It’s Time to Trust God for the Results
It's Time

Transcript

One of the most encouraging things we could do is turn to the word of God now and continue our series, verse by verse, through the book of Haggai. We've titled it, “It's Time.” The message today is entitled, “It's Time to Trust God for the End Result.” God does not call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful.

Success is in God's hands; results are in God's hands. That's the idea of this message today. This sermon series is based on these verses from Haggai 1:2; 2:4-5 (ESV) “These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord…

Yet now, be strong, work, for I am with you, declares the Lord. My spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.” Like many of us who are wearing the T-shirts today, it's time to be strong, do the work and be fearless.

That's what we studied last week. The people of God were discouraged. They were rebuilding the temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Some of the older people that remembered what Solomon's temple looked like were weeping, saying that it's not going to be as good. It's not going to be gold plated and glorious like Solomon's temple was. They were discouraging the young people that were working when they would hear this.

Then, God moved to encourage them and he said, ‘look, leave the results up to Me. You be strong, you do the work and be fearless. I will handle the rest.’ Now, what did He mean by that? Well, that's what we're going to “unpack” today. I wonder today, are you worried about success in your life?

Are you worried about success as a parent? Are you thinking, I don't know how these kids are going to turn out. I'm concerned. Or, if you're a grandparent, I'm really praying for my grandkids right now.

You might be trying to hyper control the situation, but it doesn't take long for you to realize you cannot control outcomes. You can be strong, you can do the hard work, you can be fearless and believe God. But only God produces results. It's an illusion that many of us have that we're somehow in control, especially some of us who have type A personalities. We think, if we make a list, if we put it on the calendar, if we schedule it, then we have control of the results.

But, we don't. God is God and we are not. When are we going to come to the point? This is really what God is trying to teach the people of God here - when are you going to come to the point when you say, ‘You are God and I'm not?’ When are you going to surrender control to Jesus and say, ‘You're God and

I'm not. I'm going to trust You with my time, my talent and my treasure. All that I am is now Yours.’ Stop worrying about success. Stop worrying about your investments, your children, your house and your car.

Don't worry about these things. Instead, do what God's called you to do and rest in Him, knowing that the end result belongs to God. Well, let's look at the book of Haggai, because that's what He was teaching them. As I look here, I see three ways that we can join in God's work and trust the end result up to God. Let's read about it.

We'll start at verse 6 of chapter 2. Haggai 2:6-9 (ESV) 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

This is God's word. Amen. We're looking for three ways that we can join in God's work and trust Him for the end result.

1. By recognizing God’s sovereignty over all things.

By recognizing his sovereignty over all things. What do we mean by “sovereignty?” We mean
“lordship.”

We mean control; He's in control of results. I want you to take note of three “I will” statements in these verses. First of all, in verses 6 and 7, because he repeats it twice, he says, “I will shake.”

Then in verse seven, He says, “I will fill,”and then, in verse nine, He says, “I will give.” That's the three ways that He says, ‘I am in charge of the results. You be strong.’ That's what we learned from last week's sermon.

Be strong, do the work and be fearless. Do those things; do your part. Leave the rest up to Me. I will shake, I will feel and I will give.

In other words, He's going to do the things you couldn't do anyway. But He does invite us to join Him in His work. I think that's a wonderful thing. Let's begin with that first one, “I will shake.”

He says it twice. “I will shake,” “I will shake.” He says, ‘I'm going to shake up everything. I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations.’

He covered it all. ‘I'm going to shake the cosmos.’ Has God ever shaken you up? Sometimes

that's the only way that He can get your attention. He has to shake your little world. He has to shake you up to get your attention. What does it take to get your attention? I know, for most of us, that's the only way He can do it.

He has to shake us up. He says to the people of Israel, ‘If you'll be strong, do the work and be fearless, trust Me. I'm going to shake everything up.’ But before He announces this, don't overlook that He reminds them of who He is.

The truth is, as you read the Word, does the word reveal stuff about humanity? Yes. Does it reveal the stuff about end times, heaven, hell and earth? Yeah, it reveals a lot of things, but it's primarily a book about God. It's primarily a book where God is revealing Himself to us.

