Transcription
But I told you that story for this. You can't let what you're going through decide what you believe. What Jesus went through is where faith is found, and you can't let the circumstance of your life change the faith that's in your heart because the faith has to come through him. You don't believe your story greater than His word. That's where we make a big mistake. We say, "Well, see, but God, sometimes," because look, and we talk how it panned out, and then we put it on God. And that's not the way it happens.
Most of the time, sometimes we're not even praying because we have faith. Sometimes we're praying because we have a problem. Sometimes we're just praying because there's trouble. We're scared. In fact, we rarely as Christians do the decree a thing and it'll come to pass. We turn everything into prayer. Sometimes it's just fear with language. Sometimes it's just concern with language. If you really saw and understood, you'd be amazed how how little we actually have to pray. All the stuff we think we pray, sometimes it's just in your knowing. "Wow, Father, thank you. You see a situation. Wow, God, thank you. Oh my goodness, I so appreciate Covenant. Yep, we're good. Thanks. Wow. Yeah." You just keep on going.
Sometimes we're praying so much, like traveling mercies. I'm not against you praying traveling mercies. I got them. They're in the Covenant. They're part of the package. I'm going to get where I'm going. I'm going to preach the gospel. And if I don't, I'll be with Jesus. But I'm going. You following what I'm saying? There's just a lot of stuff that we do that we call prayer. There's a lot of things we do. Like, like, like if you read an article and you just found that this preservative causes cancer, and they're saying it might be the number one cause, and your mind trips and goes, "I've been putting that in my body for 30 years." Because you read the article, you think you need prayer, but you have Covenant. Why isn't Covenant greater than the article? Why don't you read the article and go, "Wow, I'm sure glad you live in me. I would probably be on this list."
[Applause] Watch. But as soon as you pray, it's a sign of vulnerability because you took to heart the article. And now your prayer can never be faith. Your prayer is actually concern. So it's fear with language. I just hope you're getting this. I'm not sure why we're here. But see, vulnerability is fear. Why did He put as a sign of a believer, "You eat any deadly thing and it won't harm you"? And sometimes the only thing we do in church is study out things and say we're we're avoiding preventative. If you're eating preventative, you're actually saying, "I'm next in line." I've tasted and seen He's good. I ate.
[Laughter] Preventative? Are you guys okay? We're actually heading somewhere here. I got 48 minutes. I, I, I burned the first few. Now there's something about fear that needs exposed. There's something about self-preservation that we need to admit and get rid of. We're, we got to stop trying to survive. 'Cause if we're trying to survive, we'll never shine. And if we're trying to survive, it's all about me and my well-being instead of me in the manifestation of Christ. And you always feel threatened. You always be uncomfortable and looking over your shoulder. And you won't be confident. He gave us dominion and told us to subdue, not be subdued by knowledge. Don't be subdued by another man's experience. Don't be subdued by science. Be subdued by Him.
Yeah, let's take cancer for instance. There's nobody in the room that hasn't been touched by cancer some way. Come on. You see the color of my hair. I can get away with talking about this stuff. I've been on the earth long enough. I'm not talking insensitive. I've lost dear friends to cancer. There's no one in this room that hasn't been touched by cancer in some way, shape, or form. So the strategy of these major diseases, which we all believe disease comes from the devil, the enemy, the fall of man, whatever we classify it, it doesn't come from the Lord. Now, there's some circles that believe God uses and subcontracts this stuff. I don't believe that at all. I believe I can prove it scripturally. It doesn't happen.
So cancer, what's cancer's goal? Cancer's goal, cancer's goal is to play on the sentiment of mankind, on the fear of man, on man thinking for himself, survival, preserving himself, and making it to the end, whatever that means, longevity. So cancer's goal and is is to play the fear of man to where we're actually living to avoid it, living to prevent it, living to escape it, living to avoid it. Because people have this fear that they're going to sit in a room and one day have a doctor look at them and say that word. So cancer's goal is to become so powerful and cause so much loss, so much pain, so much study, so many facts, and so real that it becomes the name above every name that men actually live to never run into that name. But then if we do, we try to grab the name that's supposed to be above every name and reduce the power of the finished work to a principle we're declaring because we're scared to death and hoping it works. And then when the person dies, we say, "Well, we prayed. It can't be God's will to heal. While we prayed, I wonder why he didn't. Wow." And and now we got questions and no revelation.
