Blessing at my breaking point, Sermon 06/27/10

Posted on June 30, 2010 by growintheword

Blessing at my breaking point

Synopsis of Sermon 6/27/10

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Text: Psalm 27:7-14: 7Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.9Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. 11Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Each of us has had moments where we were tested beyond our comfort zone. This is not an easy place to be. Know however that there is a blessing tucked away in the encounter. When working out, there is always that place we call our threshold. At this point we can either press forward past the pain or turn back to our comfort zone. Ex- Bishop explains that he was lifting weights with a former NFL player. Just when he thought he couldn’t do anymore, they wanted him to continue. They were trying to push him past his threshold of pain. Bishop knew he couldn’t lift anymore, but they decided to show him a picture of a man with this chiseled body. It was a picture of someone that had attained the results that Bishop desired. This motivated him to go a little further past that threshold of pain towards accomplishing what he wanted to accomplish. This is how God does for us. When we think we have reached our threshold of pain and we want to return to our comfort zone, God will send us a word that shows us a picture of what we are out to look like and it gives us what we need to push past our place of pain. This is a place of intensity and enormous pain.

David discovered there is a blessing at our breaking point. God will come in a give you a revelation so you will know even if it hurts, there is a blessing at the point of pain. You can’t give up now! The blessing is at this point of pain. God blesses us at our breaking point.

What is most impressive in this Psalms is no matter what, David continues to talk to God. David tries to get us to see that it is alright to desire that your prayers be answered.

I.            Desire that my prayers is answered

  1. Many of us have been at that place where we need God to work it out for us right now. We know God moves in his own time, but we need a breakthrough right now!
  2. It is always ok to be honest with God. Psalm 27:7 says 7Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. – Like David, it is alright to say this thing is hurting you. It is not that we doubt him, but we believe this thing is more than we can bear. Jonah was in the belly of whale and it was at his breaking point that God stepped in. Hannah was at her breaking point when she began to pray. They thought she was drunk, but it was at this moment that God stepped in on her behalf. You will find out that some of your most powerful prayers will come at your breaking point. It is at the breaking point that your prayers are most sincere. Even Jesus in the garden at his breaking point, desired that his bitter cup be removed. Many of you have been there, you didn’t know how it was going to work out, but you realized that in these moments your prayers were more powerful.
  3. At this point you have to:
    1. Realize the power of being persistent. – Psalms 27: 8 says 8When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. – We have to be consistent when seeking God.
    2. Know that God is Immutability– Psalm 27:9-10 says 9Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. – Immutability deals with the unchanging God. Even though things around us are changing, we know God is the one constant that we have in our life. God is the same day after day. He is not a man that he should lie. If he said it 5yrs ago, he means it today. God is immutable and always there.
    3. We need instruction – David needed instruction. Psalm 27:11 says 11Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. – David had a lot of enemies around him and he realized that he needed a word from the Lord. He needs to know what God’s instruction isfor his life.

                                                              i.      We need a relevant word– We need a word that can make since of what is happening in our life. What we are going through, we don’t need a cliché for. We need a real word that can meet us right where we are.

                                                            ii.      We need a Revelation of his will-What is it that God needs us to do right now? We don’t want to miss what God has for our life. We don’t want to miss what he wants us to do.

                                                          iii.      We want to react in wisdom– We want to move. We want to make sure we are doing what God told us to do. We don’t act a fool just because we have enemies. We can’t come down on their level. If we act like we want to act, we would end up in jail. So we want God to give us what we need so we can react in wisdom.

                                                          iv.      We need divine intervention– Psalm 27.12 says 12Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. – It has gotten so rough; we need God to step in right now! Your money and your degree can’t get you out of this. It is just like a miracle. Divine intervention is God’s involvement in human affairs. David is saying circumstances are all around him, but he knows God can divinely intervene.

  1. God can work through curcumstances.
    1. God will work in it-He can work in the thing. He will use the thing to bless you. Ex- Somebody has a sickness and you are asking God to intervene. God might give the doctor the wisdom to prescribe the medication to heal you or work the procedure. Don’t curse the doctor or get mad at the person. God can use them to bring your miracle. He will use your doctor, your lawyer, or your teacher. God can use the circumstance to bless you.
    2. God will go over it (the circumstance). – Over transcends the facts. God will rise above it and blow people’s minds. People will ask how it happened and all you will be able to do is say it is a miracle.
    3. He will work without it. – God will just move it all together. He will move it out the way. We don’t care how he God blesses us as long as he does.

