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Choosing God's Power Like Picking Your Best Teammate 0:01 Welcome to the men's global livestream. If you have a Bible, I want you to hold 2 spots, 1 in numbers 13 and the other in Ephesians 6. And can I0:13 encourage you to download the notes for these sessions for a couple of reasons? 1 is you don't have to struggle to remember the Bible passages. They're right there on the downloaded outline, and you can reteach it0:24 and copy it and use it at your church, your men's fellowship, or your men's group. We're in part 3, if you're joining us for the first time, of a series called Come to Me. And if those 3 words0:36 sound familiar, they should. It's Jesus' standing invitation to believers to take advantage of God's help, God's care, and God's capacity in this life. Right? And0:48 and the goal for our series is really simple. Don't let your fear, don't let your pride, don't let your ignorance, Right? Limit God's powerful help from coming into1:00 your life today, into your challenges today, into your mountains that you're trying to scale today. Alright? Situations, issues, family, relationships. Don't limit God's1:12 powerful help from coming into your life. You see, Jesus makes himself available. We should seriously and sincerely accept and act1:24 on that invitation. And the point of contact for acting on it is turning to God in prayer. Right? Now Jesus, being God, kind of makes sense1:36 that we would come to him in in prayer, especially when we know how much he cares about us. Right? But there's another aspect of God's character that should make1:48 turning to God the easiest decision that we make every day and every morning that we wake up. Right? And to get us thinking in the right direction, I wanna ask you a question. Do you remember when you2:00 were in elementary school or when you were younger picking teams to play sports? Right? Football, basketball, prison ball at my elementary school.2:11 Right? I specifically remember choosing teams to play this kind of ball. Kickball. Alright? Recess, lunch, it was an addiction, right, back in elementary school.2:23 You know, now there's adult leagues, but to play kickball. Alright? But back when I was young, man, every recess, every lunch, we went out to that blacktop. Right? And you know the scenario. Right?2:35 You got 2 captains, and then those 2 captains would be selected, and then they choose alternatively from a pool of boys that are assembled. And every boy is hoping that I hope they don't2:47 pick me last. I hope they don't pick me last. Right? Maybe you're 1 of those guys. Sometimes I was that guy. And on those occasions, when I got to be a captain, I knew who I would pick first every time2:59 without fail. It was my buddy, Todd Pinter. Right? He had what every kickball team needs if they hope to win,3:11 a powerful right leg. Right? So I would put that into my thinking, and if Todd was available, and he would always be my first pick. Let's put it this way. Todd's leg had the3:22 kick that would send the other teams we played chasing the ball. Right? Now, Todd, for me, as I was picking3:34 my teams, right, Todd was synonymous with confidence. Because of Todd's powerful leg, I'm confident, so I pick him. I have to3:46 choose him, intentionally. Now what's the point? I think you get what I'm stepping in here. Then, as now, as a man of God, power and3:58 strength on your side provides confidence, but you have to be intentional to choose it. Right? And in the battle of life, a godsman who does not4:10 choose to God's power to help him lead his life and lead him to victory, you're a fool for 1 simple reason. Jesus wants you to4:22 pick him. Jesus wants you to come to him. Jesus has the capacity like no other and the power like no other to help you. He says, come to me. You see, a strong4:33 God produces strong confidence and strong prayers that get strong wins. Anybody need a win today? I do. So let's4:45 unpack this. Let's read our theme for the series, which is Jesus's invitation, and then we'll get into our study for today. Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through 30. Here's our theme verse. Jesus4:57 says, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in5:08 heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So there's Jesus' invitation, and there are the results when we accept.5:20 Right? Unburdening, rest, relief, and a lightness from the inside out, not in the absence of the pressures of life, but in the midst5:33 of the pressures of life. Right? You want an unburdening? You want rest? You want relief? You want a lightness from the inside out, not in the absence of your pressures and challenges, but in the midst of them?5:44 You seriously and sincerely accept and act upon Jesus's invitation. But here's what happens. It's it's very common being in ministry with men for5:56 over 30 years. I've seen it a lot. Men get a vision and they get a direction from God, or maybe they're in a Sunday service, so they go to a men's conference, or with their men's groups, or they're they're reading God's6:05 word, and man, the vision and the direction, it just comes to them, and they're so full of faith and they're confident. Right? And then as they move forward, right, they hit a bump in the road.6:18 Right? There's a challenge that they didn't plan on this journey in God's direction. You know, it's like a plane flying. It hits turbulence, and all of a sudden they're they're feeling a6:29 little rocked spiritually. And and then a mistake happens. They mistakenly conclude that the initial vision and direction and word from God that they6:41 got in terms of where they're supposed to head or what they're supposed to do or what they're supposed to build or where they're supposed to go or or who they're supposed to write a check to, all that. Right?6:53 When the turbulence comes and the unplanned things comes on the journey