Overcoming Troubles | James Buntrock

This message centers on overcoming trouble through faith, reminding believers that while challenges are inevitable, they are never permanent. Drawing from scripture and powerful real-life testimony, it teaches that the enemy’s greatest weapon is deception, convincing us that our current situation defines our future, but God’s Word declares otherwise. Through active faith, speaking God’s promises, and putting on spiritual “armor,” believers are equipped to endure, resist, and ultimately overcome any circumstance. With the assurance that God always provides a way of escape and leads His people into victory, listeners are encouraged to stay rooted in His Word, reject fear, and press forward with confidence, knowing every trial can be turned for good.

Transcript

pening Prayer And The Word

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Pick up your Bibles and we're gonna make a confession and but let's just hold up our word as is our custom around here and we're gonna get our heart ready to receive so say these words with me say Heavenly Father thank you for your holy written word Holy Spirit breathe life on this word make it come alive to me today fill my heart with your word revelation knowledge and this revelation knowledge will put me over the top it makes me victorious in every situation in every condition and in every circumstance I have the victory and I thank you for it in Jesus' name we pray amen y'all be seated thank you worship team what a presence of God you know they they usher us into the presence of God they lead us into the place you know some of us can get there on our own and some of us just had a tough morning and a late night and and it wasn't so easy but they make it easy to come together and uh and I'm so grateful for that I'm so grateful for the presence of the Holy Ghost He is here today and so uh I've got it it it's an honor to get to stand up here and do this um this is God's precious word it's precious it's sacred you think about how we have this word we have this word because a long long time ago it was spoken and it wasn't written down for a while things weren't written down at first they were just spoken over and over and over because they meditated on his word they considered it precious and they they spoke it from person to person and generation to generation and then at one point people started writing stuff down and preserving it. And the things the materials that they wrote this word down on weren't very permanent materials and yet they were preserved for thousands of years it was preserved. I mean we have a nation because this word came from Europe over here and it's precious and it's sacred and uh you know we have it in all forms we have it in a written form like this you can have it on your iPad or your iPhone and and I just think sometimes it's just so easy to have and put your eyes on that we take it for granted a little bit and you know we can just get around to it and it's it's a little bit flippant the way but this is God's word his spoken word and it was spoken so that it could be written and it was written and preserved for us so that we can speak it today and put it to work in our life. And I'm so grateful for his word. I've got a message for you this morning it's titled Overcoming Trouble and uh we've got a couple of scriptures we're gonna get through this morning uh the first one um they don't have prepped and ready but I'm gonna look in Revelation chapter 12 verse seven and uh you know this is the end of the book this is the last chapter of the book this kind of helps us get a perspective on where we're at today and so in Revelation chapter 12 verse 7 it says this and war broke out in heaven Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought but they did not prevail nor was their place found for them in heaven any longer. The devil and his team are just a bunch of losers. Losers. So the dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world he was cast to earth and the angels were cast out with him. Verse 10 then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come for the accuser of the brethren who has accused them before God day and night has been cast down. So the accuser of the brethren he used to have access to God in heaven and to be able to accuse the brethren to God but something changed because the power of his Christ has come and Satan has been cast out of heaven and he no longer has access to God to tell God all the mean, ugly, nasty and terrible things of man anymore and to accuse the brethren anymore. He has been cast down what God speaks, what God hears and pays attention to is the precious blood of Christ that speaks to our righteousness. That is the testimony that he hears on a regular basis. The downside to this is that the accuser of the brethren is now down here. So we'll read on and in verse 11 it says and they overcame so that's that's us, that's the brethren and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death therefore rejoice O heavens and you who dwell in them so heaven gets a celebration because the devil is out of there but then it says Woe to the inhabitants of earth and sea for the devil has come down to you, having great wrath because he knows his time is short. And if I skip forward to verse 17 it says and the dragon was enraged with the woman that is the woman who gave birth to Jesus and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keepeth the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So not only is he not in heaven and heaven is celebrating that fact it says Woe to the inhabitants of earth because the accuser of the brethren came down here instead and we've got to deal with this great dragon the serpent of old Satan called the devil and and the great deceiver and he is after the brethren those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. He is so enraged he is so off the charts angry upset and at his wit's end because he knows his time is short and he's a loser and he is losing the battle he knows these things. If Pastor were right here he would say he's just like the Democrats that's a shout out to Pastor he's just like the Democrats they're off the charts they're raging they're angry they're freaking out because they know their time is short. This is not a political message this is a biblical message in John chapter 16 verse 33 Jesus is talking and he said in me you have you may have peace in me you may have peace. That's a good place to be is in Christ because you are entitled or allotted or allowed you have the privilege of tapping into the peace that comes with being in Christ in the world you will have trouble you will have trouble you will have pressure anguish you'll have burden you'll have persecution that's not a happy message and Jesus has given this warning in the world you will have these things but be of good cheer he said get happy about it why? Because I have overcome the world he has done it he has overcome and the connotation being that if Jesus who came down not as a deity but as a man and lived in the flesh just as we are flesh and he had the same afflictions of trouble and persecution and anguish and burden and all the ugly things of the world he endured that he overcame that and if he did that and we're in him then we can do the very same thing. We can overcome and so I want to look at uh just point out a