II.            Determined to persevere in what God allows

Psalm 27:13 says 13I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

  1. Be willing to stay in there no matter what God allows to come. Now if God allowed it, then it must there to bless you. One of the most powerful things about coming to your breaking point is that you will discover what David discovered. David says he was about to faint or give up. He was about to fold or resign, but he saw something. David saw the goodness of God moving in the land of the living. This is the providence of God. God is actively involved in the lives of his people. He is not just standing by saying he will just let things happen. No matter how difficult the pain, God is moving in it. No matter how tragic your situation, God is moving in it.
  2. You have to have the right perspective. It is about how you look at a thing. If you look at your problem crazy and it will look at you crazy. David says he believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
  3. David says it is really about :
    1. Our Faith – In verse 13, David says though he had circumstance, he yet believed. Though he has drama in verse 12, he still believes. Anyone can have faith while all is well, but what will you do when the bottom falls out? When the bottom falls out, this is when you say, “Yet I believe.” If they lay us off, we will still believe! If things don’t work out the way I want them to, I will yet believe.
    2. Our Focus – You can see what’s wrong or see God moving in your situation. They’re stuff you see now, you could see 5yrs ago, because you were not mature enough to see it then. All you could see is what they were doing to you. Now you can see God in it. You can tell now that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and who are called according to his purpose.
    3. Our Future -When our faith is right, my focus is right. Where did David see it? In the land of the living. Because you intelligent, all you got to do is use deductive reasoning. David says he had drama around him, he yet believed, and then he saw God move in the land of the living. This means the drama in verse 12 was designed to destroy him, but he could see now because he was there. We are in the land of the living. Some people can’t see it, because they haven’t been through enough stuff yet. When you have been through stuff that could have killed you, you give God the glory, just because you still here! We are alive to testify about it. What was designed to destroy us was also designed to develop us. This why you got to hang in there and endure hardness like a good soldier! Count it all joy! Be not weary in well doing. In due season you will reap, if you faint not!  
  4. There is no need to be alive and acting like we are dead. Live folk make noise! Some people come here DOA, but there are some that thank God that he woke them up this morning and started them on their way.

III.            Develop a posture of anticipation

Psalm 27:14 says 14Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

  1. David says, I told you to wait. David says while you wait, God will strengthen our heart. There is a sense that the heart is the essence of a person. When we say we love you with all of our heart, it doesn’t mean our physical heart. It means we love you with the essence of who we are. The heart, the soul is who we are.
  2. The essence of who we are has been threatened by our experience. Even though externally we look like we have it all together, internally the essence of who we are is under attack. Though we come in looking well put together, we are about to break apart inside. David says because of this, he needs God to strengthen his heart. He needs to be restored. He needs God to do what no one else can do. Like David, we are about to break down. Has thou not heard or known that the everlasting God faints not. He gives power to them that doesn’t have might…Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
  3. David says wait on the Lord. Wait has a lot of meanings.
    1. Deals with being productive– It is the productive sense, it means to serve. When you wait, you keep doing you. Produce without excuse. Keep singing, keep serving, keep showing up for work etc… Don’t let it break you down. Keep producing.
    2. Deals with being Prudent-Deals with wisdom. God allows us to make wise decisions. When my things don’t make sense, let me make sense. We still believe he is more than the whole world against us.
    3. Deals with Pursuance– This means to pursue him. It deals with being reliable. We go through reaching for people that can’t help us. David says though enemies are around him, he still wants to reach for God’s glory. That maybe was what the woman with the issue of blood was doing. She had reached for doctors that could not help her, but she realized that Jesus was coming by, so she reached for him. Maybe the blind man on the side of the road was feeling this way too. They told him be quiet, but he got a breakthrough, because he pursued God. What about the man whose friends tore the roof off the building to get him at Jesus’ feet.
    4. Deals with Anticipation. When you are waiting with anticipation, you wait on a revelation. Don’t wait ignorantly. Your posture is grounded on a revelation. Ex- A person at a bus stop is waiting, because they have a schedule that says their bus picks up from there around that time. They are waiting looking for the bus. If they hadn’t had a schedule they would not have come to this spot. They wouldn’t have come around there, if they didn’t think what they were looking for was coming around this way. Stand in your spot. If he promised you it is coming. It is coming. Every day, we must wake up looking. Don’t wait with your lip stuck out. Wait giving God the praise.
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Fullness of the Holy Spirit II, Bible Study 06/23/10

Posted on June 25, 2010 by growintheword

Fullness of the Holy Spirit II

Bible Study 06/23/10

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

1 Corinthians 4:20 says  20For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power – To understand fully this you have to tear this scripture apart. The kingdom means God’s way of doing things. God’s way of doing things is not in word only. It is in power too. This sounds like a contradiction, because when God created the world, he spoke it and it was done. He set things in motion by the word. Remember in the beginning the Spirit of the Lord moved upon the face of the water. John the Baptist was sent to announce the coming of Jesus Christ. In the wilderness he cried out, “Repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand.” When Jesus comes, he makes a declaration about his purpose. When he talks about what he is going to do in  Luke 4:18, he says 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, – In other words Jesus explains that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him and had anointed him to do what he was about to do. On another occasion, Jesus says, “When you pray, pray our Father who art in heaven… let your will be done as it is in heaven … let your kingdom come, thou will be done in earth as it is in heaven. “ It is all about the kingdom. The kingdom of God suffers violence, but the violent taketh by force.

