Release Your Grip//9AM// Pastor Terrance Richmond

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Love Quest International

Church Podcast, where we seek to love all nations, equip the

church, mobilize the equipped, and serve all.

We're super glad you're joining us from whenever and wherever

you're at in the world. Welcome to the family to get

your Bibles ready, get some water, get some coffee, maybe

some tea, and get ready to receive.

Let's get into it. Mighty warrior, great in Bible.

I'm glad to be in the House of God just one more time.

Yeah, it was a powerful week of tent meeting and gathering.

And so if you yeah, go ahead, all the Patty cakes, come on.

And so I know it's early, I know it's cold, but you guys are

champs. You guys are champs.

Y'all came and get to get fed early.

I wish I could explain what happened this week but I will

say that this house is not the same and I pray those that

didn't make it somehow you will benefit from what God did this

week through His people, what he's established through his

people and how He is resting in this house. 5 days of alignment

and reorienting and refreshing. And I would say true revival

happened because great revelation was entrusted to us.

And yeah, next time we have some gatherings outside of Sunday,

make a decision that you just won't be a Sunday St. because

that's the day the world said you go to church.

Let's go beyond what the world tells us we should do, right?

We get dressed up in nights on Easter or Christmas, we get real

happy and we give on Christmas. Let's be the church.

If you a Christian, yeah, I'm calling you out.

Be one. Your presence matters.

Not one person in this room can be replaced If God's presence

matters, for sure. If you're his child, your

presence matters. And so understand if this is a

house that you belong to and you have rubbed shoulders with

people, people miss you like I when I see faces, you might

think I don't know you like that, but I'm glad to see you.

And so you got to start knowing what you contribute to people by

just merely you showing up again, you're an encouragement.

Your presence is an encouragement.

But if you like to sit in church looking frowny face and

attitude, then we don't miss that at all.

And we, we glad you, we praying for you.

But if you but you got to understand Constipation is not

the will of God. Amen.

All right, so Amen. So.

Amen. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you today for your word.

Lord, we thank you that the veil is torn and we have access and

we've come to your throne boldly.

Thank you for having a seat for us in your house as your sons

and daughters. Father, someone's here today and

they're on their last leg. They're on their last hope.

There's they're, they're, they're swimming and stress.

They're swimming and anxiety. They're looking for clarity.

They're looking for a burden to lift.

Lord, and I ask that you touch right now.

You said you sent your word to heal our disease.

Disease is not just cancers, it's not ulcers, it's not just

it's father. Disease is is double mindedness

and busyness and anxiety and control issues and trust issues.

Lord, there's a word to free every single person.

So we thank you today, we trade our sorrows for joy, and I thank

you that your word will shatter every hard place and lift every

burden. And as your word says, Lord,

those that are sitting here hungry and thirsty, you promise

to fill them. So if that's you today, expect

to be filled. Expect to be filled.

I'll say it one more time. Expect to be filled.

Now I know it's cold. One way to get warm is to move

your hands. Cold.

You can clap your face. Cold.

You can say Hallelujah. Yeah, Amen.

That many cold faces. Amen.

But the Spirit of the Lord is here.

Before I move, let's lift our hands and just.

The Lord is here. The Liberator is here.

The Healer is here. The the Lord of the Breakthrough

is here. The Father is here, The Creator

is here. I declare over you that you are

good ground, that the spirit of revelation and wisdom rest up on

you, and you are free from hearing in error.

I am free from speaking in error.

Lord, let your prophetic presence and gifting flow

through this place. Apostolic authority flow through

this place. Lord, I thank you every mantle

that has been laid down or put aside, that it is resurrected

today. Gifts come alive, hope come

alive, revelation come alive in Jesus name.

Last week we established something foundational.

We learned that stillness is not calm and rest is not inactivity.

Stillness is the moment we all step out.

Of unauthorized authority and motion.

Stillness in Scripture begins when self governance ends.

Stillness in Scripture begins when self governance ends.

We saw it in the storm. Jesus did not negotiate with the

sea. He commanded it to peace, be

still. Peace followed authority.

Stillness came before the atmosphere changed.

Stillness. Came before the atmosphere

changed. We saw it in the Prodigal Son.

The famine, if you remember, was not punishment.

The famine was mercy. When authority was resisted, God

removed the very things that made running possible.

When authority was resisted, God removed the very things that

made running possible. Not to punish him, but to make

stillness unavoidable. I believe there's some people

who've been here before, been there before, where you just had

no choice but to be still because drought happened.

Folks walked away. Watch this job stop calling.

Opportunities withered. We learned this that rest is the

evidence. That you trust God to govern

what you choose not to control. Rest is the evidence.

Rest is fruit. That you finally trust God to

govern what you choose not to control.

Somebody say let it go. What we understand with the

prodigal son, and like many of us have experienced, that was

forced stillness. He was forced to be still,

otherwise death would have happened.

By distraction. God was stopping motion.

We refuse to stop. He stopped movement that we

refuse to stop. And today we move into another

dimension. Another dimension.

It's not crises, It's not famine, and it's not storms.

Are you with me? It's not dramatic.

It's not crises. It's not it's not famine.

It's not storms. It's not waves and seas.

It's it's not enemies, it's everyday discipleship, it's

everyday devotion. And we're dealing with everyday

distractions, just normal life stuff that's real normal with

everybody. Because many of us follow me, do

not resist God with rebellion, we resist God with busyness.

You've been thinking it's all rebellion.

You've been thinking it's all oh, I don't smoke, I don't

drink, I don't. I don't commit adultery, I don't

sleep around, I don't. But you have made busyness and

idol Bible calls you a spiritual adulteress.

