The Wilderness Mindset. P1. | Sunday Series. Open Doors. Part 10.

Join Pastor Chance as he talks about how to get rid of mindsets that keep us stuck from moving into the promises God helps us.  

Check us out at www.wearemercy.church

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well, good morning. So glad you guys are here with us today. It is a beautiful day. And you are in the perfect place. This is the best decision you can make for your family. Right? This is the best decision to start your week. It's the best way to start your day. I start my day every single day with praising the Lord and thanking him. That man, just another day. Right? Just another day of breath. And so we want to be thankful. We want to come to him grateful, right? Because he is a mighty God and He's done mighty things for us. And so if you don't know, if you're new, my name is Pastor Chance, and I'm the lead pastor here at Merchant Church. And we are in a series called Open Doors. This is week 10 of Open Doors. If you'd like to go back and catch up on some of them, you can go to YouTube and put in Mercy Church Colorado and find the last nine. I haven't uploaded nine. So find the last eight, I'll upload nine, hopefully, this week. And kind of catch up. And what we're saying is that the first several weeks of the series, we learned that the enemy doesn't just force his way right into your life, right? He enters through open doors that we leave unguarded, like compromise and sin and uh wrong thinking, influences, unsubmitted areas, and especially all the lies that we tolerate to play over and over in our heads. Right? Ephesians 4.27 says it very clearly: do not give the devil a foothold. Which implies you can give him a foothold. So choose not to give him a foothold, right? Um, and then the last couple weeks, we've been talking about the open doors that happen in our mind, the battlefield of the mind. And before Satan creates a stronghold, he plants a thought, right? He he murmurs just a little bit of thought, and it's a lie, and then we we end up believing it, right? And before bondage can actually take over and show up in our life and become a part of our behavior, it starts with our belief system, right? And so once we believe the lie, um he begins to build up and tie down the stronghold on us, and it becomes a web of more lies, right? And we just buy into it, right? Yeah, we just sink right into it, and that's why um we talked about the conditions of an unrenewed mind. The Bible tells us to renew our minds, right? And so there are conditions of an unrenewed mind. That is a really great two weeks that we went over because it helps you really see some of the areas in your life that you might not it can it doesn't have to be something that you're choosing to do. Sometimes it's involuntary, right? Sometimes you just were raised and you you think that worry is a part of your life, and and you just carry that the rest of your life, but it's really hindering you, it's keeping you from every good thing that God has for you. So um sometimes it's involuntary. But we talked about busyness and wandering and confusion, doubting, anxious, critical, and a passive mind. Um, because these are all mental conditions um that make space for lies to take root in your life. And so it's essential as Christians that we're constantly renewing our minds so that we align ourselves with God. And the way we do that, the Bible says that you build your faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the word of God. Now I can hear a lot of things, right? Faith's not gonna come by me turning on the country radio, right? I mean it might, in the fact that I'm gonna lose my dog, my truck, my wife, um, I might I might start to believe some of those things, right? But faith in God is gonna come through his word. Amen. That is what he left for us today. That is not the only way that he speaks to us, but that is a very prominent guide in our lives, and we should take um heed to it. And so now that we've exposed kind of some of the ways that the enemy gets into our lives, I want to show why uh so many believers get stuck even after they're saved, right? Because we might think, oh, the devil did it. Um what was that movie? Uh Water Boy. Uh the uh the mom was like some of my Yeah, it's the devil. Who's Ma is the devil? Um and so it it's not always the devil. And so that was my point. And so demons don't come and just overpower us all the time, although that could possibly happen. Um, but because these strongholds keep people stuck, even believers. And so what we're gonna call today is a wilderness mindset. And I'm gonna break down a couple different areas of a wilderness mindset. I probably will only have time to get to like five of them, and then I'll do the rest next week. And so uh these are mindsets that we can see in the Old Testament that Israel adopted really easily when they are wandering in the in the uh wilderness, and the enemy is still using those same lies, those same tactics, um to keep us wandering. There's a scripture that says there's nothing new under the sun. He hasn't come up with a new way to trick you, right? He's got