Now just to clarify things, the concept of the Kingdom of God is not found in the word. It is found in power. This says to us, the Kingdom of God (God’s way of doing things) is not just in word. You come to church and operate in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The fact that there are two kingdoms is indicated in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus says his kingdom is not of this world. So when we enter a relationship with Jesus Christ, we change citizenship. We live under Kingdom principles. The Kingdom of God contradicts the Kingdom of Darkness. The kingdom we are in is not in word only, it is in power. Many come in and get a word, and they gain faith, because conceptually they understand the word. We believe that what we heard is possible. Now we have the word, we have the key chains with spiritual slogans; we have the license plates, mugs, and etc… So as you can see, having the word is not our problem. The problem is after all that word; we keep making the same bone headed mistakes. You can come to church all day long and believe what you heard, but you don’t have victory over the shortcomings, because you don’t have power. The kingdom doesn’t operate on the word. It takes power to get to the Kingdom. Remember even the kingdom of darkness has the word. The devil will quote the word right back at you. This is why Jesus refuted the devil with word in the garden. It is clear, since Satan kept using the word to tempt Jesus; the kingdom of darkness has the word too. The missing element is they don’t have power.

I.                  How do we move from this to actually attaining the victory?

  1. We have to decrease so he can increase so that we might have the power to overcome what is trying to trip us up. How many of you believe that God wants our best? Lots of times we rationalize things by saying none of us are perfect which is true, but God desires us to live an abundant life. John 10:10 says 10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.- The thief is going to come, but Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly (the God kind of life). Jesus came that we might have victory over what the enemy is trying to do. Jesus came that we might not become permanent victims. Jesus came that we might be able to fulfill the promises in his word.
  2. The truth is God doesn’t want our best. This might be a shocker to most of you. Let’s think about it on another dimension. Maybe God wants you to have faith in his best. Your best is limited at best. You don’t know the potential you have inside of you so when you. This is evident, because when you reach your threshold, you say you are at your best, but God pushes you to give more, because he knows your real best. You didn’t even realize that you had this inside you until God pushed you. The truth is God wants you to have faith at his best (his standard), because your best is subjective. Ex-As a parent you go to child’s room after you told them to clean it and you see that stuff is not right. He/she says they did their best, but you make them do it over again. The reason for this is their best is not defined by the child, it is defined by the parent. Go to your school professor and turn in your paper while saying you did your best and your professor may say it doesn’t reach their expectation for you. As a result, you do better the next time, because you got a B on what you thought was your best. You do better. Until you can believe that you can conquer a thing or until you have faith to believe it possible or until you are challenged, you will not give your best. If you don’t have faith to do better, you will simply say it is your best. It is this easy to fall off your best if you don’t live in the spirit. It is easy to say that the Lord knows your heart which again is true, but this is why God left someone inside you to help you do what you can’t do.
  3. Positive side – Romans 8:4 says 4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.-The righteousness of God cannot be lived out in your flesh. God’s standard is not possible in our flesh. It is only possible in the spirit.
  4. Negative side – Romans 8:13 says 13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. – The spirit will put to death the deeds of the body. The Holy Spirit will put to death the deeds, because your body will conspire and conjure up things your flesh wants to do. The Holy Spirit will say, “You ain’t going to do that!” You need someone to say that you are not going to do that and the Holy Spirit is the only one that you will listen too.

II.               The Person of the Holy Spirit (his personality)

  1. Being the least understood of the God head, a lot of people deny the very presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit occurs 89 times in the New Testament. This doesn’t even include the times when the New Testament refers to him as “Spirit”. There are others times he is referred to has the Spirit of the Lord (i.e. … the Spirit of the Lord is upon me).
  2. His Attributes:
    1. He has Intellect – He is intelligent. He has a mind. He thinks, he searches, and he teaches. 1 Corinthians 2:10-13 says 10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. – We have to see how the Spirit of God is at work in our life. The Spirit of God searches all things. He knows the deep things of God. Even when we pray, the Holy Spirit is able to give us revelation about the deeper things of God. He knows what God is up to.
    2. He has emotions – Ephesians 4:30 says 30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. – How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? He is inside you ready to assist you and ready to help you get the victory and you keep ignoring. You conceptually understand the word you got, you believe it is possible, and you ignore the Holy Spirit and his ability to help you do what you need to do and as a result, he is aggrieved. When you put something crazy in your body, you grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wonders why he has to coexist with your foolishness. When you curse somebody out, it grieves him, because he could have helped you with it. Can you imagine that the Holy Spirit is grieving over your ignoring him?
    3. He has a will – 1 Corinthians 12:11 says 11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.- He distributes gifts according to his own will.