Five times in this passage, He says “LORD of hosts.” In these few verses, He identifies Himself as the “LORD of hosts.” LORD, in the English translations that we have today, is in all caps. Do you see that?

Do you know why that is? I've been teaching this for some time. Many of you know what I'm going to say. It's the covenantal Hebrew name underneath it. It's translating the Hebrew word, “Adonai,” which just means LORD.

It is what it says it is in English. If it's all caps, “LORD,” underneath it is the Hebrew word, “Yahweh,” or as some of our older commentaries say, “Jehovah.” It's the same word; there is just a difference of how to pronounce it.

It means “I am that I am.” It's the name that God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. Exodus 3:13-14(ESV) 13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

So that's LORD Yahweh of hosts. Yahweh of heaven's armies. Yahweh over all things. LORD over heaven and earth, sea and dry land; LORD over everything. King, sovereign over all things. “I will shake things up, he says.

So, you know who is talking. These few verses are not about something for us to do, but something for us to believe. Last week was something to do - be strong, do the work, be fearless, but believe that God's the one that's going to handle the results.

If you'll be obedient and do what He's called you to do, the results are in His hands. It's a beautiful thing. The first thing that He says is in verse 6, “For thus says the LORD of hosts: For thus said the Lord of hosts Yet once more,” There's a lot there.

”Yet once more.” What does this mean? Well, I believe that He is, first of all, talking about an earlier time when He shook things up.

He shook the earth up one other. He is going to do it again; there was a previous time when He shook things up. I believe that He's referring to the book of Exodus, where Moses went up on Mount Sinai. He shook Mount Sinai and He shook the earth. He shook the moral universe

when He brought the ten Commandments down and revealed His character and his law to planet Earth. He shook the earth.
Exodus 19:18 (ESV) “Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

He shook things up. We see the prophet Haggai speaking on behalf of the Lord. He says, ‘I've shaken things up before. I'm about to do it once more.’ He's about to do it once more.

You might say, ‘Well, Gary, it seems like you got an awful lot out of those three little words, “Yet once more.” Where did you get the authority to think that's what it was?’ Well, one of the best ways I know to interpret scripture is to let scripture interpret itself.

So, I went over there into the New Testament to see if any of the apostles or Jesus talked about this passage. It just so happens that they did. He says, “At that time,” speaking of the time of Moses. you can read the whole chapter. I don't have time to read it. He was talking about the Mount Sinai event.

. Hebrews 12:26-27 (ESV) 26 “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more…” Where'd he get “ Yet once more?” The author of Hebrews is quoting Haggai, and now he's teaching us how to understand Haggai. It makes it easy. I'm thankful for that, aren't you?

I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.”
Boy, what we have here is He's going to shake everything. So, this little temple that they're building is not as fancy as the one Solomon built. He says, ‘Don't worry about it, because ultimately what you're doing here, five hundred years from now, almost six hundred years from now, the Son of God, My one and only Son, is going to come and He's going to walk in the court of this very temple that you're building, that you don't think is all that. He's going to come; He's going to walk here and He's going to inaugurate a greater temple, which is the church, and ultimately an even greater temple which is the new heavens and the new earth, where we're worshiping the son of God.’

He's getting ready to shake everything up. He's getting ready to shake the nation so that, out of every tongue and every tribe and every nation, they come into the true temple, which is Jesus. Right now, Haggai doesn't know that. He's just writing what God's telling him to write. But,

the author of Hebrews knows more because God's telling us more and more about Himself and more and more about us and more about our future as we turn every page. It's a progressive revelation. It's a beautiful thing. He says that what he's talking about here, ultimately, is He's going to shake everything up and everything that will shake will get shaken so that only the unshakable kingdom will remain, which is the new heavens and the new earth and God's people who will live for eternity with Jesus. That's where this thing is headed.