the same old tricks, and so we're just we're just falling prey to it. So to keep us from closing these doors and moving on to the promised land, the the devil really takes these little lies and expounds them in our brains. And so these wilderness mentalities are not just personality traits, they're actual strongholds of thought that keep you circling the same problem. You ever notice like sometimes in your life you just it's like, oh, we're doing good, and then we're back in the same rut? Like we'll just keep going, you know. They call it the rat race, that's part of it. Year after year, and it just keeps us wandering. So I it's not the first time I heard it, but for some reason it was spoken so loud to me while I was studying for this sermon. Um the Israelites, their trip was actually only supposed to take them eleven days. 11 days, and what happened? They ended up wandering for 40 years to find the promised land. Um, it's an 11-day trip, it's a quick two-week hike from their Egypt from slavery to the promised land, and they wandered and got stuck for four decades. And the reality is probably that most of us have done the same thing, right? We've gotten into some kind of rut, we've built some kind of theory or belief in our life, and we just ran that until there's no more room and we're stuck there. And so, you know, we're we're walking that 40-year route when it's only an 11-day destination in your marriage, and your career, and your finances, or your spiritual life. And so, why the delay? Because self-sabotaging spin cycles. We we open up ourselves to these attacks. And so, was it the enemy? Was it the economic collapse? Was it the crushing trials that life threw at them? No, the real enemy wasn't out around them, the real enemy was in their minds. Yeah, it was within their heads, and so they suffered from a scarcity mindset. They had a slave mentality, and they kept trying to solve new problems with old thinking, right? And they let fear hijack their faith. And so your current results aren't always a reflection of your dominant, though they're always a reflection of your dominant mindset, not your current circumstances. What you believe is what's going to control you, right? Not always what's happening to you, it's what you believe. And so if you want to move from wilderness to promise, you have to identify that old thinking, that toxic thinking that you keeps you just stuck in that desert wasteland. Right? What is the scarcity thinking you need to renounce today so you can finally step into the destination that God has for you? So before I get too deep, let me pray over our time in the word. Father God, I just thank you for everyone that's here. I just pray blessings upon them. Uh, today, as we go through this message, Lord, I pray that you would give us ears to hear, Father God, that you would open up our minds and our eyes to be able to receive your word, that your Holy Spirit would help us to understand today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So I want to be honest when we look at the Israelites, and we probably think, wow, 40 years. Seriously? Um, what happened? What was going wrong with you, right? Um, but you know, like I said, we don't get to judge because some of us get stuck in that. It might not be 40 years, but it could be five years, it could be six years, it could be two years. Yeah. And we get stuck and we're waiting for that breakthrough. And what God says is every time you hit the pause button, you turn right back around and you start seeing that circle of mountain uh mountain again, God says that He has an escape plan for you. He has a way out, right? You must rely on him. And so um the enemy isn't always the problem. The repetitive cycle is our problem. We are choosing to walk in circles, right? We're choosing the easy path of familiarity over the hard path of lasting change. And the results are devastating. And so we've got to stop managing the wilderness and start marching towards the promise. Deuteronomy 1.6 says, The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, you have stayed long enough at this mountain. Basically, God was releasing them, right? It's like, hey, hey, yeah, you don't have to keep circling this little area. Yeah, right? You've stayed long enough. You're done with that part. You can have a right mindset, and that is helpful, and it's going to benefit you, or you can have the wrong mindset, which is going to ultimately harm you. Colossians 3 2 says, set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above, the heavenly things, not on things that are on the earth. And so we have to focus our minds on what God says about us. And that that's that's the whole when you hear, you know, walk by faith and not by sight. If we're focused on what God says about our situation and about our reality, right? We're using faith. We might be seeing, like when Peter stepped out, we might be seeing all the waves crashing around us, right? But we know that with our faith that we can move through that. And so one of the first mindsets I want to talk about is a statement that that a lot of people might not say, but they kind of walked out. It's