Shane Idleman emphasizes the transformative power of trials and challenges in the Christian life, warning that many remain stagnant due to bitterness and unforgiveness. He highlights the vital role of mothers, especially in today's society, and encourages single mothers by affirming that with God, they can create a strong family unit. Idleman also addresses the spiritual warfare faced by believers, urging them to stand firm in their faith amidst societal pressures and to recognize the importance of a solid foundation in Christ. He concludes with a call to action for all to seek God earnestly, reminding them that true strength and courage come from Him.

Tested, tried, challenged, and changed. And I will tell you, the vast majority of people who are tested, tried, and challenged often do not change, because they allow bitterness and unforgiveness and things like that to keep them stagnant. But of course, I want to mention just a shout out to Mother's Day. I want to read a quote from Billy Sunday. And he said this, I don't believe there are any devils enough in hell to pull a boy out of the arms of a godly mother. Just meditate on that. I don't believe there are devils enough in hell to pull a boy out of the arms of a godly mother. And then mothering doesn't mean that you don't fail now and then. It means that you don't give up. You need to be encouraged this morning. You cannot cancel Mom. You cannot cancel Mom. It's not possible. Do you know all the woke agenda? What do they call them now? Birthing people? My goodness, Stephen Miller, the founder of America First Legal said the left's war on womanhood, motherhood, and childhood continues to gather force. Every one of these brands have been captured by the radical anti-woman, anti-family left. These brands have reportedly sent messengers to all of their customers, giving them the opportunity to stay away from any Mother's Day-themed content. People say, well, we shouldn't boycott. Well, come on, maybe now and then. Kay Jewelers, Signet Jewelers, DoorDash, Fry's Food Store, Kroger Family Companies, Etsy, Levi Strauss & Company, Nestle's, Nespresso, there's a list of people. And my point is, wasn't to necessarily mention them, but you can't cancel mom. It's God's design. What's happening is we're trying to be so, here's what's happening. Of course, it's a demonic agenda, but they're walking around like, we have to make sure we don't offend anybody. And in doing that, they offend a lot of people. Christians, primarily. They're not tolerant of anybody. Don't believe that lie. Just be tolerable. Yeah, you want us to tolerate your agenda, but you don't want to tolerate God's Word. That's not tolerance. That's an arrogant, arrogant heart. And as we all know, what dads can't do, moms nurture, protect, instruct. They give life, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. And it could be a good call to dads today that you have to pick up that mantle at some point and lead your families. And I've expressed this before. I didn't have that in my home. My mom was the spiritual leader. How many of us can relate to that? And that's not God's design. And that's why God tries to take out the man. Tries to disarm him and think that, well, I'm paying the bills, that's enough. Actually, it's not enough. What we're supposed to do is be leading spiritually and then have those other things follow. And of course, want to encourage single moms this morning because that is a big portion of our nation. Single moms, and it's a good reminder that what I prayed earlier, said earlier, you plus God is a healthy home. You plus God is the majority. So all the single moms that feel, there's something missing, of course, when a father's missing. I'm not gonna downplay that at all. But when God's on your side, I believe He can do just as much, if not more, when there's an ungodly home, an ungodly agenda. You plus God can change this nation. How many of us are up here preaching and leading because the prayers of our mom coming alongside of God, guiding them and directing them? So I think all moms should be encouraged this morning. And I wanted to do a Mother's Day message, and I think this will actually fit right in there. Tested, tried, challenged, and changed. From Revelation 2.8, it is the persecuted church. Boy, it falls on Mother's Day. Moms, you feel persecuted ever, or challenged, difficult season? And it doesn't get easier. You know, sometimes, it's been a while, but if I'm in my in-law's house, and there happens to be like a little house on the prairie on, like, oh, I just, just, could you imagine? No phones, you gotta drive to town to get some milk. Just a slow pace of life. And moms, you know, it's challenging, but what they have to deal with now. And even dads, the internet. I mean, the devil's in your home. You don't have to go far. And just the over-stimulization of society, and socialized, and being, there's too much socialization going on. And even, you know, the public schools right now, what a battleground. And we forget that the public schools began to teach kids the Word of God. And the responsibility is the parents to teach the Word of God. And I know that's difficult, and there's a whole many different situations. I'm just saying we have to be very involved in these issues. Chapter two, verse eight through nine. If you're new here, haven't been coming, we're going through the book of Revelation every Sunday. And it's a revelation that Jesus Christ gave John, the Apostle John, and he's writing what he sees. And we talked about the first chapter, and we got into the first church last week, and what Jesus had some pretty scathing words for them. But this is the persecuted church. And so he says, and to the angel of the church in Smyrna. And of course, the angel could be the messenger, so there's a messenger who's gonna give this letter to the church in Smyrna. And I believe, of course, obviously the pastor got this, and it was the pastor's responsibility to get this information out to the people. He said this, these things say the first and the last. So again, it's coming from Jesus. You'll see this on every message to the church, a different form of communication, but it's always, hey, Jesus said this. These things say the first and the last, who was dead and he came to life. So he's reminding them, this is from Jesus. It's a powerful reminder of the resurrection. Listen to Easter's message if you have questions about that. Everything falls and stands on the resurrection. Jesus is who he said he was. And he's reminding the church, hey, this is coming from me. I've conquered sin, death, hell, and the grave. And I know your works. This is comforting. Jesus knows what we're going through. But often it doesn't feel like it, does it? Feel just the opposite. I know your works. I know what you do. I know your tribulation, what you're going through. And I know your poverty, your poverty. But he says, but you are rich. You are rich. And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. And as I said just a minute ago, God sees us even when others don't. In this world, we will have tribulation. Who does not like that fact? And the reason, the ironic thing is if you talk to, and many of you might know, or follow the persecuted church, whether it's