Part 2: I ALMOST WALKED AWAY

Posted on December 20, 2024 by growintheword


Synopsis of Sermon 12.15.24

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Jeremiah 20:7-9 NKJV
7 O Lord, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; Everyone mocks me. 8 For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, “Violence and plunder!”
Because the word of the Lord was made to me A reproach and a derision daily. 9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.

I.         INTRODUCTION

  1. Most of us share this testimony. In our minds, we have resigned hundreds of times. In our mind, we have contemplated walking away.
  2. Many of us have had these contemplations in our mind and in our spirit, and though our mind and spirit have walked away, our body has been present. People don’t know how tired we really are.
  3. Many of us have been like Elijah under the tree where we have said, “God this is enough”. We have wondered if it even matters anymore.
  4. Today we look at the life of Jermiah. He is young when the Lord calls him. God calls him to cry out against Judah. Judah had rebelled against God and had broken the covenant that God had established with them. Jeremiah is sent to warn them to come back to God or the bottom is going to fall out.
  5. His assignment is progressive. When God calls him in chapter 1, God doesn’t give the details of the assignment. When he starts to tell Jermiah what He really wants Jermiah to do, Jeremiah tells God that he doesn’t have the credentials or the experience to do what God wants him to do. God explains to him that He knew him before he was even formed in the womb.
  6. God reminds Jeremiah that He knows that he is young. He told him to go and not to worry about the people’s faces. He tells him not to worry about the words either, because He would give him the words he should say.
  7. Jeremiah tries to tell the people that God wasn’t playing with them, but along the way, he gets arrested. Everybody likes prosperity prophecies, but nobody likes prophesy that tells them what God is going to do to them.
  8. In Chapter 20, Jeremiah has become a prisoner. He had prophesied for 40 yrs. He is crying out in the street and the people mock and laugh at him. This is how Jermiah got the name of the Weeping Prophet. He was doing what God called him to do, while weeping. How many of you have this same testimony, where you are doing what God told you to do, while weeping?
  9. Jermiah finally tells God he felt like he was setup.

II.         FELT LIKE I WAS SET-UP

  • Jermiah feels like God didn’t tell him all that came with the assignment. God doesn’t tell us everything up front, because He knows we would opt out. You can’t get out of what God ordains for your life.
  • Jeramiah is concerned that everyone things he is crazy. He feels like he is experiencing rejection. How does it feel to be doing what you think God wants you to do and yet feel that you are being rejected because of it.
  • Along the route there are things that can mess you up.
    • Unexpected Hardships – These are attacks, lack of support, and the way people perceive you.
    • Feeling ill-equipped – I’m out here doing this and I feel unqualified.
    • Perceived Silence from God – God isn’t talking why we are dealing with this.
    • Relentless Opposition – Everyone seems to hate me. I didn’t choose this. It chose me.

A.   I Didn’t Choose This, It Chose Me

  1. We don’t chose our assignment. It chooses us. God gives us our assignment.
    1. Ex- Bishop explains how he never wanted to preach. He even tried to run from his calling. Please note that running is an indication that your call is a legitimate call. Remember that the flesh often doesn’t want to do what God wants you to do.

B.   God Saw Something In Me, I Didn’t’ See In Myself

  1. God sees potential inside you that has yet to be unearthed. You are carrying something that has been growing in you all the while.
  2. This is why you didn’t feel comfortable and couldn’t fit in. Even the devil knows that you are carrying something. When you tried to be down, people would say you don’t look like you belong in the setting that you are in.
  3. Every attack on your life was because of what you are carrying.

C.   God created you for the Assignment

  1. Your talents, your gifting, and your discernment was all created for your assignment.
  2. God crafted you for your assignment. God has made your fearfully and wonderfully for your assignment.
  3. You were born for this! You were bult for trouble!

D.   God knows your capacity to accomplish it.

  1. Our mind causes us to implode. We never explode, we implode. This is why the devil attacks your mind. He wants you to think you can’t achieve it.
  2. Some of you have endured so much, you have surprised yourself. God gave you the capacity to endure like a good soldier.

