Insight Part II, Sermon 10/07/09

Posted on October 9, 2009 by growintheword

Insight Part II
“Understanding what Wisdom is”
Synopsis of Bible study 10/07/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Proverbs 4:7-8: 7Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.8Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
If God was to give you one wish, what would you wish for? Would it be to win the lottery, would it be a new body, would it be the fountain of youth, or would it be to get a husband or wife? You know there was a person in the bible that actually had this offer extended to them. In 1 Kings 3:5-14 God came to Solomon in a dream: 5In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. 8And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 10And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. 14And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. – Solomon had an opportunity to ask God whatever he wanted and Solomon asked for wisdom. Solomon said he wanted to be able to discern between what is good or what is bad because he understood if God had elevated him to a particular purpose and destiny, then he wanted to make sure he walked in wisdom. He did not want to blow it! How many of you want to go through life and not blow it. How many of you know people that God elevated and gave great position to, but they turned around and blew it. They blow it, because they don’t have wisdom. It is important because, in all of though getting, we must get an understanding.
So what is wisdom? Wisdom is not knowledge. You can have a lot of degrees and yet not make sense. There are a lot of educated fools. Wisdom is seeing and responding to life from God’s perspective. It is an attitude and an action. It is a skill that you can develop.
I. Wisdom is the proper application of truth.
1. Wisdom is the proper application of truth. Lot of us go through life and don’t see life from God’s perspective. The reason is we are led by our own intuition or our natural inclination. We go with what we feel. We feel like we should do this and that we should do that. We are often led by our emotions which are so unstable, because one day we feel this way and another day we feel that way. You can’t trust your emotions. You cannot trust your mental intuitions, because the bible says in Proverbs 14:12: 12There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. – There is a way that seems so awesome, but then you go that way and realize that there wasn’t much wisdom tied to it.
2. Now that we know what wisdom is, what do we gain when we get wisdom? Proverbs 3:16-18: 16Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. 17Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
Benefits of Wisdom:
a. Long life. In other words, there is long life as a result of your wise choices. We realize that your length of days on this earth is set, but through wisdom and the choices that come out of wisdom (what we eat, our environment, how we treat our bodies), we won’t leave this earth before our time.
b. Health – is also a product of wisdom. You can have good health as a result of your wise decisions.
c. Honor – is in wisdom. Honor can be bestowed on you, because of people recognize the wisdom about you. Doesn’t mean you didn’t make any mistakes, but you have chosen to let your wise decisions transcend foolish decisions.
d. Pleasant life – we live our lives pleasant free of drama and tension as a result of living in wisdom. Life is not supposed to be stressful to you.
e. Safety-there is safety in wisdom. Wisdom will protect us and allow us to make decisions that ensure our safety.
f. Happy-when you look at what your consequences could have been, you are so happy you didn’t go there. Ex- “I am sure glad I didn’t get in that car with them!” or “I am glad I didn’t give that fool my number!”
The key to life is to get wisdom!
II. How can we get wisdom?
1. There is only one reliable source for obtaining wisdom. That is reading God’s word. Ex – Bishop explains that God even told Bishop to get back in the word (read the bible on a regular basis) for our sakes. Bishop explains that had been reading the bible, but only to prepare for the sermons that he brings to us. God told Bishop that he need to start taking more time to read the Bible for his own benefit and revelation, so God could do even greater things. God told Bishop that there was a big percentage of his congregation who do not read the bible on a regular basis. God places the burdens of a congregation on the man of God (your Pastor) over that congregation. Some people don’t read the bible at all, but God has instructed this man of God to instruct us to start reading God’s word more and on a regular basis. God said tell his people to read the bible!
2. The best place to start reading the bible is in Proverbs. Proverbs is a book of wisdom and reading it will arm you with wisdom. Proverbs 1:2: 2To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; – In the scripture opens up to say he wants us to know wisdom and instruction. Some people know how to act in certain circumstances, but they don’t have wisdom in other circumstance. You ought to want to know how to make wise decisions in every aspect of life. Ex-You know people that make wise decisions on the job, but you look at their personal life, it seems like they are another person. It’s like they have no wisdom outside of work. For example, we see them being so intelligent at work and we wonder who is that they have on their arm outside of work. For another example, we all know people that are excellent money managers at work and outside of work they bounce checks left and right. Another example is we have people that work good with kids in the church, but their own kids are running crazy. We want to have wisdom in every area of our lives.
3. If we begin to read God’s word, we recognize that there are two forms of wisdom. There is the world’s wisdom and then wisdom gained from God’s word. All the great philosophers in their great wisdom contradict each other and it looks like foolishness to God. This is why we have to apply God’s word to gain wisdom.
4. When you understand this concept of reading God’s word for wisdom, then it comes down to realizing that the word of God is like the manual for our life. Ex-In a new car there is an owner’s manual usually found in the glove compartment. At first we really are not interested in the owner’s manual. When you get a new car, we are just interested where everything is and what works. We concern ourselves with the gadgets on the car. When something goes wrong, you suddenly become interested in the owner’s manual. Ex2-Most men, when we put things together, don’t read the instructions, because we think we know what we are doing. We say we got it and we try to put it together, but there are some screws left over when we finish. As men, we say the screws are left over, but the truth is we rigged it. As a result of us not reading the instructions, our project is now leaning. God’s word is the owner’s manual for your life. Just like this, we jump into marriages and careers without reading the owner’s manual or the instructions. This is why your relationships are leaning.
