November 19, 2007

• I’m OK by Pastor Don

  I finally got the tape of last Sunday’s Bible study, 11/11/07. I heard it in the lobby of the church, but it wasn’t repeated at second service. This study had a profound impact on my life and caused me to have a breakthrough with God, so I am praying that you are blessed as well. I tried to transcribe it as close as possible to what Pastor Don shared – he gave many examples and I have strong feeling to post it even though some is repetitious because I know that it somehow will touch your life with one example. It is not Pastor Don’s usual preaching style and the Holy Spirit was all over the sanctuary when he spoke. Please do not miss this message! This first part lays the foundation.

  ****

  Pastor Don began by saying that part of our real problem is that we don’t know how to hear from God when He is trying to point out our flaws and things that hinder us. We don’t want to ‘fess up  and face up, and we end up convincing ourselves that we are OK the way we are, getting mad at people who point out our errors and failings. As a result we live in this condition where we are not OK. We’re just not OK.

  Pastor Don sincerely loves people and wants them to get to the point where they can say, “I’m OK, are you OK Lord?” With our Lord and Savior the communication must go on. We don’t arrive at a place where we are happy about everything, but we have to arrive at a place where we are OK about some stuff. In order to do that we have to get real with our feelings and we have to get real with what we’ve done. We also have to get real with what’s been done to us, and where we’ve been. Pastor Don is concerned about why the Church isn’t as dynamic as it could be? Why aren’t we winning the world? Why is it that we have these little pockets where evangelism is getting done. But, in America, our faith is growing slower than anywhere else in the world? What is our problem? What the Spirit of God wants to say today is that there are some hinderances that our lives and the work of the evil one have put into place that prevent us from being all that we can be for Jesus. And these hinderances prevent us from being all that we can be for ourselves because there is just some stuff we don’t get OK with.

  When the question is asked, “I’m OK, are You (God) OK?” Pastor Don needs  us to go to the reality of our life. Everyone has some stuff back there in our past, in our memory banks. We have some stuff that has happened to us that has shaped who we are. Things that have positioned us. Our gifts, our anointing, and our personalities have all been shaped by the experiences behind us. But the reality is that there is some of that stuff that has happened to us back there that we are not OK with yet. We haven’t gotten to a place of acceptance. God isn’t expecting us in our service to Him and our becoming the best we can be, that we approve of everything that has happened to us. You see, when you say, I’m OK with something you are not saying that you approve of it. Pastor Don is not saying to the women, the 40% of women who have been sexually abused, that you have to get to a place where you accept that, but you do have to get to a place where you are OK with it.

  By OK, Pastor Don means you are accepting the reality that that was what happened. You are not accepting the blame of it. You are accepting the reality that yes, that was in my past. That’s what happened to me. There are men who were sexually abused as kids. Yes, that is in their past, that happened to them. Some of you were greatly hurt because your parents divorced and at a young age and you may have grown up with a single parent. And you may not like it. Pastor Don is not saying that you have to like it. You know, every child in this great land should have been able to grow up with a connected family, a mom and a dad who were there and gave all the presence, the gifts, the ability that these people, a husband and a wife can give to a child. That would be a challenge for a single parent to provide. But the child raised by a single parent has to get to a place away from , “I am ashamed of it,” or “I’m hurt by it” or “I’m angry about it” or “I’m upset about it.” They have to get to the place that they just accept the fact that that’s what happened. I didn’t have anything to do with it. It’s just the way that it was. And some of us have been greatly abused by overbearing parents, or a grandma that is caught in rage, and we come up with the thought, “Where was my daddy?” “Where was my mama?” All of that stuff that happened to you back there, God is not asking you to approve the fact that this happened. Or that maybe your dad died. Mrs. Moore’s dad died. She doesn’t have to approve of that, or say, I’m happy that it happened. No, she just has to get to a place of acceptance that, I’m OK with it. That’s just the way it was. I’m not to blame for his death. I carry no shame or guilt.

