Numbers 6

As I'm sitting down here on this bridge, there's a lot of people who are coming down, going to graduation. And I remember personally, if you guys know or not, I'm in my last year writing a dissertation for my doctorate, doctorate of ministry and finishing that up, hopefully walking next year. And I'm really excited about it. And it's funny, as I'm seeing graduations, I'm attending graduations, videotaping speeches for graduations to go on to these virtual graduations. Here's something I'm learning and realizing in this moment. Graduation speeches are so much fun, right? I mean, they tell you like, you can conquer the world, you can change the world. You can be the change the world has never seen. You can do all these amazing things, and everybody's getting the same thing. No matter where you are, no matter where you're from, whether high school, college, elementary school, middle school, everybody's being told how amazing, how possible, how much possibility they have inside of them, how much greatness they have inside of them, which is amazing and it's true. And every single one of us has been ladled with grace and ladled with mercy and ladled with the very power of God to do everything the world says we cannot do because we have the grace of God inside of us. Don't mishear me when I say you have the capability of changing every single atmosphere. You are the picture of God's creativity and imagination. I love it. And what I'm noticing, though, is at the end of these speeches, when people tell their stories, every once in a while, somebody then blesses or prays over and covers them and gives them a guarantee of the very thing that they're promising by telling them their own story. Listen, this is where I started. This is where I ended. It's not just fixed words that I'm saying and regurgitating to make some money, but my story is speaking directly to you, to let you know that the very things I'm suggesting are possible will come to pass. There's something about when someone is able to connect a guarantee to this, that in spite of the brokenness I experience in my life, this is possible. In spite of the pain I experienced in my life, this is possible. Which is why it is so important for us to ensure that we share the story of. Of what God has done in our lives. And it made me begin to think about the ways that God blesses us, how when God sees our stories, when we understand even the story of Jesus, when we connect ourselves back to God, what happens is that God begins to put onto us the very blessings of God. That in the spite of every single thing that you just said, you just did or you just communicated, God turns around and says, and yes, I will still do exceedingly, abundantly, I will take you higher than you can believe or imagine. Because what was speaks to what can, and what can speaks to what will. And what will shows you what the future looks like. And if we serve a God where the future is but a memory to God, then what was speaks to what can, what can speaks to what will. And what will shows us the future that God has for all of us. And here's what I love about God In Numbers, chapter six. Today we see the first one of the first blessings and benedictions that God gives to his people. And what God gives to his people in this blessing and benediction is God says, listen, I know what you're working for. I know what you're striving after. I know what you've done wrong. I know what you've done correctly. And God says, but here, let me give you something to cover you in spite of everything you're going to encounter, in spite of everywhere you're going to go. And he says, In Numbers chapter 6, God says, I've heard your story. I've heard your past. I know what your future is going to look like. Now let me cover all of that by blessing it beyond your wildest dreams or imaginations. And that's the story in Numbers, chapter six. Have your Bible turn me to Numbers chapter six. Now, I have it partially memorized, so I'm going to say it from memory. And I want to challenge you. Before the end of this month, we're going to give you four blessings. In the link in the chat, we have five different translations of each one of those scriptures that hopefully will assist you in memorizing the biblical text. Numbers chapter six, beginning at verse number 24. Number six, verse number 24. It says this. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord cause God's face to shine upon you. The Lord lift God's countenance round about you and give you peace. With this, God put his name on the Israelites. The Lord bless and keep you. The Lord cause his face to shine upon you. The Lord lift God's countenance round about you and give you peace. And God put God's name on the Israelites. Can you say that with me? Say, the Lord bless and keep you. The Lord cause God's face to shine upon you. The Lord lift God's countenance round about you and give you peace. Can you say this? Simply say, God's name is on me. God's name is on me. Pray with me. Father, we're grateful that you bless, you keep you shine, you surround and your name is on us. Speak to us today, God, for the places where we don't want to grab a hold of all the blessings you've given us that we might grab a hold of our blessings in spite of a world that seems to strip us of it. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's jump into this text. So what's going on in this scripture? What's going on in this text? So here's what's happening, Aaron. God has been challenging Moses to give the people a lot of different mandates and and responsibilities. And the mandates and responsibilities that God has given Moses to give to Aaron and to give to all the different people we see. All throughout the Book of Numbers are a bunch of different intentional responsibilities. Because God knows the calling that God has put it inside of them, that there's something powerful about when God trusts us to be responsible that God loves you enough to be responsible with the oil that God put inside of you. That God did not just give you oil to have oil. God gave you oil to be responsible with the oil that God put inside of you. And so with that we see the Nazirites are the ones that God is talking to and engaging with in the first part of Numbers, chapter 6. But when we get to the second part, the last part, the last motion, verses 21 through 27, now we get this blessing that God tells the priests to get priests, Aaron and all the priests to give on to the people that every time they leave from our presence, every time they exit from where we are, God says, give them this blessing. And here's a blessing that God tells them to give them. God says, I want you to tell them this. The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord cause his face to shine upon you. The Lord lift his countenance round about you and the Lord give you peace. And with that, God put God's name on Israel. That's a beautiful blessing. And I want to break down this blessing Before I do that. Let me tell you this. Here's what I love. God tells the priests to give the people a guarantee. God says, I guarantee these are the things that I'm going to give you and we're going to happen in your life. God says, tell the priests every time the people leave, I'm giving them a guarantee. This is what I, God, I'm going to do for all the people. And he says, here's what I'm going to do. Here's the guarantee that God gives his chosen people. Here's the guarantee that God says, regardless of what you see, what you encounter, what you've done, what you think exempts you from God. God says, here's my guarantee to you. In spite of everything you think, everything you see, everything the world says, everything the world does, God says, here's my guarantee to you. The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord cause God's face to shine upon you. The Lord will lift his countenance round about you and give you peace. And God says, I'm doing this because I put my name on you. I don't want you guys to miss this. It's a beautiful text. It's a beautiful part of the blessing that God says, literally, I'm guaranteed. There's something special y' all about a guarantee from God. It's one thing to get a guarantee from people. It's one thing to get a guarantee from your friends. It's another thing to get a guarantee even from your enemies. It's another thing to get a guarantee from people you work with. I guarantee from people you go to church with. But y', all, there's nothing like a guarantee from God. A guarantee from God says. God says, I guarantee I'm going to bless you. I guarantee I'm going to keep you. I guarantee I'm going to be one to make my face shine upon you. I guarantee I'm going to trust you with glory. I guarantee I'm going to surround you with favor. I guarantee I'm going to give you peace. The reason a whole bunch of us are standing here today, alive today is because we are the recipients. And the picture of God's guarantees. I'm a picture of God guaranteed favor. I'm a picture of God's guaranteed love. I'm a picture of God's guaranteed healing. I'm a picture of God's guaranteed opportunity. That I am a picture of of God's guarantee. God says, I guarantee you. So every time they leave priests, here's all I need you to do. I need you to remind them of the guarantee I've given them. And that is the Lord, me. I, God will bless them. The Lord, I, me. God will keep them. The Lord, I, me. God will cause my face to shine on them. The Lord, I, me. God will lift up my countenance round about them and give them peace. So what does all that mean? You have your Bibles. I want you to mark these words next to it. I hope to break this down for you. Let's break it down. Let's say. Let's break it down. J les style. Can we do that today? Let's break it down. Let's break it down. Let's break it down. So the first thing the text says, what does the blessing encompass? The first thing the text says is God will bless you. Very simply put, here's what God is saying in this text. That God will give things to his people directly from heaven. That God will bless you. Blessings is not something that I can give to myself. Blessings is something that come directly from God. So he says, the Lord will cause heaven to be to give something directly to you. I don't know about you, but I'm grateful that I serve a God who. Who trusts me with bits and pieces of heaven. I'm grateful I serve a God who trusts me with bits and pieces of God's self to live into the world. I'm grateful that God trusts me to bless me with bits and pieces of heaven. The way the text is written is that God will give you something directly from heaven. He says, the Lord bless you. The reason we're here today, the reason you can speak in tongues, you can pray, you can understand, you can fast with fervor. The reason we are still and even strong today is that we serve a God who will bless you directly from heaven. To have things that only can come from God. And sometimes they'll come through people, but it only can come from God. And that's why we can testify. If it had not been for God. That's why we can testify. God is the only one who can, who will, who has and will continue to do it. That God will give you blessings directly from