III. We got to do what God’s word says do
1. You have to learn to memorize scripture. Proverbs 7:1-2: 1My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. 2Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. –We memorize everything else, but we fail to memorize the word of God. Many of us can get up and recite the Greek Alphabet, yet we can’t name the books of the bible. We have to find value in knowing God’s word.
2. We have to make the word such a part of us, it is one within us. The word in us reminds us of what we are supposed to do. Romans 8:28 and Psalms 27: 23 are examples of scripture that we should be able to know and know where they are. We need to remember these scriptures because they help us to know God.
IV. We need to know God
1. Fools despise wisdom. Proverbs 1:7: 7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
2. God is not our co-pilot. God is not our co-nothing. If we don’t know him. You got to understand how to get to know God. It is by our experiences and reading the word that we get to know God.
3. Rejoice in your trials. In James 1:2, the writer writes during a time that the early church is being mortared and being killed for what they believed, but James says in James 1:2: 2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;- James said count it all joy when you falling to different test and tribulations. In other words, we need to rejoice during our time of trials. People that don’t have wisdom and understanding will think you are in denial for rejoicing when trials come.
4. What makes a person have joy during their time of crisis? It is because of what we know. We have joy during the time of crisis because of what we know. James 1:3: 3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
5. We need to be spiritually mature. James 1:4: 4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. – Perfect means mature, entire, or complete.
6. Ask for wisdom and God will give it to you. James 1:5: 5If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
7. Ask in faith. James 1:6: 6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.-If we ask in faith, God will grant what we ask for. In otherwords, we have to ask like we believe God is going to do it.
8. God won’t give wisdom to somebody that will not make the right decision or who is unstable. James 1:7-8: 7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
9. Ask God to humble you and give you wisdom. James 1:9: 9Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: – A humble person is one that God will exalt. The Greek word for wisdom is “sophia”- It means wise, wisdom, skill, tact, or expertise in any art. Most of us in our relationships can look over our life and say most of the unwise decisions we made was in the context of some kind of relationship.
V. Cost of unhealthy relationships:
1. Character- Character is a reflection of the word in us. We can’t be out there doing anything. The word of God should flow off of our lips. Character is behavior on display. For any relationship to be effective, we must first be in proper relationship with ourselves. If we are not, we will think the relationship we are entering will make our character better. Getting married is not going to change you. You have to work on you before you enter that relationship. When you enter a relationship, you take your character with you. Proverbs 5:1-2: 1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
2. Be careful of who you “communicate” with. Proverbs 5:3: 3For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: – the Devil will assign somebody to your life to try to talk you into stuff. Words are powerful. Who gets into your ear? Every unwise decision we have made was often a result of somebody getting into your head. They kept talking to you, until you finally done it. When you have character and the word, you can resist temptation. Ex-Remember when Satan tried to trick Jesus. Jesus response was the word. He kept saying, “It is written …” Ex- When someone says “What’s up shorty?” you can respond, “It is written, how can two walk together unless they agree” or “We must be equally yoked”. Words will get you so you must know God’s word. How many people have been talked into stuff that you can’t believe you were talked into? Ex: “No! I said no! Stop! Go on now! Stop playing. You play too much. I’ll think about it. Let me check. Well I ain’t staying long”. See how you “no changed”? The enemy speaks to your vulnerability. What can be a blessing to us, can turn into a curse. The Devil has so many ways to get to you now days; it is much easier to get sucked in through communication. We have My Space, Twitter, Face Book, Email, Texting, and much more. This is why we have to be careful with our communication.
3. Camouflage-Proverbs 5:4-6: 4But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.-People come with a game on the front end, but later they turn out to be something other than they represented themselves to be.
4. Comfortable-be careful of getting too comfortable. Proverbs 5:7-8: 7Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:-You got to cut some things off. Realize that being comfortable is not healthy for you. Men often have a hard time knowing when the friendship of a woman is composed of bad intentions. Women have the sixth sense of being able to see that this is a relationship that should be cut off.
5. Consequences-Proverbs 5:9-10: 9Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:10Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; -Ex- Guys if you cheat, you get put out of the house you bought. Later your wife gets remarried and moves somebody into the house. You are now paying for a house you don’t live and somebody else is reaising your kids. All of this can be consequences of one unwise decision (cheating). Proverbs 5:12-14: 12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.-Why didn’t we go to the church. We allowed people to keep us out. We look back and realize that we were in church, but the word is going in one ear and out the other. It is not too late, because God kept you, even in your unwise decisions. You still have time to get it right.

