Isolation on the Journey
Psalms 27:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
If you get a good piece of meat, and cook it right, it will make its own gravy.
God’s Preservation
Seeing that faith in and of itself is such a broad topic, wisdom says there is no way I can summarize it theoretically in the preachment hour. You need a bible study for that. What I can do is talk about two dynamics of faith and proceed from there as to how the Lord will elevate our understanding of Faith and place of finger on the pulse of the message. Amen
What makes our faith permanent is not our perseverance, but God’s preservation. Ultimately it is not how diligently we persevere in faith, and persevere we must, but how well God preserves us in faith.
There is great value in the Psalms…it helps us by putting its teaching chiefly in the form of the recital of experiences. There is nothing more discouraging than to meet the kind of person who seems to give the impression that he or she is always on the mountaintop. That is certainly not true of the Bible, for the Bible speaks profoundly on men and women whom knew what it was to be caste down, and to be in sore and grievous trouble. They knew what it was to be caste down as Paul says, but not destroyed, perplexed, but not in despair. Perfectionist teachings are never true. They are not true to the experience of the people who teach them for wisdom of the Word lets us know that they are fallible creatures like the rest of us. They may put they’re teaching of perfection forward theoretically, but it is not true to they’re experience.
Internal Faith
That which resides at home in the believer. It is housed in the seat of the will, to do His good pleasure. Its gaze is ever upward not depending on one’s ingenuity, skill, or strengths, but rather it looks steadfastly to Jesus, the author, he began it, the Finisher, he will end it by doing just what he said
Executable Faith
That which operates outwardly. The actual experience and working out the will of God in your life.
Executable faith refuses conformity and walks in to a fiery furnace
Executable faith will walk into a lions den
Executable faith will no doubt go if nobody else is willing to go…if I perish, then I will perish, but I’m going
You see executable faith has no problem displaying its confidence and trust in the ability of the unseen Omnipotent, Onmipresent God.
On the wheel
Concentration on the hearing, eyes, ears
Ain’t but one piece of clay on the wheel at a time.
I can’t rely on your testimony, but I have to know it for myself. How he dealt with you may not necessarily be the way he will deal with me. The way you got saved may not be how I got saved. The basic principal remains the same, accept, believe, and confess, but the experience. Somebody cried, somebody moaned, somebody rolled over the floor as demons were caste out, somebody ran, somebody jumped, but the principal fact is I’m saved by Faith. Different strokes, but I’m saved.
How do I know if I have faith? What is really needed or necessary to substantiate our claim? What do I need or what shall I stand on to bring credibility to my position? Do I need a amen on my right, or an amen on my left, a ya’ll don’t hear me, amen walls, the longer it takes for you to get with me, the longer I’ll preach…do I need this to know that the Word I speak has its own amen accompanied by the spirit of the Living God and it is so!
Is it the right dress, the right suit, the right person in my corner to give me approval, to set his seal upon me, someone to reconfirm me, or is it even my children, my spouse, my job, status or position? Is it in the accumulation of the things one possesses, material possessions which are a testimony in itself that God has been good to you, but that does not mean that you have been good to Him. He’s the one whom has been faithful, and every morning you wake up new mercies you see, He remains consistent even when you become inconsistent, and the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
I tell you when you know you have faith. When you realize first of all that your relationship with Him, means all the world to you. And secondly, you’ll know you have faith, when you have to put Him to the test.
Can I get a witness? Somebody that know what it is to put God to the test. Faith is trust. It is confidence. It is assurance. Even if I can’t see it, I believe it. Trust is given by people, not demanded by you. God does not break the back of the enemy, flex His muscles by virtue of who you are, but rather by virtue of who He is. God says trust me, put me to the test, try me…Now, I’m not talking crazy, I’m talking about God you said…Anybody ever have to tell God…humbly submitted, read the fine print, p.s., God you said…
I’m the head and not the tail
Abide in you, whatever I ask, it shall be done
Bring my tithes and offerings, you’d pour out a blessing…
If I delight myself in you, you’d give me the desires…
Seek first the kingdom of God
Supply my every need according to your riches…
In the midst of don’t have, don’t see it, no way, not qualified, over qualified, too long, not long enough, fear seeps in, worry seeps in, doubt seeps in, sickness, pain, disease, God you said!!! You’re my Jehovah Jireh, in the mount of the Lord, it shall be seen. Jehovah Mcadesh, the God that sanctifieth, My healer, my deliver….God you said
It’s one thing to hear about faith, another thing to know about faith, and then there is the experience of faith.