my future is determined by my past and my present. My future is determined by my past and my present. The Israelites had zero positive vision for their lives. They could not see any good thing happening to them. And if you think about that, they come from Egypt where they were oppressed, they were kept down, they were beat down, right? To live this lifestyle. So when they left it, it nothing really changed. Mentally, location, yes. Mentally, nothing really changed for them. They knew they were no longer slaves, they knew where they came from, and they hadn't, but they had no clue what it meant to be actual free people, right? Where they were going, where God was leading to. And the danger is without a God-sized vision, all you have is a poor memory. Without a God-sized vision, all you have is a poor memory. And the Israelites were constantly doing what? Looking backwards. Looking at the past, remembering the leeks and onions of Egypt. Why? Because everything in their spiritual life was based on what they could see in front of them. And so, yes, we moved, we went out, but oh, it's just as hard out here. Right? It was just difficulty. And so they couldn't ignore what they were seeing in front of them. They didn't know how to see with the eyes of faith. So they got stuck because uh they were waiting for circumstances to change before they would change their actual thinking. They needed to see a move in front of them right now, right? In order for them to change their way of thinking. And so if you're stuck today, it's not always because of lack of resources, it might just be because of lack of vision. Right? Proverbs 29, 18 says, where there is no vision, the people perish. And so the Israelites had a big problem. They couldn't take their eyes off the past. God delivered them out of Egypt, out of slavery, out of bondage, right? And Moses kept telling them, God has a promised land just for us, but they couldn't accept it. They couldn't receive it, right? Because they couldn't see it. Numbers 14, 2, 3. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, If only we had died in Egypt, or in this wilderness, why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? And then they go on a little bit, they travel a little bit further, get down the road. Numbers twenty two through four. Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord, why did you bring the Lord's community into this wilderness that we and our livestock should be die here? So there is a fundamental truth that messes up more people than than most people might think. It is toxic toxic thoughts create a terrible life. If all you see is bad, all you're gonna walk out is bad. Every day is bad, everything is bad. You got a brand new car. Well, it's not as new as John's car. John got a brand, brand new car. Mine's three years old. Well, you didn't have a car yesterday, man, so you got a car now. Can you be thankful for the fact that you have a car, right? Or the job that can pay for the car. Well, it's not a great job. I gotta work so hard. Come on. I mean, we do the same thing. The Israelites just walk in these circles, right? And so it's simple. Um, you can't spend all day feeding your mind garbage, doubt, fear, right? Comparison, offense, and expect a godly attitude to just miraculously appear. Um, that's spiritual insanity. And you can't have a crummy mindset and a courageous life at the same time. It cannot coexist. There's actual scientific study that says you cannot be complaining and be grateful in your head at the same time. Those two things cannot happen at the same time. You're one or the other. Right. Right? You're living on one or the other. So we need to take a positive look at the possibilities of our future and call out the good things God has promised us. You can't create a new future while you are narrating your old past. And that means you have to be intentional. You have to think and speak about your life according to what God has promised, not according to what you're living out. Right? And most of us are making a mistake by seeing our current circumstances as our past failures, right? And and that just carries on. And I just can't, I just can't get out of that past. I just can't get away from it. It just follows me around, right? And so when we do that, we're trading God's vision for our limited sight. Your faith isn't just about believing in your heart, it's about voicing the impossible. We have to stop speaking based on what our eyes can see right now, and start speaking based on what God has placed in your spirit. Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The evidence. I'm not a name it claimant. I don't think you can walk up to four million house and go, God, I want that house, let me have it. That's mine, right? But if God has given you a promise and has spoken something to you, He is faithful to fulfill it. If you can get your mind behind it.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Right? If you can start saying, Oh man, thank you, God, that my leg is healed. I thank you that that pain has gone away. I thank you that you're doing a miracle, even though you can barely stand on it.

