Steven Furtick - Barriers to Blessings (03/02/2018)
Pastor Steven preaches on Isaiah 43:19 where God declares He's doing a new thing, making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, paired with Hebrews 6:1 urging maturity beyond elementary teachings. The message highlights barriers to God's blessings—like clinging to past miracles, old ways, or unbelief—that block perceiving the fresh move God is making today, calling us to forget former patterns (even good ones) and embrace the new thing He's springing up right now.
Introducing Isaiah 43:19 – A New Thing
I want to share a verse with you from Isaiah 43. It's verse 19. God says, See, I am doing a new thing. Well, y'all, that's only the first part of the verse. Would you let me read the whole verse before you start acting all excited and enthusiastic? I'm just kidding. Of course, you can shout anytime. People shout over much stupider stuff. So you can get excited here. It's all right.
All right, let me start over. Just let's start over. See, I'm doing a new thing. Now it Springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness. That's what you were just singing. And streams in the wasteland.
Connecting to Hebrews 6:1 – Moving to Maturity
Permit me to go over to the book of Hebrews. I want to put one New Testament verse together with that Old Testament prophecy. And this is Hebrews chapter six, verse one. The writer says, therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death and of faith in God.
So what I want to talk to you for a few moments today, and I'm so very thrilled to get to stand before you again and share the word of God with you. My subject is barriers to blessings.
Prayer for Open Hearts
I want you to pray for me that I would be able to deliver this word to you just like God wants you to hear it. Father, thank you for the time we have together now. These are your people. This is your word. Make the connection so that your word gets in the hearts of your people and changes their lives, because if that happens, the world will change. So we believe we're standing on the brink of something great and we declare it by faith in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.
Birthday Shoutout and Getting Old
Well, not to be unspiritual, but would you help me wish my wife a happy birthday? She celebrated her birthday. I didn't ask her if I could tell you that she's 37. We're getting old, girl. No, we are. We talk about this all the time that we know we're getting old, and we know we're getting old because we listen to Sheryl Crow.
I was in love with Sheryl Crow around age 14. I think she was like 65 at that time, but she's still going. Yeah, we're getting old. It's true, because I was telling Holly the other day… We were even trying to listen to some new music from the new Sheryl Crow album, which sounds like a paradox, but it's not. She's still making music today, but I looked at Holly. I was like, I just can't do it. I just can't listen to the new Sheryl Crow.
And so we had this weird discussion about neural pathways and how your brain starts to like certain music in certain stages. This was on her birthday. We had a very deep discussion about why we don't like the new Sheryl Crow and why we like the old Sheryl Crow. I don't think it's Sheryl's fault. I don't think Sheryl's vocals have gotten weaker or songwriting abilities and sensibilities have gotten any less keen.
I promise I'm going to get back to the Scripture. I see a few guests looking nervous. What did you bring me to? I see a few teenagers looking confused. Who is Sheryl Crow? It all makes me feel old. If you play a bass line from an old Sheryl Crow song, it automatically puts me in a certain frame of mind. Music does that to you. They've written books about it. They've done studies at prestigious universities about why certain… Why, if you played Leaving Las Vegas right now by Sheryl Crow, just even the bass line. If you start playing that, I could remember being at the music farm when I watched her open for Blues Traveler. It makes me feel free. It makes me feel excited. I remember smelling marijuana for the first time, but that's not the point of church.
What I'm saying is it's embedded. It's an attachment. It's an anchor memory. I like it. I like the old stuff. I don't like the new stuff. Are any of you like me like just music is not what it… Is this okay to talk about? Just not what it used to be? No. No. What happened to the guitar solos and the Sheryl Crow bass lines?
The Excitement vs. Reality of New Things
Of course, that brings us to Isaiah 43. No, it really does, because y'all were shouting, and I thought it was odd that you were shouting, because the announcement went like this. I don't know if you remember. It's been like five minutes, and I know some of us forget real quickly. Everybody shout new.
