You Can Win With What’s Left

Tim Rivers | July 23, 2023

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Come on, make some crazy noise if you're glad to be in God's house this morning. Any believers in the house? Anybody know that you serve a good God who does great things? How many know that God's going to do something special here today? I just need about two or three of y'all that I believe that God's going to do something special in here today.

If you're a guest with us, we want to say welcome to Embassy City Church. We are so delighted that you are here. Make sure that you stop by our Guest Central, which is right down the hall, step out of these doors, head to the right, go all the way down. You can't miss it. There's a big yellow wall that says Guest Central on there. We just want the opportunity to get to meet you and get to introduce ourselves to you, answer any questions that you may have. For those that are watching online, thank you so much for joining us.

I want to remind you of the vision of our church. It really can be encapsulated in three words: come, grow, go. Because we believe that it is the will of God for everybody to come to know God, to grow in their faith, and to go change the world. We want to help you do that. How many know that there's purpose in your life?

Yeah. Amen.

Some of y'all ain't too sure. How many know that you have purpose in your life? God didn't create you by accident. He didn't. Someone may have told you that you were an accident, but God didn't think you're an accident. There's purpose on your life and God wants you to change the environment you're in.

Anybody going to help me preach today? I'm looking for my Amen corner. Anybody going to help me preach? I'm a preacher there y'all. Grab your Bibles. Let's go to Judges 3; the book of Judges 3, reading at verse number 15. It says, "Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera the Benjamite, a left-handed man." And lefties in here? Yeah, all three of y'all. "And the people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. And he presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Now, Eglon was a very fat man."

I was reading this to Zara, our seven year old, yesterday, and she said, "What? Why does the Bible say that? That's so rude." Then I had to give her a Bible lesson that to be fat in those days was actually a compliment, because it meant that you didn't have to go out there and work. You can just sit around and eat and keep on eating.

"And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, 'I have a secret message for you, O King.' And he commanded silence and all his attendance went out from his presence, and Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, 'I have a message from God for you.' And he arose from his seat, and Ehud reached with his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over it." I just want y'all to really get what was happening here. "For he did not pull the sword out of his belly and the dung came out." I'm not going to give you any kind of example of what that is. "Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them."

I want to take my title for today from verse number 15. It says, "Ehud, the son of Gera the Benjamite, a left-handed man." My title is a double entendre and it is simply this. You can win with what's left. You can win with what's left. The devil may have hit you hard this year. Maybe he's stripped some stuff from you. Maybe he's taken stuff from you. But how many know that we serve a God that knows how to take what's left and make it right? Can anybody testify to the fact that we serve a God that can help you win with what's left?

Look at your neighbor. Say, "Neighbor."

Neighbor.

I may not have much.

I may not have much.

But what I have.

But what I have.

Is enough.

Is enough.

Say, "Neighbor."

Neighbor.

I may not be.

I may not be.

Where I want to be.

Where I want to be.

But thank God.

But thank God.

I'm not where I used to be.

I'm not where I used to be.

Somebody give Him praise according to your faith. Come on, whatever you expect from the Lord, give Him that kind of praise this morning. Don't wait until I get started. Don't wait till the end. Give Him praise right now for what you believe He's getting ready to do in your life. I may just be excited by myself, but I'm going to give God worship at the front end. Woo. Somebody say, "I'm going to win."

I'm going to win.

With what I have left.

With what I have left.

Woo. Let me slow down a little bit.

It's all right.

Get started. I was asked the other day by somebody if I knew what the left hand symbolized in Scripture. I'm a Bible nerd, so when I heard that, I said, "Man, let me go check." I went to the Bible and started researching left hand references in the Bible and right hand references. What's interesting in the canon of Scripture, you don't see many references to the left hand, but you have about 166 references to the right hand. What you'll find when you start digging into the Scriptures is that there is great significance and symbolism of the right hand.

The right hand, for instance, one of the things that the right hand represents is power. When you look through the passages of Scripture, predominantly in the Old Testament, you'll see that a father, when he would get ready to bless his children, would do so with the right hand because the right hand represented authority.

Here's what David wrote in Psalm 16:8. He says, "I have set the Lord continually before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Isaiah wrote about it in Isaiah 41:13. He says, "For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand; who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.'" David prophesied about Jesus in Psalm 110:1. He says, "The Lord says to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'" All throughout Scripture you are going to find references to the right hand, and the right hand always represents authority and power.

