I Am Persuaded

And I guess it it gives me the launching pad for where I will dive off the deep end today into your hearts. And I'll preach three words. It's been in my spirit all week. Just three words has carried me this week. We find them in Paul. Paul Paul's writing to the church at Rome when he said these words. And I will go through the admonishment of spirit living, spirit-led life and being led by the spirit. He he would preach and teach in Romans chapter 8 the anticipation of glory. But he would end that chapter 8 with a declaration of we're more than conquerors. We're more than that. In the last two verses of that chapter, Paul would write these words. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come shall. Neither height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I won't by the time we leave in about 40 minutes, 30 to 40 minutes, if you'll get with me, when you walk out those doors and get in your vehicle, I don't want there to be any doubts. I don't want there to be any reservations. I don't want there to be any wandering in your spirit. But I do want I am persuaded to be so deep into your spirit that you cannot be moved from what God has done and what God's going to do by faith in Jesus name.

If you're going to preach with me and receive the the word of the Lord for this hour, would you just one more time lift your hearts and lift your hands? Father God, I come before you asking God, your anointing that can not break but destroy, that can disassemble, that can God step into a life and a reality of lives that they are facing and they are walking today. The weariness will be lifted. the weariness and the the uncertainty will begin to to vanish into the spiritual tender care of your almighty presence. It's in the name of Jesus I pray and somebody say amen you may be seated today in the house of the Lord.

I have I have literally been stirred all week by Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 has been called by many theologians the greatest chapter in the word of God. You may say, "How can that be?" And when you look at the context and the the the writer, the the the pin of of the writer of this, the Apostle Paul, it he begins with admonishing the church at Rome and the the spiritfilled believers that when you are born again of the water and the spirit, there is no condemnation. There is no condemnation to them that which are in Christ Jesus. You skip down and you move further into the scripture in Romans 8:12, he is basically letting us know because of the spirit that raised up Christ from the dead living in our mortal bodies that because of that there is no obligation to the flesh. There is no obligation. You don't have to walk after the lust of the flesh. and fulfill its desires. Why? Because I am a bloodbought, spiritfilled, bornagain child of God. Is somebody hearing me today? And you read further, no condemnation, no obligation. And then he he puts a he he puts a sword almost in our hand and he said because of that spirit and because of that quickening power and because there is no obligation to the flesh there is no defeat in this life living for the Lord. Why? Because we are not just conquerors. Uh we are more than conquerors. Uh we're just not victorious. Uh we're more than victorious. Uh because the spirit of the living God, the same spirit that indwelled the man Christ Jesus uh dwelleth in us. And if there is no condemnation, there is no obligation to this flesh, there is no defeat for a child of God, I've got good news for you. There is no separation for a child of the king. We are not separated from him. We are separated unto him. And from this context, Paul reaches the climax of the chapter and is going to flip the page and begin to write chapter nine with this powerful declaration. I am persuaded. [laughter and gasps] If you handled my sin and you've handled my condemnation, you have handled my obligation to the fulfill the lust of this flesh. The things I I wanted to do, I don't do anymore. You handle I have no obligation to that. My obligation and my loyalty is unto you. If you have caused me to be a more than a conqueror, and you have called me unto yourself, not to ever be separated again. I wish somebody would get this today. God's not brought you near to separate himself from you. He brought you in to bring you into relationship. And if there is no condemnation and there is no obligation and there is no defeat and there is no separation, what in the world are we worried about? There is a confidence that comes from God that says, "I am persuaded. I'm persuaded everything's going to be all right. I'm persuading. I'm persuaded that if God be before me, who can be against me? Oh, I'm trying to behave myself this morning.

