Sermon
Kingdom Increase - Always Advancing with Pastor Mike Krulcik
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast
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from St. Augustine, FL.
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Now enjoy this message. This is one of our Saints at
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Anchor Faith Church always advancing.
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So one of the sayings we have in Anchor Faith Church is we're
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always advancing. You know, God is a God of
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increase. We serve a great God who wants
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to do great things through his great people.
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We serve a great God who desires to do great things through his
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great redeemed people. We serve a great, large,
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magnificent God who wants to do great things or great works
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through his great people. That's you.
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Say, that's me. Say I'm a child of God.
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Say I'm in the Kingdom and the Kingdom's in me and God wants to
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do great things through me. That's going to take increase
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though, and advancement. And God, you know, God is not
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stationary, He's not static. We serve a dynamic God with a
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song we sung. He's always working, He's always
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moving, He's always advancing. We could say it that way.
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Now, advancing means this. It means to accelerate, to make
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progress, to grow, and to move forward and rise.
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And when we say always, that means you're perpetually an
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ongoing advancing. So advance means to accelerate,
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make progress, to grow, to move forward, and to rise.
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And this is the will of the Father in your life.
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He wants to see acceleration in your life.
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He wants to see progress in your life.
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He wants to see you grow. He wants to see you move
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forward, and he wants to see you rise.
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This is the will of God for you is to always advance.
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Now there is a hindrance to advancement.
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Matter of fact, the greatest hindrance to advancement is a
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thing called pride. The greatest hindrance to
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advancement is pride. And I'll say this, don't take
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credit for advancement. All the glory goes to God.
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We never take credit for advancement.
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It's God's will, but ultimately all the glory goes to God.
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Deuteronomy chapter 8 is a delicious chapter.
Deuteronomy 8 chapter mention
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I want to take one verse, but if you read that one of the themes
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in Deuteronomy 8 is don't forget, don't forget, don't
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forget. We could say this way in the
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positive, remember, recall, bring to mind what God has done
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for you. I can, I can think back to when
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my journey started in 1997 when I gave my life to the Lord of
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many great things that God has done.
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I can recall to remembrance a testimony.
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Testimony is what God has done in my life, and we want to
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remember those things. God has done some great things
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in my life personally, but it's not me.
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It's Him and His Word and His anointing working through me.
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It's me working out the principles and the keys to the
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Kingdom consistently that manifests results.
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But it's all the glory to God. And pride will keep you from
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advancing. So the opposite of pride is
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humility. Matter of fact, the Bible gives
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a promise. It says if you humble yourself,
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and there's two ways you can have humility.
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One, you can humble yourself, or secondly, God can humble you.
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Either way you're going to be humbled.
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But it says that before a fall is pride, but before it a
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promotion or increase is humility.
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So we need to remain teachable. We need to remain teachable.
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Isaiah the prophet said it this way.
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He said that God is the Potter and we are the clay and an
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unteachable person, and we are called to be disciples, which
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means we need instruction. A disciple desires to be taught.
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And Isaiah said this. He's the Potter.
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We're the clay, which means we need to have humility in order
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for God to shape us and instruct us.
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I'll say this way, you can't mold dry clay.
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And a proud person thinks they know it all and therefore God
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can't shape or mold their life 'cause there's no water, there's
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no humility in their life to be shaped, to be molded by God.
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Learning is a lifelong process. We are enrolled in the Kingdom
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educational system. It didn't say you're going to be
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a disciple for one year, five years, 10 years.
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You were called to be a disciple for life.
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So we're in a if you always want to advance, then you always need
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to want to be taught. Matter of fact, the Holy Spirit
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is called the one of his characteristics is called the
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teacher. He brings to remembrance the
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word of God to us. And why 'cause God so loves you
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that He's got a great life for you and wants great things for
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you, but you have to follow His instructions in His plan.
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If you don't follow his instructions in His plan, you're
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going to have an unblessed, we'll say this way, cursed life
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outside of the purpose, plan and pursuit of God, what He has for
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you. So I'll say this, it's what you
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learn after you know everything that counts.
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And to learn you must want to be taught.
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Do you want to be taught tonight?
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I'll say some scriptures that you may have heard several
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times, but are you listening like it's the first time?
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Are you hungry? Are you ready to receive and get
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everything that God has for you in this service?
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It's not up to me. It's up to you to draw on and
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receive from the Word of God tonight and the anointing of God
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tonight. God will meet every need in your
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life if you listen and obey. And God has some things to
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instruct us in tonight. So to learn you must want to be
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taught. And to be taught you have to
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admit that you don't know it all and everything you know you've
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been taught, but you've not been taught everything.
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So we're in a perpetual state of always learning and growing.
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If we're always going to be advancing in the Kingdom of God
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and God wants to increase us. God desires to take us like it
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says in Romans 117, from faith to faith.
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In in 2nd Corinthians 3, it says He wants to take us from glory
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to glory. So God has great things in store
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for us, but we need to make sure we strip away pride, stay humble
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and hungry and say, God, I'm a clean slate today.
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Download, impart, instruct. I will listen, I will obey
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because I know your plan is the best plan.
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Your commandments are the best way, the best life.
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And I want to, I want to do what this vision says, ignite this
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city, impact the nation and influence the world.
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And in order to do that, I need some instruction.
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Father, I need your word in my life.
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So I'm hungry to learn. And the other thing, don't let
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let the past hinder your advancement.
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Any failures, any disappointments, any setbacks,
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any circumstances, Don't let that.
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Don't let that dictate or dominate.