We know this to be true because even when we get into the New Testament, we have these two brothers who are disciples of Jesus, James and John. They're following Jesus and their mother decides that she wants to have a conversation with Jesus. And so she goes to Jesus, "Jesus, could you do me a favor for my sons?" Ain't it just like moms, butting in? You try to be all grown and here comes mom. Mom says, "When you get to your glory, would you mind putting both of my sons, one at your right hand,'" which was a position of authority and power, "'and one at your left hand?'" And in fact, Paul begins to write about Jesus in Ephesians 1:20, and he says, "He raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power in dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come."

Now when you think about Jesus being seated at the right hand of God, it doesn't literally mean that Jesus is sitting on the right armchair of the throne. Now, when I was younger as a kid, I used to think that. I used to think, "Man, that's a very uncomfortable place to be for eternity." That's just how my brain worked. But it literally just means a position of authority.

The right hand also represents power. Look at this in Exodus 15:6. These are the children of Israel speaking. It says, "Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy." Isaiah again writes about this in Isaiah 41:10. It says, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

So what you come to realize very quickly, and we don't have time to go through all 166 passages, but what you realize very quickly is that the right hand is a hand of blessing, of authority, of sovereignty, of governance, of power. You have to understand then that when there is a reference to the right hand, it has significant symbolism. It is not so with the left hand.

Why am I telling you this? Because you need context about the right hand and the left hand to truly understand what is happening in the passage that we read today. Because before we get to Judges 2, the Book of Judges is a book. It's a collection of stories about 12 judges that God brought to the children of Israel to help lead them in their conquest to conquer Canaan. But prior to that, you have to go back to Moses who was commissioned by God to lead Israel out of Egypt and to the promised land. Now we know when they get to the promised land, they send in the 12 spies. The 12 spies come back, 10 of them have a bad report, two of them have a good one. God says, "I don't like unbelievers to doubt what I'm going to do for them." So God says, "I got to get rid of all those who don't believe, and I'm going to raise up a generation that does believe."

So for 40 years, they're in the wilderness wandering around until all those who do not believe pass away, and then a generation that believes comes up. Now because of Moses' disobedience, he's not allowed to get back into the promised land. So they get back to Canaan. And you have to understand Canaan is a province. It's not a city, it's a province. And there are many cities within Canaan, the first of which the Israelites attacked was Jericho. But there were many other cities within the land of Canaan that Israel had to conquer. And God raises up Joshua to be the successor of Moses, to lead the children of Israel into the conquest to conquer Canaan.

Now, Joshua passes away. There's a problem. Israel, when they get to Canaan, God says, "I want you to destroy all of the enemies so that they will not tempt you to fall back into idolatry." But Israel did not destroy all of the enemies in the promised land, and so the enemies kept pulling them back into idolatrous worship. What you have to understand is anytime you go to conquer and conquest anything that God says belongs to you, make sure that you take care of all the enemies in there. Because you will never occupy all of God's promised land without going through opposition. You're going to have to fight your way to get everything that God says belong to you. Some of us, we're like, "We got a word and we think it's going to be super easy." No. When you get a word, you better strap up because you're getting ready to fight.

Yes. That's a word.

How many can testify to that?

Amen.

You may be in a fight right now. I'm trying to get everything that God has for me. Whack. How many of you have ever prayed on a Sunday in a powerful service, you're like, "Man, I'm about to go in there on Monday and I'm about to slay demons and kill dragons." Then they come breathing fire and you're like, "Wait a minute, I didn't prepare for all this."

Israel is trying to conquer all of Canaan, but they're in a yo-yo relationship with God. One moment they recognize Yahweh; the other moment they are idolatrous. One moment they're serving the one true ruling God, and then the next moment they're serving the idols of the land of Canaan. So they call out to God in repentance and they say, "God, who's going to lead us?" And God says, "I'm going to bring to you judges."

Now, from the time of Joshua until the time that Saul was anointed as the first king, there are 12 judges that God raised up to be deliverers for Israel. God didn't want to give them a king because God wanted to be king. Okay?

Yep. Yeah, yeah.

God says, "I don't want you to have an earthly king when you have a heavenly king." So God says, "I'm just going to raise up these judges who are going to lead you in the conquest." So there's one judge that happened, and the second judge that God raised up is a guy by the name of Ehud. Now you have to understand that the writer of Judges, we don't know exactly who it is, but the writer of Judges is very specific in his storylines about the judges. And one of the things that he said particularly about Ehud is that Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Benjamite. What's interesting about that is that the word Benjamin actually means "son of my right hand." So the writer of Judges said, "God raised up a judge, a deliverer for Israel, who was the son of my right hand, but he was left-handed."

