Walk in it, Sermon 05/23/10

Posted on May 26, 2010 by growintheword

Walk in it

Synopsis of Sermon 05/23/10

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Text: Psalm 37:23-26 says 23The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. 25I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

All of us have raised questions about where we are, where we are going, and what is happening in our life. Whether you know it or not, there is a correlation in all of these questions. The truth is, wherever you are going in life has a lot to do with understanding who you are. You’ll never know where you are until you understand who you are. When you understand who you are, then it really doesn’t matter where you are, because you will be who you are, everywhere. Who we are does not change, because of our context, because we are able to change our context based on who we are. The God in us can transform a whole environment. There are people that are probably sitting next to you right now that need to understand that just by sitting next to you, the atmosphere will be changed for them, just because of who you are.

Identity is important in the life of a believer. Knowing who we are has a lot to do with what God is doing in our lives. If effects how we interpret things and how we see God move. Many of us surrender to the pressures of life, because we look at the wicked and see how fast it seems like that obtain success. This makes us become frustrated and we begin to contemplate that maybe if we did what they did, then maybe we could reach the same heights that they have reached. This is why in a Psalms like this David opens up setting the records straight. He says let’s be clear about who you are in relation to the wicked. In Psalm 37:1-2 David says 1Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. – In other words you have to know who you are. We are the righteous, God’s chosen people. You have to recognize that God is always doing something in our lives. God has great plans for you whether you know it or not. Regardless of your background, regardless of to what has happened to you, there are some great and awesome things that God is going to do in your life. It is important that you understand this, because many of us are wondering if this is case, why are we here and not there. There is something awesome is going to do in and through you. The devil got the memo of what God was going to do for you and that’s why the devil works over time to try and frustrate you and confuse you. No matter what other people say about you, no matter what is going in your life, know that you have God’s word, conviction, and faith. It is because of this that you have to walk into what God has promised you. We have learned to be insulated within the promises of God. We have learned how to walk into the favor of God. We have learned that even if we have to walk by ourselves at the expense of losing friends, we are going to walk in it! This is the word for some of you today.

This is a relevant word for some of you today. It may be a season where you are all by yourself. For some of you, your back is up against the wall and you really don’t have any other choice, but to walk in this thing. God said tell you this is where the blessing of the Lord lies. It lies in obedience. It lies in your willingness to walk in what you have been taught and to what God has promised you. Psalm 37:23 says 23The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD… Order in this comes from a military term. In other words, David’s steps have been given specific order. If you have been given orders, there is an acknowledgement of authority that you submit to. You will never submit to someone that you see as your equal. Therefore there is a submission to a greater power. Therefore, we take our authority from someone greater than we are. So then we recognize that our feet have been appointed.

I.                  Our feet has been appointed

Psalm 37:23 says 23The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

  1. Before you were born, God was moving strategically in your life. You were born into a process. It didn’t begin when you were born. You were born into God’s process. He was always working something and allowed you to be born at the right time and the right place. When the fullness of time had come, God had already been working with the prophets, but he sent Jesus at the right. This is why Herod wanted to kill Jesus and it is the reason why people didn’t want you to be born. It is too late for them to hate on you now, because God’s got some great things he is going to do in your life. God knows where we need to go in order for us to get what we need. When you are in God’s will, there are no accidents where you are. Each step you take must be ordered.
  2. There are lessons that we are supposed to get from our steps being ordered.
  1.  
    1. It’s about Timing– This means we don’t move until it is the right time to move. Every step we take is with caution under spiritual supervision. If you look back over your life, you would probably notice that every problem you had in the past was because you got ahead of God. You have to know that God has certain timing before he tells us to move. It doesn’t mean God isn’t going to do it. He just wants us to wait until the right time and he will tell you when to move. Somebody reading this is waiting on God to tell them to take the next step. Even if others try to tell you it is the right time, you have to be spiritual enough to lean not to our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge him knowing that he will direct our path.
    2. Training-When God tells us to take a step; he puts us in a place to make us better. He puts us into a context so that we can be trained. This is why we don’t move when we want to. We move when God tells us to. God will connect us to right people to challenge us and motivate us to get to next level. We want to make certain that where we are going, we are around positive people. This is training.
    3. Trials-Every step we take, there is a different trial or a different test. God uses these things to see if we are ready for the next step. Some people look at where people have ended up and in our eyes they have arrived at certain levels of success. We conclude that this success has happened over night. Consequently, our way of following in their footsteps is by taking the elevator. Know that these successful people didn’t get where they got by taking the elevator. They got where they are by taking the stairwell. You have to take it one step at a time. You got to come up by working your way up. This is why our kids are so spoiled today. We give our kids too much too soon. We have to teach them if they want something, they have to work for it one step at a time!
  1. There is purpose for us being where we are. We are where we are, because there is a purpose that called me to this place. God never calls me to a place without purpose being tied to it. How many times have you went into something and there was no purpose in it? This is called labor without purpose. This is the same as slavery. Who volunteers for slavery? If you are working in a place with no purpose, that’s slavery. Working without purpose, fails to produce fruit. Wherever we go we want to make certain that there is purpose tied to it, because our purpose is what sustains us in the place.
  2. The b portion of Psalms 37:23b says and he delighteth in his way. What makes God’s delight? It is the fact that we bear fruit in the purpose.
  1.  
    1. We have a certain Perspective-Where we are is bigger than us. We don’t take the attacks that happen to us personally. We recognize that our purpose is bigger than our selfish agenda. We recognize that this is what God has chosen to do in our life.
    2. We choose Perseverance-We have chosen to endure stuff that other people are still giving up on. We recognize that if we be not weary in well doing, in due season, we will reap if we faint not. Therefore, we are steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because we know our labor is not in vain. Every step has been appointed and we do not move until God says so.

