Elevation with Steven Furtick - Destiny & Direction (Larry Brey)

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

What’s your direction? In “Destiny & Direction,” Pastor Larry Brey shows us that our destiny is determined by a decision, but direction is a daily denial of ourselves. Scripture References:Mark 1, verses 16-172 Peter 3, verse 18Matthew 16, verses 13-17Ephesians 2, verse 8Mark 6, verses 30-37, 51-52Luke 22, verses 31-34John 21, verses 15-19See 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. What a joy to be with you today. My name is Larry Brigh, I'm one of the pastors here at Elevation Church. But all my friends call me L.B. And my wife and I, I had the distinct privilege of being one of the original eight families 18 plus years ago to start Elevation Church with Eric, my friend here, and I saw Jay Rabin around here. And when we started the

18 years ago, my wife and I moved into our house on a Friday night right when the church started, went to the hospital the next Wednesday had our firstborn son. Here's a picture of how it started 18 years ago. I think we got a picture to pop up there. That's my boy, Corbyn. Charles Bride. And I remember when we took him to E-Kids, Children's Ministry, the very first time. Miss Marie Neal was the first volunteer to hold him. She's still holding babies 18 years later at Elevation Blakeney. Thank you, Marie Neal.

Thank you to all the E-Kids, Heather and Anthony and all the people that have sewn into my son and all of our kids. I think the unsung heroes of this ministry are the people that show up every week. that serve our children and raise them up. And now, this is my son. This is now. This is just a couple weeks ago. My man, my boy. Yeah.

And so on the day he was born, my wife, Janet, when she was pregnant. We weren't pregnant. She was pregnant. She would listen to the same songs every day in the morning. And there was a song by Chris Tomlin. What was it, honey? It was, how great is our God. You remember that old song?

She would listen to it every day. and he would jump in her belly. He would, he would do like cartwheels. And on the day he was born, he was not jumping to that song. My wife got real freaked out. She calls me. Turns out the cord was wrapped around his neck. And that was his way of telling us, you need to come take me.

He arrived to emergency C-section like an hour or so later. My wife calls me, I'm trying to hold it together. And I'm freaking out, like, babe, it's going to be okay. And I got off the phone. First person I called was Pastor Stephen. And I can't tell you what he told me, but I do remember how he made me. me feel. He made me feel like God was with me. He's in it fighting for me and God is not against me. Thank you.

Pastor Stephen and Pastor Holly for 18 years faithfully doing that in this house. We love you. We honor you. Hey, let me give you the passage I want to preach from today. It's two verses Mark chapter 1 versus 16 and 17. This is the word that God has given me. This is my assignment to deliver it to you today. I've been praying that you would be good soil because this is good seed. And when good seed meets good soil, it produces a great harvest for his glory. Mark chapter 1, it says as Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake for they were fishermen. Come follow me, Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people.

One more time, let me pray. Father, this is good seed. Sons and daughters of this house and watching online around the world are good soil. take your good seed, put it in the soil of their heart. Produce a harvest of righteousness for your glory. Amen. Amen. Let me give you the title. Then you can have a seat. This is the title for today.

Destiny and direction. Look at your favorite person around you. Give them a hug and say destiny and direction. Thank you, worship team. This is an incredible story because many things are happening in this scene at the same time. Peter, Andrew, Simon. Well, Simon. He's Simon. Simon is the part of him that's parting on Saturday night, but Peter's the side of him that's praising on Sunday morning.

You know, because all of you got a little bit of Simon in you, then you also got some Peter in you. That's that guy, he's out casting nets. I don't know what he did the night before, but Jesus shows up on the scene, an ordinary day in Peter's life that encounters a radical Savior that's about to change the trajectory of his life. He did not know that was going to happen when he set out on his day at the same time. that's happening, Jesus is also establishing his earthly ministry. He's saying, it is time to go. He's prepared himself for the assignment of going to the cross, and now he's going to pick the team to follow him. And he shows up, and he's walking along, and it says he sees Simon. He sees him, casting a net into the lake. Because another thing that's happening at that moment, you have no idea

what God's doing on your row. You have no idea the stories that are ending and beginning. And God is doing something significant in our midst today. Oh, if we would perceive in the spiritual realm what God is doing in this place. And because Jesus is about to establish kingdom culture. Say kingdom culture. You see, the culture of the world when someone would find a teacher or a rabbi. That's what Jesus is about to become to these disciples. He's about to become their teacher, their rabbi.