couple of facts about trouble. In my opinion I see that there are two kinds of trouble in this world there's the self-affli inflicted kind and then you know and and and not every trouble is something that the devil caused I believe that the devil gets more credit for troubles than he is due. Certainly he can inflict troubles but people are really good at inflicting troubles on themselves and getting caught in a mess. And people do dumb things all the time people run from trouble. They hide from trouble they hide from the devil the devil didn't make your tire go flat the tire went flat because you were looking at your phone and text and not paying attention to the curve in the road and you hit the curb and blew out two tires. And then you're angry at the devil for your tires being blown out. That's a misplaced anger you should be like oh dumb stupid me not paying attention I need to put the phone down and pay attention to what I'm doing. Drive the car like I'm supposed to so you know let's not get over spiritual and apply every trouble give credit to the devil for all kinds of trouble because we can do our own set of trouble. We can bring stuff on ourselves. And then there's the other kind of trouble which is everything else. It's all the trouble that comes with the territory. Just because you are human living on this planet in a fallen world where heaven has kicked the devil out and the devil is down here and there's just trouble. It's always been it is right now and it'll be until the return of Jesus trouble exists okay so two simple perspectives on trouble. But in any case whether you inflicted the trouble on yourself or whether it just came with the territory and you stepped on it and it was just part of the natural place that we live Psalm 461 says that God is our refuge and our strength and he is our very present help in trouble. Our very present help in trouble so if we know that trouble exists and that at some point we will encounter trouble it would behoove us greatly to be prepared for it to prepare. If you knew that there was an impending something coming you would prepare for it the leadership in Iraq didn't do a good job of preparing for the trouble that was headed their way they were complacent they were lazy they were ignorant they were stupid they all met in one place at one time I'm sorry I ran. They met in one place at one time what an opportunity and so in came trouble and they were here and they weren't but we can do things on our side to prepare for trouble. In John chapter five verse two we'll start there we'll read a few verses here John chapter two I'm sorry that's first John chapter two not John chapter two it's first John this will read better but whoever keeps his word truly the love of God is perfected in him by this we know that we are in him I'm sorry chapter let me let me back up John chapter 5 that's listed kicking in 1 John 5 2 we'll get this right here in a minute 1 John I see here all the pages ruffling you have been all over the Bible my apologies it didn't do you any hard any any harm 1 John chapter 5 verse 2 by this we know that we love the child that we that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that overcomes the world our faith this is the victory that overcomes the world our faith and if we look at uh verse 19 of that same chapter we know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one so our faith is the key that overcomes this world but at the same time we know that there is a wicked one and the whole world lies under the sway or the deception of the wicked one faith is the key to overcoming how does faith come you've heard this over and over and over again faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God if you want to grow your faith spend time in the word of God building your faith in the word of God. Now that word it's it it it talked about overcoming for whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith he who overcomes the world so overcome that is a Greek word and here's what that Greek word means to subdue, to conquer, to overcome, to prevail over or against to get the victory. So this is an active word. This is not a passive thing this is not something that you sit and let happen to you I've got faith and I'm gonna sit here and let something happen. This is an active thing it requires action on your part faith always requires action on your part faith by itself is dead being alone. It is impossible to please God without faith we ought to if if we really got it on the inside that without faith it's impossible to please God. So I must have faith to be pleasing to God. Jesus was always measuring faith then faith ought to be something that I'm actively building and strengthening in my life and putting to work in my life not just building a head knowledge of God's word but meditating on his word understanding God's word gaining a revelation knowledge of God's word and then applying God's word in our life with action corresponding action and so this is an active word to overcome to subdue to conquer it it's a it's a military term it it's one that has connotations that you recognize we're at war here and faith is a key in this war and there are actions of war that I must take if I want to have that victory or to overcome. And so again we're talking at this point about preparing. We know there's trouble what are we going to do to prepare I encourage you every day to get up and clock in for duty let God know I'm awake I'm alert I'm clocking in for duty I'm here for kingdom business and do you march out of there without putting a stitch of clothes on and go to go to work and do anything do you go to work barefoot you put something on. You go prepared for the thing that you have to do if it's cold outside you put on extra layers if it's hot outside you you're not wearing you're not wearing the wrong stuff and so it matters what you put on it matters what you go to go to war with it matters what you carry. We got some people in here who served in military brother Pete does it matter what you carry into battle does it matter do you go without your M16 or your sidearm or something you carry your weapons of your warfare with you. And so we can go over to Ephesians chapter 6 and I'd like to read this in the amplified if y'all could put this up in the amplified Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10 and while they're finding that on the computer I'm gonna go with it. Ephesians 6 10 in the amplified it says in conclusion be strong in the Lord be empowered through your union with him draw your strength from him that strength which has boundless which his boundless might provides put on the whole armor of God that armor of a heavy armed soldier which God supplies that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the strategies and deceits of the devil he is the dece the great deceiver so we got to stand up against these things and we'll have the equipment to stand up against all of his strategies and all the deceits of the devil for we wrestle not with flesh and blood contending only with physical opponents but against despotisms against the powers against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places supernatural sphere the heavenly realm therefore put on the complete God's complete armor that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day of danger and having done all the crisis demands