Setting the Course Pt4

``Walking in your calling will cost you your comfort. If you're not uncomfortable, there's a good chance you're not walking in your calling. I I I love it, man. We come in this morning and it smelled good. The worship team was singing. The music was good. The graphics were rolling. Coffee was being made. I saw greeters greet at the front door. I think they were there ahead of time. Praise god. Let's thank god for our greeters this morning. Let's give them a hand for how welcome they made us feel this morning. I I mean, I'm telling you, I walked in and I'm like, man, this is good, man. But I'm telling you, it's gonna it cost them something to get here early. I guarantee you, they was here practicing way before most of us ever walked into church. It cost you something to serve in the kingdom. It'll cost you your comfort. It'll cost you your time. It might cost you a baseball game. [00:08:22] (53 seconds)  #CallingCostsComfort

I’m all for someone saying, man, I got a calling on my life. God's called me in my life. If you wanna be motivated, search god for the calling that god's called you to do. God will motivate you through your calling. I'm all excited about that but there's a lot of work that happened between when I thought god called me and when then doing the ministry. Amen? If there's a lot of work that happened between believing god called me and put my name on a form and then showing up early before everybody else gets to the church and and waving and greeting and and putting the signs out in the parking lot, The it's a calling, but then you gotta show up for your calling. Amen? And we're all called to serve in this way, but it's not something we just receive in a moment, but it's something we continue that we confirm through obedience. So this calling is worked out into our life. And number one, I wanna say this, walking in your calling will cost you your comfort. [00:07:32] (49 seconds)  #ShowUpForYourCalling

And if you live by that and you keep swinging the axe, you'll watch your character change. You'll watch godliness come into your life, and you'll start being able to say, no. I'm not going there. And, yes, I'm going. I wanted to question today. What do you need to let go of like Abraham did when he left Haran? What do you need to let go of? What do you need to lay down like when he laid down Isaac? And what do you need to embrace as far as your identity? Don't believe the world. Don't believe what your mom and daddy said, but believe what the word of God says. Every head bowed, every eye closed, I wanna ask you a question today. [00:41:04] (26 seconds)  #LetGoToFollowGod

See, he didn't label them by the breath getting knocked out of him. He didn't label David whenever he sent Uriah out. He didn't label Abraham when Abraham went out and said, oh, no. That's my sister. And then the king, a curse fell on him, and he brought him back and said, what are you doing? This is your wife. God spoke to me. You bring a plague upon me? He didn't identify him for his failures. They identified him he identified him because he says, because they desired a better country that is a heavenly one. And it says, therefore, god is not ashamed to be called their god for he has prepared for them a city. There is a city we're headed to. It's so good of a city that here's what John said. John said, I'm gonna tell you, but it's so good, I can't tell you. I'm like, dude. [00:33:13] (46 seconds)  #IdentityNotExperience

I've seen so many people look for gifting. I want gifting. I I think the Bible says we desire spiritual gifts. I desire them every day. God, give me what you want me to have. Do what you want me to do. But be careful that you don't make an experience out of what he's already told you you are. See, sometimes we gotta build from our identity. We can't go searching an experience to create our is this helping anybody this morning? We can't go out there searching for an experience to get our identity when he's already settled it on the cross, when he's already said that I gave you all things that pertain to life and Godliness. He says, as it is written, when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, what did he say when he was tempted? He said, first thing the devil tempted him, he said, what do you need to do? He said, man should not live by bread alone but by every word that what? Proceeds out of the mouth of. Amen. Out of the mouth. Wow. Yeah. [00:28:57] (43 seconds)  #SlowGrowthDeepRoots

It's stated that more likely that when you plant this tree, there's very little root that goes out because it's planted in die, dry desert places that the root can get up to 30 foot deep. So it grows down before it grows out. And and Abraham, now, right after this, he's gonna go have to have a test of Isaac. It's getting ready to happen. And he's getting ready to take it up there, and he's getting ready to sacrifice his own son. But he plants a tree, and it's the slowest growing tree. Why do I tell you that this morning? Because working out this thing called salvation, add your faith virtue, virtue knowledge, knowledge temperance, temperance, godliness, godliness, brotherly kindness, and then eventually, agape love. That means I love you, Miller, so much. I do love you. Text him. Call him. I mean, he's not working on the sewer. We have conversation. I love you. [00:36:13] (53 seconds)  #PlantForGenerations

But I'm telling you right now, if you keep swinging on that axe, I'm gonna do my devotion. I keep swinging. Don't get so busy. You forget it's about relationship. And you keep and then all of a sudden that tree will fall. When he planted that tree, he made a statement because Abraham knew he was gonna die. And he knew God breathed on him. But he knew one day his grandchildren were gonna walk behind and say, that's the tree that Abraham planted. You see, the devil can tell you that you've ruined your life, but the truth is, there's gonna be a tree one day. If you keep up this faith thing and you do god's part, there's a thing he did is he planted a tree and that first piece of property he bought was to bury his wife and he bought a cave called McPeelah. Boy, I gotta go. So he made a statement. He said, the first thing I'm gonna plant is a tree that takes a long time to grow. [00:39:16] (47 seconds)  #DieToRise

There's so much hope in that. That's eternal life. Do you know what he summed up eternal life? He said that you could have eternal life that you may know him. That's that relationship with him. That's that time with God. But then he bought a think about that. The first place he bought was that cave, and he bought that land. And when he bought it, there was a grave. Do you know the one of the first things you need to do to enter the promised land? You need to learn to die. Die to what you feel. Die to what you think. Die to what you believe. Let God rebuild you from the ground up and believe that he who began a good work and means faithful is completed till the day of redemption. I am the head and not the tail. I am above and not believe. I'm more than a conqueror. I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. I am a child of God. I'm an ambassador in the kingdom. That that that'll speak life into you and breath into you and encourage you. You say, but what are you gonna do? My key verse, his mercies are new every every morning. [00:40:12] (52 seconds)  #StayTheCourse