Sure, Haggai didn't know all that, but it's all laying right there for us to read today. I'm glad we can. Did you know that was in those three words? I'm glad we have Hebrews to help us know that. “Yet once more” is talking about a future, and then when's that going to happen. He says, in verse 6, “...in a little while…” It's going to happen “in a little while.”

Now, is that my little while or you're little while? It's His little while. Remember what Peter told us about God's little while? He says in 2 Peter 3:8 (ESV) “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” So you might think, Okay Lord,

I'm being strong. I'm doing the work. I'm being fearless.

When are You gonna move?

I trusted You, but I'm about ready to take it back. I'm about ready to try to take control back because I don't see the success yet. I don't see an answer to my prayer yet.’

You have to quit doing that, because He said, “in a little while” and His “little while” is not your “little while.” It's His “little while,” but He's faithful.

He says, “in a little while” I'm going to shake everything up. This kind of prophecy has what you would call a present, ongoing, ultimate kind of fulfillment. It had a present fulfillment because He did shake up the nations. He shook up King Darius, who was the

great king over Persia during the writing of Haggai. He shook him up, so that we read in the book of Ezra that Darius was proclaiming this, Ezra 6:8 (ESV) [Darius speaking] “Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River.”

He says, ‘I'm going to shake everything up and the treasures of the nations are going to come in here.’ He was already doing it, so it had a present fulfillment that was already happening, that King Darius had already instructed that the royal treasury would foot the bill for the rebuilding of the temple.

It wasn't going to be like Solomon's temple. It wasn't going to be gold plated, but it was going to get built. So the need was already being provided. But may I say to you, there's even more there. This is so rich. I wish you could just get how rich this is,

because the ESV says, “and I will shake all nations so that the treasures of all nations come in.” The word, “treasures,” there in the Hebrew is actually not plural, but singular. I see that ESV is trying to get at the present tense side. But then. if you read the King James, the New King James or the NIV and others, instead of saying “treasures,” it says “desire of all nations.”

Are some of you looking at different translations and trying to figure that out right now? Well, it's because the Hebrew word under that is “that which would delight nations. That Hebrew word is in the singular and I believe that this is both and that in the present sense, they were going to get treasure in order. They were going to get enough to build the temple. But in the future sense, the Desired, capital D, is Jesus, the One that the nations really will look to, the ones that every tongue and every tribe and every nation will be represented in the true temple, which He is the both the cornerstone and the capstone.

The apostles are the foundation stones, and we are all living stones. Peter says that this spiritual temple is the church that God's building, but He's the Desire. I think it's a both and kind of prophecy. He's going to make provision, but ultimately, he's going to make the ultimate provision.

I'm going to shake everything up and it's not going to be like it was before. I'm going to bring the desire of all nations. I'm going to make provision. Have you come to the place as Job did, when he finally relinquished control to God and recognized His sovereignty? Job got his world shaken.

If you've read Job, you know what I mean. Job 42:1-2 (ESV) 1 Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

You're God and I'm not. You're in control. Help me to be faithful. Help me to just put my “yes” on the table and do what You've called me to do and leave the results up to You. I give You my children, I give You my grandchildren, I give You my investments.

I give You my automobile, my motorcycle, my house, my stuff, my time. Where do You want me to spend it? Where do You want me to invest it? In my kingdom. Where do You want to aim?

As the book of Psalms and Proverbs talks about children being like arrows in your quiver, what target do you want me to aim them at? I want to be faithful, knowing that, if I will be faithful to Your word, You will be faithful to carry out what You've promised. I don't have to worry about that. I just have to keep my head down and do what You've called me to do. I was talking to one of our key leaders in the church this past fall. I was talking about this series.

I said, “I'm writing this book. Pray for me. I've been staying up late, you know, writing this devotional book and writing these other things, and it's been a lot of work. But, I'm really excited. I think God's calling us.

It's time for us to trust God again, for a great move in our city, to reach more people with the gospel. But, it's going to cost. People are going to have to say “yes” to service and “yes” to giving in order to make way for this.” He said to me, “Pastor, I'm on board with you. I agree with you, but, man, could we start it at a different time?

