Transcription
Israel went for 40 years around the same Mountain, 'cause they just couldn't learn the lesson. The lesson was abandonment and trust. And some people have gone without for their entire life, and all the Lord's trying to do is to teach trust. Because once trust is settled, you can be intrusted with the promised land.
All right, got a couple funny signs. "I don't need a valentine, I need $8 million and a fast metabolism." [Laughter] "I don't want to brag or make anyone jealous, but I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school." I love this one: "Things I ask my mom: Where's my phone? Where's the remote? What's for dinner? Why can't animals talk?" "Things I ask my dad: Where's [Laughter] Mom?" That one's just too true.
I, one more. "Recent studies found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it." Yes, amen. Yes, amen.
All growth is rewarded with pruning. All death is rewarded with resurrection. To seal to follow Him is the entrance into a lifestyle that He's in charge of. It's a crosswalk into resurrection. It's a crosswalk into breakthrough.
Israel traveled from Egypt, which was a picture of sin. So forgive me if you're from Egypt, just a one-time illustration, that's all. Um, from Egypt through the wilderness into the promised land. The wilderness experience was one of great difficulty and challenge. They had to trust God every day for manna on the ground. Sometimes they were thirsty for days, had nothing. A rock was struck, water came out of the rock. One time there was a whole supply of quail that didn't turn out real good, but, uh, but they had meat once. But there was this ongoing miracle that God trained them with in the wilderness. But the daily provision of manna was not the promised land. It was the training for the promised land.
There are times where we have a perspective of faith that, uh, I don't want to say is immature, it's just, it's not developed. And that's probably true for all of us in some measure. But we, we tend to think that the person who believes God for daily provision has greater faith than the person who works and has an income. And it's not true.
I remember having a, a, a friend, friend of mine, he's home with the Lord now, but a businessman. He was quite wealthy, quite well too. He had a pretty large business that affected, uh, from Denver West. And, uh, and I remember we'd have early morning prayer meetings in Weaverville, and he would come early, and he would be over on the side, he'd be kneeling and praying. And in conversation with him sometime after he began to come to this permanent, he, he was there praying for his employees, that he would prosper enough to keep them employed so they could put their kids through college. That's what he's praying for.
See, when you, when you have, we've got this thing in our n, in our nation that's ugly, and it's, it's a jealousy is exalted as a virtue. Where people look at somebody who has more than they do and assume they did something wrong to get it. And, uh, jealousy is all often exalted as a virtue, and it's, it's called discernment. And anytime you give a virtuous name to some, to a dysfunction, you give it not only permission to stay, you give it room to set down roots until it actually affects our personality. And the Lord is, is wanting to expose some of this stuff, not out there, but in here. So we, where we know how to properly celebrate another person's breakthrough.
What's, what's important is when you've been praying for something and somebody else gets your breakthrough, and you know they haven't prayed near as long as you have, which means basically they don't deserve it like you do. It's a, it's an invitation for personal breakthrough. Believe it or not, it's actually, it's the mercy of God exposing what could go wrong in the heart, so that when your breakthrough comes, it lands in a safe place. Character is the container that blessing is to rest in, and it doesn't leak out. Character is what holds and contains the blessing that the Lord would like to put on our life.
What I don't want to do is, is to create in your thinking blessing means mansions and M, you know, tons of material things or whatever. It sometimes includes that. But if that's the focus, we're trouble. Yeah.
What's vital for us to learn is in this journey that we deal with what He's dealing with inside of us, because He's always preparing us for greater breakthrough. I've said it to you a number of times through the years. Let me declare it again: God disciplines us so His blessings don't kill us. He disciplines us so His blessings don't kill us.
He actually longs to put blessings. Now, some people in this room would, um, many in the church, let me just say generally, are very much afraid and opposed to financial wealth, which I understand the reasoning. I don't agree, but I understand the reasoning. The problem is, they don't have the same fear over increased anointing. And both will give you access to pride. See, to think that because I'm pursuing something that's overtly spiritual, I'm safe, is far from the truth, because it's the greater recognition that is the issue.
