Gain

you know it's interesting how that I think I've told this before but I was in Alexandria Louisiana lady out of our church was having surgery and so we had to go to the hospital for her surgery while we were there a guy from uh brother Megan's Church came in and I got to it was one of the one of the pastors of his church and uh the way that works they've got all kinds of groups of people that help with the pastor and with a church like that you got to have all of them running hospitals because different directions so I got to meet him and he had a another young man with him and this guy I say young man he he was young but he was super tall African-American guy and we got to talking and they introduced me to him and and so we were waiting in the same waiting room because there was surgery going on and this guy there was connections to the surgery that that I was there for uh with a family member in the church so he was there too so we was all sitting around and of course you know how surgeries are they they go forever seemed like they don't ever get done and so you get to know know people pretty you got you got a good time of relationship there and so we were talking and he was sharing with me his testimony he said uh he said I I grew up here in Alexandria and he said and I uh was playing basketball and and doing real good and and uh he said had Scouts that was coming from different colleges looking at him because he was getting ready to graduate from school high school and he said I'm talking different ones and then about the time we got ready to graduate he said I'd been hanging out with people and I started doing some bad stuff he said uh on my college graduation night the graduation night he said he said he ended up getting arrested crime was so bad I had to go to prison so he spent five years I think it was in prison and then he gets out gets back on the street didn't really have a place to go said so I I found myself at their Hope House which is they they have they have like a homeless type setting and people that were that were needing help so he said I found myself there and he said you know I'm I'm out there with some of the kids and we're shooting basketball he said when I was in prison he said that's all I could do was shoot basketball he said so I'm shooting basketball and and the word got around that he was back he was back in town and so there was what didn't take long until there was a couple of those College Scouts showed up at an old basketball court they're close and he said you know and he says uh they started talking to me about where'd you go would you disappeared on us we was looking for you and they were all kinds of talk about who he was and so he had been he had been going to church as well because he stayed there and you know that was part of the the regs as you had to go be a part of church during the time you're staying there so he's take he's staying and he's he's going to church and and he finds himself in a prayer room and he said this prayer room is just a it's just roaring he said God got a hold of him changed his life made a difference in his life and he said I got a hold of something that I could not let go of so he goes back and he's still staying in that Hope House and he's playing his basketball and this these guys come out later on and they have papers so he has this paper in his hand and he goes to he goes to pastor and Pastor he tells him he says Pastor I got this opportunity he said but I just don't know Pastor looked and said let's go to the prayer room take the paper and go to prayer room he goes to the prayer room and starts praying and in his prayer he said God spoke to him and told him he says because you gave your life to me I'm giving you the desires of your heart something still was not right with that God knew that was the desires of his heart and he says he goes back to pastor and says these words came to me and I I don't know what to do with it he said go back to prayer room doesn't that sound right goes back to the prayer room a few nights later they're in church Pastor comes to him and says well what's your decision he said pastor I tore it up he said because I knew and I felt in myself that I knew that if I went down this road this would not be good for me so I I wanted to share that with you because so many times God knows your heart and he knows the desires of your heart but because God gives you desire of heart does not mean it's God's will is anybody getting that so many times When you pray as long as you've got God in the center desire of heart will come and it will present itself and then you've got another issue you got to handle do I take and run with this or do I give it back to God seek God first and his kingdom the other things is going to be added he going to take care of everything else uh you know I I guess because of live long enough I know now I didn't know this before but it all works out as long as you put God in the center as long as you give it to God and say God I don't know what the next move is going to be so I ask you again where where's your treasure what do you value most where have you laid your Treasures up would you stand with us choose your Treasures wisely choose them wisely watch for what God really has in store for you as you as you search through those things that you have accumulated am I doing it for the kingdom of God is this something that I truly value is it is it something that will it cause me to lose or will it cause me to win those are questions that come our way and again I I said this in a minute last week is sometimes you've got to let go of some things in order for God to really have his way in your life sometimes it's things sometimes that people just gotta let it go most of the time our hardest wrecks in Life or because we're holding the handlebars too tight how many you know when you're you're getting ready to impact what do we do brother Shane one of the things that you're getting all drunk in the car and he's getting ready to hit something and he comes out there no bruises no scratch nothing it's that guy that stiffens up and holds on with everything he's got and that it's the way we are sometimes is we we life gets a little bit out of hand and you know what we want to do we want to try to handle it ourselves we used to sing an old song that says give up and Let Jesus take over and sometimes you just got to do that is let it let it go let God let let him handle it but it's those times that we value those things that we value in life and we want to try and hang on to it we we got we've got valuable things that we want to hang on to truth is one more personal story and I I'm through my my grandmother the night that she was she was getting ready to take her exit and it was it was a beautiful sight I if you've been in a room with somebody that has left this world and gone to the next and you knew with all confidence it was such a beautiful presence in the room but days and weeks prior to that she would always grab one of us before we left from going by and seeing her and she'd say how's the front yard look is anybody messed with the leaves anybody got the leaves up she wanted those leaves swept up all the time and about every other day she's out there sweeping leaves yard look and she had asked about certain things around the house but that night that evening there was not one mentioned of the house but in one mention of anything the only thing that she had requested is there was and we knew it was we knew all this was happening and there was one of my cousins that had not made it she says can you get Ricky on the phone we're all standing in the room they get Ricky on the phone and she says son I love you and then she went around the room love you I want y'all to want you to get your life right because she knew there was a lot of them and didn't have it right she went down a list and she just kind of set her piece of course everybody's squalling you know but there was such a peace that was in that room and I knew she's not worried about the house no more she's not worried about anything else Treasures on Earth we're over and I say that to say this is there is coming a day when it does not matter what you've got no matter don't matter how many how many millions you left to the church no church we can we can go ahead and get it erected and get it done Hallelujah but it won't matter because it's over the truth is all that matters to where where my true my true Treasures are laid would you lift your hands with us again would you just lift your hands God help us help us to understand exactly where we are the things that we have taken value in and the things that we have taken account of tonight help me God to align myself with you help me to align myself with your word the things that you have for me God truly want to make Heaven my home Lord I want to make heaven and I I want I want the things of this world to grow strangely dim because I I only have one thing in sight one goal in mind and I ask you Lord that you help us help us to go through our Treasures and focus on the true meaning and true things in God things you have for us things you have for our church God the things you have for each and every every individual in this place ask your lord Jesus to remind us once again what is that true treasure in the name of Jesus hallelujah hallelujah would you give him thanks together would you do that thank you Lord we thank you for your goodness thank you for your mercy thank you Jesus you're so good to us God oh we thank you Lord hallelujah Hallelujah God bless you hope that through what we've talked tonight that strike strikes a little bit inside of us to remind us appreciate each and every one of you shake hands with somebody around you and say I'll see you Sunday God bless you in Jesus name