in China or the Middle East, and the funny thing, well, it's not funny, but the thing that always stands out to me is they're actually prepared for tribulation. They know that that's part of the faith, so they're not really caught off guard. When they come to Christ, they say, now I might have to go to jail. There's an awareness because they're taught properly that this dying to self stuff is biblical. Jesus didn't say, you're gonna have your best life now. You might not have your best life now, according to whose definition of best, and there's so much teaching out there. I just went to Barnes & Noble last week and looked at all the best-selling Christian books, and wow, you know? But there's a part of me that I understand we need encouragement, too. It's not just tribulation, tribulation, tribulation, but if all we're doing is feeding the American church the pleasantries and never the difficulties, then you become very weak spiritually. How you grow spiritually is through tribulations and trials. It's like, you know how your muscles grow, right? Muscles grow by, most people know you're lifting weights. What's a weight doing? It's putting a strain and a stress on the muscle more than what it's used to. You're actually tearing the muscle fibers. And so when you sleep, when you eat, that's when it rebuilds and it restores, so it becomes stronger for the next time. And so what happens spiritually is the tribulation, the trials break us down in order to build us up. And there's no way I could stand up here and do what I do had I not gone through what I went through. And many of you can say the same thing, or what you're currently going through. It strengthens faith, why? Because it pushes me to my knees, pushes me to be closer to Christ. Then I understand how He walks through the valley of the shadow of the death with me, or how He comforts me, or that He's a God who heals and sets free. And some of the struggles you go through, it's a spiritual struggle. Do you ever wonder why God doesn't take some things away? It's a trial, it's a tribulation. Like Paul said, take this away, take this away, take this away, and God said, nope. My grace is sufficient for you. And tribulation is part of the Christian walk. And I think the better we understand that, the better we're prepared. Because as I've said before, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. So you're, okay, this is what the Bible says. If I'm not being slandered, or people are not upset about the message, or there's not things on social media that are upset about what we're saying from the Word, you have a problem. If the world's on your side, you might want to check what side you're on. Correct? Jesus said, if they hated me, they're gonna hate you as well. Now that doesn't mean for some of you to get arrogant and angry. Ah, see, they hate me. Remember, they'll hate the truth, but they should love you, your attitude. The truth will offend, but your attitude shouldn't. Now, I haven't mastered it, but that's the goal. Right, that's the goal. And He said here, I know you're poverty, but you are rich. How can He say that? Because spiritual poverty, spiritual poverty is what should be feared. I don't fear financial poverty, because you can have that and have God on your side, and God walking through you. But spiritual poverty means I'm lacking spiritually. It means I don't have a relationship with God. It means that I'm dying on the vine. And how many people pursue financial prosperity at the cost of spiritual prosperity? And that's why Jesus said you can't serve both of those. Can you imagine if I've gotta pursue wealth, I've gotta make a lot of money, and that's what you're pursuing, then that will become your focus. That will become your goal. That's where most of your energy is spent, pursuing that. And there's another part of it, pursuing God. Even if it means giving that up, I'm pursuing God. Now, God might bring wealth, and I truly believe He does to many people for the purpose of furthering His kingdom. How do you pay rent on a building? How do you get the message of the Gospel out there? How do you fix things when they break? Like we just had $20,000 worth of fire sprinklers break. How do you, you know, there's been a view over the years of the church that the more poor you are, the more holy you are. No, actually, the closer to God, the more holy you are. And then if He gives you resources and different things, you better make sure you get rid of those resources to some degree and use them for His kingdom, not hoarding. Have you ever seen those hoarding shows? Man, me and my wife are like the complete opposite. We haven't used this in a year, goodwill. Or trash, I don't want too much stuff. But we begin to hoard things or money because it's fear, and we've gotta let that go. And that's why we don't pass a plate, I don't talk about it much, but that's why tithing is so important because it helps me serve the right God. If I don't give because I'm fearful, gosh, I can't give because I don't really have a lot, then that is a sign that I'm not trusting in God. Talking about myself here that I've went through in my past as well. But I think God gives us wisdom, of course, and discernment, but that's what this is all about, spiritual poverty, it should be feared. Lord, I don't want to be poor spiritually, I want to be rich spiritually. And it's funny, He condemned the rich church and He praises the poor church. We're gonna go on to read, I think it's Laodicea, that you say you are rich, but you are blind, naked, and wretched. Because there's something about, if you're not careful, wealth can make you put your head up a little higher. Look down on people. Wretched, it's just a stench in God's nostrils. And so, that's why it says the love of money is the root of all evil. It doesn't say money is the root of all, because God put gold and silver, He put the whole economic system together because you have to have a means of exchange in order to, God rewards the diligent worker, and so there's a means of exchange. Work hard and you make more. And that's why capitalism, this whole debate over capitalism, socialism, it's grounded. You can look to the Bible and it's very clear. You reward hard work. And God blesses some people more that you can't have equality across the board. There should be equality of opportunity, but you can't have equality across the board to where you take away from the hard workers and you give to those who are not. And then you streamline, and it's social, everybody throw into the kitty, well, then all the people don't want to work much anymore. Hey, I'm not being rewarded for my efforts at all. I don't want to work much. And it would just kill the economy. But does capitalism have its flaws? Of course. That's why I don't think it should be called capitalism. It should be called, what does the Bible say? Proverbs 31 woman, she makes things from scarlet and sells it in purple and makes them extra money. Well, should she then just give that to somebody who's just lazy at home watching Oprah? I mean, see, but see, then you encourage laziness when socialism encourages laziness and it diminishes hard work. And really in socialism, what young adults need to know is there is a rich class. There is a rich upper