into existence. Your words still matter. Your words still matter. Turn to your neighbor and say that. Your words still matter.

What you listen to still matters

Number two, is this all right? Number two, if you’re taking notes, write this. What you listen to still matters. What you listen to still matters. Numbers 13, verse 31.

But the men who had gone up with him said, We can’t attack those people. They are stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored.

Right? They’re spreading a bad report. 45 years later, Caleb comes back and says, This,

and I brought back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.

Listen to this. The Israelite people spent 45 years in the wilderness because they listened to the wrong people. If you’re thinking, God, I can’t, how you God, how could you allow them to, you know, 45 years of their life, they all died out there. That’s it was this moment right here. When they chose who they were gonna listen to. They heard one man say we can do it. They heard 10 say we can’t. They believed the 10. 45 years. That was the moment. The Israelites became weak because they only listened to the voices that were voicing the problem. Caleb remained strong for 45 years because he listened to the promises of God. What you listen to still matters.

You may or may not be aware of this, but there is a pretty consequential political election coming up in like about 30 days. And I think everyone agrees that one of the candidates is a horrible fascist dictator who’s going to ruin the world. And the other candidate is gonna save the planet and save humanity. The problem is no one agrees on which is which okay. Listen, who am I quoting? Fox News or MSNBC. If your guy gets elected, democracy’s over. Both. They’re all everyone agrees that it’s like that is, and and I just I just want to remind you that you everywhere you go, you’re you’re being flooded with it. Flooded with fear. Like in the, and I’ve said this before: the Christian that survives and thrives in today’s culture is the Christian who’s able to discern which voices to follow and which voices to ignore. If you want to live, you want to survive in America in 2024, you’re gonna have to get good at putting voices in their place. I can get news from someone and not put them in a in the wrong place in me. I don’t have to, I can I can hear their reports and I don’t have to elevate them into a place they’re not supposed to be.

Why is that important? Well, you can write this down. Your thoughts are birthed by what you listen to consistently. Your thoughts are birthed by what you listen to consistently. And don’t get me wrong, like I I’ve told you this before. I think we should be educated. I think we should have the ability to listen to opinions that we disagree with. I think we should have the ability to listen to like a lot of different perspectives, but at the same time, you have to be careful. Because there are just so many voices in culture trying to speak into your life, and every voice that you let in influences your thinking. And so you got to be careful. You just have to pay attention. You have to choose the books you read wisely. Some of y’all are like, no problem, I haven’t read a book since I was in seventh grade. Well, then you’re good. So you have to choose wisely what podcasts you’re gonna listen to. It feels good to listen to someone who agrees with you and says mean things that you know you’re not supposed to say. I get that. The problem is that that appeals to the to the unregenerate part of you. I understand the appeal, but don’t let politics allow you to delight in bad manners. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. So you gotta just pay attention. Pay attention. You gotta be deliberate with the podcasts you listen to. You gotta be deliberate with the videos you watch. Because all of those voices shape your thinking.

And so I’m telling you like if you if you’re struggling with is God even real, I promise you that there is a voice in your life that you have to cut off. If you’re thinking, like, man, is the Bible really God’s word? I promise that you have opened yourself up to a voice that’s not helping you. If you think, oh, you know, is God really good? Does he even love me? Like, you’re gonna need to take inventory of the voices in your life because your thoughts are birthed by what you listen to consistently. I can tell what you listen to because it’s flowing out of your mouth all the time. Oh, yeah, oh, you know, I’m just, you know, I love the Lord, and it’s like, yeah, we have lunch, and you don’t say anything except for like what you know Anderson Cooper says. Like, it’s like I can tell what you listen to because that’s what comes out of your mouth.

Listen to this. What you hear produces your thinking. What you hear produces your thinking. Your thinking produces a belief system. Your thinking produces a belief system. Your belief system produces actions and responses. Your actions and responses produce your destiny. What you hear produces your thinking. Your thinking produces a belief system. Your belief system produces actions and responses, and your actions and responses produce your destiny. And Paul says this in Romans chapter 10. He says this faith comes by hearing. Can I let you in on a little secret? Fear comes by hearing too. Which one are you going to experience this week? Well, it all depends on who you decide to listen to. And the voices in your life are either building faith or fear, not both. Good in, good out. Or as my mom used to say, garbage in, garbage out. So if you want to change your thinking, you’re gonna have to change your hearing. If you want good to come out of you, you’ve got to get good in you.

And like I’ll spare you my talk on like how people the people who like spend their entire day watching the news and then they’re scared all the time. I’m just gonna say it’s not a coincidence. Right, right. Oh, Pastor David believed. You know, it’s like people become addicted to bad news. Oh, that’s the only news there is. You’re gullible. If you think that, if you think if you think God is not at work in the world right now, I can tell what you’re listening to. Right? And it’s the job of the news to feed your addiction to bad news. So check the news, that’s fine. Like do you. Maybe it’s Twitter, X, Facebook, YouTube, if you’re like my generation, regular TV, if you’re like a like an old timer. Check the news, but fix your thoughts on the things of God. Check the news, but fix your thoughts on the things of God. Go to the news for information, but go to God for answers. I go to the news for information, but you go to God for answers. So get the information, go get the bad news, and then go back to God and say, okay, what would you like me to do? I know what they want me to do. What do you want me to do? I know how they want me to treat people that I disagree with. How do you want me to treat people I disagree with? How do you want me to spend my time? How do you want me to spend my mental energy? I don’t need a godless culture telling me who I’m supposed to be. I’ll find that out from an eternal, omnipotent, omniscient God. What you listen to still matters. What you listen to still number one, your words still matter. Number two, what you listen to still matters.