II.               Your failures have been accommodated

Psalm 37:24 says 24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

  1. God has made accommodations for every aspect of our life. God has already thought through this and figured out how it will work out. He even has factored in our foolishness (all the things we might do to mess things up) and made accommodations to allow me still to meet my destiny.
  2. David says, “Though he falls …” Some may think that they are exempt from falling, but the scripture says all of us have fallen. The experience of doing God’s will and the attacks that come with this is enough to cause us to fall. Even the best of us can fall.
  3. He makes accommodations for our foolishness. How? He doesn’t allow us not to hurt ourselves. Have you ever fallen and been surprised it didn’t kill you? It is like falling real hard and then checking yourself to see if anything is wrong and saying, “Wow, I survived it”. In other words, you can’t believe no damage was done. God showed up just in time, caught us, and put us back in place. The revelation: It really doesn’t matter how far you have fallen. What matters is where God catches you. Whether you were on a rafter or you were falling from a lower height, a fall is a fall. The height of the fall doesn’t necessarily determine the damage of the fall. The frailty of the fall-ee determines the damage of the fall. Some people fall and we find ourselves saying, “You know that didn’t hurt that bad”, but you don’t know where they were in their life. It doesn’t matter where you were when you fell. The good news is it was grace that softened the blow. He caught me right before I hit. There is greatnesses inside you and God said he will not let you self destruct. You are sitting next to somebody who fell. They will tell you that they can’t believe they are not strung out or tested positive for something thing they knew they should have. All they can tell you is that God caught them in the nick of time. We shout like we do, because we are in the should have been, could have been club. We have lifetime memberships. Could have been me out doors is what we say! Should have been me, locked up! Should have been me talking to myself!

