Gardens From Graves

All right, well, good morning. Good morning. I’m so glad you guys came out today. I know if you had a, you know, any other place to be. We’re so glad that you’re here with us today on this Thanksgiving weekend.

I know a lot of people will be traveling. I know they say today is one of the. Is the busiest traveling day throughout the year with everybody coming back. So we want to just thank you guys for being here, spending this time with us. And again, I look forward.

I just counted an absolute privilege that God has given me, the opportunity to sit here in front of you guys and be able to deliver his Word. And I just. I’m just amazed at what God can do. Amen. God is so faithful in everything that we do.

So today’s message is, don’t worry, we’re not going to be continuing the series. Start strong, finish strong. We’re not. We’re done that. We finished that last week.

So this week we’re going to be talking about gardens from graves. Now, I kind of. God kind of dropped this on me and I know that with the holidays coming up and follow me along on this, it may be somewhat, you know, we’ll kind of skip around a little bit, but we’re going to start in Mark 5, and it’ll actually go from Mark 5:1 through, I believe it’s 20, verse 20, but we’re going to kind of go couple. We’re going to take it in chunks and we’re going to kind of go through this. So if you could just follow along with me right now, Lord God, I just pray that your anointing would be upon this message, Father God, that it’s not my words, but it’s yours.

I pray that you would open the heart of the hearer. Bless my voice, Lord God. I pray that I could be used of you, Lord Jesus, that your presence would have its way in this place right now. In your name. Amen.

And amen. All right, so we’re going to begin with Mark 5 and 1, and we’re going to read down to verse 5, and it says they arrived at the other side of the lake in the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains, as he was often, he snapped the chains from his wrist and smashed the shackles.

No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he Wandered among the burial caves in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. Now if you understand a little bit of backstory on this particular, this particular chapter, it begins with the disciples coming in off the Sea of Galilee. That if you read in Mark 4, 35, 41 that they were crossing the Sea of Galilee and this is where in Mark 4 where they got kind of caught up in that storm, that where Jesus got up in the middle of the boat and he calmed the storm. So they were heading to this region called Guardia or the Gadarenes, different versions, Niv, kj, King James version, have they it says the Garrisones or the Garda or Gadarenes.

Actually this area was actually part of a Decapolis. It’s an area about 10 Hellenistic cities, mostly considering of non Jewish area. And, and Garda was actually one of these cities. It’s actually located in what’s called, considered modern day Jordan. So as we come into this area, it’s kind of odd that the boat actually lands on the beach at a cemetery.

And this is where we find this in Mark 5:1 where Jesus then climbs out of the boat. What we find is Jesus just came and his disciples just came from a heck of a storm and now he’s getting ready to step into his next appointment. Okay, now see, most of us would have probably given up at about this point in time because if you read through Mark, that was a pretty bad storm. And most of the disciples are all familiar with the Sea of Galilee, they’re all familiar with boats, they know how it works. But the way the Bible describes this storm in Mark 4 was a pretty bad storm.

But see, but what Jesus was demonstrating here is that he’s walking in his authority. He’s climbing from one successful appointment into another. See, he is proceeding with a purpose. If you follow along in the word of God, nothing that Jesus does is either by random or circumstance. He has, there’s a plan, okay?

And here we find it that it’s a teachable moment in time for his disciples. See what Jesus is getting ready to do. He’s walking into someone’s graveyard and getting ready to turn it into a garden. See, as we walk through this holiday season, we have this season where we get a plethora of different emotions. See, we have joy, we get happiness.

But on some they face and go into this season with anxiety, with sadness, depression and loneliness. See, while most of us view this as the most joyous of times, others may approach this season with fear, dread and sometimes loathing. We have done our best to put our past hurts and feelings behind us. But something about the holiday season has a tendency. It kind of uproots those feelings.