III.           8 things the Holy Spirit does

  1. He teaches– John 14:26 says 26But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. – First, Comforter used in this scripture also means advocate. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things. The Holy Spirit will speak to your Pastor and take everything you are dealing with and place it on your Pastor. This will inspire him to write a sermon just for your situation. It is clear this is the work of the Holy Spirit, because your Pastor doesn’t have time to interview each and every person in the church to make this happen. The Holy Spirit deposits our issues on the Pastor so that he or she may release a word to us. Every time your Pastor gets up to preach, you shouldn’t see him. Instead you should see the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Each of you can end up hearing the same sermon a different way. Everyone is hearing it where they are. It is like medicine to your bones. Your body has receptors for pain. When you take medicicine it goes to those receptors. This is how the medicine knows it is a headache rather than a foot ache. In like manner, the word we receive goes where we are hurting. This is why you should not look at folk strange when the word hits them and not you. You don’t know where they are hurting. You might also receive a word and think it is not for you, but a year later the Holy Spirit will bring this word back to your remembrance.
  2. He testifies and bears witness of himself. John 15:26 says 26But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: – He will always confirm that this is of Jesus. All week you will be talking about and issue, you come to church on Sunday, and the same issue you have been talking about will come out in the sermon. The Holy Spirit will confirm and testify of Jesus Christ. He verifies things and will bear witness God’s word.
  3. He guides or leads- Romans 8:14 says 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. – All who are led by God are the sons of God. Every day when you wake up, the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you where to go. We are so stubborn; we want to go out on our own way. Every day the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us where to go. The spirit is saying just follow me. Ex- Bishop demonstrates how we react to the Holy Spirit trying to direct us. Bishop randomly asks a guy to get up and follow him. This guy is a husband, a grown man, has children, and a CEO of a company. Why is this guy following Bishop? It is because he respects Bishop’s spiritual authority and he submits. He has confidence in Bishop’s leadership. Everywhere Bishop goes, the man follows. This guy didn’t even question why Bishop wanted him to follow. He just jumped up and followed him. This makes us ask the question, why then do we question the Holy Spirit? Further in the demonstration, the guy is instructed to go his own way. Soon he goes far enough to lose sight of Bishop Walker. Just like this, people lose sight of the Holy Spirit by trying to go their own way. The Holy Spirit tries to tell us to follow and we want to go our own way. This is what your Pastor is doing every Sunday at our churches. He is trying to get us to follow the Holy Spirit. Get in line with Holy Spirit, because he is trying to guide you! Inside of you is this amazing navigational system (the Holy Spirit). Ex-It’s sort of like your GPS system. Once you put a destiny in, you can even get detracted if you want to. This system is so committed she will get on line and say rerouting if you make a wrong turn. She has factored in your foolishness. She just keeps on talking regardless to what you do. She will not turn off until you get to your destination. She will not stop talking until she is able to say that you have arrived at your destination. The next time you act a fool and hear the phrase rerouting or make a U-turn, think about that. This is the same dedication the Holy Spirit has to guiding you to your destiny.
  4.  He performs miracles– When Phillip the Evangelist meets Ethiopian Eunuch, he came to him out of the water and the Spirit of the Lord snatched him away. The eunuch did not see him anymore. Acts 8:38-39 says 38And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.39And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.- Phillip got baptized or saved and was just snatched away. It was like a miracle. Miracles are often the work of the Holy Spirit. Many of us are objective people. This simple means we believe it is this way or that way. There is no gray area. Then there are subjective people that believe things can vary. When you look at how miracles happen, the doctor says you have this illness, by faith you come to a person of faith and say pray for me. You believe Gods word so you go through the act which is exercising the word. You also know there is power inside of you. You pray and you wonder how the tumor shrinked. It is t he power inside you that miraculously did the work that amazed the physicians. The same power that can remove a tumor can heal a mind. He is a miracle worker.
  5. He convinces. John 16:7-8 says 7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: – Reprove means he will prove the world wrong. The world’s kingdom has its own idea about sin, judgment, and righteousness. Bishop states he is not fundamentalists which takes everything literal. He is not a liberalist either, which is someone that says anything goes. He classifies himself as being right in the middle. Sometimes it is amusing. There is a place between amusing and nausea. The world we live-in have to dilute sin. So it renames stuff to minimize it. They have to be politically correct. They dilute it so much; it doesn’t seem like sin anymore. You have to say it so it fits in a social construct so that it doesn’t offend anyone. They dilute it so much; it doesn’t seem like sin more. What the Holy Spirit does is convince the world what sin is. He will convince them of what rightness and judgment is. Only the Holy Spirit can speak to this wicked generation and convince them that they are wrong. You can go all day long arguing with someone about what is right or wrong or what the word says, but only when the Holy Spirit convinces them will they change. Some of us were stubborn, we were set in our ways and it was the Holy Spirit that convinced us to check ourself. It is hard to submit to the Spirit. You will create your own righteousness. This is what the world has done.
  6. He restrains.2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 says 6And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. – Paul says there is a hidden power at work. If you let that power run, it will run all through your life. It is called iniquity. You have an authory in you that can restrain it. Every time Jesus showed up, he didn’t have to negotiate with demons. They automatically said when he showed up, “What do we have to do with thee?” This is why you can’t be a punk Christian. Even on the job. There comes a time that you have to walk in authority and say, “This house isn’t big enough for the both of us. You will not have my children, my destiny, or anything else. “You got to walk in the room and cause devils to go running! You don’t have to peep around corners! Walk in your authority. Ex-Bishop was somewhere and his hotel was by the French Quarter. Bishop decided to take a walk and the guy at the front desk told him that he needed to be careful. He says that they have witches, warlocks, and voodoo. Bishop responded to him, “No they need to be careful” Why does God’s people have to be careful? We need to walk in our authority.
  7. He commands and directs people Acts 8:29 says 29Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. – There was a specific time that the Holy Spirit had revealed for Phillip to go over and talk to the eunuch. The Holy Spirit will release you at the right time. We are gifted and got vision, but you are too anxious. Exhibit A is this, you got the vision and you envisioned these people to help you, so you make calls. They tell you no. You automatically think since everyone said no, then you must have missed what God wanted you to do with the vision. The truth is you should have waited until the Holy Spirit released you. The Holy Spirit knows exactly when to tell you to go to somebody. You got to be released into the right season. When the Spirit of God sends someone to you, he is going to let you know that they are coming. Beware of people who come into your life telling you God told them to. Even UPS has the courtesy to tell you that you have a package on the way. The Holy Spirit will tip you off when God is sending something or someone your way. He might not tell you the whole thing, but he will tip you off.
  8. Intercedes in prayer. There are moments where we are in trauma. We are in acute pain, when life just hurts. Out of your belly there is nothing but pain and out of your mouth are fragments of disconnected emotions. There are things that just don’t make sense to anybody. In those moments of ugghhh…, because we know it doesn’t always come out as, “Father in the name of Jesus… “Romans 8:26 says 26Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. – The Spirit of God softens the blow of the pain. There is some stuff that we went through that we would have lost our mind, but he softened the blow. We don’t even know how to pray. He stands between earth and heaven and interprets for us. The Holy Spirit will take our tears, put it in a heaven beacon, and send it express to heavens laboratory. They will put it under a microscope and look at the tear and know the very cause of it. Then heaven will prescribe a word for you, package it up, and send it to your man of God (your Pastor). Out of your Pastor’s mouth will then come healing for your body. He will heal you right where you are hurting. Thank God for the Holy Ghost. 
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What trouble taught me, Sermon 06/20/10

