First things first, I pray you have a wonderful and blessed New Year – may you continue to grow in the Lord and become more what His best is for you in your life!!! God bless you – Heather

Below is the transcript for Pastor Don Moore’s TV show SAY AMEN 137 – Grounded in Worship. The video file was too large for this show to put the video on Xanga.  Remember, that what is in [brackets] is what the congregation says.  I left the text as it was spoken.  While this sermon is not on the Living Word Chapel Website, here is a link where you can watch other shows. Pastor Don is an incredible Bible teacher and I count myself blessed to sit under his teachings..

SAY AMEN
SHOW 137
GROUNDED IN WORSHIP
11-29-09

I’m just so blessed by a song that Brother Barry and Brother Ray and Joy, they played this morning.  I don’t know what the name of it was,  it was about the one before you did Promise Me, the worship, it was about worship.  ["Let the Worshippers Arise"]  Yeah, “Let the Worshippers Arise.”  Amen.  And, for the last two or three days, we’ve been before the Throne, worshipping and pretty serious about it.  You know, praise God, we’ve always had that here at Living Word, where we wanted to enter in and we’re quick to do that.  And people are usually amazed at how fast we, you know, we’ll plug into the Spirit of God, and worship here. 

But I was thinking, as he was doing it, there were, as I just scanned the crowd, there were some people that were unplugged.  And my heart goes out to the people that, when worship is going on, I’m not being critical, but I’m just being observant.  Sometimes when worship goes on, there are people that cannot plug in, or are not able to.  And they will find other things to do.  Here at Living Word, we have some people that are ADDDDADDADDDAD [laughter]  DHEDDDHTHED  And we have some people that are just plain old schizophrenic, you know, and thoroughly confused.  You know what I mean.  And we have some neurotic people that just can’t sit still for anything, anytime.  They bring their cameras, and they take pictures or they draw pictures or they walk around and they go see what else is going on.  They are observers.  I call them spiritual observers.  But today I hope you won’t be that.  I hope that you’ll be a participant.  Come on somebody.  [yes] 

Now, why should you participate?  You should participate because there is something that is inherently important in worship… There is something that is very important in worship.  We all know the usual things that are taught.  You know, we worship because God is.  We worship because God is great, and so forth.  But we live in a time where people are concerned about, well, what’s in it for me?  Why should I do it? What’s in it for me?  I want to impress upon you that there is something very positive and wonderful for you in worship. 

The reason, one of the reasons that we should worship is because there are very few opportunities in life and very few times in life where we can get out of ourselves.  You may be the most wonderful person in the world, but if you only hang out with you, you’ll become very dull.  [laughter, yes]  And we need to hang out with God and by the Spirit, so that we can get some feedback from someone else.  We need to have a, it’s like if I marry my wife, and I’ve been thinking about doing that, [laughter]  but then I don’t have any time for her… I don’t spend any time with her.  Then I am not very married am I?  I might be married in name or I might have a ring, but the reality is that I would still be alone.  I would still be very alone. 

I shared a story of the Ten Lepers the other night.  How many remember the story of the Ten Lepers?  That’s not enough.  Oof.  Let’s go to Luke, Chapter 17.  Let’s read it, that’s not enough.  That’s not enough.  Ok, let’s do it.  Now, for those of you that are here for the first time, it’s an open Bible study.  Pastor Don is not like all the other preacher, teacher guys.  I’m not afraid of you.  So if you get confused, or have a question, just raise your hand, I’ll deal with it right now.  Ok?  [ok]  Everybody got that?  [yes]  Let’s practice.  Ok, what is it?  [laughter] Ok, good, she got it. 

In the 17th chapter, let’s look at a few verses here, and then we’ll see a reason to worship.  17:11 “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”" 

Now the reason He said that is because the Jewish Law of Moses required that if a leper or a person with a skin defect or any type of visible disease, if he received his healing, or a cleansing, or got delivered from it, and was healed, he had to go to the Priest and the Priest would verify that.  So the role of the Priest in those days included, not just spiritual things, but also medical things.  And so the Old Testament guys were aware that there’s a connection between medical problems and spiritual problems.  [amen]  They knew that there was a connection.  They did not divorce it.  They realized that sometimes sin and sin alone is the cause of sickness.  Come on somebody.  And they realized that if you don’t live right, don’t act right, don’t think right, bad things happen to you.  [come on now, unha, unha]  Bad things happen, and they will be manifested in the physical.  Now it’s true, you know, you could just be clumsy and fall down and break a leg and the devil had nothing to do with it.  You’re just a clumsy thing, you.  [laughter]  So there are things that happen to us in the physical, you know, there’s birth defects.  Things just don’t go right.  Every tree that grows doesn’t get to grow in the middle of the pasture.  Some get planted on a cliff or a hillside, so there’s a difference in the circumstances in situations. 

But in this particular case, the Lord is going to receive or give a healing to these men, and they are to follow the Law.  Jesus is not a lawbreaker.  Say it.  [Jesus is not a lawbreaker.]  So the Law of Moses required that if you receive your healing, you are to go show yourself to a priest who would declare that you were sanctified, that you were clean, that you were set apart, that you were consecrated, and then you could, once again, join the spiritual community.  Everybody got that?  [yes]  Let’s roll. 

So he said, “”Go show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went…”  Come on, say it.  [as they went]  “…as they went, as they went they were cleansed.”  As, what?  [as they went]  As they went.  You come for healing and I lay hands on you here, some of you are going to be delivered instantly, but then there’s a time factor.  Others of you will have to get healed as you went. 

