Staying on Fire for God

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to enrich your faith. Here's today's sermon.

Praise God. Turn to your neighbor and say, it's

wonderful to be in the house of the Lord. It's

wonderful to be in church today. I think I'm

seeing someone I've not seen in a while. Nice

to see you, Serge. Praise God. Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord. So we're going to, I really

thank God for the opportunity to be here, to

be able to stand before you, to teach. Thank

you so much to the lead pastor. Thank you so

much to the pastor for another opportunity. And

we thank God for the Believers Conference. We

thank God for what God... has stirred up in our

hearts, and this is one week after. One week

after. So I want you to look at yourself and

say, with what you have received, are you acting

on what you have received? Are you acting on

the instructions that you have received? Ask

yourself that question, and then we're going

to look at what we're going to be looking at

this morning, and we'll continue on Wednesday.

And the topic is staying on fire for God. The

topic is staying on fire for God. Staying on

fire for God. Staying on fire for God. Staying

on fire for God. And our key text is from Romans

Romans 12:11

12 verse 11. Romans 12 verse 11. It says, not

Romans 12:11

lacking or lagging. Indiligence. Not lagging.

Indiligence. Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.

Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. I like the

NLC. The NLC says, never be lazy, but work hard

and serve the Lord enthusiastically. TPT. It

says, be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping

your passion towards Him boiling hot. radiate

with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let him

fill you with excitement as you serve him. I

like the last part. It says, let him fill you

with excitement as you serve him. Are you serving

the Lord with excitement? Are you, you know,

there's something about when you come, you do

something over and over again. Sometimes it becomes

I think some people will say it gets boring.

We're doing the same thing over and over again.

There's no flavor, no spice. We're not doing

it slightly different than before. There's something

about when you come to something again and it's

almost like you've never done it before. Because

you're expectant that there's something new that's

going to spring forth from it. And I want to

start this with... I think this period has been

coming to mind very strongly. I remembered, I

think it was when Pastor Victor was sharing in

the meeting, and I remember the whole, I think

it came to me strongly, and it keeps coming back

to me, the whole experience of the National Youth

Service that we're doing back in my country,

Nigeria. And for some people, it's just one of

those things, compulsory things that you have

to do to serve. And for me, I think when... Getting

to the bus, driving all the way, those of us

from Nigeria, driving all the way to Oshun State

to go and serve is an experience that, you know,

if you think about it, you're going to somewhere

you've never been before. It should put some

fear into you. But there's the excitement that

I had that I'm going to somewhere to go and serve

for one year. It doesn't come natural. You know,

some people, there's no natural excitement to

go. You're going somewhere. And it's very interesting

because my dad had already worked out how he's

going to work it out. And how my younger brother,

because we served at the same time, my younger

brother, how my younger brother is going to be

here. And he's going to be here. I'm going to

be here. And everything. And the way God rearranged

the thing. And then it still looked worked out

because I still think to today, you know, we

don't know how it worked out, but it worked out

beautifully. In the sense that I was serving

in this state and my younger brother is serving

not far from the state. But the experience for

me was going there, I was excited. In the sense

that the journey itself was somewhat supernatural.

Just meeting people that you never met before,

but they were just interested in wanting to see

you move forward or wanting to see you do well.

And then when I landed in the place, there was

now calls coming in. Oh, we know somebody there

that will help you to fix it here so you'll serve

in the capital and all of that. I wasn't really

interested. I just wanted God to do his thing.

I didn't want me to work it out for God because

sometimes we have a tendency to want to work

things out. But that was the impression I had

and I was not interested. In fact, I was dodging

a particular man in the camp that they were telling

me to see before the three weeks was over. I

dodged the man until the day I received my call

-up letter. And then I went and met the man.

The man said, what is wrong with you? I've been

looking for you. And I will see the man. I will

just be. So I avoided the man until the day when

I received my call -up letter. And I walked up

to him. And when I walked up to him, I told him,

I said, I've got him. I said, why didn't you

come and meet me? I would have sent you to the

capital. And I was like, I just said a lot of

stuff and skipped the whole thing. And then I

went to the place. And I think a friend of mine

had walked. He paid. He did all of those things

to be able to get to the capital. And the story

was a sad story afterwards for him. Praise God.

But for me, I went there with an excitement or

a zeal, as you will, or commitment that is just

for one year. When we're done, we leave. You

know, when you know when something's going to

end, you have understood that this thing is just

one year. And one year will go very quickly.

Those of us that have been in Cyprus know that.

The years pass very quickly on the island. You

will be thinking of when you came and where you

are now. And before you know it, you're done.

So the part I'm getting to is where five of us

were posted to a particular school. Five of us.

