Transcription
[music] So, we're going to read Numbers chapter 20. We're going to start at verse 6. We're going to conclude at verse 12. Y'all ready?
It reads and it says, "Moses and Aaron went down from the assembly of entrance into the tent of meeting and fell face down. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them."
I love when this glory falls. The Lord said to Moses, "Take the staff and you and your brother Aaron, gather the assembly together. Speak to the rock."
Somebody say, "Speak."
"Speak." [music]
"Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will pour out as water. Water is not supposed to come from a rock. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they livestocks can drink."
So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence just as he commanded. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock. And Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels."
Moses about cussed him out. "Must we bring you water out of this rock?"
Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice. I thought God said, "Speak to it." With his staff, water gushed out, [music] and the community in their livestock drank.
"But," somebody say, "But."
But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, [music] "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites. You will not bring this community into the land [music] that I give them."
At Blueprint, we have a saying that notetakers are notakers. So, could you please write this down? But before you write this down, can you help me introduce our topic for today?
Say, "Neighbor."
"Neighbor."
Come on. Y'all know that was the wrong neighbor. Find you another neighbor. Say, "Neighbor."
"Neighbor."
"Check yourself," [screaming] "before you wreck yourself." My God. Today, if you believe that, put your hands together if y'all excited for the word of God on this morning. All right.
We're in this series called "Block." Somebody say, "Block."
"Block."
And the premise of this series is that there are habits, perspectives, and even people that can stand in the way and be barriers or even blockages for us being able to access all that God has for us. Somebody say, "God has a promise for you."
"But there are certain..." Oh, yeah. Let me let y'all say what y'all going to say first. There are certain things that God wants for us in our lives, but there are certain things that we can put in the way of us from receiving that promise. Somebody say, "Amen."
"Amen."
And over the last couple weeks, we have been expounding and extracting these ideas that we believe that can be barriers or blockage from us receiving all that God's had for you. 'Cause somebody say, "We want all that God has for me."
"We don't just want some. I needed all everything. Everything."
"Everything."
"Everything."
And we talked about two topics so far. We talked about our unbelief can be a blockage from our promise. And we talked about how disobedience can be a blockage of our promise. But today, I want to take a little bit of time to be a little messy and talk about a subject that we don't get to talk about in church that often.
Touch your neighbor. Say, "Slide your feet back." Y'all know I typically, I typically don't do this. I'm, I'm not the one that step on y'all toes. It's P.M. So, y'all be nice to me when y'all see me at the service today.
"Y'all got me?"
Okay. So, I want to talk about our emotions. I want to talk about our emotions.
And so, family, I want to start with a very honest and very real statement today. And it's this. Please write this down: "Oftentimes regret happens when emotions go unchecked." Oftentimes regret happens when emotions go unchecked.
In other words, when I allow my emotions to take the wheel and make the decision rather than letting my wisdom make the decision, I end up with an outcome that I'll regret rather than an outcome that I'll rejoice in.
See, 'cause listen, because if we could be honest, typically disaster breaks out when emotions go unchecked. Because listen, unchecked emotions will have you leading your way out of rooms that God was calling you into. Unchecked emotions will have you acting on on feelings that feel justified in a moment but will cost you in the long run. Unchecked emotions will have you moving fast in seasons that God was calling you to take your time, be patient, and be faithful. Unchecked emotions will have you breaking relationships that you were called to build or building relationships that you were called to break. Unchecked emotions will cost you a lot.
Family split because emotions went unchecked. Divorce happens when emotions go unchecked. Bitterness takes root in your heart when emotions go unchecked. Words are spoken that can't be taken back. When emotions go unchecked, opportunities are forfeited when emotions go unsick.
What am I saying? What are you saying, P.D.? That emotions are amazing servants but terrible masters. Emotions are amazing servants but terrible masters. Then when emotions go unchecked, untamed, unressed on the process, you become a slave to the very thing that you were called to rule.
And sometimes our inability to process our emotions will cost us access to things that God wants us to have. And we see this in our text today.