III.           Your future has been assured

Psalm 37:25 says 25I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

  1. God completes what he starts. God never starts something and not complete it. David says I looked over my life and began to reflect in verse 25. For him to say he was young and now he is old means he has scanned his life. It means he has seen his life generationally. He realizes his life has been lived in impacted generations. Davdid says he has seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
  2. Your offspring benefit from your righteousness. Psalm 37:26 says 26He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. – Both verse 25 & 26 say that your offspring benefit from your righteousness and they benefit from your negative actions. Your decision to obey or disobey is bigger than you. Exodus 34:7 says 7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. – The wickedness of one generation can impact 3 and 4 generations. You are fighting your grandparent’s afflictions as well as yours. What’s wrong with you can be the result of what was wrong with your grandparents. Something inside of you should say Lord let the curse stop here. Ex-When you say you won’t tithe, what you are saying then is you are willfully disobeying God. God then will willfully send a curse through your blood line that your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will suffer as a result of your disobedience. You are not tithing just for you. You are also tithing for your children’s children. When the scripture says God will open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing more than we will have room to receive, it means that we won’t have enough lifetime to benefit from what God does in your life. Therefore, you must leave an inheritance to your children’s children. You will have so much you can’t use it up in your lifetime, so your children’s children have to be blessed. This is why God told Abram in Genesis 22:18 18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. – Your obedience brings about a blessing in generations to come. When you hear that you never seen the righteous forsaken or seed begging bread, you have to know that we are the righteous of God and our seed (children we birth) will be blessed. You ought to thank God for your praying grandmother and grandfathers, because you are the benefactor of their faithfulness. Ex- Bishop explains he didn’t know he was poor he got grown. The reason is poverty is a mindset not condition. Bishop explained that he thought everyone drank sugar water. He says he thought everyone ate spaghetti 3 times a week. Some of us have forgotten where we come from. In fact we (Mt Zion) walk around in this blessed place because we benefited from our parents and grandparents faithfulness and righteousness.
  3. There are some promises to the righteousness of God.
    1. Discernment – No matter what is going on in our life, God discerns what you need. Psalm 34:15 says 15The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. – God discerns everything that goes on in our life. He knows about it and cares about it.
    2. Development – Psalm 92:12 says 12The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. – Don’t look at me, because now I am a seed. We are thanking God for our “shall be”. We are the righteousness of God.
    3. Defense – Proverbs 18:10 says 10The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. – When in trouble we know where our help comes from. It is in the name of God. He has a name for everything we go through (Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Nissi …)
  4. Deliverance– When we are a child of God, it doesn’t matter what goes on in our life. Our back can be up against the wall and it doesn’t matter. David had murder plots around him, but he said in Psalm 34:19 says 19Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. –  Say all of them! No matter what you go through, know that God has the power to get you out of them all. David said I have been young, but now I am old. He said he never seen the righteous forsaken nor seed begging bread. What have you seen? We have seen folk down to last dime, but God made a way for them. We have seen people that the Doctor has given up on, but God healed their body! We have seen folk that people thought weren’t going to amount to anything, but we have seen God use them and raise them up to levels of prominence and prosperity! We have seen people go through tragedy, just for God to turn it into triumph! If you knew what God did in my life, you would never doubt what God can do in your life. We have never seen the righteous nor the seed begging bread! Whatever God promised you, walk in it! Whatever God promised you, walk in it! You won’t walk by yourself, because he will walk with you if you are in the valley of the shadow of death. Grandma says he walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am his own. Be not dismayed whatever betide, God will take care of you. What he’s done for others, he’ll do the same for you! Walk in it! Your steps are ordered by God!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Work your faith, Sermon 05/16/10