It is something incredibly stronger than a feeling. It is supernaturally stronger than Norman Vincent Peels Power of Positive Thinking, It’s not the force you see, more potent than a dance, a shout, a victory run, but it is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The purpose, the plan and will of the sovereign Lord.
Walking by Faith…A lot of us have to have somebody with us. There is a saying, an observation, that when you don’t have someone with you that there is something wrong. Not so in all cases. When walk by faith, there are somethings you have to do, and go by yourself. Fly like the eagles. One or two at the most. But when you have the whole gang with you…be careful. They are buzzards. Hanging around devouring your flesh and you think you alive, but you are dead. On the wheel you are being formed. You need your eyes molded into shape. There is some concentration by the potter on your hearing. If you have to walk alone. There is a purpose and a plan. Doesn’t matter what they say, or she say, or it say. Concentrate on the leading of the spirit by faith. You may have to leave some folks behind that walked part of the journey with you. As much as they could understand, they were there, but there is a point where they can go no further.
Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
Abraham said you stay here while the boy and I go yonder and worship.
I can’t be like everyone else. A charge to keep I have, I have a God to glorify, a never dying soul to save and fit it for the sky. To serve this present age, my calling to fulfill, Oh may it all my powers engage to do my Master’s Will. I can’t be in the click, I can’t be in the club. Sometimes the best way to hear from God is when you by yourself. I was alone and idle, I was a sinner too. I heard a voice from Heaven, saying there is work to do, I took…Ya’ll don’t hear me.
The test is, will I be conformed, or an individual?
As we briefly recount a portion of history in the life of David
But David said it like this … He said, he said to King Saul, I can’t conform to your ways. I got to be an individual. I can’t wear your armor. It hasn’t been tried. But I tell you what. When I was out tending my sheep. A lion and a bear came about, and I smote them. What he was saying was when I didn’t have nobody else. When I was by myself, an individual, no click, no club…I’m telling you, learn to love being alone, because sometimes the best time to hear God is by yourself. I came upon a lion and a bear. This is what I did, I smote them.
Isaih said, in the year King Uzziah died…The king hindered me from going another level. The king blocked my view. But when he died, I saw the Lord.
David said, I don’t want no lion to hinder my progress. I don’t want no bear to keep me from doing what I know is right. Bring it home. You can’t play with no lion. Psalms 84:10 I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my god than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. You can’t play with the bear. You can’t play with the lion. You can’t play with drugs. You can’t play with adultery. Are you hearing me? You can’t play with homosexuality. You can’t play with lesbianism. You can’t play with lying. You can’t play with being disobedient to your parents, you can’t play with walking outside of the will of God, You can’t play with hypocrisy. You can’t play with gossip. But you got to guard your heart. Kill it. Kill it. Kill it. Sayyyy Yeahhh.
Every key punched on the organ isn’t worship. Every jump isn’t worship. Every Edi I see is not worship. Every tear is not worship.
A lot of hypocrites, entertainers, pimps and pretty boys, show girls, busy bodies in the church. Ain’t coming no more. I’d rather stay in the church where the grace of God comes, than to stay outside where it never comes. His shekinah glory falls, His presence is in the atmosphere, and whatever I need, is in the house!
I thought I’d bind myself to my notes. I got nervous in Nazareth. You know Nazareth, not many great works could be done there because of they’re unbelief. Jesus said rarely is a prophet accepted in his own home. But I feel a peculiar anointing in here. I’m glad the spirit of the Lord is present. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. A lot of you don’t like this, preachers walking out of the pulpit. But my daddy is here today. No need to go give no report. All that he has is mine. I ain’t got nothing new that only operates in his absence. Whether he here, or gone, because the Holy Ghost got a hold on me, I can arise, and go forth in the name of the Lord. I’m in my father’s house, I can walk if I want to. Usher’s, Nurses, this is your day of jubilee. You have been through a lot. Let me tell you as you walk by faith
Folks not going to always understand. Because you don’t conform to the way they think you should do it. Because you don’t do it like we always been doing it. It may look illogical, sound unwise, get confusing, but you walking by faith, not by sight. You’re going another level and can’t anybody go with you. You’re on the wheel, and for every bit of opposition, every bit of oppression, I done told you, that God is getting you in the right position. Oh no, it ain’t always the devil. God is engineering circumstances in your life for your good. For every bit of opposition you see with your natural eye, Faith, walk through it, I don’t see it, but I believe it. Lye on me, talk about me, criticize me, roll your eyes at me, go to sleep on me, that’s okay, Faith thanks God for the journey. Tears in my eyes, thank God for the journey. Pain in my body, thank God for the journey. Whether I’m a testimony now, or a testimony later, doesn’t matter. Thank God for the journey. We walk by faith, not by sight.