I was reading the verse, and I said, See, I am doing a new thing. I have no idea what happened in Matthews or Roanoke or Raleigh or any other location, but here at Ballantyne, when I was trying to read my Scripture, and I only got that far, and I said, See, I am doing a new thing, and they start cheering. But they do not cheer for highway construction, nor do they listen to the new Sheryl Crow album, nor do they like their kids' choice in music or clothing.
How many want God to do a new thing in your life? I'm setting you up. Be careful if you raise your hand. I'm just warning you. I think that's a real challenge. I really do. I think sometimes when God is trying to bless us… I can use Scriptural examples. The early church was so used to the law. When the writer of Hebrews began to break it down and he said that in times past, God has spoken through the prophets, and he gave us the law through Moses, and now he's speaking through his son.
One of the reasons the Hebrew people had such a difficult time and they needed to be brought forth or be led into something new is because our brains have a way… They've studied this now in science, not only with Sheryl Crow songs, but also with any habit that happens in your life. We know now that your brain actually creates highways. That's not a technical term. Over the next seven seconds I'm going to tell you everything that I know about brain science, but it won't take me long.
I do know that your brain forms connections. Once you've done something a certain number of times, your brain just locks it in. Anything that doesn't feel familiar like that starts to feel frustrating. That's why some of the things you do in your life that you don't even like the results of are so difficult to undo because you've established a way of doing things.
We even say that. We say, well, that's just the way he is. What are we saying? We're talking about his neural pathways. We don't call that as funny. We say, oh, that's just the way he is. Well, that's not just the way he is. It's the way his brain has been trained, or it's the way her brain has been trained. I don't want to be sexist about it. Women have issues and habitual addictions too. Does somebody say change your ways? Yes. No shouting over that.
Barriers to Perceiving God's New Work
Excuse me for a moment. I'm just trying to reconcile the fact that when I read my Scripture, see, I am doing a new thing. It felt exciting. But then when we actually begin to discuss what it means, because God says, Now it Springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
In other words, God is saying to a people who have been exiled into Babylonian captivity… He's saying, I'm trying to bless you. I've been trying to bless you. All your life I've been trying to bless you. All your life I've been trying to. But Isaiah speaks up because the people of Israel have been, by their behaviors, blocking the blessing of God.
So I call this message Barriers to Blessings, because just like there are blessings, I mean real blessings, not just cars and houses, those are fine, not just pools and boyfriends, although if you get one of those or both of those, I'll celebrate with you, but far beyond that, God wants to bless you at the very state of your being. That's what he said to Abraham. You will be a blessing. Not just you will be blessed, but everybody you touch, talk to, even look at will be blessed just because they got in proximity to you. That's the promise.
That's why God brought his people forth, so that they would be blessed. And the reason that he wanted them to be blessed is so they could be a blessing. And that's what we're talking about in this series is that sometimes we experience... Here's the term in business terminology. Any business owners in the house? I need to know who to pray for, because it is not easy to lead an organization, is it?
If you started your business, raise your hand. Now, see, that takes a lot of courage, because every business has barriers to entry. That's the technical term. It's startup costs, government regulations, knowledge that you may not have that existing competitors already have. Even to think about starting a business should make you a little nauseous, because there are barriers to entry.
One thing that has changed in our modern age is that, in regards to creativity and content, there are so many different ways to distribute content that it's no longer like it was. It's not like the old days. In the old days, you had to have a record label to put out an album. You had to have a lot of money to book studio time. Well, now, if you have the right software and a SoundCloud, you could just put your stuff out. If it's any good, maybe it'll get somebody's attention.
I mean, if you really consistently... I'm not saying it's easier, because now there are, more than ever, many different people and many different entities vying for attention. But what's happened is the barrier to entry has really been broken down, and now the barrier to entry is no longer, do you have enough money to make an album, or do you have somebody who will help you make an album? It's, are you any good, and are you consistent enough that you will put out enough stuff until you connect with your audience?
I kind of feel like that's what we're trying to understand here in Isaiah 43 and Hebrews chapter 6, although these Scriptures are separated by about seven centuries of time. I think God is trying to get us to see that the barriers that were before us to keep us from experiencing his blessing are no longer there.