Because you have divided attention, also divided

affection. Last week at Love Quest, God

enforced stillness. This week he invites you.

To release your grip and let the Holy Ghost ride the whip.

Yeah, those that don't know what a.

Whip is it's a vehicle. Somebody say whip, it's a

vehicle. Look at your neighbors, say if

you don't know, now you know. Release your grip.

There are moments when God does not stop the storm.

There are moments when God sends the famine or allows the famine.

There's moments where he will not command the sea to be still

or the winds to be still. There are moments when God is

not confronting rebellion or he's not correcting

disobedience. He is addressing control.

I'm going to read that again. There are moments when God does

not stop the storm, send the famine, or command the wind.

There are moments when God just lets you do you and what He's

addressing is your control issues.

Lord help. Some of us in here who don't

think we got control issues watch this.

A part of gotta grind is control.

I got to make sure I'm not broke.

Well, wait a minute. Didn't you sow seed?

If you sow seed, do you trust that when you sow you shall

reap? When you sow that God is

responsible to press it down, shake it together, make sure it

runs over, and cause men to give in your bosom.

So do you trust your seed? Do you trust God with your seed?

Because you should not be living, sowing, but not

expecting the harvest of a sower.

Control. He is addressing control.

And that brings us to this mountain in the Bible First

Kings 19 a hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and

shattered the rocks before God. But God wasn't to be found in

the wind after the wind and earthquake.

But God wasn't in the earthquake and after the earthquake fire,

but God wasn't in the. Fire and after the fire a gentle

and quiet whispered when Elijah. Heard the quiet voice, he

muffled his face with his great cloak.

In other words, the fear of God. This was an act of reverence as

he realized he was in an encounter.

Watch this. He went to the mouth of The Cave

and he stood there. A quiet voice asked.

So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?

How did you get in this cave? How did your life end up here?

How did your mental state end up here?

Elijah said it again, meaning this is his second time stating

this statement. I've been working my heart out

for God, the God of the Angel armies.

What did he say? I've been working my heart out

for God because the people of Israel have abandoned your

covenant, destroyed your places of worship, and murdered your

prophets. Here it is.

I'm the only one left and now they're trying to kill me before

we move forward. And it's funny how you think you

the only one that could change it, but also all your busyness

is because others if you don't do it, this won't change.

If I'm not there, then it won't happen, he says.

I'm the only one left and now they're trying kill me.

Before we move forward, I want to say this that no man is

greater than his prayer life. No man or woman in this place is

no greater than your prayer life.

What we see here is God is like you did not arrive at this cave

by obedience. It's coming.

They just trying to it's coming. You arrived at this cave by

overload. God asked him a question like he

asked Adam where are you? God will often ask questions to

bring exposure, so he says, how did you get here?

In other words, you didn't arrive because I told you to get

here. Elijah fought for God publicly

without resting in God privately.

I remember asking our men a while ago, are you a covenant

man or a caveman? We got a lot of Cavemen.

Christians watch this. Guilt and shame never will heal

or correct. Just so we understand God's

heart right here. So God slowed him down to save

him. Got God allowed a moment where

movement paused, seemingly drought.

Life was over. Just so God can get to this

moment to expose something. He's not exposing rebellion.

He's not exposing any of that. Watch this.

He wasn't in the fire. He wasn't in the earthquake.

He wasn't in the wind. Elijah did not collapse during

the battle, folks. He collapsed after breakthrough.

This is shortly after victory. He gets a letter from Jezebel

threatening his life, A letter threatening his life because she

is overthrown, because this man has killed all these prophets of

it. He defeats all these men, and

then right after victory, fear comes, exhaustion comes.

God says, hey, buddy, how'd you get here?

Elijah did not fail morally. He overextended himself

spiritually. He is not merely fearing death.

He is experiencing the crushing realization that a public

victory did not produce systemic change.

Are you with me? Some, some of y'all just looking

on the screen and you can't listen till you see it on the

screen? Hear me?

Just listen. Hallelujah.

He is this is he. He's he's not merely fearing

death. He didn't do anything immoral,

but he's come to the realization that a public victory and all

his success didn't produce systemic change.

It didn't change his insecurities.

Some of y'all have so much success, but you still live in

fear. You still live with your hand on

the steering wheel. Watch this.

God does not rebuke him. God feeds him.

We we, we didn't read this, but in context.

The brother's tired and an Angel feeds him.

We'll get there in a moment. God feeds him.

He doesn't rebuke him. Ain't it funny how when you

going through it and you weep, God still provides.

Watch this guys here. Here's what you might miss.

God is providing while he's running the wrong way.

Do not think provision is approval.

What you got to realize is you're being provided for

because he's a good, good father.

That's who you are. I don't care how crazy my kids

act, I am going to provide for them.

The bare necessities bear. He is not merely fearing death,

guys, but the Angel feeds him twice.

This tells us something very crucial.

Lock in, lock in. God honors the body as part of

spiritual obedience. God's feeding him even while

he's panicking, while he's running, and while he's

exhausted. Because I'm not going to let you

die of starvation when I am trying to get you to a place

where I can whisper to you. So I am providing you to a place

where I can sit you down, He said.

Oh, you want your inheritance here?

Take it. It's going to lead you to the

pigpen. God will provide so you can end

up where he could talk to you. God, I would call him slick, but

he ain't slick. He just all wise.

And how often we think provision is approval is God's stamp.

And then we end up in the pig pen.

We just like, wait a minute, I thought it was a blessing.

You don't know it was provision so that it can run out.

Elijah is not weak, guys. Elijah is spent.

He's not weak. He's spent.

Anybody in here, have you ever hit spent before?

Have you ever been spent? Wow.

