Elevation with Steven Furtick - Don’t Tap Out Tap In

Episode Date: January 22, 2024

What are you really fighting?  In “Don’t Tap Out Tap In,” Pastor Steven Furtick reveals that God is waging war with what’s coming against you — because the fruit is coming!  If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: www.elevationchurch.org/giving/ Scripture References:Isaiah 27, verses 1-6Song of Solomon 2, verse 15Ephesians 6, verse 10See 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. I wanted to mention to you that Elevation Nights is coming to the coldest part of the country at the coldest part of the year, February 20th through 29th. We're going to be in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Columbus, Ohio, Chicago, Long Island, Boston, and Philly. You can go to Elevation Night's. Yeah. You can go to Elevation Nights.com. I am currently purchasing Parkas for this tour. It'll be amazing. And today, I am excited to share God's word with you. You are excited to tell the person next to you, calm down. You're scaring me.

You're so excited. You're vibrating. Your energy is off the charts. We want to share now with the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 27, Isaiah 27 1 through 6. Some conversations that he was having with Israel that God, God wants to continue with us in Isaiah chapter 27 verses 1 through 6. Brace yourself for a bold word from the Almighty God.

Isaiah 27, you're already there waiting on me. Usually I'm waiting on you. In that day, the Lord will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword. Leviathan, the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent. He will slay the monster of the sea in that day. Sing about a fruitful vineyard. I, the Lord, watch over it. I water it continually.

I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. I am not angry. If only there were briars and thorns confronting me. I would march against them in battle. I would set them all on fire, or else let them come to me for refuge. Let them make peace with me. Yes, let them make peace with me. Verse six, in days to come, Jacob will take root.

Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit. And I came with a message for you today to tell you, Don't tap out, tap in. Just for you, the Lord sent me, don't tap out, tap in. And on your way to your seat, touch three people and say, it's not over yet, not by a long shot. Yes, Lord. It may be seated. Put my title in the comments, don't tap out, tap in.

Abby asked me an interesting question three days ago, Dad, why are you so? So against soccer. I explained to Abby, I'm not against soccer. I respect it. I just didn't grow up in it. So I don't particularly love it. See, my roots are wrestling. I was a seventh grade wrestler.

Yeah, impressive. I know. Just need you to know who you're listening to today. Seventh grade wrestler. Uh-huh. And not so fun because Graham, our middle child, is wrestling. It's doing great. Way better than I was. He has exceeded his father's example. The student has become the master. Yeah. And it's funny because I think the

reason that he likes wrestling, I can't prove this, is because when he was about five years old, We get a lot of interesting messages for people who watch our sermons on the church, but I got a message from a former UFC champion, a mixed martial artist, who said he watched our sermons and that they were a blessing to him and that he'd like to speak to me. And so when we talked, his name is Vitor. And when we talked, this has been about 10 years ago. He invited me to come watch him train, and I took grin with me to watch him train. And I thought that was so amazing But what was really cool, he was so nice to Graham He got the first thing he did

He got down on the ground and he showed Graham the arm bar And he let Graham put him in an arm bar Now let me show you a picture of Vitor just so you can know Okay So when I say he let Graham put him in an arm bar That's the only way it's going to happen All right, you could take that down I know that looks like a picture of me but that's Vitor

You're confused So Graham's got him in the arm bar Graham's only about five years old, and Vitor starts tapping, and Graham doesn't move. And Graham just sits there and holds the arm bar. Do you know what, arm bar, he's got his arm cranked back like he's about to break it between his legs? And so Vitor's showing him, it's a submission move. So he's got him like this, and Vitor taps, which in MMA means I give up, let me out, you win. Well, Graham just stays right there.

And Vitor goes, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap. And I go, Graham, that means let go. So Graham, let's go. And Vitor pulls him to the side. He said, you're so strong, bro. But always respect the tap. When someone taps, respect the tap.

Let go. Have you noticed that the devil doesn't really respect your tap? I'm going to wake you all up today. Because some of you have been trying to tap. Okay, that's enough now. Okay, quit picking on me, devil. Pick on somebody else. I got a few suggestions.