Paul wrote, "This was not a cap casual uh optimism, if you will. This wasn't just the power of positive thinking and power of positive talking, and those are powerful. This wasn't just some emotional excitement that Paul was feeling. I'm going to tell you what Paul got, and it's got to get in every heart. It was a settled conviction. That settled conviction, and I hate to go back through Sunday school, but it was a settled conviction that was forged through persecution. It was forged through imprisonment. It was forged through beatings. It was forged through rejection and shipwreck. It was It was forged through sleepless nights and hunger and spiritual war warfare and welfare. Paul wasn't saying I hope. He wasn't saying I think. He declared, "I am persuaded." In other words, if you break that word in the Greek down, he was saying, "I'm completely convinced." Oh, I wish I had a little help here. I'm fully assured. I'm permanently persuaded. I'm unmovably confident. I have one mind settled beyond debate. I wish somebody would look in the face of hell this morning and let hell know I am persuaded. I'm persuaded. I believe every promise in this book is mine. I believe that God is for me. I believe nothing will ever change my mind. When you get persuaded, nothing can change your mind. When you know what you know, nobody can infiltrate that persuasion. I'm persuaded. You can't change my mind. I know what I know. I've been bought with the blood. I've been sanctified in the spirit. I've been justified by the blood of Jesus. [panting] I'm going to tell you this is the thinking we got to get as the church cuz I I'm afraid and I and I and I say this with all due respect. God's not looking for a for a group of emotional Christians, right? Good days. Oh, we got to shout. Tough times come. Oh, am I going to make it? No, no, no, no, no. It's persuasion that looks beyond circumstances. It's persua. See, persuaded people don't quit when circumstances change. Persuaded people don't have the proverbial towel in the hand. And if you say the wrong thing, I'm quitting. I'm quitting the church. Oh, come on, somebody. Paul wrote Romans after years of suffering. Yeah, but he would pin these words. If God be for us, who can be against us? Notice he didn't say nobody would come against us. Uh he simply said they cannot ultimately prevail. You see, the persuaded spiritfilled believer doesn't judge God by the storm. That's right. I know I preached on storms last Sunday. This may this may be part two. A persuaded believer doesn't doesn't charge God foolishly. Job was persuaded. He lost his wealth. He lost his health. He lost his children. His reputation was called into question. Yet this is the sound of a persuaded man. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. I'm talking about that's persuasion. Shadrach, Mach, and Abedneo were persuaded. Nebuchadnezzar looked at them boys and said, "At the sound of the music, bow your knee." And they answered and said, "No, king. Our God is able to deliver us out of your hand. Yes. But but that's still not persuasion. That's right. Here come the real persuasion. Our God is able. But if not, I know my God can bring me out of the fire and God can prevent me from going through the fire. But if he don't, I'm not going to bow. I'm not going to bend my knee to an idol of worship because real persuasion isn't built on miracles. Whether he does it or not, he's still a healer. Whether he brings me through or not, he's still a way maker. Whether he does it or not, I know God can. I know God is able. It's not built on miracles. It's built upon knowing God and a relationship with God. If we serve God only for the fishes and loaves, we're going to be like they were in the days of old. When the when the fish and loaves dried up, where were they? Some serve God only because he's healed. But persuaded people serve him if he heals or if he don't. I I'm just persuaded. I know he can. I've seen him do it before and I know he can do it again. But here's one thing I've learned about persuaded people, and I'm glad I pastor a bunch of persuaded people. And I'm inviting everybody to the persuaded life. Just come on in and get be a part of the persuaded movement. Why would you be a part of a movement that you wasn't persuaded of? Why would you come to a church that you're not persuaded? This is the way. This is the truth. This is the life. This is what I've lived my whole life to be and become. Welcome to the persuaded church. Wow. Because there's something persuaded people do. They obey before they understand. Faith always moves before explanation. How how do you say that? Noah built an ark, but God called and said, "Noah, go build this boat for the saving of your family." God, we ain't never seen rain. What's rain? Can you show me what it's going to look like? Can you send, you know, just right here? Let me let me see some dark clouds and let me see some raindrops. Let just confirm to me. Let me fleece you, Lord. Is this your will? Oh Lord, I'm coming down. So just just show me some visible evidence. We're not near the ocean. We're not near the sea. There's no example for what I'm about to do. Yet Noah would spend over a century. Now you think about that. over a hundred years building what nobody understood. That's right. What you build? God told me to build a boat. What's a boat? In the middle of a desert in the middle of nowhere. We're building a boat. Oh yeah, it's going to rain. God's going to Let me tell you what Noah did. Oh. Noah, the Bible says, being warned of God, moved with fear. He got so persuaded. I heard the voice of God. I better respond. I I got so persuaded. I better act because my indecision not only affects me, it affects my babies. My indecision is not going to only affect me. It's going to affect the generations that are going to come after me. That's how powerful persuasion is. Your one act of persuading. It's those little babies you got around you. They've got a better chance of being saved if you're