In that culture, the way that a rabbi would be selected, wouldn't be the rabbi would not come to you? Oh, no, he would never stoop so low as this. step into your lowly place. Rabbis would stand at a distance and people would come to him and beg, oh, please, please, could I be your student? Could I learn from you? And they would say, well, show me how smart you are. That's the culture of the world. That is religion trying to prove that you should be picked. Some of you are exhausted because you have lived your whole life trying to prove that you should be picked. And Jesus is about to establish kingdom culture on earth as it is in

heaven. That's what he's bringing into the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven because it's the upside down culture. The first shall be the last and the last shall be the first. And Jesus comes to them and he comes to you and he sees you. He sees all of you. He sees what you did. He sees where you're doing right now and he sees what you're going to do in the future. And he comes to you and he picks you. That's the kind of God that we have. That's the kind of savior that we have. He pushes through all of the stuff and he comes to you because he's a staff. kingdom culture and this beautiful. And he takes a criteria that none of us would have ever used to pick his first disciples. None of us would have been tall enough, good enough, smart enough. But Jesus says, I am doing something new, something different. And I think that same spirit is happening in this place today. Now this guy named Simon, who would later be called Peter. He writes two books to the Bible. So when Jesus shows up in Mark I, Simon would have been, Peter would have been about mid-20s, late 20s, and he would write two books of the Bible,

1 Peter and 2nd Peter. And in 2nd Peter, the very last words he writes, some 40 years later after this incident, looking back on his life, looking back on all of the high points and low points, remember when Jesus saw him casting a net into the lake, and Jesus came to him, remembering the denials, remembering standing up on Pentecost, reminding him of all the place where he's got it right and got it wrong. He looks back with wisdom and he pens the very last words of his second letter. This is his last letter, his last words. And there's something about your last words. There's something about the wisdom of your life looking back on it when you want to give somebody the wisdom to say, if you only remember one thing, this is it. He writes this in 2. Peter 318.

He says, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter gives this profound wisdom looking back. He says, grow. Say grow. Some of us are working hard to grow our bank account, but are we growing into grace? We're growing our followers, but are we growing our faith? That's what I want to talk about today. And Peter says, I want you to grow in the grace and knowledge.

You see, when you have knowledge without grace, you're self-righteous. I'm trying to prove how smart you are, but grace without knowledge is a leaky bucket because you can't hold what God reveals to you. And Peter speaks to two distinct offices. Jesus is so much, he's indescribable, but he speaks of two distinct roles that Jesus must occupy in your life. First is as Savior. The second is that Lord, because the Savior determines the destiny and the Lord sets the

direction. That's what I want to talk about for a few men. Because as we begin a relationship with Jesus, we've got to grow in that relationship with Jesus. It's called Progressive Revelation. Progressive Revelation, I've got my 12-year-old daughter. She will turn 13 next week. Ms. Carson here, she's amazing. She's my favorite child that I'm looking at right now.

We've got four, which everyone is in front of me is my favorite kid. So progressive revelation is this. She says, Daddy, I love you. She drove with me to church this morning. She's like, Daddy, I love you. I remember dropping her off in kindergarten. garden her first day. She's like, Daddy, I love you. But now when she gets around some of her middle school friends, she's like, Dad, I'm like, you better say you love me. But I know that she'll graduate

from high school one day and she'll say, Dad, I love you. She'll get married one day in on the night before her wedding or as I get ready to walk her down the aisle. She'll look at me and say, Dad, I love you. Then when she holds her firstborn child, she will look at me and say, Dad, I love you. She's used the same word of her whole life, but her understanding has changed over time. That is progressive revelation. In our relationship with Jesus, some of us are stuck in a flannel graph revelation of Jesus. You have not upgraded your definition of Jesus in a very long time. And that's what God is trying to do today.

He's trying to upgrade your definition because you're living in an outdated revelation. And Peter is saying, I need you to grow in the grace of Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If we fast forward to one of the pivot points of Peter's journey, and that's who we're really going to focus on today. is his character Peter. In Matthew chapter 16, it says this starting in verse 13. When Jesus came to the region of Cessoriah Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say the son of man is? Now, this is about two years after Peter started Jesus on the journey. He's been walking with him for a while. This is not brand new. He's been seeing the

miracles. He's heard the sermons. He's been there, done all the stuff. And now Jesus is flipping the script and he's asking him, who do they say that I am? Question for you, for those of you who claim Christ, if your words are paint and your life is a canvas, what portrait of Jesus are you painting to the world? If I were to go into the environments around you and see the people closest to you, what would they say about Jesus? Who is Jesus? Because some of you need to understand you are the only Jesus some people will ever see. Who do they say? He did not give you that job for an income, he gave you it for influence. God put you in that place to exert his influence for his glory. Oh, I love what Jesus is doing here because he's flipping the script. He's pushing out the casual

