Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer – Set Up to Win

Priscilla Shirer (born December 31, 1974) is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, and Christian evangelist. Her father is Dallas mega-church pastor Tony Evans and her brother is Christian entertainer Anthony Evans.
The daughter of Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas,[1] Priscilla grew up well acquainted with the Bible. As a freshman at the University of Houston, she interned with a Christian radio station. Soon listeners were calling the station, inviting Priscilla to speak at their Bible study groups and other events. Soon she was invited to lead a weekly Bible study at the Zig Ziglar Corporation and then to join its speaker team. Priscilla has worked as an independent contractor for CBS and hosted a local television show, but recently she has focused solely on Christian ministry opportunities. She calls Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, her mentor in ministry.

Together the Shirers established Going Beyond Ministries, a speaking bureau featuring Priscilla. The parents of three young boys, the Shirers share ministry and family responsibilities. While Priscilla continues to minister full-time, Jerry manages his schedule and other business aspects of Going Beyond Ministries.

Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, including the LifeWay Christian Resources-sponsored Going Beyond conference and Deeper Still: The Event, where she shares the stage with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. She has also authored several books.

Shirer graduated from Duncanville High School and Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree from the latter in Biblical Studies.

In 1993, Shirer was a freshman at the University of Houston. Shirer was married in 1999 to Jerry Shirer, former Hilton Hotels executive. The couple has three sons.

In 2013, Shirer was a speaker at the 2013 Women of Faith conference. In 2015, Shirer made her film debut in the Kendrick Brothers film War Room. In October 2016, Shirer was recognized as one of four prominent women of faith during the 10th anniversary of God’s Leading Ladies Life Enrichment Program at The Potter’s House.[1] Shirer also featured at the 47th GMA Dove Awards.