Can we navigate that? See, Jesus walked with an anointing where everyone who came to Him was healed. Everyone the Father sent to Him, sent Him to, was healed. So anyone who came to Him with a request was healed. Everyone the Father directed Him to was healed. What would happen if that same measure of breakthrough was put on just one individual in this room? It'd be cool for a very short time, but your name would be a household name within 30 days around the country. Let's say that you couldn't be bought. Let's say that you've dealt with a money issue, you couldn't be lured into compromise for money. Let's say that issue is settled. You still have a problem because at our local airport would be 50 private jets with suitcases filled with money as they try to persuade you to come and pray for their dying loved one. And so you can't be bought. You still have a problem. You can only say yes to one, and you've got 49 others that fly away, and you've got their faces in front of you that you didn't have time to pray for them.
The point is, is, is that increased anointing gives us as much access, if not more access, to pride, arrogance, independence, all the things that are dangerous for us, as much as wealth. So when I talk about wealth, or I talk about favor, um, let me use the word blessing. When I talk about the blessing of the Lord increasing on our life, there are times where it's a promotion at work. There are times it's finding that spouse you've been waiting for all these years. There are times where you're unable to have children, and all of a sudden you're pregnant with twins. See, it's, it's, it's favor, blessing comes in so many different ways. Sometimes it's just this, people just will prefer you at work. There's no explanation. You don't have the highest position, but people just are drawn to you. Maybe they automatically just confess their personal issues and problems because they, they trust you. That's favor. That's that's wealth in this kingdom where the Lord adds that favor to your life, where people just trust you. Sometimes it's just the fact that you just get the big breaks, you get the big deals. But the point is, is the Lord would increase every one of our lives in this realm of blessing if we could carry it for, for His glory. Which means I hold to everything loosely, because sometimes today's blessing is tomorrow's investment.
I've been working on this theme for a while. I'm, I'm working on a book again, and, uh, I think I've got another week or so I'll finish. But it's, it's, I talk about this issue of promotion. I talk about this, this issue of of blessing, favor, and increase, and how can we navigate it well? What does it look like? First of all, if, uh, if Eric was here tonight and I were to give him a brand new truck, that'd be cool. He'd be quite happy. I wouldn't be very happy if you gave it away, why? Because I actually gave it to him because of my delight in him. I, I want him to enjoy what I bought him. I, I don't want him to take that gift. And there's sometimes the Lord deposits something in our life that He just wants to see our delight. I've had times where I've given things to people and they didn't know how to manage or handle that added blessing in their life, and so they quickly just gave it away. I understand. I understand. We, we don't want to accumulate, you know, we don't want our identity wrapped up in material things. I get that. But there are times where our confidence in His nature as a Father is revealed by how well we steward a gift that was given to us. Can you receive a blessing, give Him thanks, and simply delight in it?
See, whenever the Lord releases, whether it's a material blessing, it's favor, an open door, promotion at work, whatever, fill in the blanks, any of those things, whenever He adds blessing to our life, He is always trying to endear us to a world we cannot see. The problem is, when that natural blessing endears me to the visible more than the unseen, is where the breakdown starts for me. I believe that the Lord would fill our lives with with friends, with position, with favor, with possessions, all things that testify of a Father who is incredibly perfect, and He takes absolute delight in us. And the ability to celebrate His goodness in the midst of a very special meal that somebody bought for you.
Forgive me, I'm, I'm, I'm going to repeat a number of statements just because I want to put it into context for tonight. I, some of my favorite stories in, uh, in church history are when, uh, a missionary couple would sit down with their children for dinner, for example. And this has happened frequently throughout history. They would sit down for dinner, but they'd have no food in the house. But they sit down anyway. They set the table, they've got the forks and spoons and knives, everything's in place, and there's no food. And they all sit down and they pray and they give thanks for the food. And right about the time they finish the prayer, there's always a knock on the door, and somebody was moved by God to bring groceries to that missionary family. I love those stories so much. It's, it's the coolest thing in the world.
I remember Benny and I used to run a street ministry here called the Salt House about 4,000 years ago. It was back, you may have read about it, the hippie era. It, it actually happened. We saw for real. And, and we worked with a lot of, a lot of kids on the street and stuff like that. We lived in this particular, this particular house downtown. And people would drop in for counseling and deliverance, or maybe they just wanted to try to throw our piano at the front window, which actually tried to happen. But we, we had a number of wonderful experiences. It, it felt at one time that every demonized person, uh, west of the Rockies came to visit us. I can't prove that, but that's what it felt like. It was, it was, it was school for us. We thought we were there for them, but I think we were there to learn. And, uh, and it, it was, it was interesting.