Now we think of left-handed as just being left-handed, right? But in the Bible times, if you read the original Hebrew text, that phrase "a left-handed man" actually meant "a man impeded in his right hand."

Make a point.

I know there's some Bible scholars out here going, "Hm, what does that mean?" What it means is if you look at what the passage was saying and you put that into the context of the ancient Bible text, what you realize is that this man that God raised up to be the deliverer of Israel was impeded on the hand that everyone saw as the hand of blessing. In other words, the deliverer that God brought to Israel didn't fit the script of every other deliverer. He had a deficiency, he had a disadvantage, he had a handicap. Because ordinarily the one who would lead them was strengthened in the right hand. They had the hand of blessing. They had the hand of authority. They had the hand of transference of generational blessings. They had the hand. But now God raises up a man who seems from all intents and purposes to be impeded in the very things that's supposed to be strengths.

Wow.

The writer of Judges says, "You got to pay attention to the fact that God will oftentimes raise up people that you don't think are qualified."

That's right.

Because can you imagine when Ehud stepped up to be the deliverer, what the conversation must have been like in the camp of Israel? How in the world is this man going to lead us? He's supposed to be the hand, the man who comes from the family "son of my right hand," but he's left-handed. How is he going to win with a left hand? How is he going to help us when he's impeded in the hand of blessing and power and sovereignty?"

But what you don't understand at this point until you get later into the story, is that his disadvantage was actually the advantage he needed to get close to the enemy. Because in our storyline, what we find is Ehud comes up with this plan after God says, "I want you to be a deliverer." He comes up with this plan. He creates a dagger, a shank type of weapon which is about 14 inches. A cubit is usually from the base of the elbow to the tip of the finger, so it's about 18 to 14 inches. He straps it onto his right thigh. Remember, anytime you read the Bible and it gets real specific, you got to pay attention. He straps it to his right thigh. Now the reason why that's significant, because most soldiers who were right-handed would strap their sword on their left thigh, so that when they were in combat or they need to use their weapon, they would simply use their right, hand reach to the left side, grab the sword, and go to fight.

What's interesting is that there are many details now in the Scripture to tell us that Ehud puts it on his right side because he was left-handed. Why is that significant? Because when you generally went to go see the king, the guards would check you for weaponry. And what the guards were used to checking is the left side. Oh, I'm about to start preaching now. Some of y'all catching on. So what happens is Ehud says, "I'm going to surmise a plan, and I'm going to go there and assassinate the king, but I have to avoid detection." So he goes in there with probably a bunch of other soldiers, and other soldiers are getting disarmed because they're regular folks. They have their sword where it's supposed to be. They have it on the left side. So all the guards, they're disarming people as they're coming in. But as Ehud presents himself, they check his left side and they realize, "Oh, there's nothing there. You're good to go." What they don't realize is God will take what's left and make it right.

So he gets his way into the throne room and the enemy assumes that he is no threat because he is left-handed. But they don't know he's left-handed. They just know that he has no weapon. But what they don't understand is some of us, when people write us off and think that we don't have weapons, we have weapons that they just don't see.

Yeah.

What they didn't realize is that this was a sneak attack. Ehud got in there, and when he got in close proximity to the enemy, he said, "You have been defying the armies of the living God for too long. You've stopped us from conquering the promised land that God has provided for us, so now I've got a message from God." The Scripture says, "He takes his left hand," the hand that ain't supposed to be blessed, the hand that ain't supposed to have authority, the hand that ain't supposed to be sovereign, the hand that's not regarded as a hand that's useful. He takes the hand that's supposed to be a rejected hand, a hand that you can't transfer blessings with, a hand that everybody else sees as not sufficient enough, the handicap hand, the disadvantage hand. He takes the disability and he uses it as his ability to grab what God gave him to destroy that.

Well, I'm about to preach right now. I'm telling some of y'all, y'all think y'all don't have the right stuff, but don't you know you serve a God that knows how to use what's left to help you win battles that the enemy is not prepared for, because your disability is actually the ability that God uses to destroy the enemy. Your disadvantage is actually the advantage that you have if you put it in the hands of the right one.