Arab Proverb
He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him!
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is simple. Teach him!
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep. Wake him!
He who knows, and knows that he knows is wise. Follow him!

The greatest decision you can make outside of Jesus, is walking in wisdom. If you could get the years that you lost over stupid decisions, how many years would you get back? Your decision can be the difference in walking in wisdom and foolishness.

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Power of a changed mind Part I, Sermon 10/04/09

Posted on October 6, 2009 by growintheword

Power of changed mind Pt 1


“Power of changed mind”
Synopsis of sermon 10/04/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Text: Romans 12.2

One of the greatest challenges for any of us is changing our minds. The mind is a powerful thing and often the greatest challenge is moving out of carnality and moving into spirituality. This is why Paul writes to the Early Christians at Rome. The church at Rome was in its infancy stage when Paul writes to them. Rome was an advanced civilization like Egypt was. It was a time of Caesar, a time of idolatry, and a time where Christians were persecuted and martyred. It is here that Paul makes a bold declaration to these early Christians by telling them to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable unto God which is their reasonable service. Paul goes on to say in the text: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. – Paul wanted them to be aware that God wanted them to see themselves from God’s perspective.
This is a word today where Paul is challenging them not to be manipulated by the magnetic pull of the world. The world’s way of doing things often causes believers to backslide. It causes us to be moved into directions that are inconsistent with what God has for our lives. So here is a word today to inform you that we believe that it is God’s will that our minds get right. You have to understand that you don’t have to lose your mind, but it is important to always allow your mind to be kept by God. Some of us may not want to admit it, but some of us can testify that we have been through stuff where our mind almost slipped away from us. This is why Paul says you have to understand the power of transforming and renewing. It is important that we don’t lose our minds when we allow our minds to be transformed by God.
There are many that will tell you that just a few years ago, they saw life, they saw the church, and they saw God, and people around them from a much different perspective, but since their minds have been changed, now they are living the best days of their lives simply from a changed mind. When God changes your mind, you move from a hater to a helper. You move from a state of hopelessness to a state of hopeful and from a spectator to a participator. When you look around you can get testimonies from people that will tell you the power of a changed mind. There are people around you now that if you knew them a few years ago, you wouldn’t think you were sitting with the same person. They are dressed up looking good, but the truth is if you knew them just 5 or 10 years ago you wouldn’t know them. This same people will tell you that God can really change your mind. God wants to take your mind out of the gutter and out of all low places. God wants your mind to go to the penthouse. God says he is trying to take us to another dimension, but he says he can’t take you without your mind. Unless you mind is willing to go, nothing else will go with you.
Today we will stretch you and talk about issues that Church doesn’t want to talk about.
I. How to reconcile the relationship between psychology and theology
1. There is a taboo created when it concerns psychology. Nobody wants to get psychological help. There are people so filled with egotism that they think they got it all together. The truth is we don’t have it all together. You can’t have discussion with the mind without psychology and you can’t have change of the mind without theology.
2. There is a spirit of rebellion within us all. We naturally rebel against the things of God. You can’t be in love with God and in love with the world at the same time. The enemy always wants to attack the mind. Though you can’t stop the attack on your mind, you can control your response.
3. The enemy systematically attacks our mind and when he does he likes to catch us up in:
a. Carnality- thoughts of the flesh and of the world. If the enemy can keep you away from spiritual things and keep you caught up in worldly things, then he can make certain that he can control you contextually.
b. Contextually-if you don’t feed yourself spiritual things, you will view the world where you are. There will be no vision because of the lack of exposure. It can keep you from being exposed to something greater and you will become cynical.
c. Cynical-you become critical of others that have reached their goals. You will think something is wrong with their achievements, but really you are angry because they are living out what you should be doing. Now you become complacent.
d. Complacent-Years pass and you do the same thing over and over. Year after year you never pursue your dreams or your goals, because the Devil systematically attacked your mind.
4. We must address this thing clinically. You got to understand that a lot of the things that we see in the bible in the Old and New Testament, that the scripture calls demonic possession is really much deeper than demonic oppression. When we look at the nature of some of the historical stories in the bible, we are looking at a time where people didn’t have the framework to call clinical disorders of the mind to be anything else but demon possession. A lot of stuff called demon disorder was really clinical disorders. In the past, we kept putting oil on people with these types of disorders and they kept coming back. You must know that you can’t cast out of people, what they are not willing to talk out. A lot of things we try to cast out, need to be brought out clinically.
5. Demon possession does exist, but Jesus dealt with both the spiritual and clinical issues.
6. In Mark 5, Jesus goes off to the country of Gadarenes where the man in graveyard was cutting himself with stones. Who do you know that lives in the graveyard cutting themselves with stones? Mark 5: 1-5 : 1And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
7. Jesus sees the spirit in the demon possessed man, but he also notices that he has clinical issues too. Jesus not only deals with the demons, but he deals with the clinical issues too.
8. Exhibit:
a. He asks what the man’s name is, and the man says we are Legion for we are many. Mark 5:9: 9And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. – If you just cast out one demon, he has a lot of other issues underneath that you need to deal with. Jesus exposed this to teach the disciples that the guy had more than demonic issues to deal with. Though Jesus cast the demons out of the man, he leaves him clothed in his right mind. Mark 5:15:15And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