Christianity and he's forcing the complacency to come to the surface because you cannot live at that place and love Jesus at the level that he's called you to. And he flips the script and now he continues in the conversations. And he flips and he says, but what about you? Who do you say that I I love this question. Who do you say that I am? All of humanity hinges on this one question. All of scripture is pointing to one person and his name is Jesus. In the Old Testament, Jesus is concealed and in the New Testament Jesus is revealed. This is all about Jesus. And the gospel writers, as they pen the story of Jesus going through humanity, it's what created the casual crowd to come to Christ because they're asking, are these miracles really happening? But then the critics and the skeptics are saying, what did he say? But then the Pharisees and the teachers of the laws are all saying,

who does he think he is? Then even Herod, King Herod and Pilate kings and people in authority would say, are you a king? All of creation has been asking the question, who is Jesus? And it's the question that Jesus brings his disciples to in this moment, and he asks him very pointedly, who do you say that I am? And I think my assignment today is to ask everybody under the sound of my voice, the most important question you could ever ask, because your destiny is determined by a decision. And the decision is who is Jesus? It's not about being a good person. It's not about trying harder. It's not about religious attendance. It's not about scripture reading. It is about who is Jesus. Who is your Jesus?

He's the alpha and the omega. He's the author and perfector of our faith. He is the bright and morning star. He is the cornerstone. He is the great high priests. He is the head of the church. He is the holy one. He is the great I am.

He is Jehovah. He is Emmanuel. He is our redeemer. Our prophet and our Savior. And in this moment, in verse 17, here is, or in verse 16, Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. Jesus replied, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in heaven. You are the Messiah. It means savior, redeemer. And what Jesus came to

save you from is not your bad decisions, a bad marriage or a bad job. He came to save you from your sins. That's why he had to die, to save you of your sins, to redeemers. To redeem you. you from it. Oh, but some of us come to church because we feel bad and we follow Jesus for two years and I got the Bible but I've never seen him as the Messiah. And it's beautiful from the scripture says, this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but my father. What he's saying is the grace. You see, you and I are dead in our sin. We're born dead. The scriptural, the definition that theologians have agreed to throughout time is dead means you're dead. You're dead. You're dead. dead. It means you're so dead you cannot make a live choice. It means that you don't come to God

because it's a good idea or it's a cool emotional thing that somebody got stirred up inside of you. No, what it means is that right now the grace of God is going forward. And some of you are leaning in because when I picture this scene, because this is the scene where Jesus became the Messiah of Peter. He had been walking with him for two years, but he had never been forgiven of a sin, I think, until that moment. Because in that moment, the grace of God, the spirit of God made him go, oh, you're the Messiah. It was a revelation. It says this. It says this. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8, it says, for it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. This is not from yourselves. It is a gift of God. So the grace of God goes forth. And the grace is what enables you to consider

him. The grace is what enables you to look at him. Now faith is your response to the grace you just received. Some of you have been coming to church for a very long time, but you have resisted the grace standing on the outside because you feel like I'm too dirty. I've done too much. I need to clean myself up before I come to God. You'll come to elevation every week. You'll sit in the same seat, but you have not trusted in him as your Lord and Savior. You've stood at a distance. Peter traveled with Jesus for two years, but this is the moment that his destiny was secured in the hands of his Savior because he said, you are the Messiah. And I believe the grace of God is leaning into your heart right now.

And for some of you, it is beating out of your chest. And God is saying, will you respond to the grace that is going forward? It is by grace through faith. Faith is your response. Will you receive it? You can't save yourself. But will you receive the grace? And normally we would give an invitation for salvation at the end of the experience.

I'm not going to wait till then because I wanted to do it right now. And I'm not going to bring the band up. There's going to be no pad behind this. And what I'm going to do in just a second at all of our locations, I'm going to ask all of you who need to begin a relationship with Jesus to stand to your feet. I'm in just a second. And somebody like, oh, my gosh, you're going to make me stand to my feet. Yes, he died a very public death for you. He did.