Okay, here's the thing. How many lefties we got? Let me see here. Y'all got quiet. We don't live in ancient Bible times. You're good. But here's the thing about being left-handed. How many of y'all know that are left-handed that you live somewhat at a disadvantage because the world is majorly created for right-handed people?

Right.

Did you know there's only 10% of the population, one in 100, that are left-handed? Meaning that if you're left-handed, you got to go jump through hoops to try to live a normal life. You got to buy a left-handed baseball glove, you got to get left-handed golf clubs. You can only play with a left-handed basketball. I'm just making sure y'all paying attention. You got to get a left-handed football. You know what I'm saying? You got to get a left-handed soccer ball. I'm just messing with y'all now.

But the reality is that you live in a world that is created predominantly for people who are right-handed. And what can be the case is a lot of times we take that mentality into the kingdom of God. We think because we don't have the advantages that some people do, because we're not part of the 90%, because we don't have all the right stuff, we don't come from the right family, and we don't come with the right education, and we don't come from the right neighborhood, and we don't come from the right side of the tracks, we don't come from the right pedigree, that we will miss out on what God has for us. But can I tell you that you serve a God that knows how to take leftovers and make something incredible out of it? The God that you serve is a God who knows how to use what's left over.

Can I preach just a little bit? Because here's what you have to understand. Here's the secret sauce to winning with what's left. You can win with what's left if you know who sits on the right. Somebody be shouting on that right now. You can win with what's left If you know the one who sits on the right. How many can testify that you didn't have much, but when you gave it to God, God turned it around?

Amen.

How many know that you went through a breakup, you didn't have much left, but you brought it to God and God gave you a come up? How many know that all you had left was down and God picked you up? How many know that all you had left was nothing and God turned it into something? Is there anybody that can testify to the goodness of a God who specializes in leftovers?

Can I preach to you about Joseph? Can I tell you about Joseph who God gave a dream to and said, "I'm going to do something great in your life"? And Joseph was full of arrogance and pride, started showing off his dream and talking about what God was going to do in his life. Because everything was right in his life. He had the favor of his father, he had a coat of many colors, he had dreams and visions from God, he had the perfect scenario to start stepping into more of God. You ever been there where everything's right in your life and you start telling people about what God's going to do?

Yeah. Come on.

Come on now, you out shouting everybody because man, all the bills are paid, your house is nice, you got the right car, you got the right friends. But then you start losing some stuff, and when you start losing some stuff, you start questioning your dreams and your visions. That's what happened to Joseph, didn't it? Joseph got sold into slavery. He lost his family, he lost his friends, he lost his dignity, he lost his ability, his platform, he lost his job. He lost any kind of forward movement that he had. He lost it all. And next thing you know, you find him left alone in a prison with no friends; a dream and no opportunity, a promise and no platform.

Come on. Okay. All right.

A word from God, but nobody to speak to. Anybody know what that's like when you have the ability to preach, but you got nobody to preach to? When you got the education, but no job? When you got the money, but no house? Anybody know what it's like to have the ability, but you don't have the purpose? Oh Lord, I'm preaching. Maybe I'm just preaching to myself. I know what it's like to look around and be like, "God, why'd you give me gifts and talents and no place to use it?"

And usually what happens when we get in that situation, we look at what's left in our life and we say, "How in the world can God use what's left?" But what you got to understand is God is a God who knows how to take what's left and make it right. God said, "Joseph, all you need left is a dream. If you give that dream to me, I'll make something out of you that the world couldn't make out of you." Is there anybody in this place that knows what it's like to feel like you are left with nothing? Can I tell you, you serve a God that is up to something big; he just needs somebody to give Him what's left.

Can I keep preaching? Can I preach to you about Gideon? Can I talk about Gideon? Gideon was a judge in the book of Judges who was a farmer. He's minding his own business and God comes to me and says, "Hey yo, I want to make you a deliverer." And Gideon is like, "I'm not the guy. I'm trying to mind my own business. I don't want to deal with these clowns; the Israelites been goofy for years. I don't want to get in there." And God says, "Nah, you're the one." He said, "Now I need proof." God says, "All right, what you need?" He said, "Man, I'm going to put a fleece outside. I want the ground to be dry and I want the fleece to be wet." God said, "No problem." He wakes up the next morning, the ground's dry, fleece is wet. He said, "Ah, I need another. I don't know if somebody came in the middle of the night and changed it."