b. In Mark 9 a father brings his son to Jesus. Mark 9:17-19: 17And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.-The father tells Jesus that the boy foams at mouth and throws himself in the fire. He switches from extreme to another. If you think about it, this sounds like bi-polar. Jesus begins to have a conversation to help him talk it out. This is clinical. Jesus asks how long the boy had been like this.-Jesus was trying to help him understand that people don’t just show up this way. Ex-Just like your children at home. Your kids have been walking around with stuff that you didn’t buy and you just now noticing this! Problems exist for a long time and we don’t pay it any attention. The father in the story says he believes, but asks Jesus to help his unbelief. The boy’s father tells Jesus if he can have anything, he wanted Jesus to have mercy on him and his child. Mark 9:21-25: 21And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 25When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.- He realizes what is wrong with the son, can also be wrong with him.
II. Every attack starts in your mind.
1. One out of four Christians struggle with depression. Abraham in Genesis 15 struggled with depression. Sarah in 1 Samuel 1 struggled with depression. Jonah in chapter 4 struggled with depression; Elijah in 1 Kings 19 struggled with depression. King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14-23 struggled with depression. Jeremiah in the whole book of Jeremiah and the whole book of Lamentations struggle with depression. David as anointed as he was, struggled with depression. Bishop Walker III (who delivered this sermon), when he went through the grief that he went through 5 yrs ago, struggled with depression. Everybody reading this is flooded with some type of depression. If it hadn’t been for God who kept our minds, we wouldn’t even be here today. Somebody knows what it feels like to be alone in your house with all the lights off or walking around having conversations when there is no one there but you. This is how the Devil messes with your mind, but nobody wants to talk about this in the church! Nobody wants to deal with this! People just sit up in church and have this stuff going on in their head…
2. This is attacks of the mind!
a. The Devil says he will get you by getting you to disobey God. He knows if he can get you to disobey God’s word, this is the moment you will be subjected to deviant behavior.
b. Deviance is when you begin to violate things of cultural norm. This is the point that you become promiscuous, it is the point you get into crime, and all other kind of foolishness.
c. Out of your Deviance you become delusional, because now you begin not seeing life clearly and you end up disappointed.
d. And this is when depression sets in, because depression is a mental state of a sense of being inadequate and it starts a lack of inactivity. This is when the Devil says he has you because, he wants to destroy you. This is when destruction comes but Jesus says in John 10:10: 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.
3. God says he wants to control your destiny. He wants you to have life abundantly. God wants you to understand the attack on your mind. The Devil is trying to prevent you from getting the word so you will not have the right perspective. The Devil will try to have you mad at the man of God who is trying to set you free, but won’t have you made at the person beating you upside your head.
III. Right perspective after transformation
1. Transformation is a genetic change. It is a change in composition, structure, character, or condition. It is like having a computer. You have hardware, but you need to download new software. You also have to get new antivirus protection to stop what is trying to crash your hardware. This word is like antivirus software.
2. It is important to understand the term renewal. When you look at transformation, your composition changes. We are saying that we have to look at the state of our mind. What are the greatest threats to our mind?
3. Threats of the mind:
a. Anxiety – This is stuff that you are worried about. This stuff keeps you up all night. It is fear.
b. Addiction. Stuff you can’t let go of.
c. Approval. Wanting people to approve you. Living your life so people can feel good about you.
4. If you can ever get control over these three areas, you will almost be there. This is why it is important to understand the power of the spirit over the mind. It is important because this is where revelation comes from. Every experience that Jesus took the disciples through was about bringing them to a greater revelation. You have to understand how to see life from a biblical perspective. When your mind gets right, you have to recognize that the only thing that is going to transform your mind is that we recognize that we have to get a mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5: 5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: – We have to make sure we feed our mind the word, everyday.
5. Mind of Christ:
a. Wisdom- the proper application of truth.
b. Worshipper–got a made up mind to worship God.
c. Winner-we realize that we are victors not a victims.
6. We are kept by the powers of God through faith. 1 Peter 1:5: 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. – What is keeping your mind from slipping is the power of God through faith. If not for the power of faith, you would have lost your mind. God can keep you.
7. Masquerade is external. Metamorphism is eternal. Romans 12:2: 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. -Transformation in this scripture is actually looking at metamorphism vs. masquerade. Do you want to masquerade (look like you got it together where know that you are one crisis away from being exposed) or metamorphosis (a real change from within, meaning you won’t lose your mind through a storm)?
8. We got a generation of people focusing on the masquerade. They look like they re a prayer warriors, but are exposed when the storm comes. When you got metamorphous is not about Gucci, it is about prayer. You can rejoice in the power of a testimony.
9. God changes our mind so we can rejoice in the power of my testimony. The most authentic evidence of a changed mind is a person that has been a recipient of a changed mind. The word we are talking about now, we can prove. You can literally prove thorough your testimony that your mind was in one place, but now is in another. We don’t think like we used to think. We have a knowledge that we know why we know what we believe. God gave us a set of experiences that we thank him for. There are people that in their old mind, thought they had it all figured out.
a. Our old mind says we will serve God as long as it makes sense to our mind. Once it moved outside our mindset, we were frustrated with our relationship with God. In our old mind, we could only be faithful to God as long as we get the job or whatever we were hoping God for. When you can accept the perfect will of God, you realize that he is sovereign and everything he does is right. It is not about our mind, but his mind. You know that everything he does is right. There are a lot of people that thank God for tangible stuff, but there are some that can thank God for a changed mind. Ex-In the delivery ward of the hospital, there is an OBGYN that is about to bring forth the birth of another child. They are encouraging the mother to push, but there is really one thing they are really after to ensure a successful delivery. If they could just get the baby’s head out, then the rest of the process will come out pretty smooth. Getting the head out is the hardest part of the process, but if they get the head out, the rest of the body will come out ok .In like manner, God says if he can just get your head right, if they can get the hardest part of the process over with, the rest of you will come out ok.
God Bless!

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Insight Pt. I, “Knowledge & Wisdom” Bible Study 09/30/09

Posted on October 3, 2009 by growintheword

Insight Pt I


“Knowledge & Wisdom”
Synopsis of Bible Study 09/30/09

What separates a believer from a non believer is what a believer knows. People make decisions based on what they don’t know. Hosea 4:6:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.-people are destroyed because of what they do not know. Without knowledge, wisdom won’t happen. Knowledge in other words is the foundation for gaining wisdom. In the Garden of Eden, knowledge (in the absence of Wisdom) came in and ruined everything. Ex- When a car breaks down, mechanical knowledge is needed. The knowledge you have is tied to a problem. God gives us the knowledge to solve life’s problems.

Everything God created was done with knowledge. Proverbs 3:19-20: 19The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. -Whatever God does is an act of love, so he knows what he does. God has knowledge and he wants us to gain it about him and spiritual matters. Why come to church and not try to gain spiritual knowledge.

I. Love without knowledge?
You can have love without knowledge. Ex- There was a mother that only feed her children meat. As a result, they weren’t healthy because they lacked some nutrients that they should have been getting. She read something about nutrition (knowledge) and it prompted her to change their diet. As a result of this, the kids got healthier. Since the mother changed the kid’s diet as a result of the knowledge that she gained, does this mean began to love the kids anymore? Of course she didn’t. The truth is previously she didn’t have the knowledge to do what she needed to do. As a result of the knowledge she gain, she changed what she was doing. This can be applied to other situations. How can a wife or husband be a good spouse without knowing what a spouse is supposed to do? They have to have to knowledge to know what to do in order to do it well. In this same manner, we need to gain knowledge of what God wants us to do and what his will is for our life.
You have to have knowledge to go with your zeal. Proverbs 19:2: 2Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.
Acts 17:22: 22Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.-The Apostle Paul was brilliant, intelligent, a writer, a Theologian, and etc… Paul goes to Mars Hill located in Athens grace and this is the Mecca of Philosophy. This is where the smart people used to hang out to discuss historical things. Paul shows up and is respected because of his history. In verse 22, superstitious here means traditionalism. Paul tells the great Philosophers and Theologians that they had things that they believed in that were not foundational.
Acts 17:23: 23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.- Paul tells them that he knew they loved God, but they have so many traditions, they are ignorantly worshiping him. All of us are smart, but there are areas that we are ignorant in. Ex-Lots of people come to church and have learned wrong because of tradition. Tradition is one of our bigger blockers of what we are supposed to do. The truth has to transcend all of our traditionalism. It is hard accepting that what you grew up believing is wrong. Ex. – some people still have a hard time seeing a preacher wearing jeans in the pulpit. Ex2-The sheet being used on the communion table has no biblical soundness. Historically it was just used for fly problems. Ex3-Holding up the one finger when you tip out of church, really comes from slavery. It came from the fact that slaves had to let their Master know that they were leaving out, so they would do it by holding their finger up. There is no biblical foundation to this. Paul simply reminded the Theologians and Philosophers that traditions were messing them up.
Acts 17:24-25: 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; – Pual tells them they are only worshiping God in the temple. This is why they thought they could do what they wanted to do outside the church. We come to the church to worship, but we should come to the church worshiping. God doesn’t need us to lift our hands. We need to do lift our hands as a form of surrendering. When you give in a offering, it is not because God needs it. We give because we want to be blessed. We have our very breath because of him. What if he took it away or made us pay a breath tax?

Acts 17:26: 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; – In the this scripture, Paul is dealing with people so covered in religion, but the truth is, we are all one family. When you come into the truth, you know we are all one blood. In God’s eyes, there is not separate race, or denomination, or anything that cause us to separate ourselves from each other.
Acts 17:28: 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. -Paul says he wants to bring us into knowledge.

II. Those who are deliberately ignorant and actively avoid truth
Don’t be a fool. Ephesians 5:17: 17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Study God’s word and know what his will is for every area of your life. If we want to be a better man, a better woman, better in our finances, or better in our relationships, we need to read what God’s word says about the goal.
Seek the truth and gain knowledge. Proverbs 23:23: 23Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Leave your simple ways. You are above this stuff. Proverbs 9:6: 6Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.
Nothing you can desire can compare to wisdom Proverbs 8:11: 11For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
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He, who walks with wise, grows wise. Ever notice how fools like to hang out together. Hang out with people who are pursuing what you want Proverbs 13:20: 20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
You need people who can speak knowledge into your life. You really can’t trust your own understanding. If we were to talk about what happened in the news recently, when it got back, it would be a different source. Lots of time we call it a reliable source when actually it is a re-lying source. Proverbs 24:5-6: 5A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. 6For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
We need to know the source of true knowledge. The source of true knowledge is God. Proverbs 3:5-7: 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. 7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
The Lord gives wisdom. The knowledge we have comes from God. Proverbs 2:6: 6For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
III. The source of true knowledge
They say they are going to trust God and not the doctor. Many people have said they were going to listen to the doctor. They say they are simple going to trust God. Well God gave the physician knowledge and refusing this knowledge is an act of ignorance.

Court, God gave knowledge to the lawyer. Out of Gods mouth comes knowledge. We come to church every week and we come with a problem and we want to know is there a word from the Lord. We are not coming for a word from our Pastor. We are coming for a word from God.. It is God’s word that you after, because God’s word is an answer to your problem. We have real problems and d we need a real word. When you show up, the knowledge you get deals with the problems you are experiencing. Ex-On one occasion, Jesus gives parable which is an earthly story with heavenly meaning. It is about the seeds that were sown by the sower. Some fell by the way side, some fell on stony places, some had no roots and withered away, some fell among thorns and others fell into good ground. Jesus pulls the disciples in and tells them what the parable means. He tells them that the seeds will represent the reaction of the people they spread the word to. Some people the seeds will fall by way side, some will have hard heads, some the world will choke out from the lack of roots, and others will be excited and run with the word. Knowledge is the answer. He then tells them to get in the ship with him after the parable of the seeds lesson. Jesus goes to sleep and the disciples are supposed to ferry the ship through the unpredictable Sea of Galilee. Out of nowhere a storm comes. When it comes, they start panicking. Nobody had the understanding or the knowledge of the storm. If they could have solved it or stopped the storm, they would have. Like us, we are here because we need an answer. The disciples start panicking. They cried out “Master!” They remembered that Jesus was on the ship. Jesus is the word. The word, the knowledge, or the answer is on the ship, during the problem. They have a problem, but the answer is on the ship. Most preachers will say “Peace Be Still” is the main point of the story of this particular storm. That is a powerful sermon but let’s go a litter deeper. The revelation of that text is when Jesus says “o yea of little faith”. If your faith is awake, you can go asleep too. God gave them knowledge on the sea shore with the parable of the seeds. You don’t have to wake up the teacher, when you already got the answer. We get so codependent on the teacher, we keep asking the teacher, when he has already spent time giving us the answer. Jesus is like they woke him up over something that they already had knowledge to understand. The source of knowledge is God. God will give the knowledge to or the answer. You have notes and you have CDs of the sermons falling out of your car. Why don’t we go back to what God has taught and quite asking the teacher for what has already been taught., why don’t you go back to what you have already been taught.

IV. Knowledge, understanding, and Wisdom
Knowledge is the facts. 1 Corinthians 12:8: 8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; – Understanding is the ability to lift the meaning out of the facts, and wisdom knows what to do next.