whatever is necessary stand firmly in your place don't retreat don't give up ground don't give place to the devil don't back up stand therefore hold your ground having tightened your belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplace of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God and having shod your feet in preparation to face the enemy with the firm footed stability the promptness and the readiness produced by good news of the gospel of peace lift up overall covering shield of faith upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God the word of God that always accomplishes and it never returns void. That's our battle weapon that's our offensive weapon pray at all times on every occasion in every season in the spirit with all manner of prayer and entreaty to that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance interceding in behalf of all saints God's consecrated people all of these things are like an active offensive preparation ready to engage expecting I'm walking out into this world I'm gonna find trouble and and pour trouble when it finds me because I'm gonna take it out like that's the kind of imagery right here. You are a soldier in this life in the kingdom of God and you have all the equipment to meet trouble and defeat it every single time now in any war there's there's an effort to deceive that is one of the the strategies of warfare to deceive your enemy to fake them out I mean to put you know if they've got aerial attacks going and bombers coming and you got your aircraft on the tarmac you don't put your aircraft there. You hide your aircraft somewhere else or put them in the sky but you don't just leave them sitting out and so sometimes you know in days of old they would put uh dummy aircraft things that had a silhouette of an aircraft out there in some airfield that they didn't plan to use and so the bombers would go drop all their bombs on something that was really just a a decoy that's deception and so this is a you know we're in a war and the devil devil Satan who deceives the whole world he's the great deceiver and so that's really one of the greatest tools that he has is to deceive you. If he can deceive you if he can talk you out of your promises if he can deceive you about the situation what you're encountering out there then you will lose the fight. And yet in in Ephesians 6 10 it in those scriptures that we read there it says that we can stand against all the military strategies and the wiles of the devil the the deceptions of the devil we have tools to withstand against that and so when you get up in the morning expect trouble clock in for duty let God know I'm ready to go to work. And before I walk out that door before I put my feet on the on the floor I'm putting on the whole armor of God I'm making sure that I'm properly equipped I'm meditating on his word his words on the inside of me I'm filled up so that I've got something to come out that's your offensive weapon you don't you don't take your literal Bible these literal pages and go start it smacking it it this is not a this is not a good weapon by itself but you take God's word and you put it on the inside of you when it comes out of your mouth that is a highly effective weapon of your warfare. So come prepared don't show up ill prepared so people often look at trouble and speculate an outcome they look at the circumstances look at the trouble and they start speculating the future based on what they see right now. An example of that you can look at a medical report and believe that's how it's always going to be you can look at your bank account and think I'll never get ahead in life I'm broke. I'm always going to be broke I never seem to have enough you're looking at the current condition and speculating about your future and then you put words to that and that is the worst thing you can do is to put words to that speculation about your future that's based on a deception of your present condition. You took the deception and then you put words to it and then your words have action that go with that and then you begin acting like that deception is real and true. This is my lot in life I guess God hates me. I guess God's mad at me. So some time ago, I had pulled up to a gas pump, and uh there was an old beat-up truck on the other side of the gas pump, and I pulled up to the one open open space right there, and there's a homeless family and a homeless guy in this truck, and he's not pumping gas, he's panhandling, asking for money. And I had already determined I am not giving that guy any money. I don't give money. I have a strict policy, I don't give money because he's you know he's in a illusory condition at that moment, and he hasn't been a good steward of the things that he had, and he probably created the trouble that he's in, and he's in a world of hurt. But if I just give him more money, then he's gonna spend it on something that he shouldn't spend it on, and it won't help him anyway. And so I have this strict policy. I'm not gonna so I'm already kind of grumbling on the inside about not helping this guy, and and he approached me very quickly when I'm sitting there putting gas in my vehicle, and he starts begging for money, and I had to explain to him my policy, and he was not happy about it. He's standing around pacing around on the other side after I explained the policy, and immediately the Holy Ghost got on the inside of me and made me do something different that I did not want to do. I don't want to help him. I've already said this, I've already made my case. I already said, and yet somehow I had compassion on that family. I see the two-year-old girl on the floorboard, laying on the floorboard, just kind of playing with something on the floorboard, and they weren't going anywhere. And I could see that if he didn't get it from me, he's just gonna go around from person to person. Ultimately, he's gonna get it because somebody else is gonna have compassion, and I had compassion on him. And so I had to walk around the gas pump and apologize to him and tell him that the Holy Ghost made me change what I said. And he's looking at me kind of funny, and I said, So I'm gonna be true to my word, and I am not going to give you money, but what I will do is I will put gas in your tank because he expressed a need to get somewhere. In fact, he was trying, he said, and they're always getting somewhere, and they always have a terrible, sad story. Every one of them, you know the stories. But he was just trying to get to the Star of Hope mission, and he's out of gas, and they're just trying to get there for the night. It might have been true. I don't know. And so I I finish fueling my vehicle, and then I start putting gas in his vehicle, and now I have a captive audience. He is not going anywhere. As long as that gas pump is pumping, he is right there with me. And so then I got to talk to him and got to talk to him about God's goodness and about God's mercy. And what he came out with was he thinks God is mad at him because of the condition of his life. He is in trouble, he can't take care of his family, he's just a failure, and God put him there and God's mad at him, and he's just concerned that if he gets out of this place right here with fuel in his tank, he's probably gonna have a blowout halfway and his tire is gonna come off or whatever. So he just and he starts blaming God for all of his troubles. And I just stopped him right there. I said, You got this backwards. I want you to know something. God is good, the devil is bad. Say it with me. God good, devil bad. God did not send the trouble, he did not make you run out of gas, he did not make you run out of money, and he is not going to take your tire out on the way to the Star of Hope mission. And so we got to have a conversation. I don't know if he received anything of it or not, but he had to listen to me preach at him while I filled his tank. And I had to eat crow because I said something, and then the Holy Ghost maybe do something different. So be careful what you say. He won't do. Uh I'm still learning to follow that advice myself. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 18. This is the deception that we're getting into right here. The deception that your present condition, the trouble that you're in the middle of, the thing that you're facing, is your future. If the devil can get you to bite on that, believe that, speak that, and act on that, he won and you lost. And that will be your future. 2 Corinthians 4.18 says, While we do not look to the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The things which are seen are temporary. Your circumstances are temporary. The trouble that you're in the middle of or facing is temporary. In other words, it's subject to change unless you put words to it and say, it's my future and my destiny, it's my expectation, it's what I can expect. And then you'll end up having that. And it's not just because you said that, it's because you talked yourself into that, and then you started acting like what you said is true, and then it's a self-fulfilling prophecy and destiny, and you fulfilled it, and you did it all by yourself. And you all that the devil had to do was to get you to believe one simple thing that your condition or trouble is your future, and that's the deception. The truth is it's temporary and it's subject to change, and the things which are not seen are eternal. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, it's the evidence, the evidence, it's the proof of things not seen. It's not a natural thing to wrap your brain around, but faith is the evidence. If there is evidence that something happened, that something will happen, if it's evidence in a court of law that proves something, faith is the evidence in a court of law that proves something that's not seen. I haven't seen it, but it's proof. Do you have a brain? Do you have a brain? Have you seen your brain? How do you know you have a brain? It takes a measure of faith to believe that you have a brain, right? I mean, unless you want to open it up, pop the lid, and take a peek. You just gotta believe you have a brain and just trust me on this one. It's there. You don't always use it, but it's there. God's word is eternal. God's word will outlast any trouble that this world can produce. Let God's word in your life be the final authority on what your eyes see. What your eye sees is temporary and it's subject to change. Just know that. There is a condition. I'm not denying that the condition exists, that the situation is real. I don't deny that. People get all squirrely and mixed up when they're trying to apply faith and they get all tongue-tangled trying to not say the wrong thing. Look, trouble exists. Jesus said it was going to be there. It's real, it hurts. It's lousy to be in the middle of it. We're going to encounter trouble. I can't deny the existence of trouble. I will deny that trouble is going to remain in my life. I will deny that trouble is my future. I will deny that trouble is permanent. And so now when you begin to do that, you're defeating the deception of the devil. Isaiah 48 says that grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever. The diagnosis can change. Sick bodies can be healed, debts can be paid off, houses can be rebuilt, marriages can be restored, children that are lost can be saved. It's subject to change. In James chapter 1, verse 2. I love this chapter. I wouldn't have written it any differently myself. Verse 2, he says, My brethren, count it all joy. Get happy when you fall into various trials. Trouble is here, and I'm supposed to get happy about it. How do you get happy about it? Well, the next part, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. I don't need any more patience. I've got a lot of patience. I'm up to here with patience. That word patience means endurance. It's not the kind of patience where you passively just take all the trouble that you can handle, and I'm just, I'm not going to respond, I'm not going to react. I'm just going to quietly grip my teeth and clench my fists, and nobody's going to know, and that's just my patience. That's not what this is. So I want to read it to you this way. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith, I hope you have some faith to test. Remember, Jesus is measuring faith. We need to be about building faith and strengthening our faith. And so if we're doing that, then there's going to be a test that will test your faith. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So I'm not there yet, but I want to be perfect. I want to be complete, and I don't want to lack a single thing. And if that's your goal, then you're going to have to endure some things and get on the other side of some things. Have some wins. Here's the good news about trouble. You can come out of trouble a whole lot stronger than you went into trouble. And that's what this endurance is talking about. Hebrews 10.36, for you have need of endurance, it says. So that after you have done the will of God, after you have done God's word, after you have done your side, you may receive the promise. There's a promise available, but it requires a doing, an action, a corresponding action. In other words, if we did something, let's say it's the self-inflicted kind of trouble, and we did something dumb, and now we're in the middle of trouble. And we're not even blaming the devil on this. We just know, oh, I did a dumb thing, and here we are in trouble. There is a prayer that you can pray that is a great prayer. It's not a hard one. It goes like this Lord, save me. That's a great prayer in time of trouble. Remember when Peter got out of the boat, he had faith to walk on water. Lord, if it's you, bid me come, and he said it is. And so Peter gets out, he starts walking on water. He had a little bit of faith, he walked on water. And then he started looking at the surroundings, and he started to sink. And his response was, Lord, save me. And he put his hand out. And Jesus did what? No, you got to get yourself out of this one. You jumped out of that boat, and now you got to get yourself out. No, Jesus was quick, put his hand out, reached, grabbed him, pulled him up, and they walked back to the boat and climbed inside. If you're in trouble, it doesn't matter what kind, that's a good prayer to pray. Lord save me. He's a very present help in time of need. But we're talking about endurance here, and so the Greek word for endurance is hupomone, and it means constancy, perseverance, continuance, bearing up. That means to put your shoulder into it and push really hard, to really get up under something and lift something out of the way. It's steadfastness. It describes the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that resists weariness and defeat. In other