  But many people cannot get into their ministry, cannot go forward with what God called them to do because there is so much stuff in their closets. They may say, “Well, I would get up and preach the gospel. I would tell somebody about Jesus, but then I am going to have to tell them how many abortions I’ve had. I’m going to have to tell them how many times I’ve fornicated, how many people I got pregnant. I’m unclean, I can’t do it. No way. I’m not accepting it. I can’t be used of God because my hands are so unclean.

  And the reality is, most of what’s unclean about you, you had nothing to do about it. Pastor Don said that in our culture it is stupid that we call a child illegitimate. It isn’t the child that is illegitimate, it is the parents.

  The reality is that the devil holds us in bondage to the fact that we are not perfect. Pastor Don said that someone came to him and shared this. “I know I’m born again. I know I’m filled with the Spirit, but I’m still smoking these cigarettes.” Pastor Don asked her how she felt, and she said that she believed that she would be delivered but right now she is not delivered. He asked her if she was OK with it? Because as long as she’s not OK with the fact that she’s still touching the unclean thing she can’t be free from it. It doesn’t mean she has to approve of it, and it doesn’t mean she makes excuses for it, or that she tries to hide it. You can’t hide things from Pastor Don or from the Holy Ghost. He knows there is some stuff in your closet and in your past. Pastor Don isn’t asking you, nor is God asking you to approve of it. He’s asking you, “Are you OK?” Because if you can get to the place where you are OK, you are accepting, “Yes, that is the way it was. That is what happened. That’s part of who I am. But it is not who I am today!” If you can get to the position where you are OK with it, then the devil cannot use it against you. He can’t keep you from witnessing, he can’t keep you from hearing God’s voice, he cannot keep you from being able to testify that you are a Christian, that you are a believer, that you believe for God, you believe for prosperity because you are OK with that fact.

  When a politician runs for office, usually they attempt get him to be discredited because of his past. For example there was a politician in his 40′s who did dope deals when he was in his 20′s. He was forced to leave office, but Pastor Don said, Wait a minute — the 20 year old that was drug dealing isn’t the same as the guy at 45. If in politics the criterion is a perfect politician , you might as well forget it, because there is some stuff in all their closets. Unfortunately, in the political scene, even if the politician is OK with it, the public won’t allow him to be OK with it.

  But guess what, Jesus is. Jesus just wants to know, are you OK with it? Have you reconciled yourself to all your stuff so that God can use you? Are you reconciled to the fact of who your parents were? Grandparents? And all the crap that is in the closet of your history? Are you OK with it yet? Are you willing to face it because, if you’re not willing to face it, if you’re not willing to tell it, then the devil can use it as a point of shame and can keep you off the battlefield.

  We have shame, bitterness and disappointment. In your past you have shame, bitterness and disappointment. We have talked about the sins that we have done and that have been done to us, that cause shame. But there is also bitterness. There are those things done to you that you wouldn’t even want to admit publicly. God isn’t asking you to admit them, He’s asking you to get OK with them so that if the devil does expose it you can still stand.

  If you’re OK with it, if you’re OK with the fact that you hate God, you’re mad at God because you think He killed my grandma. Jesus is saying you need to get OK with that because Jesus knew the deal. He knew you were praying for your grandma to live, but your grandma was praying to go home. So He’s saying, can you get to the place where you trust in God?  You trust in God to know that disappointing things happen, that shameful things happen, but your bitterness needs to be dealt with so that you can say, I’m OK with the fact that I have been bitter about these things. I’m OK with it. You may not even be healed yet.

  Pastor Don said, that he’s going to show us how big our God is. You have some stuff that you’re bitter about, haven’t gotten healed about. Haven’t released it to the Lord, but the Lord is so big he is saying, “Are you OK with it? Meaning, are you willing to accept the fact that you are bitter about it, because if you can at least get to that place of being honest that you really are holding bitterness, He can help you. He will help you. But as long as you are keeping it back there and you’re not OK with it, He can’t deal with it.