Somebody say, "Moses."
"Moses."
You see, in Numbers 20:6-12, we see this moment that cost Moses's promise. They're in the wilderness. They're in this desert, and they're thirsty. They don't have water. And then they're sitting back and forth trying to figure out what they're going to do.
And then once again, the very people that Moses was called to lead, the very people that Moses done got out of Egypt and brought into freedom, the very people that Moses then asked himself and allowed himself to be used by God to be able to lead these people through miracle after miracle after miracle. He's sitting there expecting another miracle from God. But the people are looking at him, getting ready to turn on them.
"Yeah."
Now, ain't that crazy that you done brought me out of slavery, out of bondage, into my breakthrough, and I'm about to get ready to turn on you? That you interceded, you stood in the gap, that you prayed for me, and I'm going to turn on you? I pray for you, and you turning on me. I held you down, and you turning on me. I gave you money, and you turning on me. I stayed up all night on that phone with you while you was going through that tough season, and you turned on me. And I can't stand when people just people, because I held you down and I did all this for you. And in the midst, when times get rough and when things get shaky, you forget about all the stability that I brought into your life. And now you turning on me.
And we see Moses frustrated at these people, 'cause we know at the end of the day, people going people. And at the end of the day, the day got in. That's what she said, right? And people going people every single day of the week.
So, he goes to God. He said, "God, what must I do?" And him and his brothers go into the tent of meeting. Can I give y'all a little context? Can we walk through this word? Can I teach this to y'all really quickly?
He goes to God for instruction and said, "God, what shall I do?" And God gives him instruction. He says, "Take your staff. I want you to go out there. I want you to gather the people, and I want you to get them in front of the rock, and I want you to speak to it."
Somebody say, "Speak."
"Speak."
"When you speak to it, out of it water will gush out. And not only will they have enough water to drink, but their animals and their livestock will have enough water to drink."
And Moses says, "Okay, I'm going to go do what you told me to do." He leaves the presence of the Lord. Oh my God. He leaves the presence of the Lord, gets in front of the people, and instead of speaking to the rock, he strikes the rock. He said, "Listen, you rebels."
Man, Moses had that on his mind, didn't he? "Listen, you rebels. Must we bring out water out of this rock? Must I do this for y'all to stop switching up on me? Must God do another miracle for y'all to believe? How many times has God gave us mana by day and quail by night, and y'all still don't believe just because we're in this wilderness and desert that you have a short memory of what God did for you before? And you have a short memory of what God can is able to still do again. Must we bring water out of this rock?"
And then he takes the staff and he strikes the rock. Not one time, but two times. That's how you know he was fed up and he was mad. He strikes the rock two times. Water gushed out, 'cause even in your disobedience, sometimes God will still do a miracle, because sometimes the miracle that God wants to do is bigger than you. He needed to serve the people while you were throwing your temper tantrum.
And what happens is that he leaves and goes back into the presence of the Lord. And he begins to say, and the Lord speaks to him and his brother and says, "Because you did not trust in me enough to represent me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not go into the land that I'm giving them."
What was he saying?
"That your emotional instability has blocked you access."
"That's good."
"And because you did not trust me enough, you can't go."
I said, "Man, God, now we all lose our cool every once in a while. I lost my cool yesterday." I, I mean, Mo, this is Moses that we're talking about. Like, Moses done did a lot. Like, you, you going to strip him from his promise for, for, for a tantrum. But if we can really give context and really walk through Moses's life, we see that this wasn't just a moment for Moses. This was a pattern.
Can we walk through Moses's life really quick? Y'all got time?
If we go back to the book of Exodus and we go back to the beginning of Moses's life, we see that Moses was born a Hebrew, raised in the palace as an Egyptian. Born a Hebrew, raised in the palace as an Egyptian. Born a Hebrew, raised in the palace as an Egyptian.
And what happened was at that time, the Pharaoh at that time had issued out an order that all the boys under the age of two must be killed and put to death. So, when Moses was born and was a baby, he was supposed to die. He was supposed to kill. Because sometimes when you were chosen by God, the enemy would try to take you out at birth. But I'm not preaching that today.
