The Other Side Of The Promise (Larry Brey)

of it looking at it. I just feel like there's some people under the sound of my voice, maybe in Colombia, that are standing outside of something they feel like God called them into. I want to speak specifically to you today. The main text we're going to jump into is going to be in First Chronicles eleven, verses one through five. He says this. This says all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, you are our own flesh

and blood. In the past, even while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel under military campaigns and the lords. Your God said to you, you will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler. When all the elders of Israel had come to King David and Hebron. He made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel. David and all

the Israelites marched to Jerusalem, that is Jeebus. The gb Sites who live there said to David, you will not get in here. Nevertheless, I love that word. Nevertheless. David captured the fortress of Zion, which is the city of David. The title for today's message is this the other side of the promise. Say to your neighbor, the other side of the promise. Look on the other side of your neighbor and speak over them the other side of the promise. Hey, why don't you high five at least three people on

your way to your seat? Think you worshiped team? And I want to jump into this topic of promises today. And it's interesting the text we have going on in First Chronicles, there's actually two promises that God is fulfilling in this moment. One of them is easy to read because it's said in the text. And the Lord fulfilled his promise to David as he had spoken through Samuel. And so the first promise that was fulfilled in this

is the one that David was walking in. The other promise is a promise that God is fulfilling to nation Israel. Two promises going on in the same moment. Do we sometimes realize that as we're going through life, God is doing more than just me. Sometimes I'm going through life, I get so focused on me. I don't see the bigger picture that God is drawing in the world. And all of us are individual threads that God is weaving together to put together a beautiful tapestry of His glory

to the world. And all of these promises are happening. One was in motion for twenty years, David. The other one four hundred and eighty years. On your row today is somebody who's walking in a promise today, somebody who's going to see a promise fulfilled, or something's being spoken over them. It might have been something that was spoken over them ten generations ago that will find fulfill film today. All of God's promises are yes and amen in Christ.

I believe that, and some of us have forgotten the promises that God has spoken over our life today. And actually, actually the first word I want you to write down is the word promise. Write down the word promise. Say promise. I was thirty two percent participation here at Valentine. Let's

try it again, say promise much better. You need to get a little attitude about it, because you're blessed, you're highly favored, and some of you are taking way too much of a passive voice in the promises of God and your standing back maybe if it no, no, no, God's promises that you would step into something. And that's what I'm speaking over with you today. But this story in First Chronicles eleven did not start in verse in

First Chronicles eleven. It actually started back in Exodus chapter three. I'm going to rewind a little bit to give you some context for the story we're going to look at today. In Exodus three seventeen, it says, and I have promised to bring you out of your misery in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, of the Hittites, Amorites, Parizites, hip Bites, and Jebucides, a land flowing with milk and honey. God.

I heard the cries of Nation Israel as they were under the oppressive thumb of the Egyptian slave masters, and he heard their cry and he said, I'm gonna do something about it. I will take you from slavery and into the promised life. That is a promise that God has spoken over you. Over you too, He's gonna take you from those slave habits, those slave thoughts, and he's gonna take you into promised land thinking and his promises. Yes, and they met, and He's spoken it over you, and

it's flowing with milk and honey. I love that. When I first came to faith in Jesus, some of you career Christians would talk in ways that I would not understand. I would simply ask, how you doing today, blessed and highly favored brother, And I'm like, what understand the lingo? What do you mean? And they would use things like I just can't wait to get to the other side milk and honey, baby, it's flowing with milk and honey. I'm like, what on earth are you talking about? Flowing

with milk and honey. Oh, it's this thing of when I get to the other side of this thing, life gets better over there. So if I to the other side of this, life is better over there. And what I took that to mean for Christianity is it will just suck here until I get over there. This is just going to be miserable. No, that's not the life you are called to live under the authority of Jesus Christ. Oh. I rechecked that thinking the other side of the promise.

