Before Pastor Forte began his talk, he demonstrated what a 30, 60, and 100 fold blessing meant. It is not a multiplication of blessing, but far greater than that. He asked for a piece of paper and folded it in half.  Then folded it in half a second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time. After the sixth fold it was to small to fold again. When Pastor Forte opened up the paper he showed us that there were marks on the paper by the folds. A six-fold paper had 72 squares on it.  Imagine how many 30 or 60 or 100 fold would have!

 

I enjoy Pastor Forte’s teaching of the Bible. He mixes humor and examples in the telling of the scriptures and the teaching of the lessons. I think that humor helps us to learn better because tough messages can get to us through our laughter.  If Pastor Forte is ever speaking in your area, I highly recommend that you attend his teaching for you will be abundantly blessed.

 

Last night’s lesson was on Acts 17, when Paul visited Mar’s Hill. The people at Mar’s Hill were worshipping other gods, yet Paul was not offended. Paul understood that at least they were trying to worship but were looking for God in all the wrong places. Paul played the hand that was dealt.

 

When we go to minister to others, we have to remember that they too may be worshipping other gods, and we need to play the hand that we are dealt. Don’t forget that when we go to the lost sheep, they are going to be doing lost sheep things. Your dentist is not offended if you come with bad breath or a bad tooth. That is what your dentist is trained to do. Your plumber is not offended if you have a clogged pipe – it is what the plumber makes money from. We aren’t going to find new sinners just staying in church, we need to go where they are and win them to God. Sinners should not offend us for we are called to minister to them.

 

Acts 17:22-25 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.  

 

Then we read the next verse three times.  Acts 17:26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

 

Notice ONE BLOOD, TIMES, and BOUNDARIES. We are one blood.  And geography is important to God who created places before he created people. When God created the earth, he made people for every place. People are made in the image of God, and filled with the Spirit. We have the potential to get back to where Adam was, all over again.

 

Demons want to possess people. They know that we have a voice, with power, given to us by God. Demons do not have a voice unless they can take over a body. Our bodies are earth suits that house eternal spirits.  Pastor Forte told us that if a person is demon possessed with a cursing spirit, you cannot imagine what can come out of the person’s mouth with such a spirit.  The devil wants to curse the earth and uses human mouths to do so. He also uses witchcraft and new age to curse the earth.

 

We are here (near Woodstock) for a purpose, to redeem evil. God is the redeemer. We can begin to redeem the earth by blessing everybody. Love people. As we grow in God we begin to see that it is not all about “me.” We can learn to love the unlovable – maybe not like them, but definitely love them. Sometimes we have to hit the wall several times to shake us out from being “me” centered. At some point we go over the wall and begin to reach out to help others, we become Kingdom centered and it isn’t all about us.  We want to be about the Father’s Business.  Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.  God is using HIS CHILDREN to get HIS stuff back.

 

WHERE YOU ARE IS AS IMPORANT AS WHO YOU ARE!  You may be where you are because of who you are.

 

Many of us are where we are because of who we are, what we’ve been through has equipped us to minister where we are.  We may not like the place we are at, we may be at a job where most of the people are ungodly, instead of in a nice Christian job where people are having devotionals at work and fasting two times a week. We may be at the job with the ungodly because people there need to hear the good news. We are not to just stay in church, God wants us (the church) to be out in the world where people need us.  God does not always move us to a place by a supernatural revelation, sometimes we are brought to where we are by physical circumstances.  An example of this is found in Luke 2, where Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem for the census.

 

Luke 2:1-5 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.  So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

 

Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, and God organized events to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Joseph was, at this point, not led by the Holy Ghost, circumstances made him travel.  There was no angel or voice from Heaven with the voice of Charlton Heston’s deep voice saying, “Go to Bethlehem.” The move came because of a DECREE from Caesar Agustus that there was a CENSUS.

 

Sometimes God uses NATURAL CIRCUMSTANCES to move you into position for His purpose.  Maybe there is a reason why you received that pink slip. God may use that to get you to go where He wants you to go. Maybe Tyrone backed out of the marriage so that the right person would come into your life. God may use Jimmy Hendrix to get you to come to Church. He will use natural circumstances to place you in the right position.

 

Sometimes we are rebuking the devil and the devil is not being “buked.”  It may be that the devil was not in the adverse circumstance, but it was God putting you into position. Sometimes when God says, “No,” He is helping you.  Sometimes God ignores you when you are acting like a fool, and that is to help you. It may not seem like help at the time, but it is.

 

Pastor Forte gave us the example of Simon Peter.  Jesus told Simon, Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. When God says your name more than once, He is trying to get your attention. And notice that satan had to ask permission to tempt Simon, to sift him.  To steal, kill and destroy is what satan desires to do. His first MO is to steal. You don’t steal wheat off of something unless there is wheat to steal. In order to be able to sift wheat, there has to be fruit to sift. The difference between the tares and the wheat in the parable is that the tares don’t produce fruit so they stand proud and tall, but the wheat plants bow down in worship. Peter did not know that he had wheat (fruit) but the devil did. 

 

Luke 33:32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

 

Jesus prayed for Peter.  Notice it is WHEN you have returned to me.  WHEN you are converted, not IF, but WHEN.

 

Peter tells him that no way would he betray Jesus; that he will go to prison or die for Jesus.  Jesus then tells him. Luke 33:34 Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

 

Pastor Forte tells us the rest of the story in modern terms. Jesus goes to Jail and before that Peter did some stuff. He cut off the ear of the police officer (guard). Jesus had to heal the ear before being taken to jail.  Peter messed up and he was the only one to receive a personal prophesy from Jesus.  The prophesy was, “Peter, you are getting ready to mess up.”  Jesus is brought to Caiaphas’ house for his first trial.

 

Peter ends up warming himself at the world’s fire. So often when we backslide we warm ourselves at the fire of the world.  While Peter was warming his hands, a serving girl asks him, “Weren’t you with Him?”  Peter tells her, “No.”  Little girls don’t give up and she asks again, and receives another “no” answer from Peter. She persists and asks a third time, “I know you’re one of His for your voice betrays you.”  People will know us because they recognize the change in our voice. The sheep begin to sound like the shepherd. Peter curses Jesus, and as soon as the curse comes out of his mouth the cock crows three times.

 

Jesus, after being beaten comes out and looks at Peter, but doesn’t say a word. In the flesh we would be tempted to say, “See, I told you so.” Jesus could have said, “Run Peter.”  One word from Jesus would have caused Peter to be killed, and Peter would have been crucified even before Jesus. Instead, Jesus kept his mouth shut.

 

Sometimes when God says nothing He is saving your life.  Don’t think God doesn’t see you.  Had Peter listened to Jesus, he would have been where he was supposed to be.

 

We then went back to Luke 2, with Mary and Joseph. God is the one that let natural circumstances guide Joseph to Bethlehem, not an angel or a prophet.  There was no vision, no prophesy, just an order from Caesar to go and be counted in the census.