I'll give you a list. Just leave me alone. Tap, tap. There are many of us who have been trying to tap or surrender. Not in the good I surrender all to be my precious Savior kind of way. But the tap that says, I'm really done trying. in this area of my life. I'm really done loving with my heart.

It costs too much, and it makes me feel too exposed. Tap in this relationship. Tap in this quest to overcome this habit. Tap in this really living fully for Christ. Tap, tap, tap. But the thing about the enemy, if you don't know, he doesn't... And I hate to compare Graham to the devil, but just for a minute.

Just like Graham, the devil does not respect the tap. So when you give up on freedom to go back to slavery, you get momentary relief, but greater bondage in the end. You think the devil feels sorry for you because you tap? You think the devil plays by the rules and leaves you alone because you're tired? Oh, I'm tired. tap, I give up. I think that's what a lot of relapse is, not just in terms of substances, but when we fall back into something, it's us tapping going, tap, tap, I'm done feeling this way.

Tap, tap, I don't want to feel lonely, I'd rather be high. Tap, tap, I don't want to feel like this. I'd rather be with the wrong influences than be in isolation. Tap, tap, I give into the thing. That's got a hold of me. But the devil doesn't respect your tap. And that's why giving in to self-pity never produces progress. I'm preaching like a motivational speaker today.

Just to let you know that just because this picture in the scripture is a picture of a nation that is ready to tap. Now Isaiah is preaching to the entire nation of Israel during the reign of Hezekiah and the Assyrians are coming to take them. And in the process of preaching to them to encourage them, the prophetic word speaks directly to their pain. He says, in that day, the Lord will punish with his sword, his fierce, great, and powerful sword. What kind of sword? Fierce, great, and powerful. Touch somebody, say, I've got a big God. Tell him the next part.

And he likes me. So before you mess with me, you might want to know who may. Who my friend is Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah You might want to know who my tag team partner is Before you start beating me up That's the whole message

In the text that I read you There are a few things and we'll go through them like this in order And I believe this is going to help you in your life For those areas where you've been trying to tap I will admit that it isn't always That you want to give up completely and tap It's just that a part of you in your life is exhausted of trying to extend yourself and expand yourself so you go into shrinking mode.

Look at me confused if you want, but everybody in here has these four things in their life. I'd like you to write them down if you have a pen or something like that. One, there is a fight. Secondly, there is fruit. Third, there is a fence. And fourth, there is a future. A fight, fruit, fence, and a future. In that day, the Lord will punish with his sword, his fierce, great, and powerful sword.

If God has his sword out, there's a fight going on. Just like the Assyrians were invading Israel, God is very aware of what is messing with you. In this scripture, it's interesting because Isaiah draws on a mythological figure called Leviathan. Everyone say Leviathan. Levithin was known as the chaos monster in the ancient world. And so drawing on a secular example of a chaos monster, the legend went that in creation, a higher power defeated the sea monster in order to create the world. Well, Isaiah doesn't believe this as a myth, but he uses it as an example to bring a message. He says, in that day, Lord will punish with his sword Leviathan, the gliding serpent.

Leviathan, the coiling serpent. He will slay the monster of the sea. Now, scholars suggest that perhaps these different mentions of Leviathan represent the three major threats to the Israelites. One, there was Leviathan the Assyrians who were impending right now with an attack that would be unsurvivable for God's nation. This is represented by Leviathan, the gliding serpent, because it represents the Tigris River, which was a smooth, fast river. Then you've got Leviathan the coiling serpent, which represents the rivers of Babylon, which was Israel's other enemy.