words, there's it's got to have an encouraging element to it all the way. Otherwise, you get wearied and end up in defeat. And so you're actively resisting weariness. Weariness will come if you're if you got your shoulder into something, you're pressing really hard. Maybe you better find a few friends around you who can encourage you as well. Do something active to encourage you in your situation. Find some like-minded believers who will encourage you. It's good to have those kinds of friends, but you're resisting the weariness of the scenario. And so it's an active resistance. You're putting your shoulder into it. I got this thing. They're bred for me, they're ripe for me. I'm going to take them out. I'm going to the other side. I will not be defeated by this thing. I'm going over, I'm going under, I'm going around, I'm going through, I'm doing whatever it takes. It is an endurance that presses through something. And so when you read that scripture, my brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces that kind of endurance. You're pressing through, you're going around, you're getting under, you're going through, whatever it, I'm going to do a whatever it takes person. But let endurance have its perfect work so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. And I went into this trouble in one condition, but I came out on the other side a whole lot stronger than I was before. When Jesus died on the cross, took all of our sins, all of our sickness on himself. He went to hell. He defeated hell. He paid the price in full. He defeated everything that we could possibly go through. And then he came up out of there. And he didn't just barely come out. He wouldn't drag and, oh, I barely made it. That was a close one. He came up out of there. Having defeated all of hell. It said he led a train of vanquished foes. In other words, he had a train of them. He put them on parade. He defeated them, disarmed them, detoothed the devil, defanged the devil, and made a spectacle out of him where every every person in view of it could heckle, could make fun of, could laugh, could scorn, could clap, could celebrate. He led a train of vanquished foes out of there. He defeated it. There was no weariness in that. And so we are expected to have the same type of fortitude to press through all of these troubles. Now, my advice to you if you're going through hell, don't stop. Don't camp out there. Don't stay there. Keep going. Don't hang out. Don't slow down. Hit the gas pedal. Keep going. If you put yourself in a condition that brought the trouble on yourself, and you say, Lord, help me, and he puts his hand out and pulls you up and picks you up and brings you back in the boat and kind of encourages you but scolds you a little bit, you know. Oh, why did you doubt? You were doing so good. You had little faith. If you had a little bit more, you wouldn't have sunk. And so you got this condition that you brought on yourself. And you said, Lord help, and he helps you, and you're back on your feet again, and you're going. And then you didn't change your habit. And you went and did the same thing. So what would it look like if Peter got out of the boat, went to Jesus, starts sinking, Lord help me, Jesus helps him up, Jesus helps him back into the boat, and Peter gets out of the boat, looks at the way, starts sinking again. Jesus helps him back up, gets him back into the boat, puts him in the boat, pats him on the head, Peter gets right back out. And does the same dumb thing over and over and over again. Like we got to stop doing the dumb stuff that put us in the condition. And so we have to, that's a part of our active faith is to change what we do and make sure what we do is aligning with God's word. So don't do dumb things over and over and over. You're entitled one, maybe two things, but after that you're not going to get a lot of sympathy. You might get scolded for the repeat offense over and over and over. There is enough trouble in this world that it doesn't need us to introduce more. Now Romans 8.28 says this, for we know that all things, all things, all things, every condition, every trouble, it doesn't matter what it is, all means all. For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. To those who are called according to his purpose. Everybody say that's me. All things work together for my good. That's a good confession to make. All things. That will be true if you don't get into the cycle of repeat offenses over and over and over, doing the same thing that brought you into trouble. And if you go through that with an endurance that presses through and comes out on the other side and you get strengthened on the way, that's the condition that this is describing. You are not stuck in the circumstance. You are not stuck in the trouble. Remember, it's temporary. And so all of these things can work for your good. That is that is a scenario and a good scenario to aim for. That is something that's available. Paul, after talking about a lot of trouble that he went through, and while he was in chains in prison, this is what he said. He said, These things which have happened to me have actually turned out rather to the furtherance of the gospel. He got to be a witness to prisoners in the hospital. He was a witness to him. Now there's a lot of believers out there that would say, okay, you know, I'm in a bad place. I got sent to jail. Oh, God must have sent me here because he wants me to witness to somebody. What prisoner does he want me to witness to? I ended up in the hospital, in the emergency room, because something bad, terrible happened to me. But God must have done this to me because he wants me to witness to somebody. He wants me to pray for somebody. He wants to minister his healing to somebody. I'm sick as a dog and I can't drag myself halfway across this hospital. I got tubes, I got this thing on wheels that I'm dragging around. I can't hardly walk, but I'm going to be a witness to his healing power in the hospital. That's what he wants me to do. That's nonsense. God didn't put you in the hospital. He didn't send the sickness. He didn't send the trouble. He doesn't do that. But if you find yourself in a troublesome scenario, he is more than welcome to accommodate you. If you are willing to continue to put his kingdom first to be to be kingdom-minded, he is more than willing to accommodate you and spin that thing on the devil so that the thing that the devil meant for harm rather turns out for good. And ultimately, when you get on the other side, you're better off, you're stronger having gone through it. And it wasn't just you who went through the trouble, but you took six other people with them out of their trouble and brought them into the kingdom of light. God will spin it if you let him. He will spin that on the devil. He will turn it around on the devil. You know, when Jesus was uh uh led by the Spirit into the wilderness after he was baptized, the devil immediately came to attack him. And he didn't come with weapons and stones and throw things at him, but what he did do was he tempted Jesus. Yes, Jesus was tempted. It says that he was tempted in all manners, just like we are. He was made of the same stuff, the same flesh that has the same tendencies. And so Jesus was driven into the will into the desert to uh to be tempted by the devil. Remember, the devil is the deceiver. That's a military strategy, it's