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Right now. It's in your power of choice to
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say, listen, maybe you blew it, maybe you messed up.
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There's a there's a word in the Kingdom though.
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It's called repentance, and thank God, a real man and a real
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woman of God is going to take personal responsibility if they
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miss the mark. God has a solution.
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It's called repentance and a real man, a real woman is going
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to respond to that truth and say, Father, I missed it.
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I ask for your forgiveness. And I want to move forward.
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I want to grow, I want to make progress.
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So forgive me of that. Unforgiveness will hinder your
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advancement if you choose not to forgive.
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And there's 3 dimensions of forgiveness.
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Number one, you need to ask God to forgive you.
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You know there's sins of Commission, meaning sins that
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you commit. Easy, right?
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Adultery could be a sin of Commission, murder, right?
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Theft. But then there's sins of
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omission. You know what to do, but you
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don't do it like worry. Hello, that's a sin.
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Are you with me? Anxiety that can hinder
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advancement. And you got to look at that as a
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sin just as much as you would murder or adultery and say,
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Lord, you don't want that in my life.
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Isaiah 26 three says perfect peace will he give whose mind is
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stayed on him. Philippians chapter 4 verse #6
Philippians 4 chapter mention
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says be anxious about some things.
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I'm just seeing if you're paying attention.
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It says be anxious about nothing.
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I like the amplified says don't worry, don't fret, right?
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I can meddle in the marriage covenant right now on the sins
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of omission. Like men doing the dishes,
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Hallelujah, you can say Amen O me.
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Vacuum in a rug, men. Hallelujah, folding the laundry.
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How sexy is that? Hallelujah.
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Well, I'm not committing adultery on my wife yet, but
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what are you omitting if he wants your marriage to increase
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and progress and grow? So repentance is pivotal in the
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Kingdom of God. The Bible's a wonderful book, 66
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books of just Power Pack truth that'll transform a life and
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hook you up with your destiny and always keep you advancing.
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I love Genesis 'cause it shows the birth of a nation.
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Exodus shows the deliverance of a nation.
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Leviticus shows the sanctification of a nation.
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Number shows the journeys and we're on a journey.
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He that began a good work in you once to complete it.
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There's a purpose and an assignment and number shows us
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the journeys of the nation. Deuteronomy, which I quoted
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chapter 8. I want to give you one verse out
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of that in just a second, but that's a retelling of the law.
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That's instructions. If you read Deuteronomy, do the
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book of Deuteronomy, it's a retelling because we don't get
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everything the first time. We do not get everything the
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first time. That's why you taking notes and
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reviewing is so pivotal to your growth and advancement because
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it'll help you retain and remember what was instructed.
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But then I love the book of Joshua 'cause that's the
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possession of a promised life. So the Bible was wonderful.
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We see the children of God in Exodus in a land called Egypt.
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Now, Egypt is a typology for us today, which means this.
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It's a land of bondage where Pharaoh was king and the
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children of Israel were in bondage.
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And you realize there's some believers that have made
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covenant with God, but the devil still has rule in their life.
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Whether it's sins of Commission or omission, there's still some
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kind of bondage. And I got good news for you
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tonight. God wants to set you free.
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God wants you delivered. God doesn't want you in a vice
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grip, or in shackles or in chains.
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God's will is for you to be free, unhindered, unfettered,
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Unchained, to run with the purpose.
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Hebrews chapter 12 says it this way.
Hebrews 12 chapter mention
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Let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
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stripping off any weight or sin that so easily besets us.
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And you know what? In Egypt, that's a land of not
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enough, and that's not advancement.
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When you don't have enough, guess what?
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You can't do anything. You may want to give, but you
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can't give. You may want to pray for healing
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for somebody, but you may not feel worthy because you're
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barely healed. God does not want you there.
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So what's he do? He takes him out of Egypt
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through the man Moses who brings deliverance.
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He said, I'm taking you out to bring you into a land.
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So he takes him out of Egypt. And they go through a place
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called the wilderness. So they get delivered from
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Pharaoh and his rule from the House of bondage, but they're in
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the wilderness. And Deuteronomy 8 talks about
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the wilderness. He said, I LED you through the
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wilderness to test you read the whole chapter, Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 8 chapter mention
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chapter 8. I'll give you verse 18 right now
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because I want to key in on that with what God has assigned for
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us tonight. Deuteronomy 818 says this.
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And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives
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you the power to get wealth. Hallelujah that He may establish
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His covenant, which He swore to your Father's.
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As it is this day. Now, I got downright ticked off
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yesterday. I did 'cause I believe the
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Bible. Do you believe the Word?
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So I'm read in Deuteronomy 28. First of all, I don't.
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The curses outweigh the blessing.
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That bugs me, but I'm reading things in Deuteronomy chapter 28
Deuteronomy 28 chapter mention
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and talking with people and counseling with people.
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I thought, Lord, there's more, there's more.
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I read this verse. It said that the children of
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Israel shall be the lender and not the borrower.
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I said, Lord, why are Christians?
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Why are we not there? Your word says it.
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What are we not connecting? What are we ignorant of?
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What are we too prideful about? What are we too worldly minded
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in that we're not functioning in this.
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There's many other things in there I thought, and some of
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these things I I could say, Lord, this is in my life.
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Glory to God, your word is true. And some things I'm like, OK,
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I'm not there yet, but I want to advance to that Lord, I want to
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be in a place in a position that I could lend and I want to do it
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your way. I was reading last week that the
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children of Israel, they, they had a, a borrowing law or a
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lending law which says you could borrow to, you could lend to
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fellow Israelites and not charge them interest.