Babylon, the Euphrates River, which would snake and slow as it curved and twisted. This is the river of Babylon representing the second enemy. But the third enemy is the monster of the sea, and that's Egypt. That's the nation that originally sheltered God's people during famine and oppressed them after the famine was over, because many times the things that you run to in one season of your life, you will need to be released from in another season of your life. And God says, in that day, I've got my sword drawn. I see what's being done to you. I am fighting for you. I'm in it with you. I'm working through you. I've got your back. No weapon

formed against you will prosper. It will be produced. It will be forged in the flame, but it will die in the air because when the wind of God's spirit takes the arrow off the trajectory of your life, even what the enemy means for evil will be used for good. And so we use in preaching all of these different Characters like Pharaoh, who was the Egyptian God, where Moses goes to Pharaoh and says, Let my people go. Or you might think about Goliath, when David was trying to save the nation from Goliath, the Philistine warrior, and he stands up in front of Goliath. And he says, you defy the armies of the living God.

Today I defy you, and God will give you into my hands. And we use throughout Scripture all of these metaphors, because we know that we have a Goliath and we know that we have a Pharaoh. And yet what I was studying, y'all, about Leviathan, I realized that while it represented maybe Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt in its original context, it represents something different to each and every one of us in the room. Leviathan, for most of us, is not necessarily like Pharaoh, who you, you know, who you can see. Or Goliath, who is big. What I noticed about the passage, and I've been waiting

all week to teach you this, is that Leviathan's strength is in his ability to hide. So while there are giants that we face that we can see, and while there are economic conditions that cause us to be afraid, and while there are events in our life that cause us to be stressed out, Leviathan is a little different. Levithin is not an ancient monster at all. In fact, Leviathan is waiting for you for when you get back home. For you see, the strength of this sea monster is in its ability to hide. Levithin hides behind nice smiles, suppressing buried rays, until it explodes at the wrong time and you wonder where the hell did that come from. It came from hell, but it hid.

Did you know that hell knows where to hide in your life? When we say all hell broke loose, it didn't just break loose, it built up. And then it broke loose. And as long as the enemy can keep you thinking you're fighting Pharaoh. Goliath, he can hide in the form of Leviathan and pull you down every time you try to rise higher and leave you wondering, where did that come from? It came from hell. But the devil doesn't wear horns.

The devil doesn't own a red cape. The devil doesn't carry a pitchfork. The devil just hides until the time. that he knows you're susceptible. But I feel like what Paul said is relevant to us today and relevant to you and to relevant to me. We are not ignorant of the devil's schemes. We, you and I, have the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to shine on Leviathan. And I thought today, since you're already fighting with it, since you're already dealing with it,

since you already have to put up with it, since you're already wondering how long is it going to be like this, since you can't really tell any of your friends about it, because you can't even describe it, me and you ought to call Leviathan out in the light of God's presence today and talk about your Leviathan. And I'll start to party, so here's mine, okay? It comes in the form of insecurity. The insecurity manifests itself in my irritability. And I'm usually irritated at something that isn't even the cause of a problem, but it usually locates a deeper insecurity in me.

If I put the mic down and walked off the stage, I did enough for your gas money today by telling you that many of us our biggest enemy is our insecurity. Okay. Here's the example. I was really, really passionate about music from a very young age. When I became a pastor, I decided probably I wouldn't do music anymore. And then I ended up being the worship leader for the first part of the church. But then when I quit playing music, I felt like I was done writing songs.

This has been about a decade ago, but something starts stirring in me, and I would start sending Chris's little song ideas every once in a while. But I would hum them into my phone, but I was too embarrassed to really sing them. So I walk around the house mumbling stuff into my phone. And one day, I'd try to get away. from people when I did it because it was kind of embarrassing. Because I really felt like this probably isn't very good, but I would mumbling my phone. One day Holly walks in when I'm mumbling in the phone, and she goes, what are you doing? And she laughs.

And when she laughed. I lashed out. I said, I'm trying to write a song. But I guess I'm not allowed to write a song in my own house. I'll never write another song in front of you again. I'm sorry. We're the, all she did, all she said was, what are you doing? And if I had really been singing, she wouldn't have had to ask, because she would have seen you're singing.

But I was too scared to really sing, because there was something I had stuffed and suppressed that I dreamed of doing. Now, when she walks by and asks me about the thing that I'm trying to stuff, I lash out. because I think that her laughter is aimed against me. Now, I realized about myself that in this specific instance, I would rather make Holly my foe than to deal with my fear. I'm trying to break this Leviathan thing down. Because, you know, I preach about Leviathan. You picture a flying dragon.