If I can just get to the other side of the promise, life is going to get better over here. And what I would speak over every one of you is is to remind you that God has made you promises. I want you to think very personally about a promise that God has made you. It might be some of you are here today and the promise you feel that God has made you that you will have that child, but it's been fifteen years. Some of you, the promise that God has made you is your marriage will be fruitful.

Some of you feel like the promise that God has made you is that that son that's on that opioid addiction he will be freed from those things. Some of you, the promise is that when you lay your head down at night, you won't be dominated by the shame that's been this dark cloud over your life for all these years. And sometimes what happens is the longer we live outside of something, the more we believe we don't belong in that thing. I want to remind you that the promises

of God are yes and Amen. He has spoken it over you, and in fact Tewod Corinthians one twenty says, for no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ, and so through him, Amen is spoken to us by the glory of God. I want to remind you what is the promise that God has made over your life? Is it joy? Is it peace? Is that He'll never leave you, never forsaken you. For me, the promise that God has spoken to me that I've been claiming for a long time in my life is forgiveness.

What's yours? What's your promise? And I want to remind you today that you need to start getting an attitude about yourself that you will see that promise come to pass in your life. You don't need to settle for second rate, second class Christianity. You are his first choice. You are not leftovers because of your choices. You are a first option because you are the bride of Christ. But milking honey, baby, milking honey. It's funny because if I teach you a very shallow version of Christianity. It

wouldn't be that. It's just milking honey, come to Jesus and everything gets better. That's not real. It's mostly me milking honey. And then you get slapped with a problem. You're like, WHOA, what was that? I didn't It's kind of like when I got married to my beautiful wife, Janet, almost nineteen years ago. I walk into this beautiful thing and we became wedded, and I'm looking like, baby, milking honey,

let's go, and then we got married. I'm like, oh, I didn't know that marriage came with some misery, like not not you, But I didn't know that the promise came with problems. And some of us walk away from promises because you're expecting milk and honey and you get something that looks very different. Second word I want you to write down is possess. Say possess. God gives you the promise, but he wants you to possess it because

there's another side of this promise. In Deuteronomy seven, what says when the Lord God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations now who's gonna drive him out? God will God said, he'll drive him out. Who needs to possess it? You and me, Our job is to possess. God's job is to drive out. But he said many nations, the hit sites, the Gergoshites, Amorites, Canaanites, Parasites, hit bites, Jebusites,

seven nations larger and stronger than you. Time out. Now, God, you said I'm gonna get into the Promised Land. But there's a problem with the promise because the promised Land is inhabited by nations larger and stronger than me. Oh, I thought it was milk and honey. God, but you're telling me it's actually larger and stronger. And some of the reasons I think we walk away from promises is because I'm expecting milk and honey, and I don't know

what to do when I get large and stronger. Because God said, this is the Promised Land, but you're standing in it. You're a big dude. This isn't what I thought it would look like. God. I thought I was looking at milk in the honey, but now I'm looking at larger and stronger. I'm like, I'm just to stand in that land, but there's a big problem in the land. The other side of the promise is it's larger and stronger.

And some of us that have been following Christ for a while know that when you get into this new opportunity, it comes with a new opponent. It's got seven nations larger and stronger than you. And actually, the way that the text is written, it goes from big, it's a bigger and it's like, God, I just got done with him, and now he's bigger than the last one seven nations, like oh, I'm exhausted before I even show up who

and some of us are defeated. And that's why we don't move towards possession, is because we're looking at the enemy rather than the promise. We're looking at what's inhabiting it rather than the one who gave it to me. Seven nations and each one he's big, like he's real big. And then oh God, and now I'm up here praising on Sunday the Lord is and then like, I'm good, where's my defl like the enemy, look, I got you. But then the closer you get and you're like, oh snap,

he's a lot bigger. The closer you get to it. And some of the reasons we don't possess the promises. We're intimidated by the inhabitants that are in the land. And God says, this land is yours. I've promised it to you, but there's a problem with it. It's not yes it's flowing with milk and honey, but yes, they're larger and stronger than you. That's why the Israelites where they got into problems. They came out of Egyptian slavery and they were going to go towards the promised land.

