1 King 17 : 2-14
When I Move You Move...Just Like That
(Protical ,,,,) * Prayer ….
From: Min. Johnathan Hester
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I want to begin my sermonic presentation by making a clear cut statement that I believe everybody needs to know and believe ,,,, that God has created everyone of us to live by faith…. And as a consequence,,,, every child of God is wired to perform and live by faith. Now what that means is that if God created you to live by faith—that means no matter how good you get at becoming a Christian…no matter how much you’ve got your stuff together for real…if you don’t keep your faith moving you will not be able to please God. Because the Bible declares in the Book of Hebrews 11:6 that ‘without faith it is impossible to please God.’
Don’t get me wrong—I believe in church attendance/studying the Word of God/learning/laying prostrate before the living God—but God ain’t impressed with my being able to quote His Word back to Him; God is not pleased by who has the best memory;,,, God is not impressed by virtue of the fact that you come the Sunday School. No…God is pleased by faith.
And what that means is that if you THINK that you are pleasing God because you are living a good life, come to church, sit, perform all of the ritualistic things that are involved in looking holy—if it is void of faith—you ain’t pleasing God….
Some of us come to church and look so deep. (Look so deep that folks are afraid to touch you in church)…. Just because you are looking deep doesn’t mean that you are pleasing God. Just because you’re looking holy doesn’t mean that you are pleasing God.
God is pleased—not by how holy I look/by me looking like I’m deep. God is pleased when I walk in faith,,, in Him…. When I believe Him enough to follow where He guides me just because I know Who He is—that He is that He is.
When I Move You Move...Just Like That
That is one the reasons why I believe that God allows obstacles to enter into our lives (it is not an accident),,,,He allows them to enter into our lives because He is setting up every available opportunity for Him to teach us how to please,,,,, Him…. (Ya’ll missed that)
One of the reasons that the Lord does not allow us to have anything easy is because God needs to orchestrate, navigate and arrange opportunities for us to please Him….. So,,,So, So He puts obstacles in our way along the way so that along the way we learn how to please Him.
Because every time I turn an:
• obstacle into an opportunity
• a burden into a blessing
• a problem into a possibility
• junk into jewels
• trash into triumph
• my mess into my message
• hell into hallelujah
Every time I DO THAT…I find a way to please God.
Is there anybody in here who is interested in pleasing God?
Are you’re at a place where what makes your liver quiver is you know that you are pleasing your heavenly father…..
That should have made some of ya’ll shout,,,,
and the reason that should have made some of ya’ll shout is because you thought that some of the obstacles that you were facing was because you didn’t have any faith; you thought some of the obstacles that you were facing was because you weren’t holy. Na,,na. (Sometimes that is true—but I am talking to the remnant who know that they haven’t arrived yet…their not perfect—but striving) You are facing some of the obstacles that you are facing because God is trying to provide an opportunity to teach you how to please Him!
Because you don’t please Him just because you can quote the Bible, speak in tongues, your great granpappy laid the cornerstone in the Brook in the First Baptist Church of God in Christ in 1875—you please Him when you walk by faith and not by sight.
That is—Can you celebrate Him broke like you celebrate Him when you have money in the bank? That’s faith.
Can you lift Him up when friends walk away and loved one’s criticize you like you lift Him up when everybody pats you on the back? That’s faith.
Can you give to Him when you’ve got more bills then you’ve got Benjamins and your money is shorter than your month?
Can you give Him His props and His accolades when you have to catch a ride and take the bus like you give Him props when you have a good source of transportation, riding on 30’s? That’s faith.
After all—anybody can praise Him with money in the bank; anybody can have faith in Him with the 3 and 4 car garage and the big plasma screen….(amen)
• Can I talk to you? I am convinced that God will leave some stuff OUT of the equation that you would need IN the equation in order for you to believe Him BY reason so that you’re believing Him by FAITH ALONE….
• God wants you to believe so much in Him that He leaves certain gaps in the situation so that you have to exercise your faith by believing God is standing in the gap.
• Therefore there are some pieces in the puzzle that don’t make sense to you and me and leaves us wondering why did He leave the gap.(help,,,,, me somebody)
- my father left me when I was a child….
- As I grew up my mother told me that I was not as beautiful as the other girls
- Someone close to me violated me and I have been trying to fill this void and this gap
- I feel like a failure because I had a baby out of wedlock and ,,,,and now I’m all alone…
God is the writer of the script. I am sorry it didn’t turn out the way you thought it should. I’m sorry you were hurt, abused, battered and violated….