and a challenge comes, they mistakenly conclude that that initial word from the Lord, that initial vision, that initial direction, right,7:05 was not from him. And nothing could be further from the truth. As we'll see, 1 of the best examples of this is with7:17 God's people in Numbers chapter 13. Alright? The context is simple. Alright? God's making promises, and his people are moving in that direction,7:29 and then they hit some bumps. And we wanna lean into this because this is for us. Right? Because it wasn't an opportunity or an occasion in the turbulence and with7:41 obstacles for them to bail on God's vision and direction for their life. It was actually a time for them to lean in to God. So let's read numbers 13, and, we'll we'll unpack it. So this is,7:54 the recon debrief. Alright? God says, I'm taking you to a space and place. I've got a destination for you to head in, a a destination for you to be in, and8:06 the recon team has gone in. They've seen this place where God wants to take them, and then we roll the film. Right? Quote, we went into the land to which you sent us.8:18 It does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit, but the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw8:29 descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev, the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country, and the Canaanites live near the sea along the Jordan.8:41 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. But the man who had gone up with him8:53 said, we can't attack those people. They're stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, the land we explored9:04 devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there. The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim. We seemed like grasshoppers in9:16 our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes, and said to9:28 the entire Israelite assembly, the land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into their9:40 land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not be afraid of the people of the land because we9:52 will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them. Wow. What a moment.Faith in the Face of Giants: Lessons from Numbers 13 10:04 Right? God's making God's God's saying, hey. I got a place for you to be, and I want you to be there. Turbulence, challenges, right, unexpected things. And then there's this fork in the road. So let's10:16 unpack that. Alright? There's what God is doing. And number 1, what God is doing is God is making promises about our future. Right now, God has promises for your future. He10:28 has places and spaces where he wants you to be, that you're not there yet, and he's calling you forward. Right? There's places and spaces spiritually he wants you to be. There's places and spaces, right, from a10:40 work perspective or from a relational perspective, he wants you to be. He's calling you forward. Right? Secondly, God is moving us forward in faith. Keywords,10:52 in faith. Say that with me. In faith. Right. When God launches, right, us in a direction, right, he's moving us forward in faith because anything11:03 God does with us without faith, it is impossible to please God. So a lot of times we think, oh, God has a direction for me, but there's gonna be nothing that's gonna11:15 challenge my faith in God along the way. Wrong. No. God requires faith in every process that he is involved in. So there's what God is doing, but then enter the11:27 challenges and the choices that then we have to make. Alright? Next, we can, in light of challenges on the journey toward God's direction, we can focus11:38 on the reasons we can't move forward, which is exactly what we do and exactly human nature. Right? When you look inward and when you look at circumstances.11:50 And you let circumstances and challenges define who you are and what God can and can't do. It's a prequalifying, right, of what12:02 God can and can't do. We're gonna talk about that a little bit later. Right? So that's 1 option. Or like Joshua and Caleb, we can have the Joshua and Caleb spirit inside of us where we have a right12:14 view of God, and we can fix our eyes on God and his strength. You see the difference? God was making promises about the future. God was moving his12:26 people and is right now moving us forward in faith, and we can focus on the reasons we can't move forward, or we can fix our12:37 eyes on God and his strength. We could go there with God. And all you dads know what this is like. I mean, just imagine your kid at the side of the pool.12:49 You're saying this is a really great thing to do. Just jump in and you're going to enjoy the pool. And your kid has his little floaties on and they're standing there, and they're a little afraid. And you know13:01 how strong you are, but they have yet to really know and trust how strong you are. And it's not until they jump. It's not until13:13 they move forward in faith. Right? When they commit without knowing how strong you are, and then they, boom, they experience your strength. And as every time they do13:24 that, they get more and more confident in your strength. So now let's talk about, well, what about me? When I know God is strong, what does that do in13:36 me every time I commit without knowing based on God's promises? Well, what it does is it instills new attitudes in God's men. When we know God13:48 is strong, that does something inside of us. It instills a new attitude in you. Alright? So let's define instill. It's really important. To instill is14:00 to firmly establish or impart an attitude in a person's mind. Right? You change the way you think, right, about14:12 whatever that object of your faith is. Right? You think differently about that person. We think differently about God. When we know he's strong, we think differently about God. Alright? And the first thing14:24 that knowing your God is strong instills is an attitude of humility