Taking Ground | Jay Greiner

In this episode, we dive into a powerful message titled “Taking Ground”, exploring how to advance spiritually, mentally, and emotionally while staying rooted in Christ. From embracing God’s grace and walking in His anointing, to abiding in the secret place and trusting God alone, we uncover practical keys for overcoming hardship, reclaiming what the enemy has stolen, and stepping into new opportunities. Through scripture, personal stories, and real-life applications, this message equips listeners to move forward confidently, bear fruit, and live a victorious, Spirit-led life.

Transcript

Confession And Opening Charge

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Pick up our Bible as is our custom and make our confession. Make Jesus glad and the devil mad. Let's say this together. Say, Heavenly Father, I'm grateful for Wednesday nights. I'm grateful for an opportunity to top off the tanks. To come and feed on your word. I take you seriously. I honor you. I give you my all. I am free. I am a winner. I'm a child. I'm your child. And I take back what the enemy stole. In Jesus' name. Amen. So again, I'm just going to preach a message entitled Taking Ground. Taking Ground. And so I just wanted to open up and talk about what today is. Today is April the 1st. It's April Fool's Day, but that really doesn't matter, right? We don't celebrate that. We know we can goof off if you want to. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but today it's still Holy Week and it's Passover today. It's also the first day of the second quarter of 2026, which is uh the year of new things. And so we know that that God's doing a new thing. And so it's just a really good day to check up. You know, we've had one quarter of the year go by. Where does that stand? What do you believe in God for in your life? What has taken place this year? You know, we're in a couple of uh, I think two Sundays from this Sunday, we're gonna have another testimony Sunday. We're calling that New Things Sunday. So you can mark your calendars April the 19th, and we're gonna have another testimony Sunday, and you're gonna be able to testify of what God's doing in your life. What are those new things that have already begun to take place? And so, you know, again, today is a really good day to re-aim your faith, to go over your goals, to go over what God has promised you and to be um confident in his promises. Amen. And so um, you know, I I think about what God's doing as far as taking ground. This church is taking new ground this year. There are new things coming to this church, and it's real easy. You know, we have uh the one wing of the church is called My God Votes, and so we're holding church in different state capitals all over the United States, and so that obviously this year we've grown in the amount of states that we cover. Our goal is to cover all 50 states, and so you see we've seen some growth, some rapid growth in that, and so you you can think that that's what I'm talking about. Okay, well, that's new ground. No, um, that's not well, it's not limited just to that. You're taking new ground in your sphere of influence, you're taking new ground. You're taking new ground uh at your place of employment, you're taking new ground in your home, and and so you're not quitting, you're not going back. You know, if we're not moving forward, you're moving backwards. And so we're called to occupy in this life. What are you occupying? What are you taking hold of? What are you taking possession of? That's what the word occupy means. And so we're taking ground together, arm in arm. And uh, I'm telling you, this year we are crossing over. And by faith we are crossing over, and we're leaving no man or woman behind, or child for that matter. We're all crossing over together, and so we are occupying in this life, we're doing exactly we're taking our authority uh in the name of Jesus, and and it's fruitful ground that we're taking. You know, it's not just dry desert ground. No, God has some blessing for us, and in inside of his plan is the supply uh that we need to reap the harvest. Amen. And so to do that, it requires all of us to be strong and very courageous. And so uh every one of us um is called to have intimacy with the Lord. And so we had our staff prayer meeting uh this morning. Um we had a variety of subjects, but I missed some of that. But Pastor uh Joseph was talking about intimacy, having intimacy with the Lord into me, see. And so into me, you know, get coming into, so we have an in-christ lifestyle, and so uh we're in Christ and we're coming into him when we spend time with him. That's the only way that we see, that we see through the eyes of faith that he can show us uh a fresh revelation and a fresh vision of where we're going and what he has in store for each and every one of us. Amen. And so, you know, back in World War II, it was General General George Patton that said, never take the same ground twice. In other words, you know, if they were in a battle, they're not retreating. We're not retreating. We're gonna take that ground and and and uh and win it