I don’t know about you, but as I was growing up, I loved the holiday seasons. But growing up in a single parent house, it was always difficult because I would always watch my friends as they’re doing things with their parents or they’re doing things with family. I didn’t necessarily have that cohesiveness. So even though it was a joyous time, sometimes it was a difficult time just because of the trials or the tribulations that I may be going to at that time. But see, we spent a lot of before, you know, it’s something about the holiday season that, you know, we just, we go, you know what?

I’ve spent all year, I’m going to bury that. I’m looking forward to the next holiday season and it’s going to be great. But see, we’ve spent most of the year to try to clean up and beautify the very graveyard that we’ve been living in an entire year. Okay. See, we clean up the grave markers of our past hurts and bitterness and anger in order to make them more acceptable.

We walk among the tombstones of anxiety, depression, fear and panic in an attempt to reason with ourselves that this is normal. See, we do our best to seclude ourselves away from the outside world, believing that this will ultimately bring peace and rest from the storms of life, when all it really does is bring about more despair and loneliness. See, what we think we’re doing is we’re protecting ourselves through these holidays. But really the reality of what we’re doing is we’re diving deeper into what we ultimately don’t want to be in. So instead of taking in the gifts of love and light and freedom, we have a tendency to add to the chains and shackles of our past that we thought we had broken and forgotten.

See, we cannot walk into the garden of our future while still holding on to the graves of our past. We cannot walk in new authority while still holding on to old offenses. Okay, so when we read in Mark where it says that Jesus was actually met by a man possessed by an evil spirit that came out from the tombs, in verse three, it says this man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. Whenever he was put in chains and shackles as often he was, he snapped the chains from his wrist and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

Day and night he wandered in the burial caves and in the Hills howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. See, what is described here is a man that is so tormented to such a degree by evil that physical strength of other men and restraints were unable to contain him. It is only by the authority that is with Jesus that he is able to converse with the man. See, where the strength of men, where the strength of men fail, the authority of Jesus prevails. Okay, so as you’re going throughout the year, you’re trying to do things on your own, but what you’re doing is you’re literally walking from grave marker to grave marker and thinking, well, this one, I can put this one behind me.

But the fact is, is we’re still carrying around and we’re still bound by the chains that we thought we got rid of. Okay? See, as with our lives, we attempt to use our own rationale to work out the issues in our own life. We seek out counselors and psychologists and therapists, et cetera, in attempt to find the answers to the pain and the problems of our life. Now, let me make it absolutely clear.

I am by no way or mean saying that those people don’t serve their purpose. I believe they do. But see, we resort to artificial methods to deal with our depression, our insecurity, self loathing, self deprecation through isolation, self sabotage, avoiding compliments, seeking consistent reassurance, and eventually leading into possible addictive behavior, substance abuse, abusive relationships, self mutilation, and eventually thoughts of suicide. See, I told you. This may seem a little dark, but trust me, it gets better.

It gets better. See, in order to deal with the problem that you’ve been dealing with for so long, you. You have to get to the root of the issue. And a lot of times it’s not physical, it’s spiritual. So you’ve got to confront the problem within you.

See, as we read in Mark, starting in verse six, it says, when Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him and ran to meet him and bowed low before him. With a shriek he screamed, why are you interfering with me, son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me. For Jesus already had said to the spirit, come out of the man, you evil spirit. See, for those of us that are believers, we’ve already been.

We’ve already had that freedom. We have been set free. The problem is we haven’t accepted it. See, we meet Jesus at the cross and we go, God, I want you to. I want you to just heal me, Lord.

I want you to take away all the pain and I’m going to leave everything. But the problem is, is that we sit at the cross and the moment we get up, we take our bags of hurt and pain with us because we feel like, you know what? I don’t. You know, the message was great. It really drove it home.

And I’m going to give my heart to the Lord. But then the moment we get up, it’s something in our rationale says, I think maybe I can handle this a little bit better. See, the thing about it is, and then we read on, it says, then Jesus demanded, what is your name? He replied, the evil spirit within him said, my name is legion, because there are many of us inside of this man. See, Jesus at this point in time understood it’s not a physical issue, it’s a spiritual issue.