He died a very public death. And the reason I want some of you to stand is because you're sitting down in sin. And I need you to remember that the next time the voice of the enemy tries to get you to sit in that sin, you can stand and say, no, I have been redeemed. I have been forgiven. My Jehovah Jira, my Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Shabah. He's changed me. He's redeemed to me. This is not emotionalism. This is not me being a good motivational speaker. I'm not that good. But the grace of God is that good. And so at all of our locations, and online, this is for you too. And if you need to stand to place your faith in Jesus, I'm going to ask you with the count of three. Without hesitation, the boldly stand. I know all eyes open. Normally we do every head bowed. Nope, eyes open. Eyes wide open. Clear conscience, making a commitment to follow Jesus. No longer doing it in the shadows standing out in the bright

light surprise. They're already standing here at Balantime. If you need to place your faith in Jesus, stand to your feet. One, two, three. Stand up. Oh my soul. Hey, hey, stand to your feet. All of our locations. Someone at Lake Norman. Someone in Raleigh right now. Stand to your feet. Stand to your feet. Come on. Stay standing. Stay standing. Stay standing in all of our locations. I don't know what it looks like other words. But right here, so many are standing. Hey, stay standing. Stay standing. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to say a prayer together. Stay standing. We're going to say a prayer together out loud. There's nothing magical about these words. But the Bible says when you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart that he was raised from the dead, you will be saved. And if you have placed your faith in Jesus and you're around these people, oh, and be praying for him, be praying with me. But there are a couple people you haven't stood yet. And what I want to tell you, standing doesn't save you. Jesus saves you. But standing is our response to take a stand. So if you need to still stand, stand to your feet right now.

Church family, let's say this prayer out loud. Eyes wide open. Clear conscience, knowing that we are following Jesus. as our Savior. Pray this with me. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God who died on the cross

and rose from the grave to forgive me of my sins. I give you my life. I give you my sin. I give you my shame. Forgive me. And I'll spend my life following you.

Now give God the biggest praise you can give them in this place. Hey, hey, if you're around those people, Hug them. High five them. Let them know that they're not alone. We're proud of you. Come on, give them a hug. Don't let them be alone. All of our locations. Church family surround them. Love on them. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Isn't that beautiful? Oh, you can sit back down, but you can stand up anytime you need to. Is God not good? Oh, my soul. Your destiny is connected to a decision. And the decision is who is Jesus? Some, he's a fairy tale of figment of their imagination or is a fictional character. No, for some of you, he just became your Messiah, your Savior. That's exactly what Peter said to do.

Grow in the grace as Jesus, our Savior and Lord. But here's the reality. It's easier to trust Jesus with my destiny than my direction. It is so much easier to say one day by and by Jesus, I'll trust you with that. But trust you with the here and now? That's so much harder. Why is it hard to trust Jesus with the direction of our lives? You see, saved is used in multiple ways.

I was saved, meaning there was a moment that Jesus became your, you were the Messiah. That moment, for some of you, that moment just happened, June 30th. Side note, today is my birthday. Best birthday present I could ever have is to be with my church family. And so in Scripture, thank you. in scripture, you were saved. You will be saved, meaning you will see him face to face.

And he will say either, well done, good and faithful servant, or depart from me for I never knew you. You see, religious activity does not matter in that moment. That's why you got to have this moment that the revelation of God. The grace is you are the Messiah and the faith is I choose to receive it. I was saved. I will be saved. like him one day when we see him. But between these two, I'm being saved. The sanctification. This is trusting Jesus with the direction of our lives. Why is it so hard to trust Jesus with the direction?

And I want to show you from Peter's life why he struggled with this fundamental faith issue. Because to say, Jesus, one day by and by. But I got my plan. I got my goal. I got my thing. Now would you bless my thing in Jesus' name? If I'm honest, I live in that place. Anybody else, would you confess with me that you, why do we struggle with that? And I'm going to go to a story in Peter's journey that I think so poignantly paints a picture

of the tension that we face of why is it hard to trust Jesus with the direction of our lives. In Mark chapter 6, it says, the apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to them all they had done and taught. Let me give it a little context. Up to Mark chapter 6, Jesus had been performing miracles.

He'd been casting out demons. he'd been preaching the Word of God. And then eventually he gets to the point that he's prepping his disciples for when he would leave. Because he says, after I go, it must continue on. So those of you, the ones that I picked that I revealed myself to, it is going to be your assignment to do what I have been doing. So he sends them out like Noah's Ark principle two by two. And they're going to go cast out demons.