Sherri’s is there people who love the

Lord they live for the Lord and they

love the Word of God and so what comes

out of them is really a part of what’s

in them it’s a part of their DNA and so

I am so excited to have on a Sunday

morning at James River church for the

first time

Priscilla Shire would you give it up for

priscilla shirer summer – James River

Church a men

amen well hi y’all it’s so great to have

an opportunity to be with you this

morning we really love this church so

much and love what God is doing in this

house and through this house

particularly obviously with the Women’s

Conference which is the reason why I

have the privilege to be here this

weekend and then a couple of years ago I

was also at the Women’s Conference and

to just see what God is doing and how

he’s growing it not only in numbers but

growing it’s reaching its potential and

it’s anointing God’s favor was there so

powerfully and beautifully all weekend

long and I kind of just wanted to take a

second before we go on to this message

to echo the encouragement that you’ve

been given ladies to register early for

next year for several reasons one of

them is that I don’t know if you’ve

noticed all notice or not but in the

venue this year in the arena’s there was

only like a couple of rows at the very

top that were left open it was almost

completely full and this is just your

first year in that arena which means

that there are lots of people coming in

from outside of your city and the state

even in coming in for this incredible

movement it with this particular

conference and it’s a good thing but if

there is one negative side to that it

could be that they all register first

and the women of James River don’t

actually get a seat and that would be a

tragedy for you all not to be able to be

there front and center so please do

register early because we are so excited

about all that God is doing in your

church and doing through that incredible

ministry and I also want to tell you

that Jerry and I are very impacted by

your pastors by the leadership of this

church the entire team of leadership of

this church amen

I want y’all to know that in the

privilege that we have of traveling to

many different churches and being the

privilege of being with many different

ministries that that sometimes it’s not

the case that you were with leadership

that actually has integrity that are the

same people in front of folks that they

are when nobody’s looking sometimes

that’s not always the case and so you

all need to know it this church that

everybody ain’t got it this good and

that to have leaders that genuinely love

the Lord and love you it is a blessing

and so we honor your pastors and we

honor the leadership team mrs. Kirk

thank you for inviting us I want to pray

with you and then I want to share with

you a few simple simple principles from

Scripture that I pray will impact your

life as much as I have found that they

have impacted mine let’s pray Lord Jesus

thank you so much for this privilege

that we have to be in your presence and

that we have to hear your voice through

the word what I pray that you would do

what only you can would you take this

one little simple message would you

divide it a couple thousand different

ways so that every single one of us will

hear from you Lord we’re glad that each

other is here but we didn’t come to see

each other we came to hear from you so

God would you please open every

spiritual ears and help us to be

attentive to your word we are your

servants and we’re listening

in Jesus name everybody agreed and said

Amen as was mentioned Jerry and I have

three boys Jackson is our just about 12

year old and then Jerry jr. is our 10

year old and then we have a little

surprise one we still don’t know how he

got here he is our just about six year

old and four days he’ll be six years old

he’s looking forward to that sixth

birthday we named him Jude and we named

him Jude on purpose because that’s as

close as I could get to revelation

because it is finished at the end of the

line

well I got Jackson’s very junior head

little sweet dude and they are our boys

I will tell you one distinguishing

factor about our boys is they are just

big boys my 11 year old already wears a

size 12 men’s shoe

that’s what size he’s in I know my

husband only wears a 13 and our 11 year

old is in a 12 and my 10 year old even

were in a pen and a Half Men shoe their

little brother is not far behind and

they’re just big guys and one of the

ways that have worked out well for them

is in sports they do enjoy sports kind

of whatever is in season we just are

playing and there are a couple of them

that haven’t really figured out their

nips yet they like sports but they

haven’t figured out what their thing is

going to be when our second son has

Jerry jr. loves baseball we call him JC

and JC has been involved in baseball for

probably five years now or so it’s just

it’s just his thing and I got a brag on

them a little bit and tell you that he

actually he’s got a knack for it he’s

really a very good baseball player and I

think that his size helps them out quite

a bit

he’s already able to when he gets a good

hit he hits the ball over the fence line

for his home runs and he’s great at

first base he makes lots of great stops

and lots of good outs of the first

baseman so we’re pretty proud of him as

a baseball player and we enjoyed the

baseball season we’re in Fall Ball right

now spring ball will be later on next

year and in the fall obviously the

weather is nice and cool we go out for

practice in the evening and when we’re

out at practice Jerry or I whoever takes

them it’s kind of nice sitting outside

the breeze is blowing same thing in

spring ball you go outside and in the

spring and the evenings it feels nice

outside the games are a family affair on

Saturday morning it’s cool outside feels

good

the problem with spring ball though is

that spring dovetails into summer now I

don’t know what happens in Missouri in

the summer but in Texas mid to late

summer it gets hot like ungodly hot

where the Sun is no longer your friends

and it’s just beating down brutally upon

you and you’re sitting out there at the

game that sometimes is not

first thing in the morning it’s at high

noon or one o’clock when the Sun is in

the middle of the sky and you’re sitting

there trying to cheer your kid on but

you’re sweating bullets from the fitness

sweating running down your shirt your

jeans and your doing hot out there and

it really still is variable when there’s

just one game but the problem is at the

end of spring ball there is a tournament

a series and so you’re going to be out

there on Thursday and you’re going to