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Now, if it's a foreigner, guess what?
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Those outside of covenant, go ahead and make some money off
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that. Charge him 8%.
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God's got a wonderful economic plan.
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Hallelujah. So in Deuteronomy though, he
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says, I brought you through the wilderness.
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The wilderness has landed just enough.
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You are barely getting by. Listen, this life is a journey.
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I I guarantee you this cause the word of God does not fail, it
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does not return void. It always accomplishes what he,
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he said. Now we live in a microwave
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society. We live in A10 items or less
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matter of fact, it's worse than 10 items or less.
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Now it's Instacart, it's Grubhub, it's DoorDash, right?
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Don't let the world intermix with the culture of the Kingdom.
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Don't let the world intermix with the culture of the Kingdom.
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There's a thing called faith and patience in the Bible.
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I remember when Angie and I had our two sons in the house.
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We were in the wilderness financially.
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Lord, I've repented of this, 'cause this was a, you know,
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ignorance will kill you. But I remember going to
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McDonald's. Now, those that are still eating
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there, I'm not judging you. I just have a conviction if a
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fry has a shelf life of 15 years because it's under your seat
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that you dropped, It's been sitting there and it still looks
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golden brown. I remember they used to, they
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probably don't have this anymore.
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We used to go through. Then they had the dollar menu.
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Do you remember that? So we tell Mike and Jacob guests
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we were so tight. We said you guys get four things
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off of that dollar menu. So it's usually like an apple
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pie, 2 cheeseburgers and a fry. Hallelujah that that was just
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enough. For $8 we could feed those boys,
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but it was just enough. I mean, we weren't going to
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Longhorns and we surely weren't going to Ruth's Chris 'cause we
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had just enough. But guess what?
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We keep working the principles which I'm going to give you.
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We kept on applying it, and God has brought us into a land of
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more than enough. So the wilderness is just
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enough. But God wants to bring every
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believer to the land called Canaan land.
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Canaan land is still a reality in the New Testament.
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You can read 1st Corinthians 10. It says everything in the Old
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Testament was an end sample or an example for us.
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So they literally live this out. But there's also things we can
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learn from their journey there. Listen, I said pride will get in
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the way of advancement and we want to be taught.
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There are things that we can learn from them so we can
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continue to advance. And God, God said, I want to
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bring you out to bring you in. Well, here's the sad indictment.
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Do you realize that even though God wanted to do that, many of
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them died in the wilderness. And I, I know this God's heart
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tonight for you as I'm instructing you is not for you
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to die in the wilderness. God has greater things in store
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for you than that. But even though God has that in
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store, guess what? People are still going to make
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choices, and those choices are going to have consequences
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whether you're going to have God's best or whether you're
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going to be mediocre or whether you live in failure.
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God's no respecter of persons. He's got great, great store,
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great things in store for everybody in this sanctuary
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tonight, but it's up for you to submit and commit to him and
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continue to grow and take this journey seriously.
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The Canaan land is a land of more than enough.
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John 1010 really is the reality of Canaan land as Jesus quotes
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it. He said I came to give you life
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and to give it to you more abundantly.
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I came to give you life and to give it to you more abundantly.
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One translation says I came to give you a rich and a satisfying
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life. Now I had the media team put
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this up. There's a thread what I mean
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scriptures that you can track of this land that God started
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talking about. So Genesis 12 chapter one, you
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can write this down. I'm not going to read everyone,
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but God starts talking about Abraham, about the land in
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Genesis chapter 12. You'll see it in Genesis 1315.
Genesis 12 chapter mention
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You'll see it in Genesis 15, seven.
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You'll see it in Genesis 5024, you'll see it in Exodus 68.
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And then you'll I like Leviticus chapter 2024 because God goes
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into more description about this land and I'll read Leviticus
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2024. It says this, but I have said to
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you, you shall not inherit the land.
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You shout in here at the land. I will give it to you to
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possess. Now listen to what God says
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about this land. It's a land flowing with milk
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and honey. This is Canaan land.
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He said, I'm taking you out of Egypt.
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I'm going to take you through the wilderness.
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Listen, this journey is a process.
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All of us go through the wilderness.
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All of us go through the wilderness.
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You going to shout in the wilderness?
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You going to be grateful in the wilderness?
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You going to be thankful in the wilderness?
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You going to remind, remind God of his promises in the
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wilderness. Murmuring and complaining will
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hinder advancement. If you start griping, you start
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complaining. What you need to do is Lord, you
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said this, I have faith, I have love, I have hope and things are
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going to change. Things are going to get better.
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I know that because I'm lining up with your instruction.
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So he said it's a land flowing with milk and honey.
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Now the amplified as a footnote says this about milk and honey.
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I'll say this right now since I have the podium and pastor can
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correct me Sunday and y'all can tell him because we have our
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differences when it comes to how to drink coffee.
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He says you should drink it black.
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That's God's original intent. I go to Leviticus 2024 and I
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said it's coffee with milk and honey.
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Matter of fact, I'll give let everything be confirmed by two
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or three. He made darkness into light.
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OK, we'll see what his rebuttal is and I will humble myself.
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But the amplified says this. This phrase referred to the
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abundant. Think about your life right now,
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not just a lamb, but you. You know, we are the temple of
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God right now. We are his territory right now.
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So he said this phrase. Milk and hunt referred to the
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abundant fertility of the land of Canaan.