Are you guys okay? Fear never, ever, ever, ever is the kingdom of God. It subverts authority, and you have no authority over what you fear. You can yell at it, you can scream at it, but it won't move. If fear is your motive, are you with me? We are not praying because we're scared to die. We're not praying because we're afraid they will die. We're praying because they're called to life, has a destiny to fulfill, and their days are too short to be dying. It's time to pray for the kingdom of God, not for well-being. Are you guys with me? I'm not against eating healthy. It's not what I'm against. It's eating healthy is fine. Eat healthy, but don't get tricked into eating preventative. And I see the church doing it a lot. It's on TV. It's a big thing. Eating preventative. Eat these foods because they prevent, ward off the things that cause. That's all fear and vulnerability.
Now, I'll get crucified for saying this. Being recorded, I get it. But they crucified somebody very dear to me for what he was saying. I have seen very little of the power of God in those scenarios across the board in the kingdom of God. I've seen a lot of loss. I've seen a lot of death. I've seen a lot of mourning. And I've seen a lot of people get mad at God and even throw away faith and their beliefs and even give up on healing because we've taken life personal instead of Him. I could find that I lose 25 members of my family to sickness, and when I stand before Him, He's going to be the bright and amazing one, and He's going to be who He was that whole time. Let's not miss the glory of who He is and just find out one day that He was when He is. So let's never grow weary and well-doing, and let's never give up. And even if you drag around for 11 days, 11 months, or 11 years, don't change your mind about the will of God, who He is, and the authority you have in Jesus' name. I just promise you that fear subverts authority, and you have no authority over what you fear. Are you with me?
What's fear connected to? Self-centered focus, well-being. We're supposed to love not our own lives unto why is that so? Fear has no place to [Music] hold. If you love not your own life unto death, you're surrendered for His kingdom. That's why He's your rock and defense. Because of the motive of your life, you don't have to build walls and defend yourself. If you're defending yourself from people, especially then, He's not your rock and defense. You are. People say, "Well, brother, you got to, you got to keep yourself from getting burned again and getting hurt." And some of us have been through, and we've been in ministry, and people take advantage. And you got to. No, you're supposed to live laid down, surrendered. If I defend myself against you, you're a threat to me. I have no protection from the Lord. The truth isn't saving me on that one. Are you with me? Boy, this is a different session. Yeah.
I don't, I don't even have a clue. I am in fear and trembling right now. I'm talking about serious stuff. I got cameras all around me. I'm freaking out on the inside. Yeah, you, you got it. You know what my biggest fear is when I preach? Not, it's not a fear like a, ah, fear. It's a concern being misunderstood all the time because people hear and snap judgment and they don't hear. They don't actually hear what you're saying because they're so busy thinking about what you're saying, they're not even hearing what you're saying. I've been told I said so many things that I don't even believe. People email me and say, "You know how you say," and I read what they quoted me, and I'm thinking, "I don't know if I ever said that." This is a little concerning. You throw your words out there and they [Music] go, and five people have five different things you said, and you said one thing.
There's no authority over what you fear. That's big in my heart. That won't go away. Jesus said, "Fear not." I've never studied it out, but I've had preacher friends that said they did. So I'm just trusting them right now. They said there's 300 "do not be afraid" and fear knots, 365 of them in your Bible. If you search your Bible cover to cover, there's 365 fear knots and "don't be afraid." I bet you way back when this thing was written, God knew what our calendar was going to look like someday. And I bet He's just way ahead of everything, and He's on it. And I bet He knows the beginning to the end. Why would He say, "You eat any deadly thing and it doesn't harm you"? I bet He saw 2023 preservatives, mass food production, and mass population. Like, why would He say, "If you eat any deadly thing, it won't harm you"? He must have been setting the stage for something for a believer to be able to function in the middle of stuff and not be afraid.