• But even though it may not be God sent everything is God allowed.
He writes the script of your life; and He allows pieces of the script to be left out or not make sense—so that at certain spots in the scene, it would cause you to look to the Director and Producer and wait for Him to tell you what’s next.
LET US PAUSE HERE A MIN. AND LOOK AT ISAIAH 40:29-31 ,,,(ARE YOU WITH ME)
- He only wants people who will follow Him by faith
- He only wants people who will please Him by faith
• GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO LIVE BY FAITH
Hebrews 10:38 ‘The Just shall live by faith’
- He’s called you to see what others can’t see
- He’s called you to do what others say is impossible to do and can never be done
- He’s called you to hold in your heart what you can’t handle in your hand
- He’s called you to believe in something that you don’t know, calling you to hear a voice behind you saying “This is the way to go.”
And if you can tear the veil of your flesh—and release yourself from the limitations of your own humanity—there is a blessing and a promise that is waiting on you when you learn how to walk by faith and not by sight. I’m talking about faith.
You must understand—No ,,,I must understand that faith is more than a formula.
It is not about verses I write on a mirror; it’s not about the bumper sticker I put on my car (Jesus is my Sugar Buggar); it’s not about some promise box you place on the side of you’re your bed; it’s not about some sweat rag I got from some preacher—NO…all of that stuff is null and void if it ain’t charged,,, by faith.
• I know a whole lot of people who know the Word of God,,,, but do not know,,, the God of the Word.
• I know many individuals who have gone through the Bible ,,, but the Bible,,, has never gone through them.
• I know a lot of people who believe in Heaven,,, boast about heaven—but are on the verge of busting Hell wide open.
• I know a lot of people that buy tapes,and cds,,, but they have never got the message.
Why? Because that is not the way faith works.
Faith is not about a FORMULA—faith is not about FEELING.
• It has nothing to do with your up days and your down days
• It has nothing to do with who loves you and who hates you
• It has nothing to do with who doesn’t like you or who does like you
• It has nothing to do with the weather or the carpet or the shingles
• It has nothing to do with how your day is going
• It has nothing to do with whether the Sun is shining or,,, or we in a Thunderstorm Watch
Faith has nothing,,, to do with your feelings.
There have been times I had a feeling that everything was going to be alright only to discover that everything was wrong;,,, and there have been moments when I looked at the circumstances and the situation around me and had a feeling that everything was wrong when, in actuality, everything was right.
(By the way—that’s just the way God is)
Aren’t you glad that faith is not motivated by what you feel?
- There were times you felt like you were weak; but faith held you strong
- There were times when you felt like listening to the doctors report; but faith made you declare ‘by His stripes…I’m healed’
- There were times when you felt like you weren’t going to make it another week or another day—everything was due; but faith made you declare ‘I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken’
- There were times when you felt like society and everybody else had written you off and said you were a done deal—you will never be anything; but faith reminded you ‘He that is in Christ—he is a new creature…I can do all things through Christ’.
Your circumstances and your limitations may get you down but that ain’t your God.
• Aren’t you glad that your mood can be down but your faith in God can hold you up?
Is there anybody other than me who is glad that your faith is not and does not have to be dictated by how you feel/mood/what you’re going through?
You can be feeling like trash—but lift your head up and stand up straight—because faith is not dictated nor is it determined by what I can feel; faith is dictated and determined by what I KNOW.
You see !!!!!
*****
- I know God is God…
- I know that He is a Deliverer,,,and He’s Able…
- I know that He can keep me, cover me, sustain, and protect me…
- I know that He can fight my battle and make my enemies my footstool …
- I know that He can give me joy, and peace….
- I know that He can dry every one of my tears, calm every one of my doubts, soothe every one of my pains, mend my brokenness, heal my hurts and fix every one of my problems…
- I know that He can give me a new shout/song/victory/praise/dance…
• Quit walking around depressed and looking defeated—you must activate your faith so that no matter what you are feeling—you can hold your head up, dust yourself off, gain your composure…and stand up straight and declare ‘no weapon formed against me shall prosper’…..(say yes here!!!)
- So what if money is low and bills are high—know that God will provide
- So what you’ve been on 7 interviews and haven’t been called back—know that God will open up a door
- So what your child isn’t acting right—know that God will bring them back.