E.   God confirms you by his anointing

  1. We see people gifted and skilled all the time, but it means nothing without the anointing, because the anointing destroys yokes.
  2. Whenever the devil tries to steer me the wrong way as the yoke would, the anointing breaks it. God has put his super on our natural.
  3. When you are anointed, they may not like you, but they can’t deny God has his hand on your life.
  4. Nothing is accomplished without the anointing. Luke 4:18 KJV says 18 The 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,
  5. God tells Jeremiah that God has anointed him for this, and He assures Him that he can accomplish this.
  6. In our call, we have a problem. It’s not so much the assignment, it’s the folk.

III.         FOLK GOT ME STRUGGLING

  • It isn’t the purpose, it’s the people.
  • Many have walked away from the assignment, because of people. You have to work through people sometimes.
  • Have you ever meet the Tator Family?
    • Dictator – This is Papa Dictator who always knows everything.
    • Commentator – This is the Auntie that always has something to say.
    • Spectators – This is Grandma always looking and not saying anything.
    • Agitator – This is the nephew who is always stirring up something.
    • Imitators – This is the cousin that doesn’t like me but is always trying to be like me.
    • Procrastinators – This is their child that is always waiting, never on time for anything.

A.   I’m Catching Hell From The People I’m Trying To Help

  1. Jermiah says he is in misery daily. Daily he is being disrespected and mocked and it is taking a toll.
  2. Jermiah is telling God that it is tough.
    1. Ex – Bishop shares that when he first become Pastor of Mt Zion there was at most 150 people on the roll. On a given Sunday, maybe 75 people would show up, but during a business meeting, about 200 people would show up.
    1. He explains that he was a young Pastor 6 and 7 months in and he noticed that people that had been too sick to show up for church, came to the Business Meeting. Those people almost ran him away from being pastor of Mt Zion.
    1. He had just finished Divinity School at Vanderbilt. He had studied many courses, but not the course of folk-ology. He was young, naive, and a little bit crazy. He felt the best way for him to clap back was from his safe place, which was the pulpit.
    1. When working on his Doctrine degree, he was studying the Psychosis of Change. During this study, he realized that the people weren’t resisting him, but instead the loss of the churches they once knew. They grieved the things the way things used to be.
  3. Like this, the people in the scripture thought they were fine, but here comes Jermiah saying they had to change.
  4. With change there is:
    1. Resistance to Transformation – Jeremiah is calling them to repentance, requiring them to change their ways. When people are called to change, people initially want to reject it.
      1. If you turn off the lights, you would eventually get used to the darkness. When somebody comes from the light outside, they will not be able to see in the darkness. Although we have gotten used to it, they won’t be able to see in the dark. When they try to get us to turn on the lights so that we can see better, we would have the tendency to reject what they are seeing, because we have gotten used to seeing and maneuvering in the dark.
      1. People have a hard time accepting anything outside where they are. Jeremiah had the truth, but they kept rejecting it.
    1. Rejection of truth – The Truth demands accountability and exposes your flaws.
      1. You like the truth, until it hits you. You like the truth that benefits you, but don’t want the whole truth.
      1. The truth is not an judger, it is an exposer.
      1. If I tell you that your behavior could cause you to go to hell with gasoline drawers on, you should thank God that somebody loves you enough to tell you the truth.
    1. Reluctance to Trust – Now we are skeptical of the messenger.

B.   You Are Not Called To Pacify The Status Quo

  1. You are not called to fit in. Everyone is not going to like you.
  2. It’s not that they don’t like you. The demons are agitated by your presence. They can’t tolerate you being around, because they know that their days are limited. 2 Timothy 4:2 NKJV says 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

IV.         FRUSTRATION CAN LEAD TO SURRENDER

  • Frustration is real. We were frustrated to the point that we wanted to walk away.

A.   Some Days It’s Heavier Than Others

  1. There are some days that you can deal with it and there are other days where you say, “You got one more thing to say to me!”

B.   Resignation Seems Like The Easiest Way Out

  1. Sometimes this is the best way out of it. You don’t want to fight, you’re just done!
  2. You have to know that resignation is not an option! You can’t quit! We can’t let you quit! Be not weary in well doing, because you will reap if you faint not!

V.         FAITH GAVE ME A SECOND WIND

  • God is about to give you a second wind. God said he was going to give him a word that would reignite him. It would be like fire shut up in his bones.