Five. One, two, three, four, five. I was one

of the five. And once we arrived there, every

other person went in front to see the principal

and then states whether they're going to stay

or whether they're going to leave. The first

person went to the principal and then I think

it was the guy. The guy said, oh, that I don't

want to serve in a private school because a private

school, I'm going to be stressed. He said, just

give me a rejection letter. Second person, I

think the second person was the person that said,

oh, that he will be reposted out of the state

to some other state that he has an uncle. Then

the third person now said that, oh, you have

an uncle. Can you please walk? it out for me

too as they are working out yours. And then you

just, then the fourth person now came. I think

the fourth person's own was the one that was

very interesting. He met the proprietor, the

owner of the school at the side and told the

proprietor that, actually, I'm a public speaker

and I have speaking gigs. I stay in Lagos. So

from time to time, I'll be wanting to come in

and go out and all of that. And the man looked

at him and said, I, I don't work with irresponsible

people. I don't work with irresponsible people.

I like people that know what their work is, know

what they're here for, and they do it. And the

man told him straight out, and then he collected

rejections. So all these people have collected

rejections. It was my turn now. So the principal

said, should I write a rejection letter for you?

I said, no, I'm not with them. I'm not with them.

I came here. I know that it's one year. I'm just

going. So she was like, wow. When the proprietor

got back home that evening, he asked the principal,

because the way it looked to him was like everybody

was going to collect the rejection and leave.

And then he asked and he was like, oh, why did

you decide to stay? I told him, I said, I decided

to stay because this is what I came for. This

is the reason why I came for. And I'm excited

to do what it is that brought me here for. And

then when I'm done, I know that I'm done with

it. And that itself was what fueled my passion.

for that particular one year. And when it was

time for me to leave, I was excited because I

knew, and I knew that it wasn't just my teaching.

There's a lot of sides that has to do with what

God has called me to, because basically when

they carried me from the camp, you know that

was the work of ministry they were doing. You're

going to go and you're going to serve in the

Nigerian Coppers Christian Fellowship, and that's

basically what you're going to do. And then in

itself, prepared. me for the many things that

came ahead. And what I want us to just pick out

from all of this is that you don't want to get

consumed by the crowd. There's what they refer

to as a crowd mentality, where you put yourself

along with the crowd, because where the crowd

go, you will also go. And if you don't have a

stance at that point in time, you will flow with

the crowd. And that's very dangerous because

what the crowd gets is what you get if you stick

with the crowd. But you want to have an understanding

of what you're called to do, understanding of

why you're there. That in itself will tailor

the things that you're going to do afterwards.

And it's very important that we bear that in

mind and it's going to help us in the things

that we're going to be discussing. Staying on

fire for God. Staying. on fire for God, staying

on fire for God. So let's start with what does

it mean to stay on fire for God? What does it

mean to stay on fire or to be on fire for God?

What does it mean to be on fire for God? What

that means is that you're a person that is living

with a passion, commitment, and a zeal for God,

his work, and his people. You're living with

a passion. You're living with a commitment and

a zeal for God and his people. And this passion

is not a half -hearted passion. This passion

is a whole -hearted passion for God and his people.

And how many of you know that when someone is

passionate about something, it is evident. Praise

God. It is evident. And it is even contagious.

It is evident and it's contagious. How many of

you have been around someone that is passionate

about something and all of a sudden you just

start becoming interested in that particular

thing? Because they are very passionate about

it. They talk about it. They discuss. There's

no conversation they will have and they will

not bring it inside and then you will hear it

over and over. In fact, you will end up associating

them with that thing totally. Many of us have

friends like that. And that in itself would influence

your understanding, will influence your commitment

to every other thing. And for some of us, I think

I'll go back to this again just to establish,

from Catartismus or from the Believers Conference

till now, what has happened to your commitment?

Has it increased? Or is it where it used to be?

Or has it gone down? And when I was preparing

my digital on this, I say for some people, their

spiritual life is like this. It's like it fluctuates

like a stock exchange market. It's like there's

bearish trend. Then after a while, there's some

bullish trend. I think those of us that do Forex

will be able to understand. It goes up. After

a while, it comes. It's almost like it's a circle

of ups. downs, ups, downs. It's like you're just

going up and down and that is basically how your

spiritual life, if they were to show you a chart

of how it doesn't stay, even if it goes, it stays

there for a while, then it goes down a lot and

then it now comes up and then stays. Some people,

their own is down for a while until another believer's

conference, then it will come up again. It's

like the margin between the down and up is a

lot further. than others. Praise God. I want

to present it to you that your spiritual life

doesn't have to be a chart, a up and down chart.

It can be this. Even if it goes down a bit, it's

still on the safe margin. Praise God. Praise

God. That is basically why Apostle Paul will

be saying, your spiritual life doesn't have to

be dwindling or later to fade into. And when

something happens, some spiritual experience

happens, then you come back again. Maybe one

hot prayer meeting or something like that. It

doesn't have to be what would determine how your

spiritual work goes. And Apostle Paul instructs

us in this particular text to be fervent in spirit.