They're going to preach. And they're going to perform miracles. And now they come back to Jesus like googly little school kids like, Jesus, look what we did. We talked to demons. And here's the reality of what I was reading that scripture this morning. I saw some of us living beneath the authority Jesus gave us. Why are you living underneath that oppressive spirit when God give you authority over it? Stop it. Stop it. Start standing in the authority he has given you. I'm not talking about walking into work, slapping your boss in the forehead. Say, get out, demon. I'm not saying dumb stuff.

But I am saying God will give you the strength to endure up under it, quit wilting. underneath the stand in the authority he's given you. It's insulting when you act like that. Stop it. So they go out and then they come back to Jesus and now they're like reporting to him. Jesus, it was amazing. We cast out demons. It was incredible.

And then verse 31. Then because so many people were coming and going, they did not even get a chance to eat. They were hungry. He said to them, come by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

Now let me pause there. Jesus says, you're tired, you're hungry, you're exhausted. Come on. Let's go get some rest, a quiet place by ourselves. What picture are you seeing in your head? Like, we're going to get on a boat. This is going to be amazing. We're going to go to a B&B, get some R&R.

I'm going to get a manny petty. I'm going to put my feet up. in a hammock. This is going to be freaking amazing. I need some rest. What image of rest comes to mind? Some mom or dad, you've been working all week in a job you don't even like, and you're like, if I can just get to Friday night, I'm going to get some rest. And you got this picture of rest in your head of what you think it's going to be. But then you come home. The kids are running around the house naked. Stuff is burning on the stove. The dogs are barking. It is complete chaos. Do any of you look at that and go like, no? Because all of us have an image of what we're expecting.

But what do we do when what we pictured doesn't line up with what we see? Because the story continues with the disciples here, he says. But many who saw them leave and recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. This is the feeding of the 5,000. When Jesus landed and saw such a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He began to teach them many things. Jesus had compassion for them. What did the disciples feel for the crowds? Contempt? Frustration. Are you freaking kidding me, Jesus? Question for you. Jesus says, let's go to a quiet place by yourselves to a solitary place and get some rest. They get across the lake. Does this line up with anybody's picture of what you thought rest would be? No. But what do you do?

and it doesn't line up with what you thought it would be. So question, was Jesus lying to them? Like it was just like, who doing them to like, I just need you get in the boat. See, I'll lie to you just to get you here. No, Jesus isn't capable of lying. He is truth. He is truth personified. He by deaf and is truth. He is the truth. Did Jesus just not what was waiting for them on the other side of the lake? No, he's omniscient. He's all knowing. So he knew what was on the other side of the lake. did not lie to the disciples. So how do you explain the discrepancy? They had a different definition of rest. And here's where it's so hard to trust Jesus with the direction. Because when you have a different definition, you won't trust the direction. You see, when Jesus says, let's go to a solitary

place by yourselves to get some rest, it's the same word that is used of Jesus in Mark chapter one. it says he was baptized and then he was driven by the spirit into the wilderness. You see what you and I call wilderness God calls rest. Jesus was taken to the wilderness because the wilderness is the place that you experience grace. Because the only way you experience grace is when you get to the end of yourself and you see the beginning of God. Oh, Jesus is taking them to the wilderness, not to punish them, but to, speak to them because the wilderness is the place that gives you the grace that you start with. I can't, but you can.

Grace is what gives you the ability to look at a situation you want to run from and you say, I won't, but God, nevertheless, your will be done. Grace is what gives you the capacity to say, I'm not, but you are. They had a different definition. Pastor Tim, you lead so much. You lead so well in our church. leads our next gen team's phenomenal leader. As a leader, don't settle for common language, push for unity of definition. I was doing marital counseling a couple years ago with a young

couple just been married like six or eight months. And they both come in and their arms crossed just not like it. They love each other. They just don't like each other. And they said, we just don't communicate very well. And I asked the wife, I said, how do you define communication? She goes, I think about him all day long when he's at work. And I wonder what he's doing and how he's feeling and how he's experiencing all of those things. And I cannot wait to the moment he walks in the door. And I just want him to share the deepest, darkest parts of his stars. Don't spare any detail.

Give me everything that happened in your day. And I ask him, how was your day? And all he said is fine. She had a definition of communication. I asked him to find communication. He said, we just need to have more sex. You'll never have unity when you've got different definitions. You might have a common word, but you don't have a common definition.

I just gave somebody marital counseling in here. Praise the Lord. Won't God do it? But you won't trust God with the direction when it doesn't line up with your definition. And that's where the disciples are at. And it's this amazing journey of some of you that you're sitting in a situation. You didn't think it would look like this. I wanted to get married and this isn't what I pictured.