Leviathan is your temper tantrums. Leviathan is your sharp-cutting words. Leviathan is that pushing away that you do of people the moment that they try to love you for real. Leviathan is that thing that grabs you and it's pulling you down, but it kind of comforts you because it feels like warmth. I'm not talking about the devil. I'm talking about the way that Leviathan manifests in your life and in my life. life I had to admit that my wife, who God sent to be my greatest partner, was being treated like my opponent because of my own immaturity.

And the Lord spoke something to me. He said, you would rather invent an enemy than deal with your insecurity. You would rather fight against the one who's trying to fight for you than to fight against against the insecurity that keeps you from seeing things as they really are. I'm talking about my Leviathan. It's a fight. It is a fight for me. It's not happening on an external level.

I can't point to Vitor. I can't point to Graham. I can't point to Holly. I can't point to haters. I can't point to people. I can't point to critics. I could try. I did try.

But all of my life is like I've been fighting the same guy. And I'm starting to wonder, is it possible that it's not another guy I'm fighting at all? Is it possible that all of your life you have been fighting with something that you didn't know how to name? And I love Isaiah because he says, let's give this thing a name. So I know you're fighting today, and I know it's a struggle today, and I know you're frustrated today. So let's take a moment and let's name what you're fighting. I want you to name what you're fighting, what you're really wrestling with, not what you want to blame it on, not what you explain it by, not by what other people call it or justify it

as, but what are you really fighting when you numb with alcohol? What are you really fighting? When you numb with gossip, what are you really fighting? Y'all, if I keep preaching like this, we'll have plenty of empty seats next week, so come on back. What are you really fighting? Because I came to find your Leviathan so you don't get high in church and go back home to hell and get dragged down into the same disease that ate through your family generations before you. What are you really fighting?

inside. It's a fight. I know you got faith, but I know you're fighting too. It's a fight. Tell your neighbor, I'm in a fight. Tell them, I'm sorry I don't look rested, but I'm in a fight. I'm sorry I didn't sound too good singing earlier, but I'm in a fight. I've been losing my voice. I'm in a fight. I'm sorry I'm not perfect, but I'm in a fight. I'm sorry I don't have as much patience as I wish I have, but I'm in a fight. I've been fighting all my life. Some of the stuff I've been fighting, I don't even know what to call it. And I hadn't done therapy, and I'm afraid it take me 30 years to get to the bottom of it. I'm in a fight. That's what Leviathan will do to you. Leviathan will coil. Levithin will glide. Levithen will get by so quiet. You won't even

see that it's there. And then you'll jump out the boat over something that was swimming underneath the waters. The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. And I want you to know that you're in a fight, but it's not your fight. I know. Sound like I didn't study enough. You sound confused. You sound in a fight, but it's not my fight right. The Bible says, in that day, the Lord will punish with his sword, his fierce, great, and powerful sword, Leviathan, the gliding serpent. Levithen, the coiling serpent. He will slay the monster of the sea. You know what I noticed reading that passage? The enemy is after me, but God doesn't tell me to defeat the enemy. I'll read it again until at least one person shouts about that.

In that day, God says, I will punish with my sword, my fierce, great, powerful sword. Notice what the Lord didn't say. In that day, I want you to fight a little harder and do a little more and try a little harder. God says, I see what's going on in your life. I know what's dragging you down in your spirit. I hear the cries of your depression. I see the trembling hands that your anxiety are causing. I see the trauma that you buried deep enough to get it past people.

But man looks on the outward appearance, and God looks on the heart, and God sees past the struggle, and God sees the source, and God looks past your weakness, and God gives more strength. What shall we say, then, in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be a gift? us, shall not he who delivered his son freely give us all? I came to announce it's his fight. High five, three people say it's his fight.

You don't get it yet. Let me help you get it. God is not like Graham in the story I told, and the devil is not Vitor. God is not at the mercy of anything or anyone or anyone. or anywhere to do what you're asking him to do in your life. His sword is fierce. His sword is great. His sword is powerful.