moving and acting with fear with your family in the conscious of your heart and you're being obedient to where God's leading you. Oh, I prayed this morning last night. I said to God, God, if you will help our families that would be sitting in this sanctuary come to understand that your obedience, that our obedience can be be the very reason God saves our family. I know it's tough right now, but keep obeying the word. Keep being faithful. That's what persuaded people do. They just keep doing the right thing. And I feel that as a breakthrough in this house and a breaking forth in your spirit that you will come into agreement with this word that if I can get persuaded, everything's going to be all right. But when I'm trying to balance the Come on, we got too many and I'm going with We got too many Hannah Montana here. We got too many living one life over here and jumping over here and playing another life. We got to get our mind made up. I'm going to live for God come hell or high water. I'm going to be called out. I'm going to be separate. I'm going to be holy. I'm going to be righteous. I'm going to obey the word. I'm not going to be the saint on Sunday and the devil on Monday. Uh I've got to say, God, I am persuaded. This is who I This is what I'm signing up for. This is what's going to save me and my family. Daddy, what you're doing has the potential to save your family. Those little babies. And I looked at that. I'm looking at rows full of kids. Oh, I watched kids sing on this platform this week at Vacation Bible School. They held microphones. four years old to 10 years old, 11 years old. And I said, "My God, if this produces a generation that'll worship, we'll do whatever we got to do to keep BBS and Sunday school and rise up, keep it going because something is being developed." And one man, one woman getting a burden could help usher in the next generation that's going to lead this church, that's going to lead us forward. persuaded people just do it without fully understanding most of the time. Really? Okay, let's go. Let me get biblical. Abraham, leave everything. Leave my family. Leave my friends. Leave my kindred. Where am I going, God? Don't worry about that. I'm gonna take you to a land that I'll show you. So, you're wanting me to uproot my family. You're want to uproot my all my belongings. All I I'll tell you later. I'll reveal it one step at a I'll reveal it one step in one stop at a time. Matter of fact, Hebrews 11 says he went out not knowing where he went. Wow. That's like going to Huntsville heading toward Birmingham. If you're relying on the flesh, but I believe the moment that the tent collapsed and the tent went into whatever they carried it in and the wagons was loaded and and and the the beast of burden were were were coraled. And I just believe that when Abraham sat on that beast or walked beside that beast that God started directing those footsteps. I want you to go, "This don't feel right. This don't feel normal. But I'm walking after what I know." God said he would lead me and he would show me. And as long as I'm walking in that word, I'm persuaded he's not going to lead me the wrong direction. You see, persuaded people don't need every detail. Abraham didn't need every stop and every go and every turn. They just simply relied on the voice of God. If you speak, I'll follow. Where you lead, I'll go. That's why it matters what voices you listen to. Because there are some voices that'll try to lead you away from the house of God. That'll lead you from the promises of But as long as you got a word and you're walking in the spirit and not you got to just get your mind made up. I'm walking in the spirit. I'm not getting distracted with God's leading. I'm being led. Turn here. Okay. Turn here. Okay. You just just lead. I'll follow. But what if Abraham would have had somebody in his ear? You think God's really in this? You really think God I'm persuaded? Abraham got so persuaded, he put the decision of his future in the hands of a man that had a choice. You choose. I'll get what's left because wherever I go, I got God's favor on my soul. God's gonna leave me because I'm in his will. I'm in his presence. You may not understand it, Lord. You go to the wellwater plains and I'll go I'll stay in the desert as long as I have to. But as long as I've got King Jesus, as long as I've got King, I don't need anything else. Some of you need to realize the season. All you need is King Jesus and a word from God. He'll lead you. He'll direct you. He'll guide you. God never explains everything. If he explained everything, there would be no need for prayer. There would be no need for closeness. There would be no need for faithfulness. there would be no need for trust. But when he doesn't explain everything, brother Daniel, can you still trust him? When he doesn't give you the vision from heaven and he doesn't speak with the audible voice, can you trust what he's already spoken and written? Can you trust that his word is forever settled in heaven? God's saying to this church today, I may not explain everything and don't be nosy and try to find out. Lord, that's be bad pastor. Just keep your nose on your face and say, "God, I trust you." Because if we we'll try to get to be investigators on the on what God's trying to do in your life. And God said, "Quit trying to figure me out. Quit trying to figure me out. Just trust me. I'm leading. I'm guiding. I'm taking. Persuaded individuals see possibilities that others cannot. I I I started thinking if I'm persuaded, I see things others don't see. I see things. Everyone saw Goliath, but David saw a covenant. Saul saw the size of Goliath. Well, David saw the promises of God. The army said, "We can't." But a persuaded man said, "The battle's not even ours. It's the Lord's. It's a matter of perception and perspective. Perspective never ignores the giants. Faith just has a way of magnifying God above the giants. When you're persuaded, oh yeah, there's a giant there, but God's greater. Oh