Walking In The Light

Let's lift our Bibles up, our customer around here to wave our Bibles, make Jesus glad, the devil mad.

Let's say this together say Heavenly Father, I'm hungry for more, more of your Word, more of your Spirit, more of your presence and, yes, more of your glory.

Lord, you must increase and I must decrease.

I say that from the standpoint of the flesh.

I want my spirit to grow and my flesh to stay under subjection, and I'm gonna bring forth fruit for your glory in Jesus' name, amen.

Let's turn in our Bibles to Romans, chapter eight, please, and wanna get into you some ammunition for your gun, your gospel gun?

We know we always need ammunition.

Sometimes we run out All right.

Romans, chapter eight, verse 14, and Paul is writing here under inspiration of the Holy Ghost, he said for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

And how many of you believe that's true?

See, it's written right here.

I believe it's true.

And if it is true and I believe it is true I think the converse is also true as many as are the sons of God, they are led by the Spirit of God.

If you belong to God, if you're born again, you are led.

Now the question is not whether you're being led by the Spirit, the question is whether you're following His lead.

So that's why we're teaching tonight on the subject walking in the light.

Walking in the light.

And in verse 16, it says the Spirit Himself bears witness, with our Spirit, that we are the children of God.

And another good cornerstone verse that we wanna give you is Proverbs, chapter 20, verse 27.

Proverbs 20:27

And it says the Spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.

The word candle there in the Hebrew means lamp.

The Spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly.

So here we see in Romans that all believers are led by the Spirit, and they're led by the same way that they knew they were saved, and that is by the witness of the Spirit.

You know we're spirit beings, we live in a body and we have a mind, a will and an intellect, and so you know we've gone over this before, but it bears repeating.

You know God is a spirit.

So therefore he leads us by his spirit in our spirit.

He doesn't lead us in our mind, he doesn't lead us by the body.

See, feelings are the voice of the body.

A lot of people I just say most Christians are led around by their own feelings.

They, you know, they feel this, they feel the other, they feel this, they feel the other.

If they're attracted, they feel that they go that direction.

That's just the recipe for disaster.

I mean, he may have mercy on you if time or two, when you're first getting started, but at some point you have to realize that he's leading you in your spirit and he does it by the same way that you knew you were saved.

I mean most of us.

When we got saved, we didn't have a vision, we didn't know.

You know, jesus didn't appear to us and say thou art saved.

You know, we just knew it, we knew it in our knower.

And it's difficult sometimes to explain spiritual things with English.

But feelings are the voice of the body.

Reason is the voice of the mind.

You know, men are bad about that.

Men want to be logical.

They think God is law, which is logical.

Well, you know, god is logical in his way, but he doesn't lead us by our mind, he doesn't lead us with reason, he leads us by his spirit.

He leads us by the witness of that spirit.

What does the witness mean?

It means a knowing.

Simply, your lamp is lit, lit, you've got a lamp inside.

That's your spirit and he, by his spirit, will light that lamp.

And all of a sudden you're illuminated and you just know.

You know you didn't hear a voice, necessarily, you know he didn't write it on the sky, he didn't write it on the wall, and you just have a knowing.

See, this is the way that we are designed to operate and follow.

His spirit is by the inward witness.

Another description of the witness is just having peace about a certain thing, or maybe a lack of peace, a red light, a green light.

You know, when you have a red light, it means what?

Stop when you lose your peace.

Stop If you're headed down the road and you have something on the inside that's going off in you, obey that, get off the freeway, turn around, go back where you came from.

So our spirits are lamps that are illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

God is light.

So you know, the message titled tonight is walking in the light.

And whose light?

His light.

Walking in the light.

Just another teaching on being led by the Spirit.

And I find that that Christians need to hear this over and over again, because you know you faith coming by, hearing and hearing, and so, the more you talk about it, god is able to fill in the blanks.

We're all at different levels, different places in our spiritual development, and what God allowed you to get by with when you were a baby Christian, he expects us to grow and and get more mature as time goes on, and and you know, for instance, in me, in my case, that just seemed like when I first got saved.

In the first month, it seemed like I was always here in his voice.

I heard the voice of the Lord directing me.

I heard the voice of the Lord telling me this and telling me that, but then, after I received the baptism of, the Holy Ghost started speaking in other tongues, just very gradually.

After that the voice stopped, and so now it's time for me to grow up and start to hear.