Your faith still changes things

Number three, your faith still changes things. Your faith still changes things. Joshua chapter 14, verse 10.

Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for 45 years since the time he said this to Moses while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, 85 years old. I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now than I was then.

And how does he end his speech? It’s this

now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day.

Caleb’s confidence is not a natural things. He wasn’t confidence because Israel’s army was so strong. He wasn’t confidence because the enemy was so weak. His confidence was based on what God had promised and his revelation that God is a promise keeper. That’s why he was confident. Because he was confident that God keeps his promises and that by faith he could possess them.

You know, faith and optimism, I’ve told you this before, they’re not the same thing. Now, faith produces optimism. Faith is certainly not pessimism. It’s closer to optimism than pessimism. But faith and optimism aren’t the same thing. Because optimism is non-specific. Faith is specific. It has an object. You could say it like this my next slide. Optimism is a positive outlook in circumstances that are under no one’s control. It’s just gonna work out. Faith is a positive outlook in circumstances that are under God’s control. In other words, optimism is it’ll work out. But faith is God’s gonna work it out. And so it’s it’s it might appear externally similar, but faith is specific to God. And you know what? Faith is specific to Jesus. The author of Hebrews says this, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2,

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Y’all probably know it in the King James, the author and finisher of our faith. So faith begins and ends with Jesus. If you just have a general sense that things are gonna work out, that’s beautiful. I encourage that. But that’s not faith, that’s optimism. Faith is saying, God’s watching out for me, and he is faithful. The universe didn’t work it out. The one who created the universe worked it out. Nothing against the universe. No offense to the like I love the universe. The universe is great. I’m grateful to live in the universe. But the universe doesn’t care about you. The one who created the universe cares. And so I’m clinging to the promises of God. Not a general sense that things are going to work out, but what he’s specifically told me. What he has specifically told me about us, but what he has specifically told me about our family, and what he has specifically told me about me. You could say it like this I don’t live in the fog of I hope so. I live in the clarity of God said. I don’t live in the fog of I hope so. I hope it’s gonna work out. I live in the clarity of God said.

Caleb didn’t say, like, boy, gee whiz, I sure want that land. That should be great to have that land. No, he said, give me the land the Lord has promised me. And there’s a big difference. And so today I’m reminding you of the things that God has spoken to you. I want to remind you of the promises God has given to you regarding your family. I’m just reminding you. I want to remind you about the promises that God has given to you regarding your business. Just reminding you. I want to remind you of the promises God has given us regarding this church. And even it’s like a four unit, you know, something’s like, man, it’s a 45-year old word from God. Man, man. A word from an old word beats no word. Gotta stand on something. So go back. If you feel like, man, I don’t know. It just feels like this feels like that part of me is dying. It feels like that dream is dying. Go back to the promises God gave you and stand on them. Because your faith still changes things. Number one, your words still matter. Number two, what you listen to still matters. Number three, your faith still changes things.

Closing

How does the story wrap up? Joshua chapter 14, verse 12. Caleb says this.

Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. Then Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.

If you know this, but God has an inheritance for you. God has an inheritance for your family. God has an inheritance for this church. And the world’s gonna do what the world’s gonna do. Like in whatever way I can encourage you, like don’t lose your mind over what Babylon does. Okay. Like the church is not we’re not dependent on any sort of external system agreeing with us. That’s not how it works. And and and if two months pass and your guy or your gal didn’t get elected, and your positive democracies look, it doesn’t change the promises of God. So it’s like, I’m not, I’m, I’m not worried. Like, I hope you can see it in my face. I’m I’m actually not. Like I listened to both sides, I understand that they’re all like I’m I’m just not worried. Because the promises of God are bigger than any external circumstances in the world.

Here’s my closing statement. Then we’ll get out of here. You are still strong, and the life of Caleb can teach you how to stay strong. One, your words still matter. Use your words to build faith, not fear. Speak life into your situation and declare God’s promises. Two, what you listen to still matters. Be discerning regarding the voices you allow into your life because they shape your thinking and your destiny. Number three, your faith still changes things. Standing on God’s promises will bring real change to your reality, to your circumstances, and to our world.

So, God, today we turn our attention even for a moment deliberately back onto your promises and your faithfulness and your goodness. And I ask for my brothers and sisters in this room that you would help us. You would help us see you even in a world that’s really foggy and chaotic and really loud. Sometimes hearing you feels like trying to do a phone call like at a football game. So, Father, I pray for a special anointing and a special ability for us to hear you clearly in these seasons, in these seasons of chaos. And that we would be able to depend on you instead of trying to depend unsuccessfully on the things of the world. And Father, we say thank you. And we love you. We love you, we love you, we love you.