in prayer. Remember, prayer is the point of contact. That's how we experience God and we release God to work in14:35 our lives. And when we know he's strong, it instills an attitude of humility in prayer. In the scripture, in Psalm 27, I'm sorry, in the scripture in first Peter 5,14:48 right, verses 6 and 7, right there on your notes. Let's read that together. Right? Says this, humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand, that he15:00 may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Alright? See the connection there? Circle on your notes, god's15:11 mighty hand and humble yourselves. Right? And you can see this issue of god's mighty, I'm not.15:24 I'm gonna humble myself under his mighty hand and let God do the heavy lifting. Right? It's like you're in a group setting. Someone collapses. Right? Alright. I'm15:36 CPR trained. I run into hell. But there happens to be a doctor in the room. Right? And then that doctor announces, hey, I'm a doctor. What do I do? In humility,15:49 I move aside, and I let the 1 with the strengths and skills to really help that situation get to work. Right? If I prevented him from doing16:01 I mean, just imagine an NFL player goes down and a and a teammate goes over to help him and then prevents the medical staff from attending to the injured player. I mean, you'd be like, what is that guy doing? Right?16:12 Guys, that's exactly what we do when we know God is strong, but then we prevent him in pride or fear or ignorance from getting in there16:24 to help. So what's our action step? Knowing God's strong, it instills humility in us in prayer. My action step is I get out of God's way.16:36 And I let him bring what he has to do bring to the table. Right? And I let him do the heavy lifting. Why? Because God is strong. And when you know and serve16:48 a strong God in prayer, which is the point of contact with God, you just in humility, you release him to do in humility what he17:00 can only do. Alright? So that's the first thing, that knowing your god is strong does. The second thing, knowing you have a strong does, is it instills an attitude of confidence in prayer. Right? OfPrayer Attitudes Unlocked: Humility, Confidence, and Faith 17:12 course. Right? Humility says get out of the way. But then, like my choosing my friend Todd Pinter, I'm like, woah. His strength, my confidence. Same with you. Let's read Psalm 2717:23 verses 1 through 3. The lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? K. There's a good swag statement. The lord is the stronghold of my17:35 life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Rhetorical question. No 1. When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though17:47 an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. Man, strength is synonymous17:59 with confidence. When you're aligned with strength, it's synonymous with confidence. When you know your God is strong and he is on your side, that's what the psalmist is expressing right there.18:12 It instills an attitude of confidence in prayer. Right? When you address an issue with God at your side, claiming the promises of God, declaring your identity, praying18:24 with spiritual authority, man, you're gonna you're gonna be way more confident than if you think God mind her might not be able to do that. Right? Listen to what18:35 Jesus says about when there's a hard thing and how he positions God and himself. Right? Then Jesus said to his disciples, truly I tell you, it is18:47 hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I will tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.18:59 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, well, who then can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, let's read it together. With man, this is impossible, but with God,19:12 all things are possible. Right? So Jesus sets up a scenario that's super hard from a human perspective. Alright? When you're rich and you have a lot of19:23 material wealth, it gives you the illusion of control, which then when you have the illusion of control and you're in control, right, who do you need? You don't need God. I19:35 mean, because you have control. Why do we have needs if we're in control of the future? Right? Of course, we all know that is not true because you can't control cancer. You can't control natural19:47 disaster. You can't control traffic accidents. You can't control losses in your life. But wealth gives the us the illusion that we we're in control because we can buy stuff. Right? Alright? That's a lie19:59 from the devil. But it's harder for people who have material wealth to give up that idea that I don't control anything. Right? And so the disciples are like, well, you20:11 know, if that's the way it is, then who can who can be saved? Right? And then Jesus flips it and he says, with man, yeah, you're20:23 right. Impossible. But with God, all things are possible. Right? And in Creole, when I go to Haiti, we have a saying, tout bagat posible. All things are20:35 possible. Right? And so when I know God is strong, it instills an attitude of confidence. And so what's my action step? Right? When I know God is strong and I have that confidence, I ask for the20:46 impossible. That's what I do. With God all things are possible. Well, if that's true, Jesus, I'm gonna start asking for things that are seemingly,20:59 to me, impossible. I want you to think of something, alright, that you would believe that would almost be impossible. Right? A person coming to know Christ in your life, you're like, man, on a human21:11 level, that that's not gonna happen unless God intervenes. Alright? A relationship reconcile. You're like, I on a human from a human perspective, it is. Really is.21:23 Impossible. Right? A financial situation. We're just like, man, are we ever gonna get out from under all this debt? Right? It's a mountain so high. I don't know. I mean, from a human perspective, it's