After service, can I talk to some of you guys who are looking

around like you'll lie, like you ain't never been exhausted?

So I want to know what you own, OK?

Elijah is spent. He is exhausted.

Watch this. And exhaustion will always

distort perception. It's why I don't like making

plans at the end of the Sunday. I'm spent.

I have learned in the past, I'll say yes to people.

I'll say yeah, let's get coffee this week.

And then they reach back out to get coffee.

I'm like, why did I say I wanted to get coffee with you?

I did not want Elder John. Can you go have coffee with

them, please? I, I committed.

Watch this. I committed in an exhausted

season. Some of y'all got into

relationships because you was exhausted and instead of getting

help from a prayer partner, you thought you needed a man.

Some of us moved in an exhausted season.

It's quiet, right? Some of us exhausting will

always distort perception. You thought you heard God

exhausted. Now that was a demon.

But that's that's that's Hallelujah.

Thank you Jesus. So, so, so, so why The Cave?

Let's look at this. Why The Cave, guys?

Why The Cave? Why The Cave?

Elijah travels 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horab Sinai.

Watch this. That is not accidental and this

is something we need to learn. Horeb is where where Moses

encountered God, where the covenant was given, and where

Law, fire and trembling once happened.

Watch this. Elijah is subconsciously running

back to a familiar model and pattern of God.

He is running to a place where he saw God's hand move before.

He is hoping that God will meet him the way he met Moses,

through power signs and wonders. He's hoping that God meets him

in this powerful way. So he goes and he says that's

must be where God shows out. Let me let me go here.

Because this is where exhausted men go.

Watch this. God is saying you didn't arrive

here by rest buddy. You arrived here by running.

You in this situation by running you got money.

But you unhappy you got in this situation by running, not rest.

You do know REST can transport you?

Hallelujah. The Cave represents isolation,

narrow perspective, and internal echo chambers.

Elijah is not hiding from Jezebel anymore.

You ready for this? You ready for this drop?

Elijah is not running from Jezebel.

He is hiding from complexity. He is living in a complex season

in his life and he is wondering, whoa buddy, how did we get here?

I'm about to help a few of y'all real good today.

God was not absent from the storm, He just refused to be

known through the storm. Watch this God refusing to be

reduced to spectacle. There's a move in in a church.

We only think God move when a leg grow.

So you have hyper spiritual people who only chase revival

but ain't rooted in a local church.

You on YouTube following the supernatural when you don't even

know the fundamentals of the faith, you do not know how to

witness. All you want is to know God

through spectacle and God says I am not introducing myself to you

through a miracle sign and wonder.

So God said I'm not showing up in the fire, I'm not showing up

in the wind because I have something higher for you.

What would it look like if you didn't need a miracle?

Since when needing a miracle was the sign God would.

So we lay our miracle. God, do this, God, burn this

Bush. God blow.

He said no, no, no, no. I refuse to be known through a

show. That's not intimacy.

That's signs and wonders. Watch this God was correcting

expectation rather than withholding power.

Power does not always announce itself with noise.

How many people, let me help myself today, think that God is

moving because you got, you got to be careful being led by signs

and wonders because that mean you got to sense it, you got to

feel it, you got to taste it. And that's not how God's

children roll. Those that are led by the

Spirit, not led by signs and wonders.

Like if your request is God, I need you to do this three times.

Guess what? I don't think he works like that

most of the time. Guess who does, though?

Yeah. Yeah.

God was correcting expectation. Here it is.

Silence wasn't the lesson. Better yet, discernment was the

lesson. I'm trying to teach you how to

hear me. I'm tired of throwing shows for

you. I'm tired of having to pay the

bill or show up in a monetary way for you.

You can't serve God and Mammon, therefore you always asking for

signs that show up in mammon form.

So why would a good good father train you through mammon?

Am I talking to anybody? That's why Manna wasn't the

destination. My provision is not this bread.

My provision is the Holy Ghost. My provision is joy.

It is peace. My provision is more than than

just providing your daily needs. God is bigger than your needs.

Watch out, watch this guys. I need y'all to hear this.

Elijah had to learn how to discern God without drama.

Man, we such Christians love drama, especially in the church.

That's why we get made fun of. Always have been.

So when people are teasing us, that's that's on us.

We'll let God deal with him, but that's on us because we actually

a lot of churches, they going to give you what they think gets

you moving and excited, hyper spiritual.

But not hyper intimate. What do you do when God lowers

his voice to grab your attention?

What you do when God get quiet on you, What are you doing?

God ain't speaking loud enough for you to hear him.

So you got to keep you got to get this some some of us don't

see us. This Elijah had to learn how to

discern God without drama. This is why we we just do

worship short now because because especially not like

folks, you got to do too much to get people engaged.

We got to ask you to raise your hands more than you are willing

to raise your hands. We got to ask you to come on

time. We got to ask you, we got to do

all this dramatic. We got to do first time

attendees and videos and we got to, we got to and you might be

like, no, we don't. But watch even the TV's some

can't listen because everything I say you look into there.

So it's good we got this here and I do this for a reason and I

spell things out like I like. I'm not just giving a point.

I'm spelling it out as I go because I understand in an all

nations place that people. Read at different or or learn at

different speeds through different through different

like. You need to see both.

Like for me I need to hear and see but I also know how to hear

if I don't see. But man, when I grew up, we

didn't had ease in church. We just knew how to listen.

If this ain't on first thing you like is what's wrong?

Like you need this drama. God did not move Elijah.

He met him at The Cave. God did not stop him from going

to The Cave. He actually fed him on the way

to The Cave and said wherever you're running, you're going to

need some strength. I need to make sure you get to

wherever you think is safe. God did not move Elijah.