just one time. Otherwise, if we retreat, then we got to come back and win it again, and if we retreat again, we'd have to win it a third time. No, we're gonna win it the first time, and uh, and that wasn't a very a very efficient plan, and we won. Praise the Lord. So let's turn in our Bibles with to our foundational text, which is can be found in 2 Timothy 2, uh verses 1 through 4. And uh I will just read it out of my notes instead of turning there. And it says in the New King James Version, it says, You therefore, my son, be strong. This is uh the apostle Paul talking to his son in the faith, Timothy, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. So right off the bat, we're starting with an in Christ scripture, right? And he's telling Timothy to be strong, what? In God's grace that is located inside Christ Jesus. So when we choose to be in Christ, we have his grace, which is God's supernatural ability. So every time you decide to do something on your own or in your own strength, that won't get you very far, right? But he's telling Timothy and encouraging him, hey, stay, be strong and stay inside Christ, where you have God's supernatural ability, right? And verse 2, and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. So I think about, you know, reading this scripture reminds me of all the times that I traveled with my dad on mission trips all over the world, mainly to the Philippines, but I did make one of those India trips where he he taught this scripture a lot to the ministers because they needed to replicate themselves into their team and be able to pour into others, other faithful men who are able to teach others also. And I just think about the power of this church and how we've been uh we're through God's ability, we've been able to pour into those faithful, and we have lots of faithful teachers. Some are even here tonight, faithful teachers that that are are faithful to hear and to grow in their faith and mature and be able to pour into others. And I'm just reminding you, I don't know where you are tonight, but every belief every believer has a ministry, every believer, and so that includes you, that includes me. So the things that we have heard and seen and witnessed by many witnesses, though those are the things that we're committing to faithful men and women to be able to teach others also. Verse 3, uh that wait, let's go. The word men there in verse 2 means mankind, it doesn't just mean men. It's not leaving women out, in other words. I know that's a big debate right now, but if you were to look this word up in the Greek, it really means mankind. And verse three, you therefore must endure hardship, or uh the word hardship means to suffer trouble, um as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. So that kind of reminds me of John 1633, right? Where 1633 says that that uh these things I have, you know, Jesus is speaking, he says, These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace, but in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And so we're we're to endure hardship, we're to endure uh trouble when it comes as a good soldier. How many of you are good soldiers? You you uh consider yourself a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and I'm telling you, from time to time, you're gonna experience some trouble, and you need to know exactly how to get through that trouble is to remain strong in the Lord. And to re so know that it's not your strength that gets you through, but it's his strength, and he gives us his strength, spirit to spirit. So you're strengthened on the ins uh through your inner man. Amen. And then in verse four, uh, no one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. So, in other words, we're not to be entangled. You know, if we're engaged in warfare, we're not gonna be entangled with the things that the world has to offer. We're not gonna be entangled with the desires of the world, the passions of the world, the temptations of the world, but also the distractions of the world. And uh I don't I think I had a huge distraction today. I had uh a few of my email accounts just become unlinked, and they required the password on both ends for on the sending and receiving. I had to dig into all my email settings and start completely over, and that was just a big waste of time. So um, because I had no password problems, I had no nobody was hacking me, it was just uh an error in my system. And so every now and then I I I we all face things that are time wasters and distractors. And here I had a big day because I knew I was ministering tonight and I take that seriously. Uh, but we we you know we have to get the job done, right? But as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, you know, we have uh we endure hardship, but we don't become entangled in it. We don't uh uh allow ourselves to be defeated or to be tired or to lose our strength because we know that that when it's in our weakness that we can turn to him and he is our strength. Amen. And so um and it is in order, verse four, the end of verse four, what does it say? It says that he may please him, in other