 

SAUL, the 1^st King of Israel was searching for lost donkeys and couldn’t find them. Pastor Forte wondered how you could lose donkeys.  God permitted this to get Saul into a position to receive his anointing from Samuel. Saul’s servant suggested seeking a prophet to find the donkeys, but Saul told his servant that he had no gift to give a prophet. You don’t go to a prophet empty handed. His servant had a stash of money, for you never know when you need a prophet. The donkeys, Samuel told Saul, went back home.  Then Samuel told Saul to go up on a hill and he would meet a group of prophets, and prophesy with them. God used natural circumstances to get Saul to this point so that Samuel could anoint Saul and transfer the anointing.

 

God is transferring the anointing and then things in your circumstances will make sense, for they become the key to what you are to do. Our time for bench sitting is over.  We will be given supernatural ideas, for we are here for such a time as this.  Where you are matters as much as who you are. 

 

Mary and Joseph will have the baby, in a barn. This is not the place where a king would be born, so when Herod sets out to kill Jesus, the last place he would look would be a barn.

 

The devil does not know who you are. Remember the devil is NOT GOD’S EVIL EQUAL. He is an ex-employee, and disqualified.

 

Mary was pregnant, her water broke and she was going to have the baby. Herod was searching for this king.  The devil wants to kill the deliverer while he is in his infancy, before he can grow up to be a threat.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

 

Joseph isn’t spirit filled, but God led him through natural circumstances. God places Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in a safe place. Then the kings come bearing gifts for Jesus. We don’t know if they are three, the Bible does not tell us how many. The kings bring frankincense, gold, and myrrh. For being prophets, they are not too good in that area, for they do not know where the baby is. They arrive when he is a young child, and the first place they go is to the enemy to ask for where the child king is. Herod says, “Yes, and let me know where he is I want to ‘worship’ him too.”  Lie. Herod wants to know where the baby is to kill him.

 

Pastor Forte told us how a baby King was honored in those days.  The baby would be placed on a scale and then gold placed on the other pan of the scale, a coin at a time. When the two sides of the scale are equal, that is the price paid to honor the baby. A newborn baby would receive fewer gold coins than a young child.  Each of the kings brought gold to honor Jesus.  This gold was necessary for Joseph and Mary could not go to Egypt empty handed, they would need a lot of gold to support themselves.

 

GEOGRAPHY is important to God, and God gave Joseph and Mary the means to bring Jesus to safety and hide him until Herod dies. 

 

Sometimes God leaves you in a place and keeps you hidden so that you can grow, gain weight, get fat, and then people will recognize you and give you more, for now you have gained weight, and you will get the provision you need. This is where the saying, “worth his weight in gold,” comes from.

 

Sometimes God has us hidden in a place that you do not like, waiting until you grow and gain weight, and mature, to the point where you are ready to receive your blessing. Yet, while you are safely hiding, you are moaning and groaning because of where you are at.

 

God knows the right time to deliver you out of that place and get you ready. God has fashioned our days. God may have placed us in this area to raise us up as intercessors. We can be in a church in the woods at Woodstock for such a time as this. God has set us in a place to bless us and those around our area. 

 

Pastor told us that he loves our church for it is so diverse and multicultural. He told us we are like granola – fruits, nuts, flakes, sweetened with honey.

 

Pastor Forte told us some examples of how God placed people in scripture in the right place at the right time to receive their blessing.  I will share those examples with you tomorrow.

 

Have a blessed day!

Heather

Last night we had a visiting prophet – Pastor Leon Forte come to our church. What a blessed evening it was. He delivered a very powerful message and had us laughing so hard with his great sense of humor.  

There is going to be a turning in the Body of Christ.

Pastor Forte spoke about the Volcano in Iceland.  He was heading to speak at a conference and had flipped on the TV, only to find the volcano was reported on every channel. He said that when God shows you something three times it is a message to take note about (that does not mean seeing the same episode of a hit TV show).

What Pastor Forte perceived was that there was going to be a stirring of little things. The farmers moved their livestock to high places. The volcanic eruption was felt 16 miles away. There was a heat connected with it and what emerged from the volcano was ice and rock. The little volcano cut off all air traffic, not only in Iceland, but also in Europe. Even President Obama had to cancel his plans to attend a funeral.

The ice was glacier ice, which was thick and froze things in time. When the ice would melt, the water would flow in a river that was the size of the Amazon River.

Pastor Forte told us that this was a picture of what’s about to happen.

Praise and Worship is perfected when there is need and desperation. Praise is more intense when we are empty and in need of God.  Oppression combined with emptiness causes praise to erupt.  Stay active in your praise and your tough circumstances will melt – there will be rivers in the desert. The desert will become a place of refreshment. The river will become a place of growth and will feed others. Tribulation does produce good fruit if you praise in the midst of it with all you got. You can praise  yourself out of tough situations, praise yourself into good health, praise yourself out of financial despair, praise can change things.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Do not be conformed.  To try and conform is a syndrome that will keep us from God’s perfected gift in our lives. We are chosen by God, but unless we are willing to be transformed by God, we will not fully use the gifts that God has given us. We need to let GOD transform our lives.

What you conform to matters. We need to be aware of the approval trap.  That is what is holding up the body of christ. We tend to blame the devil for things that were not caused by the devil. We can be unhappy because of what we have chosen to do or not to do, and the devil does not have anything to do with it.

IF WE DON’T KNOW WHO WE ARE, ANYONE CAN DEFINE US. Don’t accept the limitations of those in the world who choose to define us, look at who we are in Christ. One of the main ways that we let the world define us is by searching for approval of man. Everyone has a longing for approval. But that longing for approval can bring a spirit of defeat on ourselves.

Pastor Forte spoke about playing basketball, and having to find 10 players. Usually in a pick up game there are 9 good players and one who has no basketball skills – that person is called “self-checked.”  In a game the opposing team has to cover the good players to keep them from scoring – that is called checking a player. If there is a player that is no threat to the game – no chance of scoring or effectively doing anything with the ball the team would consider the person to be “self-checked. They aren’t any good, won’t do anything, and you just hope they stay out of the way. “  Meaning no valuable player needed to be assigned to watch the player. 

When we are very concerned about the opinion of man or the world satan does not have to send a valuable demon to guard us, our need for approval makes us self checked.

In the world there is a struggle to achieve someone else’s approval, we self check. We have a need to be liked, to gain validation. We seek validation from others – students seek validation from teachers, players from coaches, spouses from other spouses, and children from parents. The devil seeks to tell you that you are the opposite of who you really are. He wants to get you to the point where you compromise and seek the approval of others.

Pastor Forte told us that sometimes we lie to get approval. Since no one would probably want to admit to that, he used himself as an example. At a pastor’s conference the pastors talk faith, but embellish their stories. One pastor spoke about 250 men that he had in his chorus and asked Pastor Forte how many men he had in his chorus. Instead of saying that he didn’t have 200 in his whole church, he said, “We don’t believe in a chorus.” The pastor with the 250 men went to talk with another. Pastor Forte did not want to speak the truth in front of the pastors.