Posted on May 22, 2010 by growintheword

Work your faith
Synopsis of Sermon 5/16/10
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Text: Hebrews 11:1 says 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:6 says 6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
All of us have this in common. It is the pursuit of our dreams and our goals. All of us should be after something. This is called destiny. We have it in our view and we understand clearly what it takes to get to it. It takes an incredible amount of faith to believe that it is possible, yet you pursue it because you believe it exists. At the same time we have needs they we have not met. Many today stand in the need of healing, understanding, support, and supernatural intervention. What prevents a lot of these things from happening as it relates to destiny is the needs that we have to have met along the way. Often we are not where we should be not because we are trifling, but because we have some needs that need to be met along the way. It takes a big amount of faith to get to a point where we simple trust God. We have to have faith to believe that it is not only possible, but also that God can provide for us the things that we need along the way. Anyone can tell you that the moment you begin to try and pursue things, the enemy will do everything in his power to try and discourage you and try to make you disillusioned by the problem. When people don’t believe in what you believe you have to reach way down inside you and say “I yet believe, because of my faith”
Faith is so simple, but we seem to complicate faith. The Greek word for faith is 4102. pistis (πίστις) pis’-tis which simply means belief. We throw faith around so carelessly. We think it is something everyone just has automatically. We tell people who don’t read the word and who don’t have word inside them to simply to have faith and we expect them to have it. We tell them everything is going to be alright, but we forget that Romans 10:17 says 17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. – In other words, the only way a person can have faith is by being exposed to revelation. They have to sit under a word that produces faith in their lives. Somebody will tell you that if you have the faith, God has the power. This message is really about moving beyond the lip service of faith and telling people that we believe. We have to go to the next level and learn to work what we believe. There is something that God has given us. It is the ability to work our faith until what we are hoping God for begins to manifest in our lives. Many will tell you if it wasn’t for their faith they would have given up a long time ago. Faith sustains us, keeps us in the race, and keeps us from losing our mind. It is not only important to have faith. We also have to work our faith. Many of us need this word today. To work our faith we need:
I. The right perspective on faith
Hebrews 11:1: 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
1. Faith is active, faith simply is. Faith must be present and current. In other words, it can’t be applied in one area and not applied in another. Our faith is always both active and current. This means you can’t have faith and believe God for a job and then not have the faith to tithe. We can’t have faith that God can get us into school and then not have the faith to know he can cure our cancer. If faith is here, it must be there.
2. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith creates a sense of expectancy. This is really what hope is all about. We heard a word that brought about the hope for things that we cannot see. We therefore live in expectation of what God’s word said was possible for our life. In faith, we have walk like it and believe it.
3. Substance of things hoped for. The substance of faith is the word. The word produced the hope. By this we mean we wouldn’t have believed it if the word of God hadn’t told us.
4. It is the evidence of things not seen. Since we hoped for it, and because we don’t see it in the natural, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in the spirit. We don’t walk by sight, we walk by faith. Now we start making preparations in the spirit based on what we know. We don’t walk around with our head down, because we know what God promised us. This is a twitter-able. “If you believe what he told you in the light, it will work in the dark.
Hebrews 11:2-3 says 2For by it the elders obtained a good report.3Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. – Everything that began did so through the word. Go back to Genesis and you will see that God employed the word. God gave the word a job. God said it and it was. The creative power of the word in back in Genesis, is the same word that exists in you and me today. The devil doesn’t want you to get a word, because you will start hoping, start seeing, and start saying. Once you start saying, it will start manifesting. Even if we don’t see anything right now we open up our mouth and speak those things that be not as though they were! Some of you sit back and keep your mouth closed too much! When we ought to be quiet, we talk and when we ought to talk, we are quiet. Because we have faith, you have to learn to create stuff in the Spirit of God.
5. Faith is active. It can’t be over here and not over there. We can’t doubt God. That is an insult to God. If we believe God can help someone perform brain surgery, then we can’t trip over a headache.
II. Have to be ready to prove our faith.
Hebrews 11:4-5 says 4By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
1. Enoch lived and pleased God and was translated or caught up. In other words, he didn’t experience death. In the words, we see that people had trials and trusted God through their faith. Faith was used to establish a testimony. Faith allows us to be examples and witnesses of God. Your faith is as strong as the test you survive. Ex- Some people may say my house is worth a certain amount. The truth is your house is only worth what people are willing to pay for it. Know that your faith is only as strong as the test you survive.
2. When you go through something, God knows that you are in pursuit of something awesome up the road. You have these challenges, because the devil is trying to block you, so it takes faith for you to get to your destiny. Do you remember Peter? He becomes a defender of the 1st Century Church. He becomes the first Pope. This is the same Peter that denied Christ three times. Early on, Jesus saw this coming. In Luke 22:31 it says 31And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: – Jesus said the devil wants to sift you wheat…In Luke 22:32 it says 32But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. – Jesus says he has prayed for Peter. Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. We must then know that faith is essential.
3. God wants you to outlive what is trying to outlive you. Your testimony ought to be that you desire to hang in there. We have so many people that give up because they don’t have faith. People, who have faith, are inevitably faithful. It is impossible to have to faith without being faithful. Faithful is the ability to believe in the process. People who supervise can tell when their workers have lost faith in the vision of the company. They can tell, because their people start coming to work when they want to come. They have made a shift already. They are already are looking for something else. When we hang in there, we are saying to God that he can still count on us to be here. Our presence is an indicator that we are still faithful and willing to hang in there. It is saying we will be here when the storm is over.
III. Rejoice in the promise of faith.
Hebrews 11:6 says 6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
1. We don’t’ have faith for nothing. We have faith to apply it to something. God has to create a situation for faith to be applied. God doesn’t heal for nothing. He heals for something. If the something didn’t exist, we wouldn’t ever develop the faith. We can’t have more faith in our doubt, than faith in our faith. You can’t be wishy washy with your faith. You can’t have until faith either. You have to trust God even when things are difficult. You have to learn to hold on to your faith regardless to what comes in your life. Without faith is it impossible to please God, because those who come to God must believe that God is. The moment we stop having faith, we doubt the very existence of God. As long as God is, our faith is! The moment we start wavering or the moment there is fear, there is absence of the revelation of God. When we know where God is, we know where our faith is. Whatever you need, God is. If you need a healing, a mercy, or breakthrough, God is! God is a rewarder of those who diligently seeks him, those that won’t let situations detour them, and those that will keep their eye on the prize. These are the one that receive the promises of God. You have to trust God without having a plan B.
2. Faith is not believing he can, because God can whether we believe it or not. Faith is not believing he will, because that is hope. Faith is believing it’s done. Faith says, the moment I was privy to a word, I know God would never give me a word in the natural, that wasn’t settled in the spirit. We are just waiting for what God has already settled in the spirit and we are waiting for it to tinkle down into the natural. Ex-If someone needs $1500 to solve their problem, they would be happy for a check that a stranger writes for them, but more happy after it clears. Once the check is cashed, they develop a sense of gratitude. Faith is rooted in the credibility of the rewarder. When another person that they already trust pulls out their check book, that same person who needed the $1500starts shouting right then They know that this person don’t’ write bad checks. If we know you, we are not going to wait until the check clears. We are going to give God the glory before the check clears. Just like this, when we God is moving, we wait until the check clears. Tension exists in believing God for a thing and it hasn’t shown up yet. Hebrews 11:39-40 says 39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. – God says, your faith has to get to a point that even if God doesn’t do this, you know he’s got that and that is much better than this. In other words, if I don’t get this job, my faith will hang in there, because he is preparing me for that job! If I don’t get this Prince/Princess then he’s got that King/Queen waiting on me! Give God glory for the that he is getting ready to give you. Every time God says no, he’s got something better for you up the road. Real faith says God I trust you in the midst of things that don’t work out the way we want them to. The promise is not based on what you want, but what God wants for our life! Ex- We asked a pew how come people trust them so. People come in and sit all their weight on the pew, but they never look and see if the pew is sturdy. People just flop down and put their whole future on the pew. We asked the question, why do people trust the pew so much? The pew responds, because I held them up last time. We hear the Lord saying, I carried your weight last tim`e, so why do you doubt me this time?

