Part 3: The Blessing Is Bigger Than You Think 

Posted on January 24, 2025 by growintheword

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III 
Synopsis 1.19.25

Ephesians 3:20 (KJV) 
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

I.            INTRODUCTION

  1. As we grow in relationship with God, we also grow in faith. As your faith grows, your visions expand.
  2. Vision has a lot to do with your exposure. Your exposure increases your expectation of what is possible. Taking a bus, a plane, or a boat ride is important. You must get out of your zip code to know how big the world really is.
  3. You can’t be big when little’s got you!
  4. Your expectation grows when your perspective changes. You need to position yourself for great expectations.
  5. There are many things you’ve been praying over. Today’s word will be a prophetic declaration over your life. What you have been hoping for is so small in comparison to what God wants to do for you.
  6. The reason why some things never happen is because we limit our vision to accommodate people. We are concerned about how they feel about it.
  7. Your season is going to be bigger. You must revisit your plan. When you hear this word today, you will see how big God is going to bless you.
  8. The book of Ephesians is an Epistle. It is a book of revelation, of truth, and application.
  9. It is a book of truth in that it tells you what you should know and it gives you life application, in that it tells you how to apply what He says to do.
  10. In today’s lesson, we see that the Apostle Paul is a prisoner. Paul writes this for the Gentiles, the non-Jews of that day.
  11. The blessing of Abraham talks about blessing the Jewish people. There was a mind set at this time where they thought that if you were a non-Jew, you would get the scraps from the blessing and not the blessings. They believed that the non-Gentiles would get the leftovers.
  12. Paul is saying to the Gentile people, he knew how culture had treated them, and because of how culture treated them, their perspective was off. Paul informed them God’s blessings included them too.
  13. Paul told them not to let his current situation (his incarceration) cause them not to understand what God was about to do them. If you were a Gentile, your prayers were limited, because you didn’t really expect the full blessing. Paul wanted them to know to open up their spirt and their mind up. Whatever you thought your blessing was, know that its going to be bigger!
  14. Paul begins today’s scripture by saying “Now unto him…”ma.

II.            HAVE PERSPECTIVE OF HIS AUTHORITY

  • You haveto understand who God is in your life. We recognize who God is and that he can do what non-one else to do. Therefore, we approach him differently. If He has authority and power, He has it over everything

A.   Recognize God’s Sovereign Will 

  1. God does what he does, because He is sovereign, meaning that He does what he does, when He wants to, and how He wants to, and He doesn’t owe us an explanation for why He does what He does. It is His will.
  2. The Wills of God.
    1. Perceptive Will of God –Matthew 22:37 (NKJV) says 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’– This is the instruction of righteous living.
    1. Permissive Will of God – God sometimes allow things to happen that doesn’t align with Gods will. He permits it, even though it is not His will. Job chapters1 & 2.
    1. Perfect Will of Christ – He aligns His will with our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) says 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. – God not controls our income, He also controls our outcome.
    1. Directive Will of Christ – This is how God uses the Holy Spirit to give us guidance. Acts 16:6-10 (NKJV) says 6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. – You have your plans, but God will redirect you.
    1. Sovereign Will of Christ – His will can’t be hindered. Acts 2:23 (NKJV) 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;– It was part of a Divine plan. Whatever God’s will is, we will accept it and not fight against it.
  3. God is a God that not only speaks it, but makes it come to pass.

B.   Know When It’s Time To Give It To Him 

  1. When you try to work your problem out, God will put you in a situation where you have no choice, but to give it to Him. Stop trying to be so heroic. It’s ok to cast your cares on Him.
  2. The word “Now” as used in the phrase “now unto Him…”, has a lot to do with timing.
    1. Lateral time – means immediately or at this moment.
    1. The word “Now” is transitional – It means that the writer is shifting to another thought. “Now unto Him” implies that now it’s going to happen when God says its going to happen. We are not going to worry about it. We are going to leave it up to Him.

III.            HE HAS PROVEN HIS ABILITY

  • Now unto Him who is able… This is about ability.
  • History says God is able. He can do what no man can do.  He is able to exceed our expectations.

A.   He’s Able To Do What Seems Impossible 

  1. This is not theoretical. He has a track record. Remember the fiery furnace, or Daniel in the Lion’s den? If you look over your life, you have seen God do the impossible.