I wanted so much to get out of high school to be my own person, but now I got the dysfunction and this isn't what I thought it was going to be. And what happens is when it doesn't line up according to your definition, you withhold and you don't trust God with a direction anymore. Not because you don't love God, you just don't want to be disappointed anymore. That's what I saw for some of you holding on to this outdated definition. Maybe just maybe Holy Spirit, would you upgrade somebody's definition in here? A good marriage.

define it, sacrificial rather than receiving. What would be an upgraded, take whatever area you're frustrated in right now. God, upgrade their definition. Let them see it differently. Let them see it as you see it, not as we've defined it, but let us see it as you see it. And now the disciples have been watching Jesus preach for about nine hours. Nine hours. It started about nine in the morning. Now Peter's going to come to him at six in the evening. They've been sitting back, be like, oh my gosh, could someone. LJ, can you please play the Hammond B3? And it's close. this thing up? Can we shut this thing down? Because the disciples, remember, they're hungry. They're tired. They're exhausted. And they're looking at the whole scene. And I think they're

resenting everything that's going down. Jesus had compassion. They did not. So finally, they all nudge Peter like, you're the obnoxious one. Go say something to him. By verse 35, it says, by this time it was lading the day. So the disciples came to him. This is a remote place, they said. And it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countrysides and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered them, you give them something to eat. Isn't this the most interesting scene? Because here's the reality. The wilderness means desolate places, but also desolate people. Jesus brought them to the wilderness to see the wilderness. And their wilderness was the people without a shepherd. That's why he had compassion.

on them. And they come to Jesus. Hey, Jesus is late in the day. Can you send them away to give them something? Jesus said, I've been feeding them for five hours. I've been feeding them for nine hours. I've been feeding them since I stepped off the boat. I've been feeding them the bread of life, the word of God. You just haven't seen it because you were so starving in the carnal flesh. You could not see what I was doing in the spirit. Here's the reality. The reason you couldn't see me feeding them is because you were feeding yourself. Why is it so hard to trust God with the direction? Because you're feeding the wrong things. And Jesus says, you can,

You give them something to eat. He's like, we don't have anything. And he goes, you're right. Because you've been feeding your doubt and your insecurity. You've been feeding all of your carnal stuff since we got here. You're right. You don't have anything for them to eat. But I'm good and I'm great.

And I'm going to feed the people. And I'm going to use your frustrated heart to serve them. So take the bread and break it. And Jesus fed the people. But the miracle was not for the 5,000. It was for the disciples. And they did not see it because they had the wrong definition of what rest looked like. You see, the king.

culture, the upside down culture that Jesus is establishing is those who refresh others, will they themselves be refreshed? One person. Thank you. And then if you skip a couple of verses, Jesus finishes the miracle. He puts the disciples on the boat and he sends them back across the lake. In chapter 6 verse 51 it says this. Jesus, he goes up to the mountaintop. He's up there praying and they're they're rowing back across the lake to where the journey began it's taking them five times as long they're only gone half as far it speaks to them doing it in their own flesh and in their own frustration into their own flesh in verse 51 it says this says then he climbed into the boat with them the wind died down they were completely amazed you've never heard this

verse before 52 for they had not understood about the loaves their hearts were hardened what did the conversation sounded like on the boat after they fed the 5,000. Oh, look at Jesus up there on the mountain. I think he's better than us. You're just going to sit up there and now we got to roll back. Oh, now here you come walking across the water. Finally you showed up. Jesus, we've been doing this all day. Haven't you seen us? We're still hungry. We're still tired. And they were offended. The reason some of you cannot feed someone around you has been feeding your own offense. And here's the thing. because Jesus immediately after he said, I'm the Messiah. He began to talk about, I must go to the cross and die.

And then he gave him these marching orders. If anyone would come after me, he must pick up his cross daily, deny himself and follow me. It's a cheat code. Because to follow the direction can only happen with a denial. And now one of the pivot points in Peter's journey, where all this thing comes full circle here you see in Luke chapter 22. do this is we fast forward in the timeline of our savior we're going to go to we're going to go to the the last supper this is the Thursday night meal it's about 6 p.m. Jesus would hang on a cross

12 hours later is when he would be sentenced and then he would be crucified and at this last supper he looks at at peter he says this in verse 31 he says Simon Simon anytime you see a name repeated in scripture, it's a Hebrew term of intimacy. When you read a double name, read it as a whisper. What it means that God is close. Moses, Moses. Simon, Simon. He doesn't call him Peter. It's very important. You see that he called him Simon, Simon, Simon. Satan is asked to sift you as weak. And if that's me, my eyes get really wide. Like, what? I call it for me by name. Yeah, because he sees how deadly you can be when you're following the direction. He sees the weapon you can become in the hands of a master.