But see, what Jesus did is Jesus shows us here. How did he deal with it? He dealt with it by name. See, when we discuss a legion in Roman times, some say a legion is of 6,000 men. Some say that it may be 12,500.

But we see in Scripture that there were literally almost 6,000 different spirits in this man that left him subhuman, naked and tormented. What this shows us is at times you can only deal with going on inside of you by confronting it by name. You have the authority within you as the child of God to call it out by name, and it must flee. See, as you begin to call it out, you are releasing into the atmosphere and allowing freedom and peace to fill the void that was once occupied by hurt, bitterness, pain and anxiety and depression. As we read in six and seven, the demons knew exactly who they were dealing with, but they were attempting to garner favor with Jesus because, see, they knew that he was not to be taken for granted.

He was not to be messed with. Even the demons themselves knew that they were in the presence of the Most High. But see, we as those who say, we give our heart to the Lord or we trust in God. We forget that, but yet it shows us in Scripture. The demons didn’t.

They knew exactly who they were dealing with. See, and Jesus didn’t hit them up with doctrine or theology. He didn’t convey to them the spirit of. Of his. To the spirit of his vast knowledge of Scripture discuss the ecumenism of how it relates to interfaith dialogue.

He knew his authority and he acted on it. He didn’t make a request, he made a demand. And see, that’s where we kind of forget. We forget that we have that authority. See, you’re called to possess the life that you’ve been given.

The moment that you step out in faith, the moment that Jesus stepped, stepped out of that boat and stepped onto the shoreline, he was walking into his purpose. He knew the authority he was walking into. And see, many of us forget that. We sit here Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and we sing praises of Jesus. We say, lord, I love you, Lord.

Help me, Lord. Do this, Lord, do that. But the moment we walk out, we somehow, we get amnesia and we walk into holidays like this and we go, well, you know, it’s just the pain of the holidays and it’s just, you know, I don’t know. And we get caught up in the giving and you know, we got to give these gifts and I don’t have money. And you know, I told my kids, I said, look, don’t expect a whole lot from me.

Just be glad that I’m giving you the gift of my presents. And my kids like, yeah, dad, we get it. 365. We’re good, you know. See, See, as we continue to read in Mark, we see, the spirits thought they were being cunning and smart as they knew that if they didn’t, if they couldn’t possess the man, they could still possess the land.

See, then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them into distant place. There. There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. Send us into those pigs, the spirit begged. Let us enter them.

So then Jesus gave them permission and the evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs into the entire herd of 2,000 pigs and plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned. See, the enemy may convince you that by seeking counseling, therapy, cultish advice, or simply seeking advice of others, you’re handling the problem. Instead, you walk out and the problem still handling you. See, you may feel good for 24 hours or 48 hours, but then eventually what happens is without truly being set free, it’s going to come back and it’s going to haunt you. See, God doesn’t want you to merely deal with the issue or figure out a way to deal with it or the pain or the problem.

He wants you to be completely set free. I’m going to say this again. Like I said before, I am not against therapy counseling. If that’s what works for you, that’s great. We’ve got a lot of good counselors, you know.

We’ve got a lot of good therapists. I know some of them. But here’s what I will tell you. They don’t make money by you coming in and doing A once and done. It’s by you coming back time and time and time again.

Because see, let me explain something to you. If we really walked in the full authority of Jesus Christ and we fully walked in the power, I can guarantee you, you, we would basically put the therapist and the counselors out of business, okay? The hospitals would be less full, okay? Because we need to work in that. We got to work in that authority.

See, Jesus knew that by allowing the spirits to dwell in the herd of pigs that they would ultimately rid the region. Therefore not allowing them to have operational control or inhabitants of the land, the spirits made a calculated mistake and took themselves out of the equation. See, some of you are surrounded in the midst of your pain and your anxiety. Some of you are surrounded by the pigs. And these may be some friends that might necessarily.

You may need to go in and reevaluate that friendship and really re. Evaluate. Are they holding you accountable? Are they building you up? Are they moving you in the direction of the cross?