I, I, I shouldn't even tell this stuff. God, are you serious? Like, I'm in outdoors. I walk, I hike, I hunt. When I turkey hunt, I walk 10, 12 miles in the mountains. It's, it's a lot. Your turkey vest, who's a turkey hunter, who knows that you got more stuff in your vest than you'll ever use? And who knows that your turkey vest weighs like a backpack? Right? And it's like, you should just empty it because you're not even using half that stuff. It just makes you feel like a turkey hunter. You can just walk through the earth with a turkey vest and you got all your stuff. So I don't even throw a bottle of water in. I just figured the, the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And I know this freaks people out, but I've been doing it for a long time. And I just think the last time I checked, I'm okay. But I see water trickling out of a rock, and that's where I drink. So I don't have to put empty water bottles in my thing and have them crackling when I'm trying to sit down and call a turkey and carry the extra weight because it's already heavy enough. I'd rather just drink it coming out of the rocks. You just drink the water coming out. The Earth is the Lord's.
Or I actually believe this. You can call it pride, you can call it craziness, whatever you want. When it touches my lips, it changes. Why? Greater is He that's in me than he that's in the world. Watch. Behold, I give you power over serpents, scorpions, and Treon serpent, scorpion, over all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall harm you. So don't get mad at me if I believe my Bible. And don't say you got to use wisdom. 'Cause I want to know, who's your fear or His truth? They tried to keep Paul from going into Rome. Agabus comes, he's telling about the man, and he's trying to prophesy, and Paul's like, "Are you guys trying to tear my heart out? Knock it off. I have to listen to Holy Spirit. What are you telling me not to go there for? I got to go. He's telling me to go. And all I know is everywhere I go, chains and prisons are waiting for me." None of that moves moves me. I don't count my own life dear so I can fulfill the will of Him who sent me. That's praise.
Beats praying for your boss to treat you better, for your spouse to [Music] change. How about loving not your own life unto death? Count not your own life dear so you can fulfill, so you can fulfill the will of Him who sent you. Which means if you count your life so dear, you're not going to fulfill the will. But boy, you'll feel protected from what the will of God. Oh, forgive me. This is a very different session. This guys, Andressa, she was so emotional. Maybe I shouldn't get, but that might have been her last little testimony. She's, her time's up at Elcu, and she's three years, and I don't know all the details, but I know this is her last power in love. Very emotional. Know friends, this might be my last power in love. It's been good. God bless you. And if you never see my face again, just know that it's been a fun ride. Oh, dear Jesus.
Paul said, "I don't count my own life dear." Oh, I pray we get that. Man, I wish we, we get that. Every time we complain, every time we sick, every time we're frustrated, every time we're discouraged, every time we're angry, every time we're fighting with forgiveness and unforgiveness, we're proving that we count our own life too dear, and that what we feel matters, and that we're actually living for ourselves in our confession that we're living for Him because He's none of those things. And all those things work through the foundation of self-centeredness. And unless you deny yourself, pick up your cross, you're not following. You're in a sing-along. Make sure you're following. Don't be like the ones that said to Jesus, "But when didn't we stand on the streets and here? Didn't we eat with you? Didn't we sck with you? Weren't we there when you preached?" There was people that were so close to Him and never embraced Him. So close. He's right there. Yeah, three years. He talked to men as the truth, not just preaching the truth, as the truth. And they killed Him for His words. That should sober all of us. The wretchedness of the pride of man, and the wisdom of man, the know-it-all of man, the rationale of man, the analytical assessment of man is so wise, it kills the Son of God. Don't think it's any different on the earth. Don't think it's just so scripture could be fulfilled. They had some raw blindness. No, no. Jesus is talking to Pharisees, and He's talking about Zachariah, the son of Barakah, being killed between the porch and the temple. And He said, "About the righteous blood of Zachariah, whom you cruci-, whom you murdered." He's talking to guys that are 700 years later. It's a group of guys standing there 700 years after the fact of what He's talking about. He said, "Whom you murdered." They weren't even born for 700 years. And Jesus said, "You murdered him." Why? It's a mentality. It's a spirit. It's a mindset. And what He's saying was, if you were in the room, you'd have done the same thing. He said, "So upon you will come all the righteous blood from Abel to Zachariah, the son of Bariah, whom you murdered." That's heavy indictment right there. What happened to Zachariah, the son of Bariah? Spirit of the Lord came upon him. He stood up. They were all at church. They were all in the temple. He cried out and called them on their hearts and their waywardness and told them to stop appearing to be right with God and come make it right with God and get to the order. And they said, "Who do you think you are? Who are you telling us what to do? We're cool with going to church. Don't try to change our lives." So they killed him to shut up his voice. He told those people that were on the earth when He was here that they murdered him. Don't you think the mentality that crucified Jesus isn't on the earth? Don't you think that same spirit isn't analytically mesmerizing the souls of men in the name of wisdom and intellect? Yeah.
