Luke chapter 12 verse 32 says this.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen
gladly to give you the Kingdom. Amen.
Well, aren't you glad we have No Fear.
No Fear? That doesn't mean fear doesn't
come. But we know how to address it.
All right? We are not afraid in this life.
And no matter what we hear going on in the world, that doesn't
bring fear to us. OK, so he said, do not be
afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly.
It's his good pleasure to give us the Kingdom.
Now, the Kingdom is not something that we receive once
we die. The Kingdom is something we
receive once we're born and again that's why Jesus said now
when you pray, pray to us way our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be your name, your Kingdom, what your will be on as
it is. Amen.
So the Kingdom allows us to be able to have the opportunity to
pull Kingdom into the planet. Right now.
It's not something we're waiting on.
So kingdom's not heaven, Kingdom is the the rule of the king and
his dominion. It's the government of God, all
right, and God sits on a throne. God the Father sits on the
throne, his son Jesus sits at his right hand.
And we've been raised up once we're born again and we're
seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Now that just simply means that we, we are in the position of
authority that the King Jesus himself, right?
He, his authority has been delegated down to us.
All right? So praise God for that.
So we need to know that God is always in his Kingdom, cannot be
shaken. His Kingdom cannot be defeated.
His Kingdom will never be defeated.
Amen. His Kingdom will reign for
eternity and so we're already in that Kingdom today and its
benefits are towards His citizens, which happened to be
His sons and daughters, of which we all happen to be royalty.
Glory to God, so He's chosen to give us the Kingdom.
Well, in order for you to receive the Kingdom of God or
have access to it, it is knowing the will of God again, our
Father, not Jesus his Father, but our Father, our Father which
lives in heaven or art in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come, your will be on.
So God the Father's will in heaven can manifest in the earth
and in order for that will to to manifest in the earth, then we
need to know what he is saying. His word is his will.
I said his word is his will. And where Ecclesiastes 84 says
where the word of the king is, there's power.
And so we have the word of the king.
And that's amazing because on Sunday, you know, we touched
based about not wavering and that faith comes by hearing.
Now faith comes by hearing period.
Because everyone is developing A belief and firm persuasion in
life based on what they hear. So if they hear CNN and they
believe the experts and then they will model their lives
based upon those. Same thing with Fox News, MSNBC,
NPR, whatever source you're listening to.
Cheddar News, it doesn't matter. Same thing with entertainment.
Same thing with health. You go to your doctor, right?
And he begins to tell you some certain things.
You may have never studied it out.
You've never looked at any research concerning it, but yet
you trust them and their word concerning the diagnosis.
So much so that we will go and get a prescription of a drug
that we have. We're not at the plant or the
you know where they produced it nor know the credentials of
anyone who does on it. It will tell us what it is
supposed to do, but also will give us a list of side effects,
right? Have you ever watched the
commercials about what you can have, right?
And, you know, and, but you know that when they're doing the side
effects, everybody's laughing and smiling, you know, so you're
tuned into how happy everyone is, you know, because they're
not showing you during the side effects comments of what that
looks like, right? You know, you may have a stroke
that leads to death. You don't see that in the
commercial because if you saw that you like, I'm not taking
that so they don't demonstrate and I'm not making light of
that. What I'm saying is they're
giving you a picture of hope. Meaning if it functions as we
have designed it, it is there to help you.
However, they some people may have an adverse effect to it.
Now here's the good news. When God speaks on a matter and
you obey it, it only has good benefit.
There are no side effects but what his word says.
So we put our trust in words all the time.
So you, you go down, you get the prescription and then, you know,
they give it to you. And again, you're believing that
the right prescription is in that bottle.
I mean, you've never seen it before and we'll put it in our
mouth. Now, has there not been cases of
people who put prescription in that they, the pharmacist filled
the wrong thing and it for some it was fatal, right.
But yet even though we know that's the case, our firm
persuasion. And what do I mean by firm
persuasion? Firm persuasion means you act on
it, you open it up, it says take, you know, one time daily
or twice daily, you put it in, you ingest it and you're
believing that the positive aspects of this prescription is
going to affect my body positively and that is faith.
That's what faith is. Faith is not saying, well, I
believe the doctor in the prescription he gave me will
work, but then you never take the prescription.
If you never take the prescription, then you're not
actually in faith. It doesn't matter that you
purchased it doesn't matter that it's at the house because it
doesn't do what it was supposed to do unless you put it in.
Same thing is you can have the Bible at the house, right?
You can hear what God has said about something, but unless
you're acting on it, being a doer of that word, then you're
not in faith and you can have hope.
Well, you know what? I just believe what you're
really saying. I hope that what it says comes
to pass, but it will never get into coming to pass till you get
in faith. All right, So when you take
prescriptions, vitamins, whatever you, that's your faith
action that it is because you've put it in.
It's becoming a part of your system now, and the only way it
gets out is if you go to the doctor and they pump it out
because it gets in your bloodstream.
It goes throughout your body, OK?
It's a part of who you are. God wants the faith, our faith
in him to be a part of who we are.
It's it's our being because he said we are to live by faith.
So it's our being. It's how we function.
And the reason we can is because our God, the creator of heaven
and earth, the only God, is not a man that he should lie.
So he's never lied. He's light and there's no
darkness in him. He is not a liar.
So what he says he will do? Hallelujah, man, that's good
news. I said that's good news and that
strengthens me because I know that the King of all creation,
that when he speaks a word to me, I know it shall be and his
His word is trustworthy, is without fault or failure.
It is only for my benefit so that I can be all that God needs
me to do be and receive the benefits that he's called me to
be now because Adam, you know, disobeyed God in in Genesis
chapter 3 when he said you can eat from any tree of the garden,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
You shall not eat for the day you eat, you'll die.
And did did what God say come to pass?
Because what he says comes to pass?