Fervent in spirit. Fervent in spirit. And in

all seasons we can be. In all seasons we can

be. And it's our responsibility. Yeah, God is

able to keep us, but we have a responsibility

to ensure that we guard the things that we've

received. And what we're going to be looking

at in today's teaching is we're going to see

reasons why we lose our fire and some practical

biblical steps on how to maintain it. It depends

on wherever we start or continue. And the word

fervent is Z -E -O, fervent. Z -E -O -Z -O. It

means to boil with heat or to be hot. And that's

why TPT says to boil hot. To boil hot. Fervent

is Z -E -O. It means to boil with heat or to

be hot. It is used for utmost passion. Something

that takes a lot of attention. or it sometimes

connotes something that burns, something that

burns. And we know that when there's heat, many

of us become uncomfortable, right? When there's

heat, many of us become uncomfortable. When it's

warm, and there'll be a time that we prefer,

we like heat. When the weather changes, we'll

switch to a point where we'll now be needing

the heat so that we can stay warm. But that...

It's very important because we have a body temperature

to maintain with regards to the physical physiology

and all of that. But with your spiritual life,

you're not regulating to maintain a warm temperature.

And you see that in certain things that happen.

And let's go to Revelation 3. Revelation 3, verse

Revelation 3:15

15 and 16. And in Revelation 2 down to 3, you

see, it speaks of the seven churches. And Laodicea

is the last of those seven churches. And Laodicea

is referred to as the lukewarm church. It's referred

to as the lukewarm church. You have the different

churches. There's the dead church. There's the

faithful church. And then Laodicea is referred

to as the lukewarm church. It says, I know your

works, that you are neither. Hot, no cold. Understand

that if you're neither hot nor cold, it means

that you're what? You look warm. Meaning that

when we taste of you, you're not hot, you're

not cold. And it's a problem because we can't

place you in a particular, you're now in between.

It's like, I used to say this in class, you can

either be inside this building or outside this

building, right? There's nothing like being in

the world. But some people can do that when they

are in the building, but their minds are outside

the building. We can refer to it as, because

you probably are here, but you don't get any

information that's given. And for some people,

that's basically where they find themselves.

They are drifting out of the building, but they

are physically in the building. Praise God. It

says, you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you

were one of those. Because, you know, when you

are hot, we know where to place you. When you

are cold, we know where to place you. When you

are between all, like we don't know where. Praise

God. 16 now says, it says, so then because you

are lukewarm or neither hot nor cold, I will

spill you out of my mouth. Note that there's

the, this here goes to illustrate how it's very

important that we are. because it would be great

for us to be hot. Just imagine when you come

into this place and then everybody is greatly,

in fact, we're competing with ourselves on who

is the hottest. Praise God. You know, I think

one thing hit me very hard was during when, I

don't know whether it was Pastor Fred or Pastor

Koston that said, and that your listeners will

be more than the pastors. I think it was you,

sir. Everybody was like, ah. It was like radio

silence. I was like, what is going on here? We

don't want to outdo. No, no, no. We don't want

to. The ones we can see and the ones we cannot

see. Praise God. What are you expecting? That

we give you and then you stay? You don't want

to. I'll shine your master. This is funny it

is. No. With the work of God, you want to be

as hot as you can be because there's a lot that

happens when you're hot. There's a lot that happens

when you're hot. How many of you know that there

are certain things that cannot stand fire? How

many of you know that there are certain things

that cannot stand fire? When you're on fire,

there are certain things you will not even see

because what fire does is that fire consumes

anything. That is not meant to stand. Even gold

is refined with fire. Because what fire does

is that fire will destroy every impurity. And

what will remain is the gold. Praise God. What

will remain is the gold. So being on fire involves

a heart that burns for God's purposes and for

God's people. Being on fire involves a heart

that burns for God's purposes and God's people.

It's very important that we note that. And why

is it important that we stay on fire for God?

Why is it important that we stay on fire for

God? The work itself demands it. The work itself

demands it. And we say, fervency. is seen in

our service to God. Fervency is what is expected

in our service to God. God doesn't expect anything

less than fervency. God doesn't expect anything

less than our fervency. And first and foremost,

the walk itself demands it, as I said, and in

our weakness into the world, fervency, fire,

is what ensures that we are effective in that

walk. A passionate believer will shine brightly.

Because if you're communicating something that

is able to change someone's life and you're not

doing it with the passion that it... You know,

how many of you have tried to sell something

to somebody and then you just... The person will

know... You see that this product is... This

product is not... I don't think this product

is legit. This person is not saying... There's

no energy. There's nothing. They're just trying

to... sell something. It's like they give you

and they say, sell it. And then you're just doing,

you're very complacent about it. And we need

that to attract, we need that to bring people

into this kingdom. And it's very important. And

when our faith is vibrant, it's able to impact

the people around us. When the faith that you

have in the things, and that's why we hold on

to the things that we're being taught. And we

hold on to it faithfully. Because in our communication,

it will, that, The energy that you put into holding

on to it will be seen in how you dispense it.

Praise God. And it's very important that you

put that in mind. He says, our fervency is seen

in our service to the Lord. Very important. And

it's evident. And it's contagious. Remember,

he told us about how when somebody that is very

passionate about something comes around you,

you will catch that passion. Praise God. You'll

catch that passion. And it's also very important

for our spiritual growth. is very important for

our spiritual growth. Because how many of you

know that in all that you can receive in God,

there is still room for more? There is no, I

have attained it. There is no, if you come to

that place, I will tell you, you are gone. That

is the indicator that you need help. Praise God.