Because if they’re not moving you in the direction of the cross, my advice to you is find a different. Find different friends. And then, you know, the fact is, you go, well, you know, Carl, Pastor Carl, my friends are really good and I’m doing pretty good. And everything’s after. Maybe what you need to do is find a new enemy because you’re never going to really.

We get stronger in the Lord. The more calluses I have on my knees every trial that I go through. Now, it’s not fun. Trust me, it’s not fun. But the reality is, is that the more trials that I go through, what it does is it takes me to that next level, then I go to that next level.

See, the Lord, your God, your savior, Jesus Christ never said, you’re supposed to stay down here because ultimately what I want you is I want you up on high because there’s a lot of people down here. And as I move you up here, you can help those people down here. See, what happens is now you’re beginning to live in the freedom. See, when we acknowledge the areas of our life that have been under control by the hurt and bitters, we can begin to allow God’s spirit to fill that void. Completely understanding what true freedom, complete freedom, is having experience that is not temporal but permanent.

As we realize that, that we have the fact of the authority to cast down all unclean thoughts, reject feelings of anxiety and depression, no longer has a hold on us. See, Romans 8:37 says, no in all things. We are more than conquerors for them. Who loves us. See, instead of being captives, we’re now conquerors.

For this, we forsake the graves for gardens where God’s love, peace, joy and contentment can be cultivated. We no longer are walking among the tombstones, but within the temple of the glory, glory of the Lord. See, as in Nehemiah 8, 10, it says, do not grieve for the Lord, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. See, happiness. A lot of us think we’re, oh, I want to be happy.

I want to be happy. Happiness is temporal. See, happiness is jumping from one circumstance to the next and hoping you can get out of it going, I made it. Joy is this joy. Joy is this.

Joy is like I. No matter what the circumstances. See, the one thing that this mark can teach us is we. Basically, when we look at this, there’s five types of Christians, okay? See, not all Christians are feared by the enemy equally.

See, when Jesus stepped on the store, what had happened? The man ran to him and approached him and said, why are you here? Why are you here? Because Jesus was already walking in authority. See, some Christians pose so little of a threat to the kingdom of darkness that they are of little consequence to the enemy.

They have traded their armor of God for comfort and complacency. They are passive and powerless. But then there’s the remnant Christians who just by their very walk shake the gates of hell when they pray. Men and women whose names are not just written in heaven but are feared in hell. See, the first type of Christian is the Christian that knows their authority.

They know their position in Christ. See, the easiest target for the enemy is a believer who doesn’t know what the word of God says, who they are. See, in Hosea 4, 6, it says, My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge. See, once a believer realizes that they have been given exousia, a Greek word for authority or power, the enemy begins to tremble. Because the believer doesn’t run from the fight.

They stand and confront the fight. See, the enemy doesn’t respect volume or head knowledge. He respects authority. This authority only comes when you know your identity. It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know.

See, the second type of Christian is a Christian that isn’t moved by circumstances. See, it’s a believer who doesn’t flinch when the storm comes. See, we have way too many fair weather Christians. See, these are the Christians that when the paycheck hits and complain when the bank account dips. See, some Christians need to stop giving the enemy free access to your emotions or Stop letting the enemy live rent free in your head.

See, First Corinthians 10:10 says, and don’t grumble as some of them did, and they were destroyed by the angel of death. See, complaining and grumbling empowers the enemy, but worship silences him. See, a steadfast Christian that intercedes and travails when it hurts is a dangerous child of God. It’s when you push through that you not moved. You’re steadfast.

You go. No matter what my circumstances is, I know whose I am. The third is a Christian who confesses the truth no matter what. It’s the one who holds fast to confession and the truth of salvation. This isn’t positive thinking, okay?

This is biblical, what is called, and I just learned this, biblical homogea. It’s a confessing with your mouth and believing with your heart that what God says, regardless of how I see the circumstance. Yeah. Is it bad? Yes.