a war. And so he went into a place where he encountered the enemy coming at him and attacking him. And in every condition, every time that the enemy attacked Jesus, Jesus answered with the word. It is written. And he answered with the word. The devil came and he twisted God's word. He took a little piece of God's word, he misapplied it, he twisted it, he tried to tempt Jesus. Jesus didn't take the bait. He would not be deceived. How do you not be deceived about God's word? You study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. There's a right way to discern this and a wrong way, and there's a whole spectrum of that. You're in a good church. We have a wonderful pastor with a lot of experience in this word, who ministers this word on a regular basis. He was poured into by a lot of wonderful ministers who had a lot of experience, who understood this word and how to apply it in their lives. We have the benefit of lifetimes, stacked on lifetimes of people that have gone before. And he pours that word out. We have the benefit of that. So if you don't want to be deceived about God's word, you need to be in a good church that rightly divides the word of truth. So that you are skillful in using God's word, so that you know what God's word means, how it was written in context, and how you can apply it in your life. And so Jesus was full of the word, and he answered, and it was a sword, and he did it three times, and the devil left him. It is written My God shall supply all my needs according to his abundant riches and glory by Christ Jesus. It is written I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It is written by the stripes of Jesus. I was healed. It is written, Great shall be the peace of my kids, because they are taught of the Lord. It is written, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. Don't let trouble speak louder than this word. This word better be louder and more plentiful in your mouth when trouble comes. Don't let trouble have the volume advantage on you. Don't feed on news reports. Don't feed on bad news. You know, we want to stay informed, but if that's all you ingest all day is the negative side, the bad, the evil reports all day, all day long. I want to be aware, I want to understand, I want to know, I want to be knowledgeable, but that is not what I need to feed on. Don't feed on bad reports. Don't feed on the opinions of fearful people. And then wonder why your faith doesn't seem to produce much in your life. You've been listening to people who are fearful, who who speak those things. Find a different people to be around. Find some people to encourage you, not people to bring you down. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When you hear God's word repeatedly, then his word will dominate your way of thinking. His word will dominate your believing. His word will dominate your speaking. When you hear God's word repeatedly and not just one time, over and over and over, you get it on the inside. And then when the deceiver comes, you have an answer, it is written. How can you answer if it's not on the inside? Hold on, Mr. Devil. Let me find a good scripture on this. I know I heard pastors say something, I just don't remember what it was. Give me a minute. Fill your heart with the promises of God. 1 Peter 5 8 says to be sober and be vigilant, because your adversary, your enemy, the opponent on the battlefield walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Now, if you're out there and you encounter this roaring lion, you do not have to run faster than the lion. You just have to run faster than your friend that's with you. Push him down and run from the devil and let the devil devour your friend, and then you got away. Maybe not. Remember, his greatest weapon is to deceive. He is the deceiver. If you just get that in there, that whatever he's saying, whatever's being presented to you is a deception. If you know that, then you can look for the deception, then you can have the answer. When you believe the lie, if he can get you to believe the lie, then he can get you to cooperate with the lie and stop resisting. You know why he wants you to stop resisting? Because when you resist, he flees. So he wants to find a way to get you to stop resisting. He wants you to get you to believe the lie. The moment you start speaking God's word in faith is the moment you start enforcing the change that heaven has already promised. You're enforcing something that's already promised. God's word never returns void, it always is accomplishes the thing whereunto it is sent. God's word in my mouth accomplishes the same things that God's word in his mouth accomplishes. Speak it. So I'll give you an example here out of our life, and I've given it plenty. And my daughter Thea is here today with her friend Hope. In the front row, back from Oral Roberts University on spring break here. But uh, and Ben is here too. But Thea is my example. Um, because when she was a senior in high school at 18 years old, she was driving home from school and uh and she had a sudden feeling. What if I get into a car accident? Many of you heard me tell this story. What if I get into an accident? She had this uneasy feeling. That uneasy feeling was a warning from the Holy Ghost, alerting her to trouble ahead. The Holy Ghost will work to keep you out of trouble. He is not putting you in trouble. He's he's he's he's providing a way around it. He's trying to save you from it. And so she had this feeling, this perception, what if I get into an accident, easy, uneasy feeling? She prayed God, Lord, save me. I don't know that she said that, but she prayed God and asked God for help, for protection. That's a good prayer to pray when you have that uneasy feeling. And so she prayed that, but the feeling really didn't go away. You prayed, okay, I got my hand out, I'm asking for God for something, but remember there's an action we got to take. And so she still didn't feel quite right about it. So she did the thing that she knew to do. She's a praise and worshiper, she likes to sing praises. She put on her praise and worship music, she said, and sang along. I don't think that she really consciously thought about it, but she was getting into the presence of God when she did that. Into the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow of the Albine. He inhabits the praises of his people. She changed the atmosphere in that car. She changed the condition that she was in. And she got into a place of refuge in that moment. And the feeling maybe got a little better, but I don't think it really cleared up for her. And so she's driving down the road, and there's there's two lanes of traffic coming this way, and she's going this way. And she gets to the place where she has to turn left into our neighborhood. And so she gets over and turns and gets in the turn lane and waits because there's a long line of cars that stopped right here. And a nice lady in the line of cars held back while the cars advanced in front of her and left a gap for her to turn through and waved her through. And she felt pressure to come through. She felt pressure from somebody on the outside to come through. And it was a nice lady, meaning well-meaning, and she did, and at that moment she violated that warning of the Holy Ghost. And she turned through that gap in the traffic. And the second lane, she couldn't see the pickup truck coming