But when you don't follow the direction, it's the people that you're leading that get punished. And he says to him, Satan's asked you, but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. Oh, if I just stop there, Jesus is praying for me by name, I'm good, I'm covered. I pray that your faith would not fail. But then he said to him, and when you turn back, strengthen your brothers. But he replied,

I'm ready to go to prison and to death. Jesus answered, I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me. Here's the truth of what I want to tell you today. Your destiny is connected to a decision, but the direction is directed by the daily denials of self. If anyone would come after me, pick up his cross daily and follow me. This is what Jesus is saying to him. He says, you're going to deny me three times, Peter. You're going to deny me. And what happens is you're going to want to walk away from me. But when you turn back, it means when you repent and come back the right direction,

strengthen your brothers. You know what the word strengthen means there? It means to feed. Connect the dots earlier to feeding the 5,000. Peter was only feeding himself, which he didn't see how he could feed the people. And Jesus is trying to connect some dots here. The only way that you're going to be able to feed somebody else is if you deny yourself. Here's the reality. The direction of your life is daily. It is multiple times every day.

You're going to come to these crossroads and the direction will be determined by, do I deny Jesus or do I deny myself? That's where life comes down to. The direction of your life is connected to the denial. Let me ask it the opposite side. What are you feeding that God told you to starve? If you want something to die, starve it. Starve it. Holy Spirit, make it. it plain in this house today. Some of you are feeding self-deprecation and that's what's going to grow. Some of you are feeding greed and envy. You're feeding insecurity. You're feeding the assuming the worst of others. You're feeding those lustful thoughts. You're feeding gossip and slander. And what God is trying to tell you is the direction of your life is connected to the denial in your life.

If you want something to die, starve it. I want to make it plain. What is the thing that God told you to starve, denied that thing. Can I be really honest? I am addicted to my opinion. I said it. I am so addicted to my opinion. Like, I almost feel like sometimes if I don't share my opinion, I get like a visceral response. Like I'm going to throw up like, no one has ever been one to the gospel by my opinion. No one has ever been redeemed because of my opinion. Yet I can become so addicted to my opinion. I'm going to start in Opinionion of Anonymous Club. Anybody else want to join my opinion club? Thank you for a few.

Don't leave me up here by myself. What would it look like if you went into 21-day opinion fast? You want that thing to die. Starve it. I don't want it to be an ethereal. Deny yourself. I want it to be very practical. What are you feeding?

God said, you need to starve that thing. Write it down in your phone. Write it down in that piece of paper. That pen you're going to steal anyway. Just. I'm serious. Here's what God told me to tell some of you, an unnamed enemy will never be defeated. You only hide your friends and you expose your enemies. And what happens is when you do not expose that thing, you make it a friend. God will not deliver you from your friends. He will deliver you from your enemies.

What do you need to starve? Now we fast forward. Jesus goes to the cross. Peter denies Jesus three times, just like he said. And in one of the first. And in one, one of the gospels it says that Peter saw Jesus and he wept bitterly. Because his direction, he felt like had been so derailed by his denial of Jesus. He went back to where it all began. He went back to being a fisherman. And I love the fact that our Savior said, I cannot leave you like that. Oh, he sees you. And the beauty of the grace of God as it comes to you and it calls you by name. And as Jesus saw Peter out fishing, he called to him. Here's the image I need you to see as you're going your direction and you're denying Jesus

because you're not denying yourself, the grace of God is still calling your name. It's still calling your name. And when it said, Peter, Simon, Simon, when you have turned back, means to repent. Jesus, I've been feeding that thing. Forgive me. I've been going my own direction. Forgive me. And then you come back.

and strengthen your brothers. In John 21, we have this intimate story of Jesus coming to Peter. And he calls him in and he has a meal waiting for him on the shore. Oh, it's just this beautiful picture of the grace of God. And he comes to him in verse 15. It says, and when they'd finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

Jesus said, feed my lambs. Jesus would ask him three times, one for each of the denials. But I think what's even better there is Peter responds three times with the word Lord. You see, I showed you the moment where Jesus became the Savior. This is the moment where Jesus became the Lord. Because the Lord determines the direction. And he asked Peter, Peter, do you love me? And he goes, you know that I love you. There's three different words to describe love.