And when you activate your faith; start walking by what you know rather than what you feel—stop frowning all of the time—and start putting a praise on your lips.
- Faith is a deep conviction that resides in your spirit
- It goes into the world and it creates things for you
- Faith refuses to allow circumstances and people to press you down
- Faith refuses to let you fit into the mold of what other’s have tried to create—or the curse people placed on you
- Faith refuses to let you let go of your destiny, your dream and your destination
And I just want to let somebody know that every word of God has a moment of fulfillment in your life!!!!
Can I talk to you?
If God didn’t know that He could bring it to pass—He would have never opened up His mouth and spoke it to you!!!
If God didn’t know He could make it happen—He would have never spoken it to you. Your job isn’t to make it happen. Your job is to trust Him enough to believe what He said and wait on God to bring it to pass.
And I know what some of ya’ll are saying?
But preacher, you don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know what I’m going through.
Tell your neighbor? I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH—BUT I KNOW WHAT YOU HAVEN’T BEEN THROUGH.
You aren’t dead/still in your right mind/have clothes on your back/still have food on your table/you had enough strength to make it to church.
And you haven’t been wiped out—God is not through with you yet…..
Here is where I am as we ponder the spiritual significance of the passage. When God speaks a word to you—faith is to move on the word that God speaks. Faith is to move WHEN God says move; to move WHERE God says move; and to move where God is MOVING even if you don’t feel like going anywhere—you don’t know HOW He is going to move THERE—and don’t know WHY He’s saying move NOW.
Because real faith is when God says—when I move you move…just like that…. If when you don’t understand it; even if it doesn’t make sense/ even if you don’t understand it/ even if you don’t want it.
God says that you better move where I am; because anytime you don’t go where I say go…you end up somewhere you have no business being. (young folks you better here me !!!! some of you old folks too)
And that’s what happens in the text….
Elijah has been boldly declaring the word of God; there is a famine coming—no rain and no dew is going to come. And here Elijah pops up out of nowhere—nobody knows where He came from. Wasn’t raised in a religious tribe/no great Jew. He hadn’t had any great training. He just pops up out of nowhere.
That should have made somebody shout because some of ya’ll weren’t raised in anybody’s church/Sunday school—out on the street and all of a sudden you are up in the church…some look at you funny because they’ve never seen you before. You didn’t grow up around Us’s. We don’t know nothing about you…
You have an Elijah Spirit—just popped up out of nowhere.
That’s why you’ve got to be careful about treating people who have never been around the church,,, as if they don’t have anything to offer the church.
• God’s got an Elijah anointing for some people who are in the room.
People who didn’t go to the golf course/weren’t invited to dinner—but God slapped His anointing on them anyhow.
And when God slaps His anointing on you—it doesn’t matter about your background/where you came from/doesn’t matter who you know—when the Lord anoints you—He will open up doors….
Then God starts moving Elijah around. (Just moving Him and moving Him and moving Him)
What caught my eye was (because we always want to talk about the timing of God—in God’s own time my change will come—
‘He may not come when you want Him but He’s always on time).
But I’ve come to discover that there is not only an importance in the TIMING of God; but there is something to be said about the PLACEMENT along with the TIMING.
- You’ve got to be IN the right PLACE at the right TIME.
Because when you read the story, each blessing was tied to moving Elijah to a certain place.
• One was at a Brook; the other was in a town at a widow’s house.
And every time God spoke to Elijah, it was a ‘here/there’ situation: Move here, Go there….The next time at the Brook: Move here, Go there.
And here is my point: If Elijah had not been in the right place, He would have missed what God had for Him.
I’m trying to help somebody in here to understand that God has a place for you to be blessed.
- Now what that means is that there are places that are seasonal and transitional.
- There are some places/things/people in your life that aren’t meant to stay in your life forever.
- There are some people and some things and some places that are seasonal and transitional.
- And you’ve got to learn how to move when God says move.
The text teaches that when God comes to HERE to move you to THERE—you can move because He’s already set up your THERE even if you don’t know what THERE will be like—because a blessed place…is not a place where you have things. But a blessed place is a place where God is MOVING.
And I don’t know who it is I’m talking to today—but God is telling somebody to move in here.
God is trying to move somebody to a different place,,,
God is trying to move somebody out of a bad relationship,,,
God is trying to move somebody out of idol ministry,,,
God is trying to move somebody to a set place….