Posted in Faith | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mt Zion Spring Trumpet Magazine

Posted on May 21, 2010 by growintheword

Spring%20Trumpet%202010.

Posted in Mt Zion, trumpet | Tagged | Leave a comment

Victory in the Valley, Sermon 05/09/10

Posted on May 13, 2010 by growintheword

Victory in the valley
Synopsis of Sermon 05/09/10
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Text:
Ezekiel 37:1-10: 1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 7So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
All of us have had experiences that were difficult to explain. Sometimes the answer can be elusive when we are encountering very difficult circumstances. Ultimately, we all come to one place. The place is the position of wanting to come out. It doesn’t matter how difficult it is, all of us can testify that we wonder when this is going to end. This then becomes our consistent prayer. There is something that we believers have to believe in life. It is this, regardless of our situation, regardless to whatever we are experiencing, there are lessons we must learn prior to coming out. God will not give us deliverance until we demonstrate an apprehension of things he wants us to gain while we are in it. So it is good just to go on and go through it, because you can’t get out of it until God says so. What we discover is that God is providently working in it. Romans 8:28 says 28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.- We fall short and we find ourselves in messed up situations, but somehow God just works things out for our good. It is not context that defines you. It is your content. It is who you are that defines where you are.
When you look at Ezekiel 37, you see that it is a marvelous revelation. God speaks to the prophet Ezekiel about a situation. God tells him that there are some bones in the valley. This used to be the mighty house of Israel a strong army. What this gives us an insight into how people see themselves. It demonstrates how people see themselves because of circumstances, because of the exile and a variety of other issues. Israel had begun to see themselves as hopeless now, based on what has happened to them. God asks Ezekiel can these bones live. Ezekiel says to God that he is in control and only he knows. In the text God gives Ezekiel a series of things to do to bring possibility and hope to a hopeless situation. God has given this word to somebody today, because many of you would testify that life can change on you in an instant. One moment you can be on the mountain, everything can be going well and the next minute you can be in the valley. Regardless of our circumstances that we can’t control, know that we can control our response to it. We can control how we come out of it. Do we come out as a victim feeling sorry for ourselves or do we come out with the victory realizing that we came out better because of what we went through. Do we come out stronger or wiser? We are going to get the victory in our valley. You have to come out with your head up. Storms are only temporary. Hold on and see what the end is going to be and you will see that God is going to work it out.
I. It is a sad condition
1. Look at it. It is bones in the valley. It is about potential. They were in the valley and in an open place, exposed. In that place the elements can get to them and people can come by and see their circumstances. Just like this, it is one thing to handle things privately, but what do you do when it is in the valley where everyone can see the problem.
2. Scripture says there are many bones in the valley. Ezekiel 37:2 says 2And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. – You might think you are the only one going through but ask others around you and you will find out you aren’t. Many of us are familiar with valley situations.
3. There is a condition going on with the bones in the valley:
a. Dryness- The elements had gotten to the bones. Just like the bones, your motivation has dried up.
b. Distance- Often when we are dried up, it is a result of being distance. With distance the motivation is gone. Like the dry bones in the valley, you lose your motivation.
c. Disconnect- Distance can cause you to get disconnected. We can’t respond to our context like everyone else. We can’t see our context like everyone else sees it. Being spiritual people we must see responsibility when others see hopelessness. Ex-Pluto is the 9th plant from the sun. It is a cold place. In fact nobody talks about it, because it is so far away from sun. Next you have Mercury. It is always hot because it so close the sun. No matter what is going on, Mercury is always hot. Pluto is always cold. Pluto is cold because of its distance. Just like this, you can tell Pluto members, because of their distance from the son. There are Mercury members inside the church too. No matter what is going on, they are always giving God the praise. They are not looking for a hand out. Instead, they are looking for a hand up!