Did I get a bad doctor’s report? Yes. Is my bank account low? Yes. Am I getting phone calls from the banks and the collection agency?

Yes. But I know who my God is. I know who my Jehovah Jireh is. I know who my Jehovah Nissi is. I know who my provider is, and I’m going to stand on that.

See, Hebrews 10:23 says, Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. This type of thinking is not optional. This is how we win. See, even when God is silent, we still praise. The very action shakes the very foundations of hell.

See, in number four, that’s the Christian that confronts the enemy. See, some churches don’t like to discuss this because there are too many passive believers when it comes to spiritual warfare. Satan fears the believer who knows how to confront him. In James 4:7, it says, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

See, this is active. This is confrontational. This isn’t, hey, when the enemy’s pushing in, I’m going to wither back. It means I’m going to gather my legs up underneath of me and I’m going to lean in because I know that I’ve got God behind me. See, when Jesus was in the wilderness, he didn’t shrink from the fight.

He utilized scripture like a sword and struck back. But when you go into battle with prayer and fasting in the word, confront the spirit that is attacking your family, your health, your mind, the enemy stands up and takes notice. See the world, the community, the church, the family. Need Christians that simply understand that spiritual warfare is not optional, but it’s survival, plain and simple. If you want to survive being a Christian, you have to get into prayer.

You have to get into the word, you have to travail. See, in number five, the Christian who prays without ceasing. See, the enemy fears a believer who prays, a praying believer. See, this isn’t your casual bless this meal, Lord. This isn’t a half hearted where, God, I’m going through something, I just need to throw up because, God, you’re going to help me in this.

This is what’s called intercessional prayer. This is travailing. This is a type of prayer that brought breaks chains and opens prison doors. See, in Ephesians 6:18, it says, Pray in the Spirit all times, on every occasion. Stay alert, be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

See, I know we kind of go back on the whole on the tongues thing or praying in the spirit thing, but this is what scripture says. It’s your requirement to pray in your spiritual language because this is the spiritual language that girds you up and says, I’m coming in for the fight. See, Daniel prayed when it was illegal and didn’t hide from it because he understood that this wasn’t a luxury. It was actually his lifeline. When you’re going through a trial and a tribulation, is it your lifeline?

Is it your first act of defense? Or is your first acts of defense to sit there and start putting your head between your legs and crying and going, God, I just, I can’t do this, God, why again? Why this again? Or is it do you sit there and you go, God, I need you. I’m gonna stay here and I’m gonna pray.

You know, Satan fears. Satan fears you because you have access to the power of the Lord Most High and he knows that you do. But the fact is, is that we don’t tap into it. See, as a praying believer, you’re dangerous and you don’t know it. See, pulling down strongholds, exposing the enemy’s plans, therefore calling heaven to invade the earth.

Scripture says that if we get down and we pray and we fast and we travail, God has no choice. He has to help us. He has to help us. But does this mean that your troubling times are over? No, not by a long shot.

It means that we are not relying on physical, mental or emotional strength to get us through, but in fact the power that is within us through the Holy Spirit. See, in verse 18 in Mark, as we get down to verse 18. It says, as Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demon begged to go with him. But Jesus said, no, go home to your family. Tell them everything that the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.

So the man started off to visit the 10 towns of that region and he began to proclaim great things that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed at what he had told him. See, freedom and peace is not just in us, but it can be. It is us. It is who we are.

Those around us become the recipients of the life and the freedom and the peace that is within us. Because we cannot keep it inside. If your wineskin, if you are a wineskin and you have holes in it, every time God goes to pour something in you, it leaks out through the holes. God says, I want to repair you. I want to make you a full wineskin.

I want to make you like new. Because then what happens is God begins to pour blessings into you. He begins to pour freedom in you. What happens is, is it overflows to the people that are around you. And they can’t help but notice.

See, we talk about, like prophets and the old time prophets and preachers like Smith Wigglesworth, who could walk onto a train and he didn’t have to say anything and people would go, I know you’re a man of God. Why? Because the blessings of God and the glory of God overflowed him. See, the more time you spend with God, the more time you become like God. See, we learned in Moses, when Moses said, God, I want to see your face.

