Elevation with Steven Furtick - All Systems Go

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

Do our past bad decisions ruin our chance for a better future? How do we even know when we’re on the right track? Discover how God can use both the good and the bad in your life to direct your paths.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. In the final week of our series, there is a cloud. God led me to a scripture in Numbers, Chapter 9. I want to read this for you. It may be unfamiliar, but hopefully it will build your faith. And that is my prayer every time I stand in the pulpit to preach. that God would use me to build your faith because it is your faith that enables you to experience

God's presence in your life. As we read this scripture, I want you to just kind of get a flow for it. It's unusual scripture. I don't know that I ever heard a sermon on it before, but I was looking at how God gave his people this cloud. They were coming out of Egyptian slavery, and they were trying to get to the promised land, but they were experiencing a delay. You ever had one of those?

Huh? You ever been stuck somewhere? Stuck in something? So that's where they were, and it was mostly their fault, but you can't really blame them. They were trying to figure out who is this God and who are we. And all they had ever known was all they had ever known. And so God gives them a gift in the midst of this.

And that's what I want to share with you about today. Numbers chapter 9, verse 15. I'm calling this sermon, And all systems go. All systems go, you know, like when they launch a rocket ship. Y'all saw hidden figures. And so we're getting ready for what God is doing in our lives. Everybody say there is a cloud.

On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law was set up. I need to say something right here. Every situation is a setup if God is in it. Here they are in the wilderness, but God is still establishing his presence. Just want to point that out. So they set up this tabernacle, which was a portable house for the presence and the glory of God. And it says that there was a cloud that covered it.

From evening till morning, the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That's how it continued to be. The cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out. Wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord's command, the Israelites set out. At his command, they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.

When the cloud remained over the tabernacle, a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord's order and did not set out. Sometimes. Everybody say sometimes. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days. At the Lord's command, they would encamp. Then, at his command, they would set out. Now, what's the common denominator? Whether they're coming or going, they are doing it at the Lord's command.

And the whole reason they're in this wilderness is because they would not go into a place that God said he had promised to them. So now they've got to learn some lessons, and God is using this clowl as a personal trainer. Amen. I'm excited to preach about this today. Because it means that God is developing their faith, even though they were disobedient. But he doesn't give up on them. Instead, he uses the opportunity to guide them in a place where he didn't want them to wander, but even in their wandering, he was teaching them how to walk with him.

Thank you, Jesus. So they were walking. This cloud would go and listen to this, verse 21. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning. And when it lifted in the morning, they set out, whether by day or by night, whether by day or by night, whether in the good times or the bad times, whether I'm clear or whether I'm confused. Whether I did it right or whether I did it wrong. God was right there, night, morning, wilderness, promised land, wherever you find yourself,

there he is. So when the cloud would go, they would go, whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in the camp and not set out. But when it lifted, they would not set out. And by this point in the passage, you're thinking, we got it. They follow the cloud. But we don't got it. You know, we need things to be reiterated for us.

I mean, how many times have you done the same dumb thing expecting a different result in your life thus far? And you're only 12. Let me read one more verse. Verse 23. At the Lord's command, they encamped. And at the Lord's command, they set out. They obeyed the Lord's order in accordance with his command. through Moses. All systems go. Holly and I just celebrated, get ready to applaud big. This is a big one.

We just celebrated 15 years of marriage. Some of y'all look like you're too good to clap for my 15 years. Maybe you've been doing it 30 years, 35 years, but to me, 15, it's above the average. I already beat the odds. Feels kind of good. And I attribute our marital success to a couple of different factors. I will list them for you in this order, God, Holly. That's neck and neck too. They're like right there together. And the third one is not me. The third one is, this is going to sound strange when I say it,

the invention of the GPS system, the global positioning system. If it had not been for the GPS system, because some of our worst fighters, Somebody over here must be like me. Some of our worst fights are in the car because I have no sense of direction and she is supposed to have one. It was part of an unspoken prenuptial agreement. I grew up in Monk's Corner, South Carolina. She grew up in Miami, Florida. She's supposed to know her way around places. I told her I was country when I married her. I told we talked about this. And she's supposed to know her way around places. I told her. I told her. We talked about this. So we used to travel and I know this is prehistoric and primitive and I'm not relating to the young people anymore when I say stuff like this, but when we used to print our directions off a MapQuest, what? Our marriage was in trouble on those MapQuest directions. Because now we got it down. I mean, one Christmas she bought me a Tom Tom.