That means you’re going to have to leave from here.  Now why does God do that?  Doesn’t He have the ability that if you have the faith, you’re standing here right now and you have the faith, why doesn’t He just heal you right then?  The reason is God knows the statistics just like I do.  Only 4% of the people that receive an instant deliverance and healing, only 4% will hold onto it… [laughter]  Only 4%.  Therefore, it is necessary for God to allow you to germinate your faith.  To be forced to stand in faith and operate in faith so that over a time you become more effective at being able to hold onto what God has given you.  [amen]  See, sometimes we just get instant, you know we’re a microwave generation.  If God just does it right now, we go,…  I’m really something, ain’t I?  We start taking the credit for it, and God goes, “I’ll get you, I’ll get you next time.”  [laughter] 

There’s just something about the reality that we need to practice our faith.  Faith cometh … [by hearing]  and hearing… [by the Word of God]  Faith cometh … [by hearing]  and hearing… [by the Word of God].  My goodness, what a good church.  I love you guys.  So therefore, there is a process of being able to learn faith.  And the only way you can learn faith is by practicing faith, and the only way you can practice faith is to speak it and speak it and believe it and believe it and speak it and speak it and believe it and believe it and speak it and speak it and believe it and believe it and speak it and speak it and believe it and believe it, speak it, speak it and believe it, believe it, speak it, speak it and believe it, believe it and speak it, speak it and believe it. [laughter]… Amen.  [amen] 

The best things in life come with the responsibility to go out and achieve it, nail it, and get it.  I wish, I really wish I could have, I wish the Lord had just, you know, just opened up Heaven and decided to bless me with a healing anointing, without having to ever have to be sick.  [yep]  He could have done that… But what do you do, where do you stand when there is no anointing?  And you’re just in your flesh.  It’s just you and your flesh and your problem and there’s no anointing.  What do you do then?  What do you do then?  You better know how to fight.  [amen]  You better know what to say and how to say it…

I can remember sitting in the doctor’s office, age 24, blood sugar all off, all whacked out.  Blood sugar is all… he said you got, I’ve got to put you on insulin immediately and you’re going to have this condition the rest of your life.  And something just bubbled up in here and it said, “Pray and fast 10 days, I’ll heal you.”  So I just, you know 24, I didn’t know much scripture or anything, but I just said, I believed it was the Lord, cause I sure enough wasn’t thinking of fasting.  I like eating too much.  I don’t want to fast 10 days and pray.  You know, I’d rather go and play basketball.  But you know what happened?  I said, “That’s the voice of the Lord.”  So I said to my doctor right there.  I said, “I’m going to fast and pray 10 days and I’ll be back to see you.”  And he said, “Young man, your sugar is so high if you do that, you’ll go into insulin shock.”  He says, “You can’t do that.”  That’s not good advice.  [laughter]  … Glory to God. 

Now, I believe in doctors.  Do what your doctor tells you.  Do what, what?  [your doctor tells you]  Do what your doctor tells you.  Take what medicine he gives you, prescribes.  He’s looking out for you.  But he’s looking out for you in the scientific, physical.  He knows what’s going to happen if you take this and you do this, scientific, physical. 

But sometimes you need a Word from the Lord.  [amen]  I said, sometimes you need a Word from the Lord.  [right]  And I had a Word from the Lord.  Come, everybody say that.  [I had a Word from the Lord]  Don’t be inventing words.  Don’t be wishing words or creating them on your own.  You need a Word that comes outside of your thinking and outside of your consciousness and you know it’s from God.  [amen]  I went back 10 days later and my blood sugar was fine. Been fine.  I took that little blue card he put on my keychain, that said I’m a diabetic.  I took that off.  He said I was going to collapse in the streets and die.  Gonna die.  [laughter] 

But you know, I didn’t really learn faith yet? … It was six years later that I had the incurable lung disease… I had another doctor tell me, “You’re gonna die.”  Every time they see me I’m dying. They said, “We can’t cure this lung disease, you’re gonna die.”  But see, I still hadn’t learned faith again.  Cause I went back, after having stress diabetes, I went right back to eating and living the way I was eating and living before.  Which meant what?  I was not a faith person yet.  Come on, somebody.  [yeah]  I wasn’t in faith yet.  So then this incurable lung disease falls on me, and I still hadn’t learned faith…  

So, there’s some circumstances and situations that you’re in right now that are gonna require the process of learning until you learn how to stand.  And then stand some more.  Some of you think I lost my track.  Worship helps you to stand.  [yes]  And stand some more.  [amen]  Now you all see where I’m going?   [yes] 

So we’ve got 10 lepers here, that He says, “Go, show yourselves to the priest.  Go show yourselves to the priest.”  Let’s see what happens with these guys.

How you doing?  Everybody ok today?  [yes]  I wish it was all instant soup.  Man.  I wish it was instant, instant healing, instant deliverance, the one I’m really praying for, for you all, is instant marriage.  [laughter]  Just like, “Lord this is the one I want.”  And then, poof!  You’re a perfect husband.  Poof, perfect wife.  I had a guy sit in my office one time and say, I said, “Why don’t you marry this girl?  She’s a good girl.”  He said, he said, “I’ll marry her when, you know, when she proves she can be a wife.”  And I thought to myself, how does she do that?  [laughter]  You know, your sleeping with her don’t make her a wife.  So how’s she going to do that?  What are the other pieces to the puzzle that she has to learn to meet your standard, when you don’t even know that the first place that it begins is with some honor and respect and some love?  [amen]  I better move on.  Somebody’s going to get mad at me.  [laughter]  When she proves herself to be a wife. 