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Milk, typically that of goats and sheep, was associated with
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abundance. Honey referred mainly to syrups
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made from dates or grapes and was the epitome of sweetness.
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We could say the sweet abundant life, the sweet abundant life.
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Who wants that? Who wants a sweet abundant life?
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Got about 5 people. This is exciting.
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I see some hands raised. Now the book of Joshua is
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actually the book where the children of Israel finally, you
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know, they, they, they wandered for 40 years.
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I don't have 40 years. I don't have 40 years to waste.
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I want to learn the you are the sum total of everything that you
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learned. I want to learn the lessons
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quickly. Lord, what do you need to teach
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me out of this? And then I need to get quiet
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enough to listen what the Holy Ghost is saying and make the
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internal adjustments and course correction to make sure I stay
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on the pathway in the plan of God.
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Man, you got the greatest counselor on the inside of you.
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He is the Tor conductor who will the whole reason listen.
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Jesus was given to the world, but the Holy Ghost was given to
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the church and, and the Bible says about the Holy Spirit that
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he is the counselor, the helper, the comforter, the intercessor,
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the advocate, the strengthener, the standby.
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But he's just like the tour conductor.
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When you take the trolley tour downtown, guess what, there is a
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conductor that knows each stop where you're going, how much
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more the Holy Spirit is going to help instruct you.
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So when you're, when you're going through things, some
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things are self-inflicted and proverbs that a man may ruin his
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chances and then blame it on God.
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Some people ruin their life by dumb things.
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The great thing though is God loves you so much he's giving
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you a thing called repentance that you can turn around out of
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that thing and not be in in a in a muck or in a downcast or in a
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discouraged state. Back to forgiveness, forgiveness
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before God. I told you 3 dimensions,
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forgiveness towards others. And if you do blow it, you need
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to forgive yourself. You could release things before
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God. You could have released things
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before others. But are you carrying guilt?
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Romans 81 says there's no guilt or condemnation.
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That could be a way. Let it go.
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If God Forgives you, forgive yourself.
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If you don't forgive yourself after God Forgives you, you're
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making yourself greater than God.
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And if God says in Psalms one O 3, I'll remove your sins as far
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as the east is from the West, which means they'll never meet
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again. If you've put that thing under
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the blood and been a real man or woman repented of it, then let
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it go. Let it go.
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I didn't even know that was a song, Christopher, but frozen.
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There we go. I did know that's a song.
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What a great example. Listen, you need to sing frozen
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every night. Let it go.
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Good job, Christopher, let it go.
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So God wants to bring you into the land, but you want to learn
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every lesson quickly and other things are just you're walking
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through. Some things are self-imposed,
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some things listen. The apostle Paul in second
2 Corinthians 12 chapter mention
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Corinthians chapter 12, he said, Lord, remove this thing from me.
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And God said, no, he said, my grace is sufficient for you.
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And I love what Apostle Paul says.
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He says, then bring it Lord, that that was my that's when I
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read. That's what I see.
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Bring it on. May I have another please.
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He said, I'll, I'll joy in this thing.
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Then just like James once says, count all joy.
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So he realized he wasn't in sin. He was now the will of God, but
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there were people coming along persecuting him, putting
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pressure on him, and he wanted to be delivered from people,
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Judaizers that were coming alongside undoing the work that
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he was doing. It said it was like a thorn in
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his side and he said, Lord, I want them out of my life.
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And God said I ain't removing them.
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They're going to help perfect you.
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You realize people are going to help perfect you.
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Lord, I want to be around somebody that loves me all the
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time. It's not going to happen.
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There's going to be people that celebrate you, people that
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tolerate you and people that hate you.
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And you got to realize in all those I want to handle it right,
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because if I handle it right, I'm going to come through the
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the furnace of affliction and come out a more refined,
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stronger vessel and have more advancement in my life.
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So Joshua is a a fascinating book, 24 chapters of of the
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children of Israel, children of Israel going in to possess this
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sweet land and it's example for us.
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But here's a sad indictment in Joshua chapter 18.
Joshua 18 chapter mention
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It's 24 chapter. So we're 18 chapters in how many
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tribes are there? How many tribes?
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So he says this in in Joshua chapter 18 verses one through
Joshua 18 chapter mention
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three, It says this is from the amplified says then the whole
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congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh in the
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tribal tribal territory of Ephraim.
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They set up the tent of meeting there.
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The land was subdued before them.
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There remained among the Israelites 7 tribes who had not
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yet divided their inheritance. So Joshua asked them, how long
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will you put off entering to take possession of the land
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which the Lord, the God of your Father's has given you?
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Wow, how long will you put off this sweet life?
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Let me read it from the message. It says the entire congregation
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of the people of Israel got together at Shiloh.
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They put up the tent of meeting. The land was under their
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control, but there were still yet 7 Israelite tribes who had
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yet to receive their inheritance.
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John Joshua addressed the people of Israel said how long are you
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going to sit around on your hands putting off taking
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possession of the land that the God of your ancestors has given
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you? How long are you going to sit on
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your hands? God, why are you not moving in
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my life? Let me put it this way, God,
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you're not waiting on God. God is waiting on you.
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Matthew 16 is is awesome. Verse 18, it starts in verse
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1415161718 says I'm going to give you the keys of the
-
Kingdom. It says whatever you bound on
-
earth will be bound in heaven. What do you loose on earth will
-
be loose on in heaven? He gave you the authority, He
-
gave you the the instruction, the commandment and he said
-
guess what, it's in your power of choice.
-
Joshua 24 says the same thing. He says choose this day.