Staying on fire and sustaining your growth and

your resilience in the face of trials is very

important. Because without passion, you will

risk spiritual stagnation. Without passion, you'll

be stagnant spiritually. You'll be the same place

you were yesterday, the day before yesterday,

a month ago, two months ago, a year ago. That's

where you're going to be if you don't stay on

fire for God. If you don't stay on fire for God,

you're going to be the same place you are. And

when he says, be fervent in spirit. How many

of you, I think, let's go to Acts 18 .25. Acts

18 .25. Let's see. Our brother Apollos. I think

start from 24. It says, now a certain Jew named

Apollos. Born at Alexandria, an eloquent man

and mighty in scriptures came to Ephesus. He

says, this man had been instructed in the way

of the Lord and being fervent in spirit, he spoke

and taught accurately the things of the Lord,

though knew only the baptism of John. This man

came fervent in spirit. eloquent, everything

put together and he was communicating what he

knew. Praise God. In our day and age, that one

he knows, he will communicate that one. What

he knew was the baptism of John but he was doing

it and because he was doing it, Priscilla and

Aquila were able to take him out and then sharpen

and sharpen what he was. brought him and straightened

him out and was able to train him and to bring

him up because he's already fervent. How many

of you know that when you are cold, it's going

to be... In fact, the person that's trying to

help you, where do we start from? Where do we

start from? How do we put fire to the person

that is not... So now we go to the second part,

the other part, which is how do we lose this

fire? This is very important because I think

when I was preparing this, I... sense that a

lot of us don't even see the ways and the things

that causes us to lose our commitment, to lose

our zeal, to lose our passion. And please pay

attention to this part. Because what happens

is that you don't come into that place of spiritual

complacency by accident. You don't come there

by accident. And what happens is that it will

slowly calm, and it's not like there are specific

choices that you can lay your hands on that you

made that resulted to you. There are little,

little things that get you to that point of spiritual

complacency. And I want us to see one. The first

one. The first one is exposure to dishonor. Right?

Exposure to dishonor and keeping the wrong association.

Exposure to dishonor and keeping the wrong association.

And I use the word exposure because some of us

will probably not, because now we're in the age

where there's social media and people want to

have subscribers. And they have figured out that

there are certain things that we can do to get

people's interest. And they now get a niche,

right? They get a niche and then they will now

put nice thumbnails and then you'll just be scrolling

innocently. And then you click and then you say,

ah, I like what this person is saying. And then

you subscribe. And then what happens is that

once you subscribe to the person, anytime, you

know, they say subscribe, click the notification

button when you come. So anytime there's a latest,

it will pop on your feed. And some of us, we

have, so I don't know how some people do it.

There was a time in my life where I just, I did

not know what I got myself into. I just clicked

allow notification and then all of a sudden you'll

just be seeing. And the worst is that you will

not see any space again because some of us are

subscribed to a lot of things because when we

say, ah, I like this person, subscribe. I like

what this person says, subscribe. And before

you know it, you cannot see your screen again.

You have your wallpaper, but you've forgotten

the last time you saw it. Maybe when there was

no internet, that was when you saw your wallpaper.

Praise God. What happens is that it's one of

the subtle ways where people lose their fervency

because what happens is that they are exposing

themselves to individuals. that dishonor ministers

of God or dishonor certain things. You just subscribe

and the person will be talking about how speaking

in tongues is rubbish. And then you just, and

then you believe in it, but you're hearing out.

You're listening to the person. And just imagine,

for some of us, we'll take our time and then

watch like hundreds of those videos. And it's,

you know, when I say hundreds of videos, you'll

be like, ah, how about now? Just take, look at

the year you subscribed till now. The year you

subscribed till now. And then sometimes you check,

sometimes, you know, now they have shorts. So

shorts, you will not even realize that you have

watched up to hundreds of the person's content

because shorts is the summary of the main video.

So in those shorts, they put the punch. You want

the punch line and then you will not listen and

then you will not know what he has done to you.

Until later on, you'll be looking for fervency

and you can't find it. You'll come and you'll

be expecting prayer to recover what you spend

more time listening to those people than even

praying. Praise God. That is one. Remember we

said it's not just the exposure, because I said

it's an exposure. And the exposure is a subtle

exposure. It's just a harmless, it's a YouTube

video. Harmless and it's not, and the funny thing

is, it's not pornography. You know, it's not

any of those ones that you say, oh, this one

is African as well. That one is there for some

of you that are looking at me. That one is there.

You cannot be watching pornography and then you

think your spiritual life will somehow elevate

to a particular status. You watch all of that

and then you have them criticize ministries,

you have them criticize all of those things and

then you expect that somehow. And one thing about...

criticism is that once you are given into different

forms of criticism, it's just a matter of time

you will shift that criticism to your own pastors.