So I'm talking about shame that was dealt with at the cross. I'm talking about your weakness that can actually become strength. I'm talking about the mistakes of your past that you relive in your mind over and over again. I'm saying God has dealt with that, defeated death, defeated the grave, taken your shame. How many want to thank God that the barrier has already been broken?
Just receive it right now, because since you couldn't get to God, God came down to you, wrapped himself up, looking like a little infant, but really he was infinite, coming through the eons, coming through the ages, coming through eternity. Can I preach like the barrier is broken?
As a matter of fact, when I even look out over our church, I see lots of barriers broken. I see people who shouldn't even be in church together praising God right beside each other, like we have the same baptism, the same faith, the same birth, the same hope. It gets me excited.
The Gospel Breaks Every Barrier
Now, if the essence of the gospel is that God breaks barriers and that he broke every barrier, even the righteous requirements of the law, which were fully met in him so that you might be fully found in him, so that nothing could separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus your Lord, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, when Paul wanted to say it, he said it like that, etc. None of it can keep me from the love and the blessing of God except my unbelief.
Because all of that can be true, but if you don't believe it's true, it won't be true for you. Even if you shout about it, but when you go home, you really don't think that God is doing a new thing. You will stay stuck in what was.
I don't envy Isaiah. Damn, he was a much better preacher than I will ever be, to say the least. Even the fact that I would say that feels arrogant to say that. You know that. Isaiah… Let me tell you how good he was at his job. Okay, he's called the eagle-eyed prophet because he was prophesying stuff that he wouldn't even live to see. So he was preaching the sermons that the people would need for something that they weren't even going through yet, that he would never even go through.
And so God would download what they would need, and God knew that his people would worship these other gods, even though that the God of heaven had promised to a man called Abraham, who was the father of their faith, that I will bless you, and you will be a blessing. And there will never be a time that you will not be blessed, and not only will you be blessed, but all peoples of the earth will be blessed through you, all of them.
Now, I'm not just doing this for one nation, one people group. The heart of God has always been that all of us would be blessed, that every barrier would be broken down, not just in one zip code, not just one ethnicity, It's not just one denomination, but that all people would be blessed through those who are called by his name. That's the promise.
Here's the problem. You notice that they always hang out together. The problem is that the people of God blocked not only their own blessing, but the blessing that they were created to distribute to the earth through their unbelief in the true and living God.
So, Isaiah knows this, and he knows that there will be a time when they will live in captivity, in bondage, that blessed people can still live in bondage. Mentally, emotionally, blessed people can still live in bondage. And they weren't imprisoned in physical cells. They were taken away into a Babylonian land. Where a lot of their life really wasn't that bad. It wasn't that they lacked physically. It was just that they were in an unfamiliar, strange place, away from the place God had called them.
Usually, when we think of the opposite of blessing, we think that the situation would be really bad. It wasn't really the situation that got bad for these people that Isaiah is writing to. It was the state of their soul. So, the situation wasn't that terrible, but the state of their soul, very dry, very destitute, and very desperate.
And into that situation, Isaiah speaks forth a promise from God. And he says to the people who are not yet in captivity, but they will be, so he's giving them what they need for what they're going to go through that they don't know about yet. That's why you need to take notes in church, even if you don't think it's for you right now.
Reminding of God's Past Faithfulness
Now, I'm not a parent, but you never know when you might get one of those little puppies. You might need the manual. What did he say four years ago? Well, he has a difficult task because he's speaking to a future that they don't experience yet, and so maybe they're not listening. So, watch what he does. I want to back up a few verses. Go to verse 15.
He reminds them who he is. I am the Lord, your Holy One, because Isaiah is only a mouthpiece. He is not the message. He is the mouthpiece of the message. I am the Lord, your Holy One. That's a cool thing, that unholy people could claim a personal relationship with a holy God because the barrier has been broken.
If Isaiah could talk like that and Jesus hasn't even lived yet, how can we talk about our relationship with God living on this side of the cross? I'm broken, but I belong to one whose name is exalted, whose name is holy, and in the center of unbroken praise. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. You belong to me. I am Israel's creator, your king.