You know, in other ways, which is what we're gonna talk about tonight the ways that we can know God is leading us by his Spirit, and you know we need the Holy Ghost, but we need the Word.

You know.

I mean I saw him.

119, 105 says it.

Father, your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

I speak that every day.

I confess it over my life, father, your word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path.

In other words, his word is lighting our way, and when we don't put the word in us, you know, it's pretty hard for him to direct our Steps.

We need to read our Bibles, don't we?

You know, many people stumble over the supernatural, you know, looking for the spectacular.

They're waiting on God to give them a dream that get way on God, to give them a vision.

They wait on God to give them a prophetic word from somebody.

And these are, these are used from time to time.

I mean, I go back in my life, in ministry.

I've had dreams, I've had visions, I've had prophetic words.

But you know, that's not the major way that I know God's will.

I know God's will by the witness of the Spirit.

I follow him's, lead by that inward knowing, and.

And so we need the word to walk in the light of the word.

I mean, when you just agree with this word and walk in the light of it, that's most of the battle right there, most of the battle walk in the light of the word.

You know, I was talking to somebody you know, years ago.

They said well, I'm considering I've got this girl, I've.

I think I'm falling in love.

I think she might be my wife.

I said, well, is she saved?

No, but I'm praying to see if that's the one God.

I said well, why are you praying about something God already told you in the Bible?

He said in 2nd Corinthians 6 14 does not be an unequally yoke with the unbeliever.

I mean, if you're gonna marry an unbeliever, you're marrying the devil and you're gonna have misery.

So there's no point in praying over something that's already said in the word.

So we need to walk in the light of the word.

Walking in light of the word is so important, and you know other people.

I know they.

They put a lot of stock and and Making deals with God.

You know, god, if it's your will for me to do this, do that.

The Old Testament talks about fleeces.

You know, jid Gideon Was an Old Testament figure.

He was called to be the deliverer of Israel.

They were oppressed by the Midianites.

I and an angel appeared to him.

Hey, old, mighty man of valor, who are you talking to Me?

He was hiding, trying to stay invisible to the Midianites, and the angel told him you know you're gonna deliver.

He said how do?

I know?

I know I'm looking at you, I know I'm hearing you, but how?

I know it's God.

I'll tell you what.

I'm gonna put a wad of fleece out on this ground, and when I get up in the morning, if it's wet and the ground is dry, I know it's God talking to me.

And so God honored that and that's how it happened.

And then he said oh, don't be mad at me, but tomorrow morning let's do the reverse.

Let it be wet and the ground dry, and it happens.

See, so he set a fleece.

Well, gideon was an Old Testament man.

He's spiritually dead.

He doesn't have the spirit of God living on the inside of him.

The only people that had a Holy Ghost were the priests, the prophet and the king, and the Holy Ghost was not in them, that there was a pawn them to perform their ministry.

And so that's why people like Gideon would need a prophet to tell them.

Well, there wasn't one.

So the angel appeared to him.

See, so us in the New Testament, for us to say and make deals with God and say well, god, if you want me to do this and such, you do this and such.

Well, when you say it, you set it out into the natural realm.

Where the devil can fleece you, you'll be the one that gets fleeced.

Brother Hagin found that out by a sad experience In 1941, he tried out to be the pastor of a church and they perceived him, they liked his preaching and so on the way home he and Aretha prayed, said God, if you want me to take this church, see to it that I get 100% of the vote.

They voted on their pastor in those days in that particular church government, and so they did.

They voted 100%.

And he went there and he was so miserable he said in the natural everything was better than it had ever been.

They had more money, they had the best place to live, school was good for the kids.

But he was so he could not preach, he couldn't have the Holy Spirit wouldn't help him preach.

And he finally realized that he had missed God, that he had put this fleece out, and he got fleeced, and so did the church.

They got fleeced, but he'd made a one year commitment.

So he finished out his year and left and years later he came back by the witness and later on pastured that church in the will of God.

But so let's not be making deals with God, let's take the time to stay at his presence and be patient and walk by the witness of the Spirit.

You know, not everything you need to know is written specifically about your case in the Bible, you know.

For instance, you know I'd been praying about starting a church and brother Osteen asked me to wait, and so I dutifully waited.

It was a tough time, you know, because I knew God's will for what was meant for me to leave my church and go out on my own and start one.

But you know I wasn't gonna leave without his full blessing and so he said wait, you should.

You know it's just ahead of time, you just need to wait a little longer.