And what happens is that Moses's mother made the decision and said, "Nuh-uh, not my baby."
"Moses' mama remind me of my mama." She said, "Nuh-uh. You're not taking my baby."
And she did this. And what she did was she be to hide her baby from the Egyptians. She be to hide her in her home. She be to hide him in her cloths. And what she did was that she kept her baby until he was old enough to wean off of her. And what she did was got a basket and she placed them in it and shipped them down the Nile River like Amazon Prime.
And it just so happened that Pharaoh's sister, who was barren at the time and could not give birth to her own child, was bathing in the river. So, the whole time she just had faith and did not have, did not faith that you could not see and just believe that God, I'm just going to li let him go and I believe that you'll take care of him for the rest of his life.
Shipped him down the river. Pharaoh's sister sees the baby and looks at it as a blessing and takes the baby on and adopts him and raises him as royalty in the Egyptian palace. So, Moses grew up with the best clothes, with the best jewels, with the best education, and he was raised an Egyptian, but he was born a Hebrew.
Raised an Egyptian, born in Hebrew, raised an Egyptian, born in Hebrew. And then Moses grows up and becomes a man just to find out that he's not an Egyptian. He was actually born of a Hebrew.
"Wow."
Imagine growing up your whole life thinking that you're one thing, finding out that you're another. Imagine the hurt. Imagine the, the, the confusion, the identity crisis that he was in. Recognizing that whom I thought my mother was was not my mother, but my mother was actually the one that was suppressing my mother in slavery. And I was actually born of a slave. And I've been sitting in this palace living this good life. But my people have been suffering while I've been the one that's sitting on this other side, expecting them to serve me when I should have been serving them.
And he sits in this identity battle and this identity crisis. Is this boring y'all?
He sits in this identity crisis. Then we get to Exodus chapter 2.
Someone said, "Chapter two."
"Chapter two."
In chapter two, we see this scene where Moses sees a Egyptian mistreat a Hebrew and he kills him. Now, wait a minute, Moses, wait a minute. You telling me you had to kill the man? You done seen Egyptians do the Israelites bad all your life? You telling me you had to kill him?
Because that wasn't just a moment for Moses. That was a pattern. He could have just talked to him. He could have just set him straight. He could have did a thousand different things, but he killed a man. And because of this, he had to flee from Egypt and ended up in the wilderness. And he got to the wilderness. He ended up running into two young ladies, and them young ladies took them to their father named Jethro, and Jethro gave him a staff and made him a shepherd over his sheep and allowed him to marry one of his daughters, and he was out there for 40 years.
Somebody say, "40 years."
"40 years."
And then in Exodus chapter 3, we get to the scene where he was just minding his business. He done had, he done got married. He done had kids. He done been raising these shepherds. He was sheep. He done forgot all about what happened in Egypt and put his past behind him and said, "God, I thank you for this new life that you have given me."
And the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appears to him in this burning bush. Start talking to him, saying that you need to go back and let my people go. And y'all know the story. He goes back to Pharaoh, says, "Let my people go."
And Pharaoh says, "Nah, why would I do that?" And they go in this back and forth. And what happens is God begins to do all these miracles. He sends these plagues. He does miracle after miracle, miracle after miracle. And finally, Pharaoh said, "Get these people out of here because apparently God is mad and I'm tired of holding on to them. So, y'all go."
So, they go and God leads them into the direction of the Red Sea. And God leads them into the direction of the Red Sea. God leads them into the direction of the Red Sea. They could have went another way, but he leads them into the direction of the Red Sea. They get there and they find out that Pharaoh and his horses and his chariots—am I painting a picture? Is this a movie?—they're, they're, their, their, their horses and chariots are on the run chasing after this nation.
And they get there and he get there at the Red Sea and at this dead end, and they say, "God, why did you lead us here when the people are chasing us and you brought us to this dead end? We could have just died back in Egypt. We would have been better off staying in slavery."