And you’re saying ‘God I don’t want it/I don’t want to do that.’ God is telling you to move from here to there (Move out of that friendship. Move from that job. Move to that ministry.) And you’re sitting down not moving—I want to suggest to you that you better learn how to move when God tells you to move.
- Because you don’t want to be in a place where God is no longer blessing.
- You don’t want to be in a relationship that God doesn’t have his hand on and hasn’t ordained.
- You don’t want to be hooked up to a so-called friend that God’s glory has departed from.
You’ve got to learn to move BY FAITH.
Now watch what happens when you learn how to move when God says move.
I. The text teaches us that IF YOU DO THE RIDICULOUS, YOU CAN WATCH GOD DO THE MIRACULOUS
Ya’ll ain’t feeling me. Maybe I don’t have anybody in here that’s ever done anything ridiculous. But when you do the ridiculous, you can watch God do the miraculous.
• One of the things that I’ve discovered about God—is that God never gives out easy instructions.
• There will always be struggle and challenge in divine direction—even when you are walking in favor, there are challenges. Because the very definition of favor implies challenge. Because to have favor means I’ve got something that I shouldn’t have had as a result of what was standing in my way.
• Everything the Lord speaks is a challenge.
• Anything that you hear that’s easy—that ain’t God talking. Anything you hear…there are no challenges, no obstacles, no adversity, no stumbling blocks, no hell in the way—that ain’t God.
• Anything that you can do easy—that ain’t God.
• God always allows obstacles and challenges. Why? Because God is not only after BLESSING you—God is also after GROWING you; and maturing you in relationship with Him. And He can’t mature you if you get everything EASY.
Now I know that the reason why some of us can’t get with that is because we only like to know that God of easy street.
We love to come to church and get excited when we’ve got the job easy, got the car easy, we can make all of our payments and the marriage is going well.
God says ‘That ain’t when you really get to know me. You get to know me when Hell breaks lose in your life and I start doing stuff for you and I start moving you and elevating you inspite of what you’re going through’.
Who is it that I’m talking to who can say, ‘I got to know God in a real way—not when things were going easy’—but when God made you struggle….(ya’ll ain’t gone help me)
Watch the text—God will call you to do something that sounds ridiculous.
God tells Elijah to do something in both instances that, to me, was real ridiculous. He says, ‘Go down to a Brook (verse 2) and you gone find water to drink during the drought.’
I am gone tell you why that’s ridiculous,,,,
Because the water that is in a Brook is only flowing and sustained in a Brook by the rain that comes. A Brook is only filled with as much WATER with as much RAIN as you get.
Which means that if a drought is in the land and there is no rain anywhere in the vicinity—the only water that will be in the Brook is the water that’s already there.
If Elijah is the drink the water that is in the Brook, then it is only going to last but so long.
Because He’s about to drink what’s there; and a drought is not going to bring any water to replenishment. So he’s going down to SOME water that needs MORE water to keep HAVING water—he’s going to drink the only water that’s in there. And there is no more water coming to replace what he drinks.
Now ,now you know,,, why the Brook dried up. The Brook dried up because Elijah drank everything that was in it. That means Elijah knows that where God is about to send him is only a temporary fix!
Not only that—but it means that eventually God will make Elijah suffer the consequences of his own prayer being answered.
Remember now—Elijah prayed for NO RAIN. The Brook runs out because his prayer is answered.
Have you ever prayed for God to do something; and when you got what you asked for, you said,,, ‘Hold up God—this ain’t what I really meant’. Have you ever prayed and when God answered your prayer, what you got wasn’t really what you were looking for.
• It’s a terrible thing when you suffer consequences as a result of your own answered prayer. That’s ridiculous.
Elijah knows up front: Okay God—you are sending me something that ain’t gone last.
Then…when the Brook dries up, God says go to Zeriphath (verse 9) in Sidon, and stay there.
- Sidon is the region where Jezebel’s daddy, Eth-ba-el, is the reigning king. Ya’ll missed that—
Jezebel is Elijah’s number one enemy. God tells Elijah to go to the region where his enemy’s daddy is the king.
- To get there, he’s got to travel through his own country and keep going. Which means he’s got to pass THROUGH the comfortable and go TO a conflict.
- God doesn’t tell him to go where folk are there that like you. God says go to a place where folk can’t stand you. THAT’S RIDICULOUS!