that hit her broadside at 50 miles an hour and launched her car into a different place. It took the passenger side door and folded it in two and split it open so that it was a knife edge on the inside that pressed into the center console. There wasn't anybody else in that car. Thank God there was nobody else in that car. Because they likely would have been in half. And she was found unconscious at the scene. And we got Claire and I were about a mile down the road coming on our way home, and the traffic's starting to build up, and it's building up because there's an accident right outside of our neighborhood, and it's our daughter. And the fire chief called my cell phone and uh and let us know that Thea's been in an accident and they're loading her into a helicopter because she's got every sign and symptom of traumatic brain injury, and they're gonna fly her down to the same hospital that she was born in. What do you think is coming at us in that moment as a parent? The worst thoughts, the worst expectations, the worst outcomes are flooding our minds. But that's not what Claire and I let come out of our mouth. And so this is the endurance, the fortitude. I'm not bragging, I'm just reporting because this word works and I want it to work for you. And if you do these things, it'll work for you just like it worked for us. The feeling was horrendous. The words that came out is she will live and not die, and declare the works of the Lord. Claire got a call from the mother of Thea's friend, who had both of them, the mom and the daughter, Thea's friend, had just driven past the scene, recognized that that's Thea's car, and Thea just left in a helicopter, and they were a mess on the phone, in tears, having to come apart on the phone. And Claire's instruction to this lady, so now Claire has to encourage somebody else about her own daughter and how to pray. And so she tells this lady, do not fear, only believe. Only pray and speak God's word. So she gave her an outline for how to pray. That lady followed the instructions. And she prayed, Do not fear, only believe. She fired up some prayer chain out of her church, got half the Harris County praying for Thea. Do not fear, only believe, and only pray God's word. And Claire was rattling off scriptures to her. So those people prayed. And Claire and I had to turn and head the other direction. I'm driving 100 miles an hour down 290. Maybe 105, 110. I was nothing was going to keep me between us and our daughter. And we got to the hospital, watched that helicopter fly overhead, know that she's inside, and I can't get there fast enough, but we're just speaking God's word the entire way. How are we able to speak God's word? Because it was on the inside. The feeling never changed. We got to the hospital, and she's laying there in the bed. She's got a neck brace on, and she's got some blood, crusty blood, on her cheek and forehead and down her neck, and we walk in, and she said, I'm fine, mom. And the short story is that five hours in the hospital, and she got out with a tetanus shot, a band-aid, and a Tylenol. And she was completely uninjured. And every sign and symptom of traumatic brain injury was not there. And as a precaution, we're sitting on Thea at home the next day. She wanted to go back to school. We no, you can't go to school. I made her go to a chiropractor and let's check every spine and everything and let's get everything aligned and make sure everything's right. I wanted to be extra sure, and she was fine. Now, when you go through an accident, there's the whole mental trauma that goes with that. The sounds, the sights, the smell, the reliving of the impact, the reliving of the side of that truck coming and smashing, glass flying, all those things. She did not live a single moment of torment. You know why? Because she was in the secret place of the Most High. She changed the atmosphere in that car. And this is what she told us she remembered. She said, They woke me up and I was, I didn't know who was messing with me. So that was the paramedics that arrived. She had been unconscious for some period of time until they got there. They woke her up and she didn't know who they were and how she got there, she was so confused because this is what she remembered. She said, the lady waved me through the traffic, and I turned and I saw the pickup truck coming, and I just gave it a little more gas and drove through our gate and was in our neighborhood, and I was fine. That was her memory. God protected her mind. The peace of God rose up and mounted guard. It mounted guard over her heart and mind. And she's perfectly fine, perfectly well. Never had another thing after that. She was at the scene of the accident with signs and symptoms of traumatic brain injury. She gets in a helicopter and flies to the hospital, and by the time we get there, the temporary condition that was subject to change submitted to the word, the spoken word of God, and it altered the future. That's how this works. You send the word of God and it never returns void. So, Carol, I remember you disconnected. You don't know the mom, you don't know the family that drove by, but Carol's a teacher, and this prayer chain went all kinds of places. I don't know how far it went, but somebody was asking Carol about this girl who had been in an accident and they had been praying for this whole time. And Carol's like putting the connecting the dot. She's like, I know that girl. And she's part of our church. And that's Claire and James's daughter. And she's just fine. It was a wonderful testimony to the entire prayer chain of anybody that heard the testimony at the end of that. What the devil meant for harm actually turned out to the furtherance of the gospel and built faith and was a wonderful testimony to people who heard it. He spun it on the devil. The devil tried to kill our daughter. Instead, she has a wonderful testimony, and people's faith is built, and there's not a thing wrong with her. That's worth celebrating. Thank you, Lord. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 12. And I gotta wrap this up. I got a lot of good stuff, but I'm gonna wrap it up. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 12. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. I don't want anyone's head to get so big, you know. I know all this scripture, and I've been to church this long, and I've been a Christian all my life, and none of this stuff can touch me. I am not susceptible to any of it. Take heed lest you fall. Because you're still in this body, you still have the human mind, will, intellect, and emotions, and you still have an internal war going on between your spirit that you're trying to build up and the rest of you, which is trying to go the other way. So take heed. Don't think you're not susceptible. And in doing so, you're gonna be better prepared for when it comes. Verse 13 No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man. I don't want you to have a pity party and think that you're some special case, some special scenario. I know a lot of people have some stuff and those are normal things, but Pastor, my thing is really bad. I need this one special person to pray for me because nobody else can handle this. It's just, I need one, Pastor, I need Pastor. Pastor needs to be the one to handle this because nobody, this is so special. No temptation, test, or trial is taken you, but such as is