That’s like looking at a teenager and saying, “I will let you drive the car when you prove you’re responsible.”  [laughter]  …  And I know a bunch of you all said that.  Don’t you realize that the kid is never going to learn responsibility till you just let him do some stuff and mess up. He learns by messin’ up.  [yep]  You’re going to have to let the boy do some stuff.  And let him mess up and then, then you realize he is responsible.  He’s not going to be responsible with you withholding opportunity.  He cannot prove himself. 

Trust.  I love this.  This is a woman thing.  “I can’t trust you.”  … [laughter]  How would we know?  “Can’t trust you.”  You know, trust doesn’t come because he failed once or twice or even a hundred times.  You have to just keep trusting until he develops that ability.  [amen]  Thank you Mary, Mary’s shaking her head, yes.  I love you Mary.  Alright.  I trust you Mary.  Now, let’s go on. 

So He says and He went, go show yourselves to the priests.  Verse 15 “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed,…”  When he saw what?  [that he was healed]  What did he do?   [He returned back]  “He returned back quietly…”  [with a loud voice]  without making a ruckus.  [with a loud voice]  He came back, and sat on his hands.  [no, no]  He came back and with his, I’m one of them quiet worshippers.  [laughter, no]  I’m one of them quiet worshippers.  I’m worshipping just as good as you, I don’t have to open my mouth to do it.  [laughter]  Well, the Word says, [loud, loud voice]  I think I made the point, right?  [yes]  And verse 16 “…and he fell down on his face at His feet, giving…” what?  [thanks]  “…giving Him thanks….”  And I love the next line, that cracks me up.  “And he was a Samaritan.” …

You know what the scripture’s saying?  He wasn’t even a Jew.  He wasn’t even a sanctified, set apart one.  He was a gentile.  He was a bum.  He was considered to be a dog.  How many dogs have we got here?   He was considered to be a dog.  A gentile.  He was outside of the blessing of God.  We don’t even know, if the only reason he’s hanging out with the other lepers is because why?  They felt that their status was so bad because lepers were all rejected people. 

Isn’t it funny that people have to get rejected to realize we’re all human?  [hallelujah]  You know, before we really will realize that, that when God said there’s no male, no female, no Greek, no Sabian.  When He just threw out race, just threw out sexism, He just, God just threw it all out.  But we have to get beat upside the head before we open our arms and embrace everybody. 

Now, that’s not us.  That’s not our church.  But there’s some churches today that are meeting, that are all white.  [amen]  There’s some churches meeting today, all black.  [amen]  All Korean.  All Puerto Rican.  All Cuban.  All Mexican.  There’s probably even an all Philippino Church, somewhere.  And all Messianic Jews.  Some Messianic Jews can’t find a Gentile.  That ain’t right.  Aren’t you glad Jesus is coming back?  [Glory, yes]  Aren’t you glad Jesus is coming back?  Hallelu… I say Hallelujah.  [Hallelujah] 

So Jesus was in a room and He was ministering and people were coming, and this woman comes in.  Sister Myrna loves this. Thank you brother.  Sister Myrna loves this.  She does a dance with the alabaster box.  You know.  Where’s Sister Myrna today?  [she's home]  She’s home, she’s not coming today?  She’s not feeling well?  Father, we just ask that you lift her up and bless her.  We ask, Father, whatever challenges she’s facing, You would let her, remind her today, that You are Her God. And that she has, she has the victory, in Jesus’ Name.  [amen] Amen. 

So the lady comes in with the alabaster box, and she’s ministering to Jesus.  And the owner of the house is watching this and he’s saying, “Doesn’t He know she’s a harlot?  Doesn’t He know she’s a low-life woman?  You know, if Jesus was all that, wouldn’t He know that this is a woman of the night?  And here she is touching Him, and carryin’ on.” 

And so Jesus, I want to make this point very clear…   Jesus by the Spirit, knows what you’re thinking.  And that’s why, that’s why, no matter how cool you think you are, even though you say, “Well, Pastor Don took drugs and hung out, whatever, whatever.”  And you think you’re more righteous than me, the reality is, but Jesus knows your all thoughts.  He knows your thoughts.  He knows that you were thinking about doing what I was doing.  [laughter] 

So, this woman, she’s washing Jesus’ feet with her hair, and the fragrance of the oil is filling the room and everything.  And the owner of the house is going, “Doesn’t He know she’s a low-life?  Doesn’t He know that?”  And Jesus knows his thoughts.  And Jesus says, you know, tells him a little story.  He says, “You know, there was this rich guy and one guy owed him a little bit and another guy owed him a whole lot.”  And He says, “Which one is loved more?”  And he said, “The one that owed the most.”  And Jesus said, “Well, this woman, when I came in was grateful and thankful.”  And she what?  “She’s pouring out this love on me because her sins were so great, that she loved the most.”  [Praise God]  She loved the most.  And He says, “But you, you’re ungrateful because you think…”  Notice, I said, “Think.”  “You think your sins aren’t equal to hers, and therefore you don’t love as much as she loved.”  [wow] 

Boy, Jesus is rough, isn’t He?   [yeah] Jesus is rough.  Now, here’s what I want you to think about.  We could be a lot more grateful in life if we realized that people outside of the anointing cannot read our minds.  [amen, amen] … People outside of the anointing, unless the Holy Spirit tells them, people cannot read your mind… Jesus can, under the anointing.  But the rest of the time He can’t read your mind.  So, we should be real forgiving because whenever we presume to know why somebody did something, or said something, or acted a certain way, and we take offense, you should be careful.  Because we don’t have the ability to always read their mind.  You know…   How are you doing Nick?  You alright?  [I'm good]  Yeah. 

Now, why do I mention that?  Because Jesus said the number one way to get in trouble with Him is to permit a spirit of offense to separate you from Him.  Now, that means then, that when we come into worship, if we want the best that God has for us, shut out everybody else.  Don’t be lookin’ around, tryin’ to wonder what they’re thinking.  [amen]  Don’t be lookin’ and wondering what they’re doing.  What they thinkin’? What they doin’?  Forget about that.  Forget about that.  Enter in with an attitude of gratitude.  [amen]  Not worrying about what they’re thinking.  Because the only person that matters in worship….  [amen, amen]  Amen?  [amen] 

So, last night, not last night, in the afternoon, yeah it was last night.  I turned the TV on and Florida was playing Florida.  Which I think is redundant, but that’s the two schools.  And they’re playin’ football.  And there’s a Christian on the team named, Tebow.  And Tebow has broken all the records of all the records of all the records of all the records.  And they kind of have a problem with this young man, because he’s a devout Christian.  And he’s not quiet about it.  Hallelujah.  [hallelujah]  He’s not quiet about it at all.  Matter of fact, he’s so glad to be a Christian, and wants everybody to know his Jesus, that on his eye shadow, here, he writes scriptures. [laughter & applause]  And so when he takes his helmet off, and the camera does a close up, he’s preaching the Gospel that the Lord’s put on his heart.  [cheering & applause]  Praise God!  You need to pray for Tebow. 

Now, Tebow, a football player, is walkin’ around.  He takes off his helmet, and you can see, it said, Hebrews, and I just don’t want to give the punch line away.  But here’s what it said.  It said, 1 with a dash, and a 2.  So, he runs for 46 yards, 46 yards, and five of those guys from the other team, they grab him and one of the guys grabs the football and it rolls out and fumbles, boom, hits the floor, the other’ guy’s floor to jump on it.  The score at this point in time was something like 30 to 3.  But that didn’t matter.  He fumbled the ball.  Then the announcer says, “Well, we’re really going to have to look up that scripture.”  I couldn’t make this up. 

Then, here’s the scripture.  He says, that scripture, watch this, what he said, he said that scripture is Hebrews 12:12. That’s what he thought it said.  And therefore he figured this, He said, “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees.”  And so, he said, well I guess that scripture fits…   And I thought to myself, I’ve been reading some Word for a while.  I saw the boy’s face.  It didn’t say 12:12.  It said 12:1-2.  (Heather’s note:  Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.) Come on, somebody. 

Listen, I want you to understand, the things that happen to you in your life, stop waiting for another human to understand you.  Stop believing that somehow we’re going to win the world and they’re all gonna love Christians and they’re all gonna love Christ.  Get it out of your head.  You are going to be misunderstood until the sky cracks and Jesus Christ lands on the earth.  You’re going to be misunderstood in your actions, your thoughts and your deeds.  You are going to be misunderstood. It’s what goes with the package.  And when you’re not misunderstood, the world is going to retranslate it and come up with a different answer.  [amen, that's right]…

We have to be grounded in worship, so that we know the King that we are worshipping, and His opinion is the only one that counts.  [amen]  His is the only one that counts.  What the world has to say, they’re gonna twist it, they’re gonna turn it, they’re gonna turn it to their own way.  And we as believers, have to realize we are not in these last days supposed to be winning the world to a political or social system.  We’re to be winning them to Jesus Christ. 

*****

I am so glad I was able to download this sermon for you – INCREDIBLE SERMON, if you don’t watch any other sermon this is one to watch!  I have included the transcript, but trust me, the visuals are worth seeing as illustrations.  It is about 25 minutes long.

Below is the transcript. What is in [brackets] is what the congregation says. It is hard to visualize some of the action so when there were different speakers I put their names in (parentheses).  Trust me, watching this is better than reading – I guarantee you will come away smiling.

SAY AMEN
SHOW 138
DESTROY THE YOKE
11/08/09

You know, the Lord, by His Spirit will confirm what you’re supposed to do.  [amen]  So I’m just trying to be obedient here and give you some fresh manna.  Father, in the name of Jesus as we open this Bible, as we look into the anointing, bless us with fresh manna from Heaven, Give us understanding.  Let not my words be confused by the dull and the dimwitted.  But let them be expressed by the Light of God, which stirs in our hearts with understanding.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.  [amen] 

In the book of Isaiah, in the tenth Chapter…are you there?  [yes]  We want to start, right, I want to hit the nail on the head right away so that we get this right away, okee doke.  [ok]  I want to begin in the 27th verse right on it.  Let’s read it together, come on.  “It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.”  Let’s read it again please.  “It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.”  Amen!  [amen] 

I just need two volunteers to come up here.  Any two, male, female, doesn’t matter.  Here’s one male and here’s another male.  Ok, come right up here on the altar with me… I’m going to use this mike stand here.  This will be a beautiful thing… The Lord is giving us a picture from the agricultural world.  And if we don’t know the agricultural things we won’t get a clear understanding of this passage of scripture.  Now, let’s assume that these two strong men are oxes.  [laughter]  And I’m going to use these oxes to plow my field.  Alright? 