We are after using knowledge to get wisdom. Ex-There is a man un-churched. The wife goes to church. Her Pastor is teaching on”relationships” a powerful teaching of knowledge. Let’s say she lifts up a piece of the teaching. She waits until Monday night football and tries to talk to her husband who is not into church. She cuts off the football game says she is sick of the way her husband is treating her. She includes that her Pastor says he needs to love her like Christ loved the church. This is a good example of having knowledge without wisdom. She may be right in what she is saying, but coming home and cutting off Monday night football, and demanding that he go by a church principle is not exactly a wisest way to get him to buy into what you believe. How many of us have had the right knowledge, but through a lack of wisdom, acted at the wrong time?

Knowledge Understanding Wisdom
Facts meaning What to do next
Information Principle Application
Memory Reason Action
Scholar Teachers Prophets

Those with knowledge are able to collect, remember, and access information
Those with understanding are able to extract the meaning out of the information
Those with wisdom know which principle to apply now.

IV. There is a principle we need to drop
Revelation is revealed to us by our ability to be able to understand it. Matthew 16:13-15: 13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? -Jesus asks who do they think he is?
Simon Peter said thou art the Christ the son of the living God. Matthew 16:16: 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Narration: (verse16) Well Jesus, you know I always talk first. I really don’t fit in. I have a knife. I am from the street, I am a little edgier than the others, but I am just me. One thing I know though, I know who you are. You are the son of the living God.-We make judgments on how colorful people s language is. The truth is, some of the folk like Peter are the ones that really know who God is. God is going to use somebody with a messed up background just like he did Peter.

Matthew 16:17: 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. -Even though you got issues, you got the clutter out of your life long enough to receive the word of God and allow God to reveal who I am (who Jesus was).

Matthew 16:18: 8And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.-He said you are Peter (or Pedros meaning a big piece of rock), because you gave revelation knowledge, you will be stable and solid. Upon ecclesia, the study of the church and what it really is, the church will be built and the gates of hell will never prevail against this. There are some satisfied with knowledge, but there are others that want a revelation word or Rama word.
What you receive from people is information, but from God you receive revelation. We want to learn the proper revelation of knowledge. Coming to bible study tells others that you really are hungering for a knowledge of God.

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Manifestations IV , “If you didn’t know, now you do” Sermon 09/27/09

Posted on September 28, 2009 by growintheword

Manifestations IV

If you didn’t know, now you do.
Synopsis of sermon 92709
Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Text: Micah 7: 1-8

One of the most important things in life is spiritual maturity. The journey that brings us to spiritual maturity is often tied to experiences that God knows we need. There are things that God takes us through, because he knows we are not going to volunteer for it. So God providently navigates our lives though a series of experiences so we can come to know him. While going through these experiences, you don’t often understand why. The truth is, you reflect back over it one day and you will actually thank God for the journey, because you will learn some things about God, and about the people around you. It is important because experiential knowledge helps you get to a point where your relationship becomes personal with God. By this we mean your relationship is not tied to what somebody said or tied to what you read in some book. Your relationship is actually tied to what you know for yourself.

When you look at Micah(the book), the Minor prophet is really lamenting over his situation as he looks out and sees so much wickedness in the land. He attempts to walk in righteousness and do the things that God has asked him to do, but it look like those who are wicked are prospering instead of him. Micah lifts this up in verse one by saying, “1Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.” In other words, he is looking at the wicked prosper, but he is wondering when his season is going to come. If we be honest we have all been here. The point is, why is it necessary for us to go through seasons like this? You have to have to heighten sensitivity to what God allows you to experience, because you know if God sends you through it, there must be a lesson to it. If you didn’t know, you are about to know some things about God that will change your life forever. Through this Micah discovers the frailty of human relationship and the strength of a Divine relationship with God. You need to understand that God is the only constant in your life. The song writer said ‘Time is filled with swift Time is filled with swift transition, Naught of earth unmoved can stand, Build your hopes on things eternal, Hold to God’s unchanging hand”. It is so important for you to understand the importance of having a powerful a relationship with God. Even when your circumstances shift, you ought to be solid enough in your relationship with God that you ought to know who is keeping your, providing for you, and who takes of you. Without experiences, you would not arrive at this place.