He moved his perception. Sometime God doesn't change our

circumstances. He changes who we're listening

for. Are we here to decide?

That you're with me. Don't care.

OK. All right, All right.

He changes who we're listening for.

How many of you want wisdom from somebody right when you're going

through, you got to, you got the people you follow, you got the

Youtubes, you got the podcast you listen to, you're listening

for. You're also listening for

something and God says no, no, no.

We got to change that to where you're listening for me.

God does not correct him immediately.

He recalibrates his perception first.

I love this guys. God is not correcting him.

You're not like what you doing here?

What? Why you come here?

Why you running from me? You rebellious?

No, no, no, no. He is recalibrating him.

God is so strategic, man, when your assessment of reality is

being filtered through exhaustion.

This is when your assessment of reality is being filtered

through exhaustion. Before God corrects his

theology, he corrects his awareness.

The Whisper was not a new God. It was a new season.

I challenge some of y'all, y'all need to read your Bible.

I could tell by this way. Some of y'all look y'all don't

read your Bible. Y'all just trying to figure out

who is who is Elijah y'all, you ain't never heard of this story.

Come on, come on, come on Saints, like for real, because I

could be telling you anything. I could be telling you anything.

And you wonder how some Christians ends up in cults

because you don't know your word.

You just come and you just want no, no, no, read your word, not

not read your app, read your word for real.

So when you come in here you can you can be God can give you

revelation, right, because you you in order to get revelation,

you need foundation. Some of y'all have no

foundation. You just up in here Elijah, huh?

Oh yeah, Elijah is in first James chapter 20 verse 3 in the

New Testament. Help us Jesus, before God

corrects his theology. What?

What went wrong with his theology?

He thought he was the only one. He didn't really realize God was

witty and he didn't realize God was for him.

And God didn't correct his theology first.

He made him aware. What brought you here, buddy?

How did we get here? It's like when a kid pulls

something down and make a mess. If they're young enough, if

you're a parent that ain't just going to whoop, you going to

teach? You're going to bring them back

to their mess and say, well, how?

How did Lil JoJo get here? How did this fall from up there

to down here? No, no, no, no.

Pay attention. How did it get from up there to

here? I'm not.

I'm not telling you. You didn't messed up.

You so messy. You clumsy.

Yeah, you clumsy. You won.

How did they get from up here where they walk in with a bunch

of paint on their face and you like, OK, I'm going to take you

up to the mirror. Now how you look?

How did you get all of that paint on you?

Huh? OK, you carry.

OK, the bucket was over here. OK, The bucket supposed to be

over here. OK, You see that?

Why they dripping? Paint all over the house.

Now go back. What's over here that's supposed

to go on the walls? OK, How did the paint get on

your face? And God is like, no, no, no, no,

we not. I'm not about to just bail you

out without you tracing your steps because if you can't trace

your steps, you are going to misstep again.

Am I talking to anybody? He's a good father.

He wants you, He's holding you. He got you.

He's not judging you. You can trust him, but he needs

you to understand. How did you get to this

depression? How did you get so codependent?

How did you get from on fire for me serving me to this place

where you barely want to come to church?

How did you get here if you cannot identify if the enemy can

use it instead of blaming everybody?

How did you? How is this your 4th spouse?

No, no, no, no, no, no, I get it.

You got hurt. How are you sleeping with a new

person and they not married to you?

How did we get here? How is this your fifth church?

So God will bring us in a season where where he's going to allow

whatever to happen and he has one question.

How did we get here? Watch this.

If you can't answer for yourself, Adam, where are you?

Like God didn't know. If you can't answer for

yourself, then you going to be in class for a while.

It's not only as soon as you can answer that question.

It's also as soon as you can take ownership because God asked

him. Then Adam started.

It was her. It was.

It was her that that one. That woman you made for me.

I didn't ask you. He got arrogant with God.

I didn't ask you to give her, make her for me.

You made her for you and gave her to me.

You know why the arrogance. He is transitioning Elijah out

of spectacle based ministry. This is so good guys.

For those that understand he is moving him out of spectacle

based ministry. He is no longer just a prophet

calling down fire. He is a prophet participating in

governance. Watch this stillness proceeds

structural clarity. Right after this, Elijah goes

and starts anointing people. Ordaining people stuff really

started popping off and it wasn't about fire coming down,

but it was like establishing authority in the earth through

men and through women. And watch this, we have gotten

so busy looking for signs, miracles and wonders that we

have forfeited the revelation and the function of the five

fold ministry gift in the church because we've been wanting fire

and wind and earthquakes. We won't got to shake the earth.

You know what God gave to bring order?

The fivefold ministry gifts. You want to know why the church

is all over the place? Because we got one gift here and

one gift there, but we don't got a fist here.

Go and go to a fight and try to fight somebody with your pinky

or you're pointing finger going some people again don't know

what I'm talking about Go and try to fight, but the fivefold

ministry gives it's a it's a punch to darkness that the

darkness can't handle. So we need is in this church we

activate and if. It's on you and it's fruit.

We activate, and this is what Elijah does.

And so I see in the season that God has been having us go

through, yeah, there's been deliverance, man.

We do. We do deliverance ministry.

Ain't scared of no demons. Come, come on, try us.

But God has authority over demons more than we do.

So it's something when demons manifest and God is saying it's

time, then we do it. We not here trying to have

deliverance. I mean, we've had people come to

me and come to us and say we need to do deliverance more.

Oh, you after spectacle, you're after hell.

You not really doing the ministry of Jesus.

Well, he was a teacher, He was a rabbi.