I feel like 2025 is going to be kind of ‘iffy,’ as the economy might not be good. You know, I don't know what this election's going to be like. (This was before the election.) I don't know who's going to be president.”

I said, “Brother, I hear you now. You're trying to sow fear in me right now, and I can do that by myself. But here's what I know. Trump's not in charge. The man in the White House, whoever it is. God is sovereign.

The man in the Kremlin is not in charge and you certainly aren't in charge. God is sovereign and He will determine.”

”What about the economy? Well, what if the economy has a downturn? What if I lose my job? What if I have to…

What if, what if? What if?” Well, you can't control any of those “what ifs,” can you? No, He's sovereign. He's God and I'm not.

My brother said to me, “You're right, Pastor. I don't know why I brought it up.” He was basically verbalizing the kind of nonsense I already had in my head, and I had to kind of rebuke both of us.

God's in charge. You don't have to worry about the economy. You can't control that anyway. Give that to God.

Are you worried today? Are you afraid you won't have enough to obey God? He's sovereign. He says, “I will shake things up.” Here's the second thing he says, “I will fill this house with glory.”

This gives us the second way we can respond and believe by serving for God's glory in all we do. This is the second way we can respond:

2. By serving for God’s glory in all we do.

This is the second “I will” statement in our reading today. He says in verse 7, “...I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.” Now, look, I know it's not Solomon's temple. It's not going to be gold plated. It's not

going to be so glorious in appearance, but it's going to have something better. The gold and silver is Mine. I could throw gold and silver all over it. I own all of the gold and silver.

You are worried about stuff that I already own, but I have something better than gold and silver. I'm going to put My glory in this house. Now, I know this is just an old movie theater that we bought. It was built in 1980 by, I think, Litchfield Cinemas. Then, over the years, Regal Cinema bought it and then they went out of business here and it sat empty for five years.

It got really run down. We finally said, ‘you know, we've been portable for a long time. We've been the moving church. We might as well be the movie church.

We might as well buy this building.’ We've been remodeling it ever since. We bought it in the fall of 2010. We've been the church that's attracted little people, of whom I am chief. Little people, but serving a big God.

We were portable for 19 years, setting up and tearing down every week in rental facilities. But God wouldn't let us give up. We kept going and kept going. I'm glad we did so I could see you and know you and be family with you. I'm glad God kept us going.

We got this place, and it's not all that, but God's glory is here, because God's glory is not a thing, it's a person. His fullest representation of His glory is found in the person of Jesus. Did you know that? “I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.” He is going to fill this place with glory because Jesus Himself will one day walk in the courts of this temple that you're building.

It won't be as fancy as Solomon's, but I'm going to give it something better than silver and gold. I could do that. I own it. I could do that. But I'm going to give you something better.

It's unusual language. He says, “I will fill this house with glory. It's beautiful.” The word, “glory,” in the Hebrew is
“kāḇôḏ.”

It can be translated, “heavy, beautiful, glorious.”

You probably heard the name “Ichabod.” We see the name back there in the Bible, where the ark got stolen by the Philistines and a woman heard about it. She was pregnant;

she had a premature birth and as she was dying, she told them, “name my son Ichabod (which means the glory has departed.)” Oh, Lord, don't ever write “Ichabod” over this church, because it's not a church without Your glory. It's just an old building.

It's just a building. It's nothing. But if your glory's here, it's everything, right? We want to serve God for His glory, so that He gets the glory. Verse 8 says, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts.”

He says in Psalm 24, Psalm 24:1 (ESV) “The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” He owns everything. If we could just get that in our mind. He's in control.

He's the owner. We're the stewards; we're the servants. Everything we have came from Him, comes from Him. He tells him something here.

He says in verse 9, “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’” The latter glory of this house that you're building right now shall be greater than the former. So, it's going to be greater than Solomon's temple, not because it looks greater, but because a greater one will come to it

and He will fill this house with His glory. He will teach in the temple courts and He will overturn the money changer’s tables. He will talk about who He is in this place and we will see His glory.