B.   His Record Is Reliable 

  1. Have you ever heard of the company Nvidia? It is a tech company that manufactures computer chips. From your smart phone to self driving cars, they are involved.
    1. Most people don’t think about them, but we are benefactors of their work. Likewise, aware or not, we are benefactors of God working behind the scenes.
    1. God woke you up this morning. Something miraculously happened between good night and good morning. He woke you up!
  2. Our faith reinforces our directive.

IV.            HE HAS PROMISED US ABUNDANCE

  • This hasa lot to do with what you are exposed to. Abundance is more than materialism. It’s about peace, joy and grace.

A.   God Is About To Exceed Your Expectations 

  1. Verse 20 is really a doxology. It does two things.
    1. Shows that God can do things that exceed our expectation.
    1. Shows that God never gets tired of doing it.
  2. We come to God for one thing, and He always exceeds our expectations.

B.   Embrace This Season Of Overflow 

  1. God will not just give you tangible blessings. He will also give you things that money can’t buy!
  2. Your blessings have a lot to do with “how do you see?”.
  3. Story: When Bishop was first called to the ministry, he thought he was going crazy. He was seeing stuff. You drive by a field and see cow pastures, but he would see condos. When you are a seer, you see stuff others don’t see, and it is hard to communicate it.
    1. We come to tell you that you are not crazy.
    1. The moment you see something; you start saying it.
  4. How you see affects:
    1. How you speak – How you speak matters. If I see what’s possible, I speak what’s possible, even if people in my situation don’t see it.
      1. Example: You have seen more, and you go back to share with your family or friends, and they say you think you are better than everyone else. Even your language begins to change.
      1. Story: Bishop tells how his dad was an entrepreneur when they were growing up. His dad is 96 years old. He started a Window Cleaning business in his 20s and he used to clean houses too. Rights of passage for Bishop and his siblings was they had to work on the business truck.
        1. Going with his dad, gave Bishop exposure as a young lad. Back then, they all had to go through the back door to clean houses.
        1. He explained how his dad would get on his hands and knees to put the wax down and then they would buff the floors. As his dad was doing this, Bishop walked through the house they were cleaning, just looking around. He began to dream about having the same nice stuff when he got older.
      1. When you see blessed people, you don’t really realize where it comes from. Bishops dad always wanted his kids to have more than he did so he exposed them to more.
    1. How you Scale things – Once you see it and say it, you will start believing God for it. The exposure allows you to change your scale for measuring the things you want and the goals that you set.
      1. Example: When Mt Zion went to the location to make plans to buy Antioch, God showed Bishop the whole mall. When they just wanted one area, God showed them more. This is overflow!
      1. 2025 is your year. You have to thrive in 25!
  5. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think.  

V.            HE WORKS THROUGH THE POWER OF ALIGNMENT

  1. According to the power that worketh in you. God does it according to the power that is at work in your life. It is about alignment and abundance.
  2. Ask God to bring you into alignment. Don’t miss the buffet, thinking about the snack.
  3. Whatever God does in the season is because you fall into alignment. It is about truth and application.
  4. The gentiles didn’t even understand. This is Post Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2, and people thought they were drunk, Peter reminded them that this was the manifestation of what was prophesied.
  5. Everybody now has access to the Holy Ghost, which is at work in you.
  6. Story: Bishop said he got into the EV world. He purchased an electric vehicle. Joseph likes the car and pretends that it is his.
  7. When you pull into the garage, you have to plug it up at night. Little Joseph decides he wanted to plug the car in. So, Bishop allowed Little Joseph to plug the car in.
  8. The next morning, when they got ready to use it, the car wasn’t starting. They found the car was only at 20%. Lil Joe plugged it in, but it wasn’t aligned properly, so the car did not get fully charged.
  9. This is a lesson for us. You can be in a thing but not aligned. You can go to church, but not be aligned with God and therefore, miss receiving the power that you are supposed to have.
  10. God works though the power of alignment. God is going to do it, but you have to be properly aligned. The blessing is bigger than you think!!
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Part 1: HE’S CALLING YOU INTO SOMETHING GREATER 