I remember one morning, uh, Ben and I were praying together and and talking, and we, we, uh, looked at the bills, and there was a certain amount that we, in fact, I asked Ben, I said, "How much do we need to pay the bills for the ministry? How, how, what's due?" And she told me the amount. It was $300. And which would be $20,000 today. But, uh, $300. And, and I remember we just prayed. And I, I was walking, I walked out of the house. The mail came in the afternoon, but I walked out in the morning and opened the door, and right to the left of the of the door, uh, there's a mailbox. And I just, by habit, just opened it. There was an envelope in there, no stamp, nothing with an envelope. And I opened it, and there's a check for $300. That's, I, I love when that stuff happens. I mean, Jesus is good at that.
But here's where I'm at in my life right now. I want to be the guy knocking on the door. I, I want to be the one who hears, responds, and attends to somebody else's place. Because both are are places of great blessing and honor. And as, uh, the disciples left everything to follow Jesus. And in Mark 10, in fact, why don't you look at it? It'd be fun just to have you stare at the Bible for a minute. Mark chapter 10. This is a great, uh, portion of scripture for so many reasons. Mark chapter 10.
Now, I don't, I don't know about about you. I, I like, I like the in-your-face verses. I like the in-your-face verses. I like "pick up your cross and follow me." I, those verses, those are good verses. I don't want to read over this quickly. I like, I like my coffee unreasonably strong. I like my, so my hot sauce insanely hot. And I like my Bible to growl at me when I pick it up. That's, that's the way it is. That's this is my approach to life. So when I find the in-your-face verses, I don't want to dodge and assume it's for somebody else. All right, all right, don't give me that look.
Um, verse 23 of Mark chapter 10: "The dis Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.'" How many of you understand? Every one of us qualifies as the hard one. Yeah. Don't, I wouldn't answer me either if I were you. It's, it's not a trick question. But let's just keep reading.
Verse 24: "And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, 'Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.'" This time He adds a description to His statement: those who trust in riches. So I've asked you the question before, right? Now we have politicians, we have political realms, we have, we have, they're trying to figure out how much is too much money for a person to make. First of all, it's not government's responsibility, but I'll leave that aside since I'm not running for office. How much is too much money? It's whatever amount replaces trust. See, for one person, $1,000 in the bank is more, is beyond their trust level. All of a sudden, they turn to the money instead of trusting God. But, but there are others, it could be $100 million, because it's not an amount, it's a condition of the heart. And so Jesus says, "How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom."
Now jump down to verse, um, uh, verse 26: "They were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?'" Do you understand? They are asking that even about themselves. All right.
Verse 27: "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"
Verse 28: "Peter began to say to them, 'See, we've left all and followed You.'" Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands, with persecutions—and then in the age to come, eternal life."
I like this verse for a whole bunch of reasons. First of all, what are you going to do with a hundred [Laughter] mothers? You get the point. Jesus is using a description, announcing to those who left everything to follow Him that they have access to unlimited resource to accomplish all they've been called to do. Unlimited resource. David put it this way. He prayed it in Psalms 119:117, I believe. He said, "Deal with Your servant bountifully, that I may live and keep Your word." In other words, the only way I could possibly fulfill all that You've put in my heart is that You would have to deal with me bountifully. The expectation for increase. I know automatically we think of dollars, and it's easy to measure. But there, there are many in this room, money is not the answer. It's a promotion, it's a position change, it's an idea, it's an invention, it's a song, it's a melody that's never been heard. It's just the fact that God is giving us access to His mystery realm because He's longing to communicate the nature of His heart, the nature of His mind, the nature of His world to this one. And it's the people of God that that have access to this realm called the secret things, the mystery of God. Trusting God, pursuing God.
So Peter says, "We left everything to follow You." And Jesus said, "That's right. And I'm going to add a hundred times as much back into your life with persecution." There, there's a promise I've never seen on anyone's [Laughter] refrigerator. I've seen a lot of good promises, but that one was never in the Bible promise box. But follow this with me. Israel left Egypt, went through difficulty so they could be trusted with the Promised Land. Israel went through the Red Sea, Paul calls it the baptism of Moses, through trial. And now through another, another body of water, a baptism. But this one's not a still body of water, it's a river. It's the purpose for Holy Spirit baptism: to introduce to a way of life that you can't get on the other side of the river. There's a death that takes place, but there's a life that becomes clear.