-
Whom you going to serve? As for me and my household, we
-
choose to serve the Lord. I'm going to get up every day
-
and tackle it with an enthusia enthusiasm unknown to most
-
mankind. Every day is a gift from God.
-
Are you maximizing every day? Canaan Land is a maximized life
-
where you're living life to the fullest.
-
It's filled up, it's complete, it's satisfying, It's more than
-
enough. You're living life so well in
-
Canaan land that your life is flowing over into the lives of
-
others. God just doesn't want things to
-
go well for you. He wants your life to be lived
-
so well that actually impacts and influences other people's
-
life. People should see you.
-
I'm going back to the marriage covenant, your marriage
-
operating so well, they're like, tell me, what do I need to do to
-
attain to that? Or your parenting's so great you
-
could sit at a restaurant without your kids hanging from
-
the chandelier or giving them a phone to pacify them and babysit
-
them. You compare so well that your
-
kids actually learn how to look in your eyes and have adult
-
conversations. You compare so well, you just
-
give the look and they respond. But you're doing these things so
-
well, your business could be so successful.
-
Others are like, what are you doing?
-
And guess what, all the glory goes to God.
-
I'm just lining up. I'm just lining up everyday.
-
Instruction, download. Following his command, following
-
his voice, being obedient to what He says, and bit by bit,
-
little by little, you're going to get out of McDonald's.
-
Hallelujah. Canaan Land is the maximized
-
life. It's where you make the most of
-
every day. You could have a Canaan Land
-
marriage. You can have Canaan Land
-
parenting. But I want to go over 7 areas of
-
evaluation. Then I'm going to highlight one
-
that's important not just for you, but because of the vision
-
that God placed at Anchor Faith Church.
-
And I come with great seriousness, great soberness,
-
and great joy. Tonight though, you are vital.
-
You are vital. You are vital to what God wants
-
to do in this vision. Without you.
-
This isn't Pastor or Marcy by themselves.
-
This is another leadership. It takes all of us.
-
It takes all of us and I am just challenging you.
-
If you're in a bad position, get to a good position.
-
If you're doing good, then get to great.
-
But I, I'm talking about next level tonight.
-
I'm talking about increase. I'm talking about advancement.
-
If we are going to do what God has called us to do, then it's
-
going to be vital that everybody is connected and doing their
-
part. If we're going to ignite this
-
city, impact this nation, and influence this world, we need to
-
live the sweet, abundant life in Canaanland.
-
We don't want God looking at US 20 years from now and say, how
-
long you going to put off? And if you're not going to do
-
your assignment, guess what? God is faithful to raise
-
somebody else up to fulfill what He called you to do.
-
And it's not that He didn't want you to do it.
-
It's that you chose not to line up with and submit to you
-
settled. Maybe you got complacent and I
-
just want to shake you up tonight.
-
I don't want to slap you. I just want to shake you.
-
I want to stir you like a good glass of chocolate milk.
-
Sometimes all that syrup goes to the bottom and what do you got
-
to do? You got to get that spoon in
-
there. And like Paul said, I want to or
-
Peter said, I want to stir you up by way of remembrance.
-
So these are 7 areas, though I look at this on a, on an annual
-
basis. I think everybody as you're
-
grown with God should look at these areas #1 spiritually.
-
Are you in a Canaan land spiritually?
-
And what does that mean? Are you connected with intimate
-
and in communion with God every day?
-
The word says draw near to me and I will draw near to you.
-
I don't feel the presence of God while you're taking time to read
-
the word of God. Are you taking time to pray?
-
Are you taking time to meditate and reflect on His Word?
-
This is a spiritual scalpel right now.
-
Some of you could stand to cut off some TV.
-
I'm going to step on some people's toes.
-
Social media right now, is there a thing is anything wrong with
-
this? No, but if you're giving more
-
time to that than you are to God, then how are you really
-
living a Canaan land, maximize existence spiritually and that's
-
the first and foremost. You're never going to get to
-
everything else if you're not growing in this and advancing in
-
this first and foremost. Proverbs 4, chapter 20 says
-
Proverbs chapter 4, verse #20 says guard your heart with all
Proverbs 4 chapter mention
-
diligence, for all of it flows. The issues of life, everything,
-
the issues of the flesh are the result of issues of the spirit.
-
And if you're not living a Canaan land, existing
-
spiritually, you can get there. Well, how do I keep on?
-
How do I get there? Keep on growing.
-
I remember when I was at Raymond Christiansen in 1997.
-
Actually, he's 96. No, I went to Raymond 98.
-
Yeah, 97. And I was sitting in the pews.
-
Well, not in theater seats. You are sitting in theater
-
seats. It was pews back then.
-
No, it's actually cheers. Sorry.
-
It was cheers and I was taking notes.
-
I got so frustrated taking notes.
-
I was like, where has this been my whole life?
-
I wanted everything. I wanted it now.
-
I was like a sponge and I'm still like a sponge.
-
I love to learn the Word of God. I love to be in the Word of God.
-
There is nothing greater than I'd rather do to them.
-
Be in the Word of God. It fuels me, it feeds me, it
-
revised me, it gives me clarity of thought.
-
It relieves all, all all of my worries, concerns.
-
It puts me in His pathway, His promises and His greatness.
-
But I'm saying that why? Because it's a process you just
-
continue. I didn't know as I didn't know
-
as much in 1997 as I know now. But guess what?
-
I still don't know it. I'm still growing and going.
-
But the point is, don't stop. Secondly, your soul realm, your
-
soul, which is your mind, your will and your emotions.
-
How are you doing with the Canaan Land soul realm?
-
How is your mind? How is your will, the choices
-
that you make? How are your emotions?
-
Are you ruled by your emotions? God made you with the emotions,
-
but are they supposed to sit on the throne of all your
-
decisions? I'll give you one verse in
-
Ephesians chapter 4 verse #26 it says.
Ephesians 4 chapter mention
-
Be angry in emotion, but don't sin.
-
Don't let the anger make you make a decision.
-
You control it, it doesn't control you.
-
How you doing with your body? What I mean this, this has to
-
carry you around for your purpose.
-
Now I have a tendency to like sweet things but I realize this
-
it needs to be in moderation. I remember getting my blood work
-
done last December coming off of Christmas which was bad because
-
I always get chocolate covered cherries along with your
-
peppermint patties along with all the other sweets that go
-
around at Christmas time and my glucose is one O 6.
-
It was in the yellow marker and my doctor said what happened.
-
I don't know lie. I know exactly what happened.
-
I told the truth. I took responsibility.
-
Well, I pounded sugars for about 14 days before the blood work a
-
lot good because I've never seen that from you before.
-
Guess what next time I got it back normal like where it's
-
supposed to be right, but your body what are you living a
-
Canaan land existence. I believe when we're, I believe
-
like Caleb in the book of Joshua at 80, I am stillwell able, but
-
you realize that doesn't fall on you like ripe cherries off of a
-
tree. You can't sit on your backside
-
eating bonbons. Somebody didn't know what
-
bonbons was that Twinkies, ice cream, cookies and all this
-
other stuff. And expect to have a great body
-
or be physically fit at 80. Hallelujah.
-
See ignorance or kill you. And now that you know you got to
-
do something with it, you're responsible for what's
-
ministered at this platform. So what are you doing though?
-
Just everybody's goals are not the same.
-
Some people love to run marathons.
-
I don't like doing that. You know, some people may like
-
to do racquetball. That's awesome.
-
Whatever your flavor, whatever you like, I would just say move,
-
be active, do something. Whether you just want to walk
-
and enjoy the scenery, you could do two things at once.
-
Pray in the Holy Ghost and go walk around your neighborhood
-
for 30 minutes, whatever the case is, but do something.
-
You know that Jesus walked up mountains and prayed.
-
We just think about the spiritual side.
-
But you know what he was doing? He was creating some stamina in
-
his body by doing that. Hallelujah.
-
Another area is family. Are you having a Canaan land
-
family experience in your manhood, your womanhood,
-
relationships, finances? Are you having a Canaan Land
-
time in your finances? Are you having a Canaan Land
-
time socially? And I, I think a social in this
-
aspect. Do you have good godly friends
-
around you and are you evangelizing the world?
-
To me it goes with both. Are you winning the lost and are
-
you connecting with other godly people?
-
That's what I call the social goals.
-
And the last thing is ministry. When I say ministry, I'm not
-
talking about just full time ministry.
-
I'm talking about your gifting and your and your talents that
-
God has put in your life. Every one of you is unique.
-
Every one of you has something special on the inside of you.
-
I'll put it this way. Every one of you has something
-
that can serve humanity. All right.
-
I want to highlight, though, on finances when it comes to Canaan
-
Land, because if we're going to advance this vision, guess what
-
it's going to take? If we're going to advance this
-
vision to ignite this city, impact the nation and influence
-
the world, guess what? It's going to take all of us.
-
But it's going to take finances. It's going to take money, Moola
-
Dinero money. Our youth group had a train of
-
minivans, nine of them that went to East Coast camp.
-
You know, Enterprise didn't give those to us for free.
-
Guess what somebody had in their heart to actually.
-
So we we were trying to keep the cost at a minimal for the
-
students so we get maximum participant participation and
-
not put such a burden on the students.
-
You know, they stay at a hotel. They did the Cracker Barrel
-
which was $759. Praise the Lord on Sunday night.
-
I saw that already entered that transaction in the general
-
Ledger and Pastor Earl on the thread when Pastor Brandon sent
-
them at Cracker Barrel, he said breakfast only.
-
It was that night. So Pastor Earl's philosophy as
-
you always get breakfast at Cracker Barrel, but we're trying
-
to keep them. So there's, there's a camp cost.
-
You know, they did obviously lunch for them on Monday and
-
then camp obviously when they get there, they're doing lunch
-
for them on Friday on the way back.
-
So it takes money to get them there, right?
-
And you know, the, the vans themselves, we took that out.
-
That was $5000. Now, thank God, guess what,
-
somebody had that and it moved on their heart to give.
-
Think about that in the Kingdom of God, what if three lives get
-
changed out of that? That's better than the stock
-
market, right? We support an orphanage in India
-
that went from 2000 last year to 3000 this year.
-
Guess what? That takes?
-
Money. Hallelujah, I can right now.
-
Thank God we're in an air conditioned facility.
-
We could choose not to play the electric bill, which is more
-
than I think probably everybody's mortgage, possibly
-
in this room. It takes money.
-
So let me say this. If the church is going to
-
advance, guess what happened? The people in the church need to
-
advance. If you don't advance, the church
-
isn't going to advance. That goes spiritually, soul,
-
body, family. We have 318 on Monday night, but
-
it doesn't matter if you hear those principles, you don't go
-
live it out in the house. But guess what?
-
Finance is another thing. It takes finances to run the
-
ministry. So I'm going to give you 3
-
things to prosper, to advance, to have a Canaan Land finances.
-
I'm going to run pretty quick 'cause it is 843.
-
That was a long introduction. I was trying to get to 35,000
-
feet and level off. I just took us to the moon.
-
So #1 if you're going to advance and this church isn't going to
-
advance unless you're going to advance, there's, there's gifts
-
in all of us. God wants you to be wealthy.
-
He said, I give you the power to get wealth.
-
Now listen, rich people are not always wealthy, but wealthy
-
people are always rich. Rich people are not always
-
wealthy, but wealthy people are always rich.
-
And God said, I'm going to give you the power to get wealth.
-
Wealth is at its etymology means well-being Third John two says
-
it this way. Third, John two, beloved, I wish
-
above all things you'd prosper and be in health even as your
-
soul prospers. He's saying, what good is it if
-
you have riches but you're broken your mind?
-
A rich person could have a great house but a terrible marriage,
-
kids that are heathens. And God said, I'm going to give
-
you a wealth. And wealth is established #1
-
through work. Work is not a dirty word in the
-
Kingdom of God. Grace does not alleviate work.
-
Work was in the earth before the fall.
-
Work is the God ordained way for you to establish dominion in the
-
earth. I don't I'm going to go quick,
-
but He said to go in all the world.
-
The world is a sectors of society.
-
When we get to #7 what I said, what is your minister, your gift
-
in your service, your talent. God said I'm going to give you a
-
talent. You need to go work that talent,
-
you need to go into one of those sectors of society.
-
I I remember them from ABCDEFG, which is arts and entertainment,
-
business, congregations, education, direct media,
-
government, family and education.
-
I know that was real fast, but God has assigned all of us to go
-
into an an area whether it's and most of us are going to be in
-
this in the in the secular field, not the sacred
-
assignment. Think about the tribes of
-
Israel. Most of them were what going out
-
to get the the provision to bring back to the the they were
-
going out to get the provision to bring for the vision to build
-
a Tabernacle. Are you with me?
-
So work is one of the ways that God has given you to establish
-
dominion on the earth and you're never going to advance if you
-
don't know how to work. You need to learn learn how to
-
work hard and how to work smart. We live in a generation that's
-
an entitlement generation that thinks they can sit on their
-
hand. The government's going to pay
-
them money. Not in our Kingdom, not in our
-
Kingdom. He said to work at your
-
salvation. He said he began a good work in
-
you and he wants you to complete it.
-
In Genesis chapter 25215, he says he put God, he put Adam in
-
the garden to tend it and to keep it, to work it, to
-
cultivate it, to bring fruitfulness to it.
-
I'm telling you right now, you want to be a great
-
representation of the Lord Jesus Christ when you go to work.
-
Be a person that can have wisdom, understanding and
-
knowledge that you're doing your job so well they can't replace
-
you. You are such a benefit and a
-
blessing to that organization, that man, they don't want to
-
lose you. Some people may try to recruit
-
you out because you're doing so well.
-
Listen, we want the anointing to come upon us in our work.
-
We are ordinary, but God puts his extraordinary on us.
-
He puts his supernatural on our natural in our work to for it to
-
be blessed so we could have wealth.
-
Deuteronomy 28, eight says this. The Lord will command the
-
blessing on you in your storehouses and in all what you
-
set your hand to do. Notice whatever you put your
-
hand to, you're not sitting on your hands doing nothing.
-
I'm gonna, I'm gonna correct something.
-
Some of you may have heard this. There was a time in the body of
-
Christ where some people are saying money comes to me.
-
Now money don't come to somebody sitting on their hands.
-
I don't care how much you confess it now is confession
-
right? Yes, I believe we should
-
confess. It is a key in the Kingdom.
-
But these are multiple things coming together to create the
-
flow. Proverbs 12/4 says the hand of
-
the diligent will rule. So many examples in the in the
-
Bible of people that worked hard.
-
I remember when I was at Enterprise Rent a car as a
-
branch manager. I worked hard and I worked
-
smart. So did Pastor Marcus and we rose
-
through the ranks. He became the manager of 4321
-
Palm Coast. I became the manager of 4313
-
here in Saint Augustine. And they, they were amazed at
-
us. We were there at the same time.
-
We were a great blessing and benefit.
-
We just kept going. We started off as in their in
-
their management program and we went to assistant managers and
-
we became branch managers. But God didn't want us there.
-
Ultimately both of us came into full time ministry because that
-
was the the goal that God had for us.
-
But while we were there, listen, we made them money and we made
-
ourselves money because he worked hard and we worked smart.
-
But I never forget when I was at Enterprise, there was a guy
-
named Bob who actually retired from UPS.
-
He was retired 80 year old man. And I had an intern from Florida
-
State and I'm not bashing Florida State, but he's probably
-
21. But the difference in work ethic
-
was amazing. Bob, my 8 year old, I never had
-
to go behind him and look and see if a car was clean before I
-
delivered to a customer. Now Tim, the guy that was at
-
Florida State, I always had to double check his work.
-
Just difference in in generations.
-
Bob knew how to work. Listen, I could go to Jacob in
-
the Old Testament. He worked hard for Laban, served
-
him and brought Prosperity Joseph anywhere he went.
-
Didn't matter if he was in Potiphar's house, the prison or
-
with Pharaoh. He worked hard and he worked
-
smart and he always rose to the top.
-
So guess what? If Anchor Faith Church is going
-
to advance and excel, then you need to be a person that's going
-
to increase financially by working hard.
-
Don't show up Tim mates Tim minutes late with a bad
-
attitude. Don't act like your employer
-
owes you something. Matter of fact, when we say work
-
hard and work smart, I want to challenge you with this.
-
Some people put themselves to work, that's called employment.
-
Some people put other people to work, that's called being an
-
employer. Some people put money to work,
-
that's called an investment. Somebody, Some people put their
-
knowledge to work, and that's called consulting.
-
Some people put an idea to work, an idea or a concept and that's
-
called a business. So we want to work hard and we
-
want to work smart. Secondly, to prosper financially
-
so that the church prospers, you need to be a good manager, a
-
good manager. First Corinthians chapter 4
1 Corinthians 4 chapter mention
-
verse #2 says this. Moreover, it's required in
-
stewards that one be found faithful.
-
The word stewards in in the Bible means a manager.
-
We don't own what we possess. It's gods.
-
We're only the stewards or the manager of it.
-
So you need to be a good manager in Matthew chapter 25, the
Matthew 25 chapter mention
-
parable of talents just forsake of time.
-
I'm not going to read this. He gave 151211 and what he see
-
what he say. He said do business till I come.
-
He said manage this till I come. Guess what they did, They
-
managed well and they increased what God had given them.
-
So my question is, what has God-given you that you need to
-
increase in advance in Now the five, what gained 5 the two
-
gained 2. The one mismanaged and he lost
-
everything that he had. So there's this.
-
This is a principle we can extract from that.
-
Good management attracts resources.
-
Bad management puts at Bay resources.
-
Are you with me? Good management means you keep
-
records. Proverbs 27 says be diligent to
-
know the condition or the state of your flock.
-
Do you know what's in your checking account right now?
-
Hallelujah. Do you have a check register?
-
I remember listening to the story one time of an individual
-
that was trying to help some other people and they were
-
looking at their Ledger and they noticed ESP every once in a
-
while. So they're trying to reconcile
-
their debits and their credits. You know your debits and your
-
credits is what credits is. Money coming in, Debits is money
-
going out. If your outgo exceeds your
-
income, then your upkeep becomes your downfall.
-
So he said what does ESP mean? And they just put error
-
someplace they weren't keeping accurate records.
-
What's a good manager do? They are a good administrator
-
and they maximize through administration what's in their
-
assignment, what's in their stewardship and what's been
-
given to them on on just a real practical level.
-
This year I was looking at our finances and we have a, you
-
know, a budget. We're not eating at McDonald's
-
anymore. But you know what, as a good
-
manager, I said we don't need to eat out every night.
-
So our goal in our household is not to eat out anymore.
-
And twice a week, that's us personally.
-
That's how we're unified about that.
-
My wife and I, we could go out, but I thought, man, we, you
-
could actually save money by not going out every night and
-
eating. And you, you realize you could
-
save money by actually, this is going to shock some of you going
-
to the restaurant you want to go to and not door dash it.
-
Hallelujah. On a practical side though, like
-
this year with our mortgage, I'm looking at, you know, there's
-
ways to increase, you can either decrease your overhead or
-
increase your revenue. So I was looking at our, all of
-
our outlay of our finances as I do 'cause I want to manage it
-
well. I realize if I bring order and
-
organization, God could bring increase.
-
If I'm disordered, disordered disorganization, there's going
-
to be no increase. It's mismanagement.
-
So I, I got to look in and I said, you know what, we could
-
drop our PMI, Angie, at $67 a month.
-
What's PMI? Private mortgage insurance.
-
And once you hit that 80% mark, you can drop that.
-
So I had to pay $190.00 for them to come out, put a value in our
-
house, and guess what? We qualified and I shaved off
-
$67. Would you do the math on that,
-
right? That adds up.
-
Over the course of a year, I realized we were paying 499 for
-
Discover Channel that we never watch.
-
It adds up. That's good management, right?
-
Are you with me? Last thing I want to hit 'cause
-
it is 856. These three have to all work
-
together. Being in ministry now since
-
2004, we've done premarital counseling, we've done marital
-
counseling, individual counseling, and I've just
-
learned this over the years, and I believe this to be true with
-
all my heart. All three of these have to be in
-
operation as a Kingdom citizen in order to prosper and have
-
advancement in this area and have Canaan land, which is work
-
hard, good management and then giving.
-
I have seen people tithe and give offerings, work hard and be
-
horrible managers and they don't have God's Canaan land.
-
They mismanage. I've seen people manage well,
-
tithe, not work hard and not have Canaan land.
-
I've seen people work hard, manage and not tithe and not
-
have Canaan land. So listen, are you with me?
-
It takes all three of these for you to advance.
-
And if you here's the here's the thing.
-
If you don't advance an increase, Anchor Faith Church
-
doesn't advance an increase. So all three of these have to be
-
in alignment. If you ever had a hose, you
-
know, in your water and something or like I'm washing my
-
car, sometimes there's a kink in the hose and it's really
-
frustrating. And there's many times I just
-
try to pop it. You know, you do that for a
-
minute and you finally just give up and you walk over there and
-
you unkink it right on God's end, He is the faucet it his
-
supply never runs out. He is perpetual energy,
-
perpetual provision. But on our end, sometimes we get
-
kinks and I'm just trying to identify in these three things.
-
If you're not seeing increase, where's your kink?
-
And all you have to do is make that adjustment and guess what
-
the flow opens up. Thank you so much for listening
-
to this message. If you want more, subscribe to
-
our message podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and
-
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-
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-
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information about us and how we're influencing the world and
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help support the work we're doing by giving, just visit
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anchorfaith.com.