So but because that took place, God says, OK, in order for man
to have dominion, I'm going to have to send my own son to get
that back because I said man's going to have dominion.
I'm going to give him a pathway back to dominion.
I always do what I said. Now man's free will.
And if he doesn't want what I have for him, he could choose
different, but he'll have the result of a difference.
Because my design for man is that he would be my child, He
would be of my nature, and he would rule and reign with me.
If you want to do a different path, you can.
But that different path leads you into the prison system of
the Kingdom, which is rebellion. And ultimately you're cast into
the lake of fire. And that's never where God
wanted you to be because obedience brings life.
Disobedience brings death. So God has to bring Jesus so
that he can redeem man. And now that the world has
fallen, there's this attack on the Word.
Now let me, I'll even go this far without a fallen earth.
There is attack on God's word. Because in the garden, before
sin entered the earth, the one who fell from heaven, the
morning star, the King James calls him Lucifer.
We call him Satan or the Devil. He came into the garden to tempt
Eve to, to, to get him, her and her husband to disobey the word
of God. Once he found out what God's
word was, he needed to know what God's word was.
He says, has God said because he's looking, because he knows,
he knows he was in heaven, he was there.
He knows God does what he says. So when he found out that God
said you can eat any tree, but not this one or you'll die, he
said you're not going to die. So he's the liar.
He is the father of lies. And so he lied to the to her and
convinced her to eat the fruit of which Adam just totally
rebelled. And now the devil has the
dominion that Adam once possessed.
He's carrying that dominion and God's going to have to come back
and get that dominion back. But now that the world has a
fallen state to it, those there is a constant attack on the word
of God. But when you know God's word and
the attack comes, you know it's just a test.
It's only a test. Remember that.
Now I'm going to date myself a little bit and some of y'all
going to get really excited that I do this.
But remember you back in the day, you'd had that little beep,
beep, beep, come on, you know. And then they go, this is a test
of the National Broadcasting system.
This is only a test. If it had been a a real
emergency, right, then they would have communicated further
that, you know, Russia's come and bombed us or China or
whatever the case may be, right? But it was only a test.
All right, well, let's look at James chapter 1 verses 2 through
8. It says now consider it all joy.
Just go ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. All right, do it again, OK, Now
that is not joy, that's laughing.
OK, All right, Because joy is actually a fruit.
But joy will produce laughter, OK?
So consider it all joy, you know?
So again, make sure you're laughing with the actual fruit
of joy, not just laughing. So consider it all joy, my
brethren, when say, when, when you encounter various trials.
So when you encounter various trials is letting us know grab
the fruit of joy. Don't get depressed, don't get
upset, don't get mad. Grab the fruit of joy.
OK? And Jesus said this, in this
life you're going to have trials and tribulations.
But be of good cheer, for I have now that's the word of the King.
Your king said that. He said, now be of good cheer.
I've overcome the world. It doesn't matter what they say
to you. What I've said to you is all
that matters. All right?
So consider it all joy, my brother, when encounter, when
you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your
faith produces endurance, stay here.
So the testing of your faith produces endurance.
So there is a testing of your faith, and God has no problem
with your faith being tested. You know why?
Because He's not intimidated with a test.
Now I'm going to some of you've heard this before, but I am
going to cause it to come to your remembrance again.
All right. And so for those who've heard
it, just say Amen. For those who have it, listen
and learn. So when I was in high school as
a test taker, OK, in order for me to test, well #1I studied.
Can I just say that I study. And there's a biblical principle
that the Holy Spirit will cause things to come to your, not come
to your mind that you don't know about.
Unless you're standing before authorities at that point, then
you don't have to worry about what to say cuz He'll give it to
you. But when it comes to tests, you
should have something in the tank.
So I would study all right. So in order to not allow all
that I studied the night before to get logged up in my mind to
to go poof, gone. You know, some people have
stress when it comes to tests. They've done it on in paper, but
they also do it in faith stress when the test comes.
But again, if you have knowledge, what's the problem
with the test? A test is only to find out what
you know. Now, if you don't study, then
you need to stress. I mean, it's your fault because
again, you know, you know as well well as I do that we
receive these things called pop quizzes.
And again, that's, you know, one of those like really, you going
to give me a pop quiz where I've not even had an opportunity?
Now, typically they go and stuff they assume you've learned at
some juncture. And is it?
Can you recall it to your mind? That may be true.
Sometimes they're just mean to let you know.
You don't know. And that's why you need to let
me teach you right now. Like, man, I've never seen this
before in my life. Well, This is why I'm teaching
you. OK, pop quiz.
Guess what? You don't know.
You're not so smart, are you? OK.
That's why I'm the teacher. So sit down and take some notes.
All right. But most of the time when the
test came, it's after we have been giving the given the
opportunity to study. So what I would do so that I all
this stuff that I had in my mind did not disappear through
stress. They would give us the test, you
know, about 2025 students in the class.
Here's the test. I have my pencil, not a pen, but
we're just for example, I'll bring it back to her.
Stacey, you're so sweet. Stacey's like, you know, he
stole Pastor Marcie's. OK, I just pulled from my my one
flesh. You know, I'm going to give so.
And it's pink too. I would never keep this.
And it's kind of bulky too. With that being said, I have the
test. Everybody.
I did this with the SAT exams, any college interest, it didn't
matter. I did this and they said, OK,
begin. I put my pencil down and then I
would look around in the room. Now, it's not because I'm trying
to get people's answers. I'm waiting for every person to
start. It's my way to say I got this.
I've studied, I'm confident. I man, the minute I open this
thing up and start, I got it. I'm not going to sit here and
allow anxiousness to cloud my judgment.
I got this. So that was my way of saying I
got this and I waited till everyone started.
Then I would pick up my pencil. I flipped to that first page.
