Be strong and courageous! You are not alone. Throughout scripture, we see God telling His people to be courageous, because He was with them. If you are facing something impossible today, let this be your confirmation that you are not alone, and find courage in the fact that God has promised to be with you and fulfill His promises in your life. God is with you!

is

every time i could find that god

revealed that he was with an individual

or with a group of people it was always

connected to their impossible assignment

he revealed his presence because he told

them to do something they could not do

verse 9

have i not commanded you be strong

i don’t know i’m picking up this idea

that maybe we should be strong

have i not commanded you be strong and

of good courage do not be afraid

nor be dismayed for the lord your god is

with you wherever you go that last

phrase is critical

years ago i did a a study where i tried

to find every place

where the lord said he would be with

somebody

so we see it with moses the lord says

i’m going to be with you

we see it with gideon he’s facing this

crazy insurmountable task of this army

he’s got 300 soldiers the lord says i

will be with you

we see it all through the scriptures you

see with the prophets we see it with

different ones who are put in these

positions the lord says i will be with

you

we see it in the great commission

matthew 28 verse 19 and 20.

go into all the world it ends with and i

will be with you always the point is

every time i could find that god

revealed that he was with an individual

or with a group of people it was always

connected to their impossible assignment

he revealed his presence because he told

them to do something they could not do

let’s rephrase that

we sing the song i love your presence

and we do

we love the presence of the lord but the

manifestation of the presence of god is

to guarantee you’ve been assigned to the

impossible

he could comfort us in many ways

but it’s more than just his presence to

comfort me it is to equip and enable me

to confront things that jesus would

confront if he were in these shoes

he says be strong

and courageous do you understand

that he would never command me to be

strong

if it wasn’t within reach

in other words

if my will if i could not will my way

into it

then it would be a cruel command

he didn’t say

feel courageous

he didn’t say hover till you feel strong

he said just be it

be strong

now if god is commanding me to do

something

that is the product of

10 years of obedience

then it’s a it’s a cruel command because

i’m in trouble right now i got a problem

right now

and he comes to us with a command

be strong and don’t fear

be courageous do not be dismayed

why because i’m with you

for me the implication is

if i am overwhelmed by the size of my

problem i have lost sight of the

presence of god and his promise that

prevails over my life

it’s what it’s what

helped the ten

spies to not lie but emphasize the size

of the giants the size of the problem

it wasn’t a lie they just described that

problem

without the prevailing word of god over

their life without the abiding

manifested presence that was visibly

seen

among them every day of their life in

the wilderness

visible manifestation of the glory of

god the pillar of fire by night the

cloud by day it was there day after day

after day after day but they didn’t

remember that when they got into the

promised land and they saw giants

they saw big people instead of a big god

i’ve told you in recent

weeks that most of us

our miracle our breakthrough begins

the moment we stop being impressed by

the size of our problem

many people define themselves by the

size of the problem oh it’s been rough

and i don’t mean we shouldn’t share and

pray with each other i i get that so

i i know this could be misapplied but

it’s worth the risk

if i get some of you to apply it it’ll

be good

your giant

is your next meal

give us this day

our daily bread

god create the table in such a way

that i am so overwhelmed

by who’s at the table

and what you put there for me to eat

that i never again

become impressed with the enemy who was

watching

my one of my most favorite verses of all

is in acts 10 38

and i uh

just about any time i’m thankful for

digital clocks because they say 10 38.

and when whatever they do even i’ve been

up here talking before and i’ve seen 10

38 and just pause in my heart and

acknowledge the reality of acts 10 38

one of the most important scriptures for

my life

it’s where he says

god was with jesus

and he anointed him

to heal every disease

to destroy all the powers of hell that

he ran into

because god was with him

it says jesus went about doing good

healing all who were oppressed the devil

listen to this phrase for god was with

him

the very fact that the presence of god

is manifested with him

emphasizes

that role he had

he had as man with the presence of god

with him

why

because he’s looking for a generation

that will say an equal yes

and look at the giant

and say

you are my dinner

you are my dinner

[Applause]

well i don’t want to make the devil mad

he’s already mad you are my dinner

yeah i’m so glad that you uh watched

this video i do pray that it’s a great

great strength and encouragement to you

and i’ve got a verse that it really is

my cry for all of us and it’s psalms 20

it’s verse 4.

may he grant you your heart’s desire and

fulfill all your plans

that’s my prayer that’s my prayers that

this would be the season of rich rich

fulfillment

thanks for joining us