Moses dispatches twelve spies, all twelve of them came back after surveying, and I say, yep, milk and honey, absolutely milk and honey. Only two of them thought they could actually inhabit the land. God said, I didn't ask you all that. I told you you were gonna get in. Quit telling me what you can't do, and start realizing what have already done for you, because your job is not to drive them out. I will take care of that, because our pastor taught us that if it's bigger than me,

it's not my battle, that's the Lord's. This is my land, and I'm gonna possess it. I know you're big, and I need to teach you to size up your opponent because every level is a new opponent and at this level, with this opponent, this opponent will develop things in me that can only be developed in this level. At this level, there is a level. How do you size up your opponent? Now, Once upon a time, I'm a fighter, I'd be like, all right, how do I size how? How How am I

gonna take him? I can't take him. I can't give me four other guys. That dude's like bigger than the sun. He's like shot. He's like, ah, it's not my job to fight him, but to size him up. The size of my opponent shows me the size of my promise. Whoo if you're that big, oh, I can't wait to see the size of the promise that's waiting for me right there. Thank you, guys, And some of you have walked away and you're not possessing the promise because you've

been intimidated by the inhabitants. We get this in video games. We understand that in video games, every level gives you a new opponent, each one's tougher than the last. The greatest video game of all time. Mike Tyson Punch Out, Oh My Soul, absolutely amazing. Level one Glass Shoe. He's one ninety nine pop out step back, pop out step, And that's how you beat him, really easy, thirty two seconds. You can do it every time you get into the second level. Ah now I'm von Kaiser. Then I'm gonna

move up to Piston, Honda, bald Bull. I'm working through all fourteen fourteen of these levels just to get to Mike Tyson. But I had played this game the other day with my son, and I let him know a secret that all of us gamers know about that if you've ever played the game before, they have these codes,

these cheat codes. There's a cheat code in in Mike Tyson punch Out zero zero seven three seven three five nine sixty three that if you type that code in, it will cheat you through fourteen levels and take you right to Mike Tyson. So I had this dad moment the other day and I'm like, boy, type in the cheat code, and he did, and he's standing there ding ding ding. The round starts one punch three seconds He's knocked out flat, Like there are no cheat to the

promises of God, you cannot bypass levels. You gotta go through every one of them. Deuteronomy seven twenty two says this, The Lord, your God, will drive out those nations before you. He's repeating it again. It's not your job to fight it, but it is your job to possess it. He will drive them out before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once. How do we possess the land little by little, little by little?

Because the Lord said, if I allow you to eliminate them all at once, you don't develop the gifts that can only be developed through that opponent. And if you bypass that opponent, You're going to miss a gift that I'm gonna bring to you. And some of you get confused because you think, when I get to the other side,

then I'm standing in the promise. No no, no, no, no no no. The very fact that I start playing the game facing my first opponent means I'm already in the promised baby, and I go from promise to glory, to glory to glory, strength to strength. That's what it means to grow in the promise of God. I don't get to the promise, I grow in the promise I grow in it. It's not when you get to the other side. You're standing in in now. I got to understand milk and honey, larger and stronger, But every one

of these builds a dependence upon the Lord. The greatest gift that God can give you is dependence upon Him. Third word I want you to write down is the word persevere. Say persevere. First word was promise, Say promise. Second word is possessed, say possess, say persevere. Really, well done here, Valentiner. I like that Hebrews ten thirty six. It says you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what

he has promised. Because what I've realized in my own life is sometimes if it's not looking like I expect did I'm expecting milk and honey, but I get larger and stronger. I will stand over here and say, God, did you forget your side of the deal? Here? Where are my promises? At you forgot? And I'm trying to

remind him of the other side of the promise. And I get this picture in my head that God is standing over here and he's looking back at me saying I have now forgotten mine, because it is yes and amen, and it is always available to you, he says, I think you've forgotten. You're a part of the promise, and you're a part of the promises. Perseverance, You're part of the promises. To keep moving towards the possession of the promise. But how do we persevere? Little by little, little by little.