He gave us gifts to equip. And in an Apostolic house, not

only do all 5 gifts function under one roof, those 5 gifts

also can represent seasons in which God is equipping the

church. Sometime it can be very

prophetic because God is trying to accelerate our understanding

and get us to a place because what good is teaching where God

ain't? So get me where God is.

And we need revelation and teaching for what God is doing

in this dispensation of time. I don't know.

I don't need to know how big the Manger was and what the weather

report was when Jesus was born and how many camels was down the

street from Peter when. No, what is God doing today?

The issue was not location guys. It was not about The Cave.

It was about orientation. The brothers mind was not in the

right place. God.

Was not absent from the storm. He just refused to be known

through it. I think we we got to reiterate

that he was not absent in the fire.

He was not absent in the wind. God's everywhere.

He just refused to reveal himself through the earthquake.

God refused to watch this. God refused to reveal himself.

When you become desperate to get out of somewhere, more than

desperate to know him, and you want God to show up to get you

out of or relieve the pain. And God said no, no, no, no,

because that, that if I get you out of it, you stop pursuing me.

So I'm going to let you feel it because I got your attention

now, right? It's hurting you, but it's

blessing God. Yeah, it's disappointing you,

but it's exciting God. God said no, I'm not about to

reveal myself through bailing you out of something I told you

not to get. In in the first place, you bout

to trace your steps. I'm going to ask you the right

questions. I'm going to bring the right

people around you, and we going to turn this trash into a

testimony. Yeah, thank God for pushing

pause on my life and bringing people around me and turning my

terribleness to a testimony. Absolutely.

Thank God he didn't bail you out of that situation when you

wanted to be bailed out. Now you're stronger, Now you got

more wisdom. Now you can actually help

somebody watch this. Write it down.

Oil is not produced in bailouts. Oil is produced in the pressure.

Gonna get that baby oil instead of that olive oil that no, no,

we can't do that. No, no, no, we don't do.

No, no, no, no, no. Ain't no John ain't no Bishop

Johnson and Johnson in here. Ain't no Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah.

Maybe what I understand it's OK. Not everybody understand what

I'm talking about. So it's OK for those.

Hey. And then some people know more

about baby oil than they do James.

I Listen, listen, listen. I'm not going to let a man

pervert something that that raised me.

Absolutely. BB did.

He did not raise me. But baby oil was on me for a

long time. Hey, anybody else?

Anybody else? That's why some of y'all was

disappointed. Amen.

Because that smell used to be like that.

That's nostalgia right there. Not no more.

See, we can't talk about baby oil unless you're just like,

don't talk about baby. Yeah, stop.

There's no baby. And no Johnson and Johnson ain't

did nothing, Will John? Yeah.

James and Tina Johnson ain't never did nothing to us.

God realigns and he recenters. His.

Perception I thank God that he has been getting my mind right

on who he is and how he really works patterns and keys of how

God works. And so now I'm not pressing

because I actually know I'm not wondering what he's saying

because I actually am tapped in with him.

I walk with him but but, but not because I'm a pastor is because

I'm a son. Stillness is not stopping, guys,

it's trusting. Can we turn that heater off for

a second? Whoever's cold, you can be cold

for a minute like I've been hot for a minute.

They man. Stillness is not stopping, it's

trusting. Stillness is not stopping, it's

trusting. Stillness is not stopping, it's

trusting. Stillness is not stopping, it's

trusting. Stillness in Scripture begins

when self governance ends. Psalm 46 says let be and be

still, let be and be still, let be and be still and no somebody

say no, recognize and understand that I am God.

Watch this, I will be exalted. We what we understand through

Scripture is is is the Lord says what happens to those that

humble themselves. Yeah, read your Bible.

He exalts them the prideful. He.

Turned from it's prideful for you to want to stay in control

of everything. That's pride.

Guess what? God ain't blessing that you go

ahead, be in control. Be your own God, be your own

God. He like go ahead.

I'll be here when you wear out because you actually wasn't

made. You were made to walk with me in

the garden daily. You were made to be yoked with

me. You were made to be strengthened

by me. You were not made.

To get it, grind. And and no, no you wouldn't.

No Work hard, work hard. But sons and daughters have

inherited more than afterlife. Life, your career, your dream

should never exhaust you come between family.

It should never. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

There is a rhythm, not balance. A rhythm.

I've been trying to find balance all my life and ain't found it

yet. But I found rhythm.

Hallelujah. Step out of traffic, it says.

Step out of traffic. Take a.

Long loving, look at me. You're high God above politics,

above everything. Step out of traffic.

Look to me above everything. Look to me above everything.

Proverbs 3 says trust in me. Lean not to your own

understanding in all your ways, acknowledge me and I will direct

your path. What?

What a deal and how many people in here directing their own path

and then say God is it? Is it?

Is it good? Is this cool God he like?

I can't even communicate to you because you're hearing is in the

lane of rebellion and pride. So then I got to correct again.

Let's, let's retract the steps. Watch this.

He wouldn't be my God if I can guide him.

If I could. If, if, if I could control him

and manipulate him, he wouldn't be a God I want to serve.

So is he God or you are? Yeah, be still.

Somebody shout out. Be still.

Be still is. Cease striving.

Cease striving commanding us. He is commanding us to release

control. Release our grip on governing

ourselves. Release our grip on governing

ourselves. Be still.

It's not emotional quiet, but it's hands off surrender, God, I

trust you. Be still.

Cease striving. It's release your grip and stop

insisting on control. It is ending resistance to God's

rule. Stop resisting God's rule.

Stop resisting God's words. Stop resisting God's rule.

He says to no and no be still and no.