SPEAKER_03 14:47

Yeah. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

It's already been done.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

So how do we walk it up? We thank him for it. Right? That's faith.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Believing when you can't even see it. That is what faith is. So if you want to change your life, you start by getting out of that wilderness mindset, right? We can't hold on to uh the trap of our past and our present circumstances. We have to choose to walk by faith. Right? And that may be hard sometimes. That may be hard, but that's why we've been given the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

He is power in our lives, right? He is what's going to show up. It says that he will bring back to remembrance.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

He will bring back to remembrance. So if you are studying God's word and you are claiming and declaring the promises of God's word and his truth, when you're standing in front of that hard time, what's going to pop up? The Holy Spirit. And he's going to go, hey, hey, but if God took care of the flower, he's going to take care of it. If God feeds the birds of the air, does he not care more about you? Right? So we have to claim those things. Another mentality is statement is someone else should do it for me. I don't want the responsibility. And we might not say that out loud, but I know some people think of it. And so personal responsibility is not something that you can outsource. We live in a culture that loves to delegate blame. Right? We blame our parents, we blame the economy, we blame our job, we blame our spouse. We act like our spiritual growth, our health, our financial stability is something that a coach or a counselor or even a pastor is supposed to handle for us. Right? And so I I've heard many times people say, Well, we tried coming to church, pastor, and it didn't work. What didn't work? Church. Man, I'm broke now. I'm worse financially now than I was back then. Yeah, because you started doing what God asked you to do, and you got a bigger target on your back. So the devil's working harder because now you showed up on the radar. You're following God. So now you're a threat to him. He's not gonna just let you. Oh, go ahead, pass on. Right? That's when he's gonna be the strongest when you start following God. The closer you get to God, I'm very sorry to have to tell you this. You might face some bigger trials. But the benefit of getting closer to God is right they don't overtake you, they don't overwhelm you, they don't stress you out, they don't put you in fear, they don't cripple you, right? They don't like you in the house, they don't keep you away from other humans, they don't make you run away from church. That's right, yeah, right? These things happen because we choose them. We have to choose to be strong in the faith that God has given us. And so uh you you can delegate a task, you can delegate an objective, but you can't delegate the ownership of your life. Yeah, your habits are your habits. Your response is your response. Your relationship with God is yours. I can't do it for you.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

I would love to just lay hands on you and you just get to heaven, right? But guess what? That's not how it works. Because the cool part is because God actually wants to know you.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

And he wants you to know him.

SPEAKER_03 18:00

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

That's what he desires, right? And so that's what we're looking for. Stop waiting for someone else to step up and fix what only you have the authority to fix. Yeah, the change you want in your life is is waiting for you to just take responsibility. God empowers you, but he doesn't do the push-ups for you. Right? I don't know why I said push-ups in there, but I guess I was speaking to myself. Get back in the channel. When we look at the story of Moses and the Israelites coming out of Egypt, we really um see how he takes a lot of responsibility for this giant, massive group of people.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

If you don't know, Moses was educated. He he was raised in Egypt by the Pharaoh as the Pharaoh's son. So he got to go to school, he got to learn to read and write and do all these other things. Where these people were slaves.

SPEAKER_02 18:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

So God was able to use him to do some things that they couldn't do just because of their background, just because of their raising. And so Moses took a lot of responsibility on himself for the Israelites. And Moses goes to God in a meeting with him on behalf of the Israelites, and the whole time that they are uh making uh the Ten Commandments, what's happening down there? They're building golden idols, right? Moses comes down from the mountain, uh Talton Heston with the tablets, the two tablets, right? And he comes down and he's excited, like, I'm gonna share the Lord's law with the people, and what does he see? Sin. Yeah, they're worshiping a different god?

SPEAKER_03 19:29

Yeah. What happened?

SPEAKER_01 19:30

I told you I was going to speak to the one that got us out, and they worship a different god. They're making golden calves, right? And I'm sure that Moses is a little furious, and so um he's probably a little angry and responds that way, but what happens in the end? Moses still fights for them. Of course, while they do nothing to help Moses, um, he still goes to battle for them. Exodus 32, verse 30. The next day Moses said to the people, You have committed a great sin, but now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. He took responsibility for all those people to make atonement for their sin.

SPEAKER_03 20:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

To stand in the gap between them and God for their sin. So Moses went back to the Lord and said, Oh, what a great sin these people have committed. They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin. But if not, then blot me out of the book you have written. I'll take the blame. Just me. Take me out of out of heaven's book, right? That's a big responsibility. And if you're that type of person that needs that drill sergeant or that that pastor or that boss or that um spouse to constantly push you, you will most likely never lead anything significant. And you probably won't lead your own life well. Right? And so if we think about it, people who only do things the right things because someone is looking will never get where they're trying to go. You can't sustain anything great with just outside or external motivation. You actually need internal motivation as well. And so we don't live for the applause of people. We don't. Um we live for the approval of God, right? I have a friend that he says it all the time. He's like, he's a worship leader, he's really talented, and people are always like, Oh my gosh, that was just the worship was just incredible, so amazing. He's like, Oh, praise the Lord. Oh, he never says thank you. Oh, praise the Lord. And I'm like, like, isn't that mean? Like, can you just say thank you and be kind and polite? He's like, No, I I literally genuinely want all praise to go to God because my reward is not in that. Yeah, that's a shallow reward. My reward is when I get to heaven, and that's how we should look at it. It means that we show up the same way when no one is watching as we do when everyone is watching, because we live for an audience of one. So we have to stop trying to impress people, in particular, people who don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't matter if your boss sees your effort, doesn't matter if your neighbor sees your generosity, it only matters that God. God sees it. He is watching and he sees you. Right? Why keep going when it's hard? Why persist when no one is cheering? Because your true reward, the only one that matters and that lasts, comes from him. And if you simply keep doing what he's asked you to do, regardless of who's watching, right? Your motivation never runs dry. Ecclesiastes 11 4. Farmers who wait for the perfect weather never plant. That's very simple. Farmers who wait for the perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. If you only choose the path of least resistance, you will always get the least development. You will be limited. If you only want the easy way, you will be limited. And if you only do what is easy, you do get a guarantee. And that guarantee is that you will remain weak in that area. It guarantees that you won't grow. It guarantees the moment you face a real challenge, you will fall. You will break. So I'm tearing it down, I'm beating it into submission. We're gonna do this weight, whether you like it or not, Bye. Right? And the only way that I grow is by really force and rest. Those are the two ways that I grow. And so it requires you to do the thing that's a little uncomfortable, maybe even a little scary, or a little too hard right now. Right? It's stepping out and doing something that you're not sure of the outcome, but God has told you to do it, so you're gonna be willing and obedient. John 15, 16 says, You didn't choose me, I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for using my name. We're all called to produce fruit. And there is a process to growing fruit. I have a yard that the guy before me had a giant dog, and for a year now I've been trying to grow this one side of my yard, and I couldn't figure out why. I I dug it up, I put new grass, I what do you call it? Aerated it, I watered the heck out of it. I mean, I have spent a year, and finally the other day where I'm doing the sprinklers and covering everything up because it's gonna get cold. The neighbor's like, man, just can't get that right side to grow, huh? Thanks, Tom. I didn't know that. I didn't notice that my yard looked horrible on the right side of my house. And he's like, he's like, Yeah, you're just gonna have to dig all that soil out, put new soil down, and put new grass, because that dog killed it. That's where you use the bathroom all the time. Right, that makes perfect sense, right? I have to completely replace it, right? It takes effort to produce fruit. Yeah, you don't just get a seed, uh, tomato seeds, and you don't just go and walk away and come back a year later and go, where's my tomato plant? Um it doesn't happen that way. Um we want to be responsible with what God has entrusted us with. Philippians 4, 12 and 13 says, I know how to get along and live humbly in difficult times. And I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing life. Whether well fed or do it or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need, I can do all things which he has called me to do through him who strengthens and empowers me to fulfill his purpose. I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency. I am ready for anything and equal to anything through him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace. That's the amplified version, and so it gives a little extra there. But God did not call us to be soft.

SPEAKER_03 25:46

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

I know the world wants us to be soft, but God has not called us to be soft.

SPEAKER_03 25:52

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

We're sons and daughters of the most high. We need to be mentally and emotionally tough. We can't be thrown around and knocked around by every little thing that the devil throws at us. The other day, um, the devil put a really uh a dark thought in my in my mind, and Brooke was packing and getting ready to go to town. She's down in Oklahoma, and um he put a really dark thought in my mind, and I literally just laughed. It just happened. It just came out of me, and she's like, Oh, what happened what's so funny? What happened? And I was like, hey, kind of weird, kind of weird experience here. Um I guess I'll share it with you. And and she's like, oh, well, praise God, babe, where'd it go? Right? But uh that was my that was my response because of the time I'm spending with him. I'm I'm getting closer and more intimate with him. I know there's nothing that the devil's gonna bring my way that God can't and hasn't already defeated. Amen. Right? And so I respond from victory. I'm not looking for victory.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

I'm not searching where can I find this victory? I need victory. Am I gonna find it? I need abundance in my life. Where is it? He already did everything he's going to do for you. That's right. Just receive it. Start being emotionally and mentally tough. Another mindset is complaining is just who I am. I can't help it. Um, some of the best whiners were the Israelites. They are professionals. If there was a sport, they win. Just after the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, when they saw Pharaoh's army approaching, the people cried out, Exodus 14, 11, 12. They said to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, Leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. One complaint. Complaint number two, they complained about the food they had eat. Exodus 16, verse 2. In the desert, the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt, there we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. If that wasn't enough, then they complained about not having water. Exodus 17, verse 3. But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst? I can only imagine that by this point Moses is like, I don't know. I don't know why I brought you out, man. Y'all are horrible. Y'all are very difficult to, and I have risked everything. I went before the king of kings and the lord of lords, and I said, Hey, I will take full responsibility for all these people, Lord. And y'all just cry and complain. You don't see that he parted a sea that we walked through, the ground was dry. That wasn't enough for you to believe in God? That he had good things for you, right? I'm sure Moses is probably every couple days like, Lord, we you gotta get us there, man. I'm I'm barely making it, right? And so they even complain after God miraculously sent them down food. Numbers 11, verse 4. The rabble with them began to crave other food. And again the Israelites started wailing and said, If only we had meat to eat, we remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost. Also the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite. We never see anything but this manna. But this manna literally fell from the sky. That wasn't miraculous enough to change your view.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Right? And so that there are actual dangers in complaining all the time. It actually opens and welcomes the devil's attacks into your life. It really does. And the Israelites, instead of being appreciative, complained and it opened a door for the enemy to attack and to destroy them. And God was constantly providing and in very, very miraculous ways, right? And so sometimes we can go through that same exact thing. I can't tell you how many people since become I've been a youth pastor, I've been an associate pastor, creative pastor, uh worship pastor, uh janitor, whatever. I can't tell you that since becoming the senior pastor, lead pastor, um, and starting this church, I've heard heard more people tell me about how hard their life is while God, while God is just providing. I didn't have a job last month, but I got a job. It's not a great job, Pastor. It's not a great job. Okay, well, that then it's temporary. Then you ask, you stay there until God says go. Right? But he provided. You didn't have one, you couldn't get one, you said, Oh, I applied everywhere. And I couldn't get a job. Then I started coming to church, all of a sudden I got a job. I submitted to God. I prayed, I came up to the altar and I prayed and I asked God to provide for me. And what happened? Boom, he opened up a door. Because I submitted my heart to his plan and his way. Right? Not your plan, your way, your time. Right? His plan, his way, his time. Right? And it might not look the way that you want it to look.

SPEAKER_03 31:09

Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

But I guarantee you it's a much better plan. Right? And so uh the reason people can't see the good things in front of them is usually because they think they know what it should be like. Right? And so that whole uh, what is it, live your best life now? Um, and so just because your sister, your friend's life looks a certain way, um, does not mean that what God has for you is not good. Yeah, it just might be a different path. It might be a different method, right? And so uh most of us are living, actually, most of us are living pretty good compared to a lot of the world. Um, a lot of the world, we're doing pretty good. And so if all you do is complain, how will you ever see the good things God is doing along your journey? Luke 16, 10 says, Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. And whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. Maybe you have a house or an apartment and it's okay. It's not your dream house, it's not your dream place, right? But you take care of it and you clean it and you keep it nice. Um but the whole time all you do is complain it's too small. Right? Uh or it's outdated, or I wish we had hardwood floors instead of carpet. So annoying. Um but the reality is if you can praise God when you have little, then he knows he can trust you with more. He knows and sees and hears that's a faithful servant. That's a good steward, right? And he'll bless you with more. One more mindset here is people who say, I want it now. And the hardest thing can be about Christian life sometimes is the waiting. Um, it's not always the sacrifice, it's the wait. And so God gives you a promise, a vision, a direction, and then what? You have to deal with this little gap of time between what he said and when you will see it.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

And sometimes our patience just dissipates. Um, it's tough to genuinely trust that God hears your prayer and timing's worked out. And because waiting is hard, we get impatient and we decide to help God out. Right? He needs just a little boost, Lord. Let me just kind of let's go. Right? And so we see this in the very beginning of the Bible, uh, Genesis 12, 2, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. And if you don't know the story of Abraham, um, it starts right there in Genesis 12. He's blessed to have all these sons. He's old, he's an old dude. Uh, he's blessed to have these sons. And by the time we go from Genesis 12 to Genesis 16, 11 years have passed, and still no kid. And so what happens? Sarai, his uh wife, she says to Abram, Genesis 16, 2, Behold, now the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant, and it may be that I shall obtain children by her. So she says, Hey man, sleep with my maid. I just want a kid that bad. And being the good husband that he is, he increased. Um kidding, totally kidding. Um and so he, so what did he do? He chose not to trust God's promise. He chose not to trust God's plane. Right? And and we see that uh with Sarah here. Um, every choice that we make has consequences. And when we're impatient and decide to do things our own way, it might not go well for us, but guess what? God still loves us. Yeah, and he will always forgive us when we admit that we've done something wrong. He's not finished with us. He doesn't go, well, you didn't listen. See you later, pal. Um, and so even though Abraham and Sarah were wrong to take matters into their own hands, God keeps his promise to them. Right? Genesis 21, one through seven. The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised, and Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah had borne him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made laughter for me. Everyone who hears will laugh over me. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah could nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age. So before good old Sarah had him go sleep with the maid. And you had thought she got what she wanted when she got pregnant. No, she didn't. She was so angry that she she drove that lady away. And the problem here is their decision to rush it, the promise still happened, but their decision to rush it created great tension.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Really great tension. That tension actually, um, Isaac and Ishmael, Isaac and Ishmael never loved each other like brothers. And their lack of love, their hatred for each other, yeah, actually is still going on today. Has consequences to this very, very day. And so there are consequences to all our decisions. Right? And so when we're impatient, take matters into our hand on into our own hands, things don't go well. But what you will find is that you cannot mess it up bad enough that God won't still work. He is a faithful God. Like Bo said, He's a good father. Right? And maybe you don't know a father that's good. Get to know him. Get to know him. He is a good father. Last one here is the saying, it's not my fault. The old shifting blame, right? The passing the butt, the finger pointing. There's a lot. I looked up like a whole bunch of cliche saying. I was like, it'd be cool to just rattle these out. Um and but we have this amazing example. Uh, Genesis, we're gonna go even closer to the beginning. It's so great that God creates all these beautiful things. And he puts us on the earth, and what do we do? We screwed up. Um and so Genesis 3, verse 12 and 13, the man said, The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate. This will kill any type of progress. The blame game. Yes, yes, it will limit your progress in life. If you want to know what uh truly creates the wilderness mindset, the cycle that we run, it's pretty simple. It's the toxic recipe. Unwillingness to take responsibility. And so uh we're always blaming everyone else for what is wrong or what went wrong. And we see this literally day one. Um in the Garden of Eden. When God shows up after the disaster, what do they do? They don't repent, they don't own it, they start going, she did it. Right? It's like when you walk in and there's food all over the floor, and you got three kids, and you go, What happened? Right? Fingers pointing everywhere. It was the dog. Um and and we see it all the time. Adam blames the woman, right? Which in in all actuality, he's blaming God. It's the woman you gave me. So you did it, Lord. It's your fault. And the woman you put here with me, right? She gave me some fruit. And then what does Eve do? Hey, it wasn't me, it was that serpent. I don't know where it came from, but he's he's to blame, right? And and then Eve, it just goes pointing back to you did this, God. Yeah, you put us here, you created this mess. And so they became experts in evading personal responsibility. And a life of excuses is a life that is stuck in the desert. I think of it like that quicksand that you just I don't know if you've ever seen a movie with the quicksand and how slow they go. It's like you're trying to make the right steps, but the more that you do things in quicksand, the more you sink. The faster you sink. When you just wait for your friend to throw the rope and hold it and let them pull you out, that's how you get out. And sometimes we need to stop trying to make things happen and let God work. We don't need to replace him. He's got it. He's been doing this for a little bit, right? He's figured some stuff out that you will never figure out, right? So we need to let him work. John 16, 12, 13. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear to hear them now. But when he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, full and complete truth. Jesus had the whole plan. He had the full truth. But when he looked at the disciples, he knew they're not ready for it. Right? And so he told them, wait until the Holy Spirit comes. Right? And the Spirit came to abide, to live inside of them. And the Holy Spirit's job is to continually prepare you, to get you ready for God's glory, right? His excellence to be expressed through your life. He is that personal trainer, that and internal coach. Uh, we did a series last year and called him the GPS, uh, the global positioning system positioning system. He is your guide, he is your strength, he is your helper, right? The spirit works with the truth, not around it. And you cannot access the power of the Holy Spirit's preparation if you refuse to face the truth. That our choices have consequences. And so maybe something in your past, a person, a circumstance, a deep wound is the source of your current destructive attitude. Right? I get it. It explains bad behavior, it's the reason why we act out or do things we do, but that source of problem, that reason is not an excuse. Right? We cannot allow that to be our excuse for the rest of our life. At some point, we have to grow beyond that point. We have to go beyond that trial, right? You cannot let the source of your pain become um the excuse to stay stuck where you're at. The Holy Spirit is in you, ready to work on the truth that I'm ready to prepare you for excellence, but he can't clean a room that you won't let him into. Um, so we can't let these painful memories, these painful experiences be the chain that keeps us anchored in the wilderness, in our rut. The Holy Spirit is here to break that thing. But you have to let him in. Yeah, you have to let him work. So we talked about the wilderness mindset, cycle of um walking just in circles, uh, you know, taking that 11, that's still mind-boggling. 11-day trip took them 40 years. Um, the the Israelites in reality were not defeated by outside circumstances. They were defeated by their mentality. And so the Lord spoke over them, and he's saying to you today, you have stayed long enough on this mountain. In other words, it's time to move on. Yes, whatever has been dragging you down, whatever keeps popping up in your life, that one thing that you just can't seem to let go, I'm sure it is crazy hard. And I'm sure it hurt like nothing else. We've all been there, we have all been offended, abused, used, right, mistreated, talked down to, but we can't stay there. Amen. And God is saying it's time to let go of that. Son, daughter, I have more for you. It's time to move on. And all we have to do is rest in his promise. Rest in his truth, right? He's already done the work. And so you're at a decision point. You can't delegate ownership of your life, you can't let your past pain become the excuse to stay stuck. The Spirit of God is living inside of you. If you would say, I'm a born-again believer, I am a follower of Christ, I am saved, and I know I'm going to heaven, when you made that decision, God gave you something amazing, the Holy Spirit. He already lives and dwells within you. Right? And so you have this access to his power. The scripture says that the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in you. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in you. When are you going to walk that out, receive that, and start living as though that's your truth? Right? Because we all want to define our own truth. It looks like a million dollars or whatever. God's plan for you is very simple. It's very simple. He wants to know you, and he wants you to know him. And we have to draw close and seek him. Um, the spirit of truth lives inside of us, and it's time to stop walking out this pain and trials and situations and start seeing life through the eyes of faith. Amen. David Cole.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Amen. So what I'm getting is if we're if we don't get rid of our wilderness mindset, we're gonna die in the desert. Anyone else pick that up? An entire generation of Israelites died in the desert. Two of that generation made it out. Joshua and Caleb. That was it. Are you gonna die in the desert today because you refuse to move on? Are you gonna become a leader like Joshua? Joshua took Moses' mantle. Scared as he was, God told him, Hey man, don't worry. Don't be afraid. Be confident. I'm with you. God is with you today to help you move on, move forward so that you don't die in the desert. You don't have to die. Jesus came to give life. Life everlasting. Life to the full, to the fullest in every moment, even in the bad times. The prayer team is gonna be up here to agree with you guys in prayer for whatever it is. I'll dismiss, we'll have a few announcements. But if you don't have the Holy Spirit, if you don't have the seeds of the fruit of the Spirit, because you haven't begun a relationship with Jesus Christ, run up here as soon as we say amen after dismissal. Thank you, Lord. The prayer team will be up here. We will pray with you, we will welcome you into the family, and we will see you begin to grow and nurture the fruit that God places in your life today. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. You don't have to walk like a zombie in the desert no more. Let's dismiss. We thank you that you came to give us life and to help us to renew our minds. We take now the responsibility fully, completely, and of our own volition. We will walk your word out in our lives and renew our minds daily so that we can be the leaders that you've called us to be at our jobs, in our at the grocery store, in our families. Lord, we thank you because your word has brought light into our darkness. We thank you, Lord, because today you have changed our lives because we have come to encounter who you are. Thank you, Lord, because what you've done today will be a ripple effect that affects the rest of Greeley and Northern Colorado. Thank you, Lord, for all that you continue to do, for your power, your glory, your grace in our lives. We love you, Jesus, as you walk out this week with us and we walk with you and abide in you, Jesus. Thank you for walking with us and giving us your peace. We love you, Jesus, in your name. Amen. Amen.