words, that we may please him who has enlisted us as a soldier. I'm gonna go ahead and include everybody by saying it that way. Because uh that that we may please him, it's our job, it's our duty, no matter what we're doing, to please him, to honor him, to live for him, to uh stay surrendered to him, to stay humble and teachable and usable by him, no matter what's going on, and not be all entangled in the things of this world, right? And so that's what we're in order to take ground, that's where it starts. That's the posture that we have towards the Lord. We're in Christ, and we know exactly who we are in Christ, and we're we've grabbed a hold of uh his grace or his supernatural ability, and that transitions us that that ability transitions us into the natural where we're able to accomplish way more than we could ever uh uh think about, amen. Or dream about, right? It's supernatural. And so tonight I've got three keys to remembering uh to keep in mind as we advance and take ground. You know, we're taking ground, we're taking a ground away from the enemy, and uh, you know, I just you know, uh hmm, this is not in my notes, but just it it it I was I was reading the whole Second Chronicles 20 about praise and worship here recently, and it just you know that story again just hit me how important praise and worship is to the Lord. And so uh the I'm a worshiper, you're a worshiper, we're all worshipers, and uh, and it's important what we say that they spoke first, the worshipers spoke first before they sang. So, so it's good to sing your praises, but it's also good to speak your praises and to get your confession going in the right direction. And then God was able to fight their battles and win the spoils for the for King Jehoshaphat in that story, and that led to the whole region rejoicing and fearing God. It brought fear back into the in other words, not not being afraid, but being in awe and wonder of God's miraculous power, right? It brought it to the entire, just their praise, just their worshiping brought it back to uh to them being that whole region being in awe. Amen. And then it brought peace to his throne, to the king's throne, to the king's rule. It brought peace and he could rest. He had rest. And so he was work all worked up and all worried. They were facing uh four different uh uh areas, uh people that wanted to destroy them, and God brought them victory over all four. Amen. And so uh uh three keys to remember when advancing or taking ground. Um, number one is the spirit of the Lord is upon us. In other words, we are anointed, which reminds me of Luke 4, 18 and 19. So if you'll turn with me there, Luke 4.18, in the new uh the new King James Version, it says, uh, the Spirit of the Lord, this is Jesus speaking, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel where? To the poor first, right? It lists the poor first. You know, uh the gospel is good news, preach the good news to the poor. And so you don't have to be poor anymore. And so if if because Jesus came, Jesus came that we might have an abundant life. And so, uh, and we know this, but I'm just here to remind you, maybe you're facing some lack in your life. You don't have to face lack. You know, in order to take ground, it's hard to take ground when you're when you're in debt, when you're dealing with the cost of the past. When you're dealing with the cost of the past, it's hard to, it's hard to make any any uh headway. I remember uh I remember being in debt. I remember when I when we first got married, Celine and I, uh it was mainly me, it wasn't her making some really dumb decisions. I had to to get over that and and to learn differently. And I'm telling you, we we were able to apply some discipline of the word in our lives and be out of debt, and we've never been in that kind of debt. You know, obviously we we uh we have borrowed money to to buy houses and and vehicles, but um, but you know, like the other like consumer debt, credit card debt, things like that, we've never been in debt since then. And so praise the Lord. Um, but lack will will pull you out of advancing into everything that God has for you, into following his plan. Because hidden for you inside God's plan for your life is is the supply. The supply comes with the calling, the supply comes as you walk out the plan of God, boom, it's God is your need meter. Amen. And so here Jesus is saying that he's anointed, that you have a special anointing on you. This isn't just Jesus talking about himself. He's talking about his church, he's talking about you, he's talking about me. I'm anointed to preach the gospel to the poor. Uh, he has sent me, God has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim, proclaim liberty to the captives or to the bound, right? And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. I'm telling telling you, the Lord is coming back soon. And we are the bride of Christ. Just think about that. You belong to him, you are his bride. You think he's coming back for a church that's all uh that's that's poor and needy and dirty and and got sand all over you and and and living in a van down by the river? No, he's