Your need to seek approval will transform you into the ultimate chameleon, changing your personality depending on who you are with. Pastor Forte calls this the CHAMELEON SYNDROME. The changing of colors is a defense mechanism so that you blend into your environment. If you are around people who curse, you curse; who gossip, you gossip. In the Church we don’t call it gossip, we call it “sharing.” And Pastor Forte told us that some of us are VERY gifted in “sharing.” Sometimes if you are with someone who likes to bash their spouse, you bash your spouse. He told some funny examples from men not wanting to ask directions.

He told this joke: A husband tells someone, “My wife is an angel, she is always up in the air harping about something.”

Pastor Forte cautioned women not to dominate their men for then the men will put the woman in the place of their mom, and that cools the relationship. He told men that women are looking for three things in a relationship.
1. A father figure to affirm them; 2. a lover, one that they can be naked and unashamed around; and 3. a companion, not a leader, who will listen to them, and share in decisions. If any of those three are out of balance, you end up in a problem in your relationship.

We need approval from our spouse. We, as the church should be expert at loving others. Yet the Church has a higher level of divorce than the world.

Pastor Forte then said that if you are a racist, you talk racist. Racism would not have had such a hold on the United States if the Church did not back it in the early history of the country. If we allow racism in the church it sanctions it in the world. It is not enough to just not participate in racism, we need to speak out about it. We are called to be standard bearers, and our children do not do what we say, they imitate what they see. We have depersonalized whole cultures by our racist attitudes. No matter who the President of the United States is, we need to pray for them – even if we do not like them or like their policies. If God placed them over us, we need to pray for them.

Not every Muslim is a terrorist.

In Eubonics Pastor Forte told us the story of Abraham & Sara, Isaac and Hagar & Ishmael.

God told Abraham that he was going to be the father of many nations, and that he would have a baby from Sara. Pastor Forte had us laughing when he said that Abraham’s mistake was telling Sara about this, that he had to be a brother because he probably went home and said, “Daddy’s here.” He spoke about Hagar and Ishmael, and how once Ishmael was born, Hagar treated Sara poorly. Sara responded by saying that Hagar had to go. We learn a few lessons about relationships from this episode. 1. Listen to your wife. 2. Don’t get unequally yoked. According to Pastor Forte God in effect told Abraham that I gave you an “H” for your name – changing it from Abram to Abraham, give your wife an “H” – Sarah.

Isaac was the son of the covenant. Yet God heard Hagar’s prayer and made Ishmael a prince of twelve tribes.

God had a baby who became illegitimate and he had to send him away – Adam from the Garden of Eden.
Ishmael – Arabs Isaac – the Israelites. But both are sons of Abraham.

When we sit in judgment over an entire race of people it is because we need approval from others. God wants us to remove the bitter root of judgment from our lives. We can get drunk on patriotism. One of Pastor Fortes’ strongest prayer warriors was a former Muslim who converted. When she went back home, she prayed and blind people received their sight. God is good and seeks to reach all people.

Christians need approval, and they will go to great lengths to conform. Pastor Forte speaks about being a Baptiscostal. He would go to the Baptist church in the morning for his father and the Pentecostal church in the evening for his mother. Very different types of activities occurred and he had to adjust his behavior depending on the church he was attending.

Teenage girls will often have sex with boys prior to marriage because they are seeking approval not just from the boy but from girl friends who feel she should go with rich so and so, prestigious so and so, or that someone was prophesied to become a pastor, so sleep with him to become his wife. A lot goes on during youth camp and vacation Bible school. The Catholics are not the only ones with sexual sin in the church, so do the Protestants.

There is evil stuff in the world. The enemy wants us to miss the call of God on our life because of distraction or fear. We can miss the call of God because we are afraid of losing the approval of man.

Jesus had to deal with this. Jesus was told by the Holy Spirit to go to Samaria, where he sat by a well. He told his disciples to go and get food, for he knew that they would not be able to understand the nature of the divine appointment he had, they would flap their mouths wondering why a Jewish male was talking to a Samaritan woman. Some Holy Ghost assignments are solo. Sometimes a woman with issues needs to talk with a man, sometimes a man with a woman. We need to obey the Holy Spirit, and be led by God in this. The woman came and Jesus had a conversation with her. When the topic got too close to her sensitive area she turned to classism and racism by asking Jesus why he, a Jew was speaking to a Samaritan. This woman was coming to the well at this time of the day because she was avoiding the looks and comments of the other women because of her marital status.

Pastor Forte told us that we are not an event, but a person beloved by God. Just because we have lived a former sinful life, or have been raped, molested, divorced, had a child out of wedlock does not mean that God does not have a purpose or plan for your life. He can get you out of stuff, and take these events and turn them to a good end. Scriptures tell us that the hearts of the fathers will turn to the children.

Our Daddy God sees us as pretty and sweet. He gives seed to the sower, but what you do with the seed is up to you. If Dad gives you seed He expects you to sow it. The woman at the well, after Jesus told her about herself tells Jesus, “I perceive you are a prophet.” Jesus told her she had relationships with six men. Now she was in the presence of the SEVENTH MAN (Jesus), and this relationship would change her life. The world looked at this woman as a sinner, but Jesus saw a city-wide evangelist.

Jesus looked at her and saw her destiny, not her past. Jesus looks at what you ARE, not what you DO.
Your ROLE is what you do, your IDENTITY is who you are. Jesus looks at our identity, not our role.

Pastor Forte is surprised that, given the wonderful freedom life in Christ provides us, that we aren’t more drawn to intercessory prayer, and that it is hard for churches to keep prayer groups going.

Our need for approval keeps us seeking for approval from wrong places. When we are asked to compromise in our quest for approval we don’t have to give into it. It is a wonderful cycle of blessing that God provides for us. He blesses us and we then turn to praise God for the blessings He has given us, which He then praises us for blessing Him. How awesome what God has provided for us.

We can stop struggling and being driven by our need for approval because God approves of us and loves us

Sometimes our tough situations are given to us by God because He knows we can handle them and turn them around to His glory. For example, Mary was given Jesus by being impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Some in her world would have scorned the explanation that it was the Holy Ghost that gave her Jesus. In today’s church the woman would be brought to a room with the other sisters and asked to tell the truth about who made her pregnant – they wouldn’t believe the Holy Ghost did it. Joseph would be confronted by the brothers to make an honest confession of how he got Mary pregnant. Yet Mary told the truth. God brought Mary to Elizabeth, who was in a similar situation of a supernatural pregnancy so that they could support and comfort each other. God will always provide someone in a similar situation to help us in the midst of our trials.

We are never alone or the ONLY ONE to go through a trial. God will provide someone to help us through the situation.

YOU ARE NOT AN EVENT, YOU ARE PRE-APPROVED. God planned your life before you were born. Approval comes because of God, and He will position us for a purpose. Remember God sees you as fulfilling your purpose, not as you are now.