heaven. So he says, guarantee them. The Lord will bless them with things directly that come from heaven. But then to get it, even the picture gets even better. He says, and only will God bless you. But the text says, then God will bless you and he will keep you. Here's the beautiful thing. The Hebrew there is the word protection. That God. Watch this. That God will bless you and then God will protect his investment. Don't miss that. That God will bless you from heaven and that he will protect the blessing that he sent. I think that's so good. That God is so amazing. But watch this. That God protects his investment. That God won't invest in you and not protect you. That God won't just invest in you. But then not make sure he'll. He'll make sure that he puts a refuge around you. That's where Psalm 91. That he that dwells in the secret place of the Lord God and dwells under the shadow of the Almighty will be protected. Because God not only will bless you, but he'll protect you. He'll keep you. And he protects his investment. That I'm grateful that God loves me so much that he protects my investment, his investment. He protects me from heart, harm and evil because he's protecting his investment. He protects me from things that danger seen and unseen. Because he's protecting his investment. That I'm a grateful I serve a God who doesn't just give me something. But then God will protect the very investment that he puts into this world. And that's the reason why healing keeps happening in your life. God's protecting his investment. That's the reason why acceleration keeps happening in your life. God is protecting his investment. That's the reason why things keep opening and shutting for you. Because God is protecting his investment. Y'. All, I'm grateful I serve a God who loves me enough to protect the investment that God made. The Lord bless you. Hope this helps you. The Lord keep you. Watch this. Then the Lord will cause his face to shine upon you. The imagery there that we're calling upon is seen back in. In. In back in Psalm 121. The imagery here is that God will shine on you like the sun. And then watch it that he shines on you so that you are a bearer of the very image of God. And watch it that whenever then you look up, you are staring at the glory of God. That now God will cause God's face, God's glory to shine, to overcome, to consume, to take a hold of you. That God loves you enough. Watch this. That God trusts you to see glory, to hold glory and to take glory everywhere you go. That means everywhere I go, God's face is shifting, shining upon me. That God loves me enough to ensure that his face is reflecting on me. That God's love is reflecting on me. That God's peace is reflecting on me. That whatever I need God to be in that moment, that God's favor, God's face is shining directly on me. That if I look up and behold that I can look beyond the mountains, the world and the idols the world has created. And I can see that God's favor, God's face is shining directly on me. That if I need love, God's favorite face is on me. If I need peace. God's face is on me if I need to get through this. God's face is on me if I need to get beyond my worry. God's face is on me that I'm grateful I serve a God who will let his face shine upon me. The Lord bless you. The Lord gives you blessings from heaven. The Lord keep you. He protects his blessing you. He protects his investment. The Lord causes face to shine upon you that I have access the very face of God. Then text says, then God will raise his countenance roundabout you. The Hebrew word for the word countenance in the text is the word God's divine face. Divine favor. That God the word there, what it means, what it's interpreted to become is that God. Watch this will reconcile you back to him regardless of circumstances. Don't miss that God will forgive you when even if you don't ask for forgiveness, that God will lift up divine favor. He will overcome you with the divine favor. Watch this. And not only will he overcome you with favor, he will overwhelm you with favor, but then he'll surround you with peace. Don't miss it. He says, I'm going to envelop you in favor. I'm going to envelop you in peace. That I'm going to give you favor and I'm going to give you peace. And not just am I going to give it to you, but I'm going to surround you with it. That I think to me that's good news. I ain't even got an analogy to put there. It's good news to me to know that I serve a God who will overwhelm me and surround me with favor and peace. That that God loves you so much that he is going to envelop you, surround you and drown you in the very favor and the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we can understand. Where Paul comes back in Philippians chapter 4 and says that God will give you peace that surpasses all understanding. Therefore, since I have that peace, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are honest, whatever things of good report. He says that anything be a praiseworthy think on those things. Why? Because. Because I have peace that makes absolutely no sense. Because I am surrounded in the favor of God and the peace of God. And here's the place I want to challenge all of you and those of you who are saying, pastor Justin, I feel like I failed, that God does not love me, that God does not care about me. Here's what I want you to know. When God Raises his countenance round about you. He's reconciling you back to God's self and forgiving you in spite of anything you think could keep you distant from God. God says when I'm blessing you, when this blessing is pronounce over your life, that