Posted on January 10, 2025 by growintheword

 

Synopsis of 01/05/25 Sermon

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III 

Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV 
1 “Get out of your country, 
From your family 
And from your father’s house, 
To a land that I will show you. 
2 I will make you a great nation; 
I will bless you 
And make your name great; 
And you shall be a blessing. 
3 I will bless those who bless you, 
And I will curse him who curses you; 
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

I.            INTRODUCTION

  1. Everyone needs to understand that God will never allow us to settle beneath the plans for our lives. The tensions we feel is because we go through the push that God is giving us..
  2. Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.- God sees in us and speaks to us based on potential that is resident in us.
  3. Quote from Theologian
    1. “God knows us completely. No tale bearer can inform on us, no enemy can make an accusation stick, no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our character can come to light to turn God away from us, since He already knew us utterly before we knew Him and called us to himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us.” A.W. Tozer – Theologian– It is important to know it is not about your past, but rather your promise.
  4. Many of you have felt God pushing you to more. You realize that where you are is not where you’re supposed to be.
  5. This word today is about the moment that you realize that God is pushing you into something greater. It is not time to whine, it is time to win!
  6. In Genesis 12, we are introduced to God calls him from a privilege lifestyle, and God asks him to go to something that He wouldn’t give him the details to, upfront. God would give him the details over time.
  7. When you’re walking into this story, you will discover that God made this covenant promise to Abraham. Abraham lived in a time of Nomadic Lifestyle.
    1. A Nomad is someone who lives by traveling from place to place. They usually bring their tents with them. Genesis 13:2-4 NKJV 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
    2. Abraham also lived in a polytheistic world meaning that they believed in many gods. Polytheism pulled people from worshipping the one and true living God.
  8. Abraham is called out of polytheism and called into a place of stability; he would worship the one true living God.
  9. Abraham is considered the “father” of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which are collectively referred to as the Abrahamic religions, because they all trace their lineage back to him as a central figure in their respective scriptures. 
  10. Explanation:
    1. Judaism:
      1. In the Hebrew Bible, Abraham is seen as the patriarch of the Jewish people, with the covenant between God and Abraham forming the foundation of Jewish faith. 
    2. Christianity:
      1. Christians also recognize Abraham as a key figure, as Jesus’ lineage is traced back to Abraham through his son Isaac. 
    3. Islam:
      1. In the Quran, Abraham is highly revered as a prophet who submitted to the one God, and Muslims consider him an important ancestor through his son Ishmael.
    4. God established a covenant with Abraham. God promised that He would bless his Land, his descendants, and that he would be a blessing to all nations.
    5. God promised to bless his descendants. God would make Abraham the blessing.
    6. What does it mean when God calls you into something greater? Abraham means “father of many nations”. This was the reason for his name changing from Abram to Abraham.
    7. God deals with Abraham in Genesis 12.

II.            RECEIVE A PERSONAL CALL

  • The Lord spoke to Abraham. Every call from God is a personal call. You have to make sure it is God calling you and not others.
  • When God calls us, He knows where we are emotionally and spiritually, and he is just looking for our “yes”.
  • You will never be settled in your spirit until you say yes.

A.   When God Calls You, He Knows Where To Find You 

  1. God knows where you are. You can’t hide from God.
  2. If you look in the scriptures, you will notice that everyone God called, he knew where each and every one of them.
  3. Moses was living in Midian. God called him from a burning bush. God calls Moses at 80 yrs old to do something greater.
    1. Old or young, God can use you.
  4. Gideon was in the wine press when God called him to help you defeat the Midianites.
  5. Samuel was in the temple. He didn’t recognize who was calling him at first, but God kept calling.
  6. Saul was on Damascus Road. After God’s call, the same man that had been tearing down the kingdom, spent the rest of his life building it up.
  7. God calls us at the right moment and right time, even though we might not think so. When you do what God calls you to do, you will never work another day in your life.