Can I ask you a question—Has God ever given you some instructions that sounded absolutely ridiculous? (I don’t want to talk to the bouji folk—let me talk to the real folk)...is there anybody in here ever had God tell you something and you had to turn your head and say, ‘God…are you talking to me?...I know you ain’t telling me to do that.
I know you aren’t telling me to love them…after what they did too me ,,, I know you ain’t telling me to give them my money. I know you aren’t telling me to pray for them. I know you are can’t be telling me to leave that job. I know you ain’t telling me to stay with that negro. Are you talking to me God ?’
But watch this—in both instances, Elijah did the ridiculous and God did the miraculous. At the Brook, God says if you do the ridiculous and go to something you know is not going to sustain you—I’m going to send ravens to feed you every morning and every night.
Somebody is asking the questions ,,, what’s that all about,,, Because ravens are birds of prey that EAT what they find. They are not in the business of brining stuff to anybody. They are in the business of eating it for themselvesssss ….***note … (small buzzard)
• God says, ‘I am going to make the thing that would normally want to eat you ,,, bring you food to eat for yourself,,,,
I am going to bring the thing that tries to destroy you and make it be the very thing that blesses you…..
• Has God ever been miraculous in your life to make folk bless you that normally try to tear you down? Anybody in here ever had some ravens in your life—that normally try to cut you up and bring you down? And God is so awesome, He makes them bless you because He sandwiches the miraculous in the ridiculous.
Watch the passage/text—it says that when he’s down there at the Brook, he never tells Elijah there’s going to be bread around—go find it,,,,, Naw ,,,,naw ,He doesn’t say i’m going to have bread around, you just go find it….. He says,,,, ‘You stay at the Brook—and I’ll bring the bread TO you THROUGH an unexpected source.’ (God works in ways that you would least expect—Abraham…ram in the bush)
God says, ‘I will have the raven to come and find you ,,, and bring what you need to you.
Don’t go around looking—because I have commanded them to come to a certain spot and if you are out looking for yourself,,,, you are not going to be in the spot I have ordained and established—and you are going to miss your moment and miss your miracle and abort your blessing..
Your blessing is not at the cabaret/crack house/chip and dales/zydeco/
• That is how I know when I am in the right place. Because when I am in the right place, I don’t have to go looking for a blessing, the blessing comes looking for me.( oh ya’ll don’t want pray with me )
Anybody in here know that you didn’t go looking for it but it found you?
• The job found you
• The promotion found you
• The healing found you
• That mate found you
Why? Because you stayed right where you were; and God,,,, brought your blessing to you. (There are miracles and blessing awaiting those who at times profess and declare…I’m going to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord’…you profess and declare ‘I will not let you go until you bless me’….. (walk away ,,, from alter)
Alright Elijah, leave there when you’ve got bread and go to Zeriphath.
Now God that is ridiculous ,,, because you are sending me to enemy territory,, and enemy terrain.
‘Yes…go there Elijah…and there is a widow down there—who doesn’t have much…but has a little bit to eat and die…she’s got enough to keep going. Go to this widow, Elijah.’
- Take note that widows were marginalized people in society…. They were not poor they were PO. Anybody in here who’s ever been PO ? ,,, You Know !!!!
• You had to use Kleenex for napkins at the dinner table
• You had use baking soda as deodorant and then as toothpaste to brush your teethe
• Anybody remember the syrup sandwiches and the fried bologna?
• Oodles and Noodles, Beenies and Weenies and Sardines and Pork and Beans?
Anybody in here ever been PO? A widow wasn’t poor (she couldn’t afford the extra o and the r); a widow was PO.
So,,, so,, so, God says, ‘Go down to a PO widow who ain’t got much ,,, and she is going to feed you,,, in enemy territory….
’ Elijah does it—and what does God do? God makes what she has ,,, be enough to sustain him,,, and help her and him keep on living.
Ya’ll missed that—
God didn’t add more to it; He took what she already had…and multiplied what she already had…. That’s nothing but a miracle.
And that‘s all I’m trying to declare to somebody today—if you start doing the ridiculous, God will start doing the miraculous….. (when I move you move ,,,just like that …)
Can I ask something in here?
Are there any ridiculous people in the building today?
Is there anybody in here bold enough to ask God for the ridiculous?
- God I ain’t got no money but I need the house
- God I don’t have the education but I want the promotion
- I don’t have the credit but I need a car
- I haven’t taken care of my body in the past God…but I need the healing.