common to man. What you're going through is absolutely common. If you're a person, it's common. So don't elevate your trouble into some special class, special condition. But it says, But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. And people misquote that all the time. God will not put on you more than you can handle. Right? I agree with that, but that's a that's a false statement. That's a deception of the devil. The devil has twisted God's word, so we have to answer with God's word. God will not put anything on you more than you can handle. He won't put anything on you. How about you stop right there? He won't send the car accident, he won't send the the trouble in your family, he won't send the medical issue, he won't send the sickness of the disease, he doesn't have any disease, he won't put it on you. He sent Jesus to take the disease. He's not, it doesn't make any sense, but people can't rec reconcile the rest of their doctrine with that, and so they understand, well, God must have sent this trouble and teach me a lesson, or he wants to use me in the hospital. All the nonsense. He doesn't send the trouble, he won't tempt you beyond what you're able. He doesn't allow the temptation to come beyond what you're able. However much you are able is the limit of what he is going to allow. Well, he's allowing something. Yes, he allows everything we allow. How about that? Remember, he's given us the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever things you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatsoever things you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. He gave us authority, he gave us his word, he sent us out to do some stuff, and so he allows everything we allow. But it says, But God will with the temptation also make a way of escape that you can bear it. So when trouble comes, automatically, without you having to do a single thing, there is immediately built in a way of escape. There is a route for you to get around, get under, go over, over, or go through. There is a way of escape automatically with whatever trouble you encounter. If you know that, then you can be looking for the way of escape. The Holy Spirit will help you. He helped our daughter, he's helped me. He will help you with a way of escape. God did not send the trouble. Let no one say, this is James 1, uh, verse 12, 13, let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. That pretty much answers God won't put on you more than you can handle. No, he won't, he doesn't do that. Don't blame God for what the devil does. Don't blame God for what you did. Don't blame God. He is the answer, he is the grace, he is the solution, he is not the problem. And he's compassionate. We do not have a high priest that cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace and obtain mercy and find grace and to help in time of need. If you find yourself in trouble, Lord help me. Turn and run. Repent. If it was self-inflicted, repent, go the other way, and run right into the Holy Spirit. He is right there. The moment you repent, turn around, call on God, He is right there. Our very present help. Don't let any time go by before you run to the throne of grace. Obtain mercy and find help in time of need. So, coaches, when they train their athletes, they train them to have an expectation of victory. I want you to see yourself with the football running into the end zone. You have to imagine what that looks like. You have to imagine what that victory looks like. I want you to see yourself rebounding that basketball over the top of everyone else in the key. I want you to see yourself doing that. You're gonna train to do that, but you have to see yourself doing that. If the team is down at the halftime, the coach is picking them up and saying, you guys are looking at the score too much and concerned about the present condition, not realizing that that score is subject to change. And if you guys get out there and do your job the way I've trained you to do, the way you've practiced, the way you can see yourself winning, if you if you'll get out there and do that, that score is subject to being flipped, and we can still take this game and win. And so they begin to see the coach never discourages his team with the condition and talking as if it's if it's a uh a lasting future thing. He always takes it and says, it's subject to change. And so you gotta encourage yourself and find people who will encourage you in these things. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me and gives my body, my mortal body. He heals my mortal body. The same spirit that dwells in Christ dwells in me and gives life to my mortal body. My body is being quickened by the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. I will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord. God has not given me a spirit of fear, but one of power and love and a sound mind. Faith is agreeing with God's word and calling those things that are not right now as though they were. And then having a corresponding action that agrees with that. I want you to consider this word like the coach that's that's talking you out of the present score, letting you know it's subject to change. So is what you're saying? Let me ask you this: is what you've been saying, if you're in a condition of trouble in any sort in your life right now, check what have I been saying? Have I been saying something that agrees with the devil? That agrees with his twisting of God's word, or does it agree with the rightly divided word? Does it agree with the lies that have been coming at me? Or have I been speaking God's word? You don't even have to believe it to speak it. You can just begin speaking it. The feelings can work themselves out later, but the word always accomplishes. And I want you to recognize and I want you to picture in your life right now where God is leading you. You've got trouble in front of you. I want you to picture the trouble in front of you because somewhere in front of you, there is going to be trouble. We have that promise. You're in this world, we have trouble, we know that. 2 Corinthians 2.14 says, Now, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ. He is leading you into triumph in Christ. He is leading you into the celebration of the victory after the game is over. He's not leading you into trouble. He's not leading you up against an enemy, he is leading you onto the other side so that you also can lead a train of vanquished foes. You are more than conquerors in Christ. So, what have you been saying? I want you to remember that trouble is temporary. You've been given the way out, you've been given the way over, under, around, or through. And he is leading you into that place of celebration. Triumph is the ultimate celebration, it's the ultimate victory dance, and that is where he's leading you. If you do not feel like you are in that condition, then you have to press through something. You have to bear up under something, you have to have endurance to get through it. You have to have people to encourage you. You might need someone to lay hands on you and pray. You might need someone to grab your hand and say, Lord, help me. And he's gonna send somebody and they're gonna they're gonna help you up out of something. We're not gonna camp out there. We're going to get through it. You're going to get through it. The circumstance is subject to change.