I read that first question, if it happened to be a question
that was like that did not faze me because this is, it was never
a one question test, people. It's never a one question test.
So I'm like, fine, I'll go to #2 I would go till I found the one
I like. Booyah, there it is.
Bam, I got that. I know that's right.
And this flood of confidence and all of a sudden, you know,
because a lot of times Tess would you'd answer a few things
and you're like, oh, that's eliminated some stuff.
So I can go back here. And now I'm I'm there now I'm
wanting a big multiple choice person.
And I really hated true and false because if I did not know
5050, I had 100% chance of always getting the wrong 50%.
I don't know why that was 5050 chance to get it right.
I typically was 100% wrong at that guess anyway.
And I would just go through and man, I did so good on tests,
never did stress, no problem at all.
Why? Because you know what I
considered something prior I would not let the the challenge
rock me to where now what's in me can't come out.
And you know, a lot of times when it comes to believers that
the minute you like Woo, you're in a service jump and shouting,
hey, Woo, you know God's this and you're saying all that he
is. And then you get out and get
tested with that. You know, I'm going to go to
Bible school. Well, you're coming to test.
You're coming to test schools. What you're coming to.
Can I get all my FCU students to stand up?
Welcome to the test, right? And test is not this week.
What you have this week. Test is every day now because
everything you're learning, you're going to encounter it
somewhere else outside. Am I not right?
And you're like, man, what I just learned in class is like in
my face right now and I have to apply this deal because that's
where you succeed. You can be seated.
Success does not come by getting a multiple choice question.
I have never taken one of my exams from from my Bible college
and waved it in the devil's face and say, ha ha, ha.
I've never taken my degree off and put it in his face and say,
do you see that I have a doctorate at Faith Christian
University? Why are you even having a
conversation with me right now? You've been cast out, bro.
No, that does not intimidate him.
It does not. Those things are there so that
what's in me can come out in situations, you know, again, as
a believer, Jesus never promised you easy life.
He did promise you an easy yoke. He did do that.
He said my yoke is easy. It's light, you know, Cast your
care on me. He never promised you a a life
free of conflict. But he did offer you a life
where you do not have to worry and actually told you not to
worry. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Heaven. You're in here.
Were you in here with my announcement?
What? Yeah, I've been in here.
OK, I didn't see originally Heaven stand up.
This is coastal nutrition right here.
Give it up. All right.
OK, I didn't see you during the big announcement.
You were hiding behind Miss Mary there.
I see how it is. OK, so with that being said, so
you have to consider it joy. So you understand when you enter
into faith on God's word and conflict, which is guaranteed
coming, let me just say it this way, I've never conquered
something in faith without conflict.
There's never been a time, never been a time that I believe God
for something He spoke to me and there was not an issue prior to
it coming to pass. Now, when I first started, it
was, you know, less of a conflict.
It seemed like not a whole lot showed up.
It seemed like almost like, wow, whatever I'm saying just comes
to pass, but there was a few issues, but it would come to
pass so fast. And God's trying to build
confidence. I look, I, I do this, I do this,
I always do my word. Then I get into season where the
Lord's like, you know, I'm not intimidated how long they want
to attack you or are those contrary thoughts come towards
you. Just stay with what I said
because there's times in certain aspects of the faith walk that
patience is required because it's through faith and patience
that we inherit. Some things that God says to us
we can have immediately, period. Other times it's through faith
and patience. And again, I do not apply the
faith and patience to my immediate stuff.
What I know I can have immediately, I have immediately.
I'm not patient for that because I know God will give it to me
immediately. However, there are aspects of
this walk with the Lord that does require faith and patience,
and I can't expect it immediately.
This is why I don't get discouraged when it doesn't come
immediately because I understand this aspect of faith takes some
time. Specifically your purpose in
life. OK certain things.
Because again, God doesn't give you everything that you're going
to do right out the gate. It is a walk of faith and then
when you get into, you know, things you're assigned to do and
you're believing God on that assignment.
Well, there's faith thing journeys you do along the way
and that you get to look back and say, wow, God was faithful.
Look how faithful he is. So you got to consider it all
joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith, it's only a test produces
endurance. And here's the thing, you cannot
be tested for faith that you do not have, OK?
It's impossible. So when they were testing me and
I didn't even know I was in, you cannot be tested in faith unless
you have faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing
from the word of God. And if you're in faith, that
means you're a doer of that faith.
You're acting on it. So if you actually have faith,
then you're you're you're, you're participating and being a
doer of what you have heard from the King.
You're active in that. Then the test comes.
The test isn't coming prior to your because again, your faith
is being tested. You're not being your faith is
being tested, which means what you have firmly said in the name
of Jesus. I have that God, he's, he's
doing that what he said concerning me.
You're in faith. Then here it comes.
You're not getting it ain't going to happen.
Ain't going to be that way. All you still feel worse.
Oh, you're going to feel worse now.
Oh, you think you're going to try?
That's what's it doing. It's testing.
So the minute you get the test, what you should do is say, oh,
thank you devil, for letting me know I'm in faith.
It's another indicator I'm actually being firmly persuaded
and I'm standing on what the king said, and you don't want me
to have what I know I can have and already do have because of
what he has done. Hallelujah.
So he said, let endurance have its perfect result so that you
may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.
Don't you want to be that? Now, what that just means is, is
that every time you stay with faith and you do not fail the
test, then you're going to lack nothing.
You're going to have exactly what was spoken to you.
Glory to God. It will come to pass just as it
has been said. All right, but verse 5 but if
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all
generously and without reproach and it will be given to him.
Why would the attack comes and you start getting these other
thoughts to try to get you to abandon your faith.
This in those moments you're like, OK, Lord, how do I
continue to stand? Because what's the Bible say
when you've done all the stand doesn't say when you've done all
the stand sit down when you've done all the stand then just
abandoned retreat when you've done all the Stan tell God he's
a liar. No, when you've done all the
Stan What Stan. So in those moments like what
else should I do Lord? How well should I respond?