John 1:14 (ESV) “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” When He was standing in the temple and He was teaching, they were not receiving Him. They were not believing in Him and they were pointing to the temple. He says, Matthew 12:6 (NKJV) [Jesus speaking] “Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.” He was speaking of Himself. Jesus came to this temple and He walked in this temple. He was present in this place.

This same Jesus says this in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”If you'll be strong and do the work. You've been called to be fearless.

Fearlessly believe what God's told you. God gets the glory. God gets the Glory. You've probably heard this saying, “It's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.” If you do it for your own glory, you'll get the applause of men.

You'll get the applause of men. But, if you do it for God's glory, you give Him the glory, then He exalts you. You get the applause of the one, you get His approval. Whose approval do you want? The Israelites were worried that their rebuilt temple would be less glorious than Solomon's.

It looked like it wouldn't be. The old people were saying that it's not going to be the same and God said, ‘I'm going to shake things up. I'm going to fill this house with a greater glory. You have no idea what I'm about to do.

Just be faithful.’ One day, you'll look back and say, “Glory to God. I'm glad I was obedient. I'm glad I was faithful.

I'm glad I invested in eternal things. I'm glad I invested in that unshakable kingdom where moth does not cause it to run down and thieves do not break in and steal. I'm glad I invested in the kingdom.” The Israelites were worried and God told them, ‘don't worry, I'm going to fill this place. Here's the third:

3. By receiving God’s peace given in Christ Jesus.

Here's the final “I will” statement in verse 9, “...And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’” “I will give peace,” the Lord says, by receiving God's peace given in Christ Jesus, by receiving God's peace given in Christ Jesus. We're in verse nine. We've been carefully working through these verses. He literally in the Hebrew here says, and in this place I will give “shalom.”

The reason I want to particularly remind you of that word is because it's more than the absence of war. It certainly is that. It's the absence of conflict, peace. But, “shalom” is not just the negative of no war. It's the positive of wholeness, health, prosperity, fullness.

It's so much richer than perhaps the word that we have - tranquility, contentment. The truth is, as I've been saying, there's a present, ongoing, ultimate fulfillment of these verses. In Haggai, the truth is that there was this present, ongoing peace during their time period; they were given peace under the Persian rule to rebuild. They wouldn't have been able to rebuild without Darius the Great and Cyrus the Great. They were allowing this to happen.

God gave them peace under Persia. Then, here comes Alexander the Great. The Greeks came and wiped out every place they went until they pulled up to the gates of Jerusalem. Alexander spared Jerusalem, he went around it, didn't touch it, and conquered all of Persia. He gave peace.

Then, here came the Romans. Romans overthrew this whole area. They got all of this place, and they left it alone for a couple hundred years until after Jesus prophesied, “I'll tell you the truth, not one stone will be standing on top of another stone.” Within only a few years after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, in 70 AD, the Roman general, Titus, burned the temple down. He pulled it apart and pulled the walls of Jerusalem down

and they were never rebuilt. To this day, it has never been rebuilt. I've been there, I've walked on the Temple Mount. In the place of the temple where the Holy of Holies was, now stands a Muslim dome of the Rock, gold plated with Arabic money, with Arabic Muslim money.

King Herod took this second temple, that's often called the Second Temple or Zerubbabel's Temple. Herod supersized the Temple Mount and enlarged the courtyard because the city was growing. He did this thing. The one feature that you can see that goes back to the days of King Herod, the one place you can go and still touch is the Western Wall, which the Jews often referred to as the Wailing Wall, because they can get that close to where the temple used to be, because they have rejected the true Temple, Jesus, and they're still trying to press into that temporary temple that always pointed to the true Person of peace,

because peace is not a philosophy or condition. It's a person. His name is Jesus. “I will give peace.”

It’s a gift. It's not reconciliation; I'm going to give peace. He gave them peace for several hundred years, from 516 B.C. all the way up to 70 A.D.