A.   His Word Reminded Me Of The Purpose

  1. When God gives me a revelation, it changes my situation.
  2. When my situation changes, I refuse to walk in resignation. When I refuse to walk in resignation it shifts to determination. When I have determination, I am in position for elevation, and then this starts my celebration.
  3. The word of God reminds me of my why. God wanted Bishop to remind us of our why.  It’s your why that makes you cry. It’s your why that gets you out of your bed.
  4. Your why gave you your motivation to keep going.
    1. When Jesus was in Garden of Gethsemane, Satan was taunting him. Jesus went to Calvary, because we were his why. If I am His why, then the purpose He has for my life. It is because of my why, that I go back to what I was called to do!
  5. In fact, you are here today listening to this sermon, because somebody didn’t give up on their why. We do what we do, because we want to hear God say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant”.

B.   His Word Gave Me Back My Passion

  1. God is about to give you your passion back. The word reignites our purpose!
  2. Jermiah was better. Fire shut up on my bones means God reignited his passion back.
  3. In that day, there was no electricity. If fire came it either came by friction or by oil. The fire in your life is the oil of God in your life. You’re too anointed to let people drive you crazy or let the enemy cause you walk away!
  4. When you get your passion back, it shows up in every area of your life. God is giving you your passion back!!

Receive this:

Fire is also a purifier. Bitterness can come into your heart and the fire can remove that bitterness.

We declare today that every bitterness has been refined by God. We declare that your heart will be pure, that your service will be pleasing to God, and that you will draw near to God.

The fire of God is upon you and may the purpose of God come with divine clarity and strength. The worst is over and the best is yet to come. What you were getting way from is about to come back to you!

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Part 1: God Knows What He’s Doing 

Posted on December 13, 2024 by growintheword

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III 
Sermon Synopsis 12/8/24

Isaiah 55:8-13 NKJV 
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 
So are My ways higher than your ways, 
And My thoughts than your thoughts. 
10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, 
And do not return there, 
But water the earth, 
And make it bring forth and bud, 
That it may give seed to the sower 
And bread to the eater, 
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; 
It shall not return to Me void, 
But it shall accomplish what I please, 
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 
12 “For you shall go out with joy, 
And be led out with peace; 
The mountains and the hills 
Shall break forth into singing before you, 
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, 
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; 
And it shall be to the Lord for a name, 
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

       I.               INTRODUCTION

  1. It’s amazing how many people question God. As you grow in relationship with God, it gets clearer to you, that God knows what exactly what He is doing.
  2. When you’ve gone through enough, you realize that God knows what He’s doing. You embrace Romans 8:28 (NKJV) even more when it says, “28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
  3. You might not understand what goes on in your life, but it is clear that God knows what He is doing.
  4. Everything created was created with words. God spoke it into existence and it was. Just like it was back then, you have the assurance that God has everything under control. You will begin to give God glory for the things that He fixed that you couldn’t! You begin to give God glory for the ways he made for you, when you could not do it for yourself.
  5. Many have heard the text where God says, His ways is not like our ways and His thoughts are not like our thoughts. In the scripture today, we see that God’s people were experiencing great trauma by Nebuchadnezzar II.
    1. He destroyed their homeland.
    1. He took the educated captive and left the uneducated behind.
  6. In Babylon, people of God struggled with their identity and God’s allowing this to happen to.
  7. They wondered how God would allow them to be in a polytheistic culture.
    1. They were monotheistic meaning that they worshiped the one and true living God. Polytheism is the worship of several Gods. It was confusing to see their captors worshipping idol Gods.
  8. Israel and Judea split. A house divided cannot stand, so the Assyrians took this opportunity to assault them. After that, the Babylonians attacked them and put them in captivity.  Isaiah 45:1-7 (NKJV) says 1 “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: 2 ‘I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me.I will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; 7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity;I, the LORD, do all these things.’- Cyrus, used by God, took over Babylon. He overtakes the Children of Israel’s oppressor.
  9. After defeating Babylon, he wrote a decree ordering that the captors to be released. They were celebrating Cyrus, but all along, God was moving. God was up to something in the background, when they thought God had abandoned them..
    1. Somebody today is experiencing something painful in their life. If you are alive, you have to know that God’s plan is still at work in your life!
  10. What is certain, you will come back with peace and everyone will celebrate your return.