What else do I do Lord? And you're seeking wisdom to to
receive all that he needs to give you so that you go through
that faith battle, that faith fight victorious.
Because again, you're not, you're not fighting for victory.
You're fighting from victory because what you're doing is
you're believing for something that in God's eyes is past
tense. It's past tense period.
It's it's no different again, it's no different than a letter
I received from Rhonda to give to my mom.
OK. And so she would got her address
was going to mail. And I said, honestly, Rhonda, my
mom's not walking up the hill to get her mail.
I will get it when I get there. So save yourself a stamp and
I'll just deliver it to her. OK.
But using mail, you understand, if Rhonda did call my mom and
said, hey Peggy, I am sending you a letter.
I put it in the mail today. And you know what?
She and she has always done what she said she would do.
So my mom then would have confidence.
Well, Rhonda has placed a letter in the mail and it's coming.
Now she could figure based upon where she lives, well, it may
take a couple of days. So the first day or the next day
she goes out, opens the mailbox and it's not in there.
She's not disappointed because naturally through processing it
may take a couple of days, right.
So the next day she, she would be in what we call hope or
confident expectation. Oh, which means I have a
confident expectation today that letter can be here.
Glory to God. So she goes with expectation to
open it up to see that letter. Well, if it's not there, she's
like, well, it will come tomorrow.
Because at this point, you know, it's, there's no way it won't
come tomorrow. Well, if she goes the third day
and don't see it, she's like, there's no way it won't be here.
Why she keeps having expectation.
She won't go and say I guess she didn't send it.
In fact she'll be so confident she could call and say when did
you do it? I'll call the post office.
It must be somewhere because you know, sometimes mail can get
lost. My wife and I watched the whole
series called Sign Seal Deliver. Have y'all seen that?
Anybody hallmarkers in here? I got some hallmarkers right
there. Anyway, you know, I do have to
do chick flicks with my wife guys, you understand?
And so the sign still delivers about the the post office that
they deliver mail that gets lost in mail, even if it's 30 years,
they figure out who to get it to, you know, kind of the
mystery with mail. OK, it's cute, clean obviously.
And you know, we watched a whole bunch of series, you know, let's
watch that again. OK, we're going to see where
this mail's going, right? You know how they going to
figure this one out, OK, Because the guys real smart.
Anyway, my mom may go down to post office.
My point is though, most of the time right within that second
day, 'cause she's expecting it, she goes to the mail and she
gets it and then she's like, oh, I received your mail.
I was so nice. The letter was so nice, the
picture was so nice. Da da, da da da.
Right? OK, same thing.
When God speaks, we should have this expectation period.
If I have it cause for God, it's in the mail, it's past it's
done, it's done and the thing about us staying in faith is it
gets to us if we move into the next thing.
Verse 6 though, but if we add if we if we must ask in faith
without any what doubting for the one who it's like the surf
of the sea and man, if anybody should know about the surf of
the sea, it's us. We're in Saint Augustine, the
surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind for that man
or woman for that matter, ought not to what expect that he will
anything from now. Is it the Lord who doesn't want
you to have it or is it your doubt keeping it from coming to
pass? You know, well, the Lord just
didn't want. I guess the Lord changed.
I guess the Lord had a bigger plan.
I guess his way. And the Lord, the whole wow, may
be saying, man, you doubted. You doubted.
Now I will caution you and I'm not going to go down this road
very long because I don't want to go this far.
However, there have been times with people that they are
believing God and if I said Are you sure you're in faith?
They're like, I believe God, I am not doubting and they're not
seeing a result. Then I follow up and say there's
something that you don't know that God knows and you need to
ask him what does he know? Period.
So we won't receive from God. Two reasons.
Doubt, well it could be more well that was connected doubt
which means we are no longer believing we're we're letting go
of a confident expectation and a firm persuasion that is going to
come to pass. The second has a 2 fold
ignorance, which then because of ignorance it puts you in
unbelief. So you're not actually believing
for something because you're unaware.
So if I know God's word concerning a matter and I'm
standing, but I'm not seeing the results when at a particular
time frame that I'm convinced it would come to pass, then I go
back and say, Lord, what do I not know?
This is one of the most powerful testimonies that Kenneth E Hagin
had concerning when he was on a bed of sickness at 16 years old
of incurable heart disease that he himself when he came across
Mark 1123 and 24. And it talked about him having
faith and that you, you believe you receive once you prayed, He
said, I believe I've received or he's saying to him to the Lord.
He said, Lord, if you told me that I didn't believe, I would
have to call you a liar. And the Lord says, son, you do
know based upon what you know. Do you understand?
Many of us have faith-based upon what we know is what we don't
know that can hinder us from receiving something totally
coming in. And again, the enemy's sly, you
know, sometimes he doesn't mind you knowing a little bit so that
you get confident with what little bit that is truth, but
not enough to get a result and then to convince you that God
doesn't do what he says. And that's a lot.
If anything, I always conclude if I'm not seeing it, number
one, was I doubting? And if I was, I repent.
If I'm not more, what do I not know?
And I seek you, so you'll let me know.
That's why we ask for wisdom. What do I not know to get the
results? Because with you, you get it
done, period. And I will never take the
testimony of a human over God. So if someone said, well, my
grandma, she believed and she really believed, but this still
happened in this, I would have to conclude there's something
that grandma didn't know that you didn't know.
She didn't tell you because God's not a liar.
And I'm way more comfortable calling my Mama a liar than God.
And I'm not disrespecting my Mama, but my mama's not God.
She may have given birth to me, but she did not save me.
She did not die on a cross for me.
Are you hearing me? God made her so I could be made.
But before I was even in my mom's womb, God knew me.