Posted on June 23, 2010 by growintheword

What trouble taught me?

Synopsis of Sermon 06/20/10

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Some of the most amazing lessons of your life won’t be in times of ease. Instead they will be in times of stress and strain. Trouble is often didactic. There are lessons in every experience God allows us to go through. Even though we are saved, we are not exempt of trouble. Job 14:1 says 1Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way. He says, “Difficulties arise to be surmounted”. In other words, the purpose in which trouble comes is so that it can be defeated. You and I have within us the ability to overcome whatever tries to overcome us. Despite the trouble, we learn the lessons that come along with it. Like David, when trouble has pushed us to our breaking point in our lives, we evaluate our relationship with God, and we begin to thank God for what he has allowed us to go through. You are better because of the trouble you went through! You’re stronger and you’re wiser because of it! Your praise is even where it needs to be because of it! Trouble came to make us better. Philippians 3:10 says 10That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; – Paul discovered revelation is birth out of trouble. Revelation is expensive. If you want God to take you to another spiritual dimension, you have to demonstrate your ability to deal with trouble. In every level of your life, you will deal with trouble. This season is designed to bless you. In other words, we may have trouble, but it doesn’t have us. Rather than complain and be depressed, know there is a blessing tucked away in the midst of the trouble.

David says in Psalm 27:5 says 5For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. David discovers that God has a plan of rescue in our crisis.

I.                  Plan of rescue in a crisis

Psalm 27:5 says 5For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

  1. God is never working it out as you go through it. He has already worked it out before you even get in it.
  2. David says this is the secret place of God. Like a parent is to their child, God is responsive to our cry. We have learned not to waste time going to people that are not equipped to help us. We have learned to go right to God, because God is our help. When you know where you help comes from, this becomes your first priority. You will go after God no matter how difficult things may be.
  3. Why would we do this?
    1. Because God is Reputable – His reputation precedes him. We can get many testimonies that will confirm how good God is. We don’t have to even go to the bible to get views on God’s reputation. You can ask your neighbor and they will testify to how good God is.
    2. He is Reliable-Every time we call on God, he shows up. Like our Grandparents used to say, he might not come when we want him, but he is always on time.
    3. He Rescues-David says that God will hide us when our trouble is most acute. In earlier biblical times, during the time of war, the safest placed to run was into the temple. Once they got into the house of God, there were soldiers that would come around and protect them and keep them secret. It was customary to hide warriors for the Lord back in biblical days. The soldiers would not let harm come to you in the temple.
    4. He Covers-God always gives us a covering. He protects us from stuff we aren’t even aware of. Grandma used to say he keeps us from dangers seen and unseen. We thank God for protecting us from the things we didn’t see coming our way.
    5. God gives me Comfort – While I am in there, God reminds me of his promise. Troubles will eclipses what God has told you. So God has to constantly keep reminding us what he told us. Like in  John 14:1 it says 1Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me., Jeremiah 29:11 says 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end., Chronicles 20:15 says 15And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.- We thank God for his word
    6. His word Changes– God’s word changes my situation. David says in reflecting on his past, he was not as solid as he should have been. Like David, many of us were wishhy washy and only came to God when we wanted to. We didn’t have the stability. David says no matter what comes, based on what he’s been through, he is more stable now than ever before. Just like David, some of the stuff we experienced would have gotten us if we had not gone through all that we have been through before. Our trouble gave us stability.
  4. What does it mean for God to hide you? It means we are placed in God’s protective custody, because he knows our testimony is valuable. Like protective custody in the real world, God changes our identity and changes where we are. He relocates us. Thank God that he has got us covered.