   II.               YOU MUST LEARN HIS WAYS

  • Never downgrade the thoughts of God to fit your mind. Gods’ perspective is much bigger than ours. Our understanding is limited.
  • The Divine distinction is to know that we must trust God, knowing that His thoughts are much higher than ours. Can you give God glory for knowing that even when we don’t understand what God is doing, we know that He has everything under control?
  • We might not understand the how or the why, but we do understand the Who.
  • How do we get here?

A.    God Is Sovereign 

  1. Everything that happens in the universe, God has a say in it. He is under no authority to anyone, but Himself.
  2. God’s sovereignty is due to the fact that He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

B.    God Is Omniscient

  1. This means God is all knowing. It implies that God is aware of everything that happens in the universe. Nothing escapes God. Nothing catches Him by surprise.

C.   God is Omnipresent

  1. How can someone know everything, if they are not everywhere? God is everywhere.
    1. Have you seen air? The answer is no, but you know it is there. The fact that you can feel it, lets you know it is there. Psalms 139:7-10 (NKJV) says 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. – Like the air, you don’t see God, but you can feel that He is there.
  2. God is everywhere. Take Sunlight for instance. It shines and it gives warmth. You know it’s there, because of the warmth that you feel. This is how the omnipresent works.
  3. When you touch God, you can feel the warmth even though you can’t see Him physically. His presence in our life is the very essence of who He is!
    1. Wherever you are, there’s where God is!

D.   God is Omnipotent

  1. Omnipotent is one who has unlimited power and authority.
  2. God has already ended stuff, before it was started. God did not begin with the beginning. He began the beginning!
  3. Before the universe began, God was eternal. Before creation, he was the Creator. Before there was love He was love, before wisdom, He was all knowing!
  4. God can move in one season, and you might not understand it. Months later, as everything plays out, you begin to understand, because you realize that God saw further down the road than you did.
    1. It’s like going to the movie. Ex: Bishop took his daughter to the movies, who is impatient. She began to get upset, because of the previews. She wanted to know why they had to watch the previews.
    1. Bishop explained they were meant to stimulate us. You have previews and reviews. Lots of times, reviews are being written on a movie we are just now watching, because they have already seen it and how it turns out. Just like this, God has written the review, when you are just receiving the preview. Can you give God glory for the review?
  5. The review means that we must lean on his word.

III.               YOU HAVE TO LEAN ON HIS WORD

  • We lean on something based off of past experience. For example, we sit on the chair, assuming it will hold us up based off of past experience.
    • In like manner, when you walk with God long enough, you feel He can hold you up, because He has before.
  • Isaiah equates the word of God with the rain. It means that his word is reliable. It never fails.

A.    His Word Is Reliable 

  1. When the rain comes down, it comes at the right time at the right place. Rain serves a purpose.
  2. The word of God is the rain. It comes down at the right time at the right place. For example, you can be going through something and you come to church, and your pastor preaches about what you are going through.
  3. The rain:
    1. Contributes to your growth
    1. Covers the Ground
    1. Cleans the ground

B.    His Word Always Produces Through Process 

  1. When the seed is stimulated by the rain. God stimulates the seed in you. The word stimulates the seed.
  2. When you study, that’s the seed in you. The seed is in you and the word coming from your pastor is the rain. It stimulates the seed in you. With confirmation and alignment, it stimulates the seed to produce a bud. The bud will produce a blade and after that, eventually you have fruit. Fruit is the end game, the blessing.
  3. Many of you have not learned how to thank God for the bud. Evidence the the fruit is coming, is in the bud. Some people get upset, because you don’t have the job or car you want yet. God wants to know if you have a bud praise! Can you praise him before you get the job, the car, or the house!

IV.               YOU SHOULD LET HIM WORK

A.    God Doesn’t Waste Words 

  1. The word that goes out of his mouth doesn’t return to him void.
  2. If you will notice, the people that are not involved usually have the most to say.

B.    God Delivers On His Promises 

  1. God is not a man who will lie. God will always deliver on His promise. When God said let there be light, that’s exactly what happened.
  2. One word from God will change your whole situion.