You ever get a confirmation from God and you're like, "Nah, I need another one." Maybe I'm the only one. Anybody ever got a word and you're like, "I'm going to have to test this out real quick." Then it works and you're like, "I'm going to have to test it again if you don't mind. Pardon me, God. I'm not questioning you; I'm questioning myself."

So he said, "Hey, the next day I want the fleece to be wet and the ground to be dry." So he goes and the opposite happens. And he's like, "Okay, maybe it's so." So he goes to the armies. By this time there's 32,000 soldiers in Israel. He goes there and says, "Hey, I got news. God has raised me up to be a deliverer." And they're like, "We know what you do Don." How do you know? He said, "Well, I put my fleece outside."

Now I don't know about you, but if somebody told me that, I'd be like, "That's all I needed to know. I'll see you later." He ain't ever picked up a sword. He don't know how to deal with shields. He hasn't been trained in fighting. He literally is just a regular guy who is trying to call the armies to go fight in this battle. Now remember the battle they're about to go fight, there's 135,000 trained soldiers. So they're already outnumbered, and now they got this guy who has no experience that says, "I'm going to lead y'all to victory."

God says, "Tell him that you're going to go fight a battle and see what happens." He says, "Hey, we're going to go fight this battle. If y'all don't want to go, y'all can leave." 22,000 dudes left. Two thirds of the army walked off because they're like, "That's all we needed. We're out of here." They leave. He's left with 10,000. So now he's got 10,000. And God says, "Is that all you got left?" He said, "Man, that's all we got left. But you know what? Why don't we just call it a day. Let's get up out of here. We ain't going to make it 10,000 against 135,000. It ain't going to work."

And God says, "But you still got too much left." He said, "Well wait a minute, I'm doing good to have 10,000, and these guys ain't the real ones, because the special forces done left. The recon team just left. The SEALS already left. The Marines are gone. I'm left with the drummers." You know what I'm saying? "I'm left with the drum band and the flag holders. This ain't going to cut it." God says, "You still got too much left." You ever been there where you're like, "God, I can't lose no more," and God said, "You still got too much"? "God, I can't lose any more," and God said, "You still got a little too much pride. I got to take it." Hold on, I'm getting personal now. You still got too many people around you that are clowners; I got to cut them out your life. You still connected to the wrong people; I still got to cut some stuff out of your life. You still are being influenced by too many people that got negative mindset; I got to cut them out of your life. You're not strong enough yet until you are weak.

So God says, "Hey, I need you to go and then take him to the river and let them drink." So they go to drink. He says, "I want you to pick the guys that are getting down there and drinking like dogs." He said, "Wait a minute. Isn't this the opposite of who I'm looking for? You want me to pick idiots?" Devoid of understanding; that's what the word idiot means. "You want me to pick guys who don't even have table manners? Don't even know how to drink water?" God says, "Yeah."

Then finally Gideon gets done. He says, "Man, I only got 300 left, and all these guys are not prepared." God says, "Now I got you right where I want you. Because I'm a God who knows how to take what's left and turn it into an army, and you don't even have to lift a finger." Because if you give God what's left, God will do the rest. So Gideon goes with 300 soldiers. And from the outset, if you looked at Gideon and his 300 armies, you would not put your money on this dude. You'd say, "You know what? He ain't got much left. He don't have the right stuff. He don't have the right opportunities. He don't have the right people. He don't have the right soldiers." But he got God. And when you got God, you can take what's left and God will turn it into something great.

I'm about to start preaching to somebody. I'm about to start running on this building. Because when I look back over my life and I look at the stuff that I had left, it didn't seem like much, but I had a promise down in my spirit. And when I gave my promise what I had left to God, God said, "I will take what you got left and I'll help you win battles that you weren't prepared to win by yourself." Somebody, you got to hook up with God and watch God work on your behalf. Stop using what you don't have left as an excuse for inactivity. God says, "I will take whatever you got and I'll make it great." Can I keep preaching?

Yes.

Can I keep preaching? Because I don't have time to go through the line of people that didn't have much. I don't have time to talk about Moses when all he had left was a staff. But God said, "I'll take a staff, I'll split the Red Sea with it. I'll make water come out of a rock. I'll turn it into a snake. I'll take what you have left and I'll make you come out of the Egypt that you've been bound in for 420 years."