Is there anybody in here ready to praise God on the ridiculous?
- God I’m sleeping by myself, but I’m shouting
- I went through the divorce but I’m praising
- I can’t pay my bills but I’m lifting up my hands
And is there anybody in here that knows that when YOU do the ridiculous, God will do the miraculous!
II. God says that when you trust me…when you do the ridiculous not only will I do the miraculous—but then also when I say move…you will MOVE even when the MOVE looks like a demotion!
In both instances, God tells Elijah ‘Elijah…leave what seems to be a good place and go to an isolated place—in one instance (a brook). And then when the brook dries up God says ‘leave and go from an isolated place to a demonic place’.
• He is told to leave a place where there is food; and go to a place where there is NO food and only a promise that birds are going to bring Him something. He is told to leave a brook and go to enemy territory and trust a woman of the territory who is an enemy of his people—to bless him.
• Both of those moves, in my estimation, look like a demotion.
- from a place of substinence to a brook. The brook begins to bless him, then he’s got to leave. Now I know what some are thinking: well the brook dried up, so he had to leave. NO…that’s not true. Because the Brook dried up—but it never said anything about the ravens stop feeding him. Which means Elijah still could have been fed day and night by the raven. So he leaves a place where he knows birds can feed him to go to a place where a widow doesn’t have anything but a little bit.
Somebody say DEMOTION
Question: Have you ever followed God and it seems like you have left a place for a worse place?
Have you ever followed God and seems like you end up losing things…seems not to be doing as well in the new place as you were in the old place…it looks worse…
You followed God and the job you have now is worse…
You followed God and now you are sleeping all by yourself (now you’re single in a double bed with nothing but a teddy bear)
You followed God to a new city and now it seems to be worse
You followed God and went to the new school or the new career and you are doing worse
You followed God and now you ain’t got no friends, no relationship…
You’ve followed God and it seems that what you followed God to…seems to have made your life worse than it was before you left where you were.
And now you are saying ‘God I didn’t like where I was—but God you didn’t have to do me like this’.
Can I shout,,, you,,, you? You need to look at the entire story and learn the lesson. Elijah was in a place where no food eventually would be and at a Brook where no water, if there is a famine, would eventually be available for ravens to keep brining. So that God MOVED Elijah before things got too bad where he was.
Ya’ll missed that—you need to be thankful—because God moved you out of there before things got worse than you could handle. Because He will never put more on you than you can bear.
See—you don’t see it when God first tells you. You don’t understand it when He first moves you. Because what you don’t understand is that where you are is about to get so bad that you won’t be able to stand it.
And ,,, and,,,and since God is not through with you yet—He is not going to leave you in something that you can’t handle. So He moves you before it gets too bad.
Can I ask somebody a question: How many of you didn’t like where God moved you. But when you looked back on where you were and saw how bad it got—you said ‘God I thank you because you moved me in the nick of time…I didn’t know He was going to be a fool like that/I didn’t know that job was going to close like that/I didn’t know that situation was going to turn out like that…so God I am so glad you moved me in the nick of time.
Somebody in here ought to be glad that God loves you so much that He will pull you out of situations that you can’t handle by yourself. He’ll get you out of situations before you mess yourself up. He’ll get you out of a situation before you mess His glory up. Because God knows better than you or I what we are able to handle and what we are able to do.
And He is not going to let us risk letting our little bit of Sunday School knowledge convince us we’ve got it made in the shade with anointed Lemonade. NOOOO. There is some stuff that you still can’t handle.
I don’t care how saved you are—you’ve still got some weaknesses/there’s still some buttons that the enemy knows how to push.
And if MY God ,,, is YOUR God—you better learn how to listen when He says, ‘Get up out of there,,,,Get up out of there,,, Move…Move Now…Move Now.’
Has God every whispered in your ear ‘You better get out of there’.***( I remember,,,)
How many of you know that if God hadn’t of whispered in your ear to move:
If God hadn’t gotten you out of there:
- You wouldn’t have cursed somebody out
- You would have lost all of your money
- You would have slept with somebody you should have left alone
- You would have shot somebody
- You would have slapped somebody into next week
So you ought to be saying, ‘God thank you that you know my weaknesses…and just in the nick of time you whispered in my ear…’get up out of there… and get up out of there now’.
