There Is Hope

well i'm excited to be here with you all tonight i'm thankful to be here but i will admit that i'm just as shocked as you are that i'm up here um it was august 29th 2019 when god called me to the ministry it took um a week or so to process because and to tell pastor because um honestly i was so emotional trying to navigate why god would call me and i could not figure that out and i still haven't figured it out but here i am standing as a sinner saved by grace and um god who has chosen to use me and i'm not perfect but i'm thankful that god doesn't just only call the perfect but he looks for those who have a willing heart so um i'm here tonight to come and deliver the word to you but before i do that you know you always have to say stuff in the beginning right okay so i've got a few things i have to stay and then we'll keep going the first thing is my dad and mom are in florida yeah they chose the beach over me tonight so mom and dad this shout out is for you um i love you and i know that wherever you're at maybe on the beach or wherever you're praying for me and i wouldn't be standing here without your love and support so thank you i also want to thank and just say how much i love my precious husband and daughter and son you they have been such a major support to me in my life and this year has been kind of wild for me because as amber said i finished my doctorate i became a reverend and i think there was something else in there but to be honest i don't remember what it was but they have been my biggest support and i'm thankful for them i also want to thank pastor williford and sister williford and all of you my church family and for loving me and supporting me i have been here for 40 years and you all still like me so you many of you have watched me grow up um and you've made an investment in my life and that investment that you have made in me um is priceless so i thank you for doing that for encouraging me for cheering me on and for covering me in prayer so here i am i'm hoping that something i say tonight as you have encouraged me in my life i want to be able to help and encourage you through god's word that he has given me so the title of my message is um there is hope um i almost thought amber was gonna start preaching for me and i was like okay go ahead girl you got this um so but all of my scripture is going to be embedded in my message so we'll just kind of discuss them as we go along but first before we do that i want us to lift our hands up and ask god to move in our service tonight and to touch our hearts and lives whether it's someone here or whether it's someone listening online i just want him to move so let's lift our hands lord i thank you jesus for this day i thank you for the opportunity that you have given us to be in your presence lord i thank you for the opportunity that you have given us jesus to serve and to honor you and right now i asked your anointing and your touch would be in the service and i pray god that you would anoint and use me and i pray that you would anoint and use the others and i ask god that you will do a change and i pray that you would touch hearts and lives in the name of jesus thank you jesus

so we all know that 2020 has been an eventful year to say the least from pandemic to racial tension um to the anticipation of the election and i'm not sure is nevada still counting votes i don't know um but the list could go on and go on and go on it just doesn't seem to let up people everywhere are stressed out the news shows that suicide rate reflects a heightened increase and drugs are becoming more prevalent and more prevalent and more legalized because people can't deal with the pressure of today's society so here we all in the midst of it all and even the church trying our best not to be consumed and to not look at all this stuff that's going on and and get kind of discouraged and we're just still standing here and we're doing the best that we can during this unprecedented times yet even in the church we see marriages being attacked we see addiction we see depression and we see hopelessness and we find ourselves wondering if we will ever be able to stand strong in the midst of all this chaos but i've come with the message for you tonight and my message is god sees you god loves you and he knows exactly where you are at we're living in a time where we aren't sure what's going to happen from day to day to be quite honest in 2020 aliens could jump from the sky and we'd think oh that's normal because everything is happening right our world seems unsettled stressed out and i'm not trying to stress you out but it's just reality i come from the mental health field i know what's going on out there right so um it people are stressed out everybody's searching for answers but although we're living in a time of uncertainty i've never felt god so close as i do now it's almost like the crazier it gets around me the more his presence starts coming in and the more he starts moving in lives and i can see him moving into everybody's lives but the more it gets crazy out there the stronger he becomes the other day i was in my laundry room and folks let me just tell you um doing laundry is not a spiritual experience in our house in fact it's completely opposite of that um but i was in the laundry room the baby was asleep and i had the blessing on by carrie job and it was playing in the bedroom um on alexa i had been subconsciously praying and you know praying to god meditating on him whatever you want to say i wasn't travailing maybe i was because of all the laundry i had to do but it i really was and i was just simply focusing on him and it seemed like out of nowhere god walked into that room it was like he had just been hanging out there with me and it was like he i could physically bump right into him and i was so overwhelmed by his presence that all i could do was make it back to my bedroom i fell on my knees and i cannot tell you how long i prayed there and i cried out to god because of his presence i don't even know what he was doing in my life at that point but i do know it doesn't really matter i just want to be with him and he just wants to be with me and that's really all that matters in this life is that we're right with him it was i was just doing an everyday task and my father showed up why because he loves me because he can't get enough of me so he'll interrupt my life just to be near me and what i'm so thankful for is that we don't have to be super spiritual to find him we don't have to be perfect to find him all we have to do is acknowledge him and he'll show up

some of us have hurts some of us have sicknesses we battle with emotional issues such as depression suicidal thoughts and fear and we wonder if we'll ever get a break if god really sees us if we'll ever be able to feel freedom or love again we feel like nobody around us understands us and we feel alone but i'm here to tell you tonight that your father sees where you're at he's walking with you and he states in his word in john 14 18 that he will not leave you comfortless he will come to you there's hope for your depression there's hope for your healing there's hope for your child to come back to god and i felt that so strong as i was writing these notes there's someone here there's someone listening online you've been praying that your child will come back to god and in the name of jesus that is going to happen i read a quote um by lou giglio he's a pastor of a mega church in atlanta georgia georgia and it said the enemy is amazingly proficient at telling you who you're not and what you can't do but god thank you jesus for his word he is constantly telling you who you are and what you can do and god's word says in jeremiah 1 5 before i formed you in the womb i knew you there's nothing you can't hide from god he knows you he knows the number of hairs on your head he sees the struggle he sees the hurt that you're going through and that you're facing and he wants to move in your situation in jeremiah 29 11 it says i'm sure we can all quote it for i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper not harm you plans to give you a hope and a future and god's motives are pure motives his word is true when he says he plans to give you hope you believe he's going to give you hope he's someone you can trust you may have been hurt by someone in the past by something they've done or maybe by something that they've said but god's not like that he's not going to hurt you you can believe it in his word when he says i'm working for you you may be struggling with life and feel like you can't see hope in your future from the addiction the heartache you've been dealt the depression that's been sucking the life out of you but i'm here to tell you that there is hope in our savior it's in his word in philippians 4 13 where it says you can do all things through christ who gives you strength don't give up when you feel like you can't keep going look to him to be your strength find confidence in him and let him do the work and don't be afraid to reach out to those around you that's why we're here and what i really love about i'm just is this just commercial break what i really love about celebrate recovery is that those in celebrate recovery and those of you here they we have begun to have the biggest bond that we could ever have because we know that we are there for each other um just like i know several of you have friends here and you're here for each other but i think i'm thankful for them um but let him do the work and don't be afraid to reach out in romans 8 31 it says if god is for you who can be against you who can be against you these two verses alone philippians 4 13 and romans 8 31 they should alone give you confidence that you're not on this journey by yourself god is for you and he is with you you will gain strength and defeat the lies of the enemy is telling you that you are not good enough so when you hear that come to you and the enemy say hey there's no way you can do this nicole you can't get up there and stand and talk to these people who do you think you are i'm just saying you know i'm really nothing but you know what god but you know what's saying that's okay guys got this not me right so um when the enemy comes along and tells you that you can't do something or that you're not going to be able to make it it doesn't matter what he says it matters what god says

we have ex-drug dealers who are now on fire for god bringing others to him couples whose marriages have been restored when it looked like restoration was impossible being used by god individuals who were so depressed that within minutes from taking their life they were within minutes from taking their life but god stepped in and said no not him not him i have plans for him i have plans for a future for his life and now they are pillars in the church you are enough and there is hope and there can be restoration or maybe you're feeling defeated because the enemy continually tells you lies that your lost son or daughter who has fallen away from god will never walk through those doors how does that saying go it's the one popular today not today satan you're not getting our kids you're not getting our family you're not getting our marriages you're not getting it because we have a promise in who god is we have a promise in what his word says

blake kessler came in to celebrate recovery last night and he did a phenomenal job he and amanda are doing a great job and a great work in cuba for the kingdom but it wasn't always like that for where he was sold out for christ i'm sure you could ask his parents and his sister and they'll tell you it wasn't easy watching their son or their brother addicted to drugs and wonder whether or not he would come home that night but they didn't lose hope they prayed for eight years and one son hey blake walked through those doors and when he walked through those doors he never thought about going back to the world again why because he had a mom and he had a sister and he had a dad and he had family that were praying for him so what i'm here to tell you is keep seeking god you're not defeated mom and dad you may be tired you may feel like you're defeated but keep praying keep him first siblings keep fasting and friends keep loving god will give you the strength and will help you fight for their souls there is hope don't give up your circumstances don't have the final say your doctor doesn't have the final say god has the ultimate say over your life and your situation

we think about in the bible we think about joseph he was hated by his brothers thrown in a pit wrongfully accused of having immoral conduct forgotten in prison but god looked at what seemed to be a bleak situation and he turned it job lost his livelihood lost his family lost his friends he was all alone but he didn't give hope up hope in his creator he looked to him