He gave them peace; it was present and ongoing like that. But, the ultimate thing is He gave them Jesus and Jesus gave them peace with God. It says in Romans 5:1 (ESV) “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Peace came up in that temple and they didn't recognize Him. Peace stretched His arms out like this and died in their place. He became a bridge between heaven and earth, making us right with God. He brought true shalom. He says to us in John 14:27 (NKJV) “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;

not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” If you want to know true peace. If you want to know peace like a river. If you want to know peace, like maybe a pond in the woods.

Have you ever been to a place like this, where you can see the reflection of the trees on the water? You get up early in the morning and there's kind of a fog, like a haze, lifting off the water. And you hear the sound of a few ducks taking off, because you startled them, by walking to the shore. You look and you say, “It looks like glass.”

Have you ever been to a place like that? You're getting close to “shalom.” Whatever that otherworldly feeling you get at a time like that, you caught an inkling of what He says. I will give you my peace, peace with the Father, so there's nothing between you and Him. And then, this peace will flow to you like a river so that it makes you right with others.

You won't be able to tolerate any other way because the Holy Spirit will live in you. He will make it so that you always want to be reconciled to one another. He will give you the ministry of reconciliation and peace so that you are peacemakers.

As Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” I will give you the King of glory, the King of peace, the Lord of Lords. Oh, do you see how everything we're doing goes to the glory of Jesus and how that's ultimately what motivates us as believers? What are you worried about today? What's stealing your peace? What's causing you to be anxious and worried?

Where's the “shalom” that Jesus promised? Why don't you have it today? What are you trying to be in control of that you won't let go of and say, “God, we'll give that to you.” I'm going to stop taking it back so that you no longer lose sleep over it. Yes, we are in a generosity campaign right now.

Yes, the church wants to stretch out and follow God on the mission field and reach more people with the gospel. Yes, it will take us being strong and getting busy, doing the work and being fearless about our generosity. Those things are all true. But what I know is also true. We can't do it without Him, and we can't control the results.

Only He can. So, here's what I'm doing as your pastor, because sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I wonder, What am I doing telling these people that we can do this together? I don't know how we're going to do this. I can't do it.

I'm going to give the most sacrificial gift I'm able to give (and I am) but, it'll be a lot for me, but it won't be enough. It'll be little compared to what the need is. It'll be a lot for me, but it won't be enough. But here's what I know.

It isn’t up to me. If I will be strong, do the work and be fearless in my gift of my time and my talent and my treasure, if I'll be a servant of God, He says, ‘I'll shake everything up. I will fill your life and all that you do with glory and I will give you peace.’ So where's my peace, Lord? Well, if you've lost it, it's because you tried to take control again,

Gary. Thank you, Lord. Thanks for letting me preach to myself again today. When I prepare these sermons, I want you all to always know they hit me first. Because I'm just like you.

I need the Lord, and I'm glad that we have Him. I'm glad that we have Him. He says, “I will shake.” Lord, shake us up so that we invest our lives in Your unshakable kingdom. Let's pray right now.

Lord, I pray for that person that has said ‘I'm in control of my life, but today I want to give my life to Jesus.’ If that's you today, the Lord's shaking you up right now by the hearing of His word. Pray with me; pray like this.

“Dear Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe You died on the cross for me and that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me. Forgive me of my sin.

Make me a child of God. I want You to be my Lord and my Savior and I surrender my life to You right now. Take control of my life. Forgive me of my sin. Make me a child of God.”

If you're praying that prayer of faith, believing, He will give you peace. Others are here today and you're a follower of Jesus, but you keep snatching back control. You keep trying to be in control. You're young in your faith, let's say, and you haven't learned yet to trust Him with everything. You're still trying to manage everything on your own strength.

You're a believer. Right now, would you just say, “Lord, I surrender.

I give You my anxieties, my worries over money, my worries over stuff or possessions or my car, my job, my house, where I'm going to live, what I'm going to wear, what I'm going to eat, over my kids, over my teenagers, over my marriage… (you fill in the blank.) Lord, forgive me for trying to be lord of my own life. You are my Lord. You're in control.

Help me to do that which You've called me to do, and help me to trust You with the end result. In Jesus’ name, Amen.