So I remember, on December, the 14th of 1994, he called me and he released me.

He said now, john, if at this time or anytime you wanna start that church, you have my full and unreserved blessing.

Well, man, I started looking for a church building.

I didn't wait around, you know, I started looking for a church building, praying, walking, trying to, and previous to that, I just knew by the witness that it should be around 1960 area in Northwest Harris County.

I didn't have a word, I didn't have a voice, I just knew.

So one day I left my house in spring.

I left work early, went home and then drove from my house in spring, came up Kirkindall and hit 1960 and turned west.

And I'm praying in the Holy Ghost, praying in the Holy Ghost.

When I got to Champion Forest Drive in 1960, headed west, I felt a real warmth when I say feel.

I didn't feel anything, I didn't have goosebumps, I just knew inside something was bubbling.

And it got stronger and stronger as I kept driving west until I got to the railroad tracks just right there, right close to Willowbrook, just east of Willowbrook Mall.

And when I hit the railroad tracks I lost it and so I pulled over the next intersection, did a U turn and it picked back up again as soon as I crossed the railroad tracks, going the other direction, and I remembered a building that we had when I was lost.

I used to eat out here at this place.

It was called Big Ben's Barbecue and my builder, friends and I we used to drink beer and eat barbecue.

They'd get a pitcher of beer and orders of ribs and I mean we'd spend hours in there mostly drinking beer.

I used to think that you had to have beer with a barbecue.

That's how I was back then.

But I thought about that building and I wondered what had ever happened to it.

I knew that it had become a restaurant.

It was at another point.

It had become a restaurant seafood restaurant and I couldn't remember exactly where it was and I thought is that the building?

And then, sure enough, there was the building.

I realized where it was.

I pulled in there and there was a realtor sign in the window.

It was vacant and it was for lease.

And the broker helped me compose a lease and helped me negotiate the deal with the owner, with the landlord, and that was our first building, all because of the witness of the spirit of God.

Oh, I tell you, it's so valuable to be able to follow the Holy Ghost's leading.

And that was just the end of December of 94.

And then we had our first meeting.

Well, actually it was after the second meeting was getting close to our start date.

Start date was the 29th, which is coming up.

That's gonna be our.

What is that?

The 24th?

No 29th, right, no, 28th anniversary.

Sorry, I can't do math now, but anyway.

So here was.

We had our first organizational meeting on the 7th.

15 people showed up.

Then the second meeting, the 15th had 25 people show up and then I found the building at 6827, fm 1960, west Houston, texas, 77066.

That was our first address and then we got the keys on the Saturday before the Sunday morning first service.

We all met over there on a Saturday afternoon, cleaned the building up, got it ready for our first service and we had 103 people at our very first service.

Talk about walking in the light.

So I've got this little acronym, l-e-d.

You know LED lights and a light emitting diode.

That's what that means and that's the latest technology for lights.

I just had my lights replaced in my master bath and in my master closet with LED light fixtures and it's amazing how much brighter and nicer the light is now.

And so we've got these three letters L-E-D, and I've got this message L number one, the first one, l look to the word.

If you wanna be led by the spirit, look to the word.

You know another verse in Psalm 119, is Psalm 119, 130.

Your words give the entrance of your word, give us light.

You know, I just confessed that over me before I read my Bible Father, your entrance of your word, give us light.

It's illuminate my spirit.

So the word again is so important.

We need the word and the spirit, but the word is the cornerstone.

Without the word we're gonna get flaky.

Without the word we're gonna go here and there.

We need the word of God.

You know the word and the spirit always agrees.

Never gonna give you a word that violates the spirit's, never gonna tell you to do something or show you to do something that violates the word.

That's why we need the word and it's spiritual nourishment for your lamp.

So your spirit is your lamp.

Think about a lamp.

It gets all dark.

You know, I had light fixtures in my closet.

It was recessed light fixtures but it was dingy in there and it seemed to me that we had to bring clothes out of the closet and get it in a brighter light to see the real color.

I mean some of the stuff.

Now we don't.

It's bright in there.

It's more accurate than those dingy light fixtures.

You know, I remember I used to go floundering flounder.

Fishing with flounder, of course, is flat and you go floundering, you have to wade in knee, deep water and you know, and salt water and you gig the flounder because they're embedded on the bottom of the, on the bottom there, and the tide needs to be out and the water's clearer then.

And then you can, if you've got a good Coleman lantern.