This is what the Lord says. He who made a way through the sea. That's what we were just singing. We didn't really write that song. It was written a long time. We plagiarized it, but there's no copyright on it, so we're just up here singing it like it's ours. He made a way.
You've got to understand, this was Israel's jam. No, I'm serious. This was their song. So this was the one. You know how you have your song, whether it's Sheryl Crow or Metallica? I see you out there. I see you. I love it, too. I love it, too. I saw Damage Incorporated. I even know what Metallica shirt it is. And you got your arms. Yeah, I saw all of it. Whatever your jam is.
And I know it's not just white people in the church, and at this point I've only mentioned a few bands in certain genres. So it's a lot of different songs. But when Israel heard that, their collective consciousness as a nation would remember the core story that is referenced. Because it's not just some generic thing. You know, the Bible is not like a fortune cookie where you just kind of open it, look at the numbers, look at the thing, pass it around.
It was written to a specific people. So Isaiah is going back to the past to remind the people of the faithfulness of God. And he goes all the way back to when they were slaves in Egypt and they were in bondage. And they didn't see a way out. And God sent them a deliverer. And his name was Moses. And Moses stood before Pharaoh and said, let my people go. And he had to say it a bunch of times because sometimes Pharaoh is stubborn and freedom doesn't always come easy. And sometimes it takes persistence.
And sometimes God has to let your situation look humanly impossible so that he can reveal himself as the God of all possibility. Sometimes Lazarus has to stay in the grave a little while longer. So when he gets up, you won't just think it was the prayers of the church. You'll know it was the power of God that raised him like...
So he says, this is what the Lord says. He who made a way... Raise your hand if God ever made a way for you. Just even a little way. Just even if he ever healed a headache or just if he ever helped you get a job. Or even if somebody slipped you a 20 when you didn't have a job and you got the gas. Or maybe it was one time when you were so depressed, crying your eyes out, and you woke up one morning and you realized, you know, I feel a little better today. And maybe I can get out of the bed today. And maybe I'll wash a few dishes today. And before you knew it, you were back to normal. God made a way.
Has he ever made a way for you? Has he ever made a way? If he made a way for you, just wave your hand if he made a way. Just wave it. I don't know what you're talking about. When they started, when Isaiah said that, the people, that was, remember, that was their soundtrack to remind them that they were no longer slaves.
He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots, and horses and army and reinforcements together. They live there never to rise again. Extinction, shall we? So they're like, yeah! Yes, Jesus! Won't he do it? Won't he do it? Won't he do it? Won't he make a way?
Forget the Former Things – Even Miracles
So then I'm surprised when he says verse 18, because he messes up the flow. He has the people remembering how strong and mighty God was at the Red Sea, and how he made a way where there was no way. And then he says, forget the former things. This is the next verse. I promise you I'm not moving these all around. Forget the former things.
I understand that, because if you live in a state of regret over…. I mean, if you relive over and over again every dumb thing you said or everything, every decision that you made, every purchase that you made, it is paralyzing to live in the past. And you really do have to understand that one thing the cross of Jesus does is it gives me the freedom to move past my mistakes.
I am so grateful for that. And here's what I mean. I feel chains breaking while I preach today, because I always preach that a certain way, and then one day I realized that most people are not living enslaved to the mistakes that they made like 23 years ago. It's that I keep making mistakes. So really, when I say moving on past your mistakes, that might not be very difficult if it was three years ago. But what if it was three minutes ago?
And here you are in church, and God is trying to bless you. Do you remember I said he's trying to bless you? He was blessing Abraham to be a blessing. He wanted to bless his people so they could bless the earth. He's always blessing. It's not just an activity. It is an attribute of his character. He is the God who blesses. It's what he does. It's who he is. It's what he does that flows from who he is, and he's always trying to bless you.
But sometimes I've got to be honest about it. My unbelief, not only my unbelief, but my stubborn refusal to really accept the fact that whatever I did, he's already done something about it. It keeps me from entering until the present moment. So now I'm stuck, and he gives me permission to move on past my mistakes, and he says, See, I'm doing a new thing.