  V.               YOU WILL LEAVE ANOTHER WAY

A.    I’m Coming Out With Praise And Peace 

  1. Joy and peace. Everything around you is about to celebrate what is about to happen in your house.
  2. What is a cypress tree? They are sturdy and resilient, able to handle different environments. They are resistant to insects, and they don’t rot. The fact that that the children of Israel were equated to this type of tree says the experiences that happened to them could have caused them to be broken down, but they stood strong. We all because we are a cypress tree.
  3. The Myrtle Tree doesn’t grow as tall. It is known because of its flexibility. It doesn’t snap under pressure like other trees.
  4. When you are a Myrtle tree, you can be on your job and when they get on yours nerves, you will be able to say, “You better be glad that I am a Myrtle Tree!”.

B.    It Won’t Turn Out The Way The Enemy Wanted 

  1. One tree has strength, the other has flexibility. It is important, because either way, you will get out with joy!
  2. Isreal had been taken captive. It was a time of trauma and loss. When Cyrus comes through, he tells them that they can go back home and rebuild. You can’t go back and rebuild broken so this is why you will go back with joy and peace.
  3. What is joy? Happiness is determined by external stimuli, meaning something has to happen in order for you to be happy. Joy is an internal revelation based on the inside, without regard of what happened. Joy is there because God put it there. You have joy, because you know that God will deliver even when you don’t see it. You have joy, because of who God is. You have joy, because you know that God knows what he is doing!
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Part 4: It Won’t Always Be Like This 

Posted on November 29, 2024 by growintheword

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III 
November 24, 2024

Ezekiel 37:1-10 NKJV 
The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

I.            INTRODUCTION

  1. Whatever your current situation, understand the importance of perseverance. Don’t give up.
  2. Sometimes, in the midst of a situation, we forget that God is in control.
  3. Your life is a book being written and have seen that people will give up on you during certain chapters of that book. Know that God is in control.
  4. God is always at work behind the scenes, making moves on our behalf. God is turning it around for you.
  5. Things look rough right now but know that it won’t always be like this. God has a plan to get you out of it.
  6. The hand of God is moving in your life like never before. God is going to protect that which concerns you.
  7. Everyone has heard this story about Ezekiel in the valley of the dry bones. His name alone means strengthen.
  8. He was born in a priestly home in Jerusalem. He was taken captive by Babylon. In Chapter 1, we see that was 30 yrs old. Ezekiel 1:1 says1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.- This scripture indicates that Ezekiel might have been 30 yrs old when he started his ministry. This is the same age Jesus was when he started his ministry.
  9. Ezekiel calls himself a prophet of God. He has these visions. He is known as the photographic prophet because of his vision driven descriptions.
  10. The first vision Ezekiel had was of storm winds, visions of angels, and vision of a Divine Throne. This would symbolize the presence of God being with them during their captivity.
  11. He was living by the river in Babylon. The role of a prophet was to watch over the people. He kept telling them that they had brought the captivity on themselves with their disobedience to God.
  12. He even predicted the fall of Jerusalem. Ezekiel began to prophesy the restoration process after the fall of Babylon. A lot of us have chapters of our lives that we are not proud of, but God still loves us and doesn’t give up on us.
  13. Ezekiel sees this valley full of dry bones. It represents the despair of God’s people. It also shows:
    1. Restoration – No matter what it looks like, God will restore.
    2. The Breath of God (ruach, spirit, wind). – Represents the power of the Holy Spirit.
    3. The is Visions – God can raise you up, when people say it is over.

II.            WE ALL HAVE BROKEN SEASONS

  • You will go through seasons of brokenness. You will have seasons where you will experience, loss, pain, and many other things.
  • Sometimes you might even experience seasons of financial setbacks. Brokenness can happen in a variety of ways.

A.   Broken Season Are About Disconnection 

  1. When you think about it, these bones were broken and disconnected in the valley.
  2. The valley represents a place of isolation.

B.   Broken Season Are About Despair 

  1. It just takes a second to break a leg or arm, but it can take months for it to heal.
  2. When you break something, you don’t get to choose when it heals either. We try to carry weighty things, but we have not healed yet. God will not trust you with weighty things when you have not healed.
  3. When you break an arm or leg, they will give you a s cast or sling, so that you can keep it still. You got to be still so you that you can heal and know that He is God.
  4. The enemy wants you to think you will be in this valley forever. Stop making excuses and admit that you need God to breath on your situation.

