Mike Bickle emphasizes the importance of maintaining confidence in God's love during trials, drawing from Romans 5:3-5. He explains that tribulations are not signs of God's disfavor but opportunities for growth, producing perseverance, character, and hope. Bickle encourages believers to focus on their identity as loved by God and to engage in a deeper dialogue with the Holy Spirit during difficult times. He asserts that true success is defined by our relationship with God rather than external achievements. Ultimately, he reassures that all things work together for good for those who love God, reinforcing the need for confidence in God's plan.

Turn to Romans chapter 8. Father, we thank you for the Word of God, and we ask you to release your blessing. We ask you for the spirit of life and impartation on the speaking and the hearing of your Word, and we thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen. I'm going to continue on the subject of encountering God in the midst of trials. Last week, we looked at Psalm 23, where the Lord said to David that he spread a table before David in the presence of his enemies, and that if David would feast on the table instead of be preoccupied with his enemies, he would have the anointing of the Lord would flow in his life. And so often, the Lord spreads the table, and we look at the enemy instead of feasting at the table. I'm going to continue on the same theme, but this is, I'm going to look at Romans chapter 5, one of the classic passages in the Bible where Paul the Apostle breaks down what I call the divine logic behind a trial or tribulation, and why and how a tribulation causes us to benefit in the grace of God. But let's start first Romans chapter 8 verse 28. This is one of the grand truths in the Word of God. It says in Romans 8 28, we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. And it goes on in the next verse, which I don't have on the notes, that the purpose is to be conformed to the image of Jesus. That's the purpose in context to this passage. Well, Paul says we know, this is a foundational fact, that everything works together for good if we respond to the Lord, and if we commit ourself to his grand purpose to be conformed to the image of Christ. The Lord promises that he will overrule everything that's happened bad, that comes against you, even the things that we are responsible for, that are bad, that we've repented of. The Lord says I will overrule them. I will cause them to work together for your benefit if you will fully give yourself to me. Now Paul says we know this, that all things work together. Now the devil doesn't want us to know this. The devil challenges this point on every day of our life, the devil comes in and challenges this because if we become confident that under Jesus's leadership, everything is working together for good, our spirit becomes vibrant and alive. The devil does not want us confident in this. This is one of the passages that you want to declare to the devil. It is written, God causes everything to work together for good. When the devil comes and lies to you and says just give up, give in, what, it's not worth it, you say in the name of Jesus, it is written, everything works together for good in the lives of those committed to Jesus and committed to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Now that's this Romans 8 28, it's one of the high points in the book of Romans, but Paul actually introduces this theme of trials working together for good. He introduces it in chapter 5. He brings it to a crescendo in chapter 8, but let's back up and we're going to look at chapter 5. Let's go to chapter 5 now where he introduced this theme. Paragraph B. Now one of the main points that Paul made in Romans 5 is in verse 5. As Paul is discussing trials, this is a critical point. Paul says now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Now the word for hope and the word for confidence, I'll say it different, the word for hope can be usually interchanged with the word confidence. So when you read the New Testament and you see hope, often you can put the word confidence in that place. And Paul is saying in context here in Romans 5 5 that our confidence, our confidence that everything is going to work together for good, that's the general theme that Paul's working on here. We will not be disappointed with the work that God does in us because that work is going to be inspired and influenced by the revelation that God loves us. He's going to pour love into our heart. Now that's the foundational work, that he's going to pour love, he's going to reveal the Father's love, and that's been happening to a lot of people recently. But he's not only going to reveal the Father's love or Jesus' love, he's going to impart it. He's going to supernaturally put love in us back for God that will overflow to people. Now the foundational principle to God's purpose, because Paul said everything works together for good if you're committed to God's purpose, to people called according to his purpose. And again, in context of Romans 8 verse 28 on in verse 29, the purpose is to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Now we are successful in that purpose as we understand that God loves us and we respond in loving God, as simple as that is. It's one of the most simple statements. The Holy Spirit has touched my heart with this simple statement for 30 years. I've said it thousands of times from my early, from my mid-20s or whatever now to my mid-50s. I've said this statement over and over. God loves me. I am loved by God. I am a lover of God. Therefore I am successful. When I get in pain or get in pressure and I begin to ask the question, is it even worth all the effort? I would ask the deeper questions of what's going on and you know, what's the meaning of all these sayings? The point of comfort I would come to over and over again through the years. The muscle I would work over and over. That I'm loved by God and I'm a lover of God by the grace of God, you know, because most the human race doesn't love God. The very fact that you love God, it's God's gift to you. The fact that he has stirred you to love him is an amazing work of grace in your heart. Because the majority of the human race does not love God, but you do. How did that happen? I realize it was the grace of God and you had to say yes, but that's a great work of God in