Come on now so again, I love my mom at the end of the day, God
has never lied. All right, so we go on so but if
but if you must ask in faith without the doubting right
you're tossed like the surf of the sea.
Verse 7 for that man ought to expect that he would receive
nothing from the Lord. Verse 8 being double minded man
unstable in all his way. So if you go from I believe God,
I got it to man, I don't know that is you riding the surf and
as much as you may like to surf, that does not get you the
results of faith. You have to stay the minute you
disconnect, you put what you're what you can receive at jeopardy
in jeopardy. You need to stay in firm
persuasion double minded people excited in service but
complaining on in the trial. God's not bringing it to pass
and it's not because God won't. It's because you're hindering it
through being a double minded person.
This is why mine renewal is very important.
All right, let me show you some other translations of these
latter verses here in James chapter one.
Look at the amplified classic verses 7 and eight.
He says it this way. For truly, let not such a person
imagine that he will receive anything he asked for from the
Lord. For being as he is, a man of two
minds, hesitating, dubious, irresolute, he is unstable and
unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels and
decides. So it's very important that if
you're a person of faith, cause again, your faith will be tested
and the reason why it's there to test you is to create doubt.
This is what happened in the garden.
Has God not said and she said, no, he did not say He said this.
The minute the devil knew what he said, he knew God will do
what he says. So what's he do?
You're not going to die. That's a lie.
But then he gives him the next thing, because God knows that
the minute you eat the fruit, you'll be like him, knowing good
and evil. Now they're already like God in
nature because they've been in His likeness.
They were made in His likeness, but God never wanted them help
them to know evil at all. He didn't want them experience
it. He didn't want them to live in
it. He didn't want any outcome from
that at all. He wanted them just to stay with
Him, which is life, and it will pull out.
Who they are and what they've been created doing is the best
life ever. So what did He do?
He created in Eve this reasonable doubt.
Well, maybe this Creator God who gave us all this stuff isn't who
we think He is. And that's the devil's tactic
all the time. If he can't convince you God's
words off, he'll get somebody to get you offended.
So you get away from God's Word. He'll bring a pass to trial
something someone from the world from the church because the
church is growing people in the church are growing people are
renewing their mind. I mean not everybody's on the
same plane in their their mind renewal when I say spiritual
walk. They're all the righteousness of
God in Christ in their spirit, but their minds and how to allow
that character to go the the lady that we've we talked to
today to help clean my mom's house and come in, you know, and
help continue to be there since she's still, you know by
herself. She was talking to us about a
situation that occurred. She said, you know, I'm a
believer. So I had to keep, I had to stay
in character, right? She knew I can't respond like
the world in this situation. There's a different character
about me because I'm a believer. Well, you know, that takes
faith. You have to put your flesh down
and allow the fruits of the Spirit to come out.
That takes faith. And so she recognized, but it's
a test to her. Will you only be who you've
been, you know, created to be in Christ, and nothing stops that
but you. No one can stop you but you, all
right? No one can stop your faith but
you. The New Living Translation 6 to
8 says it this way. But when you ask Him, be sure
that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with
divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is
blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to
receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between
God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
You understand? It's really easy to be a
believer when your full allegiance and loyalty is to the
throne of God, to the Creator of heaven and earth, to the Creator
of the one who's given life and life more abundantly, Who is
life, who is light, who is truth, Who is the way you
understand? When I acknowledge that Jesus is
Lord, he, he is supreme in authority.
And so he has that in my life to dictate and call the shots in my
life because I know his words always come to pass and I'm not
wavering from that. I'm not wavering.
So you don't want to be this person that has a a loyalty
that's divided where you're trying to convince God to do it
that's comfortable to your flesh to your you know where you're
renewed in your mind or not renewed how your old thinking to
be able to keep old habits that God's trying to call you up out
of things so that you're different from the world.
Another translation says it this way from six through 8.
It says that when you ask remember to trust in God.
Don't have any doubts. Someone who douses like the
crashing waves of the sea tossed about and driven by the wind.
Nobody like that should think they'll get anything from the
Lord their their minds think every which way and they're
unstable in everything they do. The message says that this way
in verse 8, keeping all your options open.
You know how many believers have options?
Well, I believe God, but if this doesn't work, I'll well, that's
a that's already an issue. I mean, you're not actually
firmly persuaded. You know, I had a minister when
we were, you know, standing and believing to purchase the
property, how much it was, how little we had, all that I have
said and declared and decreed in front of so many people.
And he looked at me and he says, man, I like you.
I like you. He says, you're out there.
He said if this thing doesn't happen, you're going to drown
and die. You're so far out there right
now that there's only two options.
It comes to pass or you're dead. Amen.
Hallelujah. Well, I don't mind being out
there. Why?
Because what I'm standing on actually is only life.
It's impossible for me to die, just like it was impossible for
Jesus to die even though he died, because he said on the
third day, I'll come up. Hallelujah.
So that's it. I'm going to let go, but Dad's
going to get me. The Holy Ghost is going to pull
me up out of here and I'm going to deliver people with me.
And then I'm going to set all kind of people free.
And the enemy is going to be so sad he ever messed with me while
I was on the planet. Hallelujah.
So we must not keep options open.
Thank you Jesus. Another translation 7-8 says it
this way. If you are like that, unstable,
unable to make up your mind and undecided, and all you do, you
must not think that you'll receive anything from the Lord.
Hallelujah. It's only a test, which means
you were firmly persuaded that it was going to be as God said,
going into this thing. Do not allow anything to take
you off that thought. Another translation says it this
way. If you are like that, it is like
you are thinking two ways at the same time and you will not and
you will not be sure about anything.
If you are like that, you can't think that God will help you at
all. And the last translation I'll
use, contemporary English version of seven and eight, says
if you are that kind of person, you can't make up your mind and
you surely can't you and you surely can't be trusted.