III.            I NEED GOD TO BREATH ON MY SITUATION

  • Genesis 2:7 says 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. – God made Adam, but Adam didn’t have life until God breath life in him. You are the breath of God (ruach). Your body is just a shell.
  • Your flesh cannot enter into immortality or heaven. We are spirits and therefore must worship God in spirit and in truth.
  • Wherever God breaths, this is where the spirit of God is. 2 Timothy 3:16 says 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, – All scripture is breathed on by God. This is what makes Gods word incorruptible!.

A.   You Must Speak God’s Word Over Your Situation 

  1. There is no breath without the word. There is no wind without the word.
  2. God tells Ezekiel to speak to the bones. You should never underestimate God’s word. When you speak his word, you are coming into alignment with every purpose of God.
  3. We like Ezekiel, must speak those things that are not as thought they were. When you speak Gods word, things happen!
  4. When you speak God’s word
    1. This Represents Our Faith. – We know that God will take care of us.
    2. Spiritual Focus – We are intentional about God’s will.
    3. Secure Future – His word does not return unto Him void. His words have power!
  5. God’s word was so powerful, He created everything with His words. If you understand God’s word, we will stop worrying ourselvesto death.

B.   You Can’t Make It Without Him 

  1. You have to request the wind. The bones couldn’t be what they were supposed to be, unless God’s wind comes.
  2. We have concluded that we can’t make it without Him. In him we move and have our being!

IV.            GOD IS ABOUT TO BRING THINGS TOGETHER SUDDENLY

  • Ezekiel prophesied and something happened. Faith without works is dead. We do what we can do, and God will do what we can’t do.
  • God will do it and when He does, He will do it suddenly.
  • How do you know God is moving?

A.   God Had To Shake Things Up 

  1. There was rattling and a shaking. Before your breakthrough, there will be rattling and shaking. This allows you to get yourself right, before the breath of God gets there.
  2. If you remember every breakthrough you had, you will remember that you had a shaking first.
    1. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas chains came off, after the shaking. God is shaking stuff both away from you and towards you.

B.   God Works From The Inside To The Outside 

  1. Ezekiel said he saw bone come to bone, sinew come to sinew (which is muscle), and flesh come to flesh. God starts on the inside first. He is not worried about the look on the outside. God is worried about your inside.
    1. What good does it do to be a name brand hat, when your head is not right.
  2. Skin and tissue covered the bones and muscle. What does this represent? This is decomposition in reverse. Synthesis is decomposition in reverse.
    1. What looked like it was decomposing, came back together. God wants you to know that it is all about to come back together!
  3. When the word went forth, the wind blew. Wind makes things go looking for stuff. God made sure everything got where it needed to be.

V.            IT’S TIME FOR THE BRIGADE TO STAND UP

  • The bones were dead in the valley. God reversed the decompose process.

A.   It’s Time To Get Up 

  1. When they came back to life, they were informed to stand up. Why? Remember when Lazarus was in the grave? When God told Lazarus to wake up, he had to come out of the tomb.
  2. Lazarus woke up, but he was still in the tomb. You can be woke, but still be in a dead situation. You have to stand up and get out of that dead season!
  3. Time to stop complaining and whining. It’s time for you to get up!!

B.   Never Forget Who You Are 

  1. This is the children of Israel. They were a mighty army. You are not a push over! You are God’s child! You are a soldier! You are a warrior! You have survived most things that others could not have!
  2. God gave you his wind and all you have to do is give him his wind back! Let everything thing that has breath, praise the Lord!
  3. God is about to bring you back to where you used to be. God is about to give you your passion back. You have too much to do for God, to be lost in the valley! It won’t always be like this!