Perseverance is one of the greatest gifts. And I'm praying a spirit of perseverance would bust out in this place today. Perseverance towards the promises of God, by the saints of God. Perseverance, because when I start interpreting the promises based upon the scenery, I stop moving towards the possession. I start holding my finger up. The winds have promise, where are they flowing today? Well, God, I guess you're just not really in my favor today.

No no, no, no no, no no no no no. God's promises are yes and m and in spite of in place of irregardless of what circumstances are going on around you. And some days when it looks like milk and honey, you're just skipping towards the promises of God. You're just woo and some days, when it's larger and stronger, you just stop moving. Possession is not a passive experience. It is an active participation. The other side of the promise is my perseverance. How do I persevere when I don't

even want to keep moving? How do I persevere when I feel like I've been forgotten? I got knocked down God, and he says, get back up? He said, I've been down for very long. He said, then roll forward. You

just gotta keep moving towards possession. And for me, I think one of the things that that I get real confused with with perseverance is I think I've got always got to have the greatest motives and motivations in life, because imbalanced teaching will just say, well, you just do it all for the glory of God, brother, And I don't know, do you know how some of you might struggle with this, Like you ever get in a situation that you start telling a lie, and you tell it

long enough you just start to believe it is the truth, like you might do that. I struggle with that and the other side of it. Sometimes I will pray about something so long that I'll just assume it's a promise. That God has made. I get promises, I get prayers, and I get my preferences all mixed up, and sometimes I get in a world that I cannot discern between my preferences and his promises. Here's what I do know.

If he promised it, and if it came from his mouth, it has the potential to be experienced in my life because it is yes and amen, and it is available for me to possess. But the promise he spoke that can be possess, I must persevere towards it. I gotta move towards If it's a prayer. Does He answer prayers sometimes like I want, sometimes not like I want, But none of those prayers will be experience unless you persevere to possess it. Preferences I don't know. Does he answer

some of those? Maybe, Like I'm sure there's some young lady watching who's like, my preference would be a guy who's like six foot four and you know, loves Hallmark Channels, yet still manly enough to cut his own trees for Thanksgiving in the woods and you know, make six figures and loves my cat. You know, Like, I don't know, Maybe God will give you that. Maybe the promise will

come bald in five foot seven. I don't know. I do know this that my God, who's big enough to save me and redeem the world and bring Jesus back from the dead, is also good enough to purify my motives. If I just keep moving towards him. He is good enough and he's big enough, and he'll do that. I just gotta keep moving because there is some guy. The only reason you came to church today is some pretty girl invited you. Praise God. Wooh. I don't care what

guy you here. He's gonna meet you here. And maybe, just maybe, even if I'm moving forward towards my preferences, I see God's promise and he upgrades my preferences to what he would prefer for my life. Maybe God is just big enough to do all that too. Maybe he can. And that's one of the reasons I think I love David. The character of David, I so resonate with him because in First Chronicles eleven, this is actually the third time

he's being anointed. The first time he's anointed is in his teenage years, because at that point, about twenty years earlier, Saul had made some bad choices. Who was King of Israel. God's like, yo, we have picking somebody else. He's gone crazy, and so he tells his prophet Samuel go to Jesse's house and one of his sons, I'm going to anoint king. So Samuel shows up at uncle jesse house and Bo

and Luke walk out. Different Jesse. Samuel shows up and actually Jesse's oldest son, Elieb, is outside mowing the lawn and the prophet sees him and he says, God, look at that guy. He's tall, he's good looking, he's muscular, he's amazing. Let's use him. And God says, nope, I don't pick based upon your criteria. I'm looking at the heart. I know you're looking for who could play the part, but I'm looking at the heart. That's great dating advice