Y'all don't remember nothing about a Tom Tom Tom. Now you got it on your phone, you got Siri and everything like that. We used to talk about things in the car because she would tell me when to turn but not when. Anyway, what I'm saying is we made it. Somebody shout, they made it. And we made it because of the GPS system. Because for me, it's a real thing. I cannot over-emphasize to you.

And I'm going to stay here for a minute because I do have a point to all of this. And it really has nothing to do with GPS. It's really a spiritual point. I have found out in my life both as a driver and as a person that I am not really good. good at finding my way around by myself. Even as a pastor, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I've never done this before. I told Elijah that the other day. He was arguing with me about something.

He wanted to listen to a little yottie or something. And I said, you can't. Because I don't know, it's a clean version. And he said, well, you listen to worst stuff when you were growing up. And I said, but I have a parental right of hypocrisy. Now shut up and do this because I've never done this before. We're going to do it the way I want to do it. He said Snoop was just as bad.

His album was called and he said the name of the album from 1993. So we had a discussion. Some of y'all are too safe to come to this worship experience. I'm going to tell you, but thank you for coming. So we were talking, I was like, I never did this before. And it kind of gave me compassion even for my dad. He didn't have a dad. I had a dad.

My dad's dad ended his own life and my dad was nine. So one day I was going off about my dad to my mom, you know, he doesn't get it and he and this and he and that. And probably some of my gripes were legitimate, but she said back to me something, she said, he never saw it done. He's trying to stay, but he never saw it. It's like being a tour guide in a town you never been to. And really raising teenagers in today's world is like being a tour guide in a town that changes

every 10 minutes. They used to have to go to the gas. station by a magazine with pornographic material. Now they can get it on the same device they can read their Bible on. So like how do you navigate that? So I've come to the conclusion in life that I need a leader. I need a leader. God knows that about me. He knew that about his children. He knew they were frustrated. He knew they were confused and he knew that they were confused and he knew that they were were following a man. Moses. Moses had, had tried to talk God out of choosing him, and yet he's the one God wanted. And so God gave them a gift. He gave them kind of like, it's a primitive GPS system. Did you see it in Numbers Chapter 9? God was

doing the cloud way before Google, okay? And so this cloud, ever say there is a cloud? He put this cloud in the wilderness for three purposes. Please take notes because I believe there are three things that God wants to do in your life right now. And I'm speaking to the person who has been in a state of confusion. I wanted you to know that there is a cloud over your life, whatever wilderness you find yourself in today, whether as a parent or whether as a prepubescent. You know, I could be speaking to a pastor listening to this on a podcast, but I want you to know that there is a cloud and God sent the cloud to guide you. To guide you.

It's actually better than that because God did not just say he would guide you. He said in Psalm 46 that he would be our guide. That's better. Because if God gave me guidance, I know something about myself. I'm not good at following it. So when Holly and I talk about directions, she'll say, you know, you take a left and then there's a fruit stand, and then there's a cow, and then there's a thing, and then there's a building, and then there's a store, and then there's a porch swing, it's a red porch swing, got American flag

draped over. She knows all these details of stuff that I don't recognize, and then she'll look at me, and she'll see my eyes glazing over, and she'll be like, you know what? I'll just give you the address. And that saved our marriage. I'm serious. I have no... This is how bad it is. When I was a teenager, I would not go get my driver's license. Not because I didn't want to drive. I could not find my way around Monk's Corner. What is there to find in Monk's Corner? There's a Walmart and there's a high school. I couldn't find...

It was so bad. My dad had to make me go get my driver's license. He walked in the house one Wednesday. It was his day off. It was summertime. I had turned 15 months ago, but I wouldn't get... Every time he would ask me, you want to go get your license? Because I'm sick of driving your own.

Every time he would ask me, do I want to go get my license? I would tell him no. It wasn't that I was scared of driving. I was so embarrassed that I couldn't find my way around. So I just kept putting it off. And one Wednesday he walked in. It was his day off. It was my day off.

I had a summer job. My first job was at Pet Rest Crematory and Cremation Service. Okay? I started from the bottom for real. Don't look at me like I was glamorous. And I was in my guitar, my room playing my guitar. He walked in and said, Today's the day, we're going to get your license.

I'm sick of this. And I wasn't scared of the driving test. I should have been the woman that was sitting next to me for the driving test. She was so mean, the car kept cutting off. Every time I try to start my dad's Jimmy, y'all remember the Jimmy? Every time I would try to start, every time my dad's car was such a piece of crap. When you try to start the car and put it in reverse, it would cut off. And so I was trying to back out of the parking lot of the DMV.

I couldn't get the car. out of the parking lot. And every time I put it in a reverse, it would cut off. And the woman let me do it three times. And she says, sir, in the history of my experience of 135 years administering these tests, I've never done this, but get out the car, your test is over. You failed in the parking lot. My dad came running across the parking lot.

He's sweating. My dad's a big old guy, sweating, waving his arms. Give him another chance, man. Give him another chance. I forgot to tell him, this car's got some issues. You can't have the air conditioning on when you have it in reverse. Y'all didn't grow up driving these kind of cars. I know you got a BMW on your 16th birthday.

I had to make it. I think a lot of believers have been given license to live in the fullness of the promise of God. But I don't trust my sense of direction. And so God said, I see you, you look like a sheep. I see you turning left instead of right. So I'm going to guide you. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my, that's a good thing he's my shepherd because I am bad.

I mean, I am bad at finding my way. So he said that he would make me lie down in green pastures. Wait a minute, I don't want anybody to make me do anything. Live a little while. and you will want someone bigger than you, wiser than you, stronger than you. You'll stop trying to shrink God down to a formula that you can manipulate, and you will come to the point where you'll say, God, have your way in my life. Make me lie down in green pastors.

David said, he leads me beside Stillwaters. Isn't that cool? He restores my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Ye, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Wait a minute. We were just talking about still waters and paths of righteousness. How did we end up in this valley of the shadow of death?

But sometimes the paths of righteousness must pass through the valley of the shadow of death so that you can go through situations that look like, seem like, and feel like they are going to kill you, but you get to the other side and you see a table that is spread of provision in the presence of your enemies. If there is one thing I believe is that goodness and mercy have been following me all the days of my life and I will dwell. That is one thing that keeps me from going crazy. I know God is guiding my life. I really have come to the point where I believe that I can't always tell you where? But I know who the Lord is my shepherd.

And I found out that he will use circumstances that he did not create. He will even use confusion to guide me to confidence. So the children of Israel, I'll prove this to you, okay? They come to the Red Sea. They're confused. But God put a cloud, here it is, before them. This is Exodus 1321. They're not in the wilderness yet.

They're not out of Egypt yet. They're in between. They're 15 years old. They're about to get their driver's license. They don't know where to go. So look what God does. By day, the Lord sent a pillar, and it went ahead of them. And it is a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

God will not always look the same way in every situation. And sometimes you miss him because you are looking for him to appear in the form of a method. And so you come to something, I'm going to turn my back, so this just can be between you and God. Wave your hand if you're going through something right now that you do not fully understand. Right, it's called being alive. So now they're coming to this transition point, and they don't know where to go. Because they can't go back to Egypt, but they don't know how to get across the sea. So God gives them a cloud.

And watch what the scripture says. Go back to 21. I want to make sure you don't miss this. Sometimes I go too fast, don't I? And we miss stuff. He sent them to cloud. It went before them to guide them. God's positioning system.

So wherever I go, God went before me. That sounds so simple. But thousands of you don't believe that yet. You believe that the good things that are happening to you are the result of the guidance of God. But I'm telling you that God was using the chariots of Egypt and the whip of Pharaoh to make sure That they kept moving. So God is Driving them from behind and leading them as he goes before them. Say it out loud God is my guy

Say it like the devil might have been pushing you around lately. Let him know God is my guy And even if it's the devil pushing God is the one who is pulling me into the purpose all things work together for the good. So I need a guide. And so the cloud went before them. And it showed them the next step to take in the cloud. It led them. I need the Lord to lead me.

I need him to lead me to speak these sermons. We're all in trouble if he doesn't lead me to preach these sermons. I heard somebody say something in church one time. They were talking about being led by the Holy Spirit. Okay? And you probably heard that before that God led me. Sometimes Christians use that to say the craziest stuff. All religions do.

Some religions will commit acts of terror and say that they were led by God to do that. One thing I heard early, they were taking an offering in church. I grew up in church, but it wasn't personal for me then. You know, like it was a religion. It wasn't a relationship. But when my relationship with God became real, because only you can decide that. They were taking an offering one day, and the person taking the offering, they said this phrase. They said, just give today as you feel led.

And I was only like 17 years old, but I knew, well, that's not going to work. as I feel lead. Because, I mean, let's just apply that feel led to other areas of life. If I ate what I feel led to eat, there would not be enough denim in these United States of America to circumvent my waistline. If I exercised when I feel led to exercise, it would be once in January, in once in May, when I thought about looking good in a bathing suit, and then I would decide I already got my wife, who cares, and I would never hit the Joe. If I did it when I felt.

Okay, try this. Tell your kids, when you feel led to go to school, try that with your employer. I wasn't feeling led to show. What if you went to work when you felt? out-led to work. But we will subjugate our relationship with God to our feelings. Now notice this. The cloud didn't ask the children of Israel do you feel like moving today? Would this be a good time? And did I catch you at a bad time?

And God doesn't consult their mood. See if they feel like moving. Now I don't have to feel it. I'm not being led by my feelings. I'm led by my priorities. You missed a whole lot just now. It wasn't a real shouty statement, but it is the difference between mature faith that will get you through the wilderness and the kind of faith that goes up and down and flows like this and has you going all around to all different people all the time.

God sent them the cloud to teach them to prioritize. Everybody say prioritize. Some people came to church today because they felt like it. Other people came to church today because this is the day the Lord has made. I set this time aside. And the less I felt like it, the more I knew I needed to do it. Because I am not, well, just seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That is a statement of priority, not a statement of feeling, not a statement of preference.

If I did everything I felt like doing, I would have a prison ministry from inside the prison. If I preached when I felt like preaching, you would hear three sermons a year for me. I didn't preach because I felt like it, although I did today, I feel. like preaching today. I can't explain it. A little extra caffeine or work of wonder in your soul. But even if I didn't feel it, it's 1130, and here come the people and the Word of God is here and somebody needs it. It's preaching time. It's praising time. I don't touch seven people say I do it because he's worthy. Because he's worthy. That's why I seek him because he's worthy. That's why I offer him the honor because he's worthy. That's why I'm staying.

where he told me to stay because he's worthy. Stay married 15 years being nice when you feel led to be nice. I'm married 15 minutes. But if it's your priority, God is my priority. One way of saying this, he's at the center of my life. Now think about that. The tabernacle is in the wilderness. It's a portable tabernacle.

Many of our locations at Elevation Church still meet in rented facilities. It means we have awesome volunteers, come early, stay late, set up, tear down. Some of y'all didn't come to elevation during that season, and those of you who did are thanking God that those days are over. But that's where you find out who you're really faithful people are, hauling those trailers in Winston-Salem and in and out. And we have portable locations. Well, we didn't start that.

God started that. And he not only told them how to build the tabernacle when Moses went up and saw them for six days in the cloud, and after seven days in the cloud, God spoke, and some of you leave too soon before God speaks. When it's cloudy, you quit listening. But that's where God speaks in the valley, in the cloud. I feel God's presence in this place. So he told him how to build the tabernacle, but he also told him where to put it. He told him, make sure you set it up in the middle of the camp so that everybody has to face it, so that all of the tribes standing under their different banners have to face the same center. So when I look at my life,

I realized that not only is God leading me, but he is leading me from the center. The cloud would hover above the tabernacle, and the tabernacle would stay in the middle. So watch this. This is so powerful. I should demonstrate it. Come here, Jordan. Come here, Bob. Come here, JJ. Wherever they went, you can be the tabernacle, and you can be the cloud. I am making this up as I go, all right? But wherever they went, this had to stay in the middle.

Sometimes we are so paralyzed about where God is positioning us. And so we go, does God want me to take this job or that job? And we become really flaky. We won't commit this or this or this. We're moving all around. Oh, no. Did God want me to marry him? You married him 27 years ago.

That is a done deal. Now what you've got to do is keep the presence of God. in the middle. And so when God moves, move, you just got to, come on, Buck, you're helping me with this. Doing a terrible job at it right now. So think about that.

Now listen, listen, of all the ways God could have led them, this is a strange scenario. Strange, how many would agree this is strange? Because if you want the people to get up and go, put them on a schedule. That's just some parenting advice, by the way. You decide to have a baby, LJ, put them on a schedule.

Yet God does the exact opposite of what every parenting book tells you to do. He wants to teach his children something. So the Bible says that sometimes the cloud would stay for like two days and then it would move. So they had to move because they had to keep thing in the middle. And then it would stop and they would stop. the cloud would stay for a year. Now, I want you to think about this. Just stay right there.

So somebody has to stay up all night. It's millions of people, because we just read the Bible and we think, Oh, wouldn't that be cool if God would give me a cloud to show me which job to take or which school to put my kids? No, it wouldn't be cool. It would be horribly inconvenient. Because you'd always be thinking, we're going to move in today. And then just about the time you would unpacking the spot you were in. It's start moving again.

Stop. And the craziest thing about this whole scenario that is not mentioned in the text, but is implied in the text, they weren't really going anywhere. If you know your Bible, come on, you know your Bible, Jonathan. At least you should. You're an ordained minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Buck's just a security guy. He's actually a great example, because I met him in college. I liked him because he was a wrestler, a successful wrestler.

He won a state championship. He fought in MMA tournaments. Yeah, he did. They were illegal, unsanctioned MMA tournaments with interns at Elevation Church. But listen to me now. That's not my point. I met him on an internship. The whole time I was at the internship, I was complaining.

I didn't see Buck until eight years later. Was it eight years later? Something like that? Seven. He said seven. Seven years later. I appreciate you correcting the story just that much, which really didn't make a difference at all, other than to slow down the momentum of my point.

I appreciate that Buck. I didn't know when I was doing the internship that he and I would travel. We've been to six continents together preaching the gospel now. Sometimes he's an illustration. Sometimes he's making sure that everything is set so I can minister. But God had to take me all the way through an internship that I didn't even want to be at. We went to Hoot China together. We got chased through Chinese nightclubs together.

Sketchy stuff. Before social media, thank God. But God was guiding us for where he knew he was taking us, but he had to take us the long way for something that he wanted. wanted us to pick up along the way. Because if I hadn't had done that intern, if I had gone to Charleston Southern University, there would not have been a Holly Boit knot. Oh yeah, her last name was worse than Ferdick when I met her. She got an upgrade on Ferdick, and that is no small feat.

But I couldn't go to Charleston Southern. They had to take my scholarship away, because I had to go to Tigerville, South Carolina, the mountains, in the woods where boys and girls are not even allowed to look at each other across the street because it's a Baptist school. I had to go to the Baptist school to get a boy-knot girl because God knew he was calling us to stay. I'm trying to say that if you keep God in the center, you sit down before I. He's guiding me and he is teaching me to prioritize his presence and he will not do it in a way

that I can predict because my tendency is to turn God into a formula. And you know as well as I do that if God had moved that cloud at 7 p.m. every Friday, they would have become more dependent on the system than the source. And he loves you too much to let your faith become a formula. So he's going to, can I say this? I need permission, even though you don't know what I'm going to say. I need you to trust my integrity. is using your confusion.

I can hear it right now because on 1 Corinthians 14 on Facebook, they're going to put 1 Corinthians 14 on there's people that sit around on Facebook and they have nothing better to do. They're going to say, on this clip, they're going to say, but God is not the author of confusion. I read the same verse. It's talking about having an orderly worship experience. And so it says God is not the author of confusion. In other words, don't everybody try to talk at one time or nobody's going to hear what anybody's saying.

That is the context of that verse. He's not the author of confusion. That doesn't mean he won't use confusion. You know what I believe? The only path to true confidence is through confusion. Because only after you've been through the confusion and after you've been through the valley, can you say, the Lord is my shepherd? He told him, I'm going to put you in that wilderness for 40 years.

But while you're there, I'm going to train you. you to trust me. I'm going to train you. See, we are so destination-minded. But the cloud didn't move because they needed a new destination. Study this sometime. They got manna wherever they set up camp. The only reason that God moved them around was so that they wouldn't get stuck in one system. God said, I don't want you to get stuck in a system that will short circuit your faith. So I'm going to allow life to throw you off balance from time to time. And I'm going to put you in some situations where you don't feel certain because you can't have your certainty and God's confidence. So I sent the cloud to guide you.

I sent the cloud to teach you to prioritize my presence. The cloud was above the tabernacle. How many know not only is he central, but he is above? God has exalted Jesus and given him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus, every knee, every sickness, every disease, every worry, every attack, every fear, every knee will powl, every tongue will confess. I feel God guiding me right now. I feel these words going right into your heart.

And Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And notice the scripture says, it was a pillar of cloud. A pillar is an image of stability. How can you have stability if what your following keeps moving? So Jesus is getting ready to be taken up. He's resurrected from the dead. I'm fast-forwarding like a couple thousand years. And he looks at his disciples and he knows like the children of Israel they have never been this way before

He's got a mission for them He said you will receive somebody shout power because God's presence is God's power It's not an accessory. It's not a bonus feature God's presence is God's power Up until this time they have been relying on God's presence in the visible form of Jesus Christ, but you've got to watch this, something shifts. And just before Jesus leaves the earth, he's already taken the keys to death, hell, and the grave. He's already paid the price for the sin that stood and kept record against us. He's already nailed your condemnation to the cross.

He's already carried your shame. He's already borne your burden. He's already taken your sorrow. And now he's standing and he's resurrected and he's about to ascend into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty from whence he shall come to judge the quicken in the dead. And he looks at his disciples and says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses.

Watch this. In Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria to the ends. I am sending you into an unstable world with a sure foundation and you will be my witnesses In Jerusalem, Judeus, Samaria, at the ends of the earth. And watch this. And when he had said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and the cloud hid him from their sight. They couldn't see him anymore.

But they didn't need to see him anymore. Because when he sent his spirit, they got a GPS. Somebody shot, I got a GPS. I don't have to stay lost. and lonely and uncertain anymore. Jesus said, today is the day all systems go. Today's the day you get your driver's license and you will receive. The cloud kept going to show them that wherever they would go,

God would be in their midst. I'm declaring this over your life today that there is a cloud. In every wilderness, there is a cloud. It's not an external thing. You keep asking for God to give you a sign on a text message or a sign to show up in the sky or something, but the sign is within you. The sign is on the inside. He will not leave you or forsake you. Who am I preaching to today?

I really need to know because God said I want to guide you. I want to teach you to prioritize and I want to stabilize you. So I'm bringing you into some unfamiliar terrain because I don't want you to depend on your circumstance. I want you to depend on my spirit. So I gave you a GPS. Somebody shot, I got a GPS. Come on, this is better. This is better than knowing where you're going

to know who is with you as you go. If you believe God is with you, stand up on your feet right now. If you believe he's guiding you, if you believe he's taking you somewhere. Come on, I need you to praise God. to praise God in this moment like you've got Holy Spirit power. I'll praise him in this moment. God inhabits the praises of his people. He dwells in the midst of praise.

He dwells in the midst of... It's our God. This will be the last day of your life that you will live without a guide. I didn't say you wouldn't go through another valley. But today, today we make a declaration, God is guiding my life. You know what that means? That everything that comes against me has to work for me before it's all said and done. The Lord is my shepherd.

The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Come on touch 12 people. Tell him, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. He's guiding me, providing for me. The Spirit of the Lord is in this place. And where the spirit is, there is freedom.

You have been so scared, so nervous, because I don't know where to go. And the Lord is my shepherd, and there is a cloud. I'll tell you what we need to do. We need to establish a connection with heaven. You know the Bible says his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through him. So everything you need, God, Chris, I just thought of this, is in the cloud. You know, and to get what's in the cloud, I need a connection with the source.

Lift your hands. Come on, lift your hands. Father, we honor you. We glorify you. We bless your name. We honor your presence. Come on open your mouth, give him praise. We magnify, exalt and extol you.

God of all, we exalt you now. High above uncertainty. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot, and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church.

Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast.