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Paul's Teachings in Greece

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Isaiah 10, Deut 32 The anointing breaks yokes
Isaiah 10:27-32
Isaiah 11:1 - the branch
Isaiah 11:1-5
Isaiah 11-13
Say Amen - Rest in the Lord
Worship
Who is the Christ Child to You? (Say Amen)
Isaiah 13
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Ezekiel 28 - lucifer the king of tyre
Microwave Healing
Water and Seed
The Power of God's Word sermon & video
Isaiah 14 & Ezekiel 28 and photo of Bible study
The Authority of The Believer to cooperate and work with the Holy Spirit 
Authority of the Believer to Cooperate and Work with the Holy Spirit part 2 
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Isaiah 23:15-18  
Isaiah 22 & 24  
Isaiah 24  
Isaiah 29  
Isaiah 29 (Cont)  
Responsibilities of a Prophet: Jeremiah 31 Isaiah 28  
Comments on Vicki Gabler's study of Philemon  
Isaiah 28 
Isaiah 32  
Pentecost & The Ten Commandments  
Isaiah 32 (Cont) 
Isaiah 35 & 36 & Ezekiel 38   
Ezekiel 37 Dry Bones 
Four things a believer needs to do to be used by the Holy Spirit 
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Woman at the Well  
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Apostasy in the Church 
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Why is there sickness?  
Isaiah 49 - 50 
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Understanding the Mind Part One - Say Amen 169 transcript   
Understanding the Mind Part Two - Say Amen 170 transcript 
Why the serpent on the pole? 
How to prepare a teaching. 
Victim or victor? 
Isaiah 59 

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He who has ears to hear

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Chip off the old block

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 1x3 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 of hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones; and under his glory He will kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

When God does kindle a fire or send leanness, often it is done over a period of time and the people don't notice it because it is so spread out. Right now in our country we are getting unusual weather patterns. At the time of this study there was six feet of snow in Denver, flooding in Kansas and Arkansas. Our government is right now using "global warming" and other things to try and gain control the population from birth to death. They have formulated a plan and it is like a spider web, leading to a one world government. The United States is the last major piece that has to be put under subjection. Most of America is already owned by foreign companies. We already have 1/4 million foreign soldiers on our land and they have not pledged their allegiance to the United States, they are at the specified moment to rise up and be given orders by the United Nations.  Any President that fought this tendency to give to the Federal Reserve the power, has been assassinated. The Federal Reserve is not controlled by the United States and they too are pushing for a one world government - it is even boldly shown on our dollar bills.  If you do not believe this, wait and see. The noose is already around our necks.

Isaiah 10:17-21 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. (18) And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they will be as when a sick man wastes away. (19) Then the rest of the trees of his forest will be so few in number that a child may write them. (20) And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. (21) The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

The will of man over the earth will be broken when God brings justice. God established a covenant 6,000 years. This covenant was broken by man, but God was longsuffering. God set His Word above Himself, but it was for a set period of time. 6,000 years man was sovereign, and what man did God did not always approve. Yet, when God brings justice, He always preserves a remnant.

Pastor Don explained that one day he cut down an oak tree in his back yard. The olive and the oak trees have a similar property. Unless you totally remove the stump, there will be many little trees that sprout up from the stump that is cut down.

In verse 17 when God talks about the light of Israel will be for a fire, he is speaking of the Holy Spirit who gives light and is His Holy one for a flame. Israel is walking in darkness but it is becoming light. When God breaks out in Revival it will be like nothing we have seen in these last days. Revival is a sovereign move of God. The Hand of God begins to minister. God sovereignly appears to the people and He's not going to revive the dead Church of America. God wants the Church to prepare so that when the flood comes we will all know how to lead people to Jesus, speak prophetic Words over them and bring healing.

In Verse 17-18 The Glory of God will not shine unless it is God who receives credit for the Glory. That is what happened to the Lakeland Revival, God shown forth brilliantly, but then man began to take the glory. Greenpeace won't take God's glory. Whatever we look to instead of to God, will not last. It will become wood, hay, and stubble.

Isaiah 10:21-23 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return; the destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a determined end in the midst of all the land.

God sets a determined end, a time when God says THAT'S ENOUGH. This is not something most pastors want to preach. But the truth is that just because God tarries doesn't mean that He never will act.

Pastor Don suggested praying verse 23, but only if you MEAN it.  That is to pray that the Lord GOD of hosts will make a determined end in your situation.  This comes at a point where you say, "That's enough!" But it must be said with a spirit of faith. Because you say so mentally or emotionally does not mean that you have arrived at the point of ENOUGH. You need to get to the point of that's ENOUGH - Faith.

But when you pray this prayer you have to be prepared for God to stop it ANY WAY HE CHOOSES. You cannot put conditions and strings on God regarding the situation. We have to be willing to accept whatever it takes. This "that's enough" comes up from the Spirit man, and we hear it in our head and say, "Ok, no strings attached." Until you turn your situation loose, God is not going to change it. God will stop the situation and you will see that our resources that permit the situation will close down, demonic activity will stop, and you will have those fleshly issues stopped. God will uproot everything, not leaving even a stump. We need to be willing to lose everything for God's purpose.

Pastor Don, in speaking about illness, said that oftentimes we won't stop our negative behavior until the doctor tells us to, and by then it can be too late to avert the situation, and then we need a miracle. If you don't have enough faith to stop BEFORE irreparable damage, how can we work up the faith for a miracle?

If we declare a determined end. God can preserve a REMNANT and use it for His glory. This doesn't mean that we have the faith to remove the damage, but we can declare a determined end. What organ in your body is above the sovereign will of God?  None. We need the faith to call a determined end and walk it out. Then pray for restoration.

Praying your day is blessed!!!

Heather

For Part one of this study, see here.
 
Pastor Don continued with the elementary principles of faith.

Hebrews 6:2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Laying on of hands was to confer an office such as ordination.  It was also used to heal sickness; to consecrate which means to sanctify or set apart. Laying on of hands was done by the leading of the Holy Spirit. You do not ordain anyone unless they are ALREADY doing the work. 

Laying on of hands also confers the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Most of the Church is not baptized in the Holy Ghost. Without the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, when a person prays they can only pray Mercy. The Holy Ghost gives us Grace - Grace is more than just unmerited favor, it is God's empowerment and ability for you to do what God wants you to do. Mercy begs God to help us. Grace is: God gave us the ability to fight the devil. We are to use what God gave us.

The principles of the Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment. We need to believe in the resurrection of the dead or our faith doesn't have a basis. And Eternal Judgment - God will judge.

Here is the way sin can't be forgiven.
Hebrews 6:4-5 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

In order for blaspheme of the Holy Spirit to occur EVERY ONE of the above mentioned conditions must be met by a person. A new believer or an unbeliever cannot do this. 

1. The person has to have been once enlightened - they have to KNOW THE TRUTH
2. Tasted of the heavenly gift - KNOW CHRIST
3. Partakers of the Holy Spirit - Received the Holy Spirit and works in signs, wonders and prophesy.
4. Tasted the Good Word of God - Know the Word of God
5. And the Powers of the Age to Come - know the fulfillment of all prophesy.

They have to do ALL five of these things.

Then Hebrews 6:6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

If they knew and operated in all the five things mentioned in verses 4-5, deliberately turn their back on Christ and the Holy Spirit, they cannot repent and be forgiven a second time. Christ died once for our sins. If we reject His sacrifice knowing what He did, and FULLY operating in the Giftings and Callings, knowing fully that the path of repentance is the cross, and we cast it down, we can't just pick it up again.

Most people cannot do this, for it goes way beyond doubt and unbelief.  One example Pastor Don gave us was Judas.  Judas knew Christ, knew the Word, operated in the gifts and callings and powers of the Holy Spirit, and then rejected Jesus with full knowledge of who He was. 

For someone committing the Blaspheme of the Holy Spirit Jesus would have to come again as the Suffering Savior and die again on the Cross, and He isn't going to do that.

When Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it the second time, that was a picture of the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit. Moses lived a long life, and did much good for God, but was not able to enter the Promised Land because of the sin of striking the rock. 

We then spoke about how long a person will live. Someone asked about the promise of the 120 years and the passage in Psalms promising 70-80 years.

Psalm 90:10 The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Pastor Don said that in the Genesis verse God set a time. 120 years times 50 (Jubilee) = 6000

God is giving us he span of time from Genesis to the New Testament. God created man on the 6th day - and a day to God is as 1000 years, as scriptures shows us.

Moses, the Patriarchs, King David and Jesus came in the first 4000 years.  We have now had 2000 years of the Church Age and are entering into the 7th day.

God revealed the Rock of Salvation to Moses and the people (which Moses struck the first time at God's command) but then Moses in his anger struck the rock the second time.  The most humble man in the world, Moses, got lifted up in pride in a moment of anger.

If you operate from anger you can mess up.

A non-believer can't commit the unpardonable sin. You can't lose salvation that you haven't received.

All five conditions must be met, a person has to know what they are capable of through God, reject that, and then when they reject God there is no other place for them to go but to Hell.

Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees whitewashed tombs - they knew that the Messiah was coming, knew Jesus was the Messiah and rejected him.

We looked at how they knew that the Messiah was in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus - the Scribes and Pharisees would have bee very familiar with Daniel's prophesy.

Daniel 9:25-27 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”

We did the math.  7 + 62 = 69 weeks   69 x 7 = 483

A Jewish year is 360 so 483 x 360 = 173,880

The Jews were counting the time since the decree to rebuild the temple and the Messiah was riding in to Jerusalem on the exact day calculated by Daniel that He would come and be cut off. The Scribes and Pharisees KNEW and rejected Him.

Because we are studying ISAIAH, Pastor Don went back to cover a few verses.  He commented that at this rate we will be in Isaiah for a very long time.

Isaiah 9: 8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel.

In the story of Jacob, Jacob wrestled with God and received the new name of Israel. Whenever Jacob acted in the flesh, God called him Jacob. When he acted in accord with God, God called him Israel.

Jacob is the natural root, Israel is the spiritual root.

Isaiah 9:9 All the people will know— Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria— who say in pride and arrogance of heart:

Manassas and Ephraim were from the tribe of Joseph. The Jews came back to the Land but separated themselves out and did not want to go into the Promised Land, pride and arrogance.

Isaiah 9:10 The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.

Isn't that what we do? God ordains something we don't like, and we substitute something else for it.  When Jesus came, He made us all priests in His Kingdom, but the Church wanted to take back that authority from the people and set their priests over them again.

Pastor Don spoke about how many churches have on the altars three chairs, one throne like chair with a high back flanked by two other chairs. It is here that the priest, pastor sits, flanked by the elders. This hearkens back to the pagan days where the judges sat on the bema seat.  The priests want to get us back to the feeling that only through them can we get to God, when Jesus came and died so that we can go straight to God ourselves.

When you teach the Word of God and the Spirit of God order what you teach, or else get out of the business of being teacher and pastor. If the Holy Ghost does not show up, and you are not being led by Him, then get out of the business. We need to be teaching the truth that God wants us to teach.

Isaiah 9:11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and spur his enemies on,

The LORD sets up the adversaries. If we stray to far to the left or right from God's perfect plan for our lives God will permit the enemy to come to push us back towards God's plan.

Isaiah 9:12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.  For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.

For you to prosper, sometimes He has to permit those enemies to attack you so that you come to a point where you accept His stretched out hand and believe Him.

Heather's note: I love the last line - His hand is stretched out still.  I need to remember that as I face the trials that I face. Praying your day is blessed!