coming back for a glorious church. Uh we're spotless, and he's he's our sacrificial lamb. It's the it's the Passover. He today is Passover, and he's our Passover. He is the spotless lamb that took all of our sin, that took all of our iniquity, and took all of our diseases, took all of our sickness, and took that upon him on the cross. And then he went down to hell and he was victorious over death, hell, and the grave. And he has the keys. Amen. Thank God for the keys. And then he was raised from the dead, right? That's what we're celebrating on Sunday, resurrection Sunday. I think everybody is aware is of that. That it's not about the Easter bunny, it's not about the eggs, but it's all about the power of God and that same resurrection power we have, that same anointing that Jesus is talking about in these verses in Luke 4, 18, and 19. We have, we can walk in that. We can walk in that freedom. And so if you find yourself with a broken heart tonight, it only Jesus can heal that broken heart. And so you can grab a hold of that revelation tonight and put that in your heart. And then you there's things that you can do with your mouth to begin to confess, that that to begin to pray. And as you pray and as you confess, you're aiming your faith. And then all of your emotions follow your faith. All of your emotions. And so there's nothing, there's no emotion that's left behind when you aim your faith at something. You know, maybe you're struggling with unforgiveness tonight. I'm telling you, there's victory here, there's there's liberty here. You know, the word liberty means forgiveness or a pardon of sins, letting them go as if they had never been committed. Uh it's a remission of the penalty. So we're we're we've been set free. We've been given liberty. So, and then we're to proclaim that liberty. And then the Bible says that we're all ministers of reconciliation. We can bring, we can reconcile people back into Christ. You know, people that have fallen away, people that have made mistakes, people that, you know, it's so important. I was just studying, um, I think it was last week, I looked up the Great Commission in Matthew and Mark and Luke, and then in John, it was just a little bit different, and I backed up a little bit. And Jesus was making the point in in in John to preach the forgiving power of the blood of Jesus, preaching about forgiveness, that you're forgiven, that you've been justified just as if you've never sinned. And so that that what that's what that word liberty is saying, that you you've been forgiven, you've been pardoned. It's just like it never happened. It's just like that that sin was never committed because of the power of the blood of Jesus. And so we can walk in that freedom, but we can walk in that anointing and we can carry the Spirit of God upon our lives. This, you know, the Spirit of the Lord is upon us. We're carrying that as we're advancing the kingdom. As you're advancing into the plan of God that God has for your life, as that revelation, when you spend time with him, as that revelation of that plan and that mystery is revealed to you, this very specific purpose that he has for you, that very specific plan that he has for you is being revealed to you as you spend time with him. And I'm telling you, you are anointed. And so I just remember uh back at towards the beginning, and you know, at the beginning of the year, as Pastor was laying hands on Selena and I, he began to talk about a fresh anointing, a new anointing that we're stepping into. And so, man, my faith, our faith grabbed a hold of that, and we're stepping in. God has a fresh anointing, and then that's not just limited for us, that's for everybody that we're able to step into something new that's that's never before existed for us, uh, for Selena and I, but not just again, it's it's for you as well to step into it. You are anointed, that you carry the Spirit of the Lord, it's upon you. Amen. Amen. So our second key to remember to it to uh take ground is to stay in the secret place. You know, uh I know that was today, one of one of today's should have been, yeah, what should have been one of today's psalms, but I didn't read it today. I I read it two days ago because I was reading, you know, 30 60 90. And now when I was reading Psalm 90, I I noticed Psalm 91 staring me in the face. And uh, you know, and this old 80s song, 90s song, whatever, what we used to sing in church, old school song popped in my head, you know, he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high. Anyways, so my dad uh he used to have an omnicord, which is kind of a hard to hard thing to explain. But there when the church first started, he was the praise team with this harmony cord, and it was it was kind of plugged through this keyboard that had like a drum machine. And so, anyways, it was just a very unique sounding song. That's a I can't do it justice justice if I made all the drum sounds with my mouth, it just wouldn't be the same. You had to be there, but you know, that's what I think about when I read Psalm 91. And uh, but when I got to verse seven, let's start in verse seven, we