And God said, "I brought you here because I needed to show you that I am the God and the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And I need to bring you to your dead end to show you that I am the God that can make a way out of nowhere."
So, what Moses does is that he raises his staff and the God of the God says he splits the Red Sea and they walk through on dry ground. And while the Egyptians are on the run chasing after them, they walk through and they make it to the other side, and the Egyptians are now in the sea and the water crashes on them. And God says that the enemies that you see today, you shall see no more. What was chasing you all your life, you shall see no more. What was bothering you all your life, you shall see no more. What had you bound all your life, you shall see no more.
And then he gets there to the wilderness after God had done all these miracles. He done split the Red Sea and all these other different things, and he has all these people. He's like, "All right, Lord. What do I do now? We here."
So, he walks up into this mountain. He goes to the mountain and God calls them to meet him there. 'Cause sometimes when you're leading people, you got to find your secret place and get away from people and spend time with God to instruct you on how you should lead your life, lead your family, lead your marriage, lead your business, lead whatever it is that God called you to lead in your life. 'Cause all of us are called to be leaders.
Somebody say, "Amen."
"Amen."
And Moses goes to the secret place up into the mountains and he begins to speak to God. And God himself takes the stone.
Somebody say, "Stone."
"Stone."
Makes them tablets and handwrites himself what we know as the Ten Commandments. And he says, "Go back down and give the people these instructions."
So, Moses goes back down just to see these crazy Israelites that he just brought out of Egypt. They took the gold that they got from the Egyptians, build a golden calf, and they ground there dancing around it naked, worshiping an idol instead of worshiping the God that just saved them.
How many of us have been brought out of bondage and you did not recognize that you start worshiping idols and now you became bound to a new thing after God just brought you out of a old thing? [applause]
And out of his frustration, Moses sees it and he begins to throw the tablets on the ground and he breaks them.
"Can I bother this?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
How many times has God given you something and you broke it 'cause you was mad at them? How many times have you broken something that was sacred simply because you were frustrated at your circumstance? Simply because you were frustrated with the people in your life? Simply because you were frustrated with the people that you were trying to lead? Simply because you were frustrated? But the people that you were trying to care for simply because you were frustrated and what God gave you, you end up breaking it because you was mad at them. [applause]
And Moses finds himself, like a lot of us do at times, find ourselves having to go back to God, asking God to give us back what it is that he given us in the first place, but we broke it because we didn't have our emotions in check.
And mind you, he was in the wilderness in the last incident I talked about. It had been how many, how long?
"40 years."
"How long?"
"40 years."
"40 years." And you still ain't grew out of that? You telling me it's been 40 years and you still got the attitude?
Let's make it practical. We talking about Moses. Let's talk about, talking about it's been three years and you still ain't forgave that person. It's been five years and you still can't watch your mouth.
I mean, it was cute in your teenage years. Now you 50, and you still ain't got that in check. And you still ain't got that in order.
And God is saying that this wasn't just a moment for Moses. This was a pattern. And we see time after time, time after time, time after time, all throughout the wilderness where this isn't just a moment. This was a pattern.
And whole time, God is saying, "Check yourself before you wreck yourself."
And we see that Moses did all these phenomenal things but didn't make it to the promise because his emotions blocked him. Which leads me to our big idea today for today. Write this down: "When emotions lead rather than God, access to God's promise is often lost." When emotions lead rather than God, access to God's promises are often lost.
And you know what's heartbreaking about this story? It's that this is Moses that we're talking about. That Moses is one of the greatest biblical figures that we can read about. That this is Moses that we're talking about. That there's Jews to this day that don't believe in Jesus because they believe in Moses. That this is Moses that we're talking about, that we see Moses be used by God to bring a whole nation. I'm talking about millions of people out of slavery into freedom. This is Moses that we're talking about. That Moses was the one that split the Red Sea. Moses was the one that led the people. That Moses was accredited for writing the first five books of the Bible, that when we read "In the beginning, God," Moses wrote that. And we see that Moses lived this full, purposeful, meaningful life, but yet God still had more for him. And because he could not get this in check, he missed out.