play that first game and if your kid

does good then the team goes on to the

second game that day and then if they do

one of the second game they will

probably play a third game as they do

well on Thursday then they move on to

Friday’s series of games and if they do

well on Friday they come back on

Saturday and if they do well on Saturday

they come back on Sunday some of you are

not in your head because you have kids

in Little League you know exactly what

I’m talking about and you’re sitting out

there trying to be happy for your kid

but you’re wondering if there is ever a

time that it is okay to pray your kid

loses so you can go home can I just get

one witness they might know I’m talking

about and I will neither confirm nor

deny that I have ever done that but I do

recall last summer being outside it was

extremely extremely hot my husband

bought this huge outdoor kind of tent

thingy from Dick’s outdoor sporting

outdoor goods and we were sitting out

there under the tent but still it was

brutally hot and we’re sweating and they

played two games that morning it was

finally time for a break so we were glad

to have a little break we went into the

car to a restaurant for some air

conditioned and we sat there drink some

cool water a some some salad something

cold so that we could just cool off and

we felt refreshed as we went back to the

baseball diamond for a believable of the

third game that day and as we took all

the gear out of the car to walk over

toward the dugout where my son my son’s

team was going to be playing I watched

something happen to my son now he’s

normally a fairly confident gregarious

young man and I watched him his chin had

been up in excitement and enthusiasm

about this next game as we marched over

but

if countenance change his shinmin had

been up all of a sudden as we got closer

to the baseball diamond his chin began

to hang down

I watched him start wringing his hands

wiping them on his clothes because they

were sweating and I watched that chest

that had been poked out in confidence

all of a sudden it was kind of hungover

and I could not figure out for the life

of me why in the world his countenance

could change so dramatically from just

the car to the dugout so I kind of

looked around as I was carrying that big

bag of stuff I looked around to figure

out what was going on and then I spotted

what I thought the problem might be

there was a huge tree and underneath the

shade of the tree lay the team members

that were on the team we were about to

play I got a good look at these team

members and when I looked at them I

realized that these guys were a part of

a team that had faced my boys team

earlier in the season and when this team

had played my French team they had

annihilated my son’s team earlier in the

season I mean it had been a complete

upset it was embarrassing

these boys had worked these ones were

serious baseball players you know the

kind of have those furious parents it

was that kind of team these boys you

know they were the kind that when their

parents gave birth to them they

immediately right there in the hospital

put a mint on one hand and a baseball on

the other serious players and so we were

getting ready to play this team all over

again and I watched my boy in security

and started to overwhelm him as he

realized this was the team that we were

about to play but as we passed closely

by them we overheard two members of the

team talking to each other they thought

they were whispering but they weren’t

doing a great job so we heard them as we

walked by one leaned over to the other

and said there was that big that big kid

from the other team do you remember him

yeah he’s the one that hits the ball and

it went over the fence you mean the one

that was that first base the first

baseman the one that caught the outs

that was him the kid leaned over and

said yeah that’s Gerry Shire

when my boy heard his name crossed the

lips of the opposing team members all of

a sudden that chin that was down all of

a sudden it went back up again his chest

poked back out all of a sudden he got

his swag back in fact we had to take him

down a few notches before the game

started because it really is amazing how

your countenance can change when you

really understand what the enemy thinks

about you that no matter what the

challenge is that you have ahead of you

when you really understand and believe

every single thing that the Word of God

declares to be true about you it changes

the way you face the battle it changes

the way you face the enemy when you

understand that every time the enemy

sees you coming he is shaking in his

boots because you have a daughter or a

son of God you are a threat to

everything that he is trying to do so no

matter what your challenge is today

whether app in your marriage or in your

finances are in your singleness or on

your job or in your ministry no matter

what the challenges that you have to

that is that you have to face you need

to really understand that the enemy

believes every single thing that the

Word of God declares to be true about

you that even if you don’t believe you

are victorious the enemy does even if

you don’t believe that you have been

forgiven the enemy is completely sure

because God’s Word declares it to be

true that you are free that there is no

condemnation for those who are in Christ

Jesus you might not believe it but the

enemy knows beyond any reasonable doubt

that he is already under your feet he

knows that he can form a weapon against

you but that it will never prosper he is

very clear on the fact that because 2nd

Corinthians chapter 3 says that you’ve

been made competent by the Spirit of God

that you are totally capable to handle

anything that may come your way even if

we don’t believe it the enemy knows

beyond any reasonable doubt that in the

end we win

y’all what a tragedy it would be for the

enemy to believe more about our

potential than we do what a tragedy it

would be that when you face the

difficulties that come with life the

next game that you’ve got to play the

next bat you have to swing the next

hurdle that you have to get over on the

journey of your life what a tragedy if

we get to the hurdle and we shrink back

and fear or discouragement when when the

enemy knows beyond any reasonable doubt

that if we ever just really step in to

all that God has called up and

commissioned us to be as daughters and

sons that that we could cross any river

we could get across any hurdle we by the

spirit of God’s power can get around and

across anything that comes our way and

move forward to the destiny that God has

for us and so I want to offer

encouragement for anyone that is in the

room on this wet Sunday morning and

there is a hurdle in front of you you

like my boy are are seeing this

intimidating circumstance that is in

your path and you’re wondering how in

the world you’re going to ever be able

to get across this or through this or

around this so that you can move forward

toward the destiny that God has for you

there is encouragement for anyone in

this room that finds themselves and that

sort of predicament from a group of

people that know exactly how that feels

the children of Israel had just been

released from slavery for 500 years

nearly of slavery in Egypt they had just

been released after ten miraculous

plagues they’re on the journey with God

just like you and I are they are headed

toward the promised land the land

flowing with milk and honey that was

representative of the place that would

have God’s power and God’s presence and

God’s favor with them consistently and

constantly they are on the journey with

God but on the way they come across a

little problem called the Red Sea a

hurdle they’re going to have to get over

so that they can get on with their lives

I want to find out how they handle that

problem it’s good help us and instruct

us on how we can handle ours if you have

your Bible and you want to turn with me

to Exodus chapter 14 if you still

actually use a Bible with paper pages

like I do or you can use your iPhone

your iPad any manner of i-ness just flip

on over to Exodus chapter 14 I believe

they may have it on the screens as well

for us to see how the children of Israel

handle the Red Sea Exodus chapter 14

verse 13 and 14 Moses says to the people

do not fear stand by and see the

salvation of the Lord which he will

somebody say he will which he will

accomplish for you today for the

Egyptians whom you sing today you will

never see them again forever the Lord

will fight for you while you keep silent

that’s good isn’t it listen to that

again Moses says to the people while

they’re still looking at the Red Sea

that they have to see no miracle yet

they don’t know how it’s going to be

divided they can’t figure out how in the

world they’re ever going to be able to

move forward on their journey with God

Moses looks at this discouraged people

and says to them do not fear cause ain’t

nobody got time for that

stand by and see the salvation of the

Lord

which he will somebody say he will he

will accomplish for you today for the

Egyptians whom you’ve seen today you

will never see them again

forever the Lord will do the fighting

for you if you’ll just keep silent

Moses look to the children of Israel in

the face of seemingly insurmountable

obstacles he looks at them and he gives

them for instructions for instructions

that I want to share with you but before

I do I want to make sure that you did

not miss the fact that embedded within

these little two verses that have these

four instructions for those of us that

need to get across hurdles in our life

embedded within these two verses there

is a declaration of victory

that the promise of victory is already

there he doesn’t say that God might give

us victory today that we’re going to

hope that maybe possibly we’ll be able

to have victory today he said that he

will accomplish this victory on your

behalf he sent to the children of Israel

that you need to change your vantage

point completely you are not getting

ready to fight for victory you are

fighting from a place of victory you’re

already in a position that is victorious

it changes the way you face the battle

when you understand that the victory has

already been given to you that there are

some things in Christ Jesus that are

already done the promises of God in

Christ Jesus are yes and amen and it

changes everything when you realize the

victory is already yours you see

everything from a different perspective

and so Moses is not getting ready to

give them instructions that will help

them create the victory or manipulate

for the victory he is only going to tell

them the four things they need to do so

that they can just lay hold of the

victory that is already theirs the Lord

says to us this morning on this Sunday

morning that if you will do these four

things these four things will allow you

to lay hold of the victory he’s already

got planned for your life the first

thing he says is be fearless he says do

not fear then he says be still stand

firm then he says be watchful see the

salvation of the Lord and then he says

be quiet I thought for just a few

moments you and I can look at each of

these four things these four things that

are so simple they sound so simple but

they can be hard to inscribe on our

hearts and implement in our lives but if

we’ll make a decision to do it we too

will see how to get across the red would

be a Red Sea circumstances of our life

and move on to the victories that the

Lord has planned for us the very first

big instruction that Moses gives to the

children of Israel and that the holy

spirit gives to us today is that we

ought to

be fearless he says do not be afraid so

important if this issue of fear that

over 300 times between the Old Testament

and the new over 300 times God’s people

are commanded in some form or fashion do

not be afraid it’s said in different

ways be fearless do not be afraid fear

not over and over and over again we have

daughters and sons of the Most High God

are commanded to choose fearlessness now

it makes sense that Moses would need to

give the children of Israel these

instructions makes complete sense

remember they had just come out of

brutal living for 500 years they had

been completely traumatized and

brutalized they are just days out of

that situation days out of that

circumstance they want so desperately to

get to Canaan and they want so anxiously

to get away further and further from

Egypt and the captors and on their way

there they come across this Red Sea and

yo when they looked across the Red Sea

they could not see the shoreline on the

other side and when they look to the

right they could not see that there was

any land for them to go around and when

they look to the left they saw more of

the same it seemed to them that they

were completely blocked blocked in on

the front to make matters worse

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened all over

again he decided to get his homeboys and

to come after them so Pharaoh and his

army came up on the rear so now they’re

blocked in the front and they’re blocked

behind but the problem is not only that

they’re blocked in front and behind but

scholars say that Pharaoh’s army would

have been so vast that they also would

have spanned out around the east and the

west side of the children of Israel so