class and they begin to control everything. And that's why you see what's going on in our nation is exactly what they're trying to do is reset everything. Reset everything and crumble the economy, crumble what you're seeing at the border. It's all planned. It's all on purpose. And as I, I don't know if I shared this with you or Wednesday night, but you know, I see the moms walking with their little kids from Venezuela and my heart breaks. I'm like, I wish that, man, we need to have some, something in place where we can help people. But you can't, you know, throw the baby out the bathwater and just, hey, let's, we have a problem here. Let's help this mom and little baby. So let's let the cartel in. Let's let more fentanyl in. Let's, because when an airplane drops your oxygen mask, guess what? Did you know the parent puts it on first? The first time I heard that, I'm like, well, that's a little selfish. They do that so they can better help their kids. And so see, there's something about, that's why the government is to be a terror to those who do evil or to restrain evil or to administer justice. And we see biblically speaking that God can reward those who work hard. Or maybe sometimes it's just, you know, passed down, of course, but if it's focused on God and it doesn't have control of you, and that's the best way to know if it has control of you. Are you a giver? Are you a hoarder? Spiritual poverty should be feared. How do you know if you're poor spiritually? It's actually not too hard. Is there a true passion for God? Is there a true passion for God? After the seventh song that we sang this morning, we were like, oh my goodness, that's too much worship. I wish they would've stopped it at number two. Somebody I know well, I sent them a message from last Sunday, and they're like, sorry, I couldn't get through it. I don't like the worship. And they say they're a Christian. It's not preference, it's just they don't want the worship. And now, of course, worship isn't the indicator itself, but you have to wonder, I don't really want to go to church that much. I don't like worship. I don't read the Bible much. Prayer, yeah, kind of, you know, but I mainly hang out and associate with unbelievers. That's really where I feel kindred spirit. Folks, you're dying spiritually. You are depleted, depleted. Now, you don't just hang out with Christians. That's not what I do. I'm with unbelievers all the time. But my heart's desire is not to be with them in that lifestyle. My heart's desire is to minister, do what I need to do, and get back in God's house. So a lot of people, a lot of people, especially in the American church, they are dying spiritually, and they don't even know it. And you can take the test. I just gave you the test. Is there a hunger for God? A true hunger and desire? That's why, you know, when I put up there, Seek Him Week, is there a desire, or is there, oh, that's kind of boring. I want to see what the Lakers, is Lakers over? Is that all over NBA? I don't know. I want to watch the sports. I want to do this. I don't want to do that. I got to eat. You don't have to eat. Did you know that? Did you know that majority of us have a lot of storage? A lot of storage. God's design. You consume too much, it's turned into adipose tissue, fat tissue, if you were here yesterday, you heard me talk about this. And then in seasons of fasting, the body uses that reserve. And so if these things are boring to you, and I'm only saying this because I've been there. I remember my mom dragging me to church. I'm like, oh my goodness, golly. They worship, they're raising their hands. This is so wimpy, and for women. And then I would go, I've told you guys, I would put on ACD and Judas Priest and all the heavy stuff and just, oh, this is, yeah, I was worshiping the wrong God. See, I was worshiping, be clear here, I was worshiping, I was worshiping the wrong God. And I think many times in the church, people aren't given a wake-up call. They're given smooth words that tickle their heart or tickle their ears, but it doesn't change and grip and pierce their heart. And he's saying here, I mean, if you read Revelation 1, 2, 3 to the churches, Jesus is just, He doesn't hold back. He's gonna go on to say in the weeks to come that I wish you were hot or cold, but because you're lukewarm, and the word in the Greek is I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth. Why don't we hear about that, Jesus? All we hear about is the nice, friendly Jesus who will just accept anybody and they can stay in their sin. I'm just gonna, you know, just sing hippie songs and peace, love, my friend, and whatever, man, it doesn't matter, just do whatever you wanna do. God is love. That's not the Jesus I know that I try to read every day of my life about. And here are His words, let them penetrate my heart. Full of love and grace, but full of truth. And I find it ironic that as He's coming back, His eyes are flames of fire. Out of His mouth goes a double-edged sword. He's gonna tread the winepress and the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. Where's that Jesus in our pulpits when we preach? Why don't we talk about that? Because it's not popular, right, but it is powerful. That's what you need, that's what we need. America doesn't need any more popularity, we need the power of the pulpit to change the heart and to convict the heart and to change the heart, to challenge the heart. Spiritual poverty should be feared. And I know that there are those who say they are Jews, but they are not, they are a synagogue of Satan. Jesus said it. It's a good reminder God sees the blasphemous things that are taking place in our nation. Folks, we have reached a tipping point. I mean, it's like some of the stuff I can't even believe. I was watching something about a hacker. He seems to might be a Christian hacker, top hacker in the United States, I believe. And he goes into the dark web and exposes these child predators. And gave an example of how he's, hey, I'm 12 years old and he's on there, how many chats within 10 minutes come in? And I'm getting sick to my stomach. And what schools are allowing in libraries, I think it was the ACLJ, Jay Sekulow was on the other day, and they're talking about a mom who went to the school board and she was reading the book, and it was just so perverted. And the school board stopped her. That's too strong. But it's okay for my 15-year-old? And then another drama class where they had a teenager who had to read this pornography and all these things. And her mom, they could not believe it. We are depraved. Romans 1. We are depraved and a depraved mind does not stay in the same spot. It gets sicker and sicker and sicker. And we are seeing blasphemous things. But thank God for the remnant. Thank God for the church. And that's my only hope is God sees our cries, hears our cries, sees our heart. Blasphemy, this word blasphemy, it's an attitude of disrespect that finds expression in an act directed against the character of God. Have you guys been seeing the clips about that big Satan conference? Where that lady, she's ripping up the Bible and they're hell Satan. They're just throwing the Bible on the floor. And I kind of just, I get sad, like you think that does anything? Are you kidding me? Your