impossible.21:35 Right? Maybe sharing Christ with a neighbor or someone who's really antagonistic. Man, that that person? No way. Alright? Here's my challenge. You go to God21:47 with confidence. You go to God knowing who he is, that he's strong. And, yeah, from your perspective, it's impossible, but not with God. Situations, challenges, relationships,21:59 addiction, anxiety, anger, impossible business situations, You need to humble yourself, get out of the way, remember God is strong22:11 and ask for the impossible, confessing your weakness while confirming God's amazing22:23 strength. Alright? So that's what God's strength does to us in prayer. It instills an attitude of humility. We get out of the way. It instills an attitude of confidence. We ask22:35 for the impossible, and God loves that. God loves it when we kind of like go, okay, it's your deal. Right? Okay. I know that's impossible from my perspective, but not for you because you're strong,22:47 and you declare his strength. Third, it instills an attitude of faith in prayer. Parentheses, a willingness to risk. Right?22:59 Knowing my God is strong instills an attitude of faith and willingness to risk. We look at Hebrews chapter 11 verses 1 through 3, very famous passage of scripture. Let's remind ourselves, alright, of that, of23:11 what faith is. Right? Now faith is the confidence is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about we do what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.23:23 By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God's command so that what is seen was not made out of what is what was visible. Right?23:35 Do you see the connection between the universe was formed at the command of my God? Right? Therefore, we are23:47 convicted that he's able to do what we can't see. We are convicted and assured that he can call into being things which did not previously exist, right, in order to accomplish his purpose and23:59 glorify himself. What's the point of contact? Prayer. Right? When we know God is strong, we come into prayer with an attitude of humility. We come into prayer with an attitude of confidence. We ask24:10 for the impossible. We come into prayer with an attitude of faith, committing without knowing, willing to risk, right, and go all in. You know what all in is in poker? You know, that's like where you take all your chips24:22 and you're just like, alright. Why? Because you believe in your hand. You believe your hand is strong. Right? Men of God, you need to push all your chips to the table on whatever24:34 that challenge or change that is before you, right, on the journey to your promised destination by God. Put it all in there. Right? You're all in in24:46 prayer, and come to it in faith. Commit without knowing. God, I don't know what the result is gonna be, but right now, I commit without knowing to your destination for my life where you're24:58 leading me to go. I don't know how you're gonna do it all, but I know you. You're strong. Now how does God feel about that? Well, he tells us in Hebrews 10 38 and 39. Let's read that together. God25:10 says, my righteous 1 will live by faith, and I take no pleasure, circle that, no pleasure in the 1 who shrinks back. But we,25:21 men of faith, do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. We're the ones, guys, who have a strong God,25:33 and when you have a strong God you take strong risks for God. That looks like intelligent and intentional abandon. It's intelligent because I know God is25:45 strong. It's intentional because it's in line with God's purposes and will. Alright? Strong God, strong attitude of faith and prayer. What's25:57 your action step with respect to that? I spoke of this earlier. I don't pre qualify God. What God can and can't do, right? What26:09 he will and won't do. Right? My job is just to pray in faith. Right? Do you like people prequalifying you? It's like, well, you can't do that, or you should do that,26:21 or you shouldn't do that. Right? God is he formed the universe at his command. Alright? There's big gap right there. And the audacity that we have to say,26:33 well, God, I know that you formed the universe, but in my personal situation, there's nothing you can do. Oh, really? Wow. You know what? If you know God is strong and you believe26:45 that he formed the universe at at His command, like, where He He feels something, He thinks something, BAM, it happens. Right? The things that God does, you know, everything that takes away your breath in creation,26:57 God spoke and it was made. So don't prequalify God. There are some of you right now. You're prequalifying God. You're like, God, the situation is hopeless, and I know it's hopeless, and you can't do anything about it.27:06 You need to repent of that, man of God, because God certainly can do it. With man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible, and we're not the ones who shrink back, fellas.27:17 I'm sorry. This world needs to see spirit empowered men taking some risks. Right? Not shrinking back, not prequalifying, but if something prompts you27:30 and there might be a price to pay or a challenge, I'm telling you right now, if it will show love for God and people, you do that thing. You do that thing. Don't prequalify God. So knowing your27:42 God is strong instills an attitude of humility, it instills an attitude of confidence, it instills an attitude of faith, all in prayer. That's the point of contact. Come to me, your strong27:54 God. Right? Humbly, confident, and in faith. Lastly, knowing God is strong instills an attitude of hope in prayer. Talks about this inShow more In this video 0:00 Choosing God's Power Like Picking Your Best Teammate10:02 Faith in the Face of Giants: Lessons from Numbers 1317:02 Prayer Attitudes Unlocked: Humility, Confidence, and Faith27:58 Hope That Endures and the Full Armor Charge56K followers
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