Now, if I decide, and we’re just going to plow the field, and I say to these oxes, “Oh come on oxes, just follow me.”  and I walk, what will happen?  [we're going to stand here]  They’re going to stand here.  Or they’re going to go eat somewhere else, or they’re just going to wander around.  So, as the farmer in charge, I realize over a period of time, that if I need them to do as they’re told, and I need them to follow me, we’re going to plow this field, plant seed, and produce a crop, I have to find a way to hook them up.  To go where I want them to go, when I want them to go.  So this would be a big piece of wood, and I would take this big piece of wood and I would put it over their shoulders.  Since you guys aren’t official, really you’d have to hold those here for a minute.

Now, I put it over their shoulders, and then I would say come with me and go with me, and would they go?  No, they still wouldn’t cause they can go, they’re free to drop it, or to go somewhere else.  Is this not so?  Ok, give me the big basket over there.  Thank you, Sister Joy.  And give me the same thing on that one… Now, if I was mechanical, and I want to make sure they go where I tell them, if I control their necks, I got ‘em.  They have to go where I tell them.  So, I would put this over his neck and over his neck, [laughter]  and then all I have to do is get something to tie it to this bar.  Now even, you know, nonmechanical people can see this example.  So, all I have to do is tie this, connect it here and here, and connect it there and there, and now, I connect a rope to here and I go, let’s go.  They have to go where I go.  I say, “Now, let’s back up.”  They have to back up.  “Let’s go right.”  They have to come right. “Let’s go left….Left.”  [laughter]  They have to go left.  Does everybody get this example?  [yes] 

Now, they can see….look how far left that way they can look. Come on, they can only see a little ways that way and a little bit that way.  Can they see behind them?  [no]  No, they cannot.  Alright, can they see all the way up?  Can you guys lift your heads all the way?  No, they can only go a little bit up.  They can only see where they are walking, and that’s good enough for me.  But other than that, these dudes are yoked.  [that's right]  I got them yoked up.  [laughter]  I can take them where I want to go, whether they want to go or not.  [right]  Correct?  [yes, yes]  Where I want them to go or not. 

Ok, now Minister Joy, would you come up here please.  I need you to just sit over there for a second.  Come on. … [laughter]  (Joy) You’ve got to have two oxen the same size, by the way.  (Pastor Don) You going to let me teach this?  (Joy) Yes, sir.  [laughter] … (Pastor Don) Now, can you guys see this alright?  You’re going to see it better now.  I want everybody to get this.  Cause we quote these scriptures and have no idea what they’re talking about.  (Joy) Too tall, because it’s choking me.  Now, it’s, you’re choking.  [laughter]  (Pastor Don) Obviously they are unequally yoked.  ah, ha.  He can carry way more weight and last longer.  She may be more agile, and can turn quicker, but I have a problem when I go to plow the field, right, he will probably eventually lift her right off the ground.  Yep, yep.  Or kill her.  They are unequally yoked.  Can we see this?  [yes]  Alright? 

So, they are not in agreement, not of same mind.  Not going the same direction.  Not going with the same strength.  Not going with the same understanding.  The yoke prevents them from getting out of line to a point, but if they are unequal, when plowing the field.  Let’s say, if they started plowing the field, he has a bigger stride, he has a bigger stride.  He takes…(Joy) sorry, I don’t mean to wreck this but I’m choking here.  (Pastor Don) You have, you’re destroying my yoke.  [laughter]  No.  I’m working at it.  They would end up in a situation where I’m plowing, or leading them, plowing in a circle.  Because over a large space he takes bigger steps.  Right.  And so, he’s going to pull her to one side and not the other.  Thank you, you did wonderful. 

Therefore, I have to go and get, let’s see… Come on, come on… This is better.  But not yet perfect.  Brother Dwane, come to me… No, the keys are alright… ok… I’m going to yoke him up.  [laughter]  Now, what are they doing?  [laughter]  What are you guys doing?  Now I’m more equally yoked.  Right?  They have about the same stride, about the same step.  He’s just a little bit taller, but not enough that they’ll pull too far that way.  Unequally yoked.  Now here’s what the scripture says. 

It says, because of the anointing, the yoke is destroyed…. Because of what?  [the anointing]  It is the anointing that destroys the yoke.  ok?  Thank you gentlemen.  Thank you gentlemen.  Thank you gentlemen.  Thank the gentlemen.  [great job, applause]  Thank you gentlemen. 

Now this scripture has been, this scripture has been abused and misused  because we don’t get that agricultural picture.  And so we use it, we use it improperly.  We have to understand that being unequally yoked doesn’t mean necessarily the same thing that the Lord is trying to convince us. 

We put the emphasis on the yoked part.  God is putting the emphasis on the anointed part.  [amen] 

It is the anointing that destroys.  [right]  Breaks, in some scriptures it says breaks the yoke.  Destroys the yoke/breaks it.  And here’s what it is saying.  The adversary, the enemy, the devil, over time and life yokes us.  He puts something around our necks so that he can lead us to where he wants us to go.  [right]  He prevents us from looking fully all the way around and having an ability to see the whole picture.  He limits our view.  He also prevents us from looking fully up to God because the yoke is in a downward position.  [that's right]  So it is a picture of how the enemy binds us. 