not only do they have a problem in front

not only do they have a problem behind

there’s also a problem on both sides in

other words they are completely

surrounded in a group this size I bet

there are some of you sitting in this

room and you know how it feels to be

completely surrounded because you just

took care of this problem only to turn

this way in your life and realize

there’s another problem waiting on you

then you took care of this one only to

turn this way and realize this

another one here and then you turn this

way only to realize there’s another one

here everywhere you look it just seems

like you are surrounded on all sides the

children of Israel know exactly how you

feel and it makes sense when you are

surrounded on all sides that fear would

well up within you and seek to to

paralyze you and you from from

moving forward or from moving on in your

life which is why Moses had to say to

these people the exact same thing that

the Holy Spirit has to say to us in our

own personal life circumstances do not

be afraid it does not mean you won’t

feel the fear

it means you will choose not to wallow

in the fear that you feel it don’t mean

it does not mean that fear and

intimidation and insecurity might not

well up within you it doesn’t mean that

they will knock on the door of your life

but it doesn’t mean that when they do

you will not open the door and invite

them in and tell them to stay a while

and make them some tea and crackers and

have a party with them it means that you

don’t make friends with the fear that

you feel it means that every time that

fear welled up on the inside of you you

take every thought captive to the

authority of Christ that you find the

promises of God that apply to that with

you of which you are afraid and you

speak God’s Word over your circumstances

y’all this life that we are living yo

that’s not a playground this is a

battlefield don’t you know there is an

enemy who is after your destiny

he knows that on the other side of that

thing that you are afraid of is milk and

honey so he’s gonna do everything he can

to so you that you never want to

move forward toward that thing that you

are afraid of because he knows that on

the other side of that is the promised

land that’s got your name on it

but you got to make a decision not to be

afraid

but you won’t let fear hamper you or her

throughout the progress of your life

listen I want you to know that when I am

trying to discern God’s will in my life

let’s say there are two things Jerry and

I are praying through what do we do how

do we move forward which options should

we take if there is one option that I’m

not interested in I mean I just don’t

like that I’d rather do this over here I

just don’t want this when I pray through

it and I think through all the reasons

why I don’t want this particular option

if at any level even at the root if I

find that it has anything to do with the

fact that I’m afraid of it or I’m

intimidated by it or I don’t think I’m

capable enough or insecurity if any of

that is wallowing down at the bottom of

my reason why I do not want to do

something I automatically assume that

the enemy must be behind that because

you see God does not give a spirit of

fear

now our God hears him the gift gives a

giving business he loves to give his

children gift but one gift gift you will

never find coming from God it will never

have a bow on it with a with an oath and

God saying hey I got a gift for you one

gifts you will never find coming from

God his fear he doesn’t do it but power

love found mine that’s God okay so if I

discover that the spirit of fear is

attached to something in my life and I

know that God does not give fear then I

automatically assume that it must be the

enemy behind that fear and if the enemy

is working that hard to cause me to

steer clear of that thing it must be

because he knows there is something in

that thing he does not want me to have

and I don’t know about y’all but when I

find out that the enemy is behind

something it causes the holy indignation

to rise up on the inside of me because

anything and everything that the enemy

does not want me to have that’s exactly

what I want to have and so I begin to

pray and I say Lord why is the enemy

working so hard to cause me to steer

clear of that thing if there’s something

in that thing or on the other side of

that thing that have to do with your

destiny for my life or blessings for my

life Lord

don’t allow me to fear clear of the

things that the enemy wants me to just

simply be afraid of my friend don’t be

afraid cross that red sea on the other

side is the promised land don’t allow

the enemy that the joy of causing us to

be so paralyzed that he causes us to

steer clear of the very things that he

knows are best for our lives I remember

I remember when my boys began to love

baseball I remember it so clearly

because it was it was a unique Christmas

for us and I’ll tell you why up until

very recently I told the women this at

the conference this weekend up until

very recently this is how we did

Christmas I went to the dollar store and

bought each of my kids a couple little

things from the dollar store and I did

that for a couple of reasons number one

I decided I was going to milk that as

long as I could as long as they didn’t

know that those things weren’t worth

nothing I was going to do that as long

as I could

and I’d put them underneath this little

three-foot tree we have just in the last

couple trees a couple of years gotten a

you know a real Christmas tree because

the boys were all bigger than the

three-foot tricky co-ed and so we’ve

just kind of graduated up just a little

bit the boys are just now you know

they’re starting to in the last few

years discover that the Dollar Tree

thing the Dollar General Store stuff is

not really what they want to see under

the tree but I did that you know for

several reasons and one of the reasons

is to that my children have grandparents

can somebody say Amen about noon on

Christmas Day every Christmas day as

long as I can remember after we had a

little Christmas at home myself and all

of my siblings and all of our children

we all go to nonny and Poppy’s house my

parents and that is where my kids get

the loot amen are there any grandparents

in the room any picker we want you to

know we love you

you just keep doing what you do we

appreciate it so that’s where my boys

get the goods at grandparents at their

grandparents house but on this

particular Christmas it was a unique

Christmas because I had gone to the

dollar store and I got a couple things

put it under the Christmas tree but that

Christmas Jude wasn’t even with us yet

was just my oldest two boys I think they