yeah, there's a mountain there, but he's the same God of the mountain as he is the valleys. Oh yeah, there's sickness, but oh, he's the healer of all disease. When you start looking at life through the perspective and the lens of persuasion, I start believing he can do what his word said. It was Joshua and Caleb. And I I started going through these man the these these biblical examples. We're not in this by ourselves. You know, it does help to get in that book. It does help to peel back the pages and read a little bit and you say, "Oh man, I feel better just reading this." 12 spies, 10 Saul impossibilities, two Saul promises. Same land, same grapes, same giants, but different persuasions. I've lived and I've I've come to this understanding that your persuasion determines your perspective. You read Numbers 14. They were persuaded that they looked like grasshoppers in their eyes. And because they were persuaded of that, that's what they came back with. The perspective of the land. The land still flowed with milk and honey. The land still had grapes where grown men had to carry them on staves. Now, I went to Walmart yesterday and I didn't see any grapes that would take two grown men to carry out the store. Right? I just had never seen none that big. They may be there, but I hadn't seen them in Walmart or Publix or Kroger. But persuasion is such a powerful a powerful framework of the mind that causes us to walk in victory or defeat. It causes us to persevere. It causes us to weather. It caught with the storms of life, frustrations and battles. And then it hit me that one of the hardest parts of living for the Lord. And I I felt like this would be a point that would just really settle in on some persuaded people. They learn to stand even when they're the only ones standing. Daniel stood alone. Joseph stood alone. Elijah stood alone. But here's what I felt in the Holy Ghost for this church. Persuaded people just keep standing even when you're by yourself. Even when you're trying to live for God. Even when you're trying to lead your family. Even when you're you feel like God, I am all by myself, but I'm standing on a word. Oh God. Then the Holy Ghost hit me. Popularity has never been measured. It's popularity has never been a measurement of truth. Sometimes you're the mighty minority. Sometimes it's just you and God. But if you've got God on your side, if you've got God standing with you, all things become possible uh when God's on your side. Uh you may feel today on this Sunday uh that you're alone, you're by yourself, you're all. But I've got a word. Uh, if God's on your side, all things are possible. You may have this one on your side. You may have that one on you. But when you've got the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, all things are possible. [panting and sighs] Oh, persuaded people just they don't they don't They they don't give up. They refuse to compromise. I started thinking of Daniel who prayed privately when no one would have known. He opened up windows and prayed as was his custom three times a day. Why? Because persuaded people persuaded people don't alter convictions. to accommodate culture. Persuaded people just they stay true. Don't pray. Well, I'm sorry. I'm going to pray. Don't don't don't don't make that commitment to live for God. Make that commitment to live for God. Don't bow to this world and don't bow to the voices of this world that would tell you different. Contrary. Just do what you've been. Just open that window and just let a prayer out. Just open that window and let a prayer out. Just stay steady. Don't let compromise slip into your spirit and move you off the wall of commitment. Don't let compromise drift into your spirit and you begin to get a little I don't know what's going on. And then your persuasion starts. I don't want to be once persuaded for good to then be persuaded for evil. Mary would look at the angel that gave the word, "You're going to conceive a child. It's impossible because I know not a man." But persuaded Mary, said, "Be it unto me according to thy word." She believed. Oh, this hit me so strong. She believed what was not biologically possible. It was impossible. But she said, "Be it unto me according to thy word." That little lady with that issue of blood for 12 years. Doctors had failed. Money was spent. Hope was exhausted. Yet she had that old persuaded spirit. I ain't got nothing to lose but try. If I can but just touch the hem of his garment. I'm persuaded enough as he passes by. This may be my only opportunity. If I can just touch him, I just might be made whole. Persuasion will get you through a crowd. Persuasion will push you through obstacles. Barnameus, why don't you shut up, boy? You're blind. Why trouble Jesus? Well, you ain't the one blind. So, he cried the more Be quiet, Barnameus. You're embarrassing us. You can't keep somebody that's persuaded quiet. You can't keep somebody that's persuaded off the wall. Uh that would say this might be my moment of destiny. He may never come down this that he may never come down this old dirt road. Uh but persuasion made him cry louder. Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Four men carrying the crowded in the house, no room by the door. Now, normal people, they pass a full parking lot and they go, they go down the road. They got to the house and the house was full. Couldn't even get in the door. But persuaded people learn how to climb roofs. Persuaded people just can't be stopped. Persuaded people say, "You know what? Where there's a wheel, there's a way." Come on. We four of us showed up and we brought it. We might as well be part of the miracle, too. Faith always finds another way to get into the presence of the Lord. Faith don't find an excuse. Faith makes a way. They says, "If God's in that room, I've just got to be bold enough and I just get my persuasion. I can get persuaded enough. I can get my problem into the presence of somebody that can do something about it." I wish in this house as you stand all over your feet that there would be enough persuasion in your persuasion in your mind that you walked in here with problems. But you're about to come into contact with persuasion. You come in here with all manner of thoughts and ideas. When you're persuaded, the devil can't whip it out of you. When you're persuaded, prison can't take it out of you. When you're persuaded five times, being beaten can't get it out of you. When you're persuaded three times, shipwreck can't get it out of when you're persuaded. Stoned and left for dead. Can't it can't get it out of you. hunted, rejected, hungry, called, forsaken. And he would write, "I helm persuaded." The religious couldn't argue it out of him. The then known government couldn't imprison it out of him. Death, Brother Maddox, couldn't frighten it out of him. [panting] He was persuaded. He was persuaded. Romans 8's not about completely about victory. It's about living by the spirit and not after the flesh. If I'm led by the spirit, I can be persuaded. If I'm led by the flesh, I can be persuaded. It's just who's going to persuade you? What will persuade you? the flesh or the spirit. But if you've got the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost was not given to you to merely shout on a Sunday, but it was given to you to settle you on a Monday. It's to anchor you on a Tuesday. It's to convince me on Wednesday I can make it. I am bought. I am purchased. I said it in my opening comments and I'm going to say it again as this altar begins to open. God does not put the spirit in you to become an emotional believer, but he put it in you to become persuaded in whom you have believed. Here's what I here's what I've learned. Here's what I've learned, Brother Tanner, Brother Daniel. Emotion fades, but persuasion remains. It's not like this. When you're persuaded, I'm doing the right thing. Everything's going to be all right. I'm being faithful in all things, time, talent, and treasure. Everything's going to be all right. I'm trying to live soberly godly in this present world. Everything's going to be all right. And if you hit a bump in the road, everything's going to be all right. My joy is going to remain because it's not rooted and grounded in the temporal. It's not rooted and grounded that's going to rust and corrupt and fade away. My joy is not rooted here. My joy is anchored to something up there. You can't see it, but you know it's there. Your feelings may fluctuate, but your persuasion stands. Oh, your goosebumps. By 1:00 will have disappeared. But persuasion will get you back up on your feet again. It'll keep you praying. It'll keep you worshiping. It'll keep you witnessing. It'll keep you giving. It'll keep you living holy. It'll keep you coming to church. It'll keep you believing. It'll keep you loving.

I close with this. He names 10 enemies that could not separate him from the love of God. He said neither death or life, angels, principality, powers, things present, things to come, height, depth, any other creature. He said, "Nothing shall separate me." Paul covered above, below, present, future, visible, invisible, natural, supernatural. He basically left no foothold. Nothing can separate us. But when you refuse to walk in the spirit, the one thing that you're going to battle with and consistently have to wage war against is the first thing he mentioned in Romans 8:1. You notice he said things present and things to come, but he never mentions the past. The only way you get separated from God and the love of God is if you decide one day. I'm going to walk after my flesh. And you not only going to think, you going to have your past in your past past. You gonna fight devils you never dreamed you would fight as long as you walk in the flesh. But if you walk in the spirit, I've got a promise from God that you can walk in this life persuaded. You don't even have to worry about the past because it's under the blood. You're walking in a spirit of persuasion. Anything happened today and anything happened tomorrow, my God's my God's already took care of my past. I don't even worry about it. There is no condemnation. So why would anyone not want to live the spiritfilled persuaded life? We can get persuaded by politics. We can get persuaded by culture. But why not get persuaded by the spirit of God? I wish you'd lift your hands all over this house. I don't want my past coming back upon me. I don't want my past sneaking up on me. And if I'm going to keep running and I'm going to keep walking this walk of faith, keep living in the grace and the mercy of God, I've got to keep the cross before me. I've got to be a constant reminder that my joy is anchored in his grace. I have nothing to fear. I have nothing to shame. I have nothing and have nothing to hold my head down. My past, what my past the spiritfilled man according to scripture as long as they walk in the fle walk in the spirit and not after the flesh. The past is not even mentioned in Paul's admiration to the church. You just worry about today. And when you get to tomorrow, you worry about tomorrow. And when you get to tomorrow, you trust him for tomorrow. But whatever you do, do not quit walking in the spirit. Our reliance is upon him. Our dependence is upon him. Our persuasion is of him. Our persuasion is not what we can do in our flesh, but the quickening power of the Holy Ghost. There is no loophole for the spiritled. Amen. The devil can't penetrate. He can't get through. This church needs persuaded people again. We need persuaded people in this. We've got to get persuaded about who we are. I'm persuaded Jesus is still God. I'm persuaded holiness still matters. I'm persuaded repentance still works. I'm persuaded baptism in Jesus name is the only way to be baptized and it still saves. Amen. The Holy Ghost is still. It is still the requirement to make it to heaven. Amen. It's not an optional gift. I'm persuaded miracles still happen. I'm persuaded revival is possible. I'm persuaded prayer still changes things.