II.               Proper response in a negative context

Psalm 27:6a says 6And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy;

  1. David says now his head will be lifted up. It is about spiritual resolve. You will always have haters when:
    1. You have Anointing– You will have haters when you are anointed and appointed. People will hate on your anointment and your appointment, because your appointment follows your anointing. People will hate on you for what God has called you to do. While you are in it, know that God may not move the hater, but he will give you opportunity to be a testimony in the midst of all of them. This is why the Psalmist says in Psalm 23:5 says 5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. – If God gives you an opportunity to speak well of his name, that is a blessing in itself. What good does it do for you to speak about him in the midst of people that already know how good God is? When we speak well of him in the place where your context is negative, then we have chosen not to let our context change who we are. Understand why God keeps you there.
    2. It is about our now. Now is where Leah was when she decided she would give her son back to God. She named her child Judah which meant praise. Like Leah, we have to choose to be at our now. When you say now, you are saying you are tired of allowing yourself to be taken advantage of. You are tired of allowing the devil to manipulate your feelings and emotions. Keep your head up, because when you do so, you have chosen to protest. You are protesting being a permanent victim.
    3. You have to develop a Godly Attitude – We have been through too much to walk around with our head down. We have chosen not to let this break us down!
    4. We have learned to make Adjustments – Though our context changed, we will not. We have to learn how to adjust. We will be content in every context we find ourselves in. We choose to be full in an empty situation. Lay me off, and I will still survive! Some people you can’t tell what they go through, because they have learned how to adjust.
    5. We acknowledge – When you hold your head down, you let he world know the enemy has control over you. When you hold you head up, you show that God is good to you and you know God has it under control. You have to get to a place where you respond properly in a negative situation. David says my head be lifted up with mine enemies around me.

III.           Praise regardless of your circumstances

Psalm 27:6b says … I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

  1. Sing the blues if you want to, but why make all the sacrifice of getting ready and driving to church and then just sitting there once you arrive. If you are here, you might as well praise him! We choose to sing the goodness of the Lord. We give a sacrificial praise. Sacrifice means that even through the circumstances say we shouldn’t be joyful, we have decided to move past that.
  2. We must praise like it is explained in James 1:2 where it says 2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; – This kind of praise says we will praise God no matter what is going on around us. We are not praising God just for us, it is for you too! This praise needs to be heard. Ex-Recently when the Lakers were down in the playoff games, the entire coliseum started screaming and standing on their feet. People were texting Boston fans saying, “Brother Kobe is down.” This was Kobe’s Town. The fans started putting those signs up and the noise came. Then the noise started motivating the team and then all kind of crazy stuff happened. The Lakers went on to be victorious, because of the noise that was activated.
  3. We didn’t go through what we go through just for us, it is others can know what to do when they go through. When we are making noise, it is so someone else can know that God is able. When Paul and Silas were in jail, they praised loudly so the people in jail could hear them. How will others know how good God is unless you open your mouth? We must be willing to sacrifice. We must praise God even when we don’t feel like it! There are people going through stuff right now that we can’t even imagine, but they are determined to give God the praise regardless of the circumstances. A sacrifice of praise is praising God when you don’t feel like it! It is praising him when you come in tired and weary, frustrated, and aggravated! It is praising him when the conditions are not conducive of praise! In spite of the circumstances and conditions going on around you, understand that you are a living testimony of the goodness of God. It has nothing to do with how good your day has been. Even though you don’t understand what in the world is going on around you, you recognize you have to praise God anyhow! You realize that you can’t feel sorry for yourself! You open your mouth and bless the name of the Lord even if you are in a room with people who don’t like you! We will give that sacrifice praise. Even though our bills are past due, the budget has not been met, and we don’t know how we will make it! It is our sacrifice of praise! It doesn’t mean all is well! No matter what, we will stand with tears running down our face! When David wrote this, he wasn’t in church; he was running for his life! It is the sacrifice of praise from a real soldier! We are determined no matter what; we are going to push this praise out! We are going to let the devil know that he should have killed us when he had the chance! He messed around and let us get to the temple and we are going to praise his name! This is what trouble taught us!
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Fullnessof the Holy Spirit Part I

Posted on June 22, 2010 by growintheword

Fullness of the Holy Spirit Part I

“The Full Gospel”

Synopsis of Bible Study 06/16/10

Delivered by Bishop Walker

It is important to understand that God’s desire for us is not just to be saved and on our way to heaven. God’s desire for us is to have power, authority, and victory in the earth realm. Remember in John 10:10, Jesus says 10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. – Life mentioned here is that God kind of life. God wants for us to have life and provisions for our needs. He wants us to walk around in the earth realm with authority.