We used Coleman lanterns but after a couple of hours of wading through the water and splashing and all that, that salt water would get on the lamp.

It'd get all crusty and dirty and it got to where it was hard to see the bottom.

You couldn't see the outline of the flounder to gig them, so we'd have to stop and clean the lens and take time to clean the lamp.

See, I'm telling you, your lamp is cleaned and empowered by the Word.

Praise God.

And so give the Word first place.

Number two, the E-L-E-D, so the second one E.

Edify your spirit by praying in other tongues.

Edify your spirit, charge, brighten your lamp.

I mean, you know First Corinthians 14, for he that prayeth in an unknown tongue edifies himself.

Jude 20,.

You know, build yourself up on your most holy faith, prayin' in the Holy Ghost.

You just get spiritually charged.

Your light gets brighter, and the brighter the light is in your spirit, the easier it is to discern what God wants you to do.

It's not about a voice.

Sometimes God can speak to you.

Usually it's your own spirit speaking to you.

That's still small voice, but if you're waiting for voices and always trying to hear a voice, listen, you're missing a lot of guidance.

God will guide you primarily through the witness.

So the stronger you are in the Word and the more you pray in the Holy Ghost, then it becomes easier for you to discern what God is wanting you to do.

You pick up his desires.

And it's not about a voice, it's not about a vision, it's not about a dream, it's about just picking up his leadership and that's how he wants.

That is the foolproof way and that way the devil can interfere with it.

Anything that comes out in the natural, the devil can jump on that and try to hinder it.

But when God begins to communicate to you spirit to spirit oh, I'm telling you he can't steal that from you so easily is even a prophetic word?

I might give somebody a prophetic word but that's out here in the atmosphere.

You know immediately the devil's gonna come and try to oppose it.

But when God just lets you know it down in your spirit what he wants you to do, and you start doing it, well the devil's just, he's out of the loop.

So number L-E-D, say look to the word, edify your spirit by praying in other tongues.

And then the last one D do what you know to do down in your knower.

Say one thing about listening and hearing and knowing, but then you have to obey it, you have to put feet to it.

And a lot of times in my experience people want to get the whole plan.

They want to see everything.

They get a little piece of the puzzle in prayer Maybe you got it out of the word and they get a little inkling and then they pray in the Holy Ghost and get a little inkling and then they just sit on that waiting for more.

You're not gonna get any more if you don't act on what you already know down in your knower.

You need to do Well, but I don't know the whole picture will take a step.

That's the faith part.

That's the part that you walk by faith and not by feelings, not by sight, not by anything else.

You take a faith step.

What have you got to lose by taking one step?

You just take a step.

God can't lead you while you're standing still, any more than you can steer a boat while it's sitting at the dock.

It's gotta be moving through the water.

Then the helmsman can turn the wheel and steer it.

And if you want the God to lead you and to guide you, then you have to get moving.

A lot of times people are afraid of making a mistake.

Well, get rid of that.

Fear God.

You know, peter kind of made a mistake.

He got into the water, you know, and then he started doubting.

Well, he didn't drown.

Jesus took him by the hand and took him back to the ship.

So you know, I mean I just know God's big enough when we're wanting to be led by His Spirit and we take a faith step.

If we take a faith step in the wrong direction, we're gonna know it down in our knower.

We're gonna say oh, that's the wrong direction, go back and go back where you came from, wait a little longer in prayer and take another step in another direction.

I'm so glad I took a step that day driving down 1960.

And it led me to our first building, and the rest is history.

It took that.

I mean I had to.

Actually, did I have the money?

I didn't have any money.

I signed a lease for $60,000 and I had nothing.

I had a credit card Well, I think a $5,000 limit on it, first credit card I'd had and I don't know how long and but we made a deal with the landlord that he took it and we didn't have to have but like $2,500 to move into the building and the members had saved their tithe and we were able to give him a check for a little amount $2,500.

And then I was able to put the electricity on that credit card.

I had to make a $5,000 deposit.

Took the whole credit card to do it Well.

So we walked by faith.

We made that step of faith and the rest is history.

So let's walk in the light, as he is in the light, and watch God do great things.

This is a year of God's magnificent power he is going to display to his people who are willing to walk in the light.

Come on, lift your hands and receive Hallelujah.

I preached myself.

Happy Glory to God.

I love thinking about what God has done, but he's doing greater things now and he's got a lot of things in store for us together as we march through 2023.