have to remain in or stay in the secret place, and so it says, even in a time of disaster, this is the Passion Translation, Psalm 91, 7. Uh, even in a time of disaster with thousands and thousands being killed, you will remain unscathed and unharmed. You will be a spectator as the wicked perish in judgment, for they will be paid back for what they have done. And uh real quick, that's that's uh a very serious thing right there in in verse eight, uh Psalm 91, 8 in the Passion. Um says, You will be a spectator as the wicked perish in judgment. And so that's that hurts our heart, right? To watch people uh receive judgment, but uh they don't have to receive that judgment. They could have turned their hearts to the Lord, and so you can't make someone turn their heart to the Lord. You can't make someone do the right thing. You can't make, you know, how many of you have relatives maybe that don't serve God, but you're a witness? And so we're we're called to sprinkle, we're we're called to live our life in front of front of them as a witness and to win them through our witnessing, through our lives, through our actions, through our words. And so them seeing us live out this real, genuine faith, I'm telling you, it it turns their heart to the Lord. And then you can also pray that God sends laborers unto their path, you know? And so we we have entire books on how to win uh your family to Jesus, how to pray for them, and so um, so that you're not one of these spectators, that verse 8 says. Um in verse 9 it says, when we live, it's kind of an if-then, right? It starts off when. When we live, that word live means to abide, right? When we abide our lives within the shadow of God most high, our secret hiding place, we will always, everybody shout, always, always be shielded from harm. Not sometimes, not some of the time, not 10% of the time, but always when we abide in the shadow of the most high, when in other words, when we stay in the secret place, well, Jay, that's a contradiction. You're saying stay, and then you're saying take ground. Which is it? Are you gonna are you going to take ground or are you staying? No, I'm saying the same thing can happen at the same time, just wait till we get to the next scripture. But we're abiding our lives in Christ, but in the secret place, hidden just for us, not from us. It's not hidden from us, it's hidden for us. If we would just enter into that intimacy, into that intimate place with the Lord, he will always shield us from harm. How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us? Verse 11, God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go, defending you from all harm. There it is again, all you know, the you know, always versus all, but you get what I mean. All harm. So he's given his angels charge over us. And so um we can we can also uh send out our angels. Do you know that we have authority and we can send out our angels on errands, on special order? We can give them special orders, amen. And so uh I'm telling you, we if we abide in him and his word abides in us, you know, it's abiding in him is impossible without his word abiding in us. Because abiding in him, that means we're meditating on his word. That means we're studying uh his word, and so his word gets in us, and then it and then it flows through us, and then no matter what happens, man, there's a word, a fresh word in our mouth. We wake up with a song in our heart, amen. You know, worshipers are happy, we're happy people. We wake up with a song in our heart, amen. And so uh God is able to defend us from all harm if we stay in the secret place, and then man, you know, we're not afraid of anything as we're advancing and uh and taking ground. As we take ground, there's no devil in hell that can stop us because we're in the secret place, as we're taking ground, amen. So we're abiding always, right? Uh, and so no matter what happens around us, uh, we're in the secret place. And so uh uh last week I was filling up the truck, and uh and the late a lady on the other side of the gas pump, she came over, she's like, Man, your truck is so nice. And then she looked, you know, I was putting diesel in it, and she looked at the diesel price, and she was like, Whoa, how do you, you know, how do you afford that or something, something of that nature? I said, Well, it's a small price to pay. At least we don't have uh fuel rations and bread lines like we did back in World War II. I, you know, I said, this is a small sacrifice to to have a dictator in the ground, you know, no longer uh killing Christians and and uh hating America. We defeated him. And so um we're defeating that antichrist spirit. Amen. It's it's a spiritual battle, but it's right now it's a physical one, and it's an easy one to it's an easy sacrifice to make. And so uh, you know, as I today there was it shot up again to almost$5 a gallon. So even if diesel fuel goes to$5 a gallon, I'm gonna be praising the Lord. Because why? I have a supply. I live in a different economy, and my bank account is not affected uh because we we're we're not we're not we're in this world, but we're not of this world. And