B.   God Calls Us Into Something That Started Before Us 

  1. This happened before the foundation of the world. This is preordination. Preordination means to Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV says 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified[a] you; I [b]ordained you a prophet to the nations.” . – God always has a plan.
    1. Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) says 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. – What God does, he creates us with the temper and personality to fit the call that he will summon us to.
  2. When you are young, people might give up on you, because the world is not wired to handle who you really are.
    1. Bishop always tells the story about him being hyper as a young child and the teachers thought something was wrong with him. Turns out that God was preparing him then for what he would be doing now. He needs that type of energy to carry out the assignment today.
  3. When God calls you, its based on the capacity inside of you, and then He anoints you to do what he called you to do.

III.            RELEASED FROM THE PLACE OF COMFORT

  • Abraham is called from a place of comfort.
  • When you leave your security, some people will question your call.
  • Genesis 12:1 (NKJV) 1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house,To a land that I will show you.- It is a call to leave behind your comfort to do what God wants us to do.
  • God doesn’t call us into lateral moves. He takes us from glory to glory!

A.   It Takes Courage To Break Contentment 

  1. I got to be willing to let go of that which is familiar.
  2. When Abraham got the call, he was 75yrs old, but he trusted God.
  3. When you step out, you will realize:

B.   Obedience Opens The Door To Divine Opportunities 

  1. Ever been in a rush and park near the exit door of Home Depot? Because you are in a hurry, you want the door to open for you, but the door wasn’t designed to open on the side that you’re on. The door is not going to change the rules, just because you are in a hurry.
  2. Rules don’t change, just because you’re in a hurry. God will not change the rules, just because you’re in a hurry.
  3. It takes a level of When you walk in faith, you have to get beyond:
    1. Public Optics – You can’t worry about what people think.
    2. The People’s Opinions – It’s not about how they feel about it. It’s about what God wants you to do.
    3. Rely on his Providential Care – You have to know that God has a plan and that He has it all in control.
  4. The call will not be a setback for you!

IV.            RELY ON HIS PROVIDENTIAL CARE

A.   God’s Provision Always Aligns With His Assignment 

  1. It doesn’t matter if people don’t like you. If the blessing of God is on your life, you will be
  2. In Chapter12, Abraham stepped out to his call. In Chapter 13, God blessed him. In Chapter 14, Abraham became a
  3. Some people hate on saved people that are blessed, yet they celebrate unsaved people that have things. We should celebrate blessed people when they accomplish things and accumulate blessings. If anyone should be blessed, it ought to be the people of God.
  4. 3 reasons why God blesses us like this.
  5. He knows that He can trust you. Genesis 14:20 (NKJV) 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
  6. God knows that you will be transformational. – God knows that you will make something out of your blessing!
  7. He knows you will share your testimony.- God knows that you will tell others about your blessing.

B.   Your Name Was Intended To Be Greater Than Your Title 

  1. Your name represents who you are at the core.
  2. Every name in the Bible meant something whether it was good or bad. They were descriptive of the person’s personality.
  3. A Title represents a temporary role that can fade over time. If you have to have a title, then it means you believe your name doesn’t have enough weight by itself.
  4. God said he would make Abram’s name great, not his title. God is changing his name from a noun to a verb.
  5. Proverbs 22:1 (NKJV) 1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.
  6. Xerox Story: Back in the early 60s a company called Xerox came up with a process by which you could get a photocopy of your documents. They became very popular. They had so much success that they really became big in the industry.
    1. A year or two later, a guy opened up FedEx whose purpose was to ship products. He thought it would be good if he could come up with a little shop inside his establishment, where you could make photocopies while you were there shipping product. Pretty soon, people were coming into the FedEx shopping asking if they could Xerox a copy of their documents.
    2. People will cause your name to be so great, it will be brought up in your competitors establishment.
  7. When God makes your name great, it speaks for itself.

 

V.            REJOICE IN HIS PROMISED COVENANT

A.   There Are Consequences Tied To How People Deal With You 

  1. The blessing of Abraham is on our lives.
  2. There is a generational blessing on your life. Genesis 12:3 (NKJV) 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

 

B.   There Is A Generational Blessing On Your Life 

  1. How do you know it’s a real thing? When you go to the doctor, they try to find out your family history. It is because you are predisposed to whatever medical issues they may have had. This is a form of a generational curse.
  2. We have generational curses, and we have generational blessings.
  3. If one person in your family, decides to stop the curse, then they start a generational blessing.
    1. For example, if all the males in your family were drunks, and you make the choice not to drink, you stand a good chance of breaking the generational curse in your family.
  4. When you are blessed, you don’t have to get back at people. God can deal with people much better than we can!
  5. Generational Blessings
    1. Legacy of Finance – you have to teach this to your family. How to budget, how to save, how to spend
    2. The Legacy of Faithfulness – If you live a life that demonstrates faith, then more and likely, your kids will demonstrate faith.
    3. Legacy of Favor – There are some things that God will do that doesn’t make sense. Somethings God does, you can’t explain.