No here means experiential recognition, not mental

agreement. How many people are are are are

are still in control or try to be and you read your Bible so it

ain't knowledge. This is experiential

recognition. Stillness is the posture that

allows recognition of. Who is actually governing?

Be still, stand down. Stillness is not the absence of

motion. It is the absence of internal

contradiction. Am I helping like a few people?

That's it. Helping a few people.

Stillness is not the absence of motion, it's the absence of

internal contradiction. James, watch this.

Note you moving on too fast. James 18 says a double minded

man is unstable in all his ways. Watch this, you double minded

and in the areas you have control and there's results of

your control underneath it, you're unstable.

The opposite of stillness is not busyness, it is divided

allegiance. No, Jesus, Can I help somebody?

Can I help somebody? The opposite of stillness, it's

not busyness, it's divided allegiance and and and we second

experience. We're going to get deeper into

this. But today where we're heading is

it could sound like Elder John that to be still, I need to do

less. But in the.

Bible. There's a lot of busy people who

are still. Oh yeah, there's some folks

that's way busier than y'all. You don't got nobody trying to

behead you, you ain't walking everywhere and you stressed out.

Hallelujah. God knew when to put you in the

earth. Peace rules in umpires and it

decides what stays and what goes.

Peace. Man, I've been ever since I've

been, the more revelation I've been getting, the more I'm like,

oh, peace is like, Nah, Nah, we don't need that.

And then I obey peace because peace is umpire.

And guess what? I'm like, Nah, I can't do that

today. And guess what?

I keep somebody, you could tell somebody getting started.

You, you ever, you know, somebody argumentative beside

you, you know, somebody argumentative, right?

You can tell or they have a bad day and they get argumentative

and you sit there and you, you, you, you, you, you give into it.

And peace is like, don't, don't do it, walk away.

Like don't do it. And you stay there.

And you didn't let Peace was in there trying to say this ain't

going to work. Like, I like, I can't hang out,

I can't live in this environment.

So once you step into that, I'm going to have to step back.

Peace is trying to umpire. Don't go there.

Ah, but I need some extra money. OK, go get your extra money.

But no peace. You thought after you got extra

money you was going to have peace.

But guess where that money went? That extra money went right out

the dough and paid somebody else, right?

You, you use a lot of us don't value peace.

And then unfortunately, a lot of us don't even know the peace of

God. But it's for you.

Stillness is governance and unity of heart, not emotional

calm. Oh Lord, you can have my heart.

You are not just my savior, you are my Lord.

It's a difference. Some of y'all needed a savior.

But is he Lord anybody rent in here?

A lot of us. You have a what landlord.

He he should be your Lord, right?

Do what you want. But but but I I come knock on

that door. Be like, hey, I need to check.

I need to check something out. Yeah, he's the landlord.

If stillness were merely stopping, then motion would be

disobedience. God ain't asking you to stop

doing what you're doing. He just want to know if he can

be in what you're doing, not just be like, all right, God,

come here, sit on the couch though, like don't don't say

nothing. You got God is not a family on

the wall, OK? He is not that God.

God is trying to bring wisdom. God is trying to tell you when

it's time to leave, if it's time to leave.

God is trying to help you with business deals.

God is trying to tell you what business deal to take.

Don't take who to partner with, who not to partner with because

he has the full picture. He was in that.

Room. With that person that was

planning to turn on you, he heard they conversations.

Scripture is full. Of people who are divinely busy

and deeply still I want I received that for myself

divinely busy and. And and this.

Is has to be the clarity today. God is not asking you to be

less, be less busy is not. Stillness is not less busy, but

can He govern your activity? Stillness is produced by the

Spirit. This is where we're going today.

Stillness is produced by the Spirit, not by self-discipline.

Because stillness can sound like Nope, I got Nope, I'm not doing

that today. And God's like, no, no, no, no,

no, no, I need you to go. Do that today.

Wait a minute, God, you told me to be.

Still no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I need you to go there, but I need you to let me be involved.

Is is not or No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

White God. Stillness is not yoga.

Stillness is not breath work. Stillness is not swimming in the

ocean. Stillness is not bodily.

Stillness is not Hawaii. Stillness is not on the

mountaintop. You go up with anxiety and you

come down with anxiety. For all who are allowing

themselves to be led by the Spirit, watch this.

And I want to be very clear, all these, all these, all these

exercises and, and opportunities to, to, to calm our nervous

systems. And all of those are gifts from

God, but they're not the source. They're supplements to the

source. That's what you have to

understand, right? You can watch it.

Here you go. You can just because you take

vitamins, but all you eat is fried food.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Right, right.

You, you can't, you can't. You can't meditate and turn the

music off or turn on calm music, but then get up and get on the

phone and interact with somebody that you know is going to stress

you out. You can't take.

Vitamins and smoke cigarettes. Whoever that whoever that word

was for. Amen.

Today is your day to be free. Those that are led by the Spirit

are sons of God. Those that are led by the Spirit

are sons of God. Those that are led by the Spirit

are sons of God. Let the ghost ride the whip.

Stillness is not something you achieve by doing less and

minimizing motion. Stillness is something you

receive through surrender to the Spirit's leadership.

Hallelujah. I think this is AI think this is

very good right here. This is helping me now.

Now let me some of this stuff I have given you like like 6

sessions of therapy that you pay $125.00 for.

Now look, I don't mind taking my notes and setting up a wisdom

session with you if you if if you just if you just want to sit

down and. And pay for some counseling,

right? But again, that therapist needs

to be supplemental and you can't come to church and then mix your

therapy with a new age therapist.

The Bible talks about mixing. It's in the Bible.

You can mix Kingdom stuff with worldly practices.

It's very dangerous. You want the Holy Spirit to

comfort and calm the storm, but he was sent to confront and

cause reform. He orients, yeah.