Pastor Forte then asked all the visiting pastors to go to the altar area, and the pastors were each to speak a blessing over every person in the congregation – in this receiving line, we received many blessings – were told that God loves us, that we are approved by God, beautiful in His eyes, blessed, etc. The pastors represented our earthly fathers who may not have spoken such words of affirmation over us. We all needed to hear these statements, and there were few dry eyes after hearing God’s affirmations.

Praying your day is blessed. Tonight Pastor Forte is ministering again, if you can I suggest you attend.

God bless you,
Heather

Who is doing what?  In ministry you can get to where you are operating so fast that you can get outside of what the Holy Spirit is doing.

People pray, not realizing that they are praying against what the Holy Spirit is saying in our prayer life. Too often we do things then ask God to approve of what we are doing, but it may not be what God wanted us to do. It is hard for us to accept waiting and making the necessary changes in our lives that God wants.

Romans 8:12-14 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

There are two deaths – we need to die physically and spirituall. The definition of a son of God is being led by the Spirit of God. Therefore we get confused when people talk the talk, but they don’t live and walk their talk. The way you can tell you are led by the spirit is your love of the brethren. We cant hate the people of God. 

We can get ahead of where God is leading us. If we are plowing a difficult field and we can’t get anywhere, it could be that God hasn’t led us to that particular field. God does have work for us and He has prepared a field for us. When we get to the right place that God wants us to be, He will have people ready for us. He has prepared the field.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Abba means “Daddy”

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

How do we know we are led? The Spirit HIMSELF bears witness with our spirits, He manifests in us, in teh follower. What we do will bear fruit, and there will be a sense in us, in our innward witness, that it is the Holy Spirit leading us. The witness tests or manifests. 

When we do stupid it is because we didn’t consult with what is in us.  The inner witness wants to direct us, but when we are led by the flesh we will cancel with the Inner Witness is telling us to do.  We are SHEEP, and sheep are dumb. You can’t become smart until you are aware of how stupid you are.  IF YOU GIVE YOUR FLESH THE OPPORTUNITY, YOU WILL FALL.  Go back and look at mistakes you have made.  You will find where you didn’t listen to your inward witness.  Pride is what causes us to go wrong. 

Make an intelligent, spiritual decision. Tell yourself, “I am going to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Let me consult God here. I am going to let the Holy Spirit lead me in this situation.”  When we are led by the Holy Spirit in humility there are no buttons that people can pus in us to cause us to do something wrong.  Judge the situation by asking, “Holy Spirit is this a good decision or not?”  Then be led by what the Holy Spirit tells you.  We want our spirit to accept it before it registers on the brain. The Ego and pride will not want to yield to the action God wants, so we need to let the Spirit lead.  We fear correction, thinking it is a put down, but when God corrects us it is because He loves us. Correction is good for it helps us to prevent us from falling into some hole.

Listening to the Spirit has to be developed. Ye choose to yield to our Spirit. When we do, we are going to change. Pastor Don gave the example of Darth Vader who, after contacting his son, could not kill his son.

The decision to follow the spirit eminates from the inner man. How can old slewfoot bring everybody down?  Ask for discernment to figure out why. Do they have a yielded spirit?  King David understood the importance of the Spirit, for when he sinned, he prayed, “Don’t take Your Spirit” from me.”  Saul allowed his spirit to become darkened, did not do what Samuel told him to do, and then made excuses, not asking for forgiveness for his actions. Saul chose to listen to the people, not to what God directed him to do.

Our human spirit is under construction. Jesus spoke to the people in parables for some things were not given for the Israelites to know. Other people shut down their spirits. Some people are so victimized by life that they can’t get out of their victim mentality.  You are the one that will pay with troubles if you do not do somethinga bout your inner man.  We can’t make effective change only working on the outside, we need to also change or inner man.

Pastor Don sang part of a song, “Jesus on the inside working on the outside. Oh what a change in my life.”

We are told that we will have what we say, and what we say comes from what we think. As a man thinketh…

1. The Spirit man says it
2. Our brains obey or don’t obey – and obedience is what refinse our soulish reaction. We can choose to not listen, or deal from our emotions, from our intelectual pride, or we can tell ourselves to stop and not do what the Spirit does not want us to do. We need to be humble of heart and obedient, then our flesh will begin to be corrected. If we choose to not listen to the Spirit then we move from excuse to excuse.

It is very difficult to get a damaged person to the place where they see that their actions were wrong. That they received what they did because they refused to be led by the Spirit. The Spirit will never have you put the reality of the world over God, and the Spirit will never cause you to disobey God. Disobedience comes from a different realm.

The Spirit of God on the inside will confirm to us that we are His Children. He will lead and we will follow.

We need to have compassion and patience because some people have been so abused that they keep their wall up for both the evil and the good. It is hard to et them to change their spriit, for they stay in fight and flight mode. The will disobey out of fear. You can tell them to go right and they will go left,.  There is fighting in their Spirit and they signed up for the struggle.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

 

We are taking a detailed look at the book of Isaiah. Pastor Don did a bit of a summary for we had many new people at Bible study.  Sometimes on a Friday afternoon we have to add more tables to fit all the people in which is a blessing. 

Here is a picture of one of our recent Friday Bible studies:

Pastor Don is seated at the left of the lady in the red shirt.

Pastor Don pointed out that spiritual things are hidden in the scriptures so you need to carefully read to seek them out, but the Bible is it’s own dictionary.  The enemy is called by many names, lucifer, satan, devil, dragon.  The eternal being; lucifer has many names, and can disguise himself so that those on earth do not realize his influence. We see this today in the new age movements which are very skilled at hiding a lie amongst a lot of truths.  Another name given to him int he bible is the king of babylon.  Babylon was considered the cradle of civilization.  Early stories about Babylon include those of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel. 

satan masquerades himself as an angel of light – enlightenment.  He tries to convince people that they have special dispensations, that they are more superior than the rest of us, better at politics or theology, etc. What he wants to do is to get us to trust our knowledge, intellect, and emotions, to get us to become prideful.  He is successful by stealth (silent, deadly taking by subtle force), but then he comes down hard on those who accept his lies.

Someone asked about the postmortem experience, can a person be saved in those few seconds after they died and before their spirit leaves their body. They also wondered about what happened to the souls that never knew Jesus, would they go to hell because they did not know Jesus. Pastor Don replied that with salvation, only God knows the heart and spirit of a person, we cannot make a determination of the person’s eventual outcome – only God can do that. We don’t know if with the last breath they cried out to Jesus – only God knows that.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us^f]’> in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

These are people who lived before the time of Noah, before Moses, and those who lived under the law of Moses, but did not know Jesus.  Moses died under the Law of Moses.

1 Peter 3:21-22 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,  who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

Jesus goes and preaches to the souls in prison to what end? They cannot be judged until they have heard the Gospel message. They were in the spirit, and thus out of their body, but could not make a decision for Christ until they heard the Gospel. 

Isaiah 6:5-7 So I said:  “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”

Isaiah was taken up to Heaven in the Spirit and saw the throne of God. He realized that he was a man of unclean lips. The angel took a coal from the the altar with tongs and touched Isaiah’s lips. God cleansed Isaiah through this.  Some of the saints will have to be cleansed before they can be in the presence of God. If your name is written in the Book of Life, you are going to have to unload at the eye of the needle all the baggage you have been carrying around with you.  The eye of the needle is a very small opening in the wall. Those who drove camels would have to unload the camels so that the goods could be searched. The camel would crawl through the eye of the needle on its knees, then the goods would be brought in and reloaded on the camel. We have the decision to make, will we remove the baggage and let God clean us?

Revelation 21:4  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Why are there tears? In the presence of God there will be no hidden truths. We will be held accountable for every idle word. Salvation comes by faith in our hearts knowing that Jesus is Lord and we cannot get saved by the Law, it is accepting His Sacrifice for us on the Cross.  Only God can judge people regarding salvation, we are not able to do that. 

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

The Tabernacle of God is with us. We will all have ideas that need to die at the Cross.

Ephesians 4:9  (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first^b]’> son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart:  ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.

Ezekiel 28 speaks of the King of Tyre. This was a spiritual area, not the physical city of Tyre.  For example the Emperor of Rome also was the Emperor of Judea and Greece and all the other countries that Rome conquered.  The King of Tyre was a spiritual jurisdiction of this spirit being. So when they speak of the King of Babylon and the King of Tyre they are not speaking about a physical ruler, but a spiritual jurisdiction.

Ezekiel 28:12b (speaking of lucifer) You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

There were four beings in Eden – The Lord, Adam, Eve and the serpent. The term “serpent” is a description of how he acts and performs.

The serpent, lucifer wanted to rule and reign forever. He planed to replace God and make himself god over everything. God tells lucifer that he was cursed, and lucifer’s reaction is to try and destroy what is beloved to God – destroying God’s creation – the man and woman. Had Adam and Eve stood up to the serpent things would have had a different outcome. They could have said, “God said it and He meant it.”  What satan wants to do is everything he can to kill and prevent the bloodline that leads to salvation to continue. He started with Adam and Eve, but it continued when he tried to pervert the blood line – the sons of god mating with the daughters of men. That is why God needed to send the flood, for only Noah and his family had a pure bloodline – and that was needed for Jesus to be born.

Genesis 6:1-4 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive^c]’> and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief;^d]’> for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Jesus told them that if they reconnected, they could pray and then they would be able to do the miraculous things – to move mountains.

Matthew 17:21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

PRAYER RECONNECTS US TO FAITH AND FASTING DISCONNECTS US FROM THE WORLD. 

The disciples had walked with Jesus for three years.  They observed Jesus getting up in the morning and going off to pray. Jesus was modeling what the disciples should be doing. When Jesus went to pray in the Garden He asked the disciples why they couldn’t pray with Him for one hour.

When Moses died, Joshua took over leadership of the people, it was not natural selection from father through sons.  Aaron did not take over the leadership from Moses. Moses did not obey God and struck the rock twice – so he was not able to enter the Promised Land. Aaron stayed with the people and got influenced by their desire to have a god they could see, casting a golden calf. Joshua went with Moses to the mountain and stayed as close as He could to God and Moses. That is why God put His Spirit on Joshua, not on Aaron.

With Elijah and Elisha, Elisha stayed close to Elijah, knowing that Elijah promised Elisha that he would receive a double portion if he saw Elijah depart. There was a price to be paid to take that position. He had to CHOOSE to stay with Elijah instead of staying with the school of disciples and watching. Elisha chose to  press in.

The disciples saw that Jesus received strength from His prayers, so they asked Jesus how to pray.  Jesus taught them the “Our Father.”  Then He explains to them that He only did what His Father told Him to do.  The disciples were with Jesus, and could look at Jesus, but one still asked Him to tell Him about the Father.  When we look at Jesus we see the Father. Jesus later tells the disciples that whatever they ask the Father in Jesus’ Name, the Father will give it to them. 

As Christians when we pray we need to remember the Father and the Holy Spirit as well as Jesus. Jesus is represented in the Godhead.

In these awesome days it is time to dig deep.  We were chosen to live at this time period. God has a reason for us to be born at this time. We need a revival of the kind of faith that Jesus taught us and not let the world walk all over us. While we have been comfortable in our faith, people have been walking all over our liberty. We want people to realize that we do what we do because of the Love of Jesus. Yet we are seeing the liberty of our society being nullified by the lack of morality of our generation.

To reverse this downward spiral we need to dig deep and not compromise. We need to walk according to the Word of God, not how we feel or what makes us comfortable. The deeper we dig, the sweeter the water. If we fast and spend time in prayer, even fasting from the internet, news, TV, etc. and listen for the voice of God, we will gain direction. The water is sweeter.

If you want to hear from God, pray and fast. The disciples missed out on what Jesus did because they did not share His prayers and fasts. But when Jesus instructed them, after His resurrection, to go to Jerusalem and stay in the Upper Room, what Jesus had, the disciples received through Pentecost. The disciples spent 10 days in the Upper Room .  When Jesus was resurrected He was seen by 500 people, but only 120 went to the Upper Room.

Only those who obeyed him and went to the Upper Room had the experience of the Holy Spirit, the rest of those 500 that went their way did not receive the Holy Spirit at that time. The 120 chose to pray and fast and wait on God. 

TO CONNECT TO GOD YOU NEED TO DISCONNECT FROM THE WORLD ON PURPOSE.

We need to meditate on who we are in Christ and appropriate the authority that we have IN JESUS. We need to appropriate our own faith. The choice is in our hands and it is up to us what we do with it.

There are many who have spoken the Word with conviction – Kenneth Hagin, Pastor Don Moore, Pastor Cho, Smith Wigglesworth. God will give us what we want, as much as we want. But do we want more?  We have to listen and ask God.  Do you dare to believe?   Pray and Fast.

Pastor Wendell, who is Pastor Dona’s Husband spoke about Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” and James 1:5-6 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

He pointed out that besides prayer and fasting, God also cares about what we give. When we are giving liberally we are flowing in the character of God.  Loving and giving go hand in hand. We are to give to the Kingdom liberally, not only money but talent and time.  Be generous and gracious to all. We can have as much of God as we want, but we also need to give out what God is giving us, then more of God will flow through us. we need to give without making the person who is receiving go through hoops.

So, press in to God with prayer, fasting, and giving liberally of God’s love to others.

Praying your day is blessed.

Heather

Athena told us that Paul taught what he did about tongues in Corinth because of the history of the area he was teaching in.  The area was involved in the mystical – there was the Temple of Delphi where the oracles sat over fumes and chewed a narcotic leaf, and the oracles babbled. The local pagan priests would “interpret” the babbling. 1 Corinthians 14:27-29 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to Himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judged.  Verse 33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Paul did not want the Church at Corinth to be compared to the confusion of the Temple of Delphi, so he showed the church how they could operate in the gifts, but yet maintain order.  God does not want confusion. The interpretation of tongues needs to be able to benefit the Body of Christ.

In Acts 17 Paul is ministering in Athens and decided to use the unknown God that the Athenians worshipped to teach about God.

Acts 17:22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious.”

The Areopagus was the high court in Athens. The Athenians grabbed Paul and took him to this court, which was like a school. The people loved to learn about new doctrines. In Greece it was illegal to be an atheist, so the unknown god helped them to cover all bases with the idols.

Acts 17:23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.

Paul was being cunning, instead of pushing God down their throats, he was using their idol to teach them the truth about God. Paul tried to be all things to all people.  Paul wanted to share with the people, Jesus Christ, the hope. He needed to make Jesus known without raising hackles.  He studied the situation and prayerfully, God gave him an idea to use what they were already using.

Acts 17:24-26 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.

Athena shared that she is so amazed that the great I AM can help, at the appointed time, and where she is.  That HE is involved with individuals, and that knowledge staggers her. God can bless us no matter where we are, and He is not constrained by our stupidity.

Acts 17:27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

We are not left to forge our own way. 

Psalm 139:7-10 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me. And Your right hand shall hold me.

No matter where God has put us, God is in control. Seek Him wherever we are. If you have problems, seek Him. Grope means to touch. In Greek it is 5584 “pselaphao” – which means to handle, touch, feel, seek after a person.

It implies groping blindly, going through the darkness.  We’ve got Jesus.

Athena told us that Jacob’s ladder was the unity of the physical and the divine. That God has a design for our lives, before we get an idea in our mind, God placed it there.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The time for God’s second coming is nearer and nearer.

The book of Acts is about the 12 dispersing to bless more than just the Jews. Acts is our book for this time. It teaches us how to approach unbelievers. Paul made himself available. Paul had faults, he was a human being with weakness and failures. God gave him the strength to be able to open up the Word.

Paul was speaking to various philosophers.  Acts 17:18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

The Epicureans denied God’s providence and the soul, they dealt with free will and lived hedonistic lifestyles.

The stoics believed in total self control and the absence of passion and emotion – sort of like the buddhists of today.

God is omnipotent, but He will not force us against our wills. If a man is able and willing, God will meet him where he is. If a man is not willing, God will not force himself upon a person.

We did not have to deal with sin until God taught us what was sin or not. We cannot avoid sin through self control and non attachment.  Evil happens when our passions control us. If we make a religion out of self, we will self destruct.  We need to discuss things to God.

When Paul came, they watched him, examining what he said from their philosophical point of view. The Epicureans sought pleasure – they fed themselves to avoid hunger, and sought warmth to avoid cold. There was nothing in their philosophy about forgiveness or sin.

God will help us with things, and all the saints of God have had problems that God has had to help them with. We need to relax in the knowledge that God is there, and allow God to do the surgery necessary in our hearts and psyches.

Praying your day is blessed!

Heather

Below is the video of a fantastic sermon by Pastor Don Moore, Living Word Chapel.  If you would rather read the text, I have included the closed captioning transcript (slightly edited for readability).  What is in [brackets] is what the congregation says. Praying your Easter is blessed! –

Heather

 

SAY AMEN
SHOW 143
POWER OF GOD’S WORD
02-07-10

But now that we’ve prayed, I want you to open your Bibles to Luke Chapter 7.  I want to share three passages of scripture with you.  And I know that this will encourage you.  

We went to the Holy Land in Florida.  We visited the TBN Holy Land in Florida.  We’ve visited the Holy Land before TBN had it.  And I can say unequivocally, without a doubt, it is improved.  TBN has done a wonderful, wonderful job.  And the prayer, the opening prayer that I gave was emphasizing the power of the Word.  At TBN at the Holy Land, they had different dramas and presentations. 

The one that they did on the day we were there was the Centurion.  And so they had the teaching of the Roman Centurion who had a servant who was ill.  And I think many of you know the story and we’ll just pass through it a little bit right now.  In it, they acted it out.  They had to change a few things in it, it wasn’t biblically, you know, perfectly lined up, but in order to make a drama you have to fill in the parts that weren’t there, so they showed the Centurion and his relationship with his servant.  We know from scripture that it was a close one.  And that he cared for this man and didn’t want his servant to die.  And they’re going through it, and I’m sitting there with my wife and we’re watching this dramatization. 

And I’m thinking to myself, well that guy there isn’t the Centurion.  But, you know, he could look kind of like this Italian boy running around up there on the stage, and he’s, you know, that’s not an authentic Roman uniform but it’s close enough.  It does look like some of the stuff they wore back then and then the servant girls were even more elegantly dressed than a servant girl would have been in Biblical times.  And then this, we’re sitting there and here comes Jesus.  And He’s coming from the back going up toward the front.  And here’s this, this tall long haired, blonde haired, six foot two, six foot three guy, [laughter].  I mean, he was huge.  If I was as tall as him, I’d still be playing in the NBA. This guy was huge.  I mean, he was tall.  Huge guy.  And so, they’re walking down the aisle with this pretend Jesus, you know, I mean he had hair, longer than his shoulders.  Had all this flowing long hair, and he’s got on this nice robe, and He’s smiling at everybody.  Coming in.  And I go, that’s a pretend Jesus.  [laughter] 

And so pretend Jesus goes up there with His pretend disciples, and they all sit down.  And the pretend Centurion comes over and the Word.  [hmm]  And they speak the Word as it is in scripture.  And the Presence of God just showed up.  And I’m sitting there with tears in my eyes.  The power of the Word of God will overcome costumes, decorations, [laughter].  It just overcomes it.  There’s something about the power of the Word. 

Let’s listen to the power here, of this Word… In Chapter 7, “Now when he concluded all His sayings. in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.”  Or Capernaum.  “And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him to come and heal his servant.  And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.  Then Jesus went with them.  And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.  Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You.  But say the word, and my servant will be healed.“  And listen to this. ” “For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to one, “Go,” and he goes; and to another, “Come,” and he comes; and to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.”  When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”  And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.” [amen] 

The power…is in the Word.  [yes, amen]  Let me say it again.  The power is in the Word.  [amen]  Oh let it be known throughout your heart and your mind that your words are of great importance.  [come on]  Know that the words that you speak are power.  They have creative force.  You are made in God’s image.  And the way that you’re made in God’s image, is you have the ability to create with your words.  [yes]  You can turn your situation around.  It is the rudder on the end of your life that will steer the boat that will turn it right or left.  Words are important.  But a word must be spoken.  Watch this now.  In conjunction with what God has already spoken. [Yes], and a Word must be spoken in obedience.   Not in doubt.  Not in excuse making or questioning. 

The difference between the centurion’s faith and the faith of the other men is in the simple phrase.  Are you ready?  Can you say it?  Yeah but…. [yeah but, oh preach, pastor]…. Yeah, but…. yeah, but….Look a little bit further in scripture, to verse 30… Verse 30.  “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.  And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:  “We played the flute for you,”  Yeah, but.  “…you did not dance…. We mourned to you,…”  Yeah, but.  “…you did not weep.”  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, “He has a demon.”  The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a wine bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”  

Well, what is the difference between these two groups of people?  The difference is that the centurion did not, “yeah but” Jesus, when he found out what Jesus could do.  He just said, “Yeah.”  [laughter]  Without the “but.”  [come on]  When Jesus is dealing with the Pharisees and the scribes, He is saying that your faith is terminated, your obedience is terminated, because you have a, “yeah but” that keeps us from seeing the hand of God in operation.

