Where did it fall

Here's a question you need to ask as we begin.

Do you believe that the word that is going to come forth today is a sent word?

Meaning do you believe that God is sending you a word this morning to affect your life?

Hey kids, if you want to go with Mariana right now, you can and then you can come back a little later.

Wow, we got 60 or 70 kids today.

I said that so that it'll sound effective on the CD.

Hey Maya, how's Sue as your teacher man? Good? Good? Yeah.

Oh, this is Watson here. Hey Isaiah.

He's as dramatic as his granddaddy.

Okay, guys, many of us are at a place where we don't know what to do next.

And we're in the, we're either in the middle of a storm or we have water up to the waist.

We've done everything we know how to do.

And the water is rising, the storm isn't getting any calmer.

And you're wondering what do I do next to God?

And I'm hoping that today we can examine a few stories which will be in a lay down platform

or lay down certain things that God wants to show us through his word,

which will allow us to function a certain way.

And so this whole idea of where did it fall comes from 2 Kings 6, 4,

where there is a story of a man who is building a school for the prophets.

And he is a prophet himself.

And he's building the school because Elisha said go ahead and build a school for the prophets.

So he's building the school and he had borrowed an axe.

And in those days, iron axes were pretty expensive and he borrows an axe

and he's chopping down a tree to build a school and the axe it flies off.

And it goes into a river.

And that's when he panics and he goes up to Elisha and says,

Alas, my master, it was borrowed and the axe that has fallen into the river.

And that's when Elisha responds by saying, where did it fall?

Where did it fall?

We'll talk about that later.

But the whole intent is to examine ways that we can begin to deal with situations we are in

that are crisis.

I know the plural of crisis is not crisis, but it'll do for now.

So the first thing we need to understand when you're in a place where in the center of a storm

or where the waters are rising, and I wish people were here on time so they could listen

to the whole sermon because it's not the same as listening on tape.

Guys, Hebrews 612, right?

Hebrews 612.

And here's what Hebrews 612 says.

So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience

inherit the promises.

Of those who through who was this part of the teaching last week?

Fascinating.

And I thought I was a bad artist.

Yeah, the first thing, guys, regardless of the situation you're in, and let me show you

some of the different situations that we're in.

One of the reasons Tara is here and she wanted prayer for this before she leaves is because

she's here to check Jennifer's eyes, right?

Yeah, because Caleb's eyes were not doing all that well and now there's a suspicion that

her daughter's eyes may have the same problem.

And so there is a crisis.

There are others here who have stood strong for healing and nothing has transpired yet

and they don't know how to deal with it.

There are others here who are dealing with family issues, sometimes with sons and daughters,

and don't know what to do next because they've done everything they have to.

There are others here waiting for a break in terms of finances and jobs and nothing is

happening.

There are others who are not here or could be here who have two, three situations where

there's foreclosures facing them, stuff like that happening.

And so how do you, what do you do in situations like this, man?

How do you manage?

What are you supposed to do next?

And that, I'm hoping that some of these things will give us direction as to how to go about

it.

Guys, Hebrews 6, 12 says that the promise, the promise is inherited.

I love this color.

The promise is inherited through, no, please don't buy me shirts of this color for Christmas,

though.

It's inherited through faith and patience.

I like it on the board.

That's only what I meant.

The promise is inherited through faith and patience.

Every inheritance that is supposed to come your way, every promise that is supposed to

come your way comes through faith and patience.

The thing with this, guys, is that faith carries immediacy.

Faith carries immediacy.

And patience speaks of eventuality.

Faith carries immediacy.

And patience speaks of eventuality.

And both have to be combined for you to acquire your promise or inheritance.

Inheritance meaning whatever God wants to give you this year or in the next five years

or in your lifetime.

This is how it works, and it's very important to understand, guys.

Whenever any promise of God is given to you, be it from the word, it already exists, or

be it through a rama word where it's spoken to you saying, here is a prophetic word for you,

here is a word specific for your situation, know that there is a promise or the inheritance

that you're supposed to receive, and then there is that time when it actually comes to pass.

But it cannot be inherited except through faith and patience.

And they seem like contradictions, and yet they are not.

Faith carries in it an immediacy.

Patience carries in it an eventuality.

This is why in Mark 11, 23, it says,

whatsoever you believe, whatsoever you say, believe that you receive it,

even though you still don't have it or see it yet.

What's it trying to say?

Jacob, immediately, if it's a promise from me, believe it as if you have already received it,

even though it's not your present possession.

It's such a strange combination that only God could come up with it, guys.

Everything in life has to have both these held in absolute joyful tension,

not an absolute dismal, oh, I'm holding on in faith, no,

absolute joyful tension, these two things have to be held in.

This is where we collapse, we cannot, we love this part.

We love the immediacy part, but we hate the eventuality part.

And when this is not held in joyful tension, then you give up every little while.

And the more you give up, the easier it becomes to sink into a

cesspool of dismal depression and blaming of God and hopelessness, bleakness.

Guys, it doesn't matter what people's opinions may be about this, experience it,

because a man of experience will not be subject to a man of opinion.

Once you have experienced this in your life, you'll begin to stand on it every time,

you'll stop listening to opinions that people have about situations.

But please, but please understand this.

This is why Mark 11, 23, 1 John 5, 14, 15 come to life, 1 John 5, 14, 15.

If you ask anything according to the will of God, then know that he has heard you and that

even though it may not be in your hands right now, look at it as if it is your present possession,

as long as it is a promise of God. Be it provision, be it healing, be it a Ramah word,

be it about the Lord, be it about the Lord's love, be it about the Lord's love,

be it healing, be it a Ramah word, be it about your job, be it a simple promise of love from God,

whatever it be, there is always immediacy and eventuality and you have to combine both.

Another word then for it is discipline,

persistent,

confidence. That's what we're talking about. We are talking about a confidence

which is always full of hope and joy that is persistent, as in will not give up when it meets

the wall and that is discipline, as in it has a way of progressing with discipline, as in

every time there's a flagging of hope, I go back and engage in the discipline of seeing again

what the Father is saying so that once again I can be persistent in joyful confidence.

Show me this in your lives says the Lord, show me this in your lives that I may take pleasure

in the aroma of hope-filled trust you have in me as your Father for my eyes roam to and fro

searching those whose hearts are committed to me and on whose behalf I can show myself strong

and strong in my faith.

Rise up church, rise up in this eh? And please as you hear words being prophesied during a teaching

or as some things that I'm saying begin to touch you, feel free to voice what you sense in your

spirit because we are a people who don't receive the words of God quietly, right? Amen.

You're going to voice what God lays in our spirit. Can you imagine a mum who's pregnant

going through a pregnancy without a expression of hope in her on her face? Baby kick.

Moved again.

No, no, no, when the seed of God is laid in my womb, there must be something that happened.

Something that happened. Feel free to express.

Guys, here's the thing. The double-minded are basically those that, you know,

when you, and I'm really apologize for giving you an example from baseball. It won't happen

too often in the church. But, but you know that time when a runner is caught between two bases?

And he runs this way and then the guy gets the ball and he runs back this way. And that silly

thing that happens in baseball. Now, because I watched this movie called 42 and it's a great

movie. If you haven't seen it, if you haven't, yeah, Jackie Robinson, if you haven't seen it, see it.

I didn't know I started watching it. I just saw the number 42 and I thought great, let's watch it.

So, yeah, so he keeps running between and he feels so trapped. That's how we normally are

between immediacy and eventuality. We keep running to and fro and in the process we get

double-minded and a double-minded man inherits nothing. A double-minded man inherits nothing.

A double-minded man inherits nothing.

That's what happens when eventuality begins to kick in and immediacy does not happen. Guys,

do you realize that if every prayer I prayed happened immediately, I would never need to

trust God ever? If every time I ask God for something,

it'll be like having one of those lamps you rub and a genie comes out. Only the genie's name is

Holy Spirit and he produces something. Then I wouldn't need to trust God.

Now, here's the other thing, guys. Every promise is released through this process

and it is between immediacy and eventuality that you will have to make choices and decisions.

It will be between immediacy and eventuality that you will have to make choices and decisions.

We'll have to make decisions. God will deliberately craft it this way so that He can prepare

pathways for you to walk so that He can see. Okay, you can show me your metal or caliber now

in terms of trust and faith. Show me. Between the promise I've given you and the provision,

now there's a pathway you have to walk between immediacy and eventuality.

So show me how you're going to function during this time.

Show me whether I can say to you, Jacob, oh man of great faith or should I say to you,

oh ye of little faith or should I just say, hmm faith? How do you spell that one?

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Because in this gap, look at what will happen. You'll learn to make

God choices. It's up to you. The choices you make are up to you. But hopefully God's intent is,

I pray that He makes God choices. And what is the intent of this process? Like,

I forgot to name it, it's been a while. Pastor.

Look what happens when you're away two Sundays.

Shoot his weight. This will come up in our conversation later on. The intent of this

process, as the pastor said, is to increase our confidence. I love this. It's to increase our

confidence,

enlarge our expectation.

Correct.

Well if you put it that way,

absolutely.

Enlarge our expectation.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, if you put it that way,

I'll start with some other color.

Okay, now all of us may have different color preferences, but this is the last one I'm using now.

Increase.

You got a problem too?

Increase our confidence.

Enlarge our expectation.

Enlarge our expectation.

Stand in peace.

Oh, actually before that, be stretched in faith.

Stand in peace.

Be stretched in faith.

Hey, Heidi, can we get some more of these kind of pens?

Oh, preferably this one, the, the, this one.

Changed in thinking.

This is what the intent of the process is, right?

And how we seek on it.

And how we seek on.

Okay, do we have any pens here?

No, no, no, no.

Sorry.

Yeah, those are bad too.

Yeah.

Okay, we'll try different ones.

So guys, this is what happens, eh?

In the process of waiting between the release of the promise and the eventuality of it coming into pass,

we make choices and decisions.

And hopefully got choices.

Sometimes we don't.

In the process, look at what is achieved.

It increases the chance of success.

It increases the chance of failure.

It increases the chance of failure.

It increases the chance of failure.

It increases the chance of failure.

And howattered is the chance of success.

And how it is achieved.

It increases our confidence.

It enlarges our expectations.

It stretches our faith.

Won't happen if this process does not happen.

Let me tell you this.

Faith will not grow if this process does not happen.

Stand in peace as in able to be at rest and in peace in the middle of a storm.

And changed in thinking and how we seek on.

Now the question I need to ask myself is,

as I wait for a promise to come to pass,

is this happening in my life?

Many of you are in different situations, right?

This is your measure of is God's purpose being achieved in your life during this process.

Otherwise, at the end of the day, you may still get what is supposed to happen for you.

But will you have increased?

Faith is almost never, there is a huge echo here, Matt.

Don't know why.

See if you can...

Yeah, you may have to just keep moving and adjust it.

Welcome back.

So, so, so, you see, the faith is never about obtaining something you're standing for.

That's where the faith movement completely got it wrong.

Everyone thought faith was about acquiring what you are standing in faith for.

No, faith is about these things.

At the end of the day, when I get what I get, it's temporal, it's fleeting.

This is what needs to happen.

Increasing my confidence, enlarging my expectation, being stretched in faith,

standing in peace through the storm and changed in my thinking and how I seek on.

Do you just realize that I'm in error?

No, again, welcome back again.

No, we don't materialize it out of thin air.

This only happens as we learn the nature of God.

See, one thing, let's say I have to do this for the first time with healing out whatever...

Yeah.

...whatever you talk about.

Yeah.

...entire faith and then the gas is getting...as I grow in this and develop this...

Yeah.

...the gas becomes...

Yeah.

...and then I'm getting the gas going in the next step...

Yeah.

...and growing on this...

Yeah, I get it.

Guys, here's what should happen.

Let's assume that Jason is going through a situation where he needs to stand in faith.

This time around, all this happens to him.

Next time around, whatever's going to happen where his faith is going to be,

or strength and more, it'll always be greater than his present ability.

So next time, it'll be greater, but here what will change?

Now, Jason is able to stand in peace.

He's not panicking anymore like he used to.

He's standing in peace even though it's been quite a while since he worked.

Like he's a pastor, that's not work.

So it's been quite a while since he actually had a job, but now he's not afraid.

I mean, I was talking to, what's his name, Derek.

And Derek hasn't had a job for the last four or five, four months.

And instead of panicking, because the money will obviously begin to disappear

as you don't have a job, he's beginning to stand in peace

because these things are already happening in his life.

But the next situation he faces will increase it more,

enlarge his expectations more, he'll be stretched more,

and he'll be changing his thinking.

Because I want you to know this.

Hey, Janice, I want you to know that I'm not going to be able to do this.

I want you to know this.

Very rarely is God in agreement with your limits when it comes to faith.

Very rarely is he in a, I mean, you can go and say,

I can't be stretched further and God is saying, hey, but I know your limits, you don't.

Very rarely are you and God in agreement with regard to the degree of stretching.

But here's the thing that you need to check.

Is this happening in my life or am I a wreck?

Am I hating this process?

I'm changed in my thinking and I'll tell you how.

I think God is a failure, he lets me down,

he is a deceptive brook that does not flow

and maybe there's something wrong in my family line

and he isn't doing anything about it.

My expectations, I've got no expectations of him

because now I believe in this worldly thing called worst case scenario.

What's the worst that can happen to me?

Well, now I can trust God for something better.

And then, increasing confidence? No way.

It saps my confidence.

I sit in the church listening to a message like this thinking,

what good has it done me?

Questions, comments before we move on.

Questions, comments before we move on.

Well, immediacy and eventuality have become

joyful companions in my life

and I expect things to happen immediately

and when it takes time, it does not faze me at all

because I know that I'm going through a process

where I'll keep making God's decisions.

Imagine what Mark 11, 23 is saying.

When you say something, believe that you receive it.

What a contradiction.

Believe that you receive it but I haven't received it yet.

Exactly, but believe that you receive it.

As if it's your present possession.

What will that do to you?

It will change the way you talk and act.

Go ahead.

Yeah, no, it's not based on feeling.

Guys, faith is something that happens in our will

and the reason we struggle is because we meet situations

and storms and floods with our feelings.

We meet it with our emotions.

The first thing we meet things with is our emotions.

So when I don't have a job, I meet it with my emotion.

When I'm going through a crisis, I meet it with my emotion

and when I meet it with my emotion,

it just begins to ravage me.

That's my first filter.

Unfortunately, because we are human and because we've grown up that way,

it's what happens.

I would think like this.

He's my father. I go and ask him.

I expect it of him because he has the ability to provide.

There is an expectation of thank you father right away

because he's heard it and I've asked according to his will.

Whether it happens in two seconds or two years,

now is the place where I take eventuality and immediacy and walk with it.

Faith and patience to inherit promises.

That's why we have to walk with faith and patience.

It has to be both. It cannot be one.

There are far too many people who say, oh, God answers three ways.

Yes, no, and maybe.

Don't know where they pull that one out from.

There's no such scripture in the Bible that I'll say yes, no, and maybe.

Nor is it, oh, just be patient.

Once you die, everything will be okay.

We won't need patience after death.

Here is where it happens, guys.

Here is where it happens.

Immediacy and eventuality held together.

Learn it.

I mean, I remember when I had this horrible attack of measles and chickenpox together.

My face was so marked.

I mean, you could, I mean, look like Armstrong would have thought he was on moon if he walked on my face.

Hi, guys. Hey, good to see you guys.

I don't know if you remember these guys.

They came ages ago.

Ravilash has been here since.

Matthew is here too?

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, so my face is completely covered with measles and chickenpox.

And I'm convinced that God's going to heal me.

So now that I'm convinced about it and I have confidence and an expectation that he'll heal me,

here's what I'm doing.

Every morning I'm getting up and I'm shaving.

That's the wrongest thing to do if you're covered with measles and chickenpox because you look like,

yeah.

What did she say?

What?

You look like a pizza.

And so, but I'm so confident based on what I know of God that God enjoys healing that I've,

now it has to show in action.

Believe that you have received it.

And so here's the other thing.

I've got measles and chickenpox.

I'm not supposed to be in contact with anybody.

I'm not supposed to be in contact with anybody.

I'm not supposed to be in contact with anybody.

I've got measles and chickenpox.

I'm not supposed to be in contact with anybody because it's contagious.

But I'm so convinced that it's not contagious.

That doesn't help others.

But I was so convinced of it that I wanted to go to the doctor immediately.

I wanted him to check me out and say, you're fine.

I went to work the next day and my boss said to stay away because this will contaminate the entire office.

So he sent me home.

I said, don't worry about it.

And he's a Muslim, eh?

And I'm telling him, don't worry about it.

It's not contagious.

He's saying, well, that may be what you think, but get a doctor's certificate and we'll allow you back.

And every morning I get up and the first thing I do is run to the mirror because I expect it to have fallen off my face.

The church allowed me to come and lead worship.

So I would go and lead worship.

And midway through the worship I'd open my eyes to see if all the scabs were around me because they had fallen off.

And at times I'd be disappointed that it had not fallen off my face.

You're supposed to go through this for 14 days before you go in.

See a doctor.

But I'm so sure that God has healed me that I decide, no, can't wait that long.

Seventh day I go to the doctor.

And he checks me out, Hindu doctor, checks me out.

And then he writes the strangest thing on the sheet of paper that I'm supposed to take to the work.

He says, symptoms of chickenpox, non-contagious, can go back to work.

Overnight my face gets healed.

Almost as if to help me remember what has happened.

All I have is, I think there's a mark here, right?

Yeah.

That's the only, or two.

But this is everyday shaving with those things on my face and nothing happened.

And what did it do the next time?

It enlarged my expectation in terms of what God can do, in terms of healing.

It began to stretch my faith the next time something happened.

It allowed me to stand in peace the next time something happened.

And it changed my way of thinking and the way I viewed God.

I go back on the eighth day to work with this paper saying, non-contagious, can go back to work.

And what can my boss do?

This is from one of the finest hospitals in the land and a doctor signing saying, non-contagious, can go back to work.

Immediacy and eventuality held together.

Guys, the next thing is in 1 Kings 17, 1-10.

1 Kings 17, 1-10.

1 Kings 17, 1-10.

Where it says, And the word of the Lord came to Elijah.

1 Kings 17, 1-10.

I'll just summarize it while you turn to it.

And here's what it says.

It says, And the word of the Lord came to Elijah.

Depart from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.

And hey, both the brothers are here, eh?

I didn't know.

Your younger brother was here too.

So the whole family has come from Alain.

That's awesome.

Okay, so when I went to Alain two, three years ago, these two boys took me out to the mall and they had their pocket money.

And they told me to go and buy anything I wanted in the mall.

And so I picked out and they paid.

And they were small kids then.

So it says that, And the word of the Lord came to him.

Depart from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.

You shall drink from the brook.

And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

Then the word of the Lord came to him.

Arise, go to Zarifat, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there.

Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.

And she said, I have nothing, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.

And I am preparing it for myself and my sons, that we may eat and die.

Guys, why bring up this story?

Because please understand, in some of the situations you are in,

God may use a natural means first to help you before he shifts to a supernatural means.

Let me say this again.

Sometimes when you are in a situation which is stormy or a flood that is rising or a crisis,

whether it is of your making or someone else's making, it doesn't matter,

God may initially use a natural means to help you before he shifts it to a supernatural means.

Just keep that in mind.

Because sometimes we can be so gung-ho about waiting for a supernatural means,

which is fine, that we forget that God sometimes uses natural means.

The brook chariot was just a stream of water which had water in it.

And strange thing is, after a while the brook chariot dries up.

And now what does God do?

Here is where the crunches guide.

God will start with the natural means.

And I will tell you why.

Not all of us can begin to operate at a supernatural level immediately.

How do we know that?

Israel couldn't.

Sorry, sorry Shana.

Israel couldn't.

What did God say to Israel?

I won't give you the land all at one time.

Why?

Because you won't be able to handle it.

Why did God take them through a certain pathway into the promise that I made?

Because he said, you are a slave people.

You don't know how to fight yet.

400 years of slavery.

A slave doesn't become a soldier overnight.

Give a slave a spear, he doesn't become a soldier.

He becomes a slave with a spear.

This has to change.

God will use natural means in your life.

And during the process, and I will come to that in the third point,

he will use natural means in your life and don't stay away from it.

There are far too many people expecting to find a million dollars in the middle of main street.

And if it happens to you, bring a type to the church immediately.

But if it doesn't happen to you, get a job.

I know, I know this because there was a time in my life where I expected a million dollars without doing anything.

And then God had to shift me to natural means and then to supernatural means.

And sometimes we don't like it.

We want everything to be provided by God.

One prophetic words, one dream that will show us that one key that will open up the millions.

I promise you this, no million will come to you till you learn through a process how to handle money.

We have an evangelist who used to live down the road from us.

At one point he started earning a million dollars a day.

The point being guys, sometimes take into stride commands that God gives,

even if it doesn't fit your framework, take it in stride,

even though you're not able to fathom it and begin where he's asking you to begin

and then expect a shift into the supernatural.

And if you don't do that, you're not going to be able to do it.

And if you don't do that, you're not going to be able to do it.

And if you don't do that, you're not going to be able to do it.

So, Elijah begins where? He begins at the brook chariot.

What happens to the brook? It dries up.

So where is he sent? This is where it blows your mind.

Where is he sent? So he says, where next Papa?

And Papa says, go to this really poor woman who has nothing.

He was having a good time drinking out of the brook.

Ravens used to come out and drink from the brook.

He was having a good time drinking out of the brook.

Ravens used to come and feed him.

So not every raven is an evil omen, by the way.

Ravens used to come and feed him.

And now the brook dries up, the raven stops turning up for breakfast.

And now he has to go to a woman who has nothing.

And this is where the shift to the supernatural comes.

And yet when he's asked to go to this woman who has nothing,

what does he reply? With joyous laughter he says, yes Papa.

Why? Because he knows the workings of God and therefore he can be at rest.

Go ahead.

It was. But don't focus on that. Focus on the brook.

Because that's the point I'm trying to make here.

Guys, I can give you examples, man.

Where I first had to learn how to walk in the natural

before God taught me to walk in the supernatural.

We don't like that.

Want the divine hand of God to pick us out of situations

who won't practice principles in the natural,

you won't be able to walk in the supernatural.

Let that change happen.

And then it doesn't matter where God sends you.

Even if he sends you to a widow who doesn't have money,

you're just going to walk in the supernatural.

It doesn't matter where God sends you.

Even if he sends you to a widow who doesn't have money,

there's a joy saying, I know the workings of God, therefore I can rest.

Questions, comments? Do you want me to define this further?

Let me give you an example.

I'm now in $60,000 in debt.

This was many years ago. $60,000 in debt.

Not to the bank, to people.

I'm beginning to avoid people.

There were people sitting here who lent me money.

I didn't want to meet people. Didn't want to meet them.

Expecting money to turn up in envelopes.

Would go excitedly to the mail because I expected that when I open the mail,

there'll be money in it.

Because I'd heard these stories.

Supernatural means of things happening.

Nothing's happening, man.

In huge debt.

My parents had given me money, I'd spent all of it.

And then I remember one day,

my dad calling me up from Bahrain and saying to me that I'm not going to send you any more money.

And I couldn't believe it.

How can my dad not send me money?

Oh, by the way, I was 27 or 28 by now.

I believe my dad was crying when he said no.

My mom told me later.

Because he kept supplying me money whenever I asked for it.

Put down the phone and he said he wouldn't supply.

And I'm thinking to myself, now what do I do?

I begin to trust even greater for the supernatural.

You know when things changed?

When a man told me there was a job at the international bus lines

on Shell Road next to Viva Java.

And here was the job.

When the buses come back every night,

to go and wash the buses and the toilets out with these huge pipes.

That it wasn't my, it wasn't the job I was seeking.

That was not my ambition, by the way.

Just in case you were thinking that way.

And so what do I do?

I go up to international bus lines and I meet the guy and I take up the job.

And those days it was paying $12 an hour when the going rate was,

yeah, it was $7 something in those days.

The day I decided to take up that job, things began to change for me.

It took eight years more, seven to eight years more,

before my debts got wiped out.

Some forgave my debts, others agreed to receive $5 a month.

But took seven and a half years, and I remember some years ago,

the final debt I paid off to be free from debt, took seven and a half years.

So does everything happen immediately?

It doesn't, man. It doesn't.

Does it happen to some people? Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Step into the natural, learn to live joyously in the natural

and God will begin to shift you to the supernatural.

And then money, provision, healing, desires, expectations

will begin to flow out of rock. Rocks will burst open for you.

Questions, comments, disagreements?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Guys, let me tell you this.

I have received money in the mail so many times since it's crazy.

I remember a time when it's crazy how God works after, eh?

I'll tell you that story another time.

I'll tell you that story another time.

The third thing that we need to do, guys,

is meet with storms or meet with floods that are rising

and we've done all we need to, is Ecclesiastes 10 verse 11.

Ecclesiastes 10:11

And here's what it says. It says,

If the axe is blunt and one does not sharpen the edge,

he must use more strength.

If the axe is blunt and one does not sharpen the edge,

he must use more strength.

And I know I don't quote American presidents usually,

but I love this one.

If I have four hours to cut down a tree,

I'll spend three hours sharpening the axe.

If I have four hours to cut down a tree,

I'll spend three hours sharpening the axe.

The point being, guys, most of us don't sharpen the axe

during times of peace, and therefore we end up

wielding a blunt axe in the middle of winter for firewood.

Most of us don't sharpen our axes during times of peace

or during summer, and so come winter,

we are wielding blunt axes for firewood.

Nothing is proven in a crisis,

except what you did when you were not in a crisis.

All this stuff about the crisis will reveal who you are

and all this stuff.

Don't wait for a crisis.

Just prepare during times of peace.

I'll be very different.

Very different.

Otherwise what happens is, guys,

when I'm cold, I'll begin to pray for warmth

and lament the cold and begin to think that God does not like me.

And all the time God is saying,

hey Jacob, during summer I used to wait outside your door

every day saying, let's go show the world what you've got.

And now you lament it and you're cold and you're saying,

I don't like you.

You had six months of summer to sharpen your axe.

Guys, get to this.

Axe 29 cannot afford to have people who don't have their axes sharpened

during times of peace.

What does that make us?

It makes us dull to the things we do.

It makes us feel like we're not doing anything.

What does that make us?

It makes us dull to the things of God.

When I went to this farm that I told you about,

5,000 acres, I'm sorry, 5,000 hectares.

That's a heck of a large farm.

And what's the guy doing?

The season is November, December.

What's he doing?

He's got these, that machine I was standing on,

it goes about two feet under the ground and starts raking it.

He's preparing far ahead of time.

He's inventing machines that can drop this fertilizer and that liquid

so that the seeds will be ready.

He's bought these John Deere tractors, massive ones,

and he's adding things to the John Deere tractor

that will help him innovate even better.

He's got eight large silos full of corn.

He's doing ridiculously well.

But he's preparing.

Preparing why?

Because during the off season,

that's when the ax needs to be sharpened, guys.

Do that.

This is why, guys, for those of you who have come with me on trips,

you will see that there is very little praying that's done on trips.

There's no early morning prayer, let's figure out stuff.

No, no, no, no, no.

All the figuring out has to be done before you go on a trip.

You don't do it honestly.

You don't do it on a trip.

This is an example.

How do I know that you,

how will you know that the ax in Jacob's life is blunt?

You'll see a lack of progress.

You'll see Jacob repeating the same old stories again and again.

You'll see no change in Jacob's behavior over a period of two years.

That's how you'll know that the ax in Jacob's life is blunt.

Same old lament in Jacob's life.

Same old stories of victory from 10 years ago.

No change in behavior.

Are you well now?

Are you healthy?

Sharpen your ax with regard to the healing nature of God.

Are you doing well financially?

Do you have money in the bank?

Sharpen your ax with regard to the nature of Jehovah, Jireh the provider.

Are you in the tracks of God, being directed by him everywhere?

Sharpen your ax with regard to the nature of Yahweh, Rohi your shepherd.

Are you walking pure?

Are you walking pure like you've never walked before?

Are you walking pure?

Are you walking pure like you've never walked before?

Great!

Sharpen your ax with regard to Yahweh, Sidken who with God your righteousness.

Are you walking free of fear?

Great!

Sharpen your ax with regard to him as Yahweh, Shammah, Gora.

Protection.

During times of peace sharpen the ax.

Because remember we talked about it before.

Eventuality, immediacy, faith will be tested.

Questions, comments?

Guys, hard work is not the answer, wisdom is.

There's a story of a man who was told to go chop down wood and he went chop down wood.

First day 15 trees, second day 10 trees, third day 3 trees.

And by the third day he's working really hard.

And so he goes back to his, this is a very simple story, he goes back to the owner and says,

I don't know what's happened.

I'm putting in three times as much work as the first day.

But I'm only bringing down three trees and then the guy asks him,

when is the last time you sharpened your ax?

Hard work is not the answer, wisdom is.

Hard work is not the answer, wisdom is.

Godly wisdom.

Yep.

Yeah, then you can only function with what you presently have, but this too shall pass.

And when it passes what we usually do is, we either

we either work with the ax or we work with the ax.

We work with the ax.

We work with the ax.

We work with the ax.

We work with the ax.

We work with the ax.

And when it passes what we usually do is, we either say, thank God that's over.

Let's start again.

And by start again, we go back into busyness and hard work.

When what is required of me is now to go back into wisdom

and functioning according to certain ways that the kingdom operates.

So let me give you an example.

I told you that $60,000 debt went away.

Now I could easily say when I, I remember writing off, signing off this paper

on which this lady would keep this.

I ordered something like $7,000 or $8,000.

And so I'm signing off on it saying fully paid.

And I was scared to burn it because I thought I'll burn her house down and then I'll owe them more again.

So I just store it and threw it in the garbage.

And I'm done there.

Now I'm just saying it's over.

Now it was okay, Jacob, how do you reconstruct

living the way God wants you to do financially?

So began the process of sharpening the acts with regard to God as Jehovah Jireh

and practicing the principles of kingdom when it comes to money,

which we've talked about.

Go ahead, Matt.

Let's say that again.

Yeah, you don't sharpen scripture.

You take your life and begin to wet it against the scripture so that your life is sharper.

It's not the scripture that is the acts.

The scripture is what sharpens the acts of your life.

Applying. Yeah.

Yeah.

Example.

Let me give you an example.

I wrote to someone.

Someone wrote to me saying I got $17 in my bank.

I wrote back saying I got minus 400 in my bank.

I know it doesn't make you feel better that you have 17 and I have minus 400.

But my point was at minus and please understand this is not an appeal for money.

I don't I don't resort to tricks like that.

So I said I got minus 400 in my bank.

What was the intent?

The intent was to say I understand how frightening it can be at 17.

But I want you to know that regardless of how much you have, you can be at a place of peace.

If you practice sharpening your acts with regard to God as provider during times of peace,

doesn't matter whether you're minus 400 or plus 400,000.

Because you have sharpened your life in that area to know the nature of God and function.

And it doesn't affect your happiness or your way of functioning.

Oh, by the way, that was two days ago.

And now I'm back to three figures and it didn't come from Acts 29.

And I didn't ask for it.

Go ahead.

I would change it a little.

I would say not standing on the promises of God, standing on the promises of God,

I don't need to stand on the promises of God if I know his nature.

You don't even have to talk.

You don't even have to come and say, son, I am Jehovah Jireh, your provider.

I'll provide for you.

I don't even need to hear that.

I know that nature of yours.

I can stand comfortable in that.

In any other church, if I asked them to stand on the promises of God,

they would say, I don't need to stand on the promises of God.

I don't need to stand on the promises of God.

In any other church, if I asked him his name and he said, pastor, that would be a threat to me, man.

I'm away a lot.

I'm asking him to teach and I ask him what's his name and he says, I am pastor.

Tomorrow, we should fire him because he may take my job.

But because I know his nature and because I know my nature, he can't take my job.

And I couldn't care too much because mine is not a job and he's not looking for a job either.

Words don't matter then.

Words matter less because you know the heart.

Sorry?

We stand.

Yeah, guys, this is not a fine line.

It's a really thick yellow line.

We don't stand on what God says.

We stand on who he is.

Like I always say, there's a difference between faith and trust.

Trust is in the nature, faith is in the words.

That is a fine line though.

Okay, two more things and then we'll stop.

Guys, another thing that we need to do.

Sometimes we will end up making mistakes, say, and these mistakes are sometimes because of sins we've committed.

Sometimes it's consequences of actions.

Sometimes it's hasty decisions we made.

Sometimes it's bad miscalculations in business or in life.

Sometimes it's carelessness.

Sometimes it's a disruption of order where we did something that was not in order and it blew up in our faith.

Sometimes it's past hurts.

There's nobody in this room who has not done these and who hasn't done this multiple times.

But here's where that beautiful story in 2 Kings 6 kicks in.

And so Elijah said, where did the axe head fall?

Show me where it fell.

And the guy goes and says, that's where it fell.

And Elijah takes the rest of the shaft of the axe and he goes and throws it in that spot where the axe had disappeared and the axe had risen to the surface.

One of the things God cannot resist is a heart that comes humbly saying, I messed up.

I need help.

I need your mercy.

Never can resist it.

Let me guarantee you that.

I am Yahweh, God most high, gracious and compassionate.

That is the revelation of who God is.

That hasn't changed.

It is impossible for God to turn away someone who comes with a, to use an old English word that Derek will really like, a contrite heart.

A contrite heart, meaning a heart that is humble.

Impossible for him to resist a heart that's humble.

It doesn't matter what kind of sin, hurt, consequence, mistake, carelessness, callousness, disruption you've created.

When you come back, he's willing to change.

And he'll ask you, where did it fall?

Where did it fall?

And you have to say, Father, here's where I heard you last clearly.

And from then on, I've been walking for a long time.

And I've been walking for a long time.

And I've been walking for a long time.

And I've been walking for a long time.

And I've been walking for a long time.

And I've been walking for a long time.

And I've been walking for a long time.

And I've been walking for a long time.

And I've been walking for a long time.

And from then on, I've been walking on my own.

And he'll say, let's start again at this place where you last heard me clearly.

And you start again from that spot.

I've had to do this so many times because I'll walk around, get cocky, get confident, start making mistakes.

And I'll have to go back and check my notes on my phone, check on my computer to see, what did you say last that I'm sure was you?

And I'll go back there and say, okay, Father, I want to start again and start again.

I've done this with Acts 29 so many times.

Some of you were not here when this happened.

Maybe four or five of you.

I'll remember this.

There was a time when I had to stand before this large church of four people when we were on River Road

and confess before God that, Father, this baby that we are, that in a sense I had birthed

something of my own hands.

And today I laid before you and say, I shut down Acts 29 if you don't begin to take over.

Because I began to create it with my own hands.

And that day I stood before the church and I was saying it because that day I knew that Acts 29, if God said stop it, would stop.

That there would have been no Acts 29.

And then decided to go back to the last place God spoke and start from there.

And that's why we are where we are today.

So what if something happens in terms of this place we've taken and I've messed up?

I'm not saying that.

I would again go back to the last place that I heard God.

Clearly, keep doing this, guys.

Keep doing it, Rosalind.

Keep doing it, Maurice.

Keep doing it, Matt.

Keep doing it, Jason.

What if Jason doesn't have any money for the next three months and all his money disappears and he's penniless tomorrow?

He won't send an email to the church saying I'm penniless.

The thing he'll do is he'll go and ask God, did you tell me to leave Vernon and come to Vancouver?

And did you tell me to come to Acts 29?

Where was the last place I heard you clearly?

And you start from there.

It's the same with healing.

It's the same with everything, guys.

Where was the last place you heard him clearly?

And you start from there.

And depending on the willingness that you have in your heart to adopt his ways, reconstruction will begin instantaneously or reconstruction will take a period of time.

Once I go to God and say, Father, I want to start again.

Reconstruction in terms of what God wants to do happens instantaneously or depending on the willingness of my heart, it takes a while.

One or the other will happen.

One or the other will happen.

Questions, comments?

If I'm not fleshing this out in a way that is concrete enough, if it's still too abstract, please tell me and I'll give you an example.

Are you questioning whether you retired too early?

Are you looking back at what's going to happen to your land or house and thinking, man, I could have done this, I could have done that, and you live in regret and in the past?

Hey, go back to the last place you heard him right and start.

Good question. What do you do if you don't know?

Then you're in a good place because you can say, Father, I don't even know where to start.

Can you please begin to speak into my life right now?

Because I need a fresh start.

I need a fresh start.

I need a fresh start.

And I'm going to start at the beginning of the day.

You can do that.

You can do that.

You can do that.

You can do that.

You can do that.

You can do that.

You can do that.

You can do that.

You can do that.

I need a fresh start.

That's what I would do.

Because there are times when you don't remember the last place you heard him in certain areas, whether it was right or wrong.

Yeah. Then I go back and say, Father, this is what I wrote down.

I'm beginning to doubt it because I see no evidence of it.

So would you please begin to speak to me again?

And may it come from sources that are so not possible that I will not doubt it.

I think I told you this.

I'm at this place on May 1st, 2001, where I've been offered a job by a newspaper, which will pay me quite a lot of money.

And I've been offered a job by a church, which will pay me quite a little money.

And I love writing and I love doing what I do.

I don't know what to do.

And I'm looking at the words that have been spoken over me and thinking church, but I got so little money.

I got debts to pay.

This was when I had those debts.

I'm struggling with it.

And I remember going and doing exactly what James was saying.

I'm saying, Father, I'm confused about this.

You've given me these talents to write.

I've been involved in writing in newspapers before.

Here is a job that's being offered.

What do I do?

People have spoken that you will write books and stuff like that.

What do I do?

And I sent him saying Isaiah 49, 49.9 or something.

I go read it and it says, your reward will come from me.

Your work is with me and I will give you the reward for it.

And then he says Genesis 13 or something.

I go check it and it says, and the Lord put a rainbow in the sky to confirm his promise to Noah.

So I've just read Isaiah 49 saying, you will work for me and your recompense will come from me.

And so it's a sunny day on May 1st and I run out because I want to see if there's a rainbow.

And I was so disappointed because there was no rainbow in the sky.

And I needed something so concrete to make this life decision, which would affect me for the next 10, 15 years.

And I'm thinking to myself, gosh, man, for the enthusiasm that you came running out to the balcony with, there's nothing.

And as I'm turning to go back into my room over Burnaby, this beautiful rainbow appears.

And I knew what God was saying.

I said no to the newspaper and took up employment in the church.

This was before you got this.

And then I don't know why there are no rainbows there.

Guys, sometimes you inherit trials that are not, you inherit trials that are not,

you inherit trials.

Just focus on those words.

Sometimes you inherit trials, willingly or unwillingly.

These are not created situations you created for yourself.

These are situations that are other people's situations that you willingly take on or have been unwillingly hoisted on you.

And again, there are very few people in this room who haven't been through it.

Where you've been left with a situation that you did not craft, that you're not responsible for,

but you willingly or unwillingly are now under.

What do you do then?

In 2 Kings 4.1, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets comes to Elisha and says,

Your servant, my husband, is dead.

And you know that your servant feared the Lord, but boy, did he have debts.

And now the creditor is coming to take my two children to be his wife.

It was not her situation.

It was a situation that her husband had created for her, and she's left with this huge problem.

How do you deal with that?

First thing, guys, whether it's willingly or unwillingly inherited,

the first thing you need for any situation that you've inherited,

and this is the order, is love plus strength.

Here's what usually happens.

We reverse the order.

Let's assume you have inherited a problem that was not of your own making,

and it's your problem now.

And I'm talking about problems that are usually caused by someone else.

Here's the thing.

We immediately start asking God for strength,

but the one thing we don't ask for is love for the person.

And we ask God for strength,

but the one thing we don't ask for is love for the person.

The first thing we need to ask for is love.

Gotcha.

First thing we need to ask for is love, and then strength.

Hey, sometimes it's very hard to love your son and daughter

when they've messed up despite you telling them a million times.

That's when, even though you're a parent,

you've got to ask for this before you ask for this.

Because remember this, you can never rule or influence anything that you don't love.

You cannot rule or influence anything that you don't love.

The nature of God is that it's always tethered to his love,

so any influence that he exerts is always through the channel of love.

And that's the way to do it.

And that's the way to do it.

And that's the way to do it.

You can never rule over anything that I don't love.

I can never have any influence over you if I don't like you.

So just remember that.

Paradise is the first way you do it.

The second thing you do is you begin to...

When you're in love,

you begin to act like you're in love with God.

Without this you won't be able to bear it graciously.

Many of us have inherited problems that we hate and it's destroying our lives.

It is impossible to bear under inherited problems if you don't follow this order.

The second thing you do and you're saying but I've already done it for 20 years.

Well has it disappeared yet?

No.

Well then start tomorrow.

I know it doesn't sound fair to say get over it and start again tomorrow but you must have

learned by now that life is not fair right?

Secondly once you do this guys then now you're in a position to ask God to do a miracle.

So what does this woman go and do?

The woman says to Elisha listen this is my situation.

Elisha says to her what shall I do for you?

Tell me what you have in your house and from there on the oil and the jar begin the jars

of oil begin to flow.

We won't go into that story but once I decide that this is the principle I'm going to use

to operate now God will come and ask you okay Jacob tell me something.

What do you want me to do in this situation?

You may say this sounds too unrealistic.

I've been in this situation for 20 years and nothing has changed.

Did you try this?

Did you try this?

Let God be true and let every man be a liar.

Did you try this?

And when he asks you what do you have in your house?

What was your response?

Because these are trials you inherited unwillingly guys.

It was not your situation.

God wants to change it.

And thirdly if you don't want it get into I'm sorry I'm using this color rosaline but

the other pens have run out.

Get into a spiritual position to unharness your problem.

I'll explain that.

God puts it this way Jacob don't go into surety with a stranger.

If you do you might end up having to pay for the rest of your life for it.

If you've already stuck your hands you're done.

Many of us may have stuck our hands in a contract and inherited something unwillingly.

Now you're in a position where you can't get out of it.

This is when I need to go to God and say Father you've got to help me unharness this burden

because I cannot carry it anymore.

Help me see how to do it because I've put myself into a trap.

I've stuck my hands.

I cannot get out of it now.

I've entered into a partnership that I don't know how to get out of.

I've entered into a situation that I don't know how to get out of.

I've taken off something that I can't bear the burden of anymore.

Help me get out of it.

Guys let me tell you a story.

Dano the guy in Bahrain amazing words of prophecy over him in terms of how his business will

do.

And he gets this extremely lucrative partnership which will bring in millions from all over

the Middle East.

Money starts flowing in.

He's gone into partnership with two people.

But the only problem is he was not supposed to go into that partnership.

If he continues in it, it's going to bring him money but it's going to destroy his destiny.

Just last year, he becomes aware of what has happened now.

Does not know how to get out of it.

Begins to ask God and God gives him one clear instruction.

Does not matter how much money you lose, step out of this.

He breaks the partnership, loses thousands and thousands of dollars, walks out of it

free.

And the moment he does, God now starts restoring all his fortunes.

But what did he have to do?

He had to ask God, Father, how do I get out of this?

How do I dissolve this?

What do I have to do?

If you've taken on a burden that you can't handle anymore, guys, there's only three choices.

You know ask for love and strength in that order and bear under it.

Ask God to do a miracle to change the person that you are at present carrying or get into

a spiritual position where you ask God, can you give me a perspective so I can unharness

the problem that I have stepped into.

This thing works, they begin to ask God to do a miracle in the life of the person you're

carrying.

But remember this, once you're used to a problem for 20 years, you may become like Nick, the

guy I met while I was traveling to Dubai.

He's deaf but he wrote saying, I don't want you to pray for me for healing because I've

been deaf since I've been a child and I'm doing very well with it and I do not need

prayer.

Some of us can get so comfortable with a problem that we don't need to have it removed.

If it were taken away, we wouldn't know what to do.

If not, guys, you will lament, you will languish, you will be resentful, you will be controlled

by it or you'll be ashamed.

Have I been here?

So many times.

Didn't know how to get out of it.

Many began to go out of my pockets.

Didn't know how to get out of it.

If I don't deal with inherited problems this way, I'll lament it, I'll be ashamed, I'll

be controlled by it, I'll regret it, I'll get resentful.

Any questions with regard to this, guys?

Again, if it's too abstract, tell me.

Because you've got to take home these things and employ them.

Remember, you will not come into your inheritance if you keep staying in Leban's land, working

20 years for Rachel's hand.

There are times when I need to stand up and say, I have something lying ahead of me, I

honor you, Leban.

And I take Rachel as my wife just because this is what is ordained for me, but I'm going

to stop working in your land for another 20 years to get her hand because even though

you're my uncle, you're not going to stop my destiny.

Is it easy?

Absolutely not.

Is it painful?

Always.

Lastly, 2 Chronicles 16, 9.

For the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro, searching back and forth across the whole

earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect towards him so that he can show his

great power in helping them.

Guys, just one simple word, eh?

Reconfigure your reliance.

Reconfigure your reliance on God.

Reconfigure your reliance on God.

If you do, it'll establish...

I'll explain it.

If you do, it'll establish defaults, it'll preempt crisis, it'll establish defaults,

it'll preempt crisis and it'll dissolve fear.

It'll dissolve fear.

Here's what happens with King Asa.

Asa was diseased in his feet in the 39th year of his reign and instead of turning to God

for healing, he depended heavily on his physician.

So what is that saying?

That you don't depend on doctors?

No, that's not what the Bible says.