Forget the past, which makes sense when we're talking about the mistakes of my past. But remember, Isaiah did not just list the mistakes of their past. He just mentioned a miracle from their past. And right after he mentions the miracle, he tells them to forget it.
Oh, I've got you curious now. Because that first thing I said, that's just normal preaching. Forget it and move on. That's bumper sticker stuff. Fido, you know, forget it, drive on. I mean, that's not even really preaching. So you're clapping for it. Yeah, that's right. Moving on. If only the credit card companies would get the same spirit of forgiveness that God has, right? They didn't get the memo, though.
He made a way where there was no way through the Red Sea. He brought us out of Egypt. And that God, the same God who did that, wants you to do this. Forget it. Do not dwell on the past. Put my verse back. I don't want to think I'm making this up. It sounds strange. I know. Forget what I did.
I always assumed that the greatest barrier that keeps me from being blessed by God is what the devil did to me. Sometimes the greatest barrier to the blessing of God in your future is not what the devil did to you. It's what God did for you in one season that you expect him to repeat in the next season.
So, I've heard a hundred sermons. I probably preached a hundred sermons on move on from the mistake. But what about when God wants you to move on from the miracle? And this is the weirdest thing. I don't know how to explain it to you, but we have all these core stories at our church.
In business terminology, your core story is the crux of your central value proposition, where you describe what you do as a company that differentiates you from all the other ones. Well, as a church, we have a core story. What makes us unique? The faith of the early days. You know, maybe some of the stuff y'all are talking about at Backstage Pass weekend on the history tour. You know, those stories are good.
Can I be honest with you? The reason I'm not going to give you the tour is because I don't remember a lot of the stuff. I used to think it was because I wasn't grateful, because I felt like, you know, if I was really grateful for what God did… I mean, there are things that Holly will remind me of a lot of the times, and she'll be like, Remember when God did this? And she'll mention something that had me all up in knots when it happened, but I don't even remember about it anymore.
And I used to think that there was something wrong with me, or maybe I'm starting to lose my memory or something, because I already told you we're getting old, and maybe it's starting to deteriorate. My brain isn't functioning the same way. Or maybe God doesn't want me to rely on a memory of a miracle that he has already performed and miss the miracle that is in progress.
I'm trying to preach a progressive message today, and here's the message. Remember the ways he made, but forget the way he made it. Remember how he kept you, how he blessed you, how he sustained you, how he opened doors, how he made opportunities, how he made a way out of no way. But then you have to forget exactly how he did it.
Remember how much fun your marriage was before you had children, but then forget the freedom you had before you brought these human beings into existence. No, I'm serious, because sometimes we get stuck in a season and we miss God's supply.
He said, I want you to remember what I did and then forget how I did it, because I'm not going to do it the same way every time. And here's why I'm not going to do it the same way every time. I'm not going to do it like I used to do it, because you have to imagine the people in captivity. They're hearing this message, and they're remembering Moses.
Now, by this time, Moses isn't somebody they know. He's like, no offense, Moses, if you're listening to me preach. I don't imagine he's tuning into my sermons of all the sermons he has available, however that works with heaven and livestreaming and stuff like that. Just for the record, no offense, Moses, but I have to believe they were waiting for Moses to get them out of this captivity.
Moses was kind of like a mascot, so they're in Babylonian captivity, and they're going, Okay, who is God going to send to get us out of this? So then Isaiah says, Thus saith the Lord, your king, your creator. Thus saith the Lord, the one who spoke to Abraham, and called him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and made many out of one, and made you a nation, and brought you out of slavery, and brought you through the one who made a way.
This is what he says. Don't look for it to look like what it used to look like or feel like what it used to feel like. Please do not misapply my message today to leave your husband and try to tell him that preacher Stephen said that Moses is dead or any of this weird stuff that Christian people do to try to make a message mean whatever they want it to mean.
What I'm saying to you is, when Jesus walked the earth, he did miracles, he opened blinded eyes, but he didn't do it the same way every time he did it. Here's why. This is what I believe. You can believe whatever you want to believe. I believe God doesn't want us to be more committed to a system than we are to a source.