I’m convinced of it, I’m sure of it that when God gave man free will, He gave us more than we really thought we were getting.  [amen]  In that we forgot some key things here.  But the main thing that we forgot was that inherent, intrinsically in the Word of God, is free will and that free will can terminate and destroy the active desire that God wants to fulfill in our lives.  [amen]  And that, yeah but, oh my goodness. 

And why is it, I get a kick out of this.  But why is it we feel, when we are questioning that we are somehow more intelligent than someone who is just flat out obedient?  [hmmm, come on pastor, laughter]… Come on.  Am I right?  [yes]  I missed you guys.  [laughter]  But, you know, come on.  We look at someone who is just flat out obedient as they’re stupid.  But somebody that asks a whole lot of questions and has a whole bunch of yeah, buts, we somehow accredit to them a higher value of intelligence. 

You know, while I was away on vacation, I got to read, I was reading this book called, “The Disillusionment of Disbelief.”  And in it, he pointed out, by quotes.  I have always heard that Einstein was an atheist, or an agnostic, but that he did not believe in God.  Well, this guy did the research to go through different things that Einstein, one of the greatest minds, even the Bible Code, the Bible Code says, when you put in “Einstein” the Bible Code says, “a very smart fellow.”  [laughter]  See to God, he’s only a smart fellow, he’s not, brilliant or off the levels.  You know.  God’s not impressed with him.  But he was surprised that he was a smart fellow.  But, nonetheless, he quotes Einstein and people that were close to him, and Einstein refused to be identified with the atheists.  He refused to be identified with the agnostics because through science, he had discovered the order of the universe is so well set that it could not have happened by chance.  [amen]  Glory be to God.  Glory be to God. Isn’t that wonderful? 

So we have to recognize that being intelligent at a certain point, you, watch this now, you must, if you arrive at the higher levels of intelligence, you must arrive at the point where the questions stop, and faith kicks in.  [yes, amen]   cause there has to be a point at which you believe God knows more than you, God understands better than you.  The Word that God has spoken is more powerful than any word that has ever been spoken.  And therefore, when God gives you something that He wants you to do, or He speaks into your life, and it’s time to move instead of time to stay.  And it’s time to go and rather, than time to draw back.  It’s time to act rather than to sit idly by.  And God says, “Do it!”  Then it’s time not to say, “Yeah, but.”  But it’s time to get up and move as God has directed you.  [amen, hallelujah]  Somebody say, “Amen in this house.”  [amen]  Glory to God. I said, “Glory to God.”  [glory to God] 

Look at Luke, Chapter 6…. Verse 46.  We played the flute for you, yeah but, you didn’t dance…. We played a sad ditty for You to mourn, but yeah but, You didn’t mourn.  Well, why didn’t You?  Because you were questioning at each juncture what to do, than going, “Yeah, but.   Yeah, but.  Yeah, but.”… “Yeah but!”  [chuckling]  Now, that’s a good point.  Did you hear what she said?  She said, “Pastor Dona, was teaching and she said that whatever follows the but becomes greater than whatever preceded it.  [ooooh, yea]  If it isn’t greater, at least stalls the effectiveness of what preceded it.  Ok, everybody with me on this?  You understand where I’m going?  Or at least where I’m coming from? 

So Jesus is saying, what are we supposed to do with you people?  You know, we sent John the Baptist, he’s a teetotaler, and he’s out in the woods and he’s eating just honey and all, but you didn’t follow him.  You said, “Yeah but,” to him.  Now Jesus says, I come, I’m hanging out with the sinners and the tax collectors, and you go, “Yeah but” to that.  He says, so you have to realize, as a believer, the people that you want to lead to the Lord will yeah but you to death, because they have no vision, and they don’t have the Word of the Lord yet in them.  So how do you expect, you’re going to come up with something that’s gonna work?  [hmmm]  Huh?  Cause at some point, you just have to lay it down and say, “I’m going for it.”  [right]  I’m going for it.  I’m just going to do what the Lord says until I get, let’s see. 

Now Luke 6, verse 46.  It’s a very famous verse, you all know it.  He says, “But why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and not do the things which I say?  Whoever comes to Me and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:”  What’s he like, Jesus?  “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded....”  what?  ["on the rock"]  Say it again.  [on the rock]  One more time. [on the rock]  There, those are my people.  “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately….”  notice it says immediately”…immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”  

But, what’s He talking about?  The ruin of the house was great.  He’s saying, Lord have mercy.  If we build it on a rock, if we build on the rock of the Lord who has spoken things that are true, truisms.  The problem is that when we go, “Yeah, but” to a truism, we treat it as if it is a falsehood.  [right]  Right?  [yeah]  You say, this will work for you.  This will work for your marriage.  How do you know?  It’s in the Word of God.  That’s the way it is.  Well, then when you alter that, guess what?  You’re treating a truth as if it’s a falsehood.  And therefore, you are standing on your question and your question  cannot sustain you.  [that's right] … The brilliance of your question cannot sustain you in the face of the truth. 

Let’s do one more, now.  Go to, in Chapter 6 go all the way back to verse 33….33… “I have to turn the page.  Are you there?  [yes]  He says, “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.”  Let me ask a question.  Is that the truth[yes]  Sure is.  And then, look what He says.  “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.  For He is kind…He is kind to the unthankful and evil.  [hmmm]  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also merciful” 

Now I just want, I just want to play with your head for a second…. What is that saying?  Jesus isn’t establishing these as maybe they work.  He is giving Spiritual truth.  He said Spiritual truth.  The Father is merciful.  Spiritual truth.  If you act like Him, and are merciful, guess what He’s saying.  You will receive, what will you receive?  [mercy]   Mercy.  If you lend without expecting to get it back, what will you receive?  [great reward]  You will receive great reward.  He isn’t treating those as if they are suggestions that might work.  He’s giving them as tenets of truth that they definitely will work. 

Than why is it that even in the Church, when someone asks you to lend you something, you ask them, how much you going to pay me, and when are you going to pay me back?  [laughter]  [now, come on now] … Why do we do that?  And how about this one.  Well, I would have loaned him, but… I would have loaned him the money but what?  But I know he can’t pay me back, and I know.  I know he’s just a lowlife… We do that even in the Church.  And it’s not Gospel.  It’s just cheap.  [yeah]  …. So, what are we doing?  We are saying, “Yeah, but”  to the tenet of truth, which is, God is merciful, therefore be merciful like God.  God is giving, so be giving like God.  Don’t be judging.  If the guy can’t pay you back, then God is saying, “I guarantee you, that I God will pay you back.”  [amen]  That’s a truth.  [that's right] 

I’m just trying to use that one because most of us might be guilty of that at some point in time.  Cause I’ve done it.  I’ve had people, that I know can’t pay me back, ask me for something and I go, “Yeah but, you slime ball, I know you’re not going to pay it back.  So, I’m going to withhold this five bucks.”  As if somehow the five bucks is going to break me.  How many of you know that that ain’t going to happen.  [yes]  Yeah. Come on, elbow the person next to you and say, “Be giving.  Be merciful.”   [be giving, be merciful]  If nobody’s sitting next to you, do yourself.  [laughter]  Ok, that’s the truth, isn’t it?  [yes]  It is the truth. 