master works for my master. Somebody said that in the prayer room last week, so I can't get credit. Revelation 2. Ten now. So now you have all this context. He's writing to the church in Smyrna. These things say, the Lord, I know your works, I know your tribulation, I know your poverty, you're going to go through hell. But do not fear. Do not fear. I have to tell you a fun fact. I just wrote it down this morning. I looked it up this morning. Do you know how many times do not fear is mentioned in the Bible? I know some of you know. 365 days. Oh praise, one for every day. One for every day of the year. Is that just a coincidence? I don't know. Do not fear. Do not fear. All the scriptures stand. Having done all, stand therefore with their loins girt about in truth. Push off the enemy. Let me fight the enemy. Shane, you just stand. You hold the ground. The battle is the Lord's, not yours. You stand in that. Oh, this topic gets me a little excited. Because who can stop God Almighty? But did you know you can? Slow Him down in your life? Not do His will? Prevent things from happening in your life because of fear? Every day of the year. Do not fear any of the things which you are about to suffer. I think that's what's the hardest for me on where I see our nation going is for your kids and grandkids and our kids. And I pray against it. I'm hopeful. I'm praying God brings revival. And He holds off His plans for a while. Maybe, do you know God can change His plans? The Bible uses the word repent, but He doesn't repent the way we think it. He'll have a disaster coming against the nation of Israel. And He'll go, because my people cried out to me, because they sought me, I have relented in the harm that I was going to do. I have changed course because of the prayers of my people. Hezekiah, you're dying, get your house in order. He prayed. God said, okay, I changed my plans. I relented. And of course, we can get deep down the rabbit hole on that. Talk about God's sovereign plans, which I believe, done deal. You can pray all you want. That's why I even told Jeremiah to stop praying. He didn't. He said, stop praying, my judgment's coming. And there's sovereign plans, what He wants to do with the nations, what His timing with the end times and things like that. It's His sovereign plans. But then there's a permissive will, a perfect will, and these things that can get pretty deep if you start to think about man's choices, God's sovereignty. But we do know that God can change course sometimes based on the prayers of His people. What about the one we have out front? If my people, it says when I bring pestilence, when I bring famine, when I bring drought, if my people, if they do this, then I will change my plans and I will begin to heal their land. I mean, you can just say, oh, I don't know about that. It's Old Testament. I don't know if that applies today. Not me. God's principles are alive and well, alive and well. And I haven't shared this yet. And I don't, because I don't know if it's God or me or, but I had a strong, I prayed when we heard, you know, six, seven months ago about how bad, because I used to work with the water district. So I understand aquifers and AVEC and public works and Quartz Hill Water District and Palm Ranch Water District. I understand when they say the drought's getting real severe you have no clue what that means. As if it were to progress and progress and progress. There would be mandatory water shortages and things like that. And I was praying and I just, this season of rain that we went in the winter and all the mountains are packed and the Owens Valley there is just flooded out with water. I just sense that God's hearing the prayers of his people. Because it's not just me. I know other people were praying for, many people understand, because a drought is bad if it continues. Go read Genesis. Go read other, where there's, drought is a really bad thing because you take away the resources. You take away the life, the life giving. All your landscaping would have been gone. That's first to go. Hope you know that. 80% of water goes to landscaping. So all landscaping's gone. Then they're limiting, you'd have to limit water consumption. They can slow down your meters. Water pressure, you know, from 60, 70 pounds down to 30 pounds. Just enough to, you know, that's where things were going. When I bring pestilence, when I bring these things, when I bring drought, if my people humble themselves and seek their face and turn, oh, don't forget that one. Don't forget that one. Turn from their wicked ways. God's people can have wicked ways. Oh, let me tell ya. Let me tell ya. That's the biggest surprise. I've had a few. I should write a book on the biggest surprises of being a pastor. Is sheep bite. Well, hold on. I'm not rebuking. Pastors bite too. Right? Because people, people hurt people. And we think we go to this church. Oh man, this church. This church is, man, I'm really feeling it. Well, give it a month or so. Give it a month. Start fellowshipping. Start doing things with people. And people get in bad moods. People have bad timing. Things are not going good. You rub them the wrong way. Have you ever rubbed anybody the wrong way by what you said? I have to be very careful with what I say because I can, you know, pastor said this. I'm like, no, I didn't mean that. No, no, no, no, no. I didn't mean that. And so, you guys got me off track here. Do not fear any of those things which are about to suffer. So we have to remember, anytime you're suffering in God's will, you can hold on to that anchor during the storm. Now that's the key. Many people suffer. No, you're suffering because of these bad choices and you're outside of God's will and you need to repent. But if you've done that and your heart's right and you're seeking God, you can rest assured that God will guide you. And he said, indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and that you will have tribulation 10 days. So I want to remind you again as I have many times before, especially on this day that we're celebrating today, especially for moms, and I know the case with my wife, the enemy's greatest weapon is discouragement in the life of a believer. And I try to think, oh no, if this happens, at the end of the day, it's discouragement. When I'm encouraged, I want to come to church. When I'm discouraged, nope. When I'm encouraged, you're gentle to your kids or your spouse or your family. When you're discouraged, ooh, watch that tongue. Ooh, because that pain, that discouragement comes out. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth is going to speak. Discouragement, discouragement. The pulpit commentary that I use, often I use about six different ones. It said the devil who inspires the synagogue of Satan is allowed to afflict them. That is key. God allows certain things, as in the case of Job. The devil does not defeat Christ or God or come equal and God's like, oh, I can't believe this is happening to Shane. I don't, he is allowed. He is allowed. That's why I never, never want to hear in the heavenlies, have you considered my servant Shane? If you don't know what that means, let me tell you briefly. In the book of Job, Job is, I hope I remember this. I should have looked there. But Job is, there's a dialogue in heaven. So it makes you wonder what the heavenly thing looks like now. If Satan's able to go and ask God for permission. And God basically tells the devil, have you considered my servant Job? Ah, the devil says, I have permission to do this and test him. He says, you do, but just don't kill him. It's amazing. That would be a whole theological discussion because the weather is controlled by the enemy, it appears. Our sickness, that's why I do pray against demonic things and sickness. It's not always. He can maybe, he can afflict us somehow. Sickness and affliction, absolutely. And that's a good, yes, sift is absolutely right, Kel. That is so true. And I saw this. I don't think you can find it now, but it was, I told my wife, she's like, is everything okay when I was in Texas? Because the second service, I've never experienced anything like this, that a car alarm would not stop. And you know that, how, when you let it run its full course, meep, meep, meep. And I'm thinking, I almost said, or Gracie, go check, is that ours? Because we're, and I'm thinking, they got it, and of course that just throws you all off. Because like, do I stop for a minute? And so it never shut off, I think like three minutes, and afterwards the usher came up. So we've never, ever had that happen. I've been ushering, I've been here 22 years. And the car was like, it was right there by this side door that was, like if it was out, it was a big church, you know, double the size. And you're not gonna hear a car like that usually. And then 25 minutes into it, my voice is going out, and it's bad. It's like, I don't know if I can finish. It was hard, this horse, and pitch, it's like, this is terrible. I can't believe it. And at that point, you're a guest speaker, and you're all in Texas, and it's like, what's wrong with this guy? Man. And I stopped, and I prayed. And it took about seven, eight minutes, maybe 10, and it just came, voice came back, and I went a whole different direction, and the fire of God fell in that place towards the end. But it was hard. Now, you might say, coincidence or different things. The problem is, and I was pretty passionate at the first service, and it is, your voice gets hoarse, you know, when you, and any time that's ever happened to me in the past, it's usually towards the end of the second, or when I go home, it doesn't get better for a few days. It has never, in all of my life of speaking, got better, when it's that bad, it got better within 10 minutes. Like, it's gone. Because you strain the vocal cord, that's not possible. And so, it was just a very, very tense time. You know, I'm looking at the pastor, like, I'm wondering, do you wanna just come take this over? You know, so I just prayed, and just kind of fought through it. I should try to find it, see if they have it, and share it. But I was pretty discouraged. I don't think I've been that discouraged in the pulpit in a while. Because you guys can understand, but if you're a guest speaker, and a place you don't know anybody, and you can't, the first service was incredible, and now I can't even get out the sentences, let me tell you about discouragement. And even afterwards, I was discouraged. It's like, dang it. Man, Lord, help me. But then also, I mean, that's minimal compared to discouragement in our families. Or discouragement at work, you just get fired, or you get this bad news. You get really discouraged. And that can really wear on you. Discouragement, discouragement. I wanna tell you about something. I don't know, it's pretty interesting. I was at a, I mean, it fits in here a little bit. I was at a place on Thursday, and there's this lady over here, she's crying pretty bad. And I'm just talking to this other guy. And I said, I think the door's locked till they open at 1.30. And she heard me. And she goes, me and my husband listen to you on the radio all the time, oh my gosh. You know, I just found out my husband has stage four lung cancer, and he's not gonna make it, they don't think. And oh, gosh, would you come to Palmdale Hospital and pray for him? Like, yeah, let's go. Don't even know, but now it's incredible. I've been there a couple times, and the family's wonderful. But the discouragement, her and the kids, and you can feel it's like a demonic type of, and that he was very encouraging. You know, I'm ready, I'm gonna pray for my daughter, and praying over her stomach, and just ICU, and it was just like, I'm crying. It's like God, and just coming out of that discouragement, coming out very encouraged. Because you put your mind back on Christ, and the family was encouraged, and you remember who God is, and you trust again in his sovereignty. But just watching how discouragement can just take you and break you, break you completely, that's what the enemy does. He wants to give you like the DMV does, a certificate of non-operation. A certificate, you ever done that before? My dad, we used to do that. We'd park an old Chevy Blazer in our work yard, like just go get a certificate of non-operation. We'll just use it for parts. That's not going anywhere. And that's what the enemy, just sit there. We'll just use her for parts. Or we'll just use you to fill up the pew. Don't go witness, don't go talk to anyone, don't go encourage your kids, just stay a negative Nelly, or a judgmental Jerry, or a critical Kathy. Don't do anything for God, just walk around until your days are numbered, and be discouraged and defeated. You do nothing for the kingdom of God. You've gotta break out of that this morning. You need to get that pep back in your walk. You need to get that zeal back in your walk. And remember, God can take a Hannah and rebuild a nation. God can take an Esther and save a nation. Oh, if we just get our hearts focused on God again, don't let the enemy encourage you. You plus God is a majority being filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Can you imagine what he can do in and through you? Break up out of that discouragement this morning. And he goes on to say, this commentary, to try them, to try them towards the top. He wants to try them with the sinister intent of causing them and causing you to fail. That's the enemy's goal, that's his agenda. Come to church every Sunday and Wednesday with your head held high saying, I'm going to be encouraged and not discouraged. He's trying to take me out. Trust me, I know. Hello, hello, the enemy would love to take out Shane Eidelman. And you, put your name in the blank. Because then a whole family goes with you. Your testimony, your walk with the Lord. He wants you to fail and fall. Why, because when you're standing up, you can fight, you can protect. But when you fall and fail, the enemy can just walk right over you. But what is temptation on the devil's side is probation on God's side. Woo, let that sink in for a minute. Let's flesh that out. What the enemy's trying to destroy you, the temptation of the devil, he's trying to destroy you. God has you on probation. Where the Bible talks about testing. Testing, pass the test and you'll come out stronger. So God doesn't tempt, He tests. We take the test and we pass and we come out stronger. And I don't like any more of the next person, but faith that has not been challenged and tried cannot be tested, cannot