We end up being yoked then by our feelings, for he works through our feelings.  We end up being yoked by our thinking, for he works through our thinking.  We get bound by traditions.  We get bound by customs.  We get yoked into this is the way things have always been done mentality.  This is the way it’s always been done, don’t break with tradition.  And then we find this, that his immoral attitudes can lock us in.  You know, let’s not be confused.  Sin feels good for the moment.  Long term sin is always going to feel bad.  But for the moment, you’re getting high, you feel good when you get high.  Or at least you think.  You’re actually, you’re only altered.  You’re not necessarily feeling good.  You are in an altered state.  But if you don’t like where you are, [ah, hunh] Then the altered state feels like a good thing. 

So the devil convinces us, because he’s got us yoked, that we don’t see the full problem, that that type of drug behavior and constant use, will lead us into trouble or into difficulty and keeps us from being able to see the Lord.  A gossip, gossip feels good… Come on, let’s just tell the truth.  It feels good to talk people down and build yourself up.  We feel good.  We feel good grinding them out.  Getting on the phone and grinding them out.  We always don’t give all the information.  We only give part of the information.  But the part that we give makes us feel good and puts them down.  And therefore we step up onto the, you know, onto the pedestal of our own pride… Come on, we’re just telling the truth.  But it becomes a yoke.  It becomes a shortened version of what we should see.  We only see a little bit about the person and we give limited information about the person.  They don’t tell, the gossip never tells you the motive or the reason that the person did it.  All they tell you is what they did and then puts them down and makes fun of them. 

So, being unequally yoked, he’s trying to get us to see that the devil yokes us.  He binds us.  He locks us, generation unto generation.  So, if poverty is a yoke in a family, he passes it on to the next generation, the next generation, the next generation. If sexual abuse is, the same way, The next generation.  Of violence, the next generation, the next generation.  And so these, all of sin, is a yoke.  Say it.  [all of sin is a yoke]  All of sin is a yoke.  And how about habit?  Bad habit is what?  [a yoke]  It’s a yoke.  We repeat our behavior.  Because we’re limited in what we can do and what we can see.  Alright. 

Now, what the scripture says is that the anointing will destroy that yoke.  [yes]  In other words, something that we’ve done always, repeated behavior, thinking, yoked thinking, yoked thinking, you know.  I just get so upset when people are, “I can’t” people.  Or this one, and I don’t know why we deal in absolutes.  “It’ll never work.” What do you mean, it will never work?  Absolutes.  If it will never work, we’d still have square wheels.  [laughter]  You know.  I’m surprised, that was good.  Only a few of you got that…

So, unequally yoked, is referring to the fact that people are in this yoke and they are bound.  We have taken unequally yoked to mean one thing, that we’re involved with a nonbeliever.  We’re involved with a nonbeliever.  If that was a correct interpretation of it, then why is there more divorce in the Church than there is out of the Church?… Anybody thinking?  Your wheels turning?  And here’s the reason.  Because a person has accepted Jesus as Lord doesn’t mean they have made Him LORD.  Because they’ve accepted Him as Lord doesn’t mean He is CEO, Chief Executive Officer in charge.  It doesn’t mean that they have learned correct behavior.  It doesn’t mean that they have broken out of the yoke [yes]  that binds them and holds them into bad behavior or bad thinking. 

I was sitting with a young lady.  She was so interested in this man, and I said, “You know, you need to bring him in.  Let’s talk about this.”  She brought the man in and in this particular case she was, “I can’t marry this guy.  We are unequally yoked.”  And I said, “Why do you say that?”  And she says, “Well, because he doesn’t go to church.”… And I says, “Well, that’s not what the scripture’s really talking about.  Let me meet this guy and let’s find out some things.”  You know, the young man sat down and he says, he says, “I didn’t grow up in church.  I still don’t understand these things.”  He says, “But I do understand morals and ethics, good behavior.”  I found this guy had a higher standard of character than most people that I knew.  The difference was, no one had taught him the Gospel.  No one had introduced him to Jesus the Christ.  No one had sat down and taken the time to disciple the young man.  I told the young lady, I said, “Well, let’s start some marriage counseling.  Let me just disciple this young man.  He’s going to be alright.”  You know, he turned out fine.  It was just a matter of somebody speak to him, answer his questions, because why?  He had good character.  We have no trouble getting people saved if they have some character.  [that's right]  Cause the truth will set them free.  Will make them free.  But we have to get some information. 

I know this isn’t a popular thing, but just because somebody goes to church.  You know the wolf is in the church?  [that's right]  He’s just wearing sheep’s clothing, but he’s a wolf.  How are you all doing?  Everybody alright?  [yeah]  Huh?  The wolf is in the Church.  So we have to be careful.  It’s not about Church, it’s about finding out who is the person here. (points to heart) Who is, what is their character, their nature and their makeup.? 

Then, if you have a person with character, who’s with a person who has no character, who sits in my office and says, “I hate God, I don’t want God, I don’t want religion, I don’t want you and I only want her for her body.  But I’m not interested in anything else.”  Guess what?  She’s unequally yoked.  [that's right]  If that’s what she’s going to seek to stay with.  If you got that, wave at me.  Let me know.  Alright. 