I don't have time to talk to you about David who all he had left was a sling and five smooth stones, but God took what he had left and helped him to kill a giant. I don't have time to talk to you about Samson who all he had left was a jawbone of a donkey. And God said, "I will take what you have left and let you kill 3000 Philistines." I don't really have time to talk to you about Daniel when all he had left was a prayer and God said, "I'll take your prayer and let you survive in the den of lions." I don't really have time, y'all, to talk about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who all they have left was a word from God. And if He doesn't do it, I still believe that He is able. God said, "I'll take what you have left and I'll let you walk through fire."

I don't have time to talk about Jesus who all he had left was a little boy's lunch, two fish, five loaves of bread. And Jesus said, "I will take what you have left and I'll feed 5,000," not counting women and children. I don't have time, y'all, to talk about Peter, who Peter said, "All I've God left is a word." God said, "I'll take your word and it acts you and inaugurate the church." I still don't have time to talk about Paul and Silas. All they had left was praise at midnight in prison. But their praise, the thing that they have left, is what God used to break open doors and bust up chains and tear down walls and defeat enemies. I don't know what you have left, but it's enough for God to use for you to get a whiff. somebody. Somebody give God praise that you serve a God of leftovers. They may have to turn me up in my mic. Somebody give God praise that you serve a God who knows how to take leftovers and cook up a whole new meal. You ever been to Thanksgiving with some people?

Yes.

You got through eating and now there's all this stuff, the leftovers. I don't really like leftovers, y'all. I don't really like leftovers. But there's always that one family member that's like, "Give me what's left of the turkey," and the next day they come back with turkey salad. They do some mayonnaise in there, some salt and pepper, maybe a little bit of celery. They just created a whole new meal. You know them folks, they'll take the turkey, the stuffing, the gravy, the cranberry sauce; they'll mix it all together, they'll cook it up. The next day you got a brand new casserole. That's exactly what God will do with your life. He'll take what's left of your broken relationship. He'll take what's left of your unfulfilled dreams and He'll cook up a new recipe. How many know that God's right now cooking up a new recipe for what you got left? You ain't got to wait until you get all the right stuff. You ain't got to wait until you are full. You ain't got to wait until the morning comes. You can give God praise right now, because God knows how to take what little you have because He's the God of a turnaround. Somebody ought to praise Him. He's getting ready to turn some stuff around in your life.

I guess I'm just preaching to myself. But when I look around in my life and I looked at some things and I'm like, "God, this is all I got left?" God said, "That's all I need." Because you serve a God who knows how to multiply things.

Woo. He is multiplying.

Somebody ought to be jumping out of their skin right now, because you came in here with the wrong perspective thinking that you don't have what it takes to make it in this race, thinking that you need a bigger platform. You need more friends, you need better connections, you need need greater opportunities, you need a better job, you need a bigger house, you need need a better family. And God says, "No. I can take what's left of your family. I can take what's left of your job. I can take what's left of your house. I can take what's left of your marriage. I can take what's left of your relationships. And by the time I get through with it, everybody will know that you truly are a son or daughter of God." Because God knows what to do with what you can win, with what you have left. Somebody ought to give God some praise right now.

Yeah. I receive it.

Look at your neighbor. Say, "Neighbor."

Neighbor.

Look at me.

Look at me.

I may not look like much.

I may not look like much.

But I'm enough.

But I'm enough.

Because I know God.

Because I know God.

And with God.

And with God.

I'm never going to lose.

I'm never going to lose.

Now somebody give Him praise if you believe that. Winner winner chicken dinner. I serve a God who's a winner. I can win with what's left. I can win with what's left. I can enter into the promise with what's left. I can walk through the door with what's left. I'm trying to close. I'm trying to close. I just want to remind somebody, He'll take your mourning and turn it into dancing. He'll take your sorrow. He'll take what's left. He'll take your sorrow and turn it into joy. He'll take your problem and turn it into a promise. He'll take your crying and turn it into joy rejoicing. How many know that you can give God what's left and God will turn it around? Oh, He's a God of a turnaround.

Yes He will. Amen.

But God. But God.

But God.

Somebody shout, "But God."

But God.

I got to tell you about one more story. I'm going to take my seat. I got to take you back to Elijah. There was a famine in the land. That means no food, barely any water. People were just surviving off of leftovers. Elijah is doing his prophetic thing. God says to Elijah, "Elijah, I need you to go and you're going to find a widow." We don't know her name. All we know is that she is the widow of Zarephath. And God says to Elijah, "I need you to go talk to her, and I need you to ask her to bake you a cake with what she has left." So Elijah doesn't know that she doesn't have very much. He just goes to the widow, says, "The Lord sent me here to ask you to bake me a cake." First of all, that's presumptuous.