 

 

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Part 3: Don’t Breakdown—Breakthrough 

Posted on November 22, 2024 by growintheword


Synopsis of 11.17.24

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III 

Lamentations 3:19-25 NKJV 
19 Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall. 20 My soul still remembers and sinks within me. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. 22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

I.               INTRODUCTION

  1. Have you ever come to end of your self or questioned if the good you did matters? Have you been to a point where you questioned your capacity to go further? Have you ever felt like you were set up by God meaning He called you to something and then changed the rules?
  2. If said yes to any of these questions, then you are at the right place at the right time. God has called us to something amazing, but it doesn’t come without
  3. Many people have come to this point and they wanted God to find someone else? Know that the enemy would love nothing more than to see you break down.
  4. Today we are talking about a spiritual breakdown. When you have a spiritual breakdown, you feel like you have no more strength to give to this.
    1. This makes the enemy frustrate others and discredits your witness. When they see how you reacted, they will not walk in their purpose either.
  5. This word is here to encourage you not to break down. Instead of breaking down, break through!
  6. There is a breakthrough on the other side of what you’ve experienced.
  7. This is a book of Lamentation. First prenatal destiny. It says before he formed you in the womb, he knew you. Jeremiah was called before he was born.
  8. In the scripture today, Jeremiah wants to resist his calling. In Lamentations 3:6, it says 6 He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago.- At this point, Jeremiah begins to pull back.
  9. We believe Jeremiah was between the ages of 18 and 25.
  10. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. He wrote both the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations.
  11. The book of Lamentations is a result of what happens in Jerusalem. The Children of Israel had been taken over by the Babylonians, because of their disobedience.
  12. The psalmist explains that the captors tried to get them to sing the songs they used to sing praises to God, but they hung up their harps and asked how they could sing their songs in a strange land.
  13. Lamentations provides insight on what the people went through.
  14. Lamentations helps us morn and create an opportunity for us to cry out to God.
  15. Lamenting is broken down in 4 areas.
    1. Expression of Pain – It is saying to God, “This hurts”.
    2. It is Your Petition to God – Asking how long this thing will endure.
    3. It’s about Questioning God – Asking God why He couldn’t have picked someone else?
    4. It’s about Trusting and Hoping in God– When we lament, it shouldn’t be the end of our situation.
  16. No matter how much pain we experience, we have to remember that God is up to something. God will show you his work right in the midst of what you are going through.

II.               THE PROBLEM OF ROMANTICIZING YOUR PROBLEMS

  • Verse 19 says 19 Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall.
  • So many of us find ourselves romanticizing our pain. We are attached to the pain of our past.
  • Wormwood and gall represent turmoil. Jeremiah uses the phrases Jesus used when addressing the people.
    • Remember on the cross, when Jesus said, “he thirst”? In Matthew 27:34 it says “they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.”- Gall was a numbing agent. Jesus resisted it, because he wanted to endure the pain of the cross without numbing.
      • This also teaches us that like Him, we can go through our situation without trying to numb it out.
    • Jeremiah said I may look like I’m together, but internally I am broken. Don’t think that a person isn’t broken, just because you see them carrying their well!

A.    You Stay Attached To Suffering 

  1. When you remain attached to your suffering, you will miss out on what God is trying to do in your future. You can become a person drawn to pain and bad situations.
  2. This can also make you too afraid to walk into a new thing. You begin to rationalize with yourself saying stuff like, “But atleast this suffering is familiar. I don’t know what I might encounter in the new thing”.
  3. It is never God’s intent for you to be so attached to drama, you begin to normalize it. At some point, you’ve got to come through.
  4. Normalizing is the idea of going back to the pain we once had. What God wants us to do is frightening sometimes.
    1. Remember when Moses and the Children of Israel got to the Red Sea and they said, “Maybe they should go back”? Remember Lot’s wife looking back when they were escaping, and she turned into a pillar of salt?
  5. This is why we press towards the mark. You can’t spring forth, if you are clinging to something else.

B.    You Develop A Distorted Perception Of Self 

  1. Sometimes we wonder if we are crazy. These distorted views of ourselves, can cause us to miss out on God’s Promise for us. Remember God knew all about you, when He called you.
    1. Remember Gideon and his army? Gideon thought his army was too small. Moses thought his stutter would stop him from doing what God wanted him to do.
  2. We often don’t see God being able to use us. We have to know we are who God says we are. We are fearfully and wonderfully made!
  3. Jeremiah goes through a period of lament. He reminds the people not to cling to the trauma of our past.
  4. How do we know that Jeremiah didn’t cling to his past? It is because he had the power to recall his promise.