 

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Part 3: Behold His Glory 

Posted on January 3, 2025 by growintheword

 


Synopsis of December 22, 2024 Sermon

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III 

John 1:1-14 
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

I.          INTRODUCTION

  1. The beauty of our relationship with God is in who He is. He is the son of the living God. God sent his son as a savior to the whole world.
  2. Everything we have, would not be possible without Jesus. He is then the reason for the season.
  3. You can’t embrace his glory fully without the birth narrative. He was born of a virgin in Judah. Jesus began long before Mary gave birth to Him.
  4. He is the Word. The more you get to know him, the more you will realize that the Word was always at work.
  5. John was in Jesus’ inner circle. He was a fisherman when Jesus first called him. John was an Apostle which meant He witnessed Jesus up close. John was so close to Jesus; he witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration on the Mount of Transfiguration, and he witnessed the agony Jesus suffered on the cross. He was standing with Mary at the foot of the cross.
  6. An Epistle is a formal letter with a purpose. John is accredited for writing 3 Epistles in the New Testament. They are I John, II John, and III John. He also wrote Revelation and John the gospel.
  7. He writes love truth and the divinity of Jesus Christ.
  8. John wrote in a pattern. In John 20:31 (NKJV) it says 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.- John says these things I write that you might believe.
  9. In one of the Epistles, 1 John 5:13 (NKJV) it says 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.- John writes this one so that that we might know and believe. You must not only believe, you have to know too.
    1. If you don’t know, you can have Jesus and not know it, meaning you that you can lose him and not miss him. It is important to believe and know.
  10. Another of John’s book is John. It is written about the past, the present, and the future.
    1. The distinction of John from the other synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) is they write about Jesus chronologically from birth. Unlike them, John starts with the beginning of everything, explain how Jesus was the Word. John wants us to know who Jesus really was. He was the preexisting God. In the beginning he was preexisting, coexisting, and self-existing all at the same time)
  11. Through this message, you will understand the relationship between the word of God and the Jesus whom we celebrate today.

II.          THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WORD

A.  The Word Was Before The Beginning 

  1. The beginning did not begin the Word. Logos, the Latin word for “Word”, signifies Jesus Christ. It is the breath of God.
  2. The Word coexisted with God himself. The Word is eternal. The Word was before us, then it was with us, and will be after us.
  3. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the word will last forever. John said God so loved the world that God gave his only begotten son. When you accept Him, you go to your spirit self where you inherit eternal life.

B.  God And The Word Are One 

  1. The sun’s light gives us light and warms us. Sunlight is not separate from sun. Like unto it, the Son is not separate from God. He is the part of God that we can comprehend. God sent Himself in a form that we could comprehend.
  2. The Old Testament always pointed us to heaven. The Old Testament can be complicated. For example, if you need to get directions to the airport and you were getting them from someone that lived here, they would give you so much detail, that you couldn’t remember it all. This is how the Old Testament operates.
    1. The New Testament simply says, take up your cross and follow me. The New Testament shows you what to do and where to go.
  3. The Bible says the Word was God. The Word and God is one. The Word, the Son, and God can’t be separated. This is how we get the Trinity.

III.          THE CREATIVENESS OF THE WORD

  • All things were created by the Word. God used the word in the beginning of time to create the heavens and earth.
  • When we have a relationship with God, we have creative power. Every visions we have is connected to a creative word.