  And then that last one, disappointment. Is there anyone of you that has never, ever been disappointed about anything? There’s a whole bunch of things we get disappointed about. We get hurt and we ask God for an instant healing. Next thing we know, we’ve got to recuperate for six months and we’re disappointed. We’ve looked across the aisle in the church and think, “my, she’s for me”, and she isn’t even giving you the time of day let alone her phone number. And you say, But Lord you said, “I will have a Proverbs 31 woman.” Yes, He said that, but He didn’t say that was the one. You’re going through your life and you say, “What’s wrong with me? There are other people uglier, thinner, fatter, and I’m disappointed that I don’t have a mate. God doesn’t care about instantly solving it. He is concerned about if we are OK with it. Can you say, “I’m disappointed God. You didn’t show me my mate yet. ” He just wants to know that you can be honest about it, and say, but I’m OK with the fact that I don’t have my mate yet. Does it mean you approve of it? No. You are disappointed. God doesn’t have a problem with you being disappointed. He has a problem with you lying about it. He has a problem with you hiding about it. He can face your anger. You can yell and scream at God. God can handle it. He’s a big God. But if you’re going to walk around holier than sweetness, but all the while you’re very disappointed, stop telling people you’re a person of faith. Demonstrate your faith. Because you’ve been so disappointed God didn’t show up on Wednesday when you told Him to that you ain’t got no faith. Let’s be honest about it. Your faith is in the land of disappointment and you don’t know how to clean it off and get it back on the altar. But if you be straight with God, and say, “I’m OK with the fact that I’m not really a faith person, I have become seriously disappointed in you, Lord. I’m disappointed you didn’t show up when I thought you should show up. If you will at least get to that place where you can say, “Lord, I’m OK with the fact that I don’t have this giant faith and I’m disappointed with my life. I’m disappointed with the way things are turning out. I trusted my faith and it didn’t work. and I’m not happy about the way things turned out. I’m thoroughly, utterly disappointed. Here right now, God is big enough. He can handle that, and you just say, I’m OK with it. You just ‘fess up. “I’m OK with that. Because He’s said, are you OK? And you gotta say, I’m OK. Are You OK?. Jesus says, “Yes, I’m OK, the He’ll move.” But the pivotal problem is that we have no peace because we’re looking for approval of things that are not approvable. If you’re looking to be at peace because finally things have worked out. When I get my husband, when I get my healing, you’re looking for approval and the Lord is saying, Can’t you just have acceptance at some level? Let’s just accept, admit I’m OK. This is my stuff Lord, and I’m OK with my stuff. It’s my stuff. I didn’t make it happen. I didn’t earn all of this. Pastor Don said, “I did not ask to have a bald head, but I have to accept my bald head.” It doesn’t mean he approves of it, but He does have to accept it. Pastor Don then said, yes I would love to be 6’7″ because at 6’7″ I could dunk from any direction at any time. But he has to accept the fact that he’s great at passing the ball to a person who can.

  God is not asking for happy, happy, happy. He’s just asking you to get OK with your stuff so that He can deal with it. Because as long as you are not OK with it, you won’t give it to Him. We have lies that we keep in our head that tell us everything is safe and it’s not. We have scenarios that we’ve built up . It amazes Pastor Don to see how we tell ourselves lies, and then try to support these lies with more lies.

  For example, if a person is poor he tells himself the lie that it is Biblical to be poor. If a person isn’t healed he tells himself a lie that the reason he’s not healed is that in this particular case it is because there either is something wrong with God or he didn’t pray the right prayer yet.

  The truth of the matter is that faith will not be denied when it appears. If faith is present, things must change. But if you are trusting in God, that change must happen according to God’s schedule, not according to yours, because your schedule is based upon the failings of the past and your ego and flesh needs in the present. Therefore God is going to bring the miracle, the prosperity, the wife, the healing, the car at the right and perfect time according to how you’re OK with it. And if you’re not OK with it you’re going to be on a waiting list of circumstances and opportunities, missed and failed and disappointments. What then are we to do? Are we to be lost in this thing? No, it requires a change of our minds and an acceptance of things.

  I will continue this tomorrow, and at the end of tomorrow’s teaching, Pastor Don shares a way to get OK with our stuff.

  Have a blessed day!

  Heather

  • 6:48 am
  • 12 Comments