The disciples leave everything to follow Jesus. They have nothing. And before Jesus goes, He says, "I'm going to add a hundred times back into your life." He wasn't saying, "I'm going to give you mansions on hilltops." I'm giving you access to unlimited resource to accomplish all you've been called to do. Why? Because you trusted Me. Without, I can now trust you with.
Before Jesus, before Jesus died, He, He did this very, very strange thing. He told His disciples to get a sword. I think Peter was quite happy with that direction. He'd been warming up and his sword swinging. So in the garden, they come to take Jesus. Peter knows why Jesus would want him to have a sword: to hurt people, of course. And so he pulls out the sword, cuts off the servant's ear. Jesus shakes His head, puts the ear back, heals it, puts the sword away. What purpose did the sword serve? Take this with a grain of salt, just an opinion only. Jesus would have you get a sword you can't use because it is symbolic of an entire realm of resource that is at your disposal for all God's called you, called you to do.
I remember many years ago, I was looking through a fly fishing catalog, which is a great joy of mine, fly fishing. And the catalogs I like most, hunting and fishing catalogs. And I look through them to discover the will of God for my life. It's amazing how sometimes the Lord will just speak to you. And, uh, and I got this catalog from our local fly shop. It's one of the best, best in the world. And I go through it and I look each page, just waiting to hear the Father speak. I will admit, it didn't happen. But I, I gave Him the chance. And I didn't throw it away just in case tomorrow He might speak. I go through the catalog, and at the very end of the of the, uh, catalog is all the items that only true devoted fly fisherman would ever want. Uh, a leather couch with a trout etched into the leather cushion, things that are essential, essential. Uh, crystal goblets with a famous river etched on the side, or a picture of a rainbow trout leaping for a fly. Things that no serious fly fisherman would want to live without. And I got to that part of the catalog, and I'm looking at all the goblets. And there was this one section, I can still see it, right side of the page, right down the inside column, there were three flasks. Flask made out of copper, stainless steel, or something. And it was, apparently, fishmen like to have whiskey or brandy or something with them in case you're not catching stuff. I don't know. I figure, I figure that must be why it's there. So I looked at them, and it was exact. It took me like two sec, 3 seconds to look through. I looked at them, and they just looked cool. So I looked at the price, and I thought to myself, "I can afford it." And then I thought, "I have no use for it." I mean, I don't take whiskey to the river. You know, come to think, but there is Brandy Creek up by Whiskeytown Lake. Maybe that's where you would do it. I don't know. Anyway, all right, that's for those of you who aren't local. That's actually the name of places. So I looked, I looked at the price, I thought, "I have no use for it." So I turned the page, got through with the catalog, put it away.
We, uh, went to England a week or so later, and Benny and I were, were at this conference, and a woman brought each of us a gift. And of course, I had Benny open her gift first. And I, I don't remember to this day what it was, but it was something you'd give a godly woman, you know, earring with a cross, or picture frame with the name Jesus, honor, or something, you know, it's just what you give to godly people, you know. It's just a, it was a nice, it was a nice Christian gift. And then I opened mine. I opened it, and there's a flask. A flask. Now, outwardly, I'm saying, "That's awesome, thank you so much." Inwardly, I'm thinking, "You're kidding. You're kidding. Do you know how many things I have on my emergency list? Prayers that need to be answered? Do you know how many things that are important? They're not life and death, but they're on my list that need to be answered? I even have this, 'it would be nice' part of the list. And under that is a pile of stuff that wasn't good enough to make the list. And on the bottom of that pile was three seconds glancing at a flask in a catalog. And King Jesus reaches to the bottom of this insignificant pile, pulls out a flask, inspires a woman across the pond, Bill needs one of these. It's my, it's my sword. It, it's just there to remind me everything's covered. Everything's covered. That He would actually inspire someone to spend their dollars to buy me something I have no use for because I looked at it for three seconds. I'm trying, trying. I'm going to get there. Come on. I'm going to get there. You and [Laughter] [Applause] me. We may have to tag team this one.
Look at this verse again, 29: "Assuredly I say to you, there's none who has left house or brother, sister, father, mother, wife..." 100 wives? Solomon, no. Never mind. "...children, lands for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold. Look at it now, in this time." This is not heaven. "Now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands, with persecution. And in the age to come, eternal life."
I remember several years ago, in fact, uh, this last week was Bob Jones' homegoing anniversary. He died on Valentine's Day, if you don't know who he was. He was a wonderful friend of ours, a, a amazing prophet of the Lord, who actually died way back in the '70s. And he, he came before the Lord, and the Lord had one question for him: "Did you learn to love?" Wow. And the next moment, he found himself back in his body, and he spent from the '70s until what, three years ago, four years ago, learning to love. And if you knew Bob at all, you knew that was what he, what he excelled at. He just loved. He just loved. He loved us so much. He loved people so much. And Jesus took him home on Valentine's Day. Wow.
We were sitting at a table at his funeral, after the service, everything was done. I was sitting at a table with several, a number of folks that you would know, with Mike Breen and John, bunch of others. And we were just talking about some of the things that, uh, that we were experiencing. It was, if I tell you what it was, it would sound like a complaining session. It wasn't. We were kind of comparing notes, to be honest. There's, uh, not everybody on social media is is wild about us, which is, it's a shock. It's, it's a complete shock. I, I, you probably didn't know this, but it's true. It's true. I have a sign on my phone that said, "On the internet, you can be anything you want, so why do so many people choose to be [Laughter] stupid?" That's unrelated to this subject, of course.
So we were talking about some of the things that we had, have had happened. And, and one of the guys there, Bob Wier, Merrin Offa Ministries, wonderful, wonderful man. He said, he said, "I just call it income tax." And everybody just kept on talking. I said, "I said, 'What?'" He said, "Income tax. Yeah. The more income, the more tax. The more favor, yeah. Learn to handle it well, because it determines what you can carry." Really does. Many break down at that point of opposition, rejection. Jesus said, "See if I will not return to you 100 times as much." Now, in this time, with persecution. I don't think the Lord inspires persecution. I just think blessing on people's lives stirs it up in others. And one of the things we are required to navigate is being with people, and it just doesn't always feel good. Many turn to retaliation, vindication. They respond in like spirit. And, and it's just tragic.
I remember years ago, watching, there was a real moral mess with a bunch of leaders. I think it was back in the '80s. It was, it was embarrassing. And, uh, there was this Ted Koppel, I believe is who I think is the one who with ABC did this panel, and he had all these major leaders in the church that were in this panel, panel. And there, there's this, this conversation, but all these famous Christians that had fallen morally. And I'll never forget as long as I live what Ted Koppel said. He said, "When we do investigative reporting, it requires us to do a lot of research. But with these stories, you guys called us." Did you hear what I just said? He said, "You guys, Christian leaders, called us with information about other Christian leaders. We didn't have to do the research. You guys called us."
Throughout history, there have been times where there have been great moves of God that literally just came, came to an abrupt end because of jealousies, because of competition, so many things. And yet, never was it in the heart of God to end the increase, the ramping up of what He was doing in the earth. But in order to save those who were carrying that weight of glory, so as not to bless them beyond their capacity to bear, He withdrew the anointing. We're at a place in a time where I feel like the Lord, the Lord is wanting to see yet again, what can we carry? Before Him, can we be misunderstood? I mean, nobody likes it. You never have to enjoy it, but you do have the privilege of giving thanks in the middle of it.
The key, three months ago, the L, in the middle of the night, the Lord spoke to me. The key to mental health is giving thanks in everything. The key to emotional health is rejoicing always. Maintaining that aspect, that approach to life, is central to who God made us to be. So here we've got this story. "See if I will not add back into your life a hundred times with persecution." There's something about difficulty that keeps us prayed up, or we crumble under the difficulty. And I believe that the Lord would love to demonstrate His resurrection power. He would love to demonstrate what it looks like to have a people that that are finally out of the wilderness.
Israel went for 40 years around the same mountain because they just couldn't learn the lesson. The lesson was abandonment and trust. And some people have gone without for their entire life, and all the Lord's trying to do is to teach trust. Because once trust is settled, you can be intrusted with the promised land. I believe to embrace the assignment that's been given to us, which is to disciple nations, we have to have this lesson done. I have to be okay with you getting the car I was praying for. I have to know how to celebrate your promotion when I was hoping it would be my turn. Jesus and Solomon in Proverbs both taught the same concept: that when you, when somebody else experiences a breakthrough, it is an opportunity for us to celebrate their breakthrough as preparation for our own. And the inability to celebrate somebody else's breakthrough as though it were mine actually pushes back my own experience of breakthrough.
