In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of releasing our burdens and difficulties to God. He uses the story of Joseph and his brothers as an example of how God can turn our hardships into blessings when we surrender them to Him. The speaker encourages the audience to seek first the kingdom of God and trust that He will provide for their needs. He suggests a practical exercise of making two lists - one for past disappointments and hurts, and another for present difficulties - and giving thanks to God for each item on the lists.

Immediately to the Lord today in Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews 13. Let's gather ourselves in today. Last night, wonderful time with the Lord, here with his people last night in our sharing time. Many pastors, as myself, were able to give the Lord burdens last night and many of the lay people unleashed. Myriads and myriads of burdens and stresses and sin and things have been carrying for many years. And you know, beloved, unless God sovereignly moves on our hearts, there's excess baggage we've been carrying for many years that we know nothing about. We are at the mercy of the Lord. And I think we need to give thanks today that God was merciful to meet with us. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. I will sing. I will sing. Sing to him. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. With my mouth, with my mouth, will I make known thy faithfulness, thy faithfulness. With my mouth, will I make known thy faithfulness to all generation. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. God's mercies. Mercy drops round us are falling. Send us the showers, we plead. The last several nights, last two nights in particular, God's people have had some tremendous meetings with the Lord and their hearts being unveiled. And this morning, as we come to the close of this meeting, I'd like to help those of you, if I could, to concrete those decisions and to take the next step of faith. Those of you who have come to the mic and those of you who have not come to the mic and shared your heart, I'd encourage your attention to be drawn to Hebrews 13 and verse 15. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Ephesians 520, giving thanks for all things unto God. First Thessalonians 518, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. All of the hurts and the bitternesses and the guilts and the fears and all that we've carried, God is asking us to give him a sacrifice. No, we didn't bring any lambs or ox or bullet today to sacrifice the Lord, but he has asked us in Romans 12 one present our bodies, a living sacrifice. And he's asked us here in Hebrews 13 to bring another sort of sacrifice. And that's the sacrifice of our lips. And that is saying thank you. Thanks, Lord. For all things work together for good. To them that love God and those that called according to his purpose, see, beloved, we have to believe because God says it's true about himself that he's so sovereign that God has the unique ability to grab all the ends of our life and tie them together into a beautiful picture. There are two kinds of circumstances, those that you can change and those that you cannot change. And God desires us. As in the life of Joseph, to look beyond the brothers who is offended, to look beyond the butler who forgot about it, to look beyond Potiphar's wife who lied about it, to look beyond all the problems, even look beyond the devil himself and see God. See God in our midst and give him thanks. You see, beloved, whatever I'm complaining about today. As a preacher, as a Christian, as a child of his, whatever I'm complaining about or murmuring about or harboring or holding to. You may not realize it, but before God, you see, beloved, before I make this next statement, before God, the Bible tells us in Philippians that our life as a Christian is before God's nostrils, a continual offering. And he and he desires it would be a sweet savor in his nostrils. Amen. But often we become bitter, a bitter offering before the war. And though we may never say with our lips, but our hearts speak so loud that God cannot hear our lips often. And often our hearts speak to him in murmuring and in complaining that God is mismanaging our lives. And whenever we do not release in Thanksgiving, we are saying to God, you've mismanaged something in my life. You've misdirected something because we have then denied his sovereign ability to tie all the divorce and the loss of the child and the misunderstandings at church and all the problems and all the circumstances. We are saying that God does not have that sovereign ability to tie them all together. If you'll turn in your Bibles to the book of. Genesis and 50, we'll look at this just for a moment this morning in our devotion time. And Genesis 45, excuse me, and then we'll read one verse in verse 50, Genesis 45. Let me encourage those of you who have shared this week of the hurts in your life. There's been a real misconception in in biblical circles and evangelical fundamental circles. We've told our young people, young people give your gifts, your talents, your abilities to the Lord for him to use. Beloved, God does not use your talents and abilities. God ministers through us, through our wounds. God does not minister through abilities. He ministers through wounds. God ministers through thorns. God ministers through brokenness. That's how he ministers. You know how we receive salvation. We receive salvation through the wounds of Jesus Christ. And you know how we'll deliver others and minister to others. It'll be through those same wounds. It was a great day that I discovered. As Joseph discovered, God will give you a cross, but the cross will always give you God. And as Abraham, he discovered that God was his portion and that's all he needed. And Moses discovered that God was his portion. I am that I am. And that's all that he needed. And Brother Joe so ministered to us this week that Christ is all that we need. And Joseph in Genesis forty five, notice in verse five, he said, Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, dealing with his brothers that you sold me hither. For God did send me before you to preserve life. Now notice he sees God, verse six or verse seven. And God sent me before you to preserve you and prosperity, prosperity in the earth. Verse eight. So now it was that he sent me hither. But God, he hath made me a father to Pharaoh. And then verse nine, haste ye and grow up and go up to my father and say unto him, Thus saith the son of Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all of Egypt. And then chapter 50, verse 20. As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good. God gives us the cross, but the cross gives us God, because at that point we ended with Paul, as he said, that I may know him. The power of his resurrection and the fellowship. Of his sufferings, we enter in. You see, beloved Joseph, like Moses. Learned a very vital lesson, and, you know, there's something that's missed in the story of Moses. I mean, when he threw down the rod and the rod turned into a what, beloved serpent, didn't it? And, you know, Moses told the Lord he had this speech impediment, could talk too good that I can't think he would talk to Pharaoh. And then. The Lord said, Moses, pick up the serpent. The