II. Supernatural connection
1. God supernaturally connects things back together. Ezekiel 37:4-6 says 4Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. – When God is beginning to move in your life it gives the prophetic for the pathetic. You need a prophetic revelation, for your pathetic situation. Most can say they would have lost their mind if it wasn’t for that one word they got. A Prophetic Word moves us from our right now to our not yet. Ex-You got all these notes you have taken from bible study and the sermons and you must know that there will come a time where you will have use all of it to help you prophesy over your situation. The power of life and death is in your tongue. God will restore you and you shall be healed by speaking those things though they be not as though they were. The devil wants to keep you quiet, because he knows if a child of God speaks over their situation things will happen! Learn how to speak over your situation.
2. How does this happen? By Process and position.
a. Process – 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.- Sinews are muscle. God says he is going to put muscle over the bones and then cover them with flesh. Finally God says he is going to breathe his breath into the bones. This is called process. In other words God is saying he is going to build us up from the inside out. This will not be a cosmetic cover up. We need God to deal with the sinew. We have pain and stuff we are wrestling with on the inside. What good does it do to build a house and not have a home?
b. Positioning – Old black Baptist Preachers used to really preach this sermon back in the times of old. This sermon of the dry bones is not a topic that has not been preached on before, but there is a deeper revelation. The bones lying in the valley disconnected was once bodies. In the valley you had one bone here and one bone there. This means that each set of bones was disconnected from different bodies. They were not all from the same body. God made the different bones from each different body find its rightful place. Each bone had to reunite with the body it came from. The bones could not be what they are supposed to be, until everyone or every bone got back to its proper place.
III. This is a season of comeback
1. You’ve been in the valley, but you can still make a comeback. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t comeback. The 2nd time will be better than the first. You learned in the valley that God can give you power. The bible says in Ezekiel 37:9-10 9Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. – When we first saw them, they were bones in the valley. In other words, they were unrealized potential, but in the end we see that they were an exceeding great army.
2. The question we must ask is how do we get these bones back together? Another way to ask it is; through all that has been happening in this season concerning floods, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes and etc… What is God saying to this generation? We have to speak prophetically to this city. Is it enough to just get your house rebuilt and the cars off the street? Will we be good to go if we just do that? What is God saying? In the scripture, the bones came back together.
3. Know that because of God’s mercy, you will get your stuff back, but what is the real issue? Ezekiel 37:8 says 8And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. – God worked on them and they came together, but there was no breath in them. The essence of life is when God gave Adam breath. This is the point where man became a living soul. Paul said that in him (Christ) he lived and moved and had his being. It is not by might or power, but his (God’s) spirit saith the Lord. God is saying you are nothing without him. You can’t make it without God!
4. Why is God having such a difficult time getting this world’s attention? We didn’t do anything to deserve the flood we got the other week. God rains on the just and unjust at the same time. What was God saying though the events of the Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunamis, the Earthquakes, and Volcanic Ash. During the recent flood here in TN, we found out most people didn’t even have flood insurance although now they will have to have it. God is saying he allowed the recession, famines, and all these major events to come so folk can recognize what is most important. It is the stuff money can’t buy that should be important. You get to a point where you say, you are going to trust God in spite of what’s going on around you. God has to shake us a little. When he shakes us he brings us together. Folk that would never speak before are now working together, because God had to shake us. Churches that would never fellowship together are now calling asking what they can do. Lord we thank you for the shaking? Shake us till we walk right! Shake us until we talk right. Shake us until we live right! Shake us until we give right! When you come out of this, you are coming out on your fee and with your hands up. You are coming out a might army! Put your hands on yourself and say you are coming out a might army! This is your season for a comeback. Everything you lost, God is going to restore it! Your valley days are over!

Posted in Victory in the Valley | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment