Walking In The Light

Pick your bibles up, wake yourself up.

Time to get into the Word.

I believe in waving palms.

I've got two palms and I'll wave my palms on palms Sunday.

Let's say this together say, heavenly Father, I'm here tonight to spend time with you.

To be in the anointing is worth more than I can say.

Thank God for your Holy Word.

And the light is shining on this Word, illuminating my spirit, building my faith, strengthening my spirit.

I'm developing into the next phase of growth.

In Jesus' name, we never stop growing, amen.

All right, let's look at Romans, chapter eight, and Proverbs, chapter 20.

Proverbs 20 · chapter mention

And we're gonna read some familiar verses where Romans 8, 14 says for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

I like to turn that around as many as their sons of God, they are led by the Spirit of God.

If the first one's true, the second one's true.

Everybody say I am led.

He's always leading you.

Whether you're following is another matter.

There's always leadership available and it's active.

So we need to learn to follow verse 16.

The Spirit itself, or himself, bears witness, with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

So the witness of the Spirit is the main way that God leads us, and you know, 26 years of pastor in this church, eight years of ministry before that at Lakewood, and then the years before that, before I became a minister.

I mean, I've just observed in my own life.

It took a long time for me to learn how to walk by the witness of the Spirit.

It wasn't just one teaching or one point.

It took a lot of life experiences, a lot of mistakes, missing God, missing the witness, and so that's why I teach on this over and over again, because we are.

This is the most important thing for us.

Claire mentioned it the time we're living in.

We're seeing people out there that are totally emotion driven, and most Christians are mostly most emotion driven.

They follow their feelings, but we have the ability to be led by the Spirit if we will follow the witness of the Spirit, and then in Proverbs, chapter 20, we'll turn over there.

Proverbs 20 · chapter mention

Another verse that I like to use along with this.

It says the Spirit of man is the candle of the Lord or the lamp.

The Spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly, and so I wanna just share a message entitled walking in the light.

Tonight, you know we're to walk in the light as he's in the light, and so we have a divine right to be led by the Spirit, and we are, you know God's a Spirit, we're spirit beings living a body.

I know, you know that, but we have to repeat it all the time because we have new people.

We have people also that come that are not as familiar with what we teach about being led by the Spirit.

Feelings are the voice of the body.

That's flesh.

Your feelings are your flesh.

If you're gonna follow feelings, you're following your flesh.

That's the recipe for disaster, especially finances.

Oh man, you wanna get cheated.

Follow your flesh.

I mean, your flesh is never gonna know what God's will is about finances.

You'll get separated from your money.

You'll get separated from your money.

You'll be attracted to something just because of your flesh.

And of course, then reason is the voice of the mind.

God's not a mind, he's a spirit, and so then conscience is the voice of the Spirit.

We like to call it the still small voice, and I like to encourage people not to just keep listening for voices, because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, there are many voices in the world, none without significance.

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

I mean, there are many voices.

Demons have voices, your body has a voice, your mind has a voice.

There's all kind of voices.

It takes a lot longer to learn how to distinguish between the voices than it is.

Just go ahead and learn to follow the witness of the Spirit.

That was how you knew you were saved.

You were saved because you knew.

You just knew it.

You knew it down on the inside.

You know, the moment you gave your heart to Jesus, oh, the stone was rolled away.

I mean you got peace that flowed like a river.

I mean it really didn't need anybody to tell you what happened.

You knew that all was right, and that's the witness of the Spirit.

You can describe that as a green light or peace or anything you want to talk about, but our spirits are lamps that must be illuminated.

See, they're again walking in the light, which is what I'm talking about.

Our spirits are illuminated by what?

By the Holy Ghost.

So when he lights your lamp, then you've got light to walk.

You've got light to walk and because by you know the Holy Spirit first.

John 1.5 says God is light.

In him there's no darkness at all.

So it just makes sense that God, who is light, is going to illuminate your spirit Because you're a spirit, he's a spirit.

That's how he leads you.

One spirit, the father of spirits, illuminating you who are a spirit.

See, that's just divine order right there.

Divine order, divine order.

So these messages, this message is helping you to take the word of God and build your faith, to follow the witness of the spirit, because that's the only reliable thing we've got.

We can't go by what we look at, see and all of that and taste and smell and hear.

We've got to go by the witness.

And then also we need God's word.

You know, again, long experience, when I see people that have this distant look in their eyes and they say, oh, the Holy Spirit was talking to me this morning.

See, I wonder if they ever read their Bible.

You know they're kind of flaky.

Now you got to have the word.

You know the Bible, in Psalm 119, verse 105, it says your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

Psalms 119:105

So God is never gonna lead you by his spirit which doesn't agree with the word.

The word and the spirit always agree.

That is your safety valve.

That's when, if you're confident that you're are going to be led by the witness and your witness is leading you in a certain direction, but the Bible forbids it, then you know that you're not listening to the spirit Makes sense.

No, we need the word and we need to build our spirit up with the Word, because our spirit is where we hear from God.

The spirit is where we are illuminated.

So if your spirit is not fed a good diet of the Word of God, then your spirit is not a very reliable.

It's not very reliable to listen to.

You're not gonna be able to understand what's going on there.

And so many stumble over the supernatural looking for the spectaclter which I call visions and dreams.

Have I had some?

Yeah, I had some visions tonight?

I can't make that happen.

I don't just get to say, oh, tonight I'm gonna have some visions, I'm gonna see people's feet, I'm gonna see people.

You know, I'm gonna see this.

I'm gonna see a demon fly out of a young man.

I'm gonna see this, I'm gonna.

No, I don't get to do that.

That just has a spirit will.

I have no control over that.

I can't make that happen.

I have to let that happen.

I have to yield myself for that to happen and even when it happens, I have to have faith, to trust it.

But that's not the normal way that I'm led.

I mean everyday life.

I have to follow a witness of the spirit.

Sometimes there are decisions I have to make as pastor that I wish that I could have him righted across the sky.

I wish he would have you know, appear to me, like he did Brother Hagin seven times or however many times it was, you know.

But you know, I have to be content with the witness and I'm not gonna ever ask him for something more, because then asking him for something more spectacular, like a vision or a dream or a prophetic word, then I'm giving place to the devil to accommodate me and I'm liable to get something that's not.

God, are you with me now?

I'm talking about walking in the light.

It's so important right now, it's always important, but especially in the time that we're living.

So let's just walk in the light of the word and let's not get all hung up on the spectaculator.

I mean, the spectaculator is there when you need it and God is the one that decides when you need it, if there's something that he wants to get over to you so unambiguous where you don't have any trouble understanding it, and he grants you a dream or a vision or a visitation, then it's been my experience, every time that's happened in my life, that I've got a battle ahead of me because he wanted to grant me that special dispensation of guidance.

That's unusual, it's scriptural, but it's unusual.

It might not be more than a handful of times in your entire life that God would do that and it's been in my experience.

Whenever time he's done it.

I've had some tough sailing ahead.

I mean, there's been some rough seas and some hard things that I had to have that spectacular guidance to hang on to, or I might've been tempted to doubt that, whether I really heard from God or not, are you with me now?

So just walk in the light of the word.

You've got little Sally.

She's young and she wants to get married and she found Harry.

Harry met Sally, sally met Harry and first of all she gotta make sure that Harry is really Harry and not Sally.

But anyway, regardless, it's pretty hard to do nowadays, but after you settle that, oh, but, pastor, he's not a Christian, I just know he's the one.

He's the one.

Well, see, now you're not being led by the word.

The word forbids you to be unequally yoked with the unbeliever.

You're gonna marry the devil.

See, gladys didn't know it.

She married the devil.

She didn't know.

She found out pretty quick after that.

But no, she thought I was saved, I was Catholic, I went to church, all that kind of stuff, and she didn't know.

She didn't.

You know, she's a young lady.

She didn't know and it turned out okay in our case, praise God.

But you know, if you know better, see, she didn't know better.

She hadn't been taught that anyway.

I mean, basically in the Baptist church in those days you were taught how to get saved.

Every Sunday you were taught how to get saved, and then every other Sunday you would rededicate your life, always rededicate, until your rededicator breaks.

I heard that from brother Osteen.

He told me that, all right.

So look, it's so simple.

When you have the word abiding in you, it'll settle what you're supposed to do.

You know it's not a strain then to be led by the spirit, because the word and the spirit always agree.

And so if you were attracted in a certain direction for a husband or a wife and you know what the word says, then you're gonna know to close that door yourself.

You're not gonna ever waste any time and ask God what to do or ask anybody else to pray with you about it.

Right, right Now, I just appreciate brother Osteen, brother Hagen.

They would preach out their mistakes, they would talk about the mistakes they made earlier in their ministries, about the subject, especially about being led by the spirit.

And so brother Hagen has a great teaching on setting fleeces.

I've come across a lot of people who believe they've read it in the Bible.

It's in the book of you know.

Judges said hey, you know, gideon set a fleece.

Y'all remember the story of Gideon.

He's a young guy and the angel appeared to him hail thou mighty man of valor.

And told him he was to be the deliverer of Israel and he had to test it.

He said all right, I'll believe it, but if you're gonna, I'm gonna set a fleece.

I'm gonna take a fleece from a lamb and put it out here on the ground, and in the morning the fleece will be dry and the ground will be wet.

And God granted that to him.

And he said oh, okay, well, don't get mad at me, but I'm gonna do it the opposite in the morning I'm gonna have the fleece be wet and the ground dry.

And God granted it.

And so by that setting that fleece.

He knew that he was to be the deliverer of Egypt and he went out and was courageous and did his job.

But that's Old Testament, and Gideon did not have the spirit of God living on the inside of him.

He did not have access to the people that could guide him by the spirit, which would be the only people in the Old Testament that had the spirit of God Upon them was the priest, the prophet and the king.

So there was no profit for him to go to.

There was no priest for him to go to, so he was cut off from spiritual guidance.

And so God would grant in the Old Testament certain things and that are totally unscriptural for us in the new.

I mean it's not as many as are led by fleeces or the sons of God is by those that are led by the witness.

Those are led by the spirit of God, amen.

And so you don't.

You don't put conditions and use conditions in the natural to test whether God is telling you to do something.

Well, brother Hagan hadn't gotten that teaching in 1941, when he was young pastor.

He'd only been pastoring a few years and a church had invited him to try out for the pastorate, and back then, you know you'd go and preach and then the board would vote and vote you in or out or whatever.

So they, they.

He went and preached for this church.

It went well and they liked him, he liked them and he just prayed.

A prayer says you know, he said God, if they, if they, vote for me, they had to put it to a vote in the church.

So every member of the church was a voting member and he said if I get 100% of the vote of that church, I'll count.

That.

That's the Holy ghost and that's where you want me to pastor.

See, he should have and he didn't know this, but he should have just prayed and been prepared to operate according to the witness of the spirit.

But he didn't.

He hadn't been teaching this yet, he hadn't heard himself teach this yet.

And so he set a fleece and the people voted 100%.

Every single member voted for him to be the pastor.

He moved there and he couldn't have.

He didn't have the anointing to preach.

He could.

He was so miserable.

He said it was the best past, it was the best place he'd ever been to.

They had the nicest personage.

I mean, they had the best fried chicken.

I mean, they had all that stuff.

You know the back.

Then they just they'd bring you fried chicken instead of money, but anyway, so they he ate well.

And I made that up.

But he got fleeced and so did the church.

They got fleeced.

Well, he had a one year commitment and he couldn't.

Just, he knew within weeks when there was no annoyance he said I stood in the pulpit, there was no anointing to preach.

Can you imagine how torturous that is, not being able to have the Holy spirit help you, minister to the church, minister to your congregation.

And so they had to learn, and he had to learn the hard way and he gave a year commitment, so he had to stay a whole year.

Of course, at the end of the year, I think, they were glad to see him go and he was glad to leave.

And later on that church called him back and it was the Holy ghost the next time he went back and was able to to to be the pastor of that church later in his ministry, and when he went back it was the Holy ghost that time, praise God.

So, uh, not everything you need to know is in the Bible.

See, it wasn't in the Bible for brother Hagan to know whether to go to that church or not Wasn't written in the Bible.

So that's why we have to develop our spirit, so that we can operate in the witness of the spirit when the Bible is not playing about what his will is.

Are you with me now?

Are y'all following me?

So when you follow the witness of the Holy ghost, you have peace.

And so brother Hagan had to learn from Jesus how to follow that witness.

You know, he gave him some illustrations and and uh, you know, the best way to to describe it is that you have a green light, you have the peace of God.

When you're going the direction that the Holy spirit wants you to go, you it, just you.

You're attracted that way, I don't say physically, but just you just have a.

Uh, brother Hagan, he described it as a velvety, a velvety, smooth feeling.

When I say feeling, it's not an emotional feeling, it's just that, that sense that you're in the right direction and you.

It takes faith to operate in this Cause.

You're again.

You're not hearing a voice, you're not seeing anything written across the sky.

You know you're, you're following the witness of the spirit.

When you commit yourself to that, you're stronger for it cause you're pleasing God by walking by faith and uh and so, uh, I just appreciate the examples that I had in that brother.

Brother Osteen committed himself to following the witness.

You know he knew these things.

I remember when we were in that uh metal building, uh back in the I guess early to mid eighties he would come out everybody across the country were building these mega churches.

They were coming up.

I mean this church would be a 10,000 seat, or this church to be a 5,000 seat, or this church to be a 6,000 seat, or, and you know he just had it, and it's hard to build a big church.

They had that, that old building.

It seated 5,000, but they were needing two services A Sunday.

It was crowded.

The first service you had to hurry up.

They couldn't really take a long time.

They an hour and a half maximum for the eight 30 service because people were showing up in parking lot and they didn't have enough parking to park everybody.

So they had a limitation on on seats, they had a limitation on parking and so, you know, eight 30 service, I mean you had to get out of there.

You know you had to get out of there about 10 o'clock cause people are coming for the 11 o'clock service and they're getting, they're coming from all over town.

They're getting there, you know, early in many cases.

And so a few times you know we'd go with Holy Ghosts and move on the eight 30 service and and people would start stacking up, you know, outside and in the door, and they'd be coming in, you know, and we're not through yet.

People to be around the altar, drunk in the Holy Ghost or the spirit of God would be moving and and it was, it was hard.

So he came one one time and he said we're going to start that church.

Oh, everybody went, wow, yeah.

And the next Sunday he said, oh, I missed God, that's not, I had lost my peace.

So he was testing the witness of the spirit.

He wanted to build a new building and he would announce it and then, once he announced it, he'd lose his peace.

See, that was the witness not to do it.

In other words, that's the hold up sign, that's the red light.

He never went through the stop sign.

It was pretty bad.

When you go through a stop sign, you know, through a red light, you better stop at the red light right, especially in Houston.

I mean you just you know.

And so I saw him do that several times.

And then we moved away and when we moved back he was let's see, it was the summer.

So we moved in about August of 85.

We moved away to Corpus.

We came back in January of 1987.

So in the summer of 86, I was in Corpus and of course I didn't know it at the time, but I was not in the perfect will of God, I was in the permissive will of God.

Why?

Because I had missed a witness, missed a witness of the Spirit.

So I was out of position.

And the summer of 86, brother Osteen had to have open heart surgery and I should have been back at Lakewood.

I should have been there, I should have been part of that church when that happened and I remember feeling so grieved for him having to go through that.

And after he was recovering that summer, toward the later fall, I heard that he had announced that they're going to build a new building and the Holy Ghost said now is the time to announce it.

I want you to announce it right now, when you're weak as water and you can hardly stand up, so that you'll know that I'm going to do this and not you.

You know Brother Osteen had a lot of ability.

He could do things, he could make things happen and he's a very wise businessman.

He was a very wise handler of money.

They had quite a lot of funds that they could have operated on, but it wasn't been God's best.

He waited on the witness of the Spirit Are you with me now?

And so by the time we got back, we got to be there when ground was broken and that whole process happened and we got to be part of that.

Praise God.

So follow the witness of the Spirit, follow the peace of God.

That passes all understanding.

And you know, this church is all about the witness functioning, because I never did have a spectacular guidance once that I committed to doing to pastoring.

Once I committed that was a lot of spectacular guidance, all right of voice and visitations and all of that.

But once I went to Brother Osteen he released me to start this church, gave his full blessing and I have it right here on December the 14th 1994.

And so you know right, two weeks before Christmas we had just gotten back from a big trip to New Delhi.

I'd been there when 100,000 people had come to that big neighbor's stadium there in the capital city of India, and four nights just glorious.

I mean, we saw the Book of Acts, we saw people, we saw the lame walk and the blind eyes open.

A guy had heart disease, was completely healed.

I don't know so many miracles you couldn't even count.

So anyway, he gave me my leave so I started looking for a building and looking, looking, looking.

Every chance I got I'd go down, up and down.

I just knew 1960 was where it was supposed to be, but I didn't know exactly where.

I knew approximately where, just by the witness.

I'd be driving down 1960 and I'd feel the witness and I'd feel it for a mile or so.

And then, after, after I crossed 249, I was headed.

I would be heading west on 1960.

And as soon as I crossed 249 toward Jones, no witness.

So I knew it had to be this side of 249.

And then when I'd get all the way to Stubner, no witness.

So somewhere between Stubner and 249.

I mean, it was like a GPS.

It's like a GPS.

And then I started thinking about an old building that I had used to eat barbecue and drink beer in when I was a lost person.

It was a home builder.

We'd go to Big Ben's barbecue and it was on 1960.

And after it went broke cause nobody knew it was there.

It was way off the road and people would drive by it before they'd see the sign.

And then you know they just it was hard, you know, you just didn't see it out of sight, out of mind On 1960, if you, you got to be visible.

That's why all those signs are everywhere, just lined up.

So, but we discovered we liked beer and we liked we liked barbecue, and so that's where we were, and so I thought about that building.

I said what about that building?

I wonder if that building is still there.

You know, that was the Holy Ghost just giving me a memory.

And so anyway, we started having meetings, preparatory meetings, and so here I've got the date, january 7th 1995.

Our first meeting we had 15 people.

They were interested in the church, they wanted to commit, and then about a week later, on 11595, just two days for my birthday, one of the ladies baked me a birthday cake for that meeting and we had another meeting.

So there was 25 there at that meeting.

And so then I was driving down the road and I said, man, I can't find that building.

I want to find that building.

For I make a decision because I remember that building at restaurant.

After the barbecue place went down it became another restaurant, a seafood place, and then I lost track.

I mean, I just I don't live on this.

I lived in spring so I didn't come over here often, wasn't thinking about that.

So anyway, Someone called me from that second meeting.

Says, pastor, we know, right at the entrance of our subdivision they live in Champions Park.

She said, right at the entrance of Champions Park subdivision there's a building for lease.

I said, I think that's the building I'm looking for.

And sure enough, that was the building Right in front of Champions Park, across the river where Super Target is now was the building and I walked in there for lease.

That was the building.

I looked in the.

I saw the post where I used to sit at a table and drink beer and eat barbecue and I thought, boy, this is crazy.

God is gonna let me have this for my first church building, a place where I used to be when I was lost.

And I, how many of you remember, I'd point to that post and say that's where I used to sit and drink beer and eat barbecue.

In fact, I believed in that so heavily I didn't think you could ever eat barbecue without drinking beer.

I've learned better now I don't do that anymore.

But All right, see, none of that is in the Bible.

None of that is.

There's no place.

68, 27, fm, 1960, where it's not in here, Wasn't in here, but when I saw it, man, the witness hit me almost fainted, and I call the number and this guy comes out.

He's the broker.

You know, he's the real estate broker, the commercial agent that's handling the lease, and he's a Baptist Deacon, champion for his Baptist church.

And we got to talking and he said look this thing, I know, you know the guy I represent this.

You know the lease, or.

But I have to tell you, I mean he's desperate because it's been, it's been empty for a year and a half and he said he'll take almost anything.

He said he's going to need what he's asking.

He needs 60,000 a year.

But you don't have to give him that amount of money, 5,000 a month.

You don't have to give him that plus all his damage.

Just structure your lease for just a little bit.

The first month, first three months.

Give yourself, I would say, take about four to six months at lower than that, to give your church a chance to grow and then make it up at the end.

And he helped me structure and he's supposed to be working for the guy that.

You know he's not working for me but he was working for me.

That's the favor of God right there.

And he helped me structure that and I mean the guy took it, he took my offer and we lowered, we just low.

I think we got in for $2,500 cash and it's just a $60,000 a year lease and get in there for $2,500 cash.

You know, and you know we had to just work it out and it all worked out perfectly.

Everybody say thank God for the witness.

So the first service for January 29th 1995, 103 people showed up.

Praise God.

I mean, you know the word got out.

And just think, about 26 years later, here we are.

Here we are with 10 acres of property and 50,000 square foot of building under roof, totally paid for, debt free, just got through re-bottling all of it.

And we're not through.

We're gonna do a whole lot more outside.

We've got a lot more planned.

Amen.

Everybody say walking in the light.

All right, I got three things here before we leave, just three short things to keep in mind.

And it's LED, led, and LED is the kind of lights that we have.

We have LED lights in here.

This place is illuminated by LED.

Praise God, that's light-emitic diode.

For those of you that wonder what LED stands for, all right, so the first is L.

Look to the word, look to the word.

Psalm 119, I already 105, I've already quoted it Thy word is a lamp under my feet, a light under my path.

Feed on the word Psalm 119, 130, the entrance of thy word giveth light.

I don't know how many times I've been seeking God.

I've been reading my Bible and just reading the Bible.

It's not even necessarily about the words on the page.

Suddenly I have a knowing and suddenly I have the answer to what I'm looking for the word.

Sometimes it's the word, but sometimes it's just accompanies the word.

So your spiritual nourishment for your lamp, you know your lamp.

What if your lamp is all beat up and got a broken bulb?

And what if you're I say, out your spirit?

You gotta nourish your spirit.

If your spirit is weak and malnourished and you're not gonna hear from God like you should, you're gonna make wrong decisions.

So give the word first place and then the second one E, l, e.

Edify your spirit by praying much.

In tongues Brother Hagin would say this, brother Osteen.

I mean, I spent time with brother Osteen and we would talk, we would chat and then he would lapse off and he'd start speaking in other tongues.

His head would be turned.

I was thinking he was talking to me.

I'm just praying in other tongues.

I just learned not to ever interrupt him.

I mean, he was praying in tongues all the time we were riding on the airplane to India.

He's praying in tongues, praying in tongues.

Praying in tongues Walking through the airport.

Praying in tongues Arrabha kattasa, arrabha kattay.

You know, just praying in tongues all the time.

Praying in tongues, you're edifying your spirit, you're charging your spirit.

Jude 20,.

I'm building up yourself on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.

Brother Hagin said you know, I've never been able to make a major decision without praying much in other tongues.

Every direction I've ever had in my ministry came from much praying in other tongues, and so it's the same with you.

I mean, I'd go floundering with my dad growing up.

He loved to fish.

He was a fisherman and fishing with him wasn't just with a pole, he liked floundering.

He loved.

First of all, he liked to eat flounder.

So you don't catch very many flounder on a pole, I guess you can, but most of the time you go giggling them.

So you have to wait in a knee deep water, you know, close to the shore, and the water's gotta be clear, the tide's gotta be out and you've gotta be able to see the bottom and you see the flounder and their outline when they've bed down in that sand.

And you've got a gig and you've got a lamp.

You've got a gig in your.

I'm right handed, so I got a gig in my right hand and I've got a cobbin' lantern in my left hand and you bang, you bang, you dig that flounder and you got it.

But what would happen after a couple of hours is that the lamp would get all messed up dirty with salt water splashing on the lamp and on the lantern and on the glass and it would get all coated with that salt water and then the lamp would be dull.

You couldn't really get a bright enough light to see the flounder embedded in there.

So then we'd have to kinda wait and get a rag and kind of clean it off.

Let's get our spirit refreshed by praying in other tongues so we can really get properly illuminated by the spirit.

That's how he is going to lead us by his light.

And then the last one is D, l-e-d Do what you know to do down in your knower.

Let's look at John 11.

John, chapter 11, jesus, jesus, jesus.

John 11 · chapter mention

This is a story about Lazarus.

Now, verse five now, jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

And when he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, lazarus was sick under death, please come.

That's what they asked.

Well, he heard.

And then he abode two days still in the same place.

He did not drop everything and rushed to his aid.

He waited two more days.

Then, after that, say if he do his disciples, let's go again into Judea.

And his disciples say on him Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee and go astound thither again.

You want to go back there.

They want to kill you.

Don't go back there.

And Jesus answered verse nine are there not 12 hours in the day?

If any man walk in the day, he stumble, if not because he sees the light of this world, but if a man walk in the night, he stumbles because there is no light in him.

So what is he saying all that for?

He's waiting on the witness of the spirit.

He's waiting for his father to illuminate his spirit to go.

He said I only do the things I see my father do.

I only say the things I hear my father say.

So he operated.

Jesus himself operated in the witness of the spirit.

Well, he's the son of God.

Well, he is a son of God, but on earth he operated as the son of man.

He operated as a man anointed of God.

He did not operate his ministry according that he was the son of God.

That's not how he functioned.

He didn't function as God, he functioned as a man anointed of God.

Acts 10.38,.

I got anointed.

Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy Ghost and power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed at the devil, for God was with him.

Now he's God.

Yeah, I know he's God, but he functioned as the son of man.

Amen, as our example.

So he?

The point is is that he waited for the light, and God gives you enough light to illuminate at least one step.

He won't give you the whole thing.

That's another mistake A lot of times we make is we are waiting for the whole plan to unfold in front of us and we need to walk in the light of what we have for the moment.

Sometimes it's just one step.

I had to take one step.

What was that step?

When Brother Osteen released me, I had to go looking for a building.

I also had to get on the phone and call some folks that had expressed interest in my ministry.

It's they starting.

I told my family and they told some people and next thing I know the phone is ringing.

So I'm talking to some people.

I had to do something, I had to make, I had to make some steps and as I made the steps and God would give me light.

I mean, when I showed up at the right place, I had the witness, that's the place, and so forth.

See, god can't lead you if you don't move.

That's what I appreciate about Brother Osteen.

Brother Hagan, they made a move and when they realized it was the wrong move, they repented and said, oh, that wasn't right Not going to start the turn.

And Brother Hagan, he already moved him.

He made a move into that church and so it took a whole year out of his life being out of the will of God.

You know that kind of hard I've been there.

I've been out of the will of God and that's no fun.

That's not a place you want to be, amen.

So God can't lead you if you don't move.

You know it's like a ship and a dock.

You know you can spend the spend the helm all around, all you want to.

As long as it's sitting still at the dock, it's not going to move, it's not going to steer, it's got to be moving through the water.

So, led walking the light, as he's in the light.

Come on, lift your hands tonight.

Praise God Walking in the light.

It's helped you tonight.

Well, it's a little repeat of what you already know, but we need a refresher every now and then.

Amen.

How many of you committed to follow in the Holy Ghost when he leads you?

Oh, it's.

I'm telling you, just like Claire was saying, we're living in the last of the last day's.

Deception is on every side and the only thing that can save us is God's Word and God's Spirit.

Amen.