I want to see your presence. And God said, I’m going to hide you in the cliff and I’ll put my hand in front of you because my glory would kill you. It would wipe you out. But the rare fact is that the more time you spend with God, the more time his glory becomes. And it gets all over you, you can’t contain it.

Things like anxiety, anxiety, things like depression, things like those things have no place in a child of God that spends time on their knees and says, God, it’s about you. I’m gonna travail. I’m gonna push forward. I’m gonna break free. And Satan knows that you’re dangerous.

He knows that you’re dangerous. Again, like I said, I’ll say this again. I’m not against counselors, I’m not against folks, you know, therapist, that’s what you need to do. But I’m gonna, I’m gonna say this. Let Me see what your prayer life’s like.

Let me see what you’re reading. Let me see how much time you’re spending in the Word. Let me see how much time you’re spending in and among believers that are gonna. That are. Iron sharpens iron.

Where people like, you know, the people in this church that are gonna come in and they’re gonna encourage you. See, we stop acting like everything’s okay because we’re more than okay. We’re free. The holidays are no longer a time of despair and desperation. They’re a time of praise and proclamation.

Sunday’s no longer a day of the week. It becomes a culmination of the exhortation of the daily victories that we’ve experienced through the week. You no longer have religion. You have a relationship. See, just as the formerly possessed man was set free to proclaim the.

That Jesus had done, he’s going into the 10 cities within his region. So can you go into the seven cities that resemble Hampton Roads and proclaim what God has done not only in soul Church, but also in your life? Because what you’re doing is you’re taking not what you learn here and keeping it here in and amongst these walls, but you’re living it with. Through every day that ends in. Why?

Because you realize that. You know what? You’re right. Have your therapist call you up and go, hey, you coming this week? No, not really.

Why? I don’t know why. Well, I do know why. God set me free. I don’t have this.

I sleep at night. I sleep at night. I don’t have these nightmares, the pain that was there. I no longer. God gives me the freedom to pray for that person that hurt me or, I don’t know, something’s different about me.

And you say, well, you may look at me and go, well, Carl, you know that stuff, it only happens for those people. No, because I could tell you it happened to me. For years I spent angry at the very man that hurt me, that I watched him pick up my mother and toss her across the room. I watched that with my own eyes as a young boy. And I swore that if I ever had a chance, that if he ever crossed me, I would end him.

But God set me free. God sets you free from that. He gives you a freedom, and he allows you to love, and he allows you to look at that person not with hate and with anger, but with spirit, with pity, and say, God, touch them. Touch them. And you know how I know God did that?

When four years ago, I stood in front of that very Man. And I said, I need to ask your forgiveness because of how I treated you. That is freedom. That is God. So you.

So you want that freedom? Great. Let me see your prayer life. See, God’s promise of freedom and joy are not just words of yesterday, but they’re the foundation for today and they’re the building blocks of tomorrow. This is a daily chore.

This is a daily. We do this daily. We’re going to move through this on a daily basis. Because I’m telling you, if you sit here day in and day out and your mind is dealing with the depression and the hurt of past pains or past hurts, you know what it’s doing. The scripture says it’s like taking coals and heaping them up on yourself.

My wife told me this one time when I was going through a tough situation. She said, do you honestly think that that person is even giving you a moment of thought in their day? And I went, no. She said, then why are you? She said, why are you?

She said, the very God that saved you and delivered you and everything that he’s done, basically by you mumbling and grumbling and complaining, you are canceling out every blessing that God ever did and saying he didn’t do it. And that was like a smack of truth to my face. And I went, oh, God, forgive me. God forgive me. And God, I remember God looking at me going, now I got you where I want you.

Now we’re going to start taking your graveyard and turning it into a garden. Because I’m going to start cultivating things in you and I’m going to start moving things in you and start planting those seeds in you. Because I have a work for you, and I can’t do it if you’re dealing with gravestones. Because God tells us if we continue to tie ourself to the dead, we’re going to become like the dead. God says, I’m a God of life.