were like five and three years old Gary

decided he was going to go to Toys R Us

and get them one real gift so he got

them this little plastic baseball

machine it was a machine that catapulted

baseballs out at a certain frequency and

a certain velocity just little plastic

baseballs and your kid stands there with

the plastic helmet on little plastic

baseball and waits for those balls to

come out well of course you know how

kids are as soon as they opened up at

seven o’clock on Christmas morning they

want you to put it together go outside

it’s cold you’re in your bathrobe every

were seven in the morning outside

watching them play this game and my

normally very gregarious outgoing son

you know he’s standing there with that

little helmet on he’s three he’s at

least swinging at every single ball that

comes flying out of that chute and and

his older brother who’s a little bit

more reserved and a little bit more

cautious he’s standing off to the side

he’s watching these balls come out mom I

can’t do that I said buddy yes you can

you can do it it’s going to be so fun

it’s almost your turn no mom I don’t

think I can do that no bowling balls are

too bad you can do it no mom I can you

can do it and you’re going to do it

because it’s seven o’clock in the

morning I’m out here in my bathrobe it’s

cold out here you don’t do it so finally

at his turn he stands there I’m getting

that the helmet all put on him and

everything and I get set up he’s

standing there with the bat and he is

horrified at the thought that the ball

is going to come out of that hole I felt

so bad for him he was so insecure and

and so unsure of himself and I was just

wishing I could get his little

five-year-old brain to understand

something that I knew what I knew is

that while I was getting his helmet on

his dad had gone behind the machine and

had opened up this little flap that

reveals some gears the gears could be

adjusted and manipulated so that the

frequency and the velocity of the balls

was matched up to the capability of the

person that was standing at the plate so

the reason

my boy had no reason to fear it’s

because he had a daddy who loved him who

had already gone behind the scenes and

had already orchestrated the event so

that he was fed up to win can I tell you

why you have no reason to fear you have

no reason to fear because y’all we have

a daddy who loves us right now as we’re

sitting in this room he has already gone

behind the scenes of your life

he is orchestrating events and

circumstances and people and people he

is connecting the dots so that all you

have to do is say yes Lord in obedience

and step up to the plate of God’s will

for your life and every single time you

do that in obedience you will hit a

homerun

not because you’re so great but because

you have a daddy who loves you and who

is great and who he is working on your

behalf and on my behalf

do not be afraid the second thing that

that Moses says is listen listen not

only do you need to not be afraid he

says I want you to be still some

translations of that verse the one I

read to you says stand by others say

stand firm and still others say stand

still I want you to notice the two parts

of the command the standing part and the

stillness part just so we’re clear I’ve

got a problem with both of these the

standing part and the Phyllis and the

reason why I have a problem with it is

because I want you to put yourself in

the situation that the children of

Israel rid surrounded the Red Sea in

front of them an army coming up behind

them and Moses the best you’ve got is

stand still don’t you see that we’ve got

some swords here available to us mow

don’t you want us to pick up one of

these swords and and go to battle

against the children of Israel Moses you

do realize we’ve got a bow and some

arrows here we can set them on fire on

the ends and go ahead and send them

sailing into enemy territory

Moses we’ve got some wood here wouldn’t

you like us to get this wood and start

to chop it up so that we can bind it

together and build a raft so that we can

get across this body of water

motive the best you can come up with a

stand still seems like such a passive

command in the midst of such active

circumstances seems like it makes

absolutely no sense to us that this

would be what you want us to do to

handle this unbelievably difficult

scenario that we are finding ourselves

in Moses you me you don’t want us to

lean to our own understanding as to what

makes sense to solve this problem you

want us simply to plant our feet and to

stand firmly and to trust and have

confidence we don’t even know what God

or if God is going to do anything the

best you can come up with is just

standing in your situation whatever it

might be the Holy Spirit says to you

today the solution that is coming to

your mind as the most rational way that

you would handle the circumstance or the

way that your experience tells you is

the way to handle the circumstance is it

always necessarily the best way

sometimes your solution is found in just

standing firmly on the promises of God

and believing that what God says is

exactly what he will accomplish in your

life and that he never has nor will he

ever need our help to bring solution in

the circumstances of our life He is God

y’all all by himself he does a very good

job at being God so sometimes you have

to do what seems like the most passive

thing not nothing but spending I know it

sounds passive but when you think about

it there’s nothing passive at all about

standing when you’re busy you’ve had a

busy busy day tiring when you get home

if you’re like me you take your shoes

off you go into the living room and you

don’t stand you find a place to sit down

don’t you you sit down because you want

to take the weight off you want

something else to carry and support and

sustain you standing actually requires

the the molecular structure of your

muscles to begin to to work it requires

a decision of your mind your brain has

to send a message down

into your joints and your muscles and

your bones to cooperate there has to be

some strength involved to hold up the

skeletal structure of your entire body

when you think about it passives are

outstanding actually sounds passive but

if you have the most active things that

you can do because it requires every

single aspect of your body to stand up

it’s going to require a decision of your

will a results in the midst of

circumstances when you’re looking at a

red senior maybe a fearing or discourage

what’s discouraged by what’s coming

behind you it’s going to take a

deliberate intentional decision of your

will to plant your feet on the promises

of God to not be swayed to the left or