be trusted. Said another way, faith that is not tested cannot be trusted. Have you ever met those, man, they've got strong faith, you want to be around them. Let me tell you what they've been through. And that's how you build spiritual muscle. Doesn't mean we run to problems, but it should build us up and encourage us. Because the Bible throughout Scripture talks about holding, enduring, and standing. Of course, fight the good fight of faith, put on the armor and things like that. But ultimately, God's fighting. So He just says, hold, hold the line, hold the position, stand there, stand there. Again, like I said, with your loins gird about with truth, the truth, so you can actually, if hell's coming to get your home, you just stand there, stand at the front door if you want, anoint the homes with oil, it doesn't matter. We'll do whatever you want, you stand there, say, God, I'm not falling, I'm not failing, the enemy cannot have this house, I'm standing. Or do you go run to the liquor store? Or the drug dealer? Or the prescription or the pharmacy? Or the things you shouldn't be watching? Or just cowardly quit and let the enemy come in? All the enemy needs is a stronghold. Just give me a little bit. If you've been coming, you've seen me show you this before, but that's what the devil does. He takes, has anybody ever tried to close the door on you? Like my kids and try to close the door? Nope, nope, I stop it. And that's all the enemy needs, that's what a stronghold is. Just, ah, the door's open. He puts his foot down, gets a hold, gets something in there to start the process. 10 days, 10 days you'll have tribulation. And the commentary says this, which I tend to agree with, it is unwise to make anything either mystical or rigidly literal out of the number 10, which here is probably a round number. However, here's a fun fact, according to prophecy, 10 days could mean the 10 years of Diocletian's great persecution of the church. But we also know these letters can be for us today. And preparing us for coming tribulation. And how we are to prepare for tribulation. You know, I just wrote this down right before the service started, to encourage you, some of you. Thank God, all tribulation eventually expires. I mean, on this side of eternity, of course. So no matter what you're going through, there's an expiration date. There's an expiration date on it. It might mean we go home, but what you're going, that tribulation, that persecution at work, those things that feel like this will never end, family members persecuting you. The enemy can fill their mind and thoughts as well. That persecution is time-stamped. All tribulation expires on this side of heaven. Revelation 2.11, be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. There's always a call to faithfulness. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying. And that call goes out today too. Guys, wake up. There's a lot of you here because your mom drug you here, and you need to give ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to you. I may never preach to you again. Let the conviction of God change you and challenge you. Break that hardness of heart and humble yourself before God. Listen to what God is saying, because he will not force it. Who else is gonna speak the truth to you? I'm just telling you the truth. I've done this a long time. I've done this a long time. You can tell who comes on Christmas and Easter and when their mom forces them. And guys, God loves you. He's not against you, He's for you. You're against Him if you don't repent and believe and surrender everything. I know people are thinking, well, that's just for women and wimps and stuff. No, you should see all the solid men of God who have followed God. David was a man of war. He killed people. And God said, that's a man after My own heart. He worships Me. Samson, a mighty man of God. Samuel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Daniel, Isaiah. Don't by the enemy's lie that God is for wimp people. Or church is for those... Church is a crutch. Have you ever heard that one? I need a crutch. Guys, it's not a crutch. It's the whole hospital. Church is the hospital for broken sinners who are dependent, who need God. They cry out to God. They don't keep fighting God. Let Him hear. Let Him hear if you have an ear. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. I'm not saying this. Jesus is saying this. Do you know this is an absolute truth? I'm more sure of this than I am the sun coming up tomorrow morning. Oh, you're just saying that. No. I'm more sure of God's Word than I am the stars and the heavens and the atmosphere because He controls all those things. You will die twice. Okay, you lost me. Don't worry, I'll bring you back. I'll bring you back. Reel it back in. Reel it back in. You die physically, death, and then a person will die spiritually. That's what we talk about heaven and hell. That second death is what we try to pull people from. The realities of heaven and hell. Why would God send anybody to hell? Remember, He doesn't send them there, they choose. They choose. I don't want God. I don't want anything to do with God. And that's why He said if you overcome, I can put it in today's terms, if you repent and believe in Jesus, you're saved and set free. That second death cannot touch you because Jesus died for that. He said those who are faithful who endure till the end, become faithful, show thyself approved. And the crown of life He's talking about here is when somebody conquers the life here and they go on to be with God. That crown of life. Four keys to go through trials successfully and then I will end and you can go eat. Four keys to go through trials successfully. Anybody need help going through trials? Nope, okay, well, let's pick up next week. If you can, yeah, take pictures if you like. Remember these, write them down. This is the anchor in the storm. Your foundation, it's your spiritual foundation that weathers the storm or the foundation crumbles if it's not the right foundation. When I was in construction, obviously a lot, I mean, I dug so many footings, like miles and miles of footings, block wall footings, house footings, buildings, commercial. And obviously, what's the strongest foundation? They would come and pour the concrete. But then sometimes something got wrong in the mixer, you know, at the company and the concrete, after they would pour it, you could come and just take a breaking bar and just chip it off. Chip off with a hammer and the concrete would just fall apart. And you're gonna build on that? A huge building? The foundation was, it looked like concrete though, or when it would rain, it would begin to wash out, it was just like fractioning off. I mean, you could even go sometimes and just step on the edges and the concrete would break off. And they'd have to come and usually hire me to come back, take a tractor back home, pull it all out and get it all ready, so I didn't mind it. But I think the guy who ordered the concrete, he, that was a big deal to him, but it was a good reminder, it's the foundation that's gonna, that's what weathers the storm. We all think, oh, that house and beautiful, that building's beautiful, but you should see that foundation is what holds it in place. We had the