So if you want to join us, the persuaded church, and you've never repented of your sins, why don't you come to the altar? Somebody wants to pray with you. If you're here and you want to be baptized in Jesus name, come on to the Come on. You may not fully understand it, but God spoke to you today. Said you need to respond to the word. You may respond without full knowledge, but when you come out of that water, God's going to lead and guide you through his spirit into all truth. Maybe today you've been buried in the name, but you've never received the Holy Ghost. Today, you can walk to an oldfashioned altar, throw your hands in the air, and say, "God, I'm persuaded today that I'm loved. I'm not I'm not gone outside of the grip of grace. You've not I'm not been so bad that you can't forgive and love me. Oh, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died for you. Now he's wanting you to lay your life down and live for him and walk after his word and his precepts and become the new creature in Christ. As they begin to sing and you begin to pray, would you let the tears begin to flow? Would you let your voice echo into the heavens? You are able. I believe. I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded. The waters of baptism will be stirred. You are faithful. I believe. I believe you are who you say you are. I believe you do what you say you'll do. You'll come through. You are always able. I believe I believe you've already. Come on, sir. Come on, ma'am. Take a step of faith. Leaps of faith. I'm persuaded. faithful. Your prayer right now is producing something in the spirit realm. You do what you say. You come through. You are always able. You already made the way. So I'm running through you. You are always. You are who you say you are. You do what you say you do. You'll come through. You are always I believe. You already made a way. So I'm running through guided ways. Straight. You are always faithful and free.

Oh God, I'm commissioning you today. When you leave this house, when you leave this place, oh that's it, sis. Just pray. Oh, God's trying to persuade you today. God's trying to persuade somebody today in this house. When you leave and just when you leave this altar call, I need you to be persuaded of the scripture I didn't read. It's the scripture we most often read, but we do it without persuasion. Now with what I have preached and in the context of what I've preached, I want you tomorrow when you get up, I want you to when you go to what get in your car, you go to bed tonight, in the morning, tomorrow night in the spirit of persuasion. Now I want you to read Romans 8:28 because before it's just clichéish. Oh yeah, all things work together this it's going to be all right. But when you got a spirit of persuasion and we know all things work together for good to them that love God. The same love we can't be separated from. The same love he's called us into relationship with. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. When I get up tomorrow, I got a spirit of persuasiveness upon me that I can quote this and I can know my circumstances may look contrary to where I thought I would be and where I am. My circumstances may not line up to what I've been praying. My circumstances may look, "Wow, God, where are you in this? But I'm persuaded that even where I am is going to be used for good in where I'm going. Where I am is going to come around for my good where I'm going. I can't get distracted and I can't get frustrated and I can't just I can't question what God's doing when he's doing it. My call today to you is, will you trust him? Will you trust his heart when you can't see his hands? Will you trust his heart when you can't see his feet? Will you trust him when you can't trace his steps? Will you trust him? If you can, this will become the anthem of your life. It will become what theologians declare the greatest chapter in the book. It will become just that for you. Trust him and everything is going to be okay.

Lord, I give your people what you have given unto me. I have given to this day the spirit of the house, the encouragement, the love, the compassion. Lord, I pray you direct our steps. You direct us. And God, may this word lead and guide us into our tomorrows. God, may we cling to our brothers and sisters. May we may we cast off the spirit of persuasiveness unto others. Let them sense and know and feel we love you. We love. We believe. And if God be for us, who can be against us? In Jesus name. Amen.