So, let’s say it together.  God is generous.  [God is generous]  and so am I.  [and so am I] 

Let’s look at some “yeah but” situations.  I’m just, I’m almost about out of time.  But let me just help you with a few “yeah but” situations.  King David is told not to take a census.  King David goes, “Yeah but.”  Cause he wanted to really know the size of his people, so he could put his chest out and say, “We have enough whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever.”  And it brought a curse upon him and upon the people of Israel.  And a plague broke out.  All because of his, “yeah but.” 

King Saul is going into battle.  King Saul’s going into battle.  And the priest was late coming to give the sacrifice.  [laughter]  And so, King Saul decides, “Huh, some of the people are leaving me.”  Is there anybody here, that you’ve looked around, you were going into a difficult situation, somebody promised to be there with you, and you looked around, and they are not there.  [laughter]  Has that ever happened?  [yes]  Yeah.  Come on, some of you wives know.  [laughter]  Some of you wives know.  He said he was going to go shopping with you, but when it came down to it, he found a way to get out of it.  [laughter]  Now, what I’m saying is, King Saul.  God has given him instructions, the king is to do what the Kings to do, and the Priest does what the priest does.  And the priest gives the sacrifice and the king’s not supposed to be involved in that thing.  And sure enough, he looks around, some of the soldiers are leaving.  He had his strength in the people around him, not in God.  [come on]  He was looking for somebody to do something about his situation. 

I love the President, the Congress, and the Senate.  But trust me, they ain’t going to fix this thing.  I’m not looking for them to fix this thing.  I’m putting my trust in Jesus Christ.  [yea, applause]  He’s the superstar here.  [applause]  He can fix it.  And He can fix my finances and look out for me. 

So, King Saul looked around and says, “Where, where are the trustees?  Where’s the army?”  And half of them were going over the mountain.  So he decides, he’s going to give the sacrifice.  Now the priest shows up…  The priest shows up and says, “Hey, yo, whatcha doing man?”   He said, “Yeah, but…”  [laughter]  I had to do something, yeah but.  Noooooo.  That was his “but.”  Wasn’t it?  [yes]  God snatched the kingdom away from him.  [that's right] 

You see, God has made provision for you and for your own greatness.  Can I preach to you for a second?  God has made provision for your own particular individual greatness.  He’s made provision for it.  He has set people in place to bring it.  He has timed it out.  He has a schedule that you’re going to reach point “A” at such a time.  And then be at point “B” at such a time.  He’s done it all.  But the only problem is your “yeah but”  will detain you.  Will get you off course.  Will hold you back from arriving at the place He has for you.  Where your greatest blessing is going to emerge and you shall have the victory.  But you can’t get there because your yeah but is keeping you on your butt.  [laughter] I’ve been away for awhile.  I just save it all up for you guys. 

But you know, there’s so much that we can, that we can learn from this so that hopefully, yeah but will get caught up in your mouth and you won’t be able to question it.  How many of you know, you’ve heard from the Lord at one point in your life, at least one time?  [laughter]  At least one time.  How many of you will admit it that sometimes that one time was answered by you with a yeah but.  [yes] 

Yeah but Jesus it’s too big.  It’s too big.  How about this one.  It costs too much.  [yes]  You know, it costs too much.  I’m afraid of the price tag.  And you go, yeah but, I’ll buy it if it’s free.  [laughter]  I saw a bumper sticker.  It says nothing was free till nothing became nothing.  [chuckles, amen, oh yeah]  Nothing is free until nothing becomes nothing.  So, until it has no value, then yeah, nothing is worth anything unless it has a price tag on it.  And everything that’s worth anything has a price tag on it. 

The most expensive thing to me in this room is my wife.  [there you go, amen]  She’s the most expensive thing I have.  But she is also the greatest value.  [amen, that's right]  I got the best return on value from my wife.  I am way, way ahead for what I spent as a 24 year old man, to get this woman.  I am way ahead.  [applause] … What are you talking about?  What are you talking about?  She wanted a diamond.  Went and bought it with her own money.  [whoot, laughter]  Don’t tell me I’m not blessed!  [laughter]  I’m thoroughly blessed, come on.  We have to see something. 

Things of great value come with a great price.  But if you yeah but during the negotiations, how’s God going to be able to bring it to pass for you?  [amen]  Nothing’s free out here.  But your yeah but…  How many of you have ever had the Lord speak a word to you, and half way beginning you went, “Yeah but.” 

You know what we do in the Body of Christ?  We call it, I need a confirming word.  [laughter]  I need a confirmation.  I don’t think that was the Lord.  Why?  You didn’t think it was the Lord because it was going to cost you more than you wanted to pay.  But you took your eyes off of what the prize was going to be, and you forgot, wait a minute, if It’s God, if God’s in it, the reward is going to be greater than the sacrifice I’m going to make to get it.  [amen]  But my yeah but will do what?  Will withhold it.  It will do what? 

It’s an excuse.  [right]  We need an excuse for our fear.  Why I’d be faithful in Church but I know I got one of these days man, Pastor Don’s going to walk up and ask me to do something.  [laughter]  So let me practice my excuses.  What are you talking about?  If I ask you to do something that didn’t give a blessing of God is going to be on it, and you’re going to be more blessed than you were before you were asked to do it.  [amen]  What are you talking about?  What are you talking about? 

 Excuses.  The other one, the yeah but will do is throw you a postponement.  [yep]… You know, you ever go to somebody’s house for dinner and sit awaiting for them to serve the dinner?  No, that doesn’t happen to you all.  But trust me, as a pastor, it happens.  [laughter]  You know, they invite you for dinner, and you sitting there, and they’re talking, and then you’re sitting there, and they’re talking, and you’re sitting there, and they’re talking and you’re sitting there, and they’re talking.  [laughter]  I lean over and say, “Was this a counseling session or dinner?”  [laughter]  Do we get to eat in between their talking?  [laughter]  They’re just postponing the meal.  Come on now, you all.  It’s like they’re afraid that if you eat, you’re going to run.  You know.  The sooner you feed me, I’m going to sit and stay.  But postponement.  Do you realize how many times we postpone the blessing that God has for us.  He’s got something really, really good for us, but we postpone it because we’re yeah butting it.  [yes]  Does anybody know what I mean? 

(singing)  Surround me, oh Lord.  Surround me, oh Lord.  Surround me, oh Lord.  Let your presence fill this place.  Oh, just invite Him into your heart today.