to the right but to decide that I’m

going to believe that everything God has

declared to be true of me my

circumstances this circumstances of

things that I hold dear I’m going to

believe and trust that everything God

says is true standing not passive it’s

active requires a decision or resolve to

plant your feet and stand can I tell you

what makes mix Church powerful

especially a church like this one a

Bible teaching Church where we you are

being fed the description a in and day

out week in and week out what makes it

so powerful it’s not that we’re in here

celebrating it clapping for it waving

our hands to it all of that’s nice but

what matters is whether or not we

actually walk out of these doors and our

Monday is transformed because we’re

standing on what we heard on Sunday what

matters is whether or not our Tuesday

and our Wednesday and our Thursday and

our decision making on Friday and our

choices on Saturday whether all of that

is restructured whether the way with a

filter through which we deal with the

problems of our life whether we see it

completely differently because what we

heard is implemented in our lives

throughout the rest of the week that’s

when you stand it’s when you recall what

God has said to you and then you plant

your feet and believe him there’s a

young lady that interned with our

ministry for a summer her name was Katie

Katie was a wonderful young woman from

Baton Rouge Louisiana Baton Rouge

Louisiana is a small pretty small

in comparison to Dallas small town and

the airport there is pretty small don’t

know if you’ve never been in it but it’s

a small airport and she hadn’t really

traveled a whole lot in her life anyway

but when she had it was in and out of

Baton Rouge so when she moved to Dallas

T and turned with us for the summer we

travel a lot and we travel out of

dallas-fort Worth International Airport

I don’t know if you’ve ever been in the

dallas-fort Worth Airport but it is a

monster Airport if you want to get to

your plane you first just have to know

which terminal you’re going to we have

five a B C D and E you got to first know

which terminal you’re going to then each

terminal has about thirty to thirty six

gates at each terminal you got to know

what gate you’re going to that would be

confusing enough except that most of the

gates have a Part A and depart B so you

might be going to terminal a gate 33 B

on one occasion actually the first

occasion that Katie was traveling with

us there were five of us the boys me and

Jerry and then Katie’s so six altogether

we drove up to Terminal D so that we

could get ready to fly off I think to

Los Angeles and we drove up to the

airport got out at terminal D we all got

in line for security we checked our bags

already we were now going through

security so we could board our flight

somehow all five of us got filtered into

a different Lane than Katie so Katie’s

going through security over there we’re

going through security right here and

for some reason our line was quick all

five of us got all the way through

security before Katie did so we’re all

standing on the other side of security

and Katie’s still on the back side and

and she shrugged her shoulders she

doesn’t know what’s going on with her

line and why it’s taking so long so

Jerry decides to just send her little

text he send her a text and said Katie

we will meet you at gate 22a now

remember we’re in terminal D he says

we’ll meet you at gate 22a

now when you come through security gate

22a was right there we could see it we

went ahead and took the kids to the gate

got them all settled we waited for Katie

they started to board the flight I

decided to go ahead and get the kids on

so while we’re waiting for Katie we got

the kids filtered on and we we decided

to put our baggage in the overhead

compartment get the kids all buckled in

and all settles and we’re wait

for Katie Gerry sends her another text

she does not respond we knew she had

gotten the text about meeting us at gate

22a she had she had responded to that so

we knew she’d gotten that we’re waiting

for her now other people are boarding

the flight and and we can’t we can’t

find her and she’s not there she’s not

responding we know we we believe she’s

going to miss the flight

because now the last person has gotten

on the plane we even start to hear them

call her name over the loudspeaker

you know you late when they start

calling your name over the lousy they

are about to close the door of the

airplane finally at the last second

y’all Katie comes running down the jet

bridge walking down that little small

narrow aisle way of the plane she is

sweating bullets her hair is plastered

to the side of her face she settles down

into her chair and she wipes her sweat

and she buckles up and she looks up just

in time to find the five of us looking

back at her like this we said Katie what

in the world happened she said well I

saw that Jerry told me to meet y’all at

gate 22a but I just assumed that he

meant gate a 22 so I got on the airport

train that takes you to all the other

terminals in the entire Airport when I

got to gate a 22 I realized I weren’t

there so I had to get back on the

airport trying to take me all the way

around the entire Airport to come back

here

she literally almost missed the flight

and I remember if Jerry’s listening to

explain what happened he responded to

her with something I will never forget

he said to her Katie if you would have

just believed that exactly what I wrote

is exactly what I meant I could have

saved you so much time so much energy so

much sweat if you would have just

believed that exactly what I wrote is

exactly what I meant how many sleepless

nights an extra sweat and extra

frustration and irritation going all the

way around how much would it save us if

we would just believe that what he says

to us he needs and we need to plant our

feet and stand on it

y’all can I just say sometimes we have

become too smart for our own good we

tried to craft and create and manipulate

and maneuver what God is saying instead

of just taking him at his word and if he

says he is for you he means I’m for you

no one can be against you the weapon

might be formed but there’s no reason to

fear because it just won’t prosper

whatever he says he means so be fearless

and be still the third thing that Moses

said to the people is to be watchful he

put it this way see the salvation of the

Lord

now the reason why this one is very

interesting to me this bit of

instruction is because if you were

anything like me you’ll know what I mean

that when I’m in the midst of a

circumstance that I don’t particularly

care to be in a hurdle that I have to

get over or a red sea that I have to get

through somehow the last thing I want to

do is open my eyes and look at the

problem I want to close my eyes and

sleep through it

I want to pray through it I want to

hurry through it I want God to get rid

of this whole red sea so we can move on

with the Promised Land stuff I don’t

really want to hang out here and see it

and make friends with it I want to get

through it real quick Moses says the

exact opposite to the children of Israel

he says don’t close your eyes while

you’re here standing here at the Red Sea

we they have no idea yet that God’s

going to divide it in just a little

while they don’t know about the miracle

while they’re staring at the problem

Moses says resist the urge to close your

eyes and miss it he says open your eyes

and be watchful right now even while

you’re yet praying for God to do a

miracle in your marriage in your

finances on your job in that situation

open your eyes and see that there is so

much God is already doing don’t miss out

on what’s happening today

while you’re waiting for what God might

do tomorrow you’ll want to see what God

does tomorrow as well but in the

meantime keep your eyes open to see the

little details of God’s work in your

life he wanted the children of Israel to

see and never forget what it looked like

when he stepped out to the edge of that

body of water and held out his rod over

the Red Sea he wanted

always remember what give me what it

looked like when the expression on the

faces of their toddlers as they’re

toddlers saw God’s miracle begin to

unfold he wanted them to never forget

the expression on the faces of those

little little people in their lives or

but the way that the hands felt of their

elderly those soft hands as they grabbed

grandma and grandpa’s hands to walk them

across the body of water he wanted them

to never forget the details he wanted

them to see what their sandals feet look

like when they didn’t collect any mud on

the bottom of them because they were

walking across on dry ground he wanted

them to always remember what it felt

like when that heats wind started to

blow slowly at first but then gained

more and more and more momentum as it

began to become a fierce Gale that was

able to divide that body of water he

wanted them to remember the details of

God’s miracle and realize that there was

so much to be grateful for God about not

just a big miracle but a bunch of little

miracles along the way and what if

you’re waiting on God to do the big

thing and you miss all the incredible

little things he’s doing in the next 24

hours so yeah keep praying keep praying

for your marriage

keep praying for him to divide the Red

Sea keep praying for a beautiful thing

to happen in your and your on your job

or in your finances or with your child

keep praying for the big miracle but

while you are praying keep your eyes

open for what God is doing today be

watchful you know why you should be

watchful many reasons but one of them is

because y’all it makes you grateful it

keeps a smile on your face while you’re

yet on your knees praying about the

whole Red Sea thing it keeps a smile on

your face because you’re aware that oh

God’s doing that

Oh God did this to ya I still got a big

prayer request on my plate but in the

meantime let me just tell you God to

verse and God did there’s a God did this

you keep gives you a track record with

God and as you build this track record

with God of being aware of what he’s

currently doing in your life as you

build that track record it means that

the next time you face a new red sea

you’ll face it with much more confidence

because you’ll be able to look back at

the track

Rickard that maybe you wrote down of all

the things that you’re grateful for that

God did the last time and it builds the

space on the inside of you because you

remember the same God who did that is

the same God who will carry me through

this so be fearless be still be watchful

and finally Moses’s be quiet

he says guard yourself against

complaining close your mouth

to negativity do you know that life and

death are in the power of your tongue do

you know that out of this mouth we can

speak blessing or we can speak cursing

you got to choose which one you’re going

to allow your mouth to be an instrument

for I remember that I was telling a

friend of mine named Lisa something that

was going on in my life it was a

difficult circumstance and I was trying

to give her the details of this

difficult circumstance because she’s a

prayer warrior I knew she would pray

with me through it she would give me

wise counsel regarding it

so I was just trying to give her the

details so that she could she could you

know give me wise counsel and as I was

giving her the details I’m about halfway

through my story she stopped me she held

out her hand she stopped being she to

hang on for Scylla I’m so sorry but

you’re going to have to start over you

can have to start from the top of the

story and say it all again I said why

she said because I don’t really like

your word choice it sounds too negative

so stop right there start over and let’s

take it from the top I said excuse me

she said I want you to start over he

said the reason why Priscilla the reason

why you need to choose your words wisely

is because you do know that the enemy

seeks to form a weapon against you but

most often the material that he needs

the instruments that he needs to form

the weapon he does not have until you

hand it to him and every negative word

out of your mouth is a handed tool to

the enemy to construct the weapon that

he intends to use against your life on

the flipside the word says he watches

over God watches over his word to

perform it so she said Priscilla you got

to decide

do you want to give the enemy something

to work with or God you choose you’ve

got to make a decision

will you speak blessing over your

husband or your wife or what you speak

person over your child that yes is very

much in reality struggling in that

particular situation maybe your adult

child yes but are you going to speak

blessing or cursing over your finances

your jobs your ministry yep it’s tough

it’s difficult you’re having a hard time

okay I got it but are you going to speak

blessing or cursing you decide are you

going to give the enemy something to

work with or God and then a fearless

steadfast watchful silent bunch of

Hebrews they saw a miracle of a lifetime

in fact when Hollywood did the movie The

Ten Commandments years ago it took

Hollywood 18 months to figure out how to

simulate what our God did in a split

second and he did it for a people that

were fearless steadfast watchful and

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