Which goes to show me that you can have a good life, but not have a God life. You can have a good life, but not have a God life. That you can be used by God in a mighty way and still miss what it is that you have. And don't you see that that Moses led a people to a promised land that he did not get to experience for himself because he did not get this in check.
So, I want to spend some time today, if we can, to really talk about our emotions and talk about how we can properly process what it is that we feel. And I have three points.
Somebody say, "Three."
"Three."
The first point, please write this down, is this: "Emotions are indicators, not authorities." Emotions are indicators, not authorities.
Everybody say this with me: "Emotions,"
"Emotions,"
"aren't,"
"aren't,"
"bad. Emotions aren't bad."
I got to be clear. I had to put that on the table 'cause I don't want y'all to hear what what I'm not saying and tell y'all what I am saying. In fact, emotions are a blessing from God. Emotions are critical. Why? Because they are key information that is trying to tell us what's going on on the inside. And what happens is that we think if we allow ourselves and we walk away from this conversation and think that emotions are bad, then we end up misusing our emotions and suppressing them instead of processing them.
Somebody say, "Amen."
"Yeah."
So, what we need to know is that emotions aren't bad. They just don't need to be in the driver's seat. Emotions aren't bad. They just don't need to be the ones that's in control. Emotions are good 'cause emotions are informations.
Emotions are like the, the, you know, the flashing, the light that keep flashing on your dashboard in your car. That check engine light that you've been ignoring for 3 months. That check engine light been on for 3 months. You said, "I'm going to just ride until the wheels fall off. I ain't got time. They going to charge me about $1,500 just for, just to tell me what's wrong with it. They ain't even fixed it yet."
But what happens is emotions is like that flashing light on your dashboard that's trying to tell you that something under the hood needs to be checked. And what happens is that when we pop the hood of our car or we pop the hood of our mind, we begin to go into the engine and see that there's an underlining issue that's trying to tell us what God is really trying to tell us.
So, for example, when my fear light comes on, it's really because I just feel unsafe. When my angry light comes on, it's really because I just feel some type of injustice or I'm really hurt. That when I'm sad, it's really because I feel like something was taken away from me and I lost something. Because the emotion is not necessarily the reality of what's taking place, it's the feeling that's driven behind it.
So, when we pop the hood of our mind and we ask ourselves and we look at emotions as information and not authorities, it keeps us in a posture to remain curious of what's really going on. Is this making sense?
"Yes."
So, what happens is sometimes, can I be a little messy? [laughter]
Touch your neighbor. Say, "Slide your feet back."
"Slide your feedback."
Sometimes what you'll see if you stay in a posture of curiosity and ask yourself the right questions and really go beneath the surface, pop the hood and see what that underlining issue is. Sometimes what will happen is that you'll see that the emotion that you feel is not even based on what's true. [applause]
"That's good. That's good."
So, you'll be feeling strongly about something that's not really the full truth or the truth at all. And when that happens is you'll feel strongly about something and you'll feel so strong and you'll argue somebody down and be dead wrong. You done argued them down, and you dead wrong. You done went through it and you done imploded on the people that you were called to love on.
And what happens is that when we allow ourselves to believe something that's not true and allow ourselves to feel a way that's not actually the reality, our actions mirror what we feel instead of mirror what is true.
In therapy, there's this term called cognitive behavior theory. Cognitive behavior theory. And what it says is, and what it means is that you have thoughts, feelings, actions. Thoughts, feelings, actions.
Say it with me: "Thoughts, feelings, actions."
And what that means is that what I think has a direct impact on how I feel. And how I feel has a direct impact on how I move. So, when I think about something, I believe it. And when I believe it, I get feelings derived from it. And when my feelings feel away, I it then dictates my actions at time. Is this making sense?
So, if I allow myself to think a lie, which is what the enemy wants to do, because the devil is a liar. He is a liar. If I get myself to believe a lie, then the enemy can get me in my feelings, which can get me in some trouble. Is this making sense?
"Yes."