Right.

How you going to show up to my house, knock on my door, not offer any money? And you want a cake? How many ladies in here would be like, "No sir"?

Buy your own.

Somebody say, "You better buy your own." Better present some money. He says, "Hey, I need you to bake me a cake." And the widow says to him, "Man of God." It's always the man of God, man. "Man of God, I hear you. Well, let me tell you something. I don't have much left. I only have a little bit of flour left, and a little bit of oil left. In fact, I'm about to cook our last cake that me and my son going to eat and die." Plain and simple.

Elijah said, "If you take what's left and do what God asks you to do, while everybody else is hungry because they ate at what they had, God said He's going to take what's left and it is going to supply you until the famine is over." And so this woman had to use her faith to take what was left and bake a cake, all the while in her mind thinking, "This is all I've got. I'm about to die sooner than I've thought. My son's about to die. But if God said it, I believe it. And I may not have much left, but I know the one who stands on the right, and so I'm going to take what I have left and I'm going to give it to the one who sits on the right." And when she did that, the Bible says that the next time she went to cook, that her flour and her oil never ran dry. For three years God sustained her with what was left.

I come to preach and tell somebody that everybody around her thought she didn't have enough. Everybody around her thought she had lost her mind. Everybody around her bent against her. Everybody around her thought, "You have lost your mind to use what you have left to do what God told you." But because somebody used what was left, God said, "I'll take what's left and help you win the victory."

I'm here to preach and tell somebody, it may look like you don't have much left, but with God you got just enough. How many can testify to the fact that you didn't give God much? You weren't always this pretty. You weren't always this fixed up. God took you as a leftover and cooked up a new casserole. And if God did it, then why would He stop now? If God did it before, why would He stop now? Who am I preaching to today?

Some of y'all in the precipice of entering into the promises of God, but you're stopping short because you don't feel like you have everything right. I'm not in the right position. I don't have the right influence. I don't have the right blessing. I don't have the right. God said, "I'm looking for some left-handed people. I'm looking for somebody that'll give me their disability, their disadvantage, their handicap, what they don't have right. What they don't have, I want that so I could turn it around." Then God gives the glory. "It's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit," says the Lord. Am I preaching to anybody?

Yes.

You may feel like you don't have much left in your life, but God's getting ready to take what you have and help you win. And for some of us, we can think, "How in the world am I going to win with this?" When you put God in it, you become unstoppable, because God has always been a God that uses what's left. Even Paul said, "I lost everything. I lost my friends. I lost my comrades, my companions. I lost everything." He said, "Yet in my weakness, in what's left, I'm strong," because the power of God interjects himself into what we have left. Stop using your leftovers as an excuse to not progress. You know the One who sits on the right, and He can take what's left and help you win.

One more time give God some praise. I don't know who I'm preaching to, but I know I'm preaching to somebody. You came in here and you said, "I'm going to go to church. Give me my little Word, go eat lunch." God said, "I ain't playing with you." God said, "I ain't playing with you. You done messed up and came into the wrong building. You thought you were going to come here with some leftovers and leave and go about your normal life." No. God hit you between the eyes with a spiritual two by four. He says, "Stop playing. Give me what you got left." I ain't got much, God. "Give it to me." I ain't got much praise. "Give me what you got." I ain't got much worship. "Give me what you got." I don't have much of a hand clap. "Give me what you got."

If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. If you can't crawl, roll. If you can't roll, ask somebody to pick you up and take you. But give God what you got left so you can win this race. Somebody give God praise for what you have left right now. Come on. Somebody give God praise for what you have left right now. I may not have much, but what I have I'm going to give you the best of what's left over. I may not have everything right, but what I've got left, I'm going to give it all of you. Come on. Somebody give God your best praise with what's left. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Somebody give God praise as if it's already happened, as if you already won the battle, as if you've already got the job, as if you've already been approved for the house. Come on. Somebody give God some worship. Come on.

I'm going to give you 30 more seconds. I'm going to give you 30 more seconds to give God your best praise.

Let's go, God.

It ain't about all the stuff I got right. What I got left I'm giving it to Jesus, because I know God will take it and turn it around. Give Him praise for the turnaround. Come on. Give Him praise for the turnaround.