His sword is fierce. His sword is great. His sword is powerful. I know three things. His sword is fierce. His sword is great. His sword is powerful. And guess what that means for me?

It means that I don't have to focus on what I'm fighting with. I can focus on the one who is fighting with me in the battle anytime I choose. So if I could break it down for you, I'd say there is a fight and there is a sword, but the sword is in God's hand, not yours. This is why all of our efforts to try to fight in our flesh fail eventually, because you're not bigger than it. You're like Graham trying to arm bar Vitor and wondering, why does this keep happening? happening to me. It's because you haven't really understood your responsibility in this relationship with God. He said, the fight is mine. The sword is his. But watch this, verse two. In that day, sing about a fruitful vineyard. The sword is his. The sword is his. The song. song is mine. And I will help you with this in any way that I can because I believe that your song is God's sword. I believe that our worship of Jesus Christ is a powerful weapon against whatever has wrapped itself around your life. And when I say worship, I am not confined to the first 20 minutes of church when I think about worship.

Worship for me is a way of looking at my life. When I praise his name, something miraculous happens. My problems get smaller. I can't explain it, but when I praise his name, stuff starts shrinking and strength starts growing. So my question is, have you been more focused lately on your fight or your fruit? I want you to focus more on your fruit and less on your fight. I want you to focus more on where God is growing you and less on how the enemy is grabbing you. You know that's happening right now.

The enemy is grabbing for your soul, grabbing for your peace, grabbing for your family, grabbing for your right mind, grabbing for your destiny, grabbing for your advance, grabbing for your maturity, Grabbing for your discipleship, grabbing for your prayer life, grabbing for your worship. But while he's grabbing, watch, God is growing. Very practically. Let's run it back real quick and walk it out. There's a fight and there's fruit. And my question is, which one are you focused on more? Because the one that you look at more and the one that you speak about more,

will have the leverage in your life. Understand this. God is telling them to sing about a vineyard that isn't even there yet. Sometimes you sing over the fruit. Sometimes you sing over the seed. That's when God has given you the potential for something. Oh, this is so prophetic. I'm going to get an email about it from somebody.

It's going to be like Pastor Stephen, I was that guy on the eighth row in the second seat, and you remember me? And no, I don't, but I'm glad God's giving it to you. Because God will cause you sometime. to sing over a seed. Remember that the nation of Israel was facing captivity, and yet in the chaos of captivity, comes forth the beauty of creation.

I see it happen in your life as I preach it to you, that out of the chaos, Leviathan, the chaos monster, out of the chaos of this season, out of the chaos of the mistake that you made, Out of the chaos of what was passed down to you that you've been dealing with. Out of the chaos of a failed business. Out of the chaos of a failed relationship. Out of the chaos of the distraction that you've been dealing with comes a new creation.

And the Lord says, I want you to start singing. One thing I realized when we're worshiping together is that there are things that I'm dealing with back home that God is doing. because of what's happening in here. When I look around and I see you at church, I know that your decision to be here, doing this, is waging war against whatever is waiting for you when you leave this place.

You believe that? One time somebody wanted healing from Jesus, and Jesus said, go, they're already healed. And at the exact time he spoke the word, the child was healed back home. You want God to fight your battles? Start focusing more on your fruit than you focus on the fight. When you call people, it's all right to vent, but don't vent so much that you ruin your vineyard.

The Bible says in Song of Solomon chapter 2, verse 15, you got to catch the little foxes that spoil the vine. Isn't it the little foxes? Isn't it the little thoughts that you allow to repeat in your head? Isn't it the little things that build up till you go, where the? Because Leviathan is what? He's a gliding serpent. He don't make a lot of noise. He's a coiling serpent.

He doesn't say, hey, I'm the devil. Want to ruin your life? Come along with me. We'll get it done together. It'll be a lot of fun. You'll end up in rehab. You'll have deep debt. You'll be crippled in debt.