your heart. Don't take that for granted. The fact that God loves you. I mean the Genesis 1 God loves you. He likes you and the fact that you've connected with it, that truth, and it means something to you and you've responded back by the Holy Spirit to love him. Our love is weak, but our love is real. Weak love is not false love. It's just weak. The very fact that God loves us and we love him. Beloved, regardless what else happens in your life, you are already profoundly successful in your life. If you don't accomplish anything that gets the attention of other people, you're already one of the most successful people in the human race. Now this is true. In all of human history, the people that receive the love of God instead of reject it, and then they return it by loving God back, they are the most successful people from God's point of view in all of human history. And it is a minority of the of the human race. So it's actually a small percent, and that's that's grievous, but it's true, but you're numbered amongst those people. So your core identity is not what your ministry is. It's not how many people like you. It's not what you accomplish. Your core identity is that he loves you, and you've received it, and you love him, and he receives it. Beloved, you are profoundly successful. This is the primary definition of success in your life, in anybody's life. This is the number one definition of success. When I stand before God, he's not going to ask me first about my ministry. He's going to ask me first about my relationship to him according to this definition, that I receive the love of God, and that I give myself back, and to the, and by the grace of God, I can say yes to him. That is the measure of my success in this life. So you can be profoundly successful without anybody being aware of what you're doing, or what you're accomplishing with your hands, or with your ministry, or with your money. Now that's important. I appreciate those accomplishing things. But that's not the primary definition of your success. Let's look at paragraph C. Now we're going to look, and we're going to tie this theme of having confidence based on the revelation of the love of God, because Paul said, we have this hope. We won't be disappointed when all the information is made known. On the last day, you won't be disappointed with this confidence that you have, that being loved by God, and being a lover of God, is the core reality of your life. That core truth, you will not be disappointed on the last day when you stand before God. That confidence will show itself to be true, and to be wise. Paragraph C. Now we're going to look at Romans 5, which is the passage that develops how trials and the love of God work together, of which then Romans 8 puts that great crescendo on it, that everything works together for good, for those who love God. Paragraph C. Paul's going to just, he's going to declare, he declares three benefits for everybody who receives salvation. Now these benefits are fantastic. But then he's going to relate those three benefits to trials, and he's going to show how trials actually enrich our experience in these three benefits. He goes on and he says, well, I'll give you the three benefits. Well, I'll read the passage first. Let's read it in Romans 5, verse 1 to 3. Paul says, having been justified by faith, that's benefit one, through the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access into grace, that's benefit number two, access into grace. And number three, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. That's benefit three. We rejoice in the hope, or the word confidence, again interchange hope and confidence, and the confidence of walking in the glory of God. So he gives three statements. Benefits. Now I'll give you a sentence on each one of them or two. He says, we're justified by faith, we have access into grace, and we have confidence of walking in the glory of God. Now look what he says in verse 3. He says, not only that, he says, in addition to these three things that I'll give a little bit of definition to in a moment. He goes, there's something in addition to these three grand truths, and it's almost like Paul's changing the subject. But he's not. We're gonna find out in a minute. He's actually amplifying and elaborating on the subject. He says, verse 3, not only this, we also glory, and the word glory and rejoice is the same word, we rejoice in tribulations. Like what? I mean, justified by faith, access to the grace of God, the confidence of the glory of God, and rejoicing in tribulations? It seems like he made a radical shift in the subject, like he just changed subjects in mid-sentence. And he didn't. He said, we don't only rejoice in these three things, we also rejoice in tribulations, because we know they produce something in us. And he goes on to say, perseverance, that he adds proven character and hope, and he goes on, and we'll talk about that in a minute. But the point I want to say is, we have these benefits, but we also rejoice in something else called tribulation, pressures, because of what pressure produces in us if we respond in the right way. If we don't respond in the right way, then the pressure doesn't produce anything good in us. Actually, it pulls us into bitterness, and into despair, and into negative emotions. Well, let's look at the three benefits real quick. Number one, we're justified by faith. Every born-again believer has been accepted as a first-class citizen in God's kingdom. We have all the benefits of a citizen of the kingdom of God. Now, most of us, we've grown up in America, a nation with many benefits, and being a citizen of a nation with benefits is something we kind of take for granted. It's the most prosperous nation in history. And it's like, well, okay, that's nice. More liberty and more prosperity than any nation in history. So it's like, the benefits are like, of course. But, you know, we look at what's happening in our nation with the immigration issues, and I don't want to talk about that, but I want to talk about the heart behind it. There are so many people trying to get in this nation. They want to be a citizen in a nation that gives them benefits. It's huge. It's massively important to them. You know, there's multitudes of people that get on little rubber rafts over the last decades from Cuba to, you know, cross 90 miles of open sea for the chance of getting in a nation that will give them benefits as a citizen. Well, God says, everything that would disqualify you has been removed because these immigrants get to the border or they run into the officials and they're disqualified. They're sent back or worse. But they're disqualified, and it's so disheartening. Paul says you are justified. That means, in a real kind of practical sense, you've been accepted. Your passport's stamped. You are a citizen. All the benefits of the nation are yours. And they're numerous. And this lasts forever. Nobody can take this citizenship from you. You're justified by faith. You are a citizen. Wow, amazing. Now, number two, so Paul's writing, and I'm sure Paul's excited when he writes that because he gets it more than we do, the implications of that. He goes, but there's more to it than that. You have access to the grace of God. Now, access to the grace means we have access to the king. You know, there's 300 million Americans. 99.9% have never had a conversation, a personal conversation, with the president. 99%, 99.9% cannot pick up the telephone and call the president. They're citizens, but they don't have access to the throne. They don't have access to the president. They can't call up the president and say, hey, Mr. President, would you use your executive powers to help me out? And by the way, I'm going to drop in Washington, D.C. next week. Could we have a meal together? I want a fellowship. I want to hang out for a while. Now, 99% of the nation's citizens can't, do not have access. But Paul says, you have access. Not only citizenship, you have access to the king. You can make a phone call. It's called prayer. You can fellowship. He, you can touch his heart. He will release his power. You have access. You have more than citizenship. You have access to the king. His heart and his power. Wow. It's gone up. It's upgraded. But Paul says there's another point. There's a third point. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. That's paragraph three. Now again, the word hope means confidence. We are rejoicing because we have confidence that we can walk in the glory of God. Now that confidence, this is a big statement. That confidence in the glory of God operates in this age. It's not just confidence for a future glory. Certainly it's that. But it's also a glory of God in this age, even now, in our individual experience. Now when you study the word glory, as Paul the Apostle uses it, he many times, the concept of glory, it's more than just going to heaven and seeing angels and seeing God's throne. The glory of God has a very profound personal dimension to it in the New Testament when Paul writes it, particularly in the Pauline epistles. Meaning, Paul describes the glory of God, every believer will have a different measure of the glory of God in this life we do and in the age to come. We won't all be the same. There are people in this room that will have a far greater measure of the glory of God than other people. That's how it is. So the issue of the glory of God is very personal, related to our destiny and our divine mandate and our divine assignment and how we and the Lord and our mandate, our stewardship, our assignment. Paul says this, not only are you a citizen, not only do you have access to the king, you have a role. You have a mandate. You have an assignment and you can be confident, you can have hope that you can walk in that assignment in a successful way is the idea. That you do not need to fail in that invitation and that assignment to walk in the glory of God. You can walk in it at this age and you can walk in it in the age to come. Now the glory of God in this age has an outward dimension of impacting others for sure, but the glory of God in this age has a far more powerful internal and internalized dimension of our heart being transformed. And what Paul's saying is right now we can rejoice in the confidence, the hope that we are actually engaging in the glory of God in the full way that God wants us to. Now, I don't know what my measure is in God. In some ways, I don't care what it is. What I care about, I want to walk in the fullness of what's been ordained for me. I don't want to walk in your assignment. I want to walk in mine. You don't want to walk in somebody else's because the Lord's only going to relate to you and he's only going to evaluate you based on the assignment in the glory of God he gave you. That's all he's going to require from you is to answer for that. My goal isn't to get a real big impact this way or that way. I appreciate a big impact, but that's not my number one goal in life. My goal is to walk in the fullness of my assignment in the glory of God in this age and in the age to come. But in this age, though there is an external dimension to it, again where we impact others. But the the majority of the glory of God experience is internal. It's the transformation of the inner man into the image of Christ. And Paul said, you can have the confidence right now that you are walking in the measure of glory God's given you and you could be successful in that right now. And if you are successful in that, beloved, you are one of the most successful human beings that ever walked the planet. Has nothing to do with how big a crowd that you draw with your ministry, how much money you have, how many people pay attention to you. You can walk successfully in the glory of God by yielding your heart and giving yourself to him in a wholehearted way. I want to walk in everything that God's ordained for me. Let's go to page 2, paragraph G. So now Paul comes along and he says, okay, you're citizen, you're justified, you're in the, you're, you got citizenship and all the benefits, good. You have access to the king and his heart and his power. That's real good. You can have confidence today that you are actually walking successfully in the measure of the glory that's available to you. That's the key. I want to walk in the measure that's available to me. Paul says, I want to add one more thing though. He goes, you can also rejoice, not just in those three things, you can rejoice in tribulations. It's like, what? Rejoice in tribulations. Paragraph G. Because trials or tribulations or pressures, they're all the same thing. There's many different types of trials, tribulations, and pressures and Paul's talking about just the general idea of pressure on