So don't expect the Lord to give you anything at all.
It is not what God says he can do alone, but it's what you
believe He says he can do without doubting.
It's not what God says he can do alone, but it's what you believe
He says he can do without doubting.
Because all of us hear what God can say do.
Many of us say God can do that. Yet when we say I believe God
will do that for me, and then something, a test comes or an
attack to try to to get us to abandon that firm persuasion, we
have to say no. I heard him.
I know he'll do it and I have no doubt about it.
I have no doubt about it. And don't you know, in our
society today, especially with all the algorithms and the
social medias platforms to get you to give you information
that's contrary to what you believe, but also give you
information that's that size with what you're already
believing. Because the enemy is going to
accommodate his, his truth, which is not truth.
Anything the devil says is a he's a liar.
Now, I'm not saying he cannot communicate truth, but he will
turn it. He can quote a scripture, but
he'll take it out of context. All right, So you need to
understand this. To take doubt is to be in
rebellion to the king and his Kingdom.
The minute there's options, you're really saying to the one
that is sovereign, supreme and authority, my way is better.
Really, you should listen to me. The minute we are like, I don't
think that can happen. You're saying the creator of
heaven and earth cannot, will not and cannot do what he says,
but we're not going to do that. Say Amen, we won't do that.
You just have to recognize, you say, well, how do I recognize?
You're going to recognize why? Because you are a child of God
and a child of God who is in the Word, hears the shepherd's voice
and another, they will not follow Hallelujah, Amen.
We're not following another voice said Corinthians 10/5 says
it this way. We are destroying speculations
and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God,
and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of
Christ. How many thoughts do we take
captive Now? That's the key.
It's every thought.
There's not a thought that you should give permission to freely
wander without checking it. The security system in your
brain should go to a whole nother level right now.
What? What did you just think?
Does that line up with the word? Because if it's not, this is
This is an immediate eviction. We take every, every thought
that's coming, we are to raise it up against the knowledge of
God. Now here's the problem.
If you do not have the knowledge of God in your mind, how can you
raise it up to it? The only way you're going to
raise up a thought towards God is to actually have God's
thoughts. And the only way to have God's
thoughts is to be in the word. This is why I'm always like, you
know, in awe of Christians. They label themselves this as
Christ like, yet Christ knew the word, quoted the word, studied
the word and anyone who was to be a child of his, Paul told
Tim. You need to study to show
yourself approved. And study is not like the
education system of the world where you study the information
only to pass the test and you're not really concerned about the A
as much as just getting through the class.
And it's studying through memorization, not through actual
assimilation, because many of you know that you do not know
the subjects you passed in high school or college anymore.
I'll give you 1. I took two years of a foreign
language, two years. It was required in order for you
to go to college. So I took two years.
Now, Spanish was a Gimme. And, you know, if I had been
listening to the Lord and knew about my destiny in life, I
would have done something like take Spanish.
But I was in rebellion as a teenager anyway.
And so it's it, it bled over into the foreign language that,
well, everybody else is taking Spanish.
I'm not. I'm going to take Latin.
They offered Latin, which is a dead language.
OK, Now it's a route. There are, you know, benefits if
it would have been a part of me. I know porquito, which is
Spanish for little about Latin today, but I knew enough to pass
the tests to get through. There's a few things, but at the
end of the day, I really do not know that subject at all.
It is become dead to me because I study through memorization to
pass a test that I would forget. And in that like a believer, oh,
I'm in trouble. Let me find some.
Oh Lord, Lord, the Lord's like man, I'm so gracious.
I love you. I'm merciful.
Listen, look, I want to show you my word works, right?
And now that you're looking at that and you're in this little
situation here, stand right here.
Stay right here. Now see, I did it.
You see, I did all the Lord came through and then we don't get in
the word anymore. Don't think about it.
We've forgotten. We living like the rest.
We're doing the stuff that causes chaos to come to our
lives and they're like, oh God. And we run back to him and he's
very merciful, extremely compassionate.
We get in there and he's like, OK, here again.
Now stand on this and I'm going to show you always, and you can
live this life all the time. You can always overcome you.
You don't even have to get back into those situations like that
ever again. But it just leaves our mind
because we don't actually read the for people who confess that
they love Jesus and he's Lord of their lives, they do not read
his book. And The thing is, is that the
word is Jesus in the beginning was the just John 11 in the
beginning was the and the word was with God and the word the
14th verse and the word became and we beheld his glory.
What's his name? Jesus.
So if you want to be close to Jesus, read the Bible, just read
the Bible and you you should try it with some of your friends
that are believers say, Hey, have you read the Bible ever all
the way through and see how many now this don't work with us, you
know, because we we've done it a lot, right?
You know, that's why I challenge you.
I'm like, if you're if you're representing Jesus, how can you
represent him and not know what he has said, not understand how
he's handled situations, overcame things.
I mean, he's left us a whole history book and documentations
of how our lives are to be governed in his Kingdom.
This is amazing and it works all the time, but unless you're in
it. So again, you cannot raise a
thought up to the knowledge of God if it's not in there.
But once it's in there, then you can raise it up and say, wait a
minute now. And if it fails the test to be
of God, that thought, it says, take it.
What? How many do you take captive?
Every one of them. You don't let anyone.
Well, you know, OK, maybe I'll keep that one because I'm a
single guy and she looks pretty good, so maybe I'll keep that
one there. And that's why they fall into
lust and fall into fornication, because they kept that thought
that they should have said Nope. Jesus name, I cast that down.
This is a woman of God. One day I would believe she's a
woman of God. She's going to be somebody
else's spouse. I am not going to think of her
that way. I'm not going to pursue her that
way. I'm not going to go after her
that way. No, I'm going to keep myself
moral in my thinking towards her because Jesus has already told
me if I lust after someone in my heart I've already committed to
sin even though physically hadn't even gotten involved yet.