it was approximately five years ago i was diagnosed with ocular histoplasmosis now say histoplasmosis five times really fast okay ocular hystoplasmosis so i'm going to explain to you what that is and hopefully we'll catch this but um bottom line is it's a disease that mimics macular degeneration raise your hand if you know someone who has macular degeneration right runs in the family okay so what what it does is that um it will destroy the central vision in your eye i have it in my left eye and in my left eye i don't have central vision and so basically they've said i'm legally blind in that eye the good news is is that my right eye takes over for my left eye so if you see me in the parking lot don't be afraid i got this everything's good i can see i pretty much can see normal for the most part um but research does state that once it's in one eye it will develop in the other eye but what i found out is that it doesn't always matter what research says and and research doesn't always match what god's word says you see blind eyes were healed in the bible and deaf ears were healed in the bible so i could have taken the situation and completely panicked and said but god i am 35 years old i have a child and now i have a one-year-old and here i am and just freaking out but i didn't do that i didn't do that i chose to have hope and i choose to have hope i choose to believe that he's in control i walk into that retina doctor's office every time and almost every time i say god's got this he's going to do a miracle in my eye and he just sits there and grins at me it doesn't matter what he thinks i know i believe i said we're praying and he just gnaws his head and you know what he is doing a work god is doing a work i'm already beating the odds as he says i should have it in my right eye but thank god i don't right i've already beaten what what research says any and and for a year the cool thing is is i haven't had to get a shot in my eye so god's protected me and what the doctor has said i went there a couple weeks ago he said your eye has quieted nicole and i'm like okay what does that mean he said well basically the disease has stopped growing and progressing and i was like i was in the middle of the office sometimes i just don't care y'all some of you know my personal i don't care and i went thank you jesus and he just like kind of looked at me but i was like i probably scared him i have to i don't care i don't care because god's protecting me it doesn't matter what the picture shows on that on that computer it doesn't matter what it says it matters what god says and you see here's what i believe i have a connection to the one who created my eye he's walking with me he's taking care of me and if he chooses for this disease to go into my right eye then so be it so be it i might be as blind as a bat here on earth you guys are gonna have to help me out but you know what one day i'm making it to heaven because i have my hope in him and when i see him i'm gonna see him clearly face to face looking at the one who saved my soul looking at the one who gave me hope i don't care what's going on around me i'm searching and i'm keeping my focus on him you see my hope isn't what the doctor's saying but my hope is in god

there are several of you here that have testimonies just like mine of how god worked in your life and in your situation god is on the move he's delivering hope and he is ready to do a work and if you're walking through a situation right now just hold on because hope is on the way deliverance is about to take place forgiveness is here healing is knocking on your door and peace is entering into your circumstance jesus is here to do a work and i know i'm done early but i do feel like god has something planned for this service tonight so here's what i want us to do i want us to stand together and in a moment we're going to lift our hands up and we're going to ask god specifically to do a work in our lives and i want you to be extremely specific with him because he knows what's going on whether it's emotional healing whether it's physical healing whether it's a financial blessing or healing in your marriage a loved one to come to god right here right now and those of you listening on watching online i want you to do the same with us because god is about to shift that circumstance he's about to shift the situation that you're going through you may be sad you may be depressed you may be afraid but you know what we know a god who heals depression we know a god who takes away fear we know a god who speaks life into us

right now lord i pray that you would enter your presence in this place as i know it already is god you see every need you see every circumstance there's nothing that you don't know about god there's nothing that you haven't already begun to do a work in and lord right now i ask that you would touch hearts and lives i pray that marriages would be restored god i pray that hope would be given to parents that need a hope in you lord i pray jesus that you would restore us i pray that restoration would be in our lives god i pray jesus that we would be renewed by your spirit that we would we would be renewed by your hope god and help us to keep our focus on you when things in this world are crazy and we don't know what to do god we look to you we look to you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you lord thank you jesus thank you for your word oh god thank you for the hope and the healing and the peace that is here in this room right now i thank you jesus i thank you jesus why don't you avail yourself right now with that peace of that hope of that trust and that confidence in him let it be renewed in your spirit right now let it be renewed and rekindled in your heart in your life jesus we thank you thank you for the hope that you have given oh god oh there's a hope beyond this life there is no hope in this life oh but we look to you oh god you are our hope the lord we look to the eternal and not just to the physical the temple we look to you we choose to see beyond what is going on around us and we look to you lord our eyes are upon you jesus our eyes are upon you jesus i thank you lord i thank you lord i thank you lord thank you jesus oh thank you jesus i thank you jesus ah thank you lord thank you jesus thank you jesus