God is forgiving you of every single thing, even the things you want to admit and don't want to admit, because God constantly is reconciling you back to God's self. The Lord bless you, the Lord keep you, the Lord cause his face to shine upon you. The Lord lift his countenance round about you and the Lord give you peace. Why does God do all of this? The last verse of the text, Because God is putting his name on his people. Can you say that with. Say God's name is on me. Come on, I need you to put that in the comment section. Say God's name is on me. God's name is on me. The reason why God does all of this is because God is trusting you with the name of God on you. That's the text. Pastor Justin, what's the. What's the sermon? That's just. Yes, that's good, right? Lord, I want to know. The Lord blesses me, that God guarantees the blessing that God keeps me, that God causes his face to shine upon me. That God will lift up his countenance, favor reconciliation round about me. The Lord gives me peace and God puts his name on me. Pastor Justin, what are you. I mean, that's it. I mean, that's good stuff, isn't it? What's the challenge? Why are we preaching this sermon? If preaching is supposed to cause us to come to a place of repentance, then, Pastor Justin, what do I need to repent for? If God blesses, keeps, causes face to shine upon all of this, Can I give you a challenge? In the text that God gave me, God challenged me with this. He said, Pastor Justin. He said, justin, tell the people. One of the reasons it's difficult sometimes to even read this text, to own this text, to grab a hold of the mitzpah, this benediction that we've given unto people is because sometimes we don't want all of the blessings of God. Because honestly, if God were to answer every single prayer that we're praying, I don't think all of us are ready. I mean, if God were to answer every single thing. Some things we pray about and don't actually anticipate that God's going to do them because our faith has not grown, grown to a place and stretched to a place where we can hold and make room for the blessings of God. If God were to give you every single prayer. It does. They do. You scared me for a second. You scared me for a second. Oh my God. If God were to give you every single blessing that God wants to give you, a whole lot of us are not ready to hold onto the blessings that God wants to give us. It's a challenge that God says, I'm going to bless you and I'm going to keep you. I'm going to cause God's face to shine upon you. I'm going to lift up my countenance round about you and give you peace. I'm going to put my name on you. And there are some of us listening to me under the sound of my voice who are saying, pastor Justin, that sounds real good in theory, but honestly, there's some stuff I don't want in practice because there's some sin I still love to do. There's still some places I want to go. There's still some people that are against the will of God that I like hanging out with. There's still some things, Pastor Justin, that I enjoy doing. That's why Hot girl Summer and whatever else, what else is going on in this world. That's why it's very easy for us to find ways to sin than it is find ways to live out into and grab ahold of the faith that God put inside of us. It makes me wonder sometimes, could it be that God is saying, I'm standing in heaven handing out blessings? Some of us are so full of the world and full of ourselves and full of our past and full of excuses and full of worry and full of fear that when God wants to hand out blessings and keeping and his face and favor and peace, we look back at God and say, God, listen, I have enough of myself that God has too much to fight through. To get God to you, God, you have to give, get through my arrogance, you have to get through my pride. You have to get through my past. You have to get through the language I use of myself. God, you say me, you say you bless me, but God, I can remind you of all the reasons, ways you haven't. God, you say you keep me. I can remind you of the times you didn't. God, you say you caused your face to shine upon me. But I can remind you of the times where I feel like you haven't done it. That could it be that we're the ones that are blocking the very possibility of God coming Stronger into our lives. There's a reason why God told Aaron and Moses, bless the people because I want them to know that they're going to go into spaces where they're going to be told they're not blessed. And I never want them to forget the fact that I God bless and keep and causes my face to shine upon them. Where the places in your life you're blocking the blessings of God. Where the places in your life where complaining and comparison and pride and arrogance and fear and worry is blocking the very possibility of God coming into your life. Where are the places in your life where God is trying to get in? And it takes too much and too much fighting for you and God to come in. Where are the places in your life where God wants to come in and turn it all around to overturn things in your life? And you're sitting here saying, God, but I can figure it out my own way. We have some poison ivy in our backyard. I thought I had Covid for a couple of days. I didn't realize I had a terrible allergic reaction to poison ivy in our backyard in our new home. And as I was doing so, I called a poison ivy removal person and he said, justin, I don't think you really need to have me come out. He said, justin, here's the way you can completely get rid of this poison ivy. He said, yes, spray it. Yes, do all that. But he said, justin, we