Say Amen anyway. That's how you died.
Take them all captive, every one of them.
And when we do that, man, it's good.
Another translation said it this way.
We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and
break and breakthrough every arrogant attitude that is raised
up in defiance of the true knowledge of God.
We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought, and insist
that it bow in obedience to the anointed 1.
Isn't that good? Bow to the obedience because
everything's bowing to Him anyway.
Every knee will and every tongue will glory to God.
Last verse is this first John chapter 5 verse 14 and 15.
This right here will get you in a lot of trouble with the
religious. OK, those bound in tradition.
Now I say that because I could have started the service tonight
out with Matthew 15 three where Jesus said why do you forsake
the commandments of God for the sake of your tradition?
Because there are a lot of times we can get in these situations
that we have a tradition of words of how they've been
explained to us or we've seen them modeled in front of us.
And it's formed a thought process of that's what a
believer is. Faith is whatever the case may
be, when it may just really be a tradition and not really what
God says. OK.
And so, so then the religious that they hold to a tradition,
they will attack Jesus because Jesus is talking to religious
people. He said, why are you holding to
a tradition and you're breaking the command of God.
And in essence, the religious, he always called them
hypocrites. This verse is problematic for
the religious, for those who say they're following but they're
not. OK.
They talk a talk, but they don't live it.
They don't walk it. All right.
This verse becomes problematic because when you know that the
King always does what he says, and I will believe him, period.
And anything that comes to my mind and tries to attack and get
me off the course of what I am firmly persuaded that the King
has said will come to pass. And I will not doubt.
And I'll cast down every thought that tries to get in here and
tell me it won't happen. I'll cast it down no matter
what. When we went to purchase them
all, I cast down thoughts. They'll sell it out.
You don't have the money. You're not going to get it.
You'll be the laughingstock of the whole community.
You're going to have to resign as pastor and go pastor
somewhere else when you fail to get this property.
I mean, I could tell they they have somebody.
Did you see who showed up with the owners?
They're going to sell it to them instead.
I mean cast it down. And how did I cast down?
Thank you, Lord for 2121 US One South.
You said that we it's ours. It's our and I just confess what
he said instead of rehearsing what I'm hearing from an outside
source. Same thing when sickness comes
on my body, you know, at different times.
I'm like, thank you Lord that I'm the healed of the Lord and
I'm quoting scriptures and yet my body's saying, man, Are you
sure? Cuz man, you feel a little
worse. And I've learned how to actually
recognize healing that the enemy has tried to and convince you
you were sick. You want me to give you 1 now?
I will work against this at all costs.
Just to let you know, I prefer if if something's coming out of
me, I don't want it in my face. I am not a person who likes to
throw up. I can believe it can leave
another way. You know, because I'm a violent
person. When it comes to that, I scream.
You know my wife, she can, you know, throw up and wipe her
mouth and you don't even know nothing happened.
But she's like what is happening?
Are you dying in there? Cuz you're like, how many?
You're like me. You screamed.
Yeah, come on, man. Yes, I got some ladies got got
some screamers too. This is good.
I don't know why that is. It's just like better to get it
out. Same thing like with a roller
coaster, you know, you can hold it in, but it's a lot better if
you scream when you're going down 'cause you don't get as
like jacked up in your mind when you're you just let it out,
scream, right? So I, I'm a screamer.
My point is, is that you understand if something is
coming out, that's actually healing, not sickness, because
your body was designed to get what's in you, hurting you out
of you. So when so you say, well, you
know, I threw up. I was sick.
Well, throwing up was my healing.
Getting it out was my healing. Sickness is when it's in
healings, when it's out. And sometimes it goes out just
by supernatural. It's like I feel and then boom,
I'm gone. This family gave a testimony to
our staff Monday. She said hey, I'm staying home.
I have symptoms. I said well I believe they'll
leave quickly in Jesus name. And then because she said I
won't be at the meeting today, then she's at the meeting.
She said I'm coming to the meeting.
All the symptoms are gone. I'm like, praise God.
I mean, it was an hour. It wasn't even an hour.
She was like headaches gone. It's all gone.
Well, she was believing, confessing.
She knew it was hers. It manifested.
And then in its manifestation, she's like, well, I'm not going
to stay home and rest and now act like I still have something.
I know it's gone and it just left.
Sometimes leaving is a little more natural with your belief,
but that's still healing nonetheless, is what I'm saying.
OK, so this is the confidence which we have before Him, that
if we ask anything according to His will or His word, He hears
us. Notice God always hears His own
word. Suppose His word will not return
unto Him void, but it shall accomplish that which it was
sent to do. So this is how faith works.
You are in a situation, or or maybe you're just reading, and
God begins to reveal to you how you can believe Him in these
particular scenarios. And all of a sudden you hear
from God now that you've heard. And then a test comes against
this. I know that I can have this or I
can stand in this situation or I can act like this.
If this occurs, then all of a sudden it occurs.
Then you say that back to him now Lord, you said, and he's
like I told you that that's my word coming back to me and it
will not come to back to me void.
It's going to accomplish that which I sent it to do.
So if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, then that's
according to his will. We know that we have the request
which we have asked from Him. Because when you're really in
faith, you have confidence. That's why the Bible says to
boldly come before the throne of grace, not crying, not
sheepedly, not beggarly, but to boldly you come before because
you're a child of God and you're in a situation you need the
grace of God to help you in your time of need, of which you're
seeking God for that word. And then he gives you that word
and then you tell him his word back and that gives you
confidence. And when you're confident, no,
it's going to be this way, then the religion will say, well,
aren't you being arrogant? You need to humble yourself,
brother. Confidence is not arrogance.
Confidence is not in me, it's in His word.