Heather

Below is a Bible study I taught last Thursday. The computer I ordinarily work with has DIED, and we are trying to retrieve data. I hope this blesses you and I will try to get more information up ASAP.  Have a blessed day! Heather

Choice and Change: Learning to Operate in the Full Authority of the Believer

When we step out in the authority of the believer, we will necessarily be making some changes in our lives.  These changes are not made in a vacuum and the changes we make will affect others around us, family, friends, associates, and neighbors.  Sadly, most people are uncomfortable with change, and often they persist in seeing us as we once were rather than as who we are becoming.  Even we tend to resist changes in our lives, for it takes us out of our comfort zone.  We have no choice as to how others view us and what their opinions of our changes are, but we do have choice in what we do and how we react.  One of the most important aspects of change in the Believer is making God the Lord of our life, our CEO.

When we change a few things begin to happen.

1. We have to let go of stuff – when we take on a new identity in Christ, those things from our past must drop away.  We have to fill ourselves with new things of Christ and drop off those things that do not line up with the Word of God.
2. Many people who knew us before we were saved will persist in seeing us as we were, not willing to accept that we can change and would prefer that we return to our “real selves” as they knew us. Fortunately we also have others who will support the changes in us. It may mean that we have to change friends, but we can’t change family.  So we have to learn to stand strong in our faith in the midst of our families.  We can rest on the promise that God has promised to save our whole families.  Acts 16:31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
3. We may have to put things that once defined us to new uses.  For example, a lead guitarist may have to give up playing secular songs and turn to other kinds of music.
4. We need to use our OWN tools (new and old), building our faith, not depending on the tools of others, even those who are our mentors, although at the beginning our mentors will help us and begin to teach us how to use our OWN tools.  And as we grow and develop, they will be there to guide us.  But like any good parent, our mentors and teachers want us to walk on our own with the help of God, not lean on the mentor or teacher for every problem. And the Bible tells us to Mark 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.

Let’s look at some Biblical examples.

Moses

Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s household, yet was nursed by his Jewish mother.  His mother gave Moses the training that he had that caused him to rebel against the harsh treatment of the Israelite slaves.  Taking matters into his own hand, he ended up killing a slave master and had to flee for his life.  He spent 40 years on the backside of the desert shepherding for his Gentile father-in-law.  By the time Moses encountered the Burning Bush he was 80 years old, and yet God would use him. This sort of dispels the myth that we are too old to begin a ministry, or that our age is a detriment.  We can begin something new at any age.

Moses tried very hard to convince God that he was not the leader that God wanted him to be, and God ultimately gave him Aaron to help – but that was not God’s original plan.  God did not commission Moses and Aaron, God spoke to Moses.  

Exodus 3:1-3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

Moses turned aside from his regular routine.  We can get so caught up in our day-to-day business that we neglect to see the unusual even when it is in our midst.  God attracted Moses’ attention through the burning bush, and Moses stopped and looked, it caused him to question his assumptions.  Why did the bush not burn?  That stopped Moses in his tracks and gave him a chance to listen to God.  Moses had a choice.  He could have walked on and not stopped at the burning bush.  He could have been so preoccupied with his problems of shepherding that he didn’t even notice the burning bush, or he could have made light of it (pun intended).  We take many things for granted, which is probably why Jesus wants us to be like children – questioning, inquisitive.

God commissions Moses, and Moses comes up with reasons why he is not the one God called.  The task was huge, and by this time, after 40 years on the backside of the desert Moses probably only saw himself as shepherd and husband.  This would require going back where he ran away from, facing Pharaoh, and leading his people, several million Israelites. I know I spent a lot of time wondering if God could have saved me – I had the sin of the week, sure that that was the very sin God could not forgive.  I had excuses to not do what God wanted me to do.  It doesn’t take long though to realize that God has His best for us, and if we cooperate with Him, our lives become exciting, adventuresome, and far, far easier.

Exodus 3:11-15 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”  So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”  Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’

It is very easy to make excuses to God. Moses will tell God he stutters, asks God, what if they ask Your Name?  If you read the account, at NO time did anyone ask Moses God’s Name – I Am Who I Am. At some point though, we have to come to the point of stopping the excuses and stepping out in faith.  Trust me, it is scary when you step outside of your comfort zone, but the rewards are tremendous.  Moses will see and do things he could never have imagined doing.  God will use him powerfully.

We have a choice. We can view ourselves through the eyes of our past failures (killing the slave master), we can look at ourselves in the flesh and come up with excuses for why we are not qualified, or we can step out in faith and do what God wants us to do, knowing that the task that He gives us will give God the Glory, especially since it is bigger than we can conceive. And if we choose that adventure, we will never be bored in our faith. 

Exodus 4:1-5 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”  He said, “A rod.”  And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Moses had his shepherd’s tool in his hand.  His rod was used as a walking stick, staff, weapon to defend against wild animals, and in essence his financial security for as he protected the sheep it increased the wealth of his family.  It represented security and was clearly part of Moses’ shepherd identity.

God told Moses to cast the rod down – sometimes we have to put the tools down or change how we use them. God will give Moses and Aaron many new uses for the old – expanding the rod’s usage.

Exodus 4:1-5 & Exodus 7:17  Cast it down to become a serpent.

Exodus 8:5  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’”

Exodus 8:16-17 So the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’” And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:23 And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt.

Exodus 10:13 So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

Exodus 14:16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

Exodus 17:5-6 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”

Exodus 17:9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”

Numbers 17:6-8 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.

It must have been heady stuff for Moses.  And we need to guard against getting carried away with what God is doing through us and go beyond what God tells us. Instead of obeying God & speaking to the rock to get water the way God told him to, Moses used his rod in a way not prescribed by God and lost the right to enter the Promised Land by disobedience.

Numbers 20:11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

Each of the plagues and things that God instructed Moses to do were types and shadows of Jesus.  Jesus was smitten ONCE, not twice, and when Moses disobeyed God, he messed up the picture that God was painting of Jesus.  Did that mean that Moses was discarded by God?  No.  God still used him, but sadly Moses could not enter the Promised Land with his people.  To Moses’ credit, when God pulled back the opportunity to enter the Promised Land, Moses did not pout and sit down and refuse to continue with his tasks.  He still lead and prepared the people for their eventual entry to the Promised Land and continued shepherding them.  That shows the incredible character of Moses, and is probably why God let him go to the top of Mount Nebo to look over into the Promised Land.

We should not assume that just because we do not FEEL we have any super special things or talents in our lives that we cannot serve God. Know that God can take what things and talents that we take for granted and convert them to His purposes in special ways.  He can expand our horizons and outlooks with God ideas. But we need to be careful to stick close to the guidance of God or we risk doing something in error and losing the blessing. And when God calls us to do something we are to do it to the uttermost, not half-heartedly.  Matthew 25:21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

God will equip us and guide us.  He knows our frames and knows us so well that He can provide the best weapons for our use. And the ordinary becomes extraordinary in God’s hands. Imagine a pitcher, trumpet, and torches as weapons of warfare.

Gideon – Judges 7:16-22 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do:  When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!’”  So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!” And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

David used a smooth stone as a weapon against Goliath.  1 Samuel 17:38-40 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.

Notice that Saul tried to get David to use his armor to fight Goliath.  David knew that he was not skilled in using that armor, and chose what he was used to dealing with – the slingshot.  David would not have succeeded wearing Saul’s armor.  David had to listen to God, not Saul.  Often those around us have had methods of dealing with their situations that worked for them, but God deals with us INDIVIDUALLY, and we cannot use other’s methods for our own battles.  We need to grow in our faith and begin wielding the weapons God gave us, and the weapons that we have used in practice, when we are faced with a giant of a problem.

Acts 19:13-17 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”  Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

We cannot fight our battles on someone else’s faith or work, when the Jewish exorcists tried to cast out demons by the Jesus whom Paul preaches, it did not work and they got trounced. They would need to build their own relationship with the Savior for them to exercise the authority of the believer.  Paul’s faith would not work for them.  We can learn about faith and how to build our faith in these classes, but until we put the pedal to the metal, check the words that come out of our mouths, make sure we are fed a healthy diet of the meat of the Word, and begin to apply what we are learning we will not be effective.  We can’t speak healing or any other authority by the Jesus that Pastor Don knows.  It has to be done by the Jesus that we know.

We need to make an honest assessment of ourselves and see what talents and abilities we have, being willing to give them over to God so that He can use them – often in ways that we do not expect.  The problem is we end up getting into the rut of a routine and do things the way we have always done them.  It is ok in some circumstances, in unhealthy behaviors it is insane to keep doing things the same way hoping for a different outcome.  And until we get out of the rut, we can’t go forward into new territory.  If we are not willing to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit and make the changes, God may permit life circumstances to come in and shake us up so that we begin to look at things from a new perspective.  God wants us to believe Him and step out in faith. 

We can get into the paralysis of analysis, or not move for fear of failure. Another argument we may have is that we don’t exactly know where we are going. We would be in good company with that one.  Abraham was told by God to Genesis 12:1-4 Now the LORD had said to Abram:  “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Abram went even though he did not know where God was going to lead him – it took guts to pick up and move.  Abram was prosperous where he was and there were risks to traveling, but he chose to trust God. What the Bible doesn’t mention is that Sarai accompanied Him – and she too had to have faith in God to do that.  I know if my husband said, pack up your house and we are going to move – where? I don’t know, wherever God leads us, it would take a great deal of faith.  They had to leave their comfort zone and travel to territories unknown and without a roadmap.  I know that I would be most happy if God gave me an elaborate map with “You are Here” and a series steps that I will be taking.  There is a commercial on TV where a person contacts a financial planner (Fidelity) and immediately a road marked in green is put in front of them, and directs their every step.  Sometimes I wish God would do that in my life – but then where would the faith be in that?  And I think God protects us by not showing us all the things that will happen to us, some of us are not as ready as Paul was to know what we are destined for.  God operates with us on a need to know and trust basis.

 And over time God also promised Abraham that he would become the Father of Many Nations.  Abraham believed God.  Romans 4:1-4 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

Abraham believed God and was justified not by his works but because He believed God.

Abraham kept believing God in circumstances that seemed impossible to the human mind.  It wouldn’t be until Abraham was 100 years old and Sarai in her 90’s that they would naturally birth their first child.  God waited until there was NO other explanation except, “Look what the Lord has done.”  Abraham’s faith was also evidenced in his WAITING.  I don’t know about you, but in this microwave society waiting is VERY hard to do.  And Abraham waited many, many years to see the fulfillment of this promise of God.

Romans 4:17-22 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Did he do this perfectly?  No.  He questioned God about how this could be.

Genesis 15:1-6 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”  And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Notice, God got Abram out of his tent – sort of a canvas ceiling (glass ceiling) and out into the open air and gave him the job of numbering the stars.  Nothing like a little bit of perspective to help Abram realize that God was sovereign, and bigger than him, and exceedingly able to do all that he promised.  Yet God was not angry with Abram’s questions.  We can talk to God and ask Him to guide us in what He wants us to do. That is why we have the Holy Spirit to help us.  God will meet us where we are at, but ultimately we do have to come to the point of saying to ourselves, “I choose to trust God.” And take that step in faith.  As Pastor Don says, you can’t steer a parked car.  You need to move and then God can help steer you toward the path He wants us to go.

Remember Saul/Paul was persecuting Christians thinking he was doing what God would want him to do – to punish those who were not abiding by the Law of Moses.  Jesus stopped Saul in his tracks, showed him literally how blind he was, and brought him into line with the Truth – Paul ended up being a leader of the church, saving souls, and writing the gospels.

Where we get in trouble is getting out of time with God’s plan for our lives.  Abram and Sarai tried to help God by having Abram sleep with Hagar and produced Ishmael.  That was not part of God’s plan. Abram made other mistakes, but each of these helped him to grow in character and learn to trust God until the ultimate test came, when God had him sacrifice his son, his only son.  And Abram was willing to do that. (Genesis 22). 

We are works in progress and God sees us as we will become.   For example, look at Gideon.  God met Gideon hiding in a winepress and trying to sift wheat.   Judges 6:11-12 Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”  

God called Gideon a might man of valor, even though at this time he was hiding in a wine press trying to harvest some wheat.  The enemies were in the practice of coming in and stealing the crops that the Israelites grew, and Gideon was hiding out trying to get some wheat for his family.  He certainly was not acting valorously.  But remember, Romans 4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

Judges 6:13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

Again, just like Moses, Gideon asked God questions.  God chose not to answer those, and just commissioned Gideon.  To his credit, instead of pouting and saying, “God, unless you answer my questions, I will not do what you tell me to do.”  Gideon will ultimately obey God.  I know that there was a period of time where I had tough questions for God and God did not answer them.  That made me even angrier at God, but now, in retrospect I know why God did not answer those questions.  I wasn’t ready to hear the answers.  Now God is revealing some of those answers to me, and I am grateful to Him, but had He revealed them to me earlier, those same answers would have driven a wedge between God and me.  God knows when we are ready for the answers.  And some of the answers will never come to us this side of Heaven.  We really need to trust God and know that God has His best for us. If He is not answering our question there is a very good reason for that, and we just need to rest in Him.  God will answer according to our maturity.  We answer a little child’s questions in a language that he can understand but may answer the same question from an adult in a far different way.  I never will forget when my oldest son, at the age of five, asked his father where babies came from.  My husband gave him an honest answer and he fell off the chair laughing, and then later told us that he would never kiss a girl.  We have that statement of his on tape and plan to pull it out to share with his future bride.

Judges 6:14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

God is good, if we don’t believe Him the first time and He really wants us to do the task He will continue telling us.  And Notice that God again called Gideon mighty, even though Gideon was still not acting mighty.

Of course, as it says in the book of Esther 4:13-14 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Judges 6: 15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

We need to get it out of our head that we have to be all that before God can use us.  God loves to use the impossible ones to accomplish his goals. 1 Corinthians 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

Judges 6:16 And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

What we tend to forget is to not look at ourselves and what we are, but rather to realize that when we are doing God’s will, God is with us.  And God is the one doing the work, not us.  When the problem seems to big, don’t look at the problem, look at God.  To be honest, at times that seems a great challenge for me.  But I am getting better at that.  We grow in faith as we see God help us with one insurmountable problem after another.  That is why it is so important to thank God and praise God for what He has done. That gives us the faith when the next difficult problem comes.

Gideon then does the wise thing, a sacrifice and offering to God.  When we are faced with tough challenges or feel dwarfed by what God wants us to do, the best way to build our faith is to sacrifice to God.

Judges 6:17-21 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.  Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”  So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

Remember, the angel of the Lord is the pre-incarnate Christ. The meat and unleavened bread were the offerings given in the temple, and it is through the action of the Angel of the Lord’s acceptance of the offerings, through fire, and then his departure out of sight that Gideon realized that THIS REALLY WAS GOD.  Sometimes God comes to us and we are not sure it is Him, and it takes time for it to dawn on us the truth of Him.  And then we begin to realize the awesomeness of the encounter in retrospect.

Judges 6:22-24  Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”  Then the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”  So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Here is another important task of the believer – building altars or remembrances to where God has touched our lives.  It can be journal entries, or songs, poems, or even an awareness of His presence that we remember and pass down to our children and our children’s children telling them, “Look what the Lord has done.”  When we get lost or misdirected, as most of us do, it is important to remember the last instructions of God and return there to continue our journeys.  When you feel like God is not there, go back to the point where He was last “there” for you and think about what he has told us to do.  God is going to give Gideon instructions. I suspect if Gideon had not carried them out, Gideon would not have been used by God until he did.  These took great courage for Gideon to do, built up his character and strength to do the next task.  God will, just like we do with our children, set goals for us a bit beyond where we think we can reach, and then when we reach those He moves the goals.

Judges 6:25-27 Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”  So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon did what God told him to do – yes, he did it by night, but still he did this task, and that ultimately led him to the final battle with few men, the torches, pitchers, and trumpets that we mentioned earlier.

But Gideon was not certain that it was really what God wanted him to do.  Gideon looked at himself and the task at hand and doubted.  So he asked God if he could put out some fleeces.

Judges 6:36-40 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”  And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”  And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

God met Gideon at the place of his doubt and answered his request regarding the dew and the fleeces.  Today, we do not want to lay fleeces – that is one sure way of getting fleeced. It is tempting to get a “sure” sign from God, but we are in a different place from Gideon.  We have the Holy Spirit within us and the written Word of God, and by using those we can get confirmation.  We also have our pastor, elders, and mentors to go to and they will help us find confirmation.  In this day and age, satan would love to counterfeit a sign from God to misdirect us.  In Gideon’s time the Holy Spirit only rested on people for a time, we have the Holy Spirit within us. 

 As we walk with God and know Him and about Him, there will be times when we have to drop off certain aspects of our lives.  Take, for example, Blind Bartemaeus.

Mark 10:46-52  Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.–

Bartimaeus  stepped out in faith leaving behind his beggar’s cloak – that involved great faith, for being blind and jostled by the crowd, there would have been no way for him to retrieve his cloak. He chose to trust Jesus and that faith caused him to receive his healing.

Jesus will stop at our cries for help and respond.  But we also need to be clear what it is that we want.  That requires self-examination.  Bartimaeus knew that he wanted to receive his sight. 

What is it that we want? Have we asked God to help us in it?  No problem is too big or too small that we cannot take it to God. But it may require that we give up things from our lives that no longer apply.  I had to give up unforgiveness and forgive my abusers in order to gain healing from my past.  I had to give up my self-imposed victim status to gain the ability to walk in victory in Christ.  I had to step out in faith, believing God, and God responded to my actions.  We may have to throw off our beggar’s cloak of sickness, pride, resentment, unforgiveness, hatred, feeling inadequate, the labels we have assumed on our lives, knowing that Jesus died for these sins and illnesses, and that His resurrection assures that  Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Sometimes we don’t want to take off our old selves, we like what we are, but we are told by Paul that we need to:

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

There is a danger in looking back – like Lot’s wife we can become a pillar of salt – frozen in place and not moving any direction.  We can get pulled back into the past or we can get puffed up in pride about how much we have grown and how far we have come.  Any of these are tricks the enemy can use to prevent us from doing what God has called us to do.

God will give us a direction to take and we can begin doing what God wants us to do, then He gives us a different direction.  We have a choice to go where we are going and miss the move or God, or do what God wants.  Sometimes it involves giving up something that seems productive for an unknown.

Acts 8:26-31 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.  So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”  So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

Philip had a ministry and was preaching and getting many saved, but God asked him to leave that and find a lone eunuch and minister to him.  That had to have been a surprising request, but by him ministering to that one Ethiopian eunuch, it laid the foundation for the Christian Church in that region.  Sometimes we feel we are in God’s perfect will because our ministry is blooming and flourishing, but God then wants to move us somewhere else.  It is natural to want to dig in our heels and not move, but the truth is that to minister to one person in line with God’s Will, will net more results than all the work (even good works) that we do in our own understanding.  We don’t see the whole picture God does.

The last thing that we need to remember is that our circumstances do not always determine if we are in God’s perfect will – it would be nice if our circumstances were perfect and that was the scale we used to determine His will – and if we are in miserable circumstances, we would be out of His will.  But it doesn’t work that way.  Jesus was tortured and battered, the disciples were tortured and killed when they spread the Gospel.

Listen to what Paul said.  2 Corinthians 11:22-31 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

Paul, if you looked at his external circumstances, sure would seem to be having so much trouble that you could doubt that he was doing God’s will, but we know that Paul was in the perfect will of God.  We cannot judge by our circumstances, only by the Word and the Holy Spirit.

So, as we make changes in our walk of faith in God, and act on the Authority of the Believer we can expect the world to react.  We cannot let reactions from other people, our own perceptions of inadequacy, fear, previous failures, circumstances, supposed lack of talent, ability and resources, other’s opinions, mistakes, the paralysis of analysis, history, the passage of time as we wait on God, and a faulty perspective keep us from doing His will.

It is far, far better to be in God’s perfect will.  He has a wonderful plan for us, and

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God  than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Philippians 1:3-6 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Let’s read as a prayer:  Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.