I breathe life in you. I’ve given you more power than you can shake a stick at, but yet you sit there on the edge of your bed and go, oh, woe is me. And God says, no, look what I’ve done. God called me to release. I found this quote, and we’re going to end with this.

And it’s from an author and a poet by the name of Matt Gotsman. And I read this and it came across my feed, and I was like, w. See, it says, God doesn’t meet us in our control. He meets us in our release. Every time we loose our grip, God’s will widens our lives.

Faith becomes lighter. Trust becomes clearer. Love becomes cleaner. Stillness becomes louder. Surrender becomes natural.

Letting go doesn’t take anything from you. It expands. You see, there are some things you can only receive with an open hand. If you’re in a season where God is asking you for your grip, your timeline, your understanding, then you’re right on time. When you let God take over, you don’t lose anything.

You’re simply made ready for everything. See, in this season, guys, I know what pain’s like. I know it hurts. We all go through it. That’s life.

Some of us have gone through worse than others. But I could tell you this, that the very God that I live and invited into my life, he loves me. He became a father when I had none. He became a husband to my wife when I was a terrible one. He became a father to my children when I wasn’t there or when I was just absent.

God is always, always faithful. No matter what God says. Look, I got this. But we go to God like this. We go to God like this.

And what does this represent? God? I’m angry, I’m tired, I’m hurting. I can’t do this anymore. This life sucks.

God says, open your hand. But we’re so angry, we’re white knuckling it. God says, open your hand. And finally, when we really release, we begin to open our hands. And God says, what’s in your hand?

And you look and there’s nothing there. And God says, that’s right, because I already took it. I already bore it on the cross. I already died for it. And I already knew what you were going to go through way before you ever did.

I’m your out. So what type of Christian do you want to be? Do you want to be that strong Christian? Do you want to be. Think about the five definitions, the five Christians I read.

You know what? Quite honestly, we shouldn’t be just one of them. We should be all five. And how do we get that way? What have we been talking about for the last four weeks?

Okay, get into the word. Get on your knees on a daily basis. Guys, God will be blow your mind. You are going to walk in freedom. You will walk in health and victory.

I know there’s parents here that you know. I know when my wife and I, when we first had our oldest daughter, you know, right before she was born, I think I might have told you this story we were told by the doctor said, look, you both are two different blood types. Your wife just went through a myriad of radiation this is 30 some years ago. And he says, look, I’m just gonna let you know, more than likely she’s not gonna make it. And even if she does, she’s probably gonna be a vegetable.

And he stood behind his big old desk and looked at me and my wife and said, what do you want to do? And I was like, what do you mean, what do I want to do? And he says, you can always have another one. I go, but it’s not that one. And I looked at him, and I remember, and I looked at my wife, and without hesitation, we looked at him and goes, we’re going to push forward because we’re going to believe God’s going to do something.

And he goes, well, do you at least want to know what it is? I went, nope, we don’t want to know anything. We’ll find out when God reveals it to us on the day of birth. And see, back then, you didn’t have these luxury rooms that you have now. Trust me.

I think. I think Alex kind of knows. You know, we had to walk in. I was gowned up, masked up. The doctor’s like, look, once you get past this door, you ain’t going.

If you go back out, you ain’t coming back in. I was like, okay. We walked into an operating room. Trust me. It was intimidating.

But I remember as she’s getting ready to give birth, and Colleen and I were just praying and praying and praying and praying, and we were crying out to God. We’re like, God, no matter what, you got this. We don’t care. We’ll take whatever you give us. We’ll take it.

And I remember hearing the baby cry. I looked at the doctor and I said, doc, what is it? He goes, it’s a baby girl. And I said, what do we got? He goes, 10 fingers, 10 toes.

And she’s healthy, and she’s healthy. At that moment, Colleen was probably ready to kill me. But at that moment, my feet never hit the floor. I gave her a kiss. I said, you got this.