Y'all not taking no notes. I'm looking at y'all. Y not y'all didn't write none of that down. It's okay. We going to send y'all the notes in the email tomorrow.
So, watch me. It can get dangerous when I'm in a disagreement with my significant other or my spouse and then I start to use definitive words like, "You never," or, "You always." And that ain't that, that might not be true. I did okay yesterday. I was all right. I messed up today, but I was okay last week. But when you say, "You never," you don't realize what you're saying. You're allowing your mind to believe that, which is making you feel more strongly about what's actually happening.
So, now what could have been a discussion escalates to a disagreement and then escalate into argument, and then people say things that they don't mean, but you can't take it back because it still hurt me the same.
Or can we get even a little bit more messy?
"Yeah."
You sitting there talking about, "I just know they over there talking about me." No, they not a worried about, they, they, they not talking about you. They not even worried about you. It's this, everybody think they got haters. Nobody hating on you. You don't, you don't even have enough motion for people for who to hat. But you sitting there feeling away about a group of people who minding their business, and then you go on and move how you move based upon what you assume that they was thinking.
Or can we even take it a step further? [sighs] What about what you believe about yourself?
"That'll do it."
Can we speak to the insecurities in the room? Because the enemy has allowed you to believe that you are small, then you feel small, then you walk into rooms that God called you to, and then you move small. So, the job was supposed to be yours, but because you let the enemy get into your mind, you walked into that job interview and all of a sudden your mind is going blank and you act like you don't have the expertise to answer the questions that they're asking you, but the whole time it's because you believed the lie. So, you felt the lie and then you moved on the lie. Is this making sense?
So, we have to allow ourselves to not believe the lie. Say, "Don't believe a lie."
"Don't believe a lie."
Because you are the head and not the tail. You are above and not beneath. You are the lender and not the borrower. God spoke over your life. He said, "Before I knew you, I knitted you in your mother's womb. I set you apart. I sanctified you. I chose you to run a nation." And he spoke that over you. He spoke that over me. He said, "I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord. Plans for you to prosper, plans for you to not harm and be in good health." He says that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither has it entered into the hearts of men. Why am I saying all this scripture? Because we need to believe in the word of God. And what he says about us, but the enemy is trying to strip us from his word. And sometimes we grab hold to the lie of the enemy instead of grab hold to the promises of God. And what happens is that we feel away about ourselves when God said, "You were never supposed to feel that."
"Who told you you were naked?"
"Adam."
"Who told you you wasn't enough?"
"Who told you you couldn't do it? Who told you that? Who lied to you? That's not what I said who you are."
But we believed the lie. And sometimes when we're popping the hood of our minds, sometimes we are not equipped to get down to the root of it by ourselves, which is wisdom that we bring someone with expertise to come and help, to help us get a proper diagnosis of what's really going on up here, which is why we believe in Jesus and therapy.
Somebody say, "Amen."
"Amen."
Because sometimes we don't always have the tools to be able to sit there with ourselves and peel back the layers of how we really feel.
Somebody say, "Amen."
"Amen."
Which leads me to my second point of the day. Write this down: "You have to know your surroundings."
After we check what's going on on the inside, now we got to check what's going on on the outside. After I check what's going on on the inside, now I got to check what's going on on the outside.
You know, in this church, it's a beautiful place, but it's so many moving parts to make sure that we can be as effective as we can be and so many moving parts to make sure that Sundays can go. We have so many different people from our staff. Shout out to our dream team. If our dream team is in the building next to us, [cheering] hundreds of volunteers that sacrifice their time to serve the people of God, serve God's house.
But one in particular, shout out to, uh, it's the optations in the building. Shout out to the opera sing that we got some strong men of God that serve in this church. Some strong brothers. They do set up. They do breakdown. And then some of them, they serve as our inhouse security. So, when we say that we still fight at this church, we not lying. So, don't try.
But what their job is, we have our officers here. They do a great job. But what our in-house security team does is their only task throughout the day is to just watch what's going on to make sure that everybody is good and to make sure that everybody is safe.
Somebody say, "Amen."
"Amen." [snorts]
And because we value you and your safety, we evaluate what's happening around you. What am I saying? When you value the call of God on your life, then you have to evaluate what's happening around you. Because things can be happening and things can be taking place. And because you never took the time to pause and really assess what's happening, it didn't mean that it didn't happen. It just means that it's weighing on you and you did not take the time to process it.
Can we go to Numbers 20:1 and give y'all some more context to the story? Throw it up on the screen for me. It reads, it says, "In the first month, the whole Israelite community arrived at the desert of Zen and they stayed at Cadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. There Miriam died."
Now, that might not mean anything to you, but if you knew that that was Moses's sister, so they're in the desert. Moses is leading a people and he's grieving his sister, and they don't have water and the people are turning on them. And instead of going to God and taking a pause and saying, "God, this is a lot," he said, "God, just tell me what to do."
I feel like y'all missed that. That he's grieving a death, still trying to do what God is calling to calling him to do. Still trying to fulfill his mission and his purpose and all these other different things, and he's working.
"Yeah." [snorts]
But never took the time to pause and say, "God, I'm hurting."
"Amen."
So, what happens is because he never paused and because he never assessed his surroundings and did not submit it to the Lord, he end up getting God's instruction but imploding on the people. Because sometimes when your emotions aren't in check, you end up disobeying God and and dishonoring him and misrepresenting him simply because you didn't submit your emotions to him. Is this making sense?
"Yes."
So, in, in, in the, in the Old Testament, it's this term called lament. That there's a, I believe there's a lost art of lamenting to God. And what the word lament means is that we, we literally just go before the throne and throw ourselves at the feet of the Lord and we just grieve all our emotions on him and we allow God to be able to sit with us and we sit with God while we're processing what it is that we're dealing with. Because how many of us know that God actually cares about how you feel because he's a good father and he does not want you suppressing and holding on to all that trauma without releasing it in a safe space.
And the Bible says that he looks at it as worship.
"That's good."
But we rather just go to God asking for instructions. And we see Moses do this his whole entire journey, that Moses didn't have a problem with praying. Moses didn't have a problem with interceding for other people. Moses didn't have a problem with spending time with God. But all throughout his journey from Exodus through Leviticus, through Numbers and Deuteronomy, we never see him go to God and say, "God, I'm hurting." We only see him go to God and say, "God, what will you have me do?"
Because we, and just like a lot of us, we live in this hustle and bustle culture and we're only going to God and spending time with him and saying, "God, what should I do next about my business? God, what should I do next about my finances? What should I do next about my relationship?" And God is saying, "What about your heart?"
"Yeah."
And because of this, we see consistent pattern of Moses imploding on people simply because he never checked his heart.
Somebody say, "Know your surroundings."
"Know your surroundings."
This is my last point of the day. I'm closing. Chris, you can play. Write this down: "We have to know that your feelings are not as important as your future." Your feelings are not as important as your future.
Moses missed out on what God had for his future because he prioritized how he felt rather than processing it. And here's the thing: things change. [music] Emotions are fickle. Feelings change. [music] But sometimes the consequence of your decisions last longer than the shift of your emotions.
So, you'll make a decision that'll cost you in the long run because how you felt thin, not thinking about how you're going to feel in the future. So, we have to understand that our emotions are not more important than our call. It's not more important than what God has for us. It's not more important than than being obedient to God. That we can't allow ourselves to prioritize how we feel rather than prioritize to where he's leading us.
And I don't want us, 'cause I've been here before. I've, I've hurt people because I was in my feelings. I've missed out on opportunities because I was in my feelings. I've, I've, I've blocked myself from things that God could have had for me because I was in my feelings.
And [music] what's crazy is that when we read Numbers 20:12 and you read it in context, God wasn't mad. He was disappointed. He said, "Because you did not trust me enough to be vulnerable with me, to, to trust me what's going on with you, because you did not trust me with your heart. You can't go. I got to stop you right here because you trusted me with everything else but that. You trust me with everything else but how you feel. And you never recognize that I am a [music] father who cares about what's going on in your heart. And I want to be able to heal those places of your heart that you cannot heal yourself."