The greatest calm you can have is from a transformed life, a

renewed mind, faith that transcends all under peace, that

transcends all understanding. Watch this.

Let the ghosts ride the whip. Stillness begins when you

release the reins to the spirit. Here, watch this.

What do you mean? PT Zachariah says this.

You can't force these things, Zerubbabel.

I love that name. They only come about through my

spirit, says the God of Angel armies.

So big mountain who? Do you think you are?

I love it so, so, so those that don't know, this is in the Old

Testament. So when you go searching, it's

in the Old Testament. You can turn that off.

I'm aware. You, you, you.

You can't force these. Things.

Not by might nor by power, Amplify says.

Not by might, not by power, but by your spirit.

Here we go guys. God is confronting the

temptation to force a God ordained outcome.

Through human capacity, pressure, or control, the work

is God commissioned, but progress has stalled with

Zerubbabel. I love this because I see us all

in here. Zerubbabel is building

something, but progress has stalled and God said what?

I have commissioned you to build.

I will not let it be built. I will not provide.

I will not press play. I will not sign off on moving

forward until you understand it's not by might.

It's not by power, but it's by your spirit.

There are some people that God will allow to not bless you and

they got the check to write because He knows that when they

write the check they going to take credit for it being built.

So I've had to learn how to say God, I know it's here, I know

it's there, but God says no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not by

might nor by power, but by his Spirit.

I am raising a son. I am raising a people that can

trust me more than they could trust man.

Because the same person that wrote the check can be all over

the place, persecute you, walk away from you and try to take

credit. God says this is the remnant

that will know God and the people that will not take credit

and the people will worship God. God has ordained people to give

with no strings attached. Oh, I know some generous people

who give relentlessly and I don't even got to worry at one

minute without them walking away wanting something in exchange

because they totally give because watch this, They know

their mission. What's the partner with the

vision of God? And then there's some people

that will give big or, or, or every now and then, but when

they walk away, they like that should equal more time.

That should equal, Oh, you didn't you?

You didn't know that giving is a ministry, right?

This is God. And I had to learn this very

quickly. And you got to learn it very

quickly. Just because you are friends

with somebody that got it don't mean God has permitted them to

give it. Just because you work with

people that got it, don't meet. So don't go around being mad at

people because if God, if God allowed.

Them to give, you got to deal with some strings.

So you see it in the Bible sometimes people, they want

information before they give. And I get it.

Sometimes God is developing you to trust Him in your sewing

because He's trying to train you.

It's crazy. We'll go to Starbucks and give

Starbucks all our money. You don't know what they doing

with it, but but they're supporting a whole lot of stuff

that's anti Jesus that your triple latte with goose milk and

and and and and this stuff be just coming out my mouth, man.

I'm just like whatever goose milk.

I don't even goose has got milk. Geese has got milk a couple more

slides. So we get out here because I'm

gonna say something crazy. I'm I feel.

Good right now. He is telling, he is telling

Zerubbel, stop trying to generate what only my, my spirit

can accomplish. So the temptation is not

rebellion here, The temptation is self-reliance in a holy

assignment. What he's telling him and he's

telling us today, guys, you cannot force these things.

Even when the motives are pure and the assignment is correct

and it's morally sound, you can't just look at, am I doing

the right thing? Am I doing a good thing?

Yes, cool, do it. But is it?

You got to understand what God has to do with it.

This Hebrew here, right here really means you cannot force

momentum. You cannot force completion, you

cannot force favor, you cannot force breakthrough, you cannot

force spiritual authority. Let me help some of y'all.

When you start trying to force God things, it's witchcraft

because you find yourself in manipulation.

It is witchcraft. So this word might means

accumulated human strength, not by mind, it means resources and

numbers. Some of y'all in here you need

to stop. Do not let this world consume

you. I'll tell somebody in here right

now. God's plan for what he blessed

you with is way bigger than your efforts can produce.

There's more than your business. There's your more than your

career. There are people to love.

There are people that need your attention.

There are other things that need your hands and your wisdom.

There's other places that need your presence.

Then this word power means personal capacity, leadership

ability, charisma, strategy, all these good things.

And God said, Nope, what I'm planning for you won't be done

through that. Not by might nor by power, but

by His Spirit Stillness is spirit dependence.

Stillness is spirit dependence. I got time for 2-3 more slides

for you and we'll pick up in second experience.

The mountain moves. He's talking to this mountain.

The mountain moves when the spirit is given room to work.

He said, oh, you great mountain be moved human obstacles.

It is removed because he aligned himself with the Spirit.

God was not telling Zerubbabel stop building.

Please hear me. God was not telling Zerubbabel

stop building because this building wasn't open.

It's not a sign we stopped building.

We've been building. God was not telling Zerubbabel

to stop building. He was telling him to stop

forcing it stop. Fortunate I found myself in this

four years, EJ some of y'all know man, I'd be out of town

with my family doing certain things and I'll be like, wait a

minute, I'm supposed to be be at down at the city trying to hurry

them up. And I'm like, you can rush

people, but you can't rush God's provision.

So now you rush people and now they give you an invoice and you

like, hey, God, come on breakthrough.

He's like, no, look, my provision, I was working on the

people, I was working on the invoice.

I had the invoice in mind. That's why I allowed delay.

That's why I press pause because my provision wasn't coming when

you demanded the invoice. And when you demand people, you

demand the invoice. So he said stop forcing it.

Yes, Sir. Four years.

Why alignment. And this past week was all about

some final alignment. You can be obedient.