III.               THE POWER TO RECALL HIS PROMISE

  • To remember is different than to recall. Recall means a specific action is required for you to bring it back. When I recall something, it means I go and grab it and place it where it needs to be.
    • Jeremiah says in Lamentations 3:21, 21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
    • David says in Psalms 119:11, 11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. When you get a word, it might not apply to your situation right now, but God wants you to store it, so at the right time, you can recall that word back.
  • When you recall that word, it is what will get you through your current situation. This is how the word of God works.
  • Jeremiah has gone through trama, suffered loss, and experienced bitterness, then he says, “This I recall to my mind”. Know that God kept your mind while you were going through what you were going through.

A.    Don’t Let Your Frustration Be Greater Than Your Foundation 

  1. This is the idea of foundation. When you walk with God you have a foundation. You cannot expect your children to believe everything you believe. You have to be the foundation for them.
    1. You have to lead them in the direction they need to go in order to establish a good foundation.
  2. Foundation creates coping mechanisms that people without foundation won’t have. Unless the Lord builds the house, they that build, build in vain. An example of this is the example given about the house built on rock and and the other being built on sand. The reason why people give up, they are like the house built on the sand. They don’t have any foundation.
  3. When you are built on rock or solid foundation, you will learn how to fast and pray through your rough situations.
  4. What will be your family’s foundation? My foundation defines my strength and my ability. Things that used to break me, don’t break me anymore! My serenity says you can’t even destroy my peace! My stability says I am not swayed by culture!

B.    God Will Give You A Renewed Hope 

  1. A foundation will provide hope for you. The devil is always attacking your hope. Don’t ever lose your hope!
  2. Hope is the thing that can keep you trusting in God, when you don’t know how it is going to work. You have to give God glory for the role hope played in your life. The Hymn Writer says my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and righteousness…
  3. Old people used to say to the preacher after service, “You hoped me”. We used to think they were just speaking wrong and meant to say, “You helped me”. We discovered that they were saying what they meant. “You hoped me” meant, “I was about to give up, but now my hope is sustained”!

IV.               THE PERSPECTIVE TO REALIZE WHAT HE PREVENTED

  • It is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed. They are renewed every morning.
  • Mercy reflects Gods’ nature in humanity. Hope is the next step beyond forgiveness.
  • Mercy is essential through the Bible. Psalms 103:8-10 says 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.– This suggests that God’s mercy, blocks stuff on our behalf.

A.    Mercy Prevented The Consequences Of My Failure 

  1. Gods’ mercy is renewed every morning. Yesterday’s mercy is not good enough for today. Can you thank God for what mercy blocked?
  2. We are not consumed. Jeremiah had lost a lot. The Temple was destroyed, and the people were in captivity. Jeremiah recalls God’s word to a sound mind. Now he has hope, regardless of what he sees.

B.    Mercy Prevented A Breakdown 

  1. If God is still at work, how does it happen? His mercy is new every morning. Our existence is a result of God’s mercy, which held back what we deserve.
  2. Because I’m here, I’m going to praise God in response of his provision!

V.               PRAISE IN RESPONSE TO HIS PROVISION

  • I’m going to choose to thank God for his mercy
  • What can I see that will give me glory? God’s mercy is new every morning! Great is his faithfulness!

A.    The Lord Is Faithful 

  1. Jeremiah says great is his faithfulness. Imagine me standing with Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes. Tony the Tiger says the Frosted Flakes are great! In other words, like the Frosted Flakes over the Corn Flakes, faithfulness has a little something extra about it.
  2. What makes the other great? There’s some stuff in your life that’s good or faithful, but it doesn’t compare to God’s faithfulness. You know you pouted, but He was still faithful to you.
  3. You ought to give God glory for His faithfulness!

B.    The Lord Is Good 

  1. Just in case you might have forgotten, there are things we go through where we ask how God can let these things happen to us? You might not always understand the goodness of God, without having trust in God.
  2. When we believe God for a situation, or for a healing, for property, or for a husband, then by faith you have the right to believe God for it. If you are in immature spiritually, you interpret God as being bad if none of this stuff comes to fruition.
  3. When we believe God, we trust him for the outcome. That way if it comes out bad or good, you still give God glory for being God. Romans 8:28 NKJV says 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
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