I don't know how else to tell you this. It's just what's in my heart. It's, it's like this self-centered thing is what allows all this stuff to thrive. It's what gives it a platform. Selflessness is our answer. It takes the power of all that stuff away. Selflessness. If we would get alone with God when nobody's looking and just continue to kneel and thank God for our lives in Him, and that no one owes us a thing, and I'm on the earth for one reason: to shine. Holy Spirit, empower me to live what Jesus paid for. God, fulfill everything you created man for in me. I'm all in. I'm not some in. The best I understand in my heart, I'm all in. Help me to fulfill what that really means because I'm all in. You talk to Him like that when nobody's looking. You tell Him you're not alive for yourself and nobody owes you a thing. And you watch how He begins to change you on the inside. How your response has changed. How your emotions change. How all of the sudden you actually realize nothing that you were before was the truth. You get alone, you be with Him, you yield yourself to Him when nobody's looking. Don't just pray your list and pray for protection in your kids and their colleges and your finances and your promotion and traveling mercies. Give yourself to Him and ask Him to consume you and overtake you and make this all so real to you so you can fulfill what He paid for in your trials and in your struggles. Ask Him to give you wisdom and understanding so it never gets blurry. So that every time you're squeezed, Jesus comes pouring out. Come on. Stop praying to not be squeezed. It's unscriptural. You're getting squeezed. Sorry if that sounds like a negative prophecy, it's just the word. You're getting squeezed. The storm's coming to the wise and the foolish. The wise heard and became the foolish heard and did nothing. The storm wasn't trying to destroy the occupant of the house. It was just trying to destroy what God was building. You better not take adversity personal. You'll make a big mistake and grow weary and well-doing.
Why is this the power and love session? Because this power and love vision is you walking in the light as He's walking in the light. It's those videos, it's those testimonies. And if you're caught up in all this other stuff, you don't even see the people, let alone feel empowered to minister to the people. And now you have high seasons and low seasons instead of Christ seasons. Yeah. So you stay planted by the rivers of living water. You meditate day and night in His word. You'll be like that tree planted right along the living water. You, you'll have fruit in its season. Your leaf will never wither. I found this stuff in my Bible. It's amazing. Peter said, "If you add these things to your faith, you'll never stumble." Most preachers say, "We already stumbled by service time." And if you say you're done, you're in denial and deceived. A lot of people will just live by experience and tell you you're sinning right now. You just don't realize it because your level of holiness is way below the bar, buddy. You're sinning while you're breathing. Your breath is [Applause] sin. It's crazy how we boast in the stuff that He paid to get off of us. How do I reckon myself dead to sin and then seem to appear to be in humility confessing my ability to commit it? How can I be reckoned and dead indeed to sin and feel like I have to come up with a language to confess it and acknowledge that it's always a part of my life? And then if you say it's not, you're a heretic. Cuz nobody's perfect, brother. Not even talking about perfect. I'm talking about pure believing in Him and getting empowered by grace to live what you can never live on your own. Yeah. And stop letting our experience trump the grace of God that's designed to try to change us. And now it's all about us and everybody and the whole ball wax where everybody has their moments, brother. Well, you can't tell me. Come on. We all have fallouts. Everybody makes mistakes, brother. What is that language accomplishing except keeping us in the same identity when He wants us out of darkness into the light? So if I wake up and I'm a mistake waiting to happen, I guess when I make a mistake, there's no conviction and I have an alibi. But if I wake up to be His son, I bet I receive grace to live in a way I've never, never lived before. And then when you try to talk about it, you're a heretic. Cuz nobody else relates. I guess we'll find out someday when He searches the hearts of men. Yeah. And it says, "When He appears, you appear with Him in glory." I just picture us holding hands. We're going down the city street on the float, just sitting right, right with Him. Our life is in Him. We're hidden in Him. It's not your life. It's His life in us. You get it?