Many of us grew up hearing about Jesus dying on the cross. There was more to this story. When Jesus died on the cross, he got up with something. It was power and it was made available for us believers. Just to lay some ground work for this teaching, we want you to understand that when we talk about the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we are saying less of us and more of him. Many of us never tap into this fullness during salvation and we minimize the power of the Holy Spirit to some emotional reaction. When we see people reacting with emotionalism, we think that they are really full of the Holy Spirit. The truth is it might be a spirit, but it might not the Holy Spirit. Today we are assigned to help you understand that God desires for us to live spirit filled lives and he wants us to be filled with his sprit.

We are a Full Gospel Church (Mt Zion) and we believe in the fullness of the Spirit. As members of the Full Gospel and we embrace certain distinctives.

Full Gospel Distinctive

  1. We believe the Full Gospel includes the proclamation of both eternal power of Calvary and the potential power of Pentecost. We know that if it wasn’t for the cross, we wouldn’t be here today (speaking of Calvary). At the same time we recognize that something happened on the day of Pentecost. We further believe that what happened at Pentecost must be applied to our lives today.
  2. We believe in the baptizing power of Jesus Christ for salvation because of Calvary.
  3. We believe in filling and controlling power of the Holy Ghost for service and Holy and victorious living. We believe that we are filled to live victoriously. We are filled to live in service to him who has brought us out of darkness. We can’t fulfill our assignment in our flesh. We must do this in the spirit of God.
  • Many of us say we are saved and on our way to glory. What good does it do to be saved and yet we allow the devil to run in out of our house? What good does it do to be saved and you turn around and depend on somebody to do what God equipped you to do for yourself? One thing Jesus came to do is deliver us from religion and into relationship. Religion will always embrace co-dependency on the Priest. Religion in the old days was dependant on the priest. The people were bringing their sacrifices to the Priest so that the Priest could offer up repentance for them. They could not ask for forgiveness for themselves. Only the priest could go behind the veil of the temple. After Jesus died, the veil ripped and we all gained access to God. We don’t need anyone to do for us what we can for ourselves.
  • Jesus came to deliver us from religion. In other words we were relieved from the codependency on the Priest. Many of us think we can pray over our house or over ourselves. We think we can’t get a break thorough unless the Pastor does it. After the veil was ripped into, we have the same power that Jesus made available to us after his resurrection. Jesus said in John 14 that greater works than he will we do. So if we cannot get to our Pastor, Elder, or prayer partner, we can lay hands on our self. We can cast demons out of our own house, because we have this reservoir of power inside of us. Inside you resides the power of the Holy Spirit, which was given to us at salvation. When you got saved, you got a package deal (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost). Some people say we must tarry for the Holy Ghost, because of the book of Acts. This is a misconception, because the book of Acts is not a theology book. It is a historical book. It is simply the actions of the early church. In John 14, Jesus tells the disciples he will not leave us comfortless, but he will send a comforter who will come. In Acts 1:8, he turns to the same disciples and tells them to go to the upper room to wait or tarry for the Holy Ghost who would come that they would have power. He tells them that they would then be his witnesses in Judea and Jerusalem. Then 50 days later (50 is the number of Pentecost) on the day Pentecost in Acts 2:1, the bible says 1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. – The Holy Spirit had come for the first time as promised in John 14.  The Holy Spirit had not come until Acts chapter 2. They were waiting in Acts 1:8 for what was promised in John 14. Now that he has already come, we don’t have to wait for him, because he is already here. Where is he? The Holy Ghost dwells inside of us. Just because we don’t acknowledge his presence, does not mean he doesn’t dwell in us. The fullness of the Spirit says the only way for us to acknowledge his presence is by getting ourselves out of the way. This is why we have to say less of us and more of him. In other words, we have to get out of the way to experience him. With us out of the way, the Holy Ghost comes in and takes control. The reason you are not full of the Holy Spirit is because you are too full of yourself.

Influence

  • Ephesians 5:18 says 18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; – Paul says there is a similarity in the way one responds to alcohol and how one responds to the spirit. When you used to get tow up (from alcohol), the only way the liquor would have complete control is when your flesh quits fighting. Before you were saved, your flesh did not resist the alcohol. When you got filled with the alcohol, it took control of your mouth, mind, vision, talk, and your walk. It wasn’t you talking anymore. It was the Jack Daniels. When you are filled with wine everyone knows it. A drunken man can’t hide the fact that he is drunk. Your speech will give you away. You laugh at stuff that isn’t funny. You are under the influence at this point. Now imagine if you let the Holy Ghost have that kind of control over your life. It wouldn’t be you preaching, or teaching, or walking. or talking. It would be the Holy Ghost, because you would be under the influence of him. The hardest problem we have being filled with the Holy Spirit is we don’t want to let go of us. Our ego is easing God out. Our mind is so strong. Until you mind submits to the spirit, it won’t take control over you. Every day we have to say that we decrease. Take out everything that is blocking the Holy Spirit from working in us.