You'll be like, hey, I've heard it somewhere

that if the person starts going in this direction

and then you now end up, we don't know what you

have received because we did not give you that.

Praise God. Because you got it from somewhere.

And it's very little because sometimes there's

a place where you watch it and then you're like,

ah. So people preach this kind of thing. Then

when you now start talking about it, talking

about it, it is slow. Before you know it, it

will now enter a place of pride. Say, me, I cannot

teach this kind of, how can I? You know, we were

taught elsewhere. Then before you know it, you

now enter a place where you are actually, but

you know better. If the person had known what

you know, it wouldn't be a different situation.

Praise God. And some of us, we even do it to

our parents. because you know. Then when your

dad or mom say, oh, this is, he say, no, no,

no, mommy, mommy, calm, calm, calm down. You'll

be talking, you'll forget that it's the person

that gave birth to you. The person taught you

the smalls on the school that helped you to,

you were not finding the club. Praise God. So

understand that our parents had given us what

they, so when you are doing that, do that with

a sense of honor. I think when pastor, Victor

was teaching us to say, honor is you seeing the

person the way Christ sees the person. Because

you're looking at that person and saying, okay,

this is a person that is bought with a price

as you are. So you don't dishonor them in that

regard. And I want us to see something very,

in the life of, in Miriam's situation. So let's

look at Naomi, I said no Naomi. Let's look at

Numbers 12. Numbers 12. Numbers 12. I want us

to see a situation happen and you'll see it's

subtle. Numbers 12, yeah. 1 and 2. Numbers 12,

1 and 2. So it says, Then Miriam and Aaron spoke

against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman

whom he had married. Please pay attention. Because

of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married. For

he had married an Ethiopian woman. It says, so

they said, has the Lord indeed spoken only through

Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? And

the Lord heard it. Praise God. I want you to

see how it transitioned from the woman he married

to a thing of God speaks to us through, like

God speaks to us through. It was the woman he

married, right? That was the, because go back

to one. He says, it's because of the Ethiopian

woman whom he married. So that should be the

problem, right? That is the problem. But now

in verse 2, how did he move from the woman he

married to whether he hears God? Whether God

doesn't speak to them. So how did you move to

that? You know, sometimes when you are arguing

with people or there's a misunderstanding, you

want to ask them, what are we arguing about?

What is the problem? So that you can address

a specific problem. Not the... You know, some

people just want to... You say, you do too much.

What is your problem? Before you know it, they

are attacking every part. They are not telling

you one thing, but they are saying, you, in fact,

I don't like this one. I don't like this one.

And then you end up... And I don't know how many

of us will be very... We are very much aware

that this is Moses' older sister, right? It's

Moses' older sister, and Aaron there is the brother.

So it's almost like it's a family situation.

So it's like, and then Moses is not the... And

I want you to see how Miriam, in Exodus 2, verse

Exodus 2:4

4, see how Miriam was very... You know when you

have a sister that cares and loves you so much?

You know, in Exodus 2, verse 4, we see that...

Exodus 2:4

This sister was the one that ensured that Moses

was safe because she just had a baby brother.

And then she's trying to see that this person,

and then when you go to 7, verse 7, it says,

she was observing, verse 7, 2 verse 7, Exodus

Exodus 2:7

2 verse 7. So then his sister said to Pharaoh's

daughter, so when they had found, when they had...

Gotting Moses out of the water, she came out

and said, ah, shall I go and find a nurse for

you from the Hebrew woman that will nurse the

child for you? So, meaning that this sister,

and then say, ah, let me go and find, and then

you know that she ended up bringing the mother,

her mother, which is his mother, to come and

nurse the child. And then, also when this progressed,

you see in Exodus 15, I want you to see how,

so that you understand where... where this person

was at to where they are at in this point. Exodus

Exodus 15:20

15, verse 20, 21. Exodus 15, 20, 21. It says,

Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron,

took the timbrel in her hand and with all the

women went out after her and then timbrels with

a dance. Then 21 now. It says, And Miriam said

to them, Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed

gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown

into the sea. And this is what she was just echoing,

what Moses himself has started in verse 1. Just

go to verse 1. You'll see that this is someone

that was leading the women in dance. He's a prophetess,

leading the women in dance with what Moses had

already said. So the question now is, you move

from there. What would likely have caused the

problem is a bit of, you know, during that whole

time, the children of Israel were just complaining,

murmuring, grumbling, and doing all of that.

And there's a likelihood that that would have

seeped in a bit of dishonor, and then there's

a bit of jealousy, because verse 2 tells us that

very clearly. Moses, God speaks to you the way.

You know, some people, you come to a place where

you say, ah, I hear God too now. What are you

telling me? What are you telling me? Who do you

think you are? Me too, I hear God. Do you think

you're the only one that can hear God? Praise

God. It's not about who hears better, right?

It's about a structure of leadership that God

has placed and that was addressed. I want us

to go to 1 Samuel to see another example. Boy,

different example. This one is on a positive

note. 1 Samuel 1 verse 12. 1 Samuel 1 verse 12.