You ought to tell your neighbor: I would have cussed that boss out if God hadn’t of moved me out of the way/I would have knocked that co-worker into the middle of next week if God hadn’t of moved me out of the way/If God hadn’t of flattened my tire, I would have met her up at that hotel….
I thank you God, that you got me out of there in the nick of time!!!
Now,,, now ,,, This last point messed me up good …
III. God says when I move you, you have to be able to BE the blessing even when you’re the one who thinks you NEED the blessing.
I started reading that last move: God says ‘go down there to that widow woman and I want you to go down there I’ve commanded her to feed you’.
God said that that last move wasn’t about Elijah.
No. That last move was about Elijah BEING a blessing.
“Because homegirl and her son were about to die. But I wasn’t through with her yet. So I had to prepare a miracle to come TO her in order for her to sow a seed to keep her life going.”
God says, ‘I didn’t send Elijah down there to GET blessed; I sent Elijah down there to BE a blessing. I sent Elijah down there because there was a woman down there about to die that I wasn’t ready for her to die yet; so I arranged Elijah to bump into her so that he could bless her enough to keep her life going.’
• It wasn’t about him getting food; it was about her exercising her faith by sowing a seed to keep her life going.
Now I don’t know who I’m talking to today—but God prepared a miracle to come to her so that Elijah became her raven. That raven came to Him at the Brook; he came to her at Zeraphath.
- He came to BE a blessing even though he looked like he is the one who NEEDED the blessing.
God wasn’t through with her yet. So God was sending something her way so that she could exercise her faith to sow a seed for her own miracle.
And all I’m trying to tell somebody in here today is that you feel like your life is about over—God is sending a miracle your way. And all you’ve got to do is exercise your faith…sow a seed into your faith and watch God begin to bless your life.
• You’re about ready to die
• You’re about ready to call it quits
• You think your life is over
• You’re about to close your business
• You’re about to go to divorce court
• You’re about to give up on your job
• You feel like resigning
• It’s stressing you out
• You’re about to pull your hair out
• You’re more gray than you ever wanted to be
God told me to tell you to stay right there—your Elijah is on the way! And all you’ve got to do is believe by faith…sow a seed by faith…God is sending somebody your way so that you can bless them so you can be blessed.
Now here’s my problem—because the Seminary and Theology in me says that, ‘In order to be a blessing you’ve got to already be blessed—I can’t bless you unless I’ve already been blessed’.
So if God sends Elijah to be the BLESSING, I’m trying to figure out how Elijah is blessed when he doesn’t have anything.
- He doesn’t have any food
- He look tore up from the floor up
- He’s nasty
- Wearing the same clothes for weeks
- His afro is notted up
I’m trying to figure out how Elijah is going to bless somebody and He himself ain’t got no blessing?
That’s when the Lord revealed to me: That’s because you’re thinking like shallow, superficial believers—you think that the blessing has got to be in what you look like. The blessing is not in what you look like; blessing is about what you’ve got on the inside. Blessing is in following God.
Somebody in here can testify: “I may not look like much; but I’m more blessed than what I look like.”
Don’t judge me by what I look like; my destiny isn’t determined by what you see right now.
• I may have the same suit I had on last Sunday—but I’m blessed
• I ain’t got nothing but dimes in my pocket and a bus pass—but I’m blessed
Is there anybody in this house who knows you don’t have a lot of material things
- You don’t drive a fancy car
- You don’t live in a big time house
- You don’t have a big time job
- You don’t have a whole lot of cheese in the bank account
- You don’t have the greatest marriage in the world
But you can stand on your feet right now and declare “I am blessed…and I came to bless somebody”
- I may not have money to bless you—but I can bless you with my touch/smile/anointing/presence/with the God that’s inside of me.
- I am blessed…not because I have money in my pocket/- I am blessed…not because I’m driving a fancy car…but because I have the Lord on myside.
• I’ve got his anointing all around me
• I’ve got his love on the inside of me
I don’t have money to give you/ I don’t have a job to give you—But I have joy—and This joy that I have!!!
Let’s touch and agree. When she gave what she had—the miracle took place.
Let’s touch and agree that our healing is on the way…our breakthrough is on the way.
I’m tired of being sick/broke/tired/mean/nasty….
Shake your neighbor and say ‘In the name of Jesus…I believe for your miracle.
In the name of Jesus…I believe your blessing/breakthrough/healing/joy/loosing is here.