And I believe that's a lot of us in the room today that God has been knocking on the door of your heart for a long time. And we're full suppressed of emotions that we never dealt with, that we never faced, that we never addressed, that we never processed. And God is saying, "If you could just give it to me, if you can just lay it at my feet, I can do something with that."
So, I want to pray for us today. That we walk away from today saying that God won't let pride stand in the way of me giving my emotions to you. And God, you gave me these emotions as a blessing. And any blessing from God, God is also calling us to steward it. So, help me steward this well so I will not block myself for what it is that you have for me.
Can we pray?
Spirit of the living God, we thank you, God. We thank you, God, that you are near to the brokenhearted and you save those who are crushed in spirit. God, we thank you, [music] God, that you've never turned your ear from your people. In Exodus, it says that you heard the cries of your people and you responded that they were bound, that they were lacking, and you heard them cry and you chose Moses for their cry and you chose [music] them to free them, God.
And I pray, God, that you continue to create spaces for us where we can cry out to you. And God, I believe in faith that you'll hear us and that you'll respond. And God, that you do what only you can do, that you'll touch what only you can touch, that you'll heal what only you can heal, and you'll restore [music] whatever it is that you can restore.
God, I pray that everybody under the sound of my voice today will walk away knowing that they can call on the name of the Lord and that the name of the Lord is a strong tower that the righteous can run to and are safe. May we find safety in you today. And God, may we trust our heart in [music] your hands more than we trust it in our hands.
So, say this with me: "Holy Spirit."
"Holy Spirit,"
"what are you [music] saying to me?"
"What are you saying to me?"
I'm going to give you 30 seconds [music] to just listen to what the Lord is speaking. [music] [music]
"That's good." [music]
There are some of us in here today that God wants your heart and you haven't given it to him yet. That God wants your life. He's been calling you and you walked in here on this Sunday. You thought it was just any other day and recognize that today could be the day [music] that you can surrender your life to the father who loves you, who gave his only begotten son, who lived the life that we could not live, who died the death [music] that we deserved, who shed blood on the cross that we may be cleansed from our sins, and that we may be reconciled with the father, and that for those of us who believe in him shall live and not perish and have everlasting life. [music]
I want to give you an opportunity today. If you have not given your life to Jesus or you have before and you feel like you strayed away, I want to give you a chance to make a decision now. [music]
And at Blueprint Church, we say that as in blueprint as it is in heaven, and what happens in heaven when somebody gives their lives to the Lord is that [music] the angel stole a party because they recognize that hell has lost another one. [music] And hell and heaven is real and forever is a mighty long time.
And you have an opportunity today. On the count of three, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand, [music] and your family around you is going to erupt and blow the roof [music] off this place because it's the best decision that you can ever make. So, on the count of three, if you want to give your life to Jesus today, raise your hand boldly. 1, 2, 3.
I see you back there, bro. [applause and cheering] I see y'all over there. We got hands all around the room. My God. Today, [applause] listen. The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, that he died for [music] your sins, that you shall be saved.
So, we're going to say a prayer today. And it's not the prayer that saves you. It's the faith behind it that saves you. So, we're going to say this prayer together. We're going to say amen. And then we going [music] to blow the roof off this place and celebrate what the Lord has done because hell has lost a few of them. [applause and cheering] [music]
So, repeat after me. Say, "Father,"
"Father,"
"I love you."
"I love you."
"I thank you."
"I thank you,"
"for Jesus."
"For Jesus."
"I believe,"
"I believe,"
"that he lived,"
"that he lived."
"That he died."
"He died."
"That he rose."
"That he rose,"
"for my sins."
"For my sins."
"Come into my heart."
"Come into my heart."
"Be my Lord."
"Be my Lord."
"I am yours."
"I am yours."
"And you are mine."
"You are mine."
"In Jesus' name." [music]
"Amen."
Come on, Blueprint family. [music] [music]