your life. Regardless how it came, just pressure. How you respond to pressure. There's financial, there's spiritual, there's relational, there's, you know, there's physical, there's many different types of pressures that touch all of us. Paragraph G. What happens is that pressure, when it touches our heart, it causes us, pressure is designed, let's put it, this is God's intention, that pressure would, would cause us to realign ourself with our core identity as being loved by God and a lover of God, therefore successful. Because pressure comes and we feel like a failure in our assignment. We're blowing it and that's why pressure stresses people out. They feel like they will be a failure when pressure comes. It threatens their sense of success. You know, if it's in a ministry, the money isn't there or the people scatter or your ministry is not flowing, the fear, the pressure creates a fear that our success is in jeopardy. Or whatever assignment God has given you, whatever type of ministry or whatever assignment, the marketplace, in the home, in the neighborhood, wherever. It's all ministry or it's all ministry from God's point of view. So pressure, when we feel that our success is being threatened, then we have to get an answer. We can get in fear and despair or we can go to the place of dialogue with the Lord, that core identity. You love me, I love you in the primary sense, because there are secondary ways of our success, but in the primary sense, I'm already successful. If IHOP gets real big or IHOP gets real little, if I get a lot of money or I lose all my money, I get a lot of friends or I lose all of my friends, my success is not impacted at all in terms of my primary success, which is my relationship with God. None of those things help me or hurt me in my primary success, which is my core identity to be loved and to be a lover of God. Now, pressure makes us realign ourself with this. Now, pressure itself does not change us. Some people get mixed up. They think the pressure is the point. No, there's a thousand different types of pressures that might hit you. What changes you is when you dialogue with the spirit and you renew and realign your heart with your core identity. That's what changes you. The pressure just pushes you to do that. So the guy coming against you, that's not what helps you. The guy coming against you makes you go into a more focused dialogue with the spirit and with truth. And that is what changes you. And what the Holy Spirit knows is this. The Holy Spirit knows that this core identity, having this thing right, is a thousand times more valuable to you and to me than we know. Like we'd say, well, of course, that's a good truth. We like that truth. We've got lots of teachers and singers who proclaim that truth. But the Lord would say to me and I hop at all of us, you don't have any idea how vital that truth is that you get your core identity in this way. The implications of changing us in this age and even the implications in the age to come are radical, are radical. The implications that come from getting a hold of that truth. Now, by nature, even those of us that appreciate this truth, which is the vast majority in this room, if not everybody, by even though we appreciate this truth of this core identity, by nature, we don't really lay hold of it much. Our natural way is to appreciate the truth and then kind of live without it and occasionally reach to it every now and then. So the Lord says, no, I love you so much. You have no idea how valuable this is. So I'm going to allow some pressures to help you enter into that dialogue more often. Because that dialogue is worth gold to you. You just don't know it. You get that worked in your spirit. When you stand before me, you will see how much gold, I'll just use gold just to make an analogy. It is pure gold if you get a hold of that. And though we appreciate that truth, that core identity, by nature, we won't lay hold of it very fiercely or with tenacity. But when pressure comes, the pain of pressure, the longing for the release of the pain, it drives us into that dialogue. And the Lord says, I would rather you do it without the pressure. But I know that you will do it far more zealously with pressure. Now, just so you don't feel bad, that's true of Paul, the apostle. Pressure made him interact with the Lord at a new level, because he said the pressure is creating a greater weight of glory in his own life. So on a perfect day, I would say, Lord, I don't need the pressure. I'm going to tenaciously laid a hold of this. But as the months and years go by, I found out when the pressure's on, I lay hold of it with a great, a far greater tenacity. And the Lord says, you will be very happy for the seasons that I helped you press into this, because it will be gold in your relationship when you stand before me. And there's nothing that will be more valuable than this reality that you've developed through the times of pressure. Paragraph H. Now, the devil comes and he tells us the opposite. He tells us that trials are the proof that we are disqualified from the benefits of our citizenship. The devil comes and tells us that trials are the proof we don't have favor with the king. He will come and tell us the trials prove we aren't successful, but rather we're failure. So the devil comes and tells us trials prove everything we want in Romans 5, those three things, they are actually, we lose our experience of them and trials proves we're out of God favor, we're disqualified, and we're a failure. Paul says, no, it's exactly the opposite. The trials are meant not as a statement that your relationship is wrong with God, but it's meant to strengthen it. Because God cares so much for you. So paragraph J, Romans 5, verse 3 to 5. Let's develop it just another moment or two. Paul said, we glory, Romans 5, verse 3, let's watch this divine logic that God gave Paul. We glory in the tribulations. Now, we don't glory in the tribulation itself, just so you know. We glory in the impact that it has. I mean, we don't glory in the devil attacking us. But when the devil attacks us, or when man attacks us, or when God disciplines us, or we just create a mess by our own decisions, it's not the devil or God or anybody else. We just do dumb things, regardless what the source is. If we repent of the negative, rebuke the devil, and we realign ourself with God, the process strengthens us in God. It says we glory in tribulations. And again, we glory in the impact the tribulation has on us if we respond to it in a right way. We glory in tribulations, knowing the tribulation produces perseverance, that perseverance produces character, and character produces hope or confidence. Remember, hope and confidence is the same thing. Now, this confidence will not disappoint you because this confidence is rooted in the experience of the love of God. Paragraph K, now notice Paul connects, Paul connects these three ideas in a very, I mean, he really puts them together. Paragraph K, perseverance, proven character, and hope. Now, I'm using the word proven character, New King James is his character, but many translations add the word proven character. Now, we look at these three virtues, and we don't automatically know how they're connected, but this is divine logic, and Paul had insight into it by the Holy Spirit, and we have to see how these three work together so that it maximizes our experience in a trial. I don't want to waste a good trial. I mean that. I don't want to go through a certain season and not gain anything. Many people go, many, many, many believers go through a hard season, they don't gain anything in the Spirit. They don't understand that the trial is meant to produce perseverance in them. What they want is vengeance or vindication. What the Holy Spirit wants is perseverance, so they're talking to the Holy Spirit, I want vindication. I want you to pay that guy back. I want a little bit of vengeance, mostly vindication, and the Holy Spirit says that's not even on my agenda. My agenda is to produce perseverance in you, perseverance. That's not even what I'm thinking about, and because of that disconnect, many trials honestly are just wasted, and it's worse than that. It's not only that we end up neutral, many believers go through a tough season, they end up with a residue of bitterness, just a residue, or a full root of bitterness. Worse than a residue. So instead of being enhanced in their experience in God, they've actually lost ground, and beloved, trials will be here the rest of your life. But we can live in confidence when trials come, that they're working in us, instead of in despair and confusion and fear every time a trial comes. Roman numeral 2, paragraph B, there's four sources of pressure. And I don't want to break this down, I just want to point it out. Four sources of pressure. God loves us, so He disciplines His children and He shakes the nation. Satan hates us, therefore he attacks us and the nations. Man sins against us, so he hurts people and defiles the nations. And creation groans, it says in Romans 8. There is a creation, there's volcanoes and earthquakes and hurricanes that are a result of sin being in the created order. The groan of creation. There is a correspondence to sin in the human race and the creation groaning and convulsing in negative ways, in a way that hurts the human race. And each one of those sources of pressure have a different response. I don't want to go into it right now. The problem is sometimes there are several sources mixed up, I mean coming together in one pressure. Sometimes it's God disciplining us, the devil raging against us, our own sin getting us in trouble or somebody else's sin against us. It's all mixed up. And so we have different responses to the pressure, different parts. But here's my point, paragraph C. Regardless what the combination of the source of pressure, how many sources are contributing here. If we respond rightly, if we agree with God, rebuke the devil, repent of our sin, we will increase in our relationship with God. Top of page 3, paragraph B. Our response to trials, a right response begins with the right focus. Our natural focus in a trial is to, everybody, our natural focus is to be angry at the one that caused the pressure. So we get angry at God, we get angry at people, or we get angry at ourself. James 1, verse 20 tells us this, the anger of man doesn't accomplish anything in the Holy Spirit in your life. It doesn't accomplish anything, you gain no spiritual, you take no spiritual ground, there's no increase in the spirit in your life by anger. You can get mad at the people resisting you, nothing good will increase in your life by that response. Well, I'll get them out of the way. But another pressure's coming because God's interested in you connecting with Him, that's what the pressure's about. Well, I want vindication or vengeance, God says, yeah, but I want perseverance out of you. We got two different agendas. Even if you're angry at yourself, and you put yourself in the penalty box for a while, beat yourself up, it doesn't achieve anything good in your life. Some people they feel better about beating themselves up, I'm so bad, I'm so bad, I did it, I hate myself, I did it so bad. It's just a bunch of noise that doesn't gain anything in their spirit. It accomplishes nothing. Now, it's good to learn the lesson, but it's better to learn the lesson, repent of it, push delete, and get into a dialogue with the Holy Spirit, and forget beating yourself. All that is, is distracting you from connecting with God. It looks humble, but it's not, it's just a waste of time and a distraction. It achieves nothing. No anger achieves anything in God. Paragraph C, now the biblical focus, which is not natural, is that the pressure creates a greater dialogue with the Spirit in the Word. And I break it down, put a little bit of detail in it, I won't go into all the detail now. The pressure creates a response of, Holy Spirit, I want to talk to you, and I want to read the Word and talk to Jesus when I'm reading the Word, and I want to touch your heart, God. I want to align with my core identity, I'm loved and a lover, that's my core success and identity. I want to repent of the flaws in my character, and I want to rebuke the devil. But I want to talk to you, I want to grow in you, I want to encounter you. That's the issue. Not just to get free of the pressure, but to encounter the Holy Spirit is the issue. And not just to counter him in getting a deliverance to get your enemy taken out of the way, and the Holy Spirit will do that. He will remove the enemy, I've seen that happen many times in my life. But he goes, I want, and that excites my heart to see the Holy Spirit moves in dynamic ways, and it's exciting to see him settle issues. But he wants an encounter between my heart and his heart, not just, you know, me having a victory. He wants a dialogue between our heart and his heart. Paragraph E, Joseph's brothers threw him in prison, and he was in prison over ten years. Then he got out of prison, and he was the one of the richest men in Egypt. Actually the second most powerful man. So now his ten older brothers, they, little brother Joseph is the wealthiest man in the earth besides Pharaoh. And so now he's talking to his brothers, and Joseph focused on God's hand, not on his brother's evil. Throughout those ten plus years, it was more than ten years, Joseph focused on God's hand and connecting with God's heart, not on what his brothers did. And it says, in Genesis 50 verse 20, Joseph said to his ten brothers, they're all there, they're scared, because they go, little Joey, now is the most powerful man in the world. We thought we threw him away in prison and sold him into slavery, is what he did. It's what they did to him. Joseph said, you meant it for evil, God meant it for good. God used your evil intention, and it was tough, but I encountered God. And now God turned everything around, but I know God. And he said, God did it in order to bring about, as it is this day, so I could save many. Then he looks at the brothers that betrayed him and sold him into slavery, he goes, don't be afraid of me, I'm not a vengeance guy. As a matter of fact, I'll even give you money. I'm going to share my prosperity with you. And he comforted the brothers that threw him in prison, that sold him into slavery, and he spoke kindly. Where did he get this? Because he sold God's hand in it, and he was wanting to encounter God, not trying to get even with his brothers. What his brothers did was never the big point to him. What God was saying about him connecting with God captured his focus. There's so many points here in Genesis 50 that I'm going to skip them. Pressure works in us. Look at Romans 5, verse 3. We glory in tribulation, we know that tribulation produces perseverance. It produces something in us. 2 Corinthians 4, our light affliction is working for us a weight of glory. Affliction is working in us. Tribulation is producing something in us if we respond right. Again, the pressure itself is not what changes us. But the pressure, it causes us to get into more tenacious, a more consistent dialogue with the spirit of the word, and that's what marks our heart. And changes us, and will carry the impact of that through our life, all the way through eternity. We will carry the impact of that dialogue with God that happened because we were under pressure. That's why we went into the dialogue in a more tenacious, fierce way. But the impact of that dialogue marks us, and we will carry the mark in the good sense all of our life, and all into the age to come. And the Lord says, you can't imagine how valuable this will be to you when you see the whole story. You will so value what those trials did to you if you respond right. Now we've got to exercise our faith, we've got to realign ourselves, we've got to talk to the spirit in the word. We don't talk in our mind about the guy that mistreated us. We don't talk to people about the guy that mistreated us. We talk to the spirit about us. Holy Spirit, I know the guy treated me bad, but it's you and me. And I want you to take care of him, I mean I want you to move him out of my life. That's a legitimate thing to pray. But the primary dialogue is about me and you, Holy Spirit. It's not a dialogue in my mind against the man, or a dialogue with you against the man. It's a dialogue with God about me. And if we get a hold of this, it will change our life. The athlete, paragraph B, resistance training is what builds a muscle. It's the weight, over and over, breaking down the muscle and building up. That's how it increases, by resistance training. The musician, constant repetition develops the skill. It's over and over again. Now we do a spiritual, we're not looking for a skill per se, in this particular issue of trials. We're looking for a spiritual muscle to be developed. The butterfly in the cocoon struggles to get out of the cocoon. And when the butterfly's struggling in the cocoon, it's the little caterpillar, the little worm. What's happening is it's fluids, through the struggle of that little worm turning into a caterpillar, I mean to a butterfly. The struggle produces fluids to go through the wings of that butterfly while in the cocoon. You open that cocoon premature, that butterfly will never fly. We all have seasons of the cocoon. But if we get out of that cocoon in a wrong way, we'll never fly. That butterfly will just be a little worm crawling the rest of his days. You could do the math. Top of page four, paragraph B. Paul said, we glory in tribulations knowing tribulation produces perseverance. It's knowing this divine logic, it's knowing these three things. Perseverance, character, and hope. Those are the three things God's after. Far more than vindication or vengeance, he's after producing this in you. Paragraph C. We'll look at these three things just real brief. Perseverance, that's the first thing the spirit wants. Perseverance. Now perseverance is an internal attitude. To consistently realign the intention of our heart to go hard after God. That's what perseverance. It's under pressure, I've said many times, the number one temptation that everyone has. The number one temptation is to quit. That's the number one temptation of believers and unbelievers. But in the kingdom, it's to quit pressing in hard to God. To give up and to give in. Give in to the sin. Give in to just the unbelief. You know what, it's too much effort trying to get a hold of this love of God, and I'm a king and a son and a bride, eternity and the millennium, I don't forget it. I just watch TV. Many people that say, I don't want to put the work in. They just give in to their sin. They have these impulses. Instead of warring against them, it's just easier to give up and give in. Or just give in to spiritual passivity. Just accepting a mediocre life in God instead of the fullness of what God gave us. So perseverance means we don't give up the vision to press in hard after God day after day. And to press in hard after God doesn't mean you fast every day. It doesn't mean, I'm not talking about perseverance. I'm not talking about doing something outwardly that's real intense. I'm talking about an internal engaging with the Lord. People give up on the inside long before it shows up on the outside. There's many people undoubtedly, I don't know, at IHOP, they've been on the staff, they've already given up. They sit on row 10 or 20 in the prayer room. They've already decided not to engage hard with God. They're coasting. They've given up under pressure. Now they might sign back up again in a month or two or three or four. But perseverance means not giving up in the daily, the vision to daily connect with God in a meaningful way. And with perseverance, it means we keep signing up every day. We work the muscle every day. And perseverance actually increases the more that we work the muscle every day. And I don't even mean going in the prayer room, but let's just use that example. It's our whole life. It's an attitude in our spirit. I'm not letting go of my vision to connect with God in a deep and meaningful way day after day. I'm not taking a week off. I'm not taking a month off. I may go on vacation, but I'm not going on vacation from God. The vision in my heart to dialogue with the spirit and the word. I want it to be true every day. Now we'll fail. We'll come up short. But when we come up short, we sign back up. We keep the vision. That's what perseverance is. Paragraph D pressure makes us when we're under pressure. We ask new questions. When we're under pressure, we realign our heart to our core identity. That's how we get our comfort. When we're under pressure, I'm talking about the one that responds in a right way under pressure. They make new decisions about obeying God. Under pressure, their new resolve to fully give themselves to God. They press into God for a Holy Spirit breakthrough, a solution to their problem. That's the right response. That's called perseverance. They keep asking the question. They keep pressing it. They're not giving up their vision to have a daily encounter and dialogue with the word of the spirit. I don't mean a five-minute dialogue while I did it today. They want their life consumed with God. They're not trying to take time off from God. There's some people, they have their prayer room life, and they have their out of the prayer room life. And the Holy Spirit says, I want perseverance. I want steadiness in your resolve to encounter me all the times of your life. Not just when you're sitting in a prayer room. I want that resolve in your spirit. So we sign back up. Day after day, we sign back up to give ourselves. That's called perseverance. Pressure creates perseverance. We work the muscle. A lot of people, they get under pressure, they quit. Then the trial, they waste it. They end up in bitterness, and they actually lose a lot of ground in the Lord. Some people just grit their teeth in the trial, and they don't talk to God much. They just wait until the trial passes, and that's better than getting bitter. But they still didn't gain anything. Now, paragraph E. Proven character. If you get perseverance, and again, perseverance isn't something that happens once. It's an internal resolve to sign up day after day. You don't have perseverance because you've done it for three months or for a year or two. Perseverance has worked in us over years. That's what the Spirit wants. I don't get under pressure. I go, Lord, I like vindication. I like breakthrough. Maybe a little vengeance. Just be nice to them. The Lord says, that's not my agenda, Mike. I want you to sign up more to talk to me more. I want perseverance. Don't even think about those other things. Get in line with me. I'm after perseverance. Let's get on the same page. That's what I'm going for in this pressure. I want you and me to be closer. That's proven character. Now, proven character isn't the internal attitude. This is the external. This is the follow through in behavior. Now, the breakthrough, it's consistent behavior. When no one's looking. It's living in purity when nobody will catch you one way or the other. I don't mean just purity, sexual purity, with our words. It's caring about our words when nobody will catch us. We want proven character. Now, proven character. What it does is it increases our capacity to experience and feel God. There is a dynamic relationship by what we do. We actually do or say speaking is a behavioral thing. It's an action. There is a dynamic relationship by what we do and how we feel and what we see in the spirit. There is a very close dynamic relationship and a lot of people don't like that relationship. Because they say, well, if what we do matters, that means we're earning it. No, I'm not talking about earning it. You could never earn the goodness of God. It's given to us freely. But when we line ourself up with the spirit of agreement by our actual behavior and character, we increase in our capacity to experience God. Because our capacities increase. Look what it says in Matthew 5, Jesus said it. The pure in heart will see God more. They will feel more. They will see revelation. I don't mean just gifts of the spirit, but that too. But they will see the revelation of God when they open the word. I don't mean they'll be a great Bible teacher. That's not the point. Your purity in our character impacts the way we see and feel in our spirit. Hebrews 12 says the same thing. Pursue holiness. Without holy behavior, you won't see the Lord. You won't encounter him in the way that God ordained. Paragraph F, love is not mature until it's tested and walked out under pressure. The Lord wants love proven, walked out under pressure. When Abraham offered up his son Isaac, the Lord said to him in Genesis 22, when he offered up Isaac on the altar, the Lord said, now I know you fear God. I mean the Lord knows everything. But he goes, it's now documented in the chronicles of heaven. It's now a part of your history and your relationship with me. Beloved, actions really matter. This idea that we do what we want to do because we can get forgiveness. And if we repent of it, we can for real. It's real. But we stay spiritual babies for years and years and years with that attitude. We never increase in our capacity to encounter the Lord. Our whole spiritual life is in getting forgiveness because of just sinning all the time. The Lord says, I have more for you. I want perseverance, but I want it to turn into proven character. Because when we walk out