for some of you. You're looking for somebody who could play the part rather than at the heart. Anyway, he says, nope, not him. And so now the prophet has all of these seven brothers parade by the prophet, all seven brothers, and God's like, nope, nope, nope, and he says it seven times and they get to the end and the Dad's like, hey, this is all I got. And Samuel's like, sure, you got anybody else? Oh yeah, I got one boy. He's out in the back forty he's with the he's

with the sheep. Bring him here and he comes up. He's a teenage boy that hadn't even been invited to the party. And God says, that's the one I've picked. He anoints him king over Israel, and he is king at that point, but he's still a teenage boy who's tending flocks. He had stepped into the promise, but for the rest of his life he was going to grow

into the promise. And the next scene you see from David is he delivers bread and cheese basically a cheese pizza from Papa John's to his brothers on the battle lines. And he drops off the pie and he hears this giant haunting nation Israel. He's like, wha punk me this Old Testament translation. And most people don't preach this story correctly because as David starts running towards his promise, he says, hey, what will be done for the guy who kills him?

It is what's in it for me? The whole motivation was selfish, is what's in it for me? And then the guy standing around, We're like, yo, you're gonna get a lot of money, a really pretty girl to marry, and you'll never have to pay taxes. So basically, this is a millennial's dream job right here. And he's like, I'll sign up for that. And his oldest brother, Eliab, remember the one that he thought he was gonna be king, He's already practicing his wave, the one who didn't get picked.

He overhears what's happening with his Brother's like, I can't believe you're up here? How dare you do that? You look little punk and little and David, it says in the scriptures, he says, can I even talk? He turned his back to his brother and he said, again, what will be done for the guy who kills him? And the only reason, the primary motivation for him going to fight Goliath was selfish. It was all about what he was gonna get, and it was about his promise, and

God blessed him. And if you're moving with bad motives today, God will upgrade those. As you keep moving forward, God's gonna meet you right where you're at. That's why I love David. He was just moving. You might not have been the best motivation. But at least he was moving. That's the thing I'm trying to speak over you. Perseverance keeps moving. It might be selfish, I don't care. God's gonna Upbrade as you go that as a teenager. The second time he's anointed is easy. In his twenties, about

ten years have passed. What had happened at that point, Saul, who had been king, dies. There were the twelve tribes of Israel all decided, each one of them just figure out who they wanted to be their king. So they have an election in their state to see who they want to be their king. And only two of the twelve picked David. Ten of them picked one of Saul's sons. Sounds a lot like the spies in the Promised Land, doesn't it. Ten of them got it wrong. And here's

what I want to speak over you today. Some of you are standing on the outside of a promise because you didn't get picked. I want to speak over you. Just because they didn't pick you means that God changed his decision about you. God's promised are still available to you, even if you've been overlooked. Even if you didn't get picked, they are still yes and Amen in him, and he is faithful. He's taking all of these small steps. Little by little. He is in his promise, but he's growing

towards his promise little by little. And it brings us to First Chronicles eleven. He's in his thirties right now, some twenty years of past between the first time he's anointed and this third time he's anointed. And what you

see is the fulfillment of the promise. But what's interesting about this In First Chronicles eleven, Verses three and four says, when all the israel the elders of Israel, had come to David at Hebron, he made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed King David over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel. David, and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem. That is jeebus.

And what you start to see happening in the life of David, as you start to see him come to realize, is the only reason that God fulfilled his promise was so that the promise that God had made Israel could be fulfilled through him. God blessed David to be a blessing to Israel. And the very first time he's anointed, he goes running towards his promise. Third time, he knows it's not about him any longer, and he walks and

he marches with the Israelites towards theirs. He starts to realize, I know I'm on the other side of the promise when I'm not at the center. In Christ, we know we're on the other side of the promise when it's not about us. Why do I put myself at the center of every single promise? I struggle with that. And as David is leading the Israelites towards gIBIS, now the context of the story is seven nations larger and stronger than you, David Israel. You can't defeat them, but I