And then you're not, you're not going to shame me into pride and
act like I'm not humble. Cause true humility is to stand
on the word. And you'll stand on that word no
matter what. You'll die standing on that word
in obedience. Cause true humility is I didn't
say this, He said it and I'm standing on what he said.
I'm submitted to that word that brings confidence and man when
you're like, no, the Lord said this.
Well, brother, all they're doing is trying to do what?
Bring doubt to what you know. Now again, if you're saying
something that God said and I can show you in Scripture, it's
not well then you need abandoned your perceived God thought.
However, and I'll, if I don't have to hear it, if Brian came
to me and said, I believe the Lord said that, you know, I'm to
leave this job and go to this other one, He's going to give me
a promotion there. Well, you know, I could go, man,
I hope I didn't hear. But you know what I would say,
brother, I'm telling you right now, if the Lord said it, stand.
Don't ever come off at the end of the day.
Just stay connected to hearing. Stay with it because at the end
of the day, if something doesn't come to pass, hopefully he'll
say, you know what? I missed that.
You know what? I would much rather you miss
something wanting to actually be hearing God then to never step
out because if your intent is to hear, even if you missed it, God
will be like you're trying. I got you got a little zeal
there will work and you know what got to work that out no
problem. But the majority of time most of
you are kind of here are hearing things and it's that boldness
and confidence to go ahead and step and do so.
You know, at the end of the day, when I hear and I know what it
means to hear and I know what it means to not have heard.
And I don't take hearing from you, even if you're right, I
need to know from him. I've had a lot of people tell
me, have a preschool, never started a preschool till I heard
him. I had people say, well, let's
buy them all. That's great, sounds good, would
love to do that. But I need to hear him.
And when I hurt him, well then it didn't matter.
And this gives you confidence. And when you have confidence,
you'll walk different in the world.
And when you have confidence, then guess what?
It's only a test. In fact, the minute the test
comes, I know what I have heard is correct and we could say it
this way, but you know, I'm not. I don't want you to think and
grand Dioso thought processes cause again, mustard seed faith
does some really amazing things. You understand.
But the Bible does talk about, you know, no faith, little
faith, great faith, all right. And when the Lord speaks to you,
something that is so entirely impossible and it's so much
bigger than you that it requires so many others to be a part of
the process, Attacks going to happen.
It's going to happen, but you just have to stand.
You just stand anyway. You'll you will not see the
things that happen in Scripture without confidence. 33 gentlemen
are thrown into a furnace because they were confident that
I will not bow to another God. I'm confident in who my God is.
I'll die before I bow to your God.
But if you're questioning his ability, he is able to save us.
And did he save them? Now, many of us don't want to
get to the place that we're tied all bound up and getting closer
to the door, right? We love to watch it in movies.
We just don't want it in life. You know, the train's coming
about to run you over. You ride the last second.
None of us. But you know what the life of
faith is a little bit like the last second.
You know, Daniel, I believe God. I'm wrongly accused.
They wrote a law to trick me. Now you realize that.
But you have to stand with your word, old king.
So put me down in the den. I trust God.
Everybody wants to sing about, you know, chains falling off,
but that means you have to put some on.
Now most of us use it from the analogy, you know, when we were
since in and bound. I understand.
But you can be right with God and get bound.
Just ask Paul. Many of us talk about, you know,
the doors opening and wide, but do you want to go to prison in
order to get the doors to open? Most of us don't want to be in
the trial to have the kind of faith victories we read about.
I mean, we want to be great people of faith, but no trial,
no trial, It's not going to happen to be great people of
faith. You're going to have great
trials, great trouble, but you can have joy in the process
knowing that God's going to bring it all to pass.
And you're going to look back and say, but God, and he's going
to receive the glory. And everybody's going to be
seeing how God functioned and how his word did not fail.
And they'll know. They'll say, my gosh, you didn't
do that. That's right.
But God, but God, but God, because I really do not want
people to say, well, you know, you could have done that on your
own. Listen, our faith has to grow
beyond what the world can do. I'll close with this.
Moses had an encounter. He's heard the Lord go to
Pharaoh. Tell him to let my people go.
Well, what if you don't believe what you got in your hand?
Throw it down, right. So he shows up.
The fairy said, the Lord said, let my people go.
He said, I don't even know who your God is, man.
I don't even know why you're asking this question.
He's like do a staff down turns into a snake.
Pharaoh doesn't even flinch. He looks at his witchcraft guys
and they threw a stick down and it turns into a snake too.
And then he's not even impressed when Moses eats theirs and it
picks his snake back up and turns into a staff.
Now the guys they're like, how did he make that magic like
that? So the next little think of God
comes, but what? They work their little magic and
they reproduce the first couple of signs, but then all of a
sudden signs started showing up. Now signs didn't start showing
up until more trouble came. Those signs that the magicians
could not reproduce did not come till more trouble showed up.
Because after the first one that they could, Moses goes back to a
hostile nation now that wants to kick him out because now they
have to get their own straw for bricks.
And they're like please leave, let us stay as slaves.
But Moses, like I didn't. I came for you, but I'm not
staying for you. I'm here because he told me to
come. I didn't come for you.
I came because he told me to come to get you.
Now, whether you want to come or not doesn't matter.
I'm going to do what he said to do.
And if you are part of the process, so be it.
If you're not, that's on you. The opportunity is there for you
to come whether you get up and drag your slavery self up out of
here. When we go, that's on you.
But we going to deliver people nonetheless.
And it became very challenging. But then all of a sudden that
faith and those signs started showing up to where the
magicians were like this is the hand of God, man, you need to
let these people go. We can't do this.
I don't even know how this happens that you can't even
fabricate this stuff. There's it is humanly impossible
to do that kind of trick. Are you hearing me?
And God wants us in these last days to be doing things that are
humanly impossible. And with man things are
impossible, but with God all things are possible.