And Jesus asked, do you agape me? Do you love me like your Lord? Peter responds back with, you know that I love you, filo. I love you like a brother. You see Jesus is so gracious, he's correcting his definition. He asked him a second time. I didn't ask you if you love me like a brother. I said, do you love me like your Lord? Feed. My sheep is. There's something so much deeper going on here. It's significant that he gives him three times the opportunity to respond. Lord.

And then again, Jesus said, Simon, do you love me? He answered, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. You take care of my sheep. The third time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him a third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said, feed my sheep.

This would not have been the first time that Peter would have heard. you feed them. Remember back to the feeding of the 5,000? You give them something. I don't have anything. You're right. You don't have anything because you've been feeding yourself. But now you went to the wilderness with your own despair. You went to the wilderness because of your own decisions. You went to the wilderness because you went back to old things and you denied me. But I love you so much. I came to the wilderness to bring you out of it. That's how good our God is. And three times he asked him, do you love me? Do you love me? Here's how I picture the whole scene the second time and the third time. Peter's face is down because he can't even look himself in the eyes, let alone look Jesus in the face. I picture Jesus reaching in and grabbing Peter by the chin at that table and lifting his chin and he looks grace in the face.

Do you love me? Feed my sheep. You didn't have anything to feed him the first time. Now what you just ate? the grace, that's what you're going to go feed. That's why I called you out. Peter, three times. Do you love me? Now feed. Used him the word Lord, three times. And then verse 18. He says, very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted. You see, maturity is not a product of age. It's a byproduct of direction.

Some of you are very old and you are so immature into faith. Because you have gone your own direction. You went where you wanted to go. You picked out your outfit and you did what you wanted. And Jesus, I will not love you any less, but you will not be aware of how much I love you when you live like that. And you can't feed anybody else when you've been feeding yourself. And the reason that you're putting on that new outfit is you're trying to cover that old part of you that only I can.

Only I can cover that. you went where you wanted. But here's the moment that Jesus became the Lord of Peter's life. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will lead you, or someone else will dress you and lead you to where you do not want to go. Lord, I don't know if I want to go that direction. You'll either deny Jesus or you'll deny yourself. And the beauty of our God is so he'll bring you back to that point again and again.

And again. And someone else addressed you lead you, do not want to go. Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he said, follow me. I thought Jesus only asked Peter, wants to follow him. Follow me. I'll make you fishers of men. The first time was to learn how to fish. The second time was to learn how to feed. And when Jesus becomes the Lord of your life, you start being more concerned with feeding others than feeding yourself.

Sandy feed at all of our locations. I'm going to pray for you in just a second. And as I was praying for everybody in our church, I kept getting this image of people feeling like, but, but L.B, you don't know. I got these big decisions in life. I got these big decisions I need to make. Here's what I have looking back as an old man. The direction of your life is controlled more by the small, daily denials than the big decisions. It always is. Because here's the image I want to give you. When my kids were young, I would take them to the beach. And the waves would come in at an angle.

And so every time they would go out and surf, they would just get pushed out just a little bit. And they'd go out and surf and they'd just get pushed up shore just a little bit. And they'd go out and surf again. They'd just just little, little, little, little directional shifts. And they'd just get pushed up shore, up shore, and 10 minutes later, they're way over here. And they wonder, how did I get here?

No one of those was a big decision. It was small. self-denials that were not chosen. But the grace of God calls your voice. And he says, Peter, when you come back, strengthen your brothers. Making Jesus, the savior of your life is a one-time decision. He holds you in his hand.

No man can take you from it. If you can't save yourself, you can't unsave yourself. But the decision for him to be Lord is a daily, many times a day, daily decision. will I deny him or will I deny me? But I want to challenge you at a very practical level. What's the thing you've been feeding that God said I need you to start? Deny that thing.

As you do that, that will be the grace that you will feed the others. Father, I thank you that your word is true. It's strong. It's right. It's powerful. It's effective. I pray for everyone in the sound of my voice who made a decision today that trust Jesus as their Savior.

Hallelujah and amen. Their calling is an election sure, and you hold them in their hands. Nobody can take you from it. But the decision to let you be Lord of our lives is a many time a day decision. Make it plain in our lives. Show us one area that we have been feeding that you have called us to starve. Give us the grace in that space to deny that thing rather than to deny you. And every time we deny ourselves, we receive more of your grace. Not to be kept to ourselves, but to be given out to the world. Father, we love you, we honor you, we praise you, we thank you. And all God's people said, amen. Come on, let's put our hands together. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry is 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, guaranteed human.