serpent, he said, pick it up by pick up the serpent by state. He said, Lord, he said, I've had the speech impediment, I don't hear too good either. What did you say? He said, pick it up. And Moses picked it up. Now, there are many, many beautiful parallels and types in that illustration of Moses and the rod, but there's one, I believe, that we've missed, that God is trying to convey to his children. Beloved. Everything that you hold in your hand. Everything that you do not release to God. Has the nature of a serpent. Everything. Put it down. I have seen parents and brother Humrick House and other pastors, you have seen this parents who will not who refuse to release their children, that child. Child. In return becomes as a serpent and strikes that parent and in poisons, that parents, that parent and causes that parent to become embittered. I've seen pastors like myself who could not release their church and that church in turn put the venom of bitterness and resentment in their hearts. Everything we hold, everything will not release to God in Thanksgiving and offered him the praise of Thanksgiving for all things and everything. Yes, and there will be times it'll have to be a sacrifice. As of the Old Testament, it cost him something, it took an effort and there are times it will cost us our logic, it'll cost us our judgment and what we think is fair and right. It's going to cost us something to say in the midst of the most adverse circumstances to offer with our lips. And though they may quiver and say, thank you, thank you. Why, because it is good what God has done. No, not necessarily, but because he is good because the circumstances are just no, because he is just. Our focus is upon him, he released, he saw God and so it is in Joseph's life. See, beloved, when Joseph turned over everything. Joyously to the trust of almighty God. Turned it all over to him, I mean, he turned over him being imprisoned. In Egypt. Then God so moved and said, Joseph, since you've turned over the prison to me, I'm going to turn over the prison to you. Amen. He made him keep her the prison. He turned it all over to Joseph's trust. And when Joseph turned over all the wise. Wise of Potiphar's wife lying to him that she that he was trying to rape her. And casting back into the prison. And. God turned over back to Joseph, not just Potiphar's house, but the entire house of the Egyptian kingdom. When he turned over all the wise of the butler lying to him and and saying, I'll speak for you when I get out and and his total ingratitude when he turned it all over. Then God turned the entire kingdom of Egypt to the hands of Joseph. And when Joseph turned over to God joyously, all the reasons and all the wise and all the question marks as to why my brothers betrayed me and lied and threw me in a pit to die, then God turned over to Joseph their very survival. I'm saying, beloved, what we release is what God gives to us. He is no fool who gives that which he cannot keep, that he might gain that which he cannot lose, he that seeks to save his life will lose it, but he that will lose his life for my sake shall find it. It's the law of the spiritual harvest. If we so sparingly in our release, we shall reap sparingly. I'm saying, beloved, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things be added to you, give thanks. How can we do this in a practical way? There have been points and times in my life where I've experienced a Bethel, a time of real meeting with God, a time where I've been able just to sit down and especially in this area of release and giving over to the lordship of Jesus Christ all of my life. Let me give you just one simple way to help. Make two lists. And on these two lists, put your past life and then put your present life. And on one side of your past life, put down all your disappointments, all your hurts, bum deals, things that you relied about, physical problems, maybe the death of a wife or a husband. Our child list at all, and then on the other side, list all your present difficulties and adverse circumstances, things that you'd like to change, if you could change, maybe your job, maybe a present sickness, a problem, a personal frustration. There's something within your family. And then go down both lists and one by one give thanks unto God. And you know what you'll discover? You'll discover, as all have discovered. Though you can't change your circumstances, the God will give you such grace that you'll act right in the midst of your circumstances and then you'll find he'll give you even more grace, even rejoice in your circumstances. And as Paul said, I take glory even in my infirmities. He's so good to me. While we wait just a moment, let's sing that to him. I love you so. I love you so. You're so good to me. Let's buy our hearts together. Sing this to him. I love you so. Not because you do good things, though he does bless us because he's good. He's good. I love you so. And we do. I love I love you so. Oh, I love you so. You're so good to all. We never tire of singing. Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong. The Bible tells me so. But our heads are bowed this morning at the very beginning of this day. Maybe the Lord has put his finger on something you're yet hold. Let go. Release it to let him have his way with thee. And let your life be a sweet savor, a sweet offering in the nostrils of God to delight his heart, to bless him that he might enjoy drinking from the wells of your life, sweet water and not bitter, that there might be such intimacy between your soul and him. Wrapping up yourselves together in one, then you can sing. I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice to you. You, oh, my soul. Take joy, my king. In what you hear, may it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear. Well, that's our heart's desire today to bless the Lord. Oh, my soul. And all that's in with within me. Bless his holy name. And forget not all of his benefits. Others redeem my life from destruction. How he's healed my soul of all of its diseases. And he's crowned my life with such blessing. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Oh, father, today, may there be such a sweet savor of an offering coming from this room. May there be sacrifices of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving that is difficult, that cost. That's a of an effort. May people release everything before they leave here this week. Well, we behold Jesus. The author and finisher of our faith who released heaven. He might come here to take our sin. And then, father, for you to receiving back into that glory. Is our hope today of what we release. We also shall receive. And then, Lord, we'll learn. It is far better to give. Then to receive. To be like Jesus. To be like Jesus. May that be all that will ask. To be like him. All through life's journey. From earth to heaven. That our only request be that we be like him. Thank you, Lord, for this meeting place. Been a very special place for me. This will always be a Bethel. In my life. Lord, when my heart becomes indifferent and cold while ministering there and shall be for wherever we're ministering. Bring me back. To machine. To the prayer room. To the cabin. Those places. Where you became Bethel to me. In Jesus name. Amen. All the Lord's people said. A.