Being unequally yoked is if you’re going to start a business, and you’re going to involve yourself in that business with someone who has no character.  Doesn’t have an understanding of your moral code.  You see, cause a Christian business person has to have the highest level of moral code.  [amen]  You don’t cheat.  You don’t lie.  You pay your taxes.  And you do business correctly.  But you can get with someone who says they’re a Christian and they don’t do all of those things.  [that's right]  Well glory.  Hallelujah…  Everybody got that?  [yes]  So we don’t go into business with a heathen… [that's right]  We clear?  [yes]  Don’t go into business with someone who hates God. Don’t hook up your personal life with an atheist who doesn’t want God.  You tell them, “Hey, you get God, then we can hook up.”  But before then, their character is not going to line up with yours.  It’s unequally yoked. Alright.

Now it says that the yoke, the sinful nature, the way of thinking, the limited view and vision, inability to look up and down, and see and whatever, whatever, it’s not talking about the label over the house.  It’s talking about the content of the house.  [yes]  Everybody walks around with a label saying that this is what I am, but we need to get down to the issue of content. [that's right]  Alright?  I said, “Alright?’  [right]  Yes, so, a Christian believer is going to have a hard time making a relationship with a muslim.  [umn hmn]  You are unequally yoked.  The reason is you have two different gods and two different moral codes.  [right]  So you’re gonna, you’re going to run into a problem.  Amen?  [amen]  How about that?  [yep]  Can a Catholic and a Methodist get married and work it out?  [yep]  Yeah.  The code basically is the same.  It’s just the fringe around the door.  We have to walk through the fringe around the door.  But they could be unequally yoked if the Catholic believes that only Catholics are going to Heaven, and nobody else can be saved.  Then they’re unequally yoked.  [right]  Why?  Because then the Methodist is living with someone who doesn’t agree with their topic of salvation and therefore their house is going to stay divided.  Everybody got that?  [yes]  We’re good to go?  [yes] 

Now.  What is the anointing then?  That will destroy this thing.  The anointing will destroy the yoke.  The word, “anointing,” in and of itself means to smear or to apply, you know, ointment to … an interesting thing in the Hebrew, it has a connection to, in the sense of smearing as to paint. .. I loved that when I found that.  Smearing as to paint.  So the anointing will cover over that which was there, will cover it over.  What else is the anointing?  The anointing is the Presence of God.  Or the ability of God.  Or the charisma of God.  Or the power of God.  The anointing is the Presence of God.  The anointing.  What do we do.  We use it to consecrate and to set someone apart.  The oil, why we put the oil on them to consecrate them.  To say that they are special unto God.  Sanctified, set apart.  We consecrate them. 

But the anointing is usually in reference to, we anoint them to set them apart for service.  Can you say service?  [service]  We’re not just anointing them to make them feel good.  We expect them to do something.  [amen]  God anoints a person to be king.  He expects that the anointing of the king will come upon him and he will serve as a king.  We anoint someone to preach.  Jesus said in Isaiah 61, He says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel.”  [right]  He didn’t say He anointed me to sit down and do nothing.  The anointing is not for do nothings.  The anointing is not for I’m just going to sit.  There is no anointing, listen.  There is no anointing for “I’m a pew sitter”.  [amen. amen]  I haven’t found that in Scripture.  Come to the altar, let’s anoint you to do nothing.  [laughter, probably not] 

The anointing is for a purpose.  Can you say, “for a purpose?’  [for a purpose]  It is designed that you are anointed, being recognized that you will be empowered by the Grace of God, you will be empowered to do something.  You’re being set in an office or a position for a function.  “How God…”  Acts Chapter 10:38 How God anointed Jesus Christ with…. what?  …with power and might… to do something.  TO carry out a mission. 

Christ, the word, “Christ, Christos,” it means the Messiah, but it also means the Anointed One.  That God has anointed Him with a special anointing.  That anointing is to accomplish something.  Jesus then took that anointing and anointed the 12 then anointed the 70, and then anointed the 120.  And then anointed all of us to function according to the Gifts of the Spirit to do something. 

There are two aspects of it that I want to discuss with you.  One is to consecrate and to set in office, to smear or oil up somebody to set in office and another is, an action, oil, oiling, anointing, an action of service.  An action of service.  Right now I am ministering to you under the teaching anointing.  God anointed me to do this.  Therefore, you should be feeling and sensing as I go through this, you should pick up that the anointing is getting stronger the longer that I go.  It’s getting clearer.  What God wants me to say is becoming more clear.  He’s lining it up.  And guess what?  That anointing has the ability to supernaturally, if you tune into it, it stirs up your anointing.  [yes]  Lord have mercy.  Somebody get this.  It stirs up whatever anointing is in you and you begin to listen, not just with your ears, but now some of you, I can see by your eyes, your heart is beginning to listen and you’re beginning to say, “ahhhhh, let me get some of that.” 

Now, why do not more people get healed?  Is it that the people that are praying for them are not anointed?  [no]  Or is it that there’s another problem, lack of understanding.  It’s a problem of understanding.  More people would get healed if they understood the anointing…. More people would get healed if they understood the anointing.  People come to the altar, you know, to get prayed with, and that’s a good thing.  That’s a wonderful thing.  But sometimes when they come, there’s no anointing.  [hmmm]  Lord have mercy.  I’m trying to help somebody.  The anointing is the ability of God to consecrate for service, to set apart, to place a special ability and empowerment. 