got to get to the root of the matter. He said, justin, because I can spray it on the outside, but if I don't affect the roots, the poison ivy is still there. He said, justin, I need you to get the hoe that you have in your garage and get onto the ground. Get into the ground, get a shovel and pull back and overturn the dirt. Watch it, because if you're going to plant new crops into the ground, the poison ivy will choke it out if you don't uproot the poison ivy. And maybe the reason that we cannot accept the fact that God will bless, God will keep, God will cause his face to shine upon us and God will give us favor and peace as we got so much poison that's choking out new blessings and new favor and new opportunity to get. God says, in this season of your life, I need you to own the fact that I want to give new crops and new flowers and new favor and new grace and new mercy, But I've got to overturn some dirt in your life so that you don't choke out the newness I want to give you. So how Do I do that? How do I own that? God wants to give me radical blessings like what we see in Numbers, chapter six. And I give you three quick things really quickly. Number one, quit trying to find what God has already given you. Quit trying to find what God has already given you. Look at the text. The text says, the Lord will bless you, verse 26, and the Lord will keep you. That's it. Quit trying to find what God's given you. What has God given you? The Lord says, I will bless you and I will keep you. I'm going to just say it again. Quit trying to find what God's already given you. God says, I will bless you and I will keep you. See, one of the challenges I believe we have is that we're searching for things in the wrong places. That I'm searching for someone to give me affirmation and give me blessings and give me opportunity and give me things. When God says, listen, here's the guarantee I'm giving you. You don't have to search for value. I've given you value. You don't have to search for love. I've given you love. You don't have to search for opportunity. I've given you opportunity. You don't have to search for someone to tell you you're great. I've given you that. You don't have to search for what you already have. And could it be we're so consumed with trying to find, find the ways that we can see God here that we forget that God says, I'm pronouncing a blessing over you, that you don't have to find what you already have. Let me talk to my beautiful black and brown people listening to me on the other side of the screen. You don't have to find. You don't need your white co workers to affirm the goodness of God in you. You don't need your white co workers to remind you how great you are. You don't need the folk you go to school with to remind you that you have value. Baby, let me tell you something. Something. You are young, gifted and black. You have value inside of you. Not because of just not because of what the world says about you and not because of what a protest says about you. But because when God looks at you, God says, I bless you and I've kept you. I put my grace on you, put mercy on you, put love on you. I put all of myself on you. And so you don't have to find what you already have. And I want to remind you in the Time where it seems like we're being so over saturated, saturated on the news and on social media all around the world, where everybody is reminding us that black lives matter. Like we've been telling ourselves for the past 400 years. And for some reason now it matters because celebrities did it. I want to tell you something. If no celebrity says your life matters, that you don't have to find what God has already given you. If no politician says your life matters, you don't have to find what God has already given you. Quit looking for what God has given you. God has blessed, blessed you and he's kept you. And the reason I know that, baby, is when you look back over your life and I know I'm not in a church building right now, but that's a place for you all to shout that every single one of us can turn our minds around and turn our heads around. And I don't need more blessings. I just need my memory. Because when I begin to remember what God has and what he done, done for my ancestors, what he's done for me, what he's done to my job, what he's done in my school, what he's done in my body, what he's done for my family, what he's done for my children, I don't have to search for the fact that I'm blessed. I wake up knowing I'm blessed. I don't have to search for the fact I'm beautiful. I wake up knowing I'm beautiful. I don't have to search for the fact that I'm confident. I wake up knowing I'm confident. I'm called, I'm bold. I'm what God needs. I'm a lion, you're going to hear me roar. I'm an eagle. I fly over things. I don't hang out with pigs and dirt. I fly above all those things. I don't have to search for what God has already given. He says you're, you're blessed and you're already kept. Quit looking for what God's already given you. What are the promises that you're searching for other people to give, to give to you? What are the affirmations you're looking for other people to tell you? Can I tell you the greatest part of my life? Where I was felt so free to do what God has called me to be and be who God's called me to do what God's called me to do and be who God's called me to be. When I stopped waking up looking for others to affirm who I was. And I began to own what God said that I was. Because that's where reading scripture comes into. Watch it. Because the reason that God has to use other people to remind you of God has said is