You can be obedient, Danny. You can be obedient and still be

controlling. Lord, I am doing what you told

me to do, but I'll. Still got my hand on the

steering wheel. You can be obedient but still

controlling. I put Adam to sleep, boy, go to

sleep. You ain't about to tell me.

Put this on her right here, man. Put that over there.

Adam would have messed the whole female body up.

You. You cannot close with this.

You cannot produce stillness while governing yourself.

The Spirit does three things. The Spirit does three things in

the body consistently. 3 things in the scripture.

He leads, He makes, He reminds, He leads, he makes, He reminds,

he leads, he makes, and he reminds.

He, he leads, He makes, He makes, He reminds, he leads, he

makes, He reminds. Stillness is where the Spirit

fixes our focus. Pick up here Luke 10.

Next experience with two ladies, one by the name of Mary and the

other one by the name of Martha. We going to have fun looking at

Mary and Martha. We going to have fun looking at

Mary and Martha because the busy one thought the other one was

being lazy. She was being still.

We going to look at Mary and we going to look at Martha.

I love alignment, but the excited guy in me like, like,

like when we have moments in church where it's like, but then

you just like you get a bunch of ignorant people shouting.

And I grew up around that. But we knew how to have a good

time in church Oregon. And then we walk out of there

and live in defeat Monday through Saturday, sleeping

around and choir, sleeping with each other, the pastors.

And so there, there, there got to be not balance.

It's got to be rhythm. And so we we we love quest,

going to celebrate often, but there's moments where we got to

get a line. So now we celebrating in faith.

We celebrating with revelation. Not not sitting here ignorant

like this feel good. I don't know why we doing it,

but this feel good. Something got a hold of me.

Is this what we do at church? No, it's not what we do at

church. It's a season, man, because I'm

telling you, and you can mark my word, mark my word in the next

two years. Come here late if you want to.

You going to be in that overflow room If we got 1, I don't even

know if there's room for overflow.

We'll find overflow. It might be over here.

I don't know. Drive home.

I don't know what you're going to do.

But I will tell you what God's about to do on this corner, in

this community, through this church.

Here's here's what I know guys, here's what I know.

Just practically and logistically speaking, we are

not equipped or prepared for major harvest in this space.

God is so good to not overwhelm us.

We don't have the facilities to do church or host, right?

Host in a way that will reflect the fullness of God's heart.

Because in this culture, the presence of God is not enough

for people to come to church. So the presence of God won't

hold a lot of people. People will go somewhere where

aesthetically it's nice and pleasing and and so for y'all

that keep showing up, that says a lot about who you are, but

more about what God has put in you.

You see something that the average believer does not see

and there's a reward for your pioneering eyes.

You don't realize that you have come in a season.

You may not serve, but you coming in those seats have been

extreme encouragement that God is moving, that God is doing

something. You, you may come and you may

go, but your consistency is is is is is a is a it's an offering

to those that labor that man, we, we come here and labor for

something. And there's people that keep

coming in the team as we're doing finances.

They're always just blessed about the people that just keep

giving. There's people that continuously

give. $3 two dollars, $5.00 but continuously the the miracle of

people trusting God. And then there's people who

give. There's people who give that if

they didn't give, we we'd be in that tent, not in here, just in

the tent only during the daytime, no lights needed.

But there's people who give for those that don't give, rather

you don't give because you don't have a revelation.

Rather, you don't give because you stingy.

Rather, you don't give because you're you're.

Fearful. Rather you don't give because

you don't trust God. Rather, you don't give because

you don't trust our church. That's fine.

But I will tell you that this, this corner, this community,

this block is going to see something that at least this

city has never seen before. I'm not saying, and this is not

all about numbers, it's about presence.

It's about what God's about to do and whoever shows up, there's

a maturity growing in this church.

There is a richness growing in this church.

It hasn't just been four years, but it's been 7-8 years of going

down and we got eight years down.

Faithfulness and resilience and people don't know the cost.

And I'm telling you, I wish I could we not there.

You just got to see it when we get there.

I don't even know. I just, it's in here and, and

I've and that's all I've held on to.

And it's not just faith. It's like, it's such a reality.

So if God's calling you to serve every now and then, if God's

just calling you to be here and get fed, whatever it may be like

get rooted and, and, and be a part of the family and grow

because Vancouver needs serious believers who know God, not just

read about them, but know God And so be encouraged.

Love quest that your labor is not in vain and God is up to

something that is exceedingly abundantly above all that we can

ask, think or imagine. Come on, give God some praise.

Come on. You can do better than that,

especially if you are Sower. Especially if you are Sower.

Lord, we praise you. Come on.

Lift your voices right where you are.

Lord, we praise you. Lord, we honor you.

Lord, we adore you. Lord, we give you praise.

Come on. Come on, worshippers.

Come on, intercessors. Lift your voice.

Lift your voice. Lift your voice.

Lord, we thank you. This is your house.

We are your people. God, you're awesome.

God, you're worthy. Come on, God, you're worthy.

Come on, let your neighbor hear you.

God, you're worthy. Come on.

I will bless the Lord at all times, and His praises shall

continuously be in my mouth. What the enemy meant for evil,

God is turning it around for good.

Come on, lift your hands all over the room and join.

Us really quickly. As we just allow this word to

take root in our souls. Before we leave this place, lift

your hands all over the room. All from the front to the back,

from the left to the right. Just lift your.

Hands, thank you so much for tuning into this week's sermon.

We pray you were challenged, equipped and encouraged.

Make sure to follow us on all platforms.

That's love quest intl church. We out here for real.

We're really doing it. That's Facebook, Instagram,

YouTube and TikTok. You can find us anywhere you

need to find us, but until next time, you know the drill, You

know the motto. Get your love fixed man and

we'll see y'all real soon.