our obedience, I mean under pressure, in private, it moves God's heart. He sees that it costs us. It moves his heart and it increases our capacity to feel God. Paragraph G. Hope. Now we think, how can hope be the end of the progression? Hope is confidence. Now the hope he's talking about is the hope of experiencing the glory of God. He described the hope in verse three. Now he's in verse five. I mean, he's into verse four. Let me say it again. The hope is in verse two, the hope of the glory of God. And now here we are talking about the confidence that we are walking in the glory of God when we live by our identity. See, guys will look at you around and you're pressing into God. And you're living by out of this core identity. I am loved. And I'm a lover. Therefore, I'm successful. You're throwing all your eggs in that basket, so to speak. You're counting your life that this is the way of wisdom to live. They're out doing other things. You're developing your heart. And you're developing your identity in God. And they say, come on, you're wasting your time. Paul says, no. This confidence that you will get. That you're living in the glory of God. That you are successful in God. You will not be disappointed. That's what it says in Romans 5.5. By this hope, you will not be disappointed. When all the truth is laid out on the last day, you will see the wisdom. And God will vindicate you in that day that you have chosen wisely. But, beloved, blessed is the man or the woman that has confidence. Hope. To stay steady. They have confidence. They have perseverance. They have proven character. And out of that perseverance and proven character, they have confidence. They have revelation. They have revelation that the way of love and humility under God's eyes is the most powerful and wise way to live. And they have so much confidence, they won't back away from it even under pressure. So the guy comes along. He's got a lot going on. And he says, hey, where's your show me what you've accomplished? You say, well, I've done things and I've served people all my life. But I don't have a big following and I haven't made a big splash. And nobody even knows what I'm doing. But I've invested in my heart in God. And I can't show you all that I've done. But it's under his eyes. Paul says, that hope. The confidence that that is wise. You will not be disappointed. Because when all the information is made known, that you didn't buy into a wrong idea. It wasn't hype. You will not be put to shame. You will see the gold and the glory, so to speak, of that kind of lifestyle. And God will show you the wisdom of it and you won't be disappointed. Because a lot of people, they lose their confidence in this kind of vigorous spirituality. When the pressure's on and people want to know what you're making out of yourself and what are you doing? Having this kind of confidence is like an anchor in your soul. And Paul said, if you end up with that kind of confidence, you're one of the richest and the most powerful people on the planet. You really are. Blessed is the man who has this confidence. That living under God's eye is gold that will not perish. No matter what men say about it. So Paul says, sum it all up. Three benefits. You're a citizen. You have access. You can talk to the president. But you have confidence that you can experience the glory of God now and you can have all that God has for you in this age. His eyes are on you. He says, but you also have rejoice in tribulation because tribulation doesn't undermine those privileges. It actually enhances it. Because if you know that the tribulation drives you into a more tenacious dialogue with God, it produces perseverance. The perseverance over time actually changes your behavior. That behavior sets you up to have far greater spiritual capacities. You have far more revelation. And that revelation becomes hope, which is confidence that you're living under God's eyes, that God's watching you, that God's way and His eye on you is the wisest way to live. He says, you are a rich man in the spirit or a rich woman if that process works in you. Amen. Let's stand. Now I realize we've covered a lot. That's what handouts are for. And that's what prayer rooms are for. You can sit and say, what? Now what's this perseverance thing again? Let me check that out. There's a number of you, just because you're human, not because you're doing something wrong, but the pressure's on and the enemy is tempting you to give up. I mean, again, that's everybody's pressure to do that. Just so you know. Don't feel picked on. But you're saying, hey, I'd like some prayer. I mean, the pressure's on. I am going to realign my heart. Instead of figuring out who did it to me, I'm going to talk to God about me and God right now. I'm going to shift the conversation. Let's just do the whole room, even before any of you respond coming up here. I'm going to have you invite you to come up in a minute. I want just everyone to close your eyes for just a moment. I want you to talk to the Lord. Say, Lord, I want to get into a deeper dialogue with you. Say it in your own words. I want a deeper dialogue with you in the Word. And dialogue with the Word means you're praying over the Bible when you read it. You're talking to Jesus when you read the Bible. That's what I mean by dialogue with the Word. You're saying, I don't want to waste a trial anymore. I don't want to waste a trial. I'm going to change the focus of my soul under trial. I'm going to make the trial about talking to you about my heart, Holy Spirit, instead of talking to you about people that bug me. I'm going to talk to you about me. I'm going to change my goals. Instead of getting vindication and payback, I'm going to talk about me getting perseverance. About me signing up more. More tenaciously to connect with you on a daily basis. And I want to walk in godly character. When no one's looking, I want what I do with my eyes and my money and my words. When no one's looking, I want to live in love before you. I want to show my love to you when no one's looking. I want to prove my love to you when no one's looking. I want to manifest it. And then I want a vibrant spirit called hope or confidence or revelation. I want my spirit alive with confidence. So I'll never back away from this lifestyle, ever. So you're talking to it. Holy Spirit, I ask you, come and touch us right now in this room.