So this is what the Lord says. I'm going to make a way, because that's what I do. How many believe he's a way maker? Yeah, he's a way maker. I'm going to make a way, but not the way I made it before.
This is so strong and so powerful that if you really receive this in your spirit today, you will realize that the barrier to the blessing of God in your life is not who is no longer in your life or what age you are or the money that somebody was owed you and didn't give you, because we always externalize it. It's always somebody else.
God says, I'm doing a new thing. He asks a question. Do you not see it or perceive it? What would keep me from perceiving what God is doing? Maybe it's expecting it to look just like what he's done.
So here I am looking for God to part the Red Sea again, because that's what he did last time. Sometimes the greatest barrier to what God is doing is what he used to do.
So when you first became a Christian, you just opened your Bible and you're like, oh, you just opened it anywhere and God spoke to you and it had the verse of your street address from when you were eight and you just opened it and you felt like a care bear and love shot out of your chest all across the... And now, man, your Bible flips open to all the depressing Psalms and Judas and God, speak to me like you used to speak to me.
And God said, I'm still speaking, but not on the same frequency. I need you to go deeper. I need you to dig for something now. Forget not his faithfulness, but forget the form that it came in.
They couldn't get this. So in Hebrews chapter 6, verse 1, the writer says, you keep looking for God to look like the law because that's what you were addicted to. See, we get addicted to one form of deliverance and then grace comes along and we don't even know what to do with it, because it's not what God used to do. You have to move on.
Some of you grew up in really religious environments where God wasn't happy unless you were depressed. It didn't even count as church unless you had to endure it. You need to move on past that. God is doing a new thing. I mean, lift your hands, lift your heart, be free in his presence. He's doing a new thing. Do you not see it?
It will spring forth out of the ground. Do you not perceive it? And what got me about it, JJ, is that when he did it at the Red Sea, he made a way through the waters. Is that what he did? I'm not setting you up this time. That's how the Bible story goes, right? Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. He made a way, dun, dun, dun, dun, through the waters.
The water that separated them from their freedom stood at attention like walls on either side until they got through and drowned the Egyptians. They loved that story because that story reminded them of their deliverance. He made a way through the waters.
Isaiah says this time God is going to make a way, but he's not going to make a way through the waters. He's not going to make a way through the waters. He's not going to make a way through the waters. Let me ask you a question. What did they need in the wilderness? What was it? They needed water.
So what used to be the barrier is about to be the blessing. Y'all better help me preach. I feel the faithfulness of God. You see what I'm saying? What was the barrier is now the blessing. What did threaten to kill you is now what God is bringing forth to bless your life. Shout out about it.
So God said, I am your creator. I am your king, and this is what I do. I turn barriers to blessings. I turn water in dry ground into sustenance for your survival. I turn pain into power. I turn shame into grace. I turn abuse into strength. I make a way. I'm a way maker. I'm worthy of worship. I'm worthy of praise. I'm doing a new thing in your life. Whatever is next is better.
That's what my faith believes when I find myself in a wilderness. See, a wilderness is not a situation where you feel like you're about to die. A wilderness is a situation like these exiles in Babylon wondering, how long, O Lord, how long am I going to feel like I'm in a place emotionally that I don't understand?
It wasn't the physical surrounding of Babylon that made them weep as they sat by the rivers. It wasn't the lack of prosperity. It was a loss of purpose. How long am I going to wander in this place? But this time I'm not sending Moses to get you out. This time I'm going to send the water to where you are, and I am going to bless you in that place because I'm a way maker.
I believe. I'll see you do it again. But how you do it is up to you. I don't know if this will help you, but sometimes I get in situations and I just don't see a way. I don't know if you're there right now. I don't know if you're going into that, if you just came out of it.
One thing I know is you will find yourself. It feels terrible because you feel trapped. You feel uncertain. You feel landlocked. Here comes water springing forth from the ground where you are.
Knowing Who, Not How
I learned something. I hope this helps you. I really want this to help you. When I get into that internal wilderness where I can't feel God like I used to feel God, and it used to be dun-dun-dun-dun, and now it's just…. When I get into that place, and I don't know how and I don't know who and I don't know when, when I get into that place.
When I get into that place, I realize that it's not my job to predict the way that God is going to make. I don't have to know how if I know who. You got me? I am Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end.
A lot of us get stuck in a beta blessing. We cannot receive the upgrade because we are so stuck in the way God used to move, but he says today, I am doing a new thing. I know it doesn't feel like it used to feel, but I'm still faithful. I know it doesn't look like it used to look, but I'm still faithful. I know some things have changed in our country, but I'm still faithful because I am the Lord. I was the Lord. I am. I was. I will be.
I make a way. It's what I do. It's who I am. I'm making a way for you right now. Do you not see it? And so often the answer is, no, I don't see it because I'm looking backwards.
I found out for a lot of people, the greatest barrier to their blessing is not what's before them. It's what's behind them that God has already dealt with. So whoever God sent me to preach to today, you might be like 72 years old and feel like, you know what? My best is behind me. The devil is a liar. I said, if he's talking, he's lying. Your best is not behind you.
God has already been to your future, and he said, hurry up and get back. I want to bless you where you are. I want to bless you with the strength you have left. Empty nesters, just because your kids are gone does not mean your calling is over. I'm doing a new thing. I'm doing a new thing in your life. I'm doing a new thing in this church.
You saw how I moved that water when you needed to go through it. Now I'm going to make the water come up where you need it the most. I would love to pray for you because I know this is the kind of message that it's kind of easy to get excited about, but a little harder to live out.
It's one thing to sing it in a worship center like this. Talented musicians, beautiful lights, to declare your faith in a place like this. But God said, I'm going to make the water come up in the desert. I'm going to make a way in the wilderness. I'm going to be faithful to you in the places where nobody else can provide for you. I am your source.
Stand to your feet at every location. Put down your notes. This is not the part you need to write down. This is the part you need to receive by faith. That's the lie the Devil always tells me. Your best is behind you. I've believed that since I was in college. I graduated college, married Holly. I thought, well, you know, from here...
I honestly thought this. I told one of my friends this. I said, this is probably the most ministry I will ever do, because in college I had traveled to churches and done revivals and backyard Bible clubs and things like that. I said, that's probably the most ministry I'll ever do. My friend was talking to me on the phone. He said, you're crazy. God's only going to use you more. You stay focused. Stay imaginative. Stay creative. He's only going to use you more.
The only barrier is your willingness to believe by faith that what I just said is true. What I'm telling you is true. If it was true for the Babylonian captives, if it was true for the children of Israel who needed the waters to part, why could it not be true for you? Why not you?
I want you to remember the ways he's made, the demonstrations of his faithfulness that have brought you to this point. It's too many to count, right? Some of y'all have some stories, man, some core stories of the moments where you knew God was real and he was with you, that he would never leave you nor forsake you. You know those stories? Remember?
Now I need you to forget them. Because your core story is not that you were a slave and now you're not a slave, or you went to jail, or you got a divorce, or you had an abortion. God says, I am due. Now I don't want your core story to be about the blessings I'm giving to you. I want your story to be about the blessing I want to release through you.
You have camped at this Red Sea long enough. I got more miracles. I know it's not going to feel like it used to feel, and it's not going to give you chills like it used to, and it might not be your favorite song from 1994, and Sheryl Crow might have a new bass line. I'm doing a new thing.
I believe I'll see you do it again. Now I won't see you do it how you did it. The how is going to change, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I don't have to know how. Come on, tell your neighbor I don't know how, but I know who. I have a mighty God. I have a way maker. I got a strong deliverer. I know who. I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able. I said He's able. He's able. He's able. He's able.
I see you move. Come on, people. You move the mountain. This is our chain. I believe. This is our stuff. I see you do it again. This is our hope. This is our God. we're in there. We're in there. He ran. Lord I believe. Forever. I see you do it again. I see you move. Power and glory. You move the mountain. He made away. and I believe.