I don't know if you've ever felt like life had pushed you past your breaking
point so much pressure on you that you didn't know what to do but I found out
that the power comes from the pressure I
could use a lot of biblical examples of this but I chose Joseph because he said
at the end of his life after he saw what God's purpose had been all along fully
fulfilled and he saw the the portrait of it not just one little part of it he saw
the the whole panoramic view he was able to say to his brothers you meant it for
evil because see his brothers had pushed him into a pit have you ever been pushed
around ever been rejected just waved at me so okay so so you might need to know
this verse he said you meant it for evil you were pushing me but while you were
pushing the hand of God was pulling He was He was pulling me when when it
didn't go the way I wanted it to when they talked about me they were pushing
God was pulling the hand of God has always been on your
life while people were pushing with one hand God was pulling with the other it's
the power of the pull to know that God was positioning me for exactly where He
wanted me to be and when you understand the power of the pull life doesn't seem
so random anymore you understand that there was a purpose behind all of it if
you look out here you can't see it but if you if you if you look back if you
look back you'll see that your dad didn't make you come to church that
night you thought he made you come to church that night but it wasn't your dad
pushing you to come to church that made you come to church God was He used your
dad your dad's in heaven now my dad's in heaven now they're probably eating some
carb-free angel food cake to celebrate my birthday together 37 candles Jesus
name but but but Cody Cody bugged me to get me to church the night I got saved
he was he was pushy about it too he showed up in his pickup truck and in my
mind he was being pushy but while he was pushing me God was pulling me on
February 19th 1980 I came into the world because she pushed
me is this too graphic
but at the same time she was pushing God was pulling I wasn't born on accident and
neither were you God knew you needed the be here God brought
you here right here right now it was His hand your car didn't bring you to church
God brought you to church get a bow get some arrows and let me give you an
object lesson on the way God works God is pulling you God is drawing you to
himself God is drawing you into purpose yes sometimes it's painful yes sometimes
it feels like you're going backwards but wait till you see the trajectory of
God's purpose come on a shout unto God
but pulling me He pulled me out of some relationships I didn't need to be in yes
He did he pulled me out of some pits that I fell into with my own dumb
decisions how many are grateful for the hands of God that pulls you out
pullin He's pulling what was Elisha doing when Elijah threw his mantle on
his shoulders does anybody remember in in verse Kings 19 not remember Elisha
wasn't looking to become a prophet Elisha was a was a Plowman he was simply
driving plows in a field one day and he wasn't pointing himself out to be used
by God because when you are in position of your purpose God will point you out
you don't have to self-promote you don't have to get somebody to like you or
notice you when you are pulled according see Elisha wasn't even looking
for Elisha until God spoke his name and showed him the exact physical location I
got to calm down but I'm excited Landon cuz I saw it in an illustration I
realized that what Elisha was telling the King to do with the bow at the end
of his life was an illustration of what God had been doing to him his whole life
He was drawing him was pulling him He was pulling him the power of the pull
and one day come here he's driving he's driving it says that
he was he was driving 12 yoke of oxen now we're gonna act this out you be
the ox and I'll be the man of God
and I gave them the verse I be honest with you I preach I preach the sermon
third time I preached I'm pretty sure like I wanted to yet let me get it right
this time cuz I gotta go eat some cake then I can't eat cake until I preach
good now watch this in 1 Kings 19 19 it
says put the scripture I just sent this to them I hope they got it there this
Elijah went from there and found Elisha okay you missed it the only reason he
found him is because God led Elijah He pulled okay okay I got I got it I got to
work on this so he found him in the field plowing with 12 yoke of oxen
and he himself was driving the 12 pairs so let's let's go and you know how
hots oxen are because all of you have had experience with oxen oxen are kind
of slow so you got to drive them the driver they'll just stop on you you know
you got to drive them you got to drive them and he's driving them and verse 20
stop for a second and verse 20 it said you like this it says said in verse 20
that when Elijah passed by which represented Elisha's purpose that he
wasn't even looking for yet how many of you weren't even looking for God and He
found you that's my story I wasn't looking but He
was and He drew me to himself and in verse 19 it says that he was driving the
oxen but it says in verse 20 if we can if we can go to verse 20 then Elijah
left his oxen and ran after Elisha so now the one who was driving to stay
there
you're out of the illustration now because now the one who was driving is
being drawn the one who was driving the oxen plowing the field is being drawn by
purpose and so now Elisha is being drawn into the purpose of God for his life
he's been driving the oxen up until this point but now the one who had been doing
the driving is being drawn and this is what happens when grace comes into your
life this is what happens when purpose takes it's place this is what happens when
you let go of your way when you stop trying to push when you stop trying to
manipulate when you stop trying to follow your own shots and you say Lord
lead me where you want me to go what you want me to do He drew me He drew me He
drew me to Himself He drew me I had to be in the choir
it wasn't Arturo that recruited me for the choir it was God God knew I needed
to Pastor a multicultural church how can I pastor a multicultural church if I
can't step into the church
God was getting me ready God is getting you ready I don't know who this message
is for but if it's for you shout right now
come on He's drawing you He's drawing pull on somebody say He's drawing me
He's drawing me I've got to leave some doubts behind I've got to
leave some dysfunctions behind He's calling me now I can't spend the rest of
my life looking at the backside of an ox
He's drawing me He's drawing me my bow broke while I was preaching yeah yeah it
don't have to be pretty for God to use it I feel like preaching today I feel like
preaching like it's my birthday preach Pastor
pulling down of strongholds I'm not pushing my way through life
I've got pull God brought me here see a sense of purpose will pull you there
there are there there are teenagers under the sound of my voice who are
being who are being pushed pushed by popularity you're being pushed to fit in
with a certain crowd you're being you're being pushed and see popularity can only
get you so far popularity cannot give you a sense of
significance but if you let the purpose of God pull on your life I'm telling you
God's purpose has been pulling on me all my life so I could be here with you today
pulling on you and His hand has always been on you He was pulling you directing your
paths even when you wanted to wander He pulled on you that's why you're here
hey thank you for watching make sure you subscribe to this channel so you don't
miss a single video or livestream and share this video with a friend and don't
forget you can join me live every Sunday thanks again for watching