1 Samuel 1:12 1 Samuel 1:12

And note that all we're talking about is exposure

to dishonor and keeping the wrong association.

So 12, it says, and it happened as she continued

praying before the Lord that Eli watched her

mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart, only her

lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore

Eli taught she was drunk. So Eli said to her,

how long will you be drunk? Put your wine away

from you. 14. So Eli, okay. But Anna answered

and said, no, my Lord, I am a woman of sorrow.

of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine

nor intoxicating drink, but I poured out my soul

before the Lord. But I poured out my soul before

the Lord. Do not consider your servant a wicked

woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint

and grief I have spoken until now. 17. Then Eli

answered and said, Go in peace, and the Lord

of Israel grant your petition, which you have

asked. 18 now. Says, And she said, let your maiden

servant find favor in your sight. So the woman

went away and ate, and her face was no longer

sad. Praise God. Note that the prophet had misjudged

what was going on. Meaning that the prophet can

make a mistake, that your leaders can make a

mistake. But you don't want to use the mistake.

to now give them a piece of you. Some people,

they are waiting for any opportunity that they

can to give you what is in your heart. And most

of the times, you don't know what is in your

heart because you don't know the things that

you have been listening to, all those things

you have exposed yourself to that will make you

say certain things that you will end up regretting.

And that's why, notice that she had a concern.

And that brought her to the place of prayer.

And then, She had every right to say, Yousef,

you're not looking at somebody. See the way I'm

crying. You're just there, just telling me that

I'm doing this, I'm doing that. Is it fair? That

was not what she did. But she made her plea and

then got the result. And notice that after he

had spoken to her, she went away different from

the way she came. Commitment will make you stay.

Keep your eyes on what you came for. Whatever

the person says should not distract you from

what you came for. Praise God. Some of us, we

allow ourselves to easily be triggered by the

things people say and feel and we end up missing

what we came for. It's very important that we

pay attention to that and trust that we don't

find ourselves in a place of dishonoring. the

person that will help you. I think something

that keeps on coming back to us is that God's

method to meet your need is still this man. God

used Eli to meet her need. If she had decided

to destroy it, she would have left that place

without what she had been praying and believing

God for. So you want to trust God's method, even

if sometimes they can misunderstand, they can

be some form of error because we're not... It's

by this grace of God that we're able to do the

things that we do and do it well. Praise God.

So it's very important that we put that in mind.

And then let's stay a bit on keeping the wrong

associations. I want to repeat it over and over

again to your hearing. For those of us that got

a word during the Believer's Conference, that

you're going to be growing and because the way

you are now and the way... you will see a big

difference. But there's the associations that

you need to end your relationship with. I think

when I was praying and meditating on this, what

came to mind was that I think we were taught

in the Believers Conference. I think Pastor Victor

had led us through what happened to Saul in his

conversion. So just picture this. Acts 9. Saul

had that encounter. Then what Saul decided to

do, instead of seeing brother Ananias, he now

decided to continue with his friends. Just like

he still has contact. He's still WhatsAppping

them, chatting with them, just like continuing

his relationship with them. What do you think

would have happened to his life? Huh? He will

go back to the business now. It's just a matter

of time. They will just say, we miss you. You

know, your zeal in this scene, nobody has matched

your zeal. You need to come back. There are places

we need to go to. You know, before you know it,

that's it. That's the end of the call of God

upon his life. But that was not the case. And

I want to sound this and sound this very strongly.

Whether you like it or not, your association

is very key. The association is what will sow

seeds of doubt. You know, none of you, you finish

this month, and then you now, and the group of

those friends, they are now sowing seed. You

say, what are you talking about? This is not

all this church. We have done it. We have done

it. There's nothing inside. They just got you

excited. That is all. Just give it one week,

two weeks, it will be over. And then they would

stir you up, and then you find yourself losing

the favor that you have gotten already. Praise

God. How many of you know that it's not, it's

not, you, God cannot be blocking. He's not the

one that will block them. You're the one that

will block them. You will see the problem and

you block the problem. And some of us are not

using the block function. We're not utilizing

it. Praise God. And I'm not saying, Pastor is

telling us to block. See, you are here. And then

in your WhatsApp contact, there are people that

do drugs. And you are carrying them. And give

me an example. There are people that deal drugs

and then you know that you have a problem with

drugs and then you still have them in WhatsApp

contact. What do you think you're going to do?

You, one day when something, you say, let me

just, let me just forget about certain things

and then you go there. Praise God. Know that

your association with these people, and I remember

I said that when someone has a passion for something

and then you hang around them, it's contagious.

It's contagious. Some of us came to this church,

when they say pray, you just be looking. But

from the time you started to now, at least you're

making progress. Now when they say pray, at least

you try to move a bit. Not look at us like, who

got me? How did I find myself here? Praise God.

So you want to understand that. That is very

important that if you want to make progress,

there are certain groups of people that you have

to disconnect from so that you make progress.