because we're not listening to the very voice of God. That's a mouthful. I'm going to say it again. The reason we have to listen to other people to tell us what God has said is because we're not listening directly to God to tell us what God says. God told you that he's your shepherd. God told you he'll put you at a table with your enemies. God told you that he will open up when the windows of heaven. God told you that God will. God will put you, let you step on scorpions. God told you that. That you're the head and not the tail. God told you you're the lender and not the borrower. God told you that you are above and not beneath. And instead of you searching for affirmation from people who are not qualified to give it to you, I want you to own the fact that you have what God already said about you. So own who you are so others don't have to tell you who you are. And what am I? God? I am blessed by God and I'm kept by God. I hope this is blessing you. Not only do I have to not find what I've already been given, but secondly, secondly, the text teaches us, look at you more than you look at others. Look at you more than you look at others. You know what happened? My first year pastoring, I hated Facebook because my first year pastoring, I was trying to be all the pastors that I've seen on Facebook. And y' all can judge me, whatever, because you did the same thing at your first job and some of us still do the same thing on your current job that I was. I was doing my very best to try to be what somebody else was. So I was dressing like other preachers. I was. I was walking like other preachers. I was talking like I was trying to hoop like other preachers. I can't even hoop. I was trying to holler and scream like other preachers. I was trying to do all these runs. I can't sing. I saw a preacher sing, so I had to sing that week. Preacher did this. I got to preach on this, got to do this. And then I realized, man, I'm not called to pastor the people that that person's pastoring. I'm called the pastor of the people that God has called me. To pastor. And when I got to a point where I stopped trying to be who I wasn't and began to be who I was, I began to look at me more than I looked at others. Can I bless you with this? Quit competing with someone else and begin to compete with the best version of yourself. I'm going to say that again. I said, quit competing with somebody else and begin to compete with the best version of yourself. Because here's what the text shows me, that God says, Watch this. I want you to look at you more than you look at others. Why? Because God says my face is shining upon you. That God trusts you. I want you to leave out. Matter of fact, I dare some of y'. All. If you have your phones, pull them up. If you have access to a mirror, if you have your makeup bag, whatever it is around you, I want you to look in the mirror, and I want you to see that you are looking at somebody who God trusts with his face. God, I wish I heard myself. And I want you to see that you're looking at somebody that God trusts with his presence. I want you to see that you're looking at somebody and I'm looking across the screen at people that God trusts with his glory. That God says, watch this. That I'm giving you my glory in all that you do and all that you are. That God says, I'm trusting you with my face to shine upon you. God says, I'm giving you my glory. And by through my glory, God says I'll get the glory. And I'll position you in spaces so that when you get the glory there, I know you won't try to steal the glory, but you'll make sure you give me glory. God says I'm causing my face to shine upon you. Could it be that we grab a hold of the fact that God's face is shining on us? But I don't. I don't really want God to go everywhere I like going. I don't want God to hear every conversation I have. I don't want God to see my text messages. I don't want God to see my DMs. I don't. I don't want God to see. I want God to see that. I don't want God to see where I like. Where I used to go on Fridays before all of this happened. I don't want God to see what I used to like doing on Saturdays. I don't want nobody to see the same way I don't want my mama to see it. Your husband or your wife to see it, your pastor to see it. I don't. I don't. Because if God were to see that. And maybe God is using you to take his glory to places you think that you could, to the places you enjoy sinning. Maybe God is trying to get his glory into places where you enjoy not taking God. Maybe this is a season of your life where God has allowed us to be distant so we can see what truly matters to us and see that I don't need to look at other people for the affirmation that God has already given me. I don't need to look at other people to tell me and compare myself with other people. But I can look at the fact that God trusts me with his grace, glory to let his face shine upon me. Where the places that God is trying to get to that God is using you to take them. Who are the people that God is trying to get to that God's going to use you to take them there? Where the situations that God is trying to get to, he's going to use you to take him there. God will cause his face to shine upon you. God trusts you to look like him. God trusts you to have his glory shine directly on you. Quit competing with other people and begin to compete with the very best that you know God has called you to be. I'm finished. Quit trying to find what God has already given you. You are blessed and kept. Look at you more than you look at others because God's face is shining upon you. Can I give you this principle I wrote in my notes? I didn't give it to you. All you ever notice how misery loves confidence, company, but joy is often alone. I'm gonna say that again because that's so good. I said misery loves company, but joy is often alone. Misery loves company, but joy is often alone. Misery loves company. It's amazing how it's easy to find places to complain and compare, but not places to accelerate and rejoice. I challenge you to be so by yourself and look in the mirror and see what God says back to you. Instead of finding company and misery and company and complaining. That's my principle. I just wanted to. The last thing I'll give you today. Quit trying to find what God has given. Look at you more than you look at others. And thirdly, and finally embrace that God wants to overwhelm you. I'm finished. I said embrace that God wants to overwhelm you. The text says, lord bless you, keep you, Lord. Cause God's face to shine upon you. The Lord lift his countenance round about you and give you peace. Here's the way the text is written in the Hebrew. That God is surrounding you in God's favor. It's so beautiful that God is surrounding you in peace. That. Watch it. That God is overwhelming you in the favor of God. That God is overwhelming you in the peace of God. That God is overwhelming you in the presence of God. That the Lord. The blessing that God is giving you is that God will overwhelm, he will surround, he will encompass. He will drown you in the very favor of God. And I don't know about you, but that's a place where I can give God glory and a place where I can shout unto God with a voice of triumph. That Watch it. That God doesn't surround me in misery. He surrounds me in favor. God doesn't surround me in pain. He surrounds me in peace. God doesn't surround me in frustration. He surrounds me in his favor. And y', all, I'm grateful I serve a God who will drown me in the very favor of God. That when I wake up, I'm lifting my hands because I'm not. I'm. I'm not upset that I'm drowning. I'm rejoicing that I'm drowning in favor. I'm lifting my hands because I'm not upset that I'm drowning. I'm lifting my hands because I'm telling God in an act of surrender, I'm thanking him for all of the peace. And I want to challenge you to stop trying to run from what God wants to overwhelm you with. But embrace the fact that God overwhelms you with peace. That I'm drowning in favor and I'm drowning in grace. I'm drowning in mercy. I'm drowning. Drowning in patience. I'm drowning in love that God pronounces a blessing over you to let you know that he loves you enough to drown you in the very favor of God. I. That's a place I can rejoice. I wish. I wish we were inside a church. I think that's a place I could drop to E flat right there. That I thank God that I'm drowning. Everywhere I look, goodness and mercy. I wish y' all can go ahead and help me close in the comments and say y' all can help me close if you want to in the comments. Everywhere I look, I got mercy. I wish y'. All. Everywhere I look I got favor. I don't have to find. I don't have to try to find love everywhere I look, I'm drowning in love. God, I wish I had somebody. Everywhere I look, I'm drowning in the peace of God. Everywhere I look, I'm drowning in grace. Everywhere I look, I'm drowning in mercy. So where can I go? Because if I go to the highest mountain, I'm drowning in mercy. If I go to the Lotus Valley, I'm drowning in peace. If I go to my enemy's house, I'm drowning because he prepares a table. If I go to my best friend's house, I'm drowning because we'll see. Serve God together. I'm grateful to serve a God who will let me drown in all who God is. I. I want how to close this thing. I wonder how to get out of here. Those of you heard me talk about it. You follow me on Facebook, know that at our new house, we are blessed to have a pool at our new house. I love. I love my pool, but I did not know how much work pools take. I did not realize how much work pools mean for your home. And so, y', all, we got a new pool at our house, and I. I've been figuring out this pool. And so y'. All, I had to vacuum my pool at my house, and so I went to go vacuum the pool at my house, y'. All, I put the vacuum on the bottom, and there's dirt on the bottom of my pool. There was dirt, there was worms, there was algae all on the bottom of my pool. I put this vacuum on the bottom of my pool. I connected it to my skimmer, but what I. All of a sudden, when I connected to my skimmer, y', all, my filter started going crazy. My pump started going crazy, because I didn't realize. I didn't. There was so much air in the tubes from the vacuum in my pool. And so I call the pool guys. Hey, Mr. Po pool guy. How you doing? Mr. Pool guy said, what's up, Jay? I said, hey, Mr. Pool guy, here's my issue. I don't know what's going on, but I need to clean out the crap. The stuff on the bottom of my pool. He said, sir, sir. Did you. Did you. Did you. Did you connect it to the skimmer? I said, yes, I did. Did you put the vacuum in the pool? I said, yes, I did. Is your pool full of water? Said, yes, the pool is full of water. I don't need a vacuum stuff if it ain't full of water. He said, sir, let me ask you this. Did you prime your hose? I said, I don't know about that. Can you explain that, like, to the person next to me? Because I don't really know what that is. He said, justin, watch this. You have to flood your hose to get rid of the air. Because if you don't flood your hose with water to get rid of the air in the hose, it'll mess up the filter. But if you. But if you flood the hose with water when you connect it to the skimmer, the filter won't know the difference because you flooded it with water to make sure that everything dirty can be removed. God, I wish. And you don't mess up the filter in your life. Can I tell you something? I thank God that when I wake up, God floods every single piece of sin out of me. That when I wake up, God is flooding animosity out of me. When I wake up, God is flooding anger out of me. When I wake up, God is flooding my past out of me. Because God knows the favor he surrounded me in. And I wish I had some folk in these comments. Y' all can act like we in church right now if you want to. Who can pause and give God glory right now that every time you wake up, he's flooding pain and he's flooding animosity and he's flooding your past and he's flooding what you used to be, and he's flooding all the past in your life. He's flooding your enemies away from you. So you can testify that the Lord will bless you and he will keep you. He'll cause his face to shine upon you. And I'm surrounded in the favor of God because God has flooded anything against him, him from me. So I can testify that he'll lead you and he'll guide you along the way, and he'll lead you where he is. Because God is flooding what's against him out of me. So I can stand up and say, I am one who's been through hard trials and tribulations. I'm one that God has kept and one that God has helped. And I'm one that God is pushing. Embrace the fact that God wants to overwhelm you. I'm gonna say that again. I said embrace the fact that God wants to overwhelm you. Oh, I'm. I'm not anxious. I'm overwhelmed in favor. God. I wish y'. All. I'm. I'm not stressed. I'm overwhelmed in blessings. I'm. I'm overwhelmed in peace. God, I'm. I'm over. And in spite of everything I see going on in the world, I'm overwhelmed In the favor of God. And that's the reason I can smile every day. I'm overwhelmed. I'm drowning. I'm. I'm overwhelmed in the very peace of God that makes absolutely no sense. And why is all that important? Because God has put his name on you. I don't know who you are, where you are, but I want to challenge you own and accept the blessings of God on your life. Where is it in your life that God has challenged you to be closer to him? Where is it in your life that God is challenging you to purge out of you as God floods you And I want to pronounce the blessing over you that God is blessing. Can you say this to me? Say God bless me. God keep me. God shine on me. God overwhelm me with your favor. It's in Jesus name. Amen. Maybe you're here today, you don't have a relationship with Jesus. You never give your life over to Christ. You want to be. You're looking to be baptized, maybe even looking to be a member of this church. And maybe you're here today and you're saying, pastor Justin, I want to be a member of Congress Street Baptist Church. I want to make call this church my home. I know it's virtual, but I want to be a part of it. If that's you, do us a favor. There's a link that's coming up in the chat right now, the comments section. Can you click there for us and say, Pastor Justin, I want to be baptized. I want to be a member. I want to be a part of this church. I want to be a partner with Congdon Street. I believe in the vision and mission that God is calling this church to do and be. And I want to take the gospel everywhere I possibly can take it. Because I am a Christ led dreamer, innovator and active agent of change. If that's you, go ahead and click that link. Let us know that you want to be a part of this church. We can celebrate you. Maybe you're here today, you don't have a relationship with Jesus. Here's what I want you to do. We have the simple act called prayer of salvation. And all we ask you to do is pray this prayer with me. Can you pray with me? Say God, I come in Jesus name. I admit I'm a sinner. I believe that you are God. Today I confess that I desire you and I will demonstrate that by giving my life over to you. God, grab me where I am. Bless me, keep me, shine on me that I might be what you need me to be. It's in Jesus name we pray. Come on, Congress Street. Do me a favor. Can you give it up for every person who just gave their life over to Christ and maybe that's you too. Can you do me a favor? Can you go ahead and click that link as well? Let us know that you desire to be a part of our church, desire to be baptized in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to go through a number of blessings in the link section. You see, the scriptures are actually going to preach. I challenge you to memorize those scriptures the same way. I'm attempting to do the same with myself this month as we talk about the blessings of God in spite of everything going in the world. I want you to grab a hold of the blessings of God. In a moment. We're going to go and Dinora, Donnell and Michelle have all put together from one of the more recent songs called the Blessing. And the Blessing is simply number six sung. I want this to be in your heart. I want you to go to bed singing this song. We'll put the MP3 out in a moment. I want you to grab a hold of this. We have an album that we're going to have come out from our church later this year. This is not one of the songs on the album, but you'll hear Sense the oil on this on these songs when you hear this in a moment. But I want you to grab a hold of the blessings that God gives you. And I want you to own that God wants you to be blessed, to be kept. His face is shining on you. And anything that's inside, inside of you that's blocking God doing that, may God remove that from you. God, as this song falls unto our hearts, let it fall on fertile ground.