will drive them out. Little by little, four hundred and eighty years have passed from Exodus three to this moment. Little by little, twelve generations had passed bye. And God is faithful to fulfill his promises. Maybe, just maybe some of the promises I feel like God has given me will be experienced in the next generation coming after me. That's what David's realizing. Maybe it's for the nation, or maybe it's for the next generation. They don't all have

to center around me. And he goes to Jeebis. Seventh, This seventh nation larger and stronger. And if you look at the map, each one of these seven nations held a different part of the town. The sixth, the Gurgoshites, the Amorites, the Pariziites, the Hivites, the hit Sites, all of them had been defeated. There's only one nation, larger and stronger, waiting to be displaced out of the Promised Land. And it is smack dab in the center of Israel. It's Jeebus. This is the hardest enemy to get out.

They had been there for generations, thick fortified walls, never been defeated before. They had been there so long. The israel Lites, as they're marching towards the city are probably telling David, like, you know, David, you know they've been here forever, right, Like you know that your mama's mama's mama's mama's mama struggle with this too. You know that this one you're gonna be just like your daddy. This one's been here forever, This one you'll never get rid of.

And David just he didn't really listen to all that It's funny because the picture of the physical land really represents the spiritual condition of a lot of our hearts. Is because there's one space right in the center of the promised land that's still enemy held parts of my heart, parts of my mind, parts of my relationships that are still enemy held territory. And God is saying enough, that

is my promised land I've made available for you. I know nobody in fourteen generations has lived in it, but you're going through. It's time for us to deal with that jeebus, that that thing. I'm talking about, that thing because the first six had been defeated and they're moving on towards the seventh. I think they listened to Pastor steven sermon, don't stop on six, because they're going right in to number seven, and it's fascinating. Seven means complete,

it means whole. God's greatest promises that He will fulfill in your life for not the ones you drive, not the ones you cash, not the ones you live in, but they're the ones that make you whole. The enemy has been stealing your joy too long because there's enemy held territory that's right in the center, and nobody will see it. Because this one. Looking from the outside, no one would even know. You look like you got it all together. You roll up in a nice car, dressed

in the nicest things, but inside you're dying. Inside, you feel like you're leaking. Inside, You're doubting whether or not God even exists. I'm talking about that place. God wants to make you whole. That's his desire. In this place, he wants to make you whole. And I identify with this because I think all of us have those battles

we've been facing for a long time. Earlier, I mentioned that one of the promises I'm believing God for is is this promise of forgiveness, very specifically forgiveness for the relationship with my father. You see, my dad was handed a generational thing of alcoholism because his dad and his dad's dad, and you go back as far as we can look, there was this thing that when you see somebody living an alcoholic lifestyle, often the choices and the

chaos and the calamity come with it. I grew up in a world that was extremely chaotic and abusive, grew up a lot of my young adulthood hating my father. If I'm being really honest, with you, this isn't sugarcoated. And I grew up being so angry, and most of my adult life I was working on trying to forgive my dad, and I was a desire of my heart and it really felt like God had made me a

promise to forgive my dad. But it had to go through these levels, these opponents of forgiveness, because forgiveness is not a moment, it is a process. It is something you walk out little by little, and it's taken me forty years because it started at this level of just being angry at my dad. Then it moved into another level of lovel just being angry at everybody, and I was like, that's not fun for anybody, because now you're just angry at everybody, you don't even know why you're angry.

And then slowly you start to deal with your own anger issues. That's a level, and then there's a level of actually admitting that it wasn't right, And then there's a level of actually saying to your dad, this isn't right. But then there's a level of saying, Dad, because of

your choices, I actually can't see you. So I went for about a four year period where I didn't talk to my dad or see them because I said, because of the destructive behaviors you're choosing to live in, I can no longer let there be a part of my life. And it was a level. And then God said, no, you got to advance out of that level because there's another level after that, and you actually have to forgive your father. You just can't pretend like it didn't exist