And then you know that we will get to that part

when we see how to. You want to reconnect to

the group of people that will help you to make

progress in the direction that you seek to make

progress in. So very quickly, we'll do the B

part, which is distracted. The B part, the first

part was what? What did we say the first part

was? Exposure to dishonor and... wrong association.

Then the second part is now distracted by the

past and over familiarity with the present. Distracted

by the past, put in brackets, distracted by the

past, carnality. Distracted by the past, carnality,

and then over familiarity with the present, with

the present. So I want us to go back to the children

of Israel in the wilderness. I want us to go

back to the trillion reason or whatever. Let's

just take a step back. Numbers 11. Numbers 11,

4 to 6. Numbers 11, 4 to 6. And in Numbers 11,

4 to 6, it ties in with what we had just seen,

which will help us to make a segue into what

we are looking at now. Note that it says, now

the mixed multitude were among them. yielded

to intense craving. Now the mixed multitude who

were among them yielded to intense craving. I

want you to understand what that mixed multitude

is. The mixed multitude there in the NLT says

foreign rabble. That's rabble. That's R -A -B

-B. That's in the NLT. And then in the New King

James it calls them the mixed multitude. And

those mixed multitudes were non -Israelites that

joined the children of Israel on the Exodus out

from Egypt. Those were non -Israelites that joined

them on the Exodus. And to confirm that, let's

look at Exodus 12, verse 37. Exodus 12, verse

Exodus 12:37 Exodus 12:37

37. I want us to look at this very carefully,

and this will help us emphasize that crowd, that

wrong association. It says, Then the children

of Israel journeyed from Ramesses to Sokot. about

600 ,000 men on foot besides the children, 38

now, which is... See, a mixed multitude went

up with them also and flocks and had a great

deal of livestock. So that mixed multitude there

is the non -Israelite that went with them. I

want you to look at 39. 39, it says, and they

baked... unleavened cakes, dough, which had been,

which had, they brought out from Egypt. He says,

for it was not unleavened because they were driven

out of Egypt. It was not, it was only because

they were driven out of Egypt. And they could

not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for

themselves. So, note that the point here is the

fact that when you are with the misquot, go back

to Numbers, go back to the Numbers 11. Four,

let's go down to four, yeah, down. So, this,

Mixed multitude of people that caused them to

yield to intense growth. And I said, the power

of association is that when everybody is saying

something, if you don't define where you stand,

you are together with them. Praise God. When

everybody is moving in a direction, if you don't

say, I am not going with them. Remember the story

I told us about, because the principal easily

assumed that if one went, two, three, four, the

fifth person should just go. But because I said,

I am not with them, she now quickly. signed my

acceptance and I enjoyed it. I did not regret

it. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. Praise God. I

don't want to tell us the remaining part of the

story, but if you want, those of you that are

around, you know the remaining part of the story.

So, it says, the children of Israel wept again

and it says, give us meat to eat. Second, it

says, we remember the fish. We, which we ate

freely in Egypt. And the cucumbers, the melons,

the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Go to

6, yeah. But now, our own, our whole being is

dried up. There is nothing at all except this

manna before our eyes. This manna before our

eyes. I want you to understand that. Why did

you not... Who are the people that were in slavery?

Who are the people that are actually going through

slavery? The children of Israel. But not that

these people that were not... They are the people

that were enjoying all these things though. And

they are the people that are now protesting that

they need to go back to enjoy these things. So

when you are in a crowd, a mixed multitude, you

will end up... They will put you in a WhatsApp

group. You are not part of it. You will just

be there and be lost in the group. Because you're

wondering, ah, and you know, there's a way somebody

is protesting and then they will say, all of

us here, we are saying this, this is what, I'm

speaking for everyone in the group. And then

you, you have to tell them, say, please, sometimes

out of respect, you just keep quiet. But the

thing is that when you keep quiet, you're a part

of them. Praise God. And these people are looking

for what is in the past. They're looking for

what has. And then they are disregarding, there's

almost like you have seen manna, seen manna,

seen manna, and then you're fed up. Praise God.

And I want you to see it as manna was God's supernatural

provision. Manna was God's supernatural provision.

And I want you to not despise God's supernatural

in your life. Praise God. Don't despise the supernatural

things. Some of us in the believers conference,

we experience the supernatural, right? And you

want to stay on it. You want to keep enjoying

that manna. You don't want to go back to your

habits of the past because your habits of the

past is a habit. Praise God. And you want to

make that conscious decision to break away from

those habits because it's going to be dangerous

if you stay on that trajectory of disregarding

or saying you want the past. And you know how

you suffered in the past, but you still want

the past because of habits. And be weary of habits.

Be weary of old habits that is not allowing you

to make progress. into the new habits that God

has already designed. And it makes you make excuses.

Some of you know that excuses are one of the

things that extinguishes fire. Every time they

say, come for this, they say, I'm busy, sir.

Sir, you don't know I'm very tired. Sir, you

know, I have this to do. I have that. And that

is you going back to the hatch. And the funny

thing is that where you are at, you're not enjoying

it. But you want to stay there. You want to stay

there. So you want to be very weary of making

excuses. And excuses just simply means that what

you're doing is that you prioritize that thing

that you're doing over God. And it's automatic.