The Great Commission

  • Matthew 28:18 says 18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. – Power comes from 2 words. It comes from the Greek words 1411. dunamis doo’-nam-is  and 1849. exousia ex-oo-see’-ah. Exousia is the authority to do the thing and dunamis is the power to back it up. Ex-The police pull you over and this represents exousia (the authority). If you act a fool, they have their gun to back them up (example of dunamis).
  • Matthew 28:19-20 says 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.-Jesus wasn’t just taking the disciples on a field trip. They were in training. This was a didactic journey. Jesus wanted the Disciples to teach others what he taught them (The turning of the other cheek and everything).
  • In the Matthew 28:20c Jesus says, and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”Jesus says all power in heaven and earth is given to him (Dunamis). Jesus reminds them that he would be with them even until the end of earth.
  • We believe in the ongoing perpetual and continuous ecclesiastical (church) values of spiritual gifts. In other words we believe that spiritual gifts operate within the body of Christ for the edification of the Body of Christ, until Jesus comes back. We believe that there ought to be a manifestations flowing in the body of Christ. We believe that everything that God said would be available to us as a believer should be seen manifest in the house.

Fivefold Ministry

  • Ephesians 4:11-13 says 11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: -: This suggests that every gift is for the edifying and the maturing of the Saints for the work of Ministry. They cannot be apart from the Holy Spirit. You cannot prophesy without being filled with the Holy Spirit. If you are prophesying without the Holy Spirit, there can be too much of you in there. This makes it hard for us to tell if you are proph-a-lying.
  • Read 1cor 12-14 (in your spare time)
  • Chapter 12- Paul talks about how we function as the body of Christ. He also talks about how spiritual gifts are distributed.
  • Chapter 13- Talks about love. It takes the Holy Ghost to love. Without it, you sound like noise. It takes the Holy Ghost to love some people.
  • Chapter 14-Talks about the gifts were operating in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40 says 40Let all things be done decently and in order. – Many may have been in churches and seen people operate in gifts, but it wasn’t done in order. God makes sure the gifts flow in a special order. He won’t let a gift flow out of order. Ex-The Holy Spirit will never let your Pastor preach and you get so emotional, you over shadow the word so that someone else can’t get a breakthrough. God won’t let you roll under a pew while you are in the Spirit and allow you to break your ankle. That is just out of order. This disorder, disillusions people. People see these weird manifestations of the Holy Spirit (out of order) and they become afraid of them. This is why they never tap into his power.
  • We believe in the divine personhood of the Holy Spirit. He is a person. Never refer to the Holy Spirit as an “it”. He is a personality.
  • We believe in his present day Ministry to the believers including the sovereign distribution of spiritual gifts. We believe God can give his gifts to whomever he wants. You can’t get mad a person if he gave God a gift to one person and you.
  • 1 Corinthians 12:7 says 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. – The manifestation of the Holy Spirit was given to prophet beyond us. God didn’t give Bishop a preaching and pastoring gift to hold on to it for himself. The blessings that God blesses you with are bigger than you. When you realize this, you won’t take the attacks so personally. It is to bless others. The devil isn’t after you. He is after who is listening to you.
  • 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 says 8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.- All of these gifts were given by the same Spirit, to work together in unison.
  • There are some revelations we get and come and we say they are good. There are others that stay with us all week long. Inside of you is an amazing reservoir of power. Just because you don’t experience HIM, doesn’t mean that he is not there. You see so much manufacturing of the Holy Spirit; it is hard to tell what is real. Inside you are a marvelous authority and revelation given to you at the time of Salvation. We can’t tap into it, until we move out of the way. He is there and from time to time, he reminds you that he there. You attribute it to some cognitive attribute. When you go someone where you know it doesn’t feel right, that is the Holy Spirit. When a job opportunity opens up and a voice speaks to you about taking or not taking the job, that was the Holy Spirit talking to you. When we say something is telling not to do this or that that was the Holy Spirit. What is so fascinating about the Holy Spirit is our body is temple of the Holy Ghost. If the Holy Spirit dwells in your temple, why do you have some doors in your temple locked? You won’t let him under the bed or in the closet. There are certain parts you won’t let him in, because you don’t want to let go of your control. You have to learn like it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, 5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. – He is in you and he bears witness. This is how he works.
  • Because he is in you, let’s go back to Matthew 28:18-20 where it says 18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. – He says all power is given and then he says go and teach them, but remember that I am with you wherever you go. When you roll over in your carnality and dry yourself off, this is the Holy Spirit saying “Are you ready to go yet?” When you come off your high and feel guilty, that is him. Your flesh is not going to argue about what you do. Your flesh is like, “that is fun!” You flesh won’t try to talk you out of it. It is him that dwells within you that tries to talk you out of it. The Lord says you need some help walking in integrity and the next time your issue invites you over, ask them what time do you want us to come. We are part of a package deal. People that are carnal will never understand us. Greater is he that is within us than he who lives within the world. That is what is going to wake you up at two in the morning. The next text you get, say “We can’t make it.” He walks with us and talks with us and tells us that we are his own.
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