so we don't have to be afraid. Like the there's there's like an index right now. The whole uh the the stock exchange, just everything Trump says is like you know, so volatile. They're just so they re they react to every little thing, and uh, and then we are abiding in the secret place, amen. And we know that all of our needs are met. And so stay there. And so as we're advancing, that's why how we're able to advance ground because we've not given in to fear, we've not given in to uh what we see in the natural around us, we see through the eyes of faith. Amen. And I can see a cloud the size of a man's hand of an abundance of rain. There's rain coming, amen. There is rain coming. Man, it rained just for a little while today. I was like, I don't know, less than 20 minutes, maybe. It rained really hard, and it just, it was such a good feeling because it's been so long. You know, all of this area needs needs the rain. We need the rain in the natural, but we we have the rain in the supernatural, amen. We have the rain of the spirit. It's raining on the inside of this church, it's raining on the inside of us, and it's bringing a supply that no devil in hell can hold back from us because we're abiding in the secret place, amen. So uh another key to remember as we take ground number three, uh look to God alone, and that's gonna be in Jeremiah 17. So if you'll turn with me to Jeremiah 17, I'm gonna I'm gonna read that out of the Passion as well. It's a little bit different. Um, the Passion translation used to just be the New Testament and then Psalm and Proverbs, and they're kind of branching out a few books at a time here. So in Jeremiah 17, verse 5, the Passion, it says, Yahweh said to me, Even a strong person is cursed when his confidence rests in his own strength. To place your confidence in the strength of man means that you are turning your heart away from me. That person is like a desert tumbleweed in a dry and dusty desert in a rocky wilderness without inhabitants. Even when good when goodness is all around him, he won't experience it. Wow. Wow. So so so when you put your trust in man or you put your trust in in yourself instead of God, man, even when goodness is all around you, you can't participate in it. You can't experience it. That's what God's saying right here in verse 7. I will bless with happiness the one who trusts in me. I don't know about you, but that's me. That's you. That I speak that over you. We are happy people. We he's blessing us with happiness because we trust in him, the one who trusts in me alone. So we we put our so that's that's uh that's number three, we look to God alone. We trust in God alone. And I'm gonna keep reading in just a second, but but uh we put our trust in God. And so um some people just say that with their look, you know, Lord, I trust you. But man, when it's all on the line to uh to have your faith follow those words, right? It's a different thing. When your actions, it's one thing to say it, but then when you're with your actions, you're trusting God, you're stepping out on faith, and you actually, you know, faith is an action and you're actually acting by faith. Man, I'm telling you there's a difference there. And so in verse eight, it says, He is like a tree. Where have you heard this? It sounds a lot like Psalm 1, which was also the psalm of the day. But verse 8, he is like a tree planted on the riverbank, extending its roots into streams of water. It does not fear, talking about that tree planted, it does not fear when scorching heat comes. Man, devil bring on the heat because we got it. We our roots are down, amen. For its leaves remain fresh and never fading, even in a year of drought. Catch this. It has no anxieties, but continues to bear luscious fruit. You know, I think back to Carol last this last Sunday, I think in between one of the songs she began to encourage us about luscious fruit, right? Being being fruitful, uh, and and having our words be fruitful and how important that is. But I'm telling you, we are a tree with roots dug down deep. We have no anxieties, but we continue to bear fruit. Amen. And so the ground that we're taking, uh, it's it's a it's a luscious ground as well, and that ground is bearing fruit because we're in it. And so I, you know, again, you're like, Jay, you're you're uh contradicting yourself. You're talking about having being rooted and grounded, and then also going over here and taking ground. No, I am those two things can go together, and so we are rooted and grounded in God's love, and and we know exactly who we are in Christ. Um we we trust in him with all of our heart, and uh we don't turn away from him. And we, you know, God this is a really simple principle. Did you know the gospel is simple and the Bible is simple, and following God is simple, and uh it takes theologians to get in the way to confuse people. I was ministering, we were ministering at the young adults, uh Selena and I, at the young adults event uh last Friday night, and I was explaining that to someone that came. Someone brought a visitor, and they were a Catholic. And so uh I was, you know, Selena and I were just ministering to her, and it just I got to that point about making it so simple. You know, sometimes religion gets in the way, and religion complicates things. That's why I hate religion. But Jesus is simple, the word of God is simple. And if you draw near to God, he's right there, he's a right now God, and he draws near to you. He's a right now, very present help in time of need, in time of trouble. He's right there. All you got to do is call on him. He's not way up there and unreachable, but no, he's right where you need him to be. When you call his name, he is there. And so we stay, we remain in his provision, we remain inside God's plan, we stay in the secret place, and we dwell, we have our dwelling in the secret place. So we we're we're gonna stay there as we advance and as we gain ground and take new ground for our Lord. And that's the plan of God for our lives. It's it's a plan of God for this church to take ground, and it's a it's God's plan for each and every one of us individually to gain ground or take ground and occupy inside of his plan. What are you taking hold of? What are you taking possession of? I just wanted to, what are you advancing into? Are you advancing into fear? Are you advancing into sin? Are you advancing into going the wrong way outside of the will of God for your life? Or are you advancing into his plan, into his will, into his goodness, into his provision for you? Uh here on Easter week, it's a good, you know, April the 1st, the first year of the second quarter of 2026. It's a very good day to just check up. Where are you going? Where are you headed? Are you lost? No, I'm found. I know exactly uh the road, Celine and I know exactly the road that God has for us, and we're on it, and we're reaping a harvest, and we're seeing God's provision, and um and we're right in lockstep with his spirit. And so um what does he have, what does God have for you to step into tonight? What new things are waiting for you right on the horizon? Where's where is your faith aimed at tonight? I just I'm kind of closing with that thought tonight. What what is what have you delayed in telling him yes? Where have you missed it, or where have you disobeyed, or where have you, you know, a pause in obedience is really disobedience. You're either advancing or you're going backwards. And so um, I was trying to think of the uh oh, I almost had it. What's his name? Lester Somerall, you know, he had like a big boat of a car back in the 70s, and all the other ministers would kind of j jab him a little bit because he would never drive in reverse. He all he like parked in front of his house, so he never had to back out of the driveway. And if he was at a restaurant, he he would park in the street and never go in the parking lot because he didn't believe in retreating. There was no retreating in Lester Summerall's life. He's always gonna be advancing. And I'm telling you, um, maybe I don't take it, I'm really good at backing up. I can't sometimes I back up really fast through the whole church parking lot. Like I'll open the gate and then I'll drive backwards the whole time. It says good for the reverse gear in my truck. But, anyways, uh so, you know, but we're not retreating. We are advancing, we are taking ground, we are taking uh the ground that God needs us and requiring us to take. And we're not just sitting here looking for a rocking chair and you know, uh a piece of grass to chew on, you know, and retire and put our feet up. No, we're we're our hand is on the plow, each and every one of us. Our pastor is is uh is not retiring, he his hand is on the plow as well, and we're following the plan of God for this church and our lives. And I just encourage you tonight, if you've fallen away, to get back uh in step with the Lord's plan for your life. And it's real easy, it's a it's just a a prayer of consecration to be consecrated, to be set apart to to do his will and to live for his plan. And it's like I said earlier, it's not complicated at all. You can just pray that prayer tonight. Amen. And so get back into the will of God and get back to taking ground, right? Remember that number one, you're anointed. Number two, you're staying in the secret place, and number three, you're looking to God alone. Amen. Praise the Lord. We'll give the Lord, just let's just lift our hand and thank the Lord for his word tonight. Father, we just thank you that each and every one of us are right where we need to be, right smack dab in the middle of your perfect will, because we can hear your voice and another voice we will not follow, that we're consecrated to you, that uh that that we have given our lives as a sweet sacrifice. Lord Jesus gave his life for us, so we've laid our lives down for you. And Lord, we're uh we know exactly what our purpose is, Lord, that that we've been invigorated tonight and filled with fresh vision and fresh revelation of what you have for us, Lord, that we're going up into the next level of you, in you, all for your glory, and we take ground that we need to take in order to stay in in the exact perfect will that you have for us in Jesus' name.