You just need to look at it. That thing you're

doing is more important than God. Praise God.

And excuses will not allow you make... And many

of us have gotten instructions. We have gotten

instructions on what to do. But we are... making

excuses. And most of the times we're making excuses

because we're afraid. And I sense it that many

of us are afraid of the things that we have received

that we're going to do for God. God has shown

us pictures. God has given us word. And they

were like, ah, no, I don't think I'm ready for

it now. Let's just keep it at the back burner.

When it's time, we'll know it's time. I'm telling

you that it is now. There's some of you that

were prayed for. When I look at you, I just see

ministry all over. But you're just saying, you

know, we're just trying to take our time. And

then you spend time complaining about the situation

that you find yourself in. And you don't want

to be like these people. They were murmuring,

complaining. And they forget the miracles that

God has done, the supernatural things. Water

came out of rock, this and that. There's so many

supernatural things that were happening and they

were blinded to that because they spent the time

complaining. And you want to ensure that you

don't choke the supernatural things which you're

complaining. Forgetting the miracles that God

has done in the past. And I say this, Psalms

10... 3 verse 2 says, Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not his benefits. We have a tendency

to forget the benefits. We have a tendency. That

is why we remind ourselves, remind ourselves

of the things that God has done, remind ourselves

of the things that God is doing, and not allow

ourselves to stay in that place of, and I want

us to just, we can look. Carnality will never

please God. Dwelling in the things, the fleshly

things or giving in to your fleshly desires will

not please God. Understand that it takes faith

to see past the physical. It takes faith to see

past the physical and you must ensure that you

engage, you engage, you engage the things that

you cannot see. Engage the things that you can't

see. And I want us to close here because we're

out of time. But I want to leave you with this.

I want you to exercise your faith in the things

that you have received. Don't keep what you have

written down in your notes to your notepad. I

want you to take... We'll do this on Wednesday.

I want you to take time to decide that after

this church service, these are the things I'm

going to do. One of them is that I've written

it down. Is there written down? I want to break

it down into little things that I will start

acting on. Many of us don't understand that is

when you make the decision to act on something,

the zeal to take on that thing going forward

will come. Because your inactivity will ensure

that you don't even see the supernatural things

that God can do just through your activity. Because

the activity that you... What you do is what

is going to open you up to the supernatural.

But if you're not doing it, you will not see

the supernatural. You will not see the supernatural

provision of God. So what you want to do is break

it down into some little things. One example

is like, tonight I'm going to spend time. If

I've not been praying, if you've not been praying,

at least 15 minutes. Don't do too much because

most people want to stretch themselves. So when

they are saying one hour, one hour, if you can

only do 15 minutes, at least when they ask you,

you should have been doing 15 minutes consistently.

Then we will tell you when to up it to 30 and

when to up it to, and when to do one hour. Praise

God. So just give yourself actionable steps.

And then if there's someone that comes to mind

that you have not forgiven, you want to say,

after this service today, I want to. Call the

person, chat the person up. And then remember

we talked about blocking some people. After the

service today, you know that person that needs

to be blocked from your contact list and don't

unblock them after the thing wears off. Block

them and let them stay. In fact, to help you

to ensure that they stay blocked, tell your friend

that this person should be blocked on my contact.

That's how you hold yourself accountable. Because

this person is not going to help you to go. And

you know that this person is not going to help

you to grow spiritually. And then I said, then

the other thing which is very important that

we do here is after the believers conference,

you can't be here and you're not serving. You

can't be here and you're not serving. So what

you want to do is that after this service now,

an actionable step is that you will say, ushering,

who's the leader of ushering? You send them a

message. Prayer team, the leader of prayer team,

send him a message. Send them a message and say,

I want to be part of the team. That way, when

the team wears off, you have already committed

yourself. Praise God. And I'm looking at some

people. After the service, I want to see you

acting on one of these things. Praise God. So

that is how you hold on to what you have been

taught. You want to make an actionable... Don't

finish a meeting and then you don't have something

that you're going to do about it because you're

training yourself to be complacent. There's no

way you'll be on fire that way. Praise God. Let's

rise up to our feet and just thank God. Let's

rise up to our feet and just thank God. We'll

continue. on Wednesday. Please don't miss Wednesday's

service. Please don't miss Wednesday's service.

Some of us, our life is just Sunday, Sunday,

Sunday, Sunday. You're not going to grow that

way. Praise God. So you want to commit yourself

to Wednesday's service. Commit yourself to, let

this be another layer of commitment that you're

adding to your existing layer of commitment.

Praise God. Some people are looking at me and

looking at me like this to the side of their

eye. So open your mouth and just say, Father,

I thank you because I'm committed. I'm on fire

for you. I'm not complacent. Thank you for listening

to today's sermon. Your journey matters to us.

Let's keep walking together. Visit our website

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to stay updated. Feel free to check the show

notes for additional insights. If today's message

was a blessing, share it with a friend. Till

next time, be blessed.