Synopsis of August 20, 2023

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker

Psalm 84:5-7 NKJV 
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, 
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. 
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, 
They make it a spring; 
The rain also covers it with pools. 
7 They go from strength to strength; 
Each one appears before God in Zion.

1. INTRODUCTION 
2. It should be your desire to be close to God. We believe you are reading this right now, because you are pursuing a relationship with God. We must know, however, that a relationship with God, comes with a cost. Matt 6:33 NKJV says “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
3. We need stuff from God, but he doesn’t need stuff from us. That thing you need from God only comes when you submit to his process.
4. It is natural for us to resist the process. We want to go straight to the blessing. Even though it’s not pleasant, you have to pass through whatever God orchestrates for your life.
5. This text today is a Pilgrimage Psalm which means it was a song. The people were passing through Jerusalem while singing this song. This would give them comfort as they passed through Baca, also called the Place of Tears.
6. When you focus on the Promise, you are not swayed by the Problem. When you are focused on what you are going to, you won’t focus on what you’re going through. Many of us want the Degree, but we don’t want to pass through Baca to get it. Everyone has a Baca to deal with!
7. We must realize that tears are part of the journey.
   1. History: Baca is only mentioned once in bible and it is translated as weeping. Psalms 84:5 says “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” – The journey was interesting. You had weeping in one hand and refreshing springs in the other.
   1. There were trees in Baca were weeping like mulberry trees. You really only see these mulberry trees mentioned in one other place in the bible. II Samuel 5:22–25 NKJV says, “Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.”
   1. In the Psalmist’ days, Pilgrims passed through this waterless valley with weeping trees. In the scripture they had to go through this condition to get where they were trying to go. The weeping that happens along the journey in Baca is symbolic of the tears that you shed on your journey.
8. Really see yourself in this. The people were passionate about their destination. They were so determined to get there; they were willing to get there by any means necessary.

1. GOD GIVES POWER FOR THE PILGRIMAGE 
2. Blessed are those who’s strength is in God. You have to know that what you go after is going to have to take strength.
3. God knows the:

1. Length of the Trip – God knows what it will take to get to where you are going.
2. Limitations Of the Travelers – He knows how long it will take and how much you can bear.
3. I must:
   1. Begin with the End In Sight 
   1. You Cannot Do This Without Him 
4. Before getting there, they are locked in on the journey. When you are in pursuit of your destiny, you are locked into what you are after. Luke 14:28 NKJV says “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—”- This means you actually thought through this. You didn’t’ just set out on the journey.
5. You can’t do this without Him. When you rely on God, you have learned that you can’t do this without Him.
6. God reveals himself to you on the way.
   1. You have to:
7. Actively Submit. – You have to surrender totally to God.
8. Accept His Sovereignty. – God doesn’t owe us an explanation.
9. Acknowledge His Spirit. – It is the Power of God that will get us through.
   1. It doesn’t matter what you have, people don’t realize that your strength comes from the Lord.
10. You have to go through on God’s strength.
11. You will pass through the pain. – There is no promise without pain. You can’t get around this. Baca is the go between from what you are going to and what you going through.

1. YOU WILL PASS THRU THE PAIN 
2. You Can’t Get Around This 
3. Accept What God Allows 
4. Assess Who Will Accompany You 
5. Approach It to Achieve It – I won’t step to it, unless I believe I can do it.
6. Make Sure Your Tears Have Term Limits 
   1. You must let your tears work for you. They should help you release the hurt. Every tear we cry has a story. Psalms 56:8 says “You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?” -Everyone has tears. As you age, your tears may get less, but they don’t run out.
   1. The thing about the valley is, it is not meant for you to be there forever. You are just passing through.
   1. Don’t let the residue from Baca, follow you into Jerusalem. Phil 3:13-14 says “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Psalm 30:5 KJV says For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

1. YOU MUST BE POSITIVE AND PRODUCTIVE 
2. You have to pull self together, wipe your eyes, and move. You have to resist being negative and despondent.
3. You have to declare:

1. There Is Something Good in Every Situation 
2. No matter how bad it looks, you need to realize there is something in this situation. For example, if it wasn’t for the layoff, I wouldn’t have to become an entrepreneur.
3. Baca is a valley of weeping. Although it is a valley of weeping, we still can benefit from the experience.
4. Don’t Just Cry, Create 
5. They made a Well. This was a dry place and it only had weeping trees. You can’t live without water!
6. They decided to make a Well. One reason for passing through Baca is to raise up the Engineer inside of you. They dug a well. That thing that God started in you he will perform until the end of time.
7. Dig a well!

• GOD WILL GIVE YOU PROVISION TO KEEP YOU FROM PERISHING 
• When they dug the well, God sent the rain and allowed the rain to fill the pool. When you do what you can do, God will do what you can’t do. He will make sure you get something out of the journey!

1. If You Maximize the Opportunity, God Will Give You Overflow 
2. Opportunities come in many forms. Because of these many forms, sometimes we overlook them.
3. If you do all you can do, like digging the well, God will release blessings in your life.
4. Some of us think God will do things for us without us putting in the work.
5. We have to:
6. Put In the Work – You got to dig your well, work your plan, and work your vision.
7. Prepare The Well – In the scripture, they were specific about what they were digging. They weren’t just digging holes; they were digging Wells. You can’t be just working. You have to be working on your Well. Who digs a well in a dry place? Those that can patiently wait on God.
8. Patiently Wait – We believe that God will do what he says he will do. We believe that if we act, God will act. Luke 6:38 NKJV says “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.””
   1. When we read this text and compare in modern day times, we have a hard time interpreting without knowing some background.
   1. In the bible times, they worked the land and then they would pray for rain. The rain would usher in the harvest. Drought for them was like a recession is for us. You work, you plan, and you know that God will supply all of your needs.
   1. Bishop prophesies, “You are about to reap double. God is about to fill your pools”! – Turn to the one next to you and say, “I feel the rain filling up the places of drought”.
9. In the scripture, they set out on a pilgrimage, to go to Mt Zion in Jerusalem. They knew the only way to get there is to rely on history. They knew it was going to be painful. They knew it wasn’t going to be easy. They decided to build something while they were in their situation. They knew when they did something, God would do what they couldn’t do. If you haven’t dug anything, then the rain won’t mean anything to you.
10. When the rain comes, instantly they go from strength to strength. They had one strength when they left. It was God’s strength which is spiritual strength.
11. When I worked my plan, the natural man was tired, so God gave me water to give me another strength. This was natural strength. God don’t just bless in heaven. He blesses down here too.
12. The Bible says they all appeared in Zion.

• You Will Survive and Make It to Your Destination 
  • I Got Stronger – Every one of them appeared in Zion. You prayed, you cried, you prayed, and you cried, but in the end, you knew you were going to make it.
  • Through the Baca experience, you’ve gotten stronger.
  • What I Saw – You ought to thank God for what you saw God do in Baca. He brought the rain. He made a way out of no way!
  • I Survived – Another thing we think God for is, we survived!  Not only was I going to make it, everything attached to me is going to make it through Baca too!