I ran out the door. She’s like, to this day, she goes, I can’t believe you left me. I went out the door. My feet never hit the floor. Because, see, our parents and our family knew the situation.

And I got out, and I remember seeing my grandparents and my dad and my stepmom, and they go, what do we got? We all had boys. It was a family of boys. And I said, we got our girl, and she’s healthy. And God blessed us.

See, God can do that for you in any situation. That you’re going through. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Whatever pain that you’ve experienced in the past, whatever you’re going through right now, God says, open your hand and let me have it.

And I’m gonna. You’re gonna watch me do things in your life, and I’m gonna bless you. You know that young man that we prayed for last week that fell? You know, we prayed for him, and God was doing some good things, but he did go home and be with the Lord. And see, the thing about it is, you know what?

That’s okay, because this is what I’ve learned. And I had a pastor tell me this one time. He goes, God’s gonna heal you in two realms. He’ll either heal you in this realm or he’ll heal you in the next. When my best friend passed away in Covid, he’s my only best friend.

I loved him to death. And he fought in that hospital, and his wife said, he’s not gonna make it. But I just go back, and I remember what he used to tell me. And he says, carl, he says, I look forward to the day that I can go be with God. And I go, rich, we’ve got our whole life together.

He goes, carl, he said, the only place I want to be is with God. He says, the only place I want to be. He goes, when I read the scripture, it comes alive in me. He goes, it drenches me with God and how loving God is. He goes, carl, I want to be with God.

And that night we got the phone call. They said that he had passed. It killed us. It killed me. But yet, somewhere in the midst of the pain, there was beauty.

Somewhere in the midst of the graveyard, there was a garden. Because I know that Rich was sitting in heaven. And he’s going, dude, I made it. He’s going, dude, I’ve ate it. And we were like, we know that if we went to Rich and said, rich, can you come back down?

Rich would be like, oh, no, there ain’t no chance of that happening, brother. He goes, man, because what he did is he lived those five examples of being a Christian. He lived that. I want you to stand with me today, Every head bowed and every eye closed. If you’re going through something in your life and you’re tired of carrying this, and you’re just tired of the weight, and you’re tired of the hurt, and you’re tired of the pain, then I’m going to ask you to do something.

Nobody looking around. I’m going to ask that you hold your hand up and you open it up to God and say, God, I give it to you right here, right now. Just give it to him. Do this right now. If there’s something that you’re going through, I challenge you, just give it to God.

And we’re gonna pray right here, right now. And I’m gonna agree a peace over you at Salt Church. I love you guys, but God loves you more. Heavenly Father, I come to you right now. Father, I pray that Lord Jesus, your children are standing in front of you right now and they’re saying, God, I don’t want to deal with this pain anymore.

I don’t want to deal with the anxiety, the depression. I don’t want to deal with this anymore. I’m releasing it to you right now in the name of Jesus. And I’m going to take that freedom that you give me, Father. Help me to live in freedom.

Help us to live in your glory. God, I pray for them right now. I pray that a fresh anointing, a fresh outpouring, a fresh healing right now in the name of Jesus, Father God, I pray that you would wrap your loving arms around them and whisper in their ear, daughter, I love you. I got this, son. I got this, this.

I love you, Father. Touch them right now. Minister to them, Father, I pray for everybody today as we end this service, Lord God, I pray, Father God, that you would go forth amongst us. Lord God, prepare the path for us. Lord God, help us to be salt into the world.

Help us to be light, Lord God, help us to emulate you. May your glory be transfixed upon us, Lord God. Father, I pray that we would live in the light of your freedom and glory, Lord God, through this holiday season today, Lord God, and from here on out, be with us, Lord God, I pray. Touch us, Lord God. In your name I pray.

Amen and amen. Guys, I love you. You guys are awesome. I love you a lot. You guys are just such a blessing to me.

And I watch and see what God’s doing in your life. Go with God. He’s definitely going with you. Amen and amen. God bless you guys.

Have a good day. Sam.