A. The Word Makes Something Where There Is Nothing 

  1. This idea of creation stands apart. A sovereign God creates the universe with nothing but His word. It is the doctrine of ex nihilo which is a Latin word meaning “out of nothing”.
    1. When you build a house, you talk to builder, but they have to talk to the subcontractors, before giving you a quote. In other words, the builder has to go to secondary source before building your house. God doesn’t, because He is already the source.
  2. God came from nowhere, used the word to create everything that exists. He came from nowhere, because there was nowhere for Him to come from. He stood on nothing and created something. No one said anything, because there was no one around to say anything.
  3. This is why the power of life and death is in your tongue. Your speech is to bring creativeness in places where there is nothing. The more word in you, the more word you can release into the world.
  4. When in a relationship, you never despise small When we start with nothing, we know this is when God creates. Everything you have, started with the word of God.

B. Everything You Have Started With The Word 

  1. Your children stared with a word. Your relationship started with a word. Everything starts with word. Whether its instructions, your thoughts, or whatever, it all starts with a word.
  2. God used the word to create everything that exists. The enemy loves high jacking our word, to prevent our destiny.
  3. Music creates modes. King Saul for example, used to have bouts of depression. David played music and brought his spirit back.
  4. Before the beginning began, humans weren’t the first thing God created. God created the angels before us. One of the first things God created was a heavenly court that would give him praise! Ezekiel 28:13 (NKJV) says 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. – God created Satan and his anatomy was nothing but music.
  5. Satan was responsible for the sound in glory. God let him control the sound, but God would create the lyrics which were, “holy, holy, holy”.
  6. Satan got kicked out of heaven, because he tried to change the lyrics. Satan wanted the glory to go to him.
  7. Satan wants to control the melodies and control the message. The words have the ability to change your mindset.
  8. If you were in the studio for the song, “Back That Thing Up”, you wouldn’t have a problem with it until you hear the lyrics. The track itself doesn’t get you, but the lyrics change your whole mindset.
  9. Once you hear the lyrics, it doesn’t matter if you have just the music playing, you will go back to that same mindset, because you can’t unhear the lyrics.
  10. This is why we have to be careful of what you let your kids listen to. Satan is trying to change their morality. The lyrics is about changing your morality. Remember, you can’t unhear it.
  11. If you can hear, you can’t unhear what you know is right. The same goes with talking about the word of God. Once you hear the word, you can’t unhear it.

IV.          THE CLUELESSNESS OF THE WORLD

  • This Word came into the earth. The Word that created the world, came into the world and the world didn’t even know him.
  • The world is so materialistic, it doesn’t know what it has in Jesus. You look for joy in a broken relationship, not knowing that you have a friend in Jesus

A.    The World Doesn’t Know What It Has 

  1. We don’t chase paper, we chase purpose! We chase Joy, goodness, peace, and love!

B.    Culture Rejects What It Cannot Control 

  1. All rejection ain’t bad!

V.          THE CHRIST OF THE WORD

  • That word that was self-existing, became flesh and dwelt among us.
  • This is why the angel had to talk Joesph off the ledge. That which was above us, came among us.
  • Gods’ presence is so amazing, you can’t comprehend it. God had to package himself in a body, so that we could comprehend him. So, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

A.    The Word Became Flesh That Flesh Might Become The Word 

  1. Our life should be the manifestation of the Word. It’s about our understanding.
  2. The more word you get, the more you look, walk, and talk like the Word. You are advertisement for the Word.
  3. If you have the word I have, you will have peace. It’s not what you believe, it’s about what you know. This is how you handle a season when everything is falling apart.
  4. Your life is a manifestation of the Word.

B.    Whatever The Word Manifests Is For God’s Glory 

  1. It isn’t about you. It’s for God’s glory. When you behold his glory, you know where the glory goes.
  2. Psalms 91:1 (NKJV) 1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.- Even the heavens behold His glory. Look at the times you almost had a nervous breakdown, but God kept us.
  3. Look at how you could have walking to church instead of riding.
  4. Lots of people don’t appreciate your glory, but we beheld His glory.
  5. Full of grace and truth – The enemy tried to tell us what he thought we should hear. Truth brought change. Grace makes salvation possible, and truth eliminates the path to freedom.
    1. The enemy said you were unworthy, but grace and truth said you were more than a conqueror.
  6. Mistakes will find you – You are a new creature. Old things have passed away, but this doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes.
  7. Depressed – I will bless the Lord at all times. Whether things are good or bad, we will bless the Lord at all times.
  8. When you know what you know you can behold his glory!.

 

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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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