privilege, me and my wife, of visiting when I was on Fox News, 2017 or 18, I don't remember, but we saw the World Trade Center Foundation. Oh, I mean, I'm still like goosebumps. When you go down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, you're way down. And there's, of course, a little thing with all the 3,000 pictures and they're playing audiotapes of people calling and crying. It's like, oh, man, it was incredible experience, but very emotional and haunting. But I'm down in this huge, I mean, you can play football. It was bigger, it was just this, and there's the beams, incredible beams. That foundation, the higher they went, the deeper they had to go. So the foundation is what secures your life. The foundation is what holds you together, or if it crumbles, it's where you'll crumble. Your foundation, you can go through hell and high water if the foundation is right. He who hears my words and does them, Jesus said, I will liken him to the man who built his house on the rock. And that's how they would, I mean, back then, without concrete, of course, but if they found a big, huge rock or boulder and how they would secure, and that's not going anywhere. But he who hears my word and does not do it, I will liken him to a man who built his house on the... That's a terrible spot to build a house. Terrible. Even sometimes my kids, if they play and they build a little house on the dirt, I'm like, that's not going to last long. Right, because the walls, after a little while, a little wind and a little wall that just falls over, there's nothing securing it. You can build the same exact thing on concrete, put some studs in or put some steel coming up and you anchor it to that steel and build the exact same thing and drill in and anchor it to the dirt. Which one do you want to play in or live in? Same thing, guys. Man, this preaches itself. This, he who does my word, he who hears my word and does it, applies it, lives it, repents, believes, whoever makes me the solid rock of their life, they will never blow. Though the storms come, it will never fall. Yea, though when you walk through the valley of the shadow of the death, I will be with you. Even if you go through the fire, it will not scorch you. If you go through the river, it will not overflow you because I am the Lord, your God. You built your life on the right foundation. Foundation, foundation, foundation. The right foundation weathers the storm. Some of you need to break down your foundation this morning and rebuild it on the right one. Get rid of the sinking sand of man's philosophy. Man's ways, it never works, it never, tell me one way, one way over the last four centuries, millennial, one way, man's way, I can take you through banks and political systems and nations and constitutions. Everything that's built on man's way blows away. Only the solid rock of Jesus Christ is what withstands the storm. That's why a martyr like Pauly Carp can stand there and have the flank, I don't know if you crack, you're bound to this thing like this. You've got all this wood around you. Hey guys, what's going on here? All this dry wood and here comes the guy with the fire in his hand. Down, it's probably up higher. And hey, one last chance in front of all these people before I drop this on the wood and they just sing into eternity. Where does that come from? Where in the, like I've thought, like I don't wanna go through that. Where does that go from? From the foundation, the foundation. Have you heard names like William Tyndale, John Huss, that actually a phrase comes from your goose is cooked. That's where Huss, I think if you break what it means and what they, he burned at the stake. Weak, martyr, and we can't even stick together if we get offended. Holy smokes, I cringe at how weak our faith is sometimes. How are we gonna get through what comes ahead if we can't even go through what's now? So strengthen your foundation this morning. That means maybe for some of you repenting and saying, God, I've drifted. I'm over here building on the wrong foundation. I need to jump back, church hop in this case, jump back to the right foundation. Lord, I need that concrete again. I need the solid rock of trusting in you and faith in you. And some of you maybe have never built on that foundation. You've always lived here. The Bible is clear. It says repent and believe. Repent means I'm changing my mind about sin. I'm a sinner. I need God's grace, and I believe in Jesus Christ to set me free, and I'm gonna build my life on that foundation. That's, without that, these are pointless. And then number two, of course, during a crisis, strength and courage are essential, but they can't be worked up. What I mean by that is you can't work out, oh, I need courage, I need, oh, courage, courage, courage, courage, oh, give me courage, maybe for a minute or two, but overall, over a lifetime, that courage can't be worked up. It must come down from the Spirit of God. If God's not filling you with His Spirit, then He can help you take courage and strength. And then, of course, you have to trust, you have to have faith, and you have to hope. You have to keep the course regardless of gale force winds. That's what a vessel has to do. No matter how windy it is, He's gotta keep that course. And you have to take your thoughts captive. Did you know you control your thought life more than you think? Uh-oh, I'm gonna get controversial here. Some of your thoughts aren't your thoughts. Could it be the enemy's? God's thoughts? Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established? My own thoughts? Thoughts of discouragement? I don't wanna go, I don't wanna do that. What do I do with that thought? Do I put up a tent and camp out? Make a fire, cook some food? Hey, I'm gonna stay here for a couple weeks. Let me camp out. I'm gonna camp out here. Or do you take that thought captive and say, you know what, that's not right, Lord. I'm not gonna focus on bitterness or hurt or being offended or critical spirit. I'm not gonna focus on my fears and my doubts. Lord, your word says this, I'm trusting you. And you bring your thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. As a result, peace and joy follow. It's amazing. But it's warfare. It's warfare. Guys, remember that. We're in a spiritual battle. And it's not with these or these. There's nothing physical. Where is the spiritual battle then? Hello? Hello? The fiery darts of the enemy. I've never been hit yet by a dart in my head. Then that stinker got me again. Where's he at? Where's, uh-huh. Where is he at? Oh, never, ever. They're coming now. Even as I preach sometimes. As I lead my life all week, here come those fiery darts. Here they come. And you have, you take those thoughts captive. The mind is incredible. The human mind is absolutely amazing. And you can take that thought captive. Just like, did you know you can say no to temptation? If I hear another person tell me I just can't say no, I have a disease. No temptation has overtaken you, but such as common to man, God who is faithful will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear. With that temptation, He will offer a way of escape. And what we do is we minimize human responsibility when we say I'm bound to this. I can't do anything else. As a believer, I believe you can. As an unbeliever, I think you're more prone, obviously, to being a demonic. Open your door to the demonic, and it is harder to say no because there's no strength of the Holy Spirit. And then number four, the Word. The Word of God reinforces, prayer reignites, and worship reestablishes your connection with God. If you miss these three things, the foundation will crack. You see how it's all together? All together here. Joshua 119, close with this, the power of the made-up mind. Make up your mind this morning to believe God's Word. Many of us, I've been there, we can drift from God's Word, we can forget what it says, and we look at the news to see what we should think and how we should act. We watch YouTube and Netflix and all these things, and we forget that there is God's Word to refocus our mind on. Joshua 119, God's Word. God says, have I not commanded you? And yes, I think, I know the application is, Joshua's going into the promised land, but remember, these principles are godly principles. God says, if I've commanded you to do something, has God commanded you to do something, then be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid. That tells me I can be afraid. That tells me when I'm gonna go out and do God's will, it's not gonna be easy. That tells me sometimes I gotta strengthen myself in the Lord like David. I gotta keep walking through this even though it's difficult. Here comes the fear. I take those thoughts captive, and I still move forward. God's telling us, be strong. Put on your big boy pants and get to work. Stop cowering down behind the enemy. That's one thing that bugs me about the American church. Put on the Holy Spirit and start having prayer meetings and call down heaven and come against this wicked agenda in our nation. We don't have to bow to it. We are called to fight against it. Be strong, be strong, be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid. Guys, I struggle with this too. As our nation, our state, you know, gets more, you know, pressing in on, you think they like people like me? I was in a meeting, it was a small one, Jack Hibbs invited me to. There's only about 20 pastors, and there's a lady there, a former senator, and they're talking and they're trying to, I can't go into a lot of stuff, they're still working on, but she said, hey, Pastor Jack, Sacramento knows you. And it's not in a good way. And so I left there and I'm thinking, huh, they don't want them to know me. Maybe I better just, you know, ease up a little bit. Let's go off of YouTube rumble everywhere, Twitter, let's just have people only have to come in person. I don't want the powers that be to be looking at me. Right, that's what they go after Bible-believing churches. Shut them up. We cannot have the truth of God's Word. And I don't know if you've seen it yet, I think it's just being released on media, but all the people testifying against the Biden family and what's going on, the whistleblowers, they're either in court, in jail, or they can't be found. That's not considered a good thing. I'm not putting on a foil hat. That's right now what's going on in our nation. It is stressful to be a Bible-believing preacher that has a message out there. So don't think I can't relate to, oh, you're a pastor, you can't relate. I can probably relate to this a lot more than you because I'm causing a lot of waves. But what do I have to do? Oh, God commanded me. Be strong. And what's the worst thing that can happen? Hey, I took out a big term life insurance. My wife's family's good, right? What's the worst? We start thinking, don't fear a man who can kill the body, but fear Him. Jesus said, who can cast both body and soul in hell. So you need to look at your life this morning. Guys, if you could see my heart, I don't say all this angry and mean and want to upset people. That's the last thing I want to do. But we have to speak the truth. That's what's happening. That's why we're losing ground. A Supreme Court justice can't even say what a woman is. Whoa! And many pastors, I don't know, who am I to say? Who am I to say that's up to them? Let me just preach this simple, weak, palatable gospel that doesn't offend. Well, let me tell you, sir, then you're not preaching the gospel because it does offend. Thank God that one's over. Let me just share a promise from Scripture. If you seek Him, you will find Him. And the more, oh, I want to word this the right way. The more you seek Him, the more you find Him, but the more you find Him, the more you want to seek Him. It's almost like you're just on fire for God. And of course, the enemy knocks you off track. I get knocked off track just like everyone else. But the more you seek Him, the more you find Him. And the more you find Him, the more you'll want to seek Him. There's an all-consuming fire, the fire of God, the presence of God, the power of God. When the Word comes alive, can we have church every night? Can I get into worship? Can I get into prayer meetings? And you're going great, and you're going great. And then, boom, you get hit with discouragement. You get hit with a left hook and a right hook. And now you're down on the ground again. Go back to that promise. If you get back up and seek me, you will find me again. And when you find me, you're going to want to seek me. It's a privilege to preach. Abram knows it's a privilege. He'd probably do it every Sunday if I wasn't here. You know, because that desire, you want to do it. We don't want to go through the motions. We don't want a social club. If you'd like to just come and kneel, maybe for the first time, say, Lord, I'm fully surrendering everything. I need to get my life back. I need to get my life back to You. I need to... And the reason I'm so passionate about that is I remember when I was lost. And I remember when I was found. I remember when I was blind spiritually. I remember when I could see, oh, the floodgates opened, the heavens opened, and the joy of the Lord came into my heart. And if I could just grab every person and tell them how important this is, don't let pride stop you from that. Do you know there's a lot of demonic activity? We see it every week some way, somehow, and you can actually take authority over that. If you feel there's something in your home, just hop in our house. Our little one, four-year-old, is just waking up with a bad dream every single night. So finally, boom, take authority over that. Nothing. Nothing. And then my wife yesterday goes, we need to pray for her. And no, she's good. And then what happens last night? More bad dreams. Yep. Those impulses, those desires. You can take authority in your home. It's a spiritual battle. As parents, as moms, even single moms. And I even want to pray for those, if you could lift them up, who are not yet moms, but they want to be. Let me even stop right now. Lord, I lift up those individuals. Lord, You know who they are. You know who they are in Jesus' name. I pray You'd begin to bless them. Open that womb. Lord, give them the gift of life. God, we're asking as a corporate body that You would begin to do that. Jesus, honor these prayers that go up this morning. And that You'd be ultimately glorified and given all the credit and all the glory. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.