Left Egypt, wilderness, finally dealt with trust. The promised land is where they had to go to work. Doesn't sound like the promised land for a lot of people. Why was it the promised land? Because God would breathe on human labor and bring supernatural increase. There was the partnership of our effort and God's grace. It is the very thing that God has wanted demonstrated in the earth from day one: is the partnership of heaven and earth. It's that beautiful marriage of supernatural and natural, so that they work together in tandem, illustrating this perfect Father for who He is. I believe that the Lord is giving us an opportunity to see what that's like again. And so I want you to stand. We're going to pray. I hope He gives you a sword you can't use.
In my closet, there was a shelf where I put a flask, and every day when I got dressed, I had the reminder of what He's like. He notices the subtle attention of your heart towards something. Never was even big enough to pray about, was never even enough to put a dent in the day, but somehow He caught it. I remember many years ago, sitting out at Whiskeytown Lake, and there's no correlation between the flask and Whiskeytown [Laughter] Lake. I was there by myself, had my Bible. It was a nice warm day. I was reading and worshiping Jesus and just having the most amazing time. And I remember seeing these little bluegill, little perch swimming around. So I picked up these little pebbles, and I'd throw them in the water. They'd come up and eat it, spit it out. I was there to torment them. It's a gift. I pick up another little pebble, throw it in, they eat it, spit it out. And I had this thought cross my mind: "I wonder if they would eat a bee?" Because bees have stingers. So I just wonder if they would eat a bee. As soon as that I thought it, a bee, a bee, a bee flew. I wish I had a film of this. It flew from this side, it stopped right in front of me, lost the ability to fly, dropped into the water. A fish came up and ate it. And I [Laughter] [Applause] thought, "So, you know, like everything that's going on in here, the meditations of our heart are louder in heaven than our voice is here on earth."
So let's pray. Father, I thank You for the promised land. I thank You for the design You have for us, for the absolute complete fulfillment of life itself, the lineage, our family lines, our relationships with friends and people, how You just set the stage for success at every turn. The skills, the graces, the gifts that You give us to be, to have a meaningful lifestyle. God, I'm thankful for all of these things. But I pray right now that You would increase the capacity for breakthrough, that eternity would be forever marked because we used everything You gave us for Your glory, that we withheld nothing for ourselves, but literally kept everything on the altar for You to breathe upon, for You to bless, for You to partner with. God, I'm asking that as in this next season, You would teach us what it looks like to have the natural and the supernatural perfectly partnered together. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Put a hand on someone next to you, and I want you to pray specifically: Supernatural wisdom. Divine wisdom. Divine wisdom. Divine wisdom. Divine wisdom. Divine wisdom. Divine wisdom. Now, wisdom is prophetic in nature, so press into this just a moment longer. Divine wisdom. Let it be accompanied with dreams. Let it be accompanied with ideas, with solutions. Let there be medical, um, inventions, uh, medical devices. Let there be technology, uh, technological solutions. Let there be relational answers, that words that would bring healing to a household, to a family. Every area of life that You would reconstruct the damaged parts of the brain through the prophetic decree of a man or a woman with wisdom. God, we call for this for the honor of the name Jesus, that our cities would demonstrate Your likeness, that our cities would demonstrate Your heart. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Go ahead and put your hands down. Who's, who's, you could go ahead, come on up. I want to give you a quick story. In Weaverville, we had one of our, one of our key guys in the church, uh, had just, he, he was, he, he was an accountant. Had an accountant office and did taxes and all the stuff for businesses and what all. And one of his competitors was opening, had just opened a brand new office. And, um, and so he was invited to come to to see this branch. So they had a grand opening. And so he stayed, uh, for the whole party. And then at the very end, he asked for the husband and wife. He said, "We're kind of tight right now, so I didn't have a gift to bring. Could I just pray for the two of you?" And so they said, "Sure." And so the three of them got in a little circle, and he put his hands on them, and he celebrated the goodness of God for prospering this business that everyone else would say was a competitive business. And he prayed for abundance. He celebrated the goodness of God on this couple and on this business. And he prayed, and he prayed. By the time he's through, the quote-unquote competitor have tears coming down their faces because they realize, "I'm going to use my language. This is how his world works. In his world, it's possible for both businesses to succeed."
In his, if you see somebody get a breakthrough that you are praying for, even if you have to force yourself, force yourself, celebrate it. Celebrate it. If you're jealous, sometimes giving a gift will silence jealousy. I'm serious. I'm serious. Put something into action. Skip a meal. Pray for them. Do something. But put it into an action to silence that voice of jealousy, because it's not to have any place in us. Amen. All right, I'm done.