I. Season of rough returns.
1. All of us have been at this place. This is the season where you work, labor, and give and the return does not seem adequate enough to meet your needs. Micah’s situation has cause discouragement for him. Have you ever seen the wicked prosper? You work and work and you see that you are not where you think you should be. Well want you to know that it is ok to be in this season. You gave people praise in their season, so it is not a point of you hating. You see people that are not working for God prospering and you just wonder when your turn is going to come. You kept yourself Holy and you still feel like you’re by yourself. Ever been in a place of entitlement? This is the season where Satan will come and isolate you so he can interrogate.
2. Satan will come in at the season to cause:
a. Sociological comparison-make you look at where others are as compared to where you are. We must know the sinners only have a term. The bible promises that they will soon be cut down like grass.
b. Psychological confusion-now you are looking through your frustration and not hearing God adequately.
c. Theological contempt-you start raising questions about God’s fairness. That is what the devil wants us to do. The devil is trying to rob us of believing God for what he promised us. Many become cynical. When you are cynical, you begin to ask will it ever happen for you. After this you begin to have contemplation. This is where you think you will never get where you should be and you think maybe you should be doing something else. God said this season is just a test to discover who will keep you and provide for you. This thing will not end until God has the last word. If you don’t know, now you know that all things work together for your good and are for those that are called according to his purpose. Weeping endures for night, but joy comes in the morning. If you don’t know, now you know! Has though not known, has though not heard the everlasting Lord the creator of the ends of the earth that they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Even in the season of rough returns, never let your frustrations cause you to miss what God has promised you.
II. Searching for real relations
1. Everybody is looking for something. Micah 7:4: 4The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. – . When we look at human relationships, the writer says he gets discouraged. We all have had some people that have disappointed us in the past. Satan will make us push away people that mean us good, and embrace people that don’t mean us any good. You need people in your life that will hold you accountable. You need people that can tell you if you are going down the wrong path. You need for people to keep it straight with you. Micah 7:5-6: 5Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 6For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.-A man’s enemies are in your house or you inner circle sometimes.
2. You will have let downs from:
a. Friends-there will be friends that will let you down. Proverbs 18:24: 24A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.-you must show yourself friendly. There will those that make you promise and they will be here until trouble comes. Once trouble comes, they are out. Ex-Peter denied Jesus 3 times and Judas betrayed him. Bishop explained that he used to meet people and given them 100% right off the bat and then let them deduct from that as the relationship went on. Now he explains that he has learned to start them at 0% and let them earn their integrity score from there.
b. Leadership-People will let you down as leaders. Never get to a point where you allow your relationship with God to be hinged on a man or woman. People who lead have troubles just like you do. Everyone has some issues, so your relationship with God should be hinged on only him.
c. Family-Family will also let you down. There‘s no pain like a family pain. We have pain with our mothers, our fathers, and etc…People often put dysfunctional families in a category, but the truth is we all came from dysfunctional families. There’s something wrong with all of us. A man’s family can hurt him.
3. Here is where Micah got to in Micah 7:7: 7Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.-you must not let human relation define your spiritual relationship. We are already loved because of our relationship with God.
4. When we look to hills it changes our:
a. Perspective – one thing we are sure of is God is right.
b. Patience – when we look to the hills, we develop patience.
c. Plight -2Psalm 40:1-2: 1I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings-One thing we know is God is real. There are many folk that will get excited by the gifting of God.
5. We need to be excited simply by our relationship with God. We are looking for real relationships, but we have experienced some let downs. God is the same, though people will let you down. Don’t let your let downs define what you want God to be.
III. Strength to rise out of life’s ruts.
People are waiting to capitalize off of your demise. Micah 7:8: 8Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. – When you are down to nothing, God is up to something. You have to be determined to send a message to your enemy. Before they call the party together to celebrate your demise, you will be out of what they thought that you would not come out of.
You will be surprised who is on the “see there committee”. Ex- “See there, I told you he wasn’t about nothing!” You got to develop the strength that though you are in a rough spot, you shall arise. Some of you have lost your fight and allowed your situation to drain you. You have to decide not to be a victim. We might be in a bad situation, but we shall arise, because we understand our destiny.
Even though it is dark, God will be our light. This involves:
1.Revelation-You are in darkness, bet God will light your way. Once God gives you revelations you get revival.
2. Revival-You will be revived by the revelation you got that was caused by God lighting your way. It involves self motivation and preservation.
3. Restoration-we are not just coming out, but we are coming out better. Don’t feel sorry for the way we are. Simplicity of things can be insulting, but have profound revelation. Micah says he is in a bad place, but he is telling his enemies not to rejoice. This situation was produced to see what he was made of.
There are 3 kinds of people
1. Plate people-don’t look like it, but you are like an expensive plate. You are expensive, but you don’t appear expensive. You serve until you are dropped. Once you have been dropped by your situation, you will break. No matter if you are an expensive plate or a cheap one, if you are dropped, you will shatter.
2. Sand people-you are like the people that have been through too much. You say you will not break, because unlike a plate, you are not breakable. People come to you for refuge. You give them the place to come and be restored. When you get dropped, you just flop. You don’t break, but you just stay right there. 5 yrs from the point of being dropped, you haven’t moved from that spot. Everything about you says that you have been dropped. You still encourage everyone else you never grow anymore and you never move from that spot.
3. Ball-you get dropped, you bounce back. You lose your job, yet you bounce back. You flunk the class but you bounce back. You got a record, but you bounce back. Sometimes the devil gets tired of you bouncing back. He tries to bounce you harder, but he doesn’t realize that the harder you are bounced, the harder you bounce back. The higher fall, the higher you come back. The higher you are bounced the higher your praise. Can you thank God for everything you went through. If you didn’t’ know now you know.

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