You'll never be able to afford to send your kids to college. Come on over here. It's a gliding serpent. He's a coiling serpent. He is a silent strategist. I'm real glad that my dad talked to me about our family's genetic predisposition to alcoholism when I was young. I think it's a brilliant thing that he did for me.

Now because he took me aside and talked to me, he kind of got in my head and he convinced me, if you ever start drinking, you will love it. He's like, trust me, I do it. I'm being honest with you, son. I'm telling you, this will be hard for you to beat. He's like, what I think would be cool is if you just never do it. I'm like, dang, man, that's all my friends, you know, but he started this when I was like five. And then about every year, because my friends weren't drinking when I was five.

And then every year he would like renew the conversation. And you know, if you ever start doing it, you're going to be homeless and probably end up on heroin if you start drinking alcohol. He had me so scared because he had seen what it did because it was all in his family. Now, use this as an example, but we could substitute a lot of things here, but I'm going to tell you about my journey with this. For years of my life, when I was an adult, I would explain to people sometimes they'd go, you want a glass and wine, you want drink, you want this? I'd be like, no, I don't drink. I don't drink. And I'm telling y'all, they would look at me like I said, I don't brush my teeth.

I don't shower. I don't pray. They look at me so crazy like I was an alien. And me and Holly, we would be around a lot of people. And no judgment on any of it. I don't think it's a sin to drink. But it was just my dad had told me, just so you know, this Leviathan has ruined a lot of my life.

He didn't call it Leviathan, but that's what he was telling me about. He didn't give me Isaiah 27.1. He just said, if you ever start drinking, it's a bad boy. So we're 25 years old now, 30 years old now, sitting around. Sometimes we'd be sitting around with preachers. Hey, you want something to drink? No, that's cool. Go ahead.

You don't drink? Why don't you drink? Would you like a high sea? Would you like a Capri's son? I'm telling you, we have been mocked over this more, and we've been mocked over a lot of stuff. This one ranks up there with all of them. And I would never say, and you shouldn't?

I don't think that. I don't even believe that. But what I would say is this is something in my life that I feel very predisposed. In fact, most of my disciplines are a result of my weakness, not my strength. If you saw how many Diet Cokes I drink a day, you would be glad I don't drink alcohol because it could get ugly. And don't email me about cancer and Diet Cokes. Everybody needs something in their life to look forward to. Do not take my ass. I'll fight you like it. Put you in an arm bar. Watch me, watch me.

I said, we don't drink. And I realized, one day I realized that if I had lost my family to alcoholism and I told them, hey, I don't drink, I'm in recovery, I lost my family, they'd go, that's great. Good for you. You should write a book about that. So I spoke to our youth at Youth X in Orlando this summer. And I told him about Leviathan. And I said, everybody in here has a Leviathan.

Your parents have one. Your preacher has one. Some of them we know the name and some of them we don't. But one thing I do know right now is that you have permission from God to become very intentional about living your life in the way. a way that protects you from whatever threatens your destiny. So I told the youth, I'm not in recovery, I'm in pre-covery. I made that up.

You like it? I'm a trademark that. Pre-covery. I know I am such a mess. I know I am such a goofball. I know I am such a dork. There are certain things I can't handle or play with. So why not make a decision today that I'm

not going to play with something that I'm going to have to pray for God to take away 10 years from now. Who the sun sets free is free indeed. I got road rage, but I can't stop driving. Food issues, but I can't go on a 10,000 day fast. What I'm trying to get you to say is this fruit in my life is valuable. And where there is fruit, there is fruit, there needs to be a needs to be a fence. And I got good news for you. You know how you got a fence for your dog, but it's buried under the ground? And so the dog knows it's there, but nobody else necessarily knows it's there.

And it's not a big fence because it would be ugly and it wouldn't, your HOA would kick you out and find you and all of that, so you can't put a fence. So you had to get one of those fences that goes underground. This is what the Lord says. He says, I'm your underground fence. you, Jesus. I received this revelation. He said, I, the Lord, watch over it. I water it continually. And watch what God does. I know you've been fighting. I know it feels stronger than you. I know you don't see how to defeat it. I know it runs in your family. I know you've been dealing

with it a long time. I know you want to tap out. I know it seems pointless. I know it seems fruitless. Ah, but in that day sing about a fruitful vineyard. And I announced over your life, child of God, you are God's garden. And God guards his garden.

And God will not just allow anything to come into your life. And God will not allow just anything to stay in your life. And God will not just allow the enemy to run ransack in your life anytime he wants to. Not forever.

For the Lord says in that day, I, the Lord will water it, and I the Lord will watch over it. And I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. Don't you see that you have a promise in the scripture that you have a fight, but you also have a fence? And you are not in this fight by yourself, but there is a fence around your life. and no, you can't always see the proof of it, but it is an underground fence. See, I believe all your life God has had you fenced in. There were times where you tried to go farther. You couldn't go farther because you got a fence.

There were times where you tried to run away, but you couldn't run away because you had a fence. And I need you to know today that you walked in here with an invisible fence around you. And it doesn't mean that nothing bad is ever going to happen to you, But it means that whatever comes against you has to go through God and by the time he gets done using this in your life I declare that Goliath sword will cut off his own head baby because I got a fence Somebody throw your hands up say I got a fence I'm hemmed in I'm locked down I'm spoken for I'm sold out I'm wrapped up I'm tied up I'm tangled up by the Word of God.

I got offense. A fence to keep me in His love. A fence to keep me in His grace. Nothing can separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Shall death, shall life, shall angels, shall demons, shall demons, shall any power be able to separate us from the love of God? No, because God will not allow you to be separated from. what you are spoken for, and He has put His Word inside of you. There's a fence around you.

There's a fence around you. There's a fence around you. You have got to start recognizing in your life the tremendous value of the fruit that you have been given. After all, y'all, that's what the fight is about. It's about the fruit. And not just the fruit that you already have. fruit that's coming forth in your future.

Oh, it's coming. It's coming. Is my mic not on? I feel like they don't hear this. It's coming. Tell your neighbor, I don't think my mic is working properly. Tell me, it's coming. It's coming.

It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. That's come. That's why I'm getting this fence built. It's coming.

That's why I'm getting TikTok off my phone. It's coming. That's why I'm getting out of this. It's coming. That's why I'm protecting and guarding my heart. For from this. flow, the issues of life is coming. It's coming. When the fight is going down, that means the fruit is coming forth. I speak not by cliche, but by the spirit of God. Did he not say in

the text, in days to come, Jacob will take root? You know, I think a lot of times we assume that if it's not seen, it's not happening. But my Bible says that just like the enemy hides, so does God sometimes. It isn't always a feeling. It isn't always provable or verifiable. Yeah. Sometimes it's roots. And you know what you can't do with roots?

You can't rush them. The more I thought about it, I realize that just like my roots are wrestling, so are yours. I mean, maybe I'm taking it a little too far. Sometimes I do. But I think it's significant that the Lord is fighting Leviathan and he mentions Jacob, who was the father of the whole nation of Israel. And while God is wrestling Leviathan, Jacob

is wrestling with himself. You must understand and bring into visibility that Jacob was wrestling inside of his mother's womb in the dark. That one night Jacob was going to meet his brother Esau and he wrestled with an angel all night long in the dark. And now here he is again mentioned in scripture, verse six. In days to come, Jacob will take Root. One thing I know about roots is that they don't do anything significant until they are unseen. Because I keep hearing you say, I can't feel God right now. I keep hearing you say, I don't know where God is, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know what to do. I keep hearing you pretend like he went away, but he didn't go away. You're taking root, taking root. And your roots are wrestling. See, in MMA they have something called tap out. But in agriculture, there's something called a tap root.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. What does an oak tree and a walnut tree and a carrot and a beet and you have in common? They all have a tap root. Not just any root. The tap root is the first root that comes from the sea. It goes directly down and it goes down deep. It goes down deep enough that it can reach water that a surface root cannot reach. It goes down deep enough that should this plant encounter a drought at any point in the future,

it will hold the water that it has because it went to the depth that it needed to go to receive the nutrient and even store it in its own root. What does that have to do with you? That's fine for a carrot. That's fine for a beet. That's fine for a tree. What does that have to do with me? You have a taproot named Jesus.

Now I'm not preaching about Jacob. I'm not preaching about monsters. I'm not preaching about MMA. I'm talking about Jesus. I'm talking about my taproot. I'm talking about my inner witness. I'm talking about greater is he. that is in me, that he that is in the world.

And any time you decide to, you can tap into it. Or you can tap out. But if you tap out, know this, the enemy's not going to leave you alone. He doesn't respect that tap. But if you tap in, if you get bold enough today to say my Savior bled and died for me, How shall I live any longer in sin? If you get bold enough to say today, I know a name that is greater than Leviathan.

I know a name that is greater than disease. I know a name that is greater than depression. His name is Jesus. I'm looking for a rooted church, a stable praise, a faith-filled, grateful, rooted inches out. Branches lifted, heart open, grateful praise. So you start singing about a fruitful vineyard. Because while you're singing, he's slaying.

While you're singing, while you're reaching, he's rooting. He's rooting you. He's rooting you. He's for you, not against you, he's with you. He hasn't forsaken you. He's got you going down so you can drink and never run dry. In days to come, it's a question, dude. Tap out or tap in.

Because Paul said, finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. I want you to tap into gratitude right now. I want you to sing about fruit right now. I want you to sing about fruit even if it looks like a little bitty seed. Put it in the ground and watch it grow. I want you to start noticing, listen to me. I want you to start noticing where you're growing. All I ever see you doing is putting yourself on a guilt trip about where you're struggling.

I want you to start noticing where you're growing. I had to tell myself one time, at least it only took me three days to bounce back this time. It used to take me three weeks. I came back from something, I was so down about it, and I was beating myself up. See, you're still just a little baby. You preach this stuff, you don't live it. But then I thought, wait a minute, I got a fruitful vineyard. I got a fence.

It's coming up in my life. It's taking root right now. And that's why I think it'd be so sad for you to click off my message and think it wasn't for you because you don't feel like you're growing or it's happening in your life. Just like that enemy hides. So does God sometimes. What if you saw the struggle less soil? What if you thought it was really producing patience?

I'm going to tell you secret. Your praise is protection. The bigger you get your view of God, the bigger you get your understanding of his sword, which is His Word. It's His Word. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The more you begin to worship and put His Word to work in your life, I believe not only are you going to see the fruit, but you are going to see a future that you wouldn't even believe

if I told you right now. I never know if God gave me this message for a lot of people or for a few. That's not my job to know that. I'm just putting the seed in your heart. I talked about a lot of stuff today. I talked about addiction. I talked about depression. I talked about struggle, I talked about sovereignty.

I talked about biblical characters. I talked about your character. But one thing I want you to hear at the heart of this message, your tap root is Jesus. Hold on. I'm going to prove it to you. Didn't he go down in the ground? Didn't he go down deep enough that you would never have to die again? Didn't he pay a great enough price that there is no condemnation for us?

Let's fill the world with fruit. Let's fill the world with fruit. Let's fill the world with fruit. Let's tap in to find out what's in you. Tired of you tapping out. It doesn't even work anyway. It doesn't even work anyway. Not for long.

But if you tap in, you've got a well that never runs dry. Father God, I give you glory because you gave me this word. And I thanked you for it before I preached it to them because I I need it. Right now we tap in. We tap in like we've got a tag team partner, fresh rested and ready in the corner, like it's not our fight. Like you have all power.

Come on, church. You've got to praise them for yourself. Your praise is your protection. Your praise is your, not my praise, not my preaching. praise. Come on, if you praise him, you'll see that whatever is surrounding you, God is surrounding it. You got offense. Oh, Jesus be a fence. Right here, right now. This is not my fight. You are my defense. You hold my life. This is my call. Thank you, Abba. Thank you, Father. Thank you, God. You hold my life. This is my life. This is my life.

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.