and separate. That's not forgiveness. That's forgetting. Forgetting will never get you into the Promised land. Little by little, and then I had to actually ask my dad for forgiveness. But then God said, now you need to ask him for forgiveness because I built up these walls and it was punishing everybody else around. And I had to say to my dad, would you forgive me for building up

these It's a process. It's little in his heart. And my dad got some bad diagnosis a year ago and he went into some ill health and I went to see him last November. And this is a picture of me with my father. His name is Leon Charles Brye. We share the same middle name. And that's the first picture that I've ever taken with my dad that actually felt like I've forgot given him. It's the first photo I've ever taken where I actually love him. I wasn't

embarrassed by him, and I wasn't ashamed of him. And God really showed me in that photo. You're on the other side of the promise, the thing, the promise that made you. You're on the other side of it was a process, and they're on the other side of it. And I said, moment, I treasure And I was at noon that day. Six hours later at dinner, we're sitting at my mom's kitchen table and we're looking through this book. This is a book my cousin put together of my

grandma's journals. Grandma Agnes, my dad's mom. It's her recipe book. It's a journalist started back in nineteen fifty nine, did it all the way into the nineties when she passed away. Simple farm woman from Minnesota, I mean, didn't get into her plumb until the late eighties. You know, some days the entries would be it's thirteen below, we picked the eggs, build the hay, things like that, and it was just fun. I'm sitting there going through this story with my mom

and it's just incredible. Just you know live in that promised land. And I come across this entry from November of nineteen seventy eight. I would have been eight years old at that time, and it says Dorothy calls at about four o'clock in the morning, Dorothy's my mom, Like, Mom, what's this? Like? What was that about? She goes, you don't remember. I'm like, Mom, No, I don't what are you talking about? She goes, I can't believe you don't remember. I'm like, Mom, Now you're kind of freaking me out.

Like she goes, that was when your dad was having the affair. Oh. And as she said those words, it's like a flood of memories just downloaded, and it started to remember all of the chaos that was around that moment. God had covered it so that I wouldn't see it until forty years later. His grace covered me until I was ready to see it. But in that moment, if you don't understand the struggle, you won't possess the promise.

In that moment, I felt like I forfeited all of this promised land territory and I'm back at level one. And God says, no, no, no, you have forgiven your father and you've walked it out and it's been a little bitter little and I know it's been forty years, but you have forgiven him. And I'm not telling you you lost all that territory. I'm just showing you more territory you can possess. It's little by little, And I felt God speaking into my spirit saying this, this is

a jeebus. This is a generational thing that's been there forever. And he says, this one is about the next generation. It has nothing to do with you. And God spoke into my spirit says, if you face this unforgiveness issue. Because I didn't want to face it, my dad passes away two months later after that photo. I didn't get a chance to talk to him about like why this happened. Dad. I didn't get a chance to make that resolution with him. But God's working on me, and I didn't want to.

And God said, listen, this isn't about you. This is about your kids. And he says, if you face this one, they'll never have to. And so what it means is you got to take your kids back through all of these levels. Don't just pretend like it didn't happen. You walk them through that so that you can show them the next level they get to stand in. And I realized that I'm on the other side when I'm not

at the center. That's what David realized with the Israelites, and he moves towards Jeebus and the Jebisides who live there said to David, you will not get in here. And that's what the devil has been telling you for a long time. You'll never stand in that promise. You'll never get there. And I'm so glad that David was there in that moment because his response is our response. It is the attitude of perseverance, and it's the word that I speak over you. And this next word is

the word that absolutely can change your life. This next word is the word that when you come up against opposition and you don't think it's ever going to happen, you speak to the thing as David did. And David said, nevertheless, nevertheless, Nevertheless, I know it doesn't look like you should be successful. Nevertheless, I know you're tired and exhausted and frustrated. Nevertheless, I will move forward. Nevertheless. It's the sound of perseverance. It

is the attitude of a follower of Christ. Who's going to move into the promised land, who will possess the promises that God made for you? But you will never possess it if you don't persevere toward it. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed

the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.