Now, the anointing is also an action.  Didn’t I say that?  [yes]  It is also an action.  It is that manifestation of that empowerment and that ability.  How many of you here pray?  Put your hands down.  But you all don’t pray in the anointing always.  [amen]  Sometimes when you really are praying in the anointing you are praying in the Spirit.  Whether you know what you are saying or whether you know what you are not saying, you are in the anointing and your intellect shuts down and you’re praying from your heart… There is a place of prayer that is anointed and a place of prayer that is not.  There is faith that is an action but there is faith that has no anointing on it. 

Let me give you a couple of examples.  Can I give you a couple of examples?  [yes]  You can be home praying for your children and you’re praying like this.  “Lord, when I go to Wal-mart, I want to buy two loaves of bread, a carton of milk, and bless the kids.  Amen.” … Was that anointed?  [no]  No.  It wasn’t.  [laughter]  No anointing on that.  You know, “Lord, I’m going to pray for Pastor Don.  Lord, bless Pastor Don and help his wife to be able to put up with him, in Jesus’ Name.”  Was that anointed?  [no]  No.  There is a disconnect between your spirit man and your intellectual man, so let’s be honest, most of the time when you pray you are praying out of your carnality… That doesn’t mean you’re praying something bad.  It’s just carnal.  Meaning it is just physical, mental.  And sometimes you come to the altar like that.  You say, “Well, oil me up Pastor Don,”  you know.  [laughter]  … You know, “You made a plea for people with a bad back.  I have a bad back, so I’m just up here, you know, pray for me.”… Is it sincere?  Yeah, you’re sincere.  I’m not making fun of your carnality.  I’m not making fun of your carnality.  [laughter]  It’s sincere, but is it effective?  No!  Is it anointed?  No!  Does it pull on the anointing?  No!  You just prayed and you just prayed and you might as well turn the radio on, and talk to yourself.  [mmmmm] 

Have a blessed day!

Heather

We began by reading Isaiah 9:21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 10:1 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed

Evil writes the prescription of evil in a decree that turns out evil. There is no vision of God, and the only end result with no vision of God is disaster.  Consider Haman – who decreed the death of the Jews and Mordecai – Haman and his sons died on the very gallows he had built to take Mordecai’s life, the Jews prospered and their enemies died. 

Isaiah 10:2-4 To rob the needy of justice, and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless. What will you do in the day of punishment, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain.” 
For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.

Even though there is a mess, HIS HAND IS STRETCHED OUT STILL. God repeats this line several times in these passages and it is comforting to know that His hand is stretched out to us. This sentence is also found in Isaiah 9:12, 17, and 21.  As well as here in Isaiah 10:4.  When God repeats Himself He is serious about what He says.

Isaiah 10:5-7 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation,  and against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off not a few nations.

In verse 7 it says that “nor does his heart think so.”  Don’t trust your feelings, they are not the facts of our faith. If you are led by your feelings you will be miserable. Your expectations are the cause of your sorrow, you can’t live by your expectations and hope. You need to live in the moment and accept whatever. Do not judge and don’t have a critical spirit. If you judge, you make things tougher – if you think to your self, “If they loved me they would….”  Or “If they were REALLY a Christian they would….” Christians are all at a different level of development and not all will act the way you think they should act.

2 Chronicles 30:18-19 For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD provide atonement for everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.”

If we judge ourselves, and determine what we will do, God will deal accordingly.

The devil will use the same stuff against us until we beat it. Pastor Don shared about a drummer who came to a gathering, stood in the doorway but did not enter the room, turned and left.  When questioned about it later the drummer told Pastor Don that all his life he was teased and rejected, and he doesn’t enter situations like that because he knows that he will be teased and rejected.  This is in opposition to another person who came and held up his hands, entered the party, and said, “I am here!”  The drummer came expecting to be rejected, turned around and assumed that no one would want him at the gathering.

Pastor Don told us that we must do something about the inner child of the past.

Pastor Don acts as the statesman, but there is the Little Donnie Moore, who does not feel the need to light up the room with his pulpit personality. But as statesman if he is at a meeting and people are speaking in error, he has to speak up. Even though the Little Donnie Moore would rather sit quietly.

THE WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE HAS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED BY WHAT GOD WANTS ACCOMPLISHED. Speak up or shut up for the Kingdom’s sake.

Where is your heart? Get out of your head and where you were raised, and get into your heart and do the Kingdom work.

Heart stuff – The Church is the hospital for sinners, not the hotel for saints. Hezekiah was healed and went back to the heart issue. He made a mistake and showed all the gold and silver of the Kingdom, and because of that error, the wealth of the Temple was removed from Israel.

Isaiah 10:7-9 Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off not a few nations. For he says, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?’

God is comparing nations in Assyria to places in Canaan land.

Isaiah 10:10-12 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’”  Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”

The vessel that God will use to punish the people will rise up in arrogance and pride. God will punish those who punish Israel. Nebuchadnezzar brags one day, “Look how great I am.” God caused insanity to come to him and caused him to eat grass and live like a wild man for seven years until he came to his senses. God is just, and God is in control.

America is making that same mistake, of not giving God the glory, and demise is upon us.

Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.

Isaiah 10:13 For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; also I have removed the boundaries of the people, and have robbed their treasuries; so I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man.

They say this, but this is not God’s truth.

Isaiah 10:14 My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was no one who moved his wing, nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”

This is what the antichrist will rise up and say.

Isaiah 10:15 Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!

Tools are controlled by the Master, they do not operate on their own. Pastor Don told us that the rod was a piece of wood 1×3 inches, and when a person was beaten by the rods, the rod was designed to crush and break bones.

Isaiah 10:16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord