Sermon

When the Wind Blows

CityLight Church, a Place for You

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  1. We're going to today conclude the series that

  2. we've been in called Planted. Everyone say Planted.

  3. I'm going to invite you to read with me in Psalm

    Psalms 1 chapter mention

  4. chapter 1 and verse 4. We've been going through

  5. Psalm 1 this entire month. And if you ever missed

  6. a sermon and you're not sure which one you missed,

  7. you can always go to our YouTube channel and

  8. watch that sermon so that you can... Get the

  9. whole series. Amen. But we're concluding today.

  10. Next Sunday, we're going to be celebrating Resurrection

  11. Sunday. Amen. Easter Sunday. How many of you

  12. are excited about that? All right. You should

  13. have got a text with the flyer. Do us a favor

  14. and share that with somebody. Invite that friend,

  15. that coworker, that family member, and tell them,

  16. you know, you're going to come. You're going

  17. to have a good time. And just, you know, promise

  18. them the world. I don't know. Tell them you're

  19. going to take them out to eat or you're going

  20. to do something. But they got to come to church

  21. next Sunday. And we're believing God's going

  22. to do something special in their life. Amen.

  23. Jesus is alive. Amen. So we got to tell. Folks

  24. about that. But today we're going to look at

  25. Psalm chapter one in verse four. It says the

  26. ungodly are not so, but are like the shaft which

  27. the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly

  28. shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in

  29. the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord

  30. knows the way of the righteous, but the way of

  31. the ungodly shall perish. I am going to speak

  32. today on the thought, when the wind blows. When

  33. the wind blows. Amen. You may be seated in God's

  34. presence. When the wind blows. In the series,

  35. we have covered some important topics. We have

  36. covered the power of spiritual soil. Amen. And

  37. roots. And we've talked about fruit. And the

  38. process of growing and being planted where God

  39. has us. Amen. And how important it is for us

  40. to delight ourselves in the law of the Lord.

  41. Amen. And to meditate day and night so that we

  42. can grow. So we've had this picture the last

  43. several weeks of a tree planted in the rivers

  44. of water and growing and flourishing to its potential

  45. fruitfulness. How many of you want to be fruitful?

  46. I said, how many of you want to be fruitful?

  47. We want to produce fruit in our life. But here

  48. in verse 4. the scenery shifts and it moves us

  49. from the field to the ancient threshing floor

  50. with these words like the shaft which the wind

  51. drives away. So I want you to notice there's

  52. a pivot here in the psalm taking us from the

  53. orchard, from the field where the trees are and

  54. now it takes us to the threshing floor. This

  55. is Essentially the next step in the process.

  56. This is the next phase of a developing tree is

  57. fruitfulness. Now the fruit or the grain has

  58. been reaped from the field or from the orchard.

  59. And now it's time to produce. Now it's time to

  60. process that. At harvest time, farmers brought

  61. their grain to what was called a threshing floor.

  62. There the grain was beaten and... broken loose

  63. from the husk, and it was tossed into the air

  64. at dusk with a winnowing fork. If you could show

  65. the next slide, please. And this was a tradition

  66. as a process at that time in order for people

  67. to actually consume the grain or what was harvested.

  68. It had to go through this threshing floor. And

  69. as the grain would be... So, as you can see here

  70. in this illustration, all of the grain with its

  71. husk. shell on the outside would just be laid

  72. upon this hard floor. This is the threshing floor.

  73. And then with oxen, they would begin to crush

  74. and press and trample upon with lots of pressure

  75. that grain so that it could break loose and loosen

  76. the outer casing over the true grain. And then

  77. to separate it, as you see the man there, they

  78. would throw everything up into the air. And the

  79. wind would take away what they didn't need and

  80. retain that which was edible, that which was

  81. valuable. So the threshing floor served a very

  82. important purpose in daily life, in agricultural

  83. life. It was an important step for everyone to

  84. be able to partake of whatever was harvested.

  85. The threshing floor would separate the empty

  86. shells from the substance. It separated the true

  87. from the false. It separated the wheat from the

  88. chaff. And the analogy here in Psalm 1 primarily

  89. foreshadows the day of judgment when every soul

  90. will stand before God and give an account for

  91. their life, which is something that we all will

  92. do one day. And in that final moment, the ungodly

  93. will be carried away like the chaff while the

  94. righteous will remain in the presence of God.

  95. So it gives us a foreshadowing. of that future

  96. day where we stand before God in judgment. But

  97. there is also a present reality within this picture

  98. because God is not waiting until eternity to

  99. begin the threshing process. He does not wait

  100. until judgment day to begin separating and to

  101. begin threshing His people. I've come today to

  102. tell you that God is threshing His people today.

  103. an end time or a latter day rain or a latter

  104. day wind, I should say. God is threshing his

  105. people today. There is a prophetic wind that

  106. is blowing in these last days. We have entered

  107. church a time and a season of threshing for the

  108. church. I want you to know that God is allowing

  109. winds to blow. across this world and through

  110. His church in order to reveal who is planted.

  111. Something we need to understand about the last

  112. days, about the end time. And I'm not going to

  113. dwell here too long, but we've got to understand

  114. that while at the same time the church is growing,

  115. thriving and harvesting, you also need to understand

  116. that prophetically it is also being purified.

  117. There's also being separated. It is also going

  118. through a process of God not just growing his

  119. church, but he's also preparing himself a bride.

  120. He's also, at the same time that the church is

  121. growing, you've got to understand prophetically,

  122. there is also a falling away that is occurring

  123. simultaneously in parallel with the growth of

  124. the church. There is a threshing that is taking

  125. place. God is threshing His church in the hour

  126. that we are living in. What is God doing? He

  127. is purifying. He is pruning. He is separating.

  128. He is qualifying. He is validating His one and

  129. true church. And we are going through a period

  130. like that at this very moment, both secularly

  131. and we're seeing it. In every aspect of life,

  132. we're seeing how God is threshing his church.

  133. He's allowing the winds to blow, and it's testing

  134. the faith. It's testing the integrity. It's testing

  135. the character, the will, the conviction of his

  136. church. And so this is what God is allowing to

  137. happen, and it's not a question of whether there

  138. is threshing because there is, but rather what

  139. is left when the wind has blown in my life. Not

  140. a question of whether there is threshing, but

  141. what's going to be left? What's going to be said?

  142. What's going to be the testimony, the witness

  143. of my life as the wind begins to blow and carried

  144. away the shaft? What will remain? Because the

  145. same wind that carries away the shaft also proves

  146. the weight of the wheat. The same wind that carries

  147. away... The shaft, the lightweight stuff, the

  148. stuff with no substance, the stuff with no future,

  149. the stuff with no weight to it. Also reveals

  150. what is true. Also reveals what is real and what

  151. has substance. Amen. Hallelujah. So today I want

  152. to show you some things that happen when the

  153. wind blows on the threshing floor of our life.

  154. Because we are on a threshing floor today. A

  155. spiritual threshing floor. You need to understand

  156. what God is doing in your life and why. Some

  157. of the winds are blowing. The first thing that

  158. it does when the wind blows, it reveals what

  159. is real. Someone say the real thing. Amen. The

  160. real thing. I think that used to be like the

  161. slogan of Coke many years ago. It's the real

  162. thing. Amen. God wants to see what is real and

  163. what is not. Psalm 1 does not say that the wind

  164. turns wheat into chaff. But it reveals. What

  165. was chaff all along? The wind doesn't make you

  166. chaff. It reveals whether you are or not. You

  167. see, in the field, the wheat and the chaff are

  168. bundled together. They're even harvested together.

  169. They're connected. They look similar. So from

  170. a distance, you can't always tell the difference

  171. between wheat and chaff. But the threshing floor

  172. is the place A revelation. It reveals what is

  173. missing. What's lacking. What's real. What isn't.

  174. What's pretending. And this is the picture of

  175. what happens on the threshing floor of life.

  176. As the winds of trial and tribulation and trouble

  177. begin to blow in our direction. What is God doing?

  178. He is revealing what is real. and what is not.

  179. He is revealing what is authentic and what is

  180. counterfeit. He is revealing what has substance

  181. and what is shallow and what is empty. This is

  182. what the threshing floor does. It reveals what

  183. is real and what is not. And this is exactly

  184. what God is wanting to do in our lives. And in

  185. our church, let me tell you something about trials.

  186. Something we need to understand when the winds

  187. of trouble and trial begin to blow in our life.

  188. Trials don't make you. They only reveal what

  189. you're made of. Somebody say amen today. Trials

  190. don't make you. In fact, tests, you never really

  191. learn anything from a test. A test doesn't teach

  192. you anything. A test just reveals. what you already

  193. know. Think of the test that you would take in

  194. school. You don't learn anything in a test. It

  195. just reveals what you do know and what you don't

  196. know. And the test that we go through when the

  197. wind begins to blow in our life and God allows

  198. a holy or prophetic wind, a wind of trial and

  199. tribulation to blow through our life, all it's

  200. doing is revealing what you're made of already.

  201. It's revealing to you where you currently stand

  202. with God. What areas of your life you need to

  203. work on. What areas of your life you need to

  204. address. What areas of your life you need to

  205. repent of. Sin that you need to confess and deal

  206. with. Problem that you have to address. And people

  207. you need to reconcile with. And all sorts of

  208. things. This is what it does. It reveals our

  209. weaknesses and our areas. Not so that we can

  210. be judged, but so that we can rectify those things.

  211. And so that we can grow and be restored. The

  212. seasons of life. life when everything seems fine

  213. and normal you start to think things are okay

  214. because they're you know everything is fine everything

  215. is good but then here comes the wind and here

  216. comes the trial here comes that situation here

  217. comes that burden and all of a sudden it reveals

  218. to you your lack of prayer It reveals to you

  219. your lack of consecration. It reveals to you

  220. your lack of grace. And it reveals your lack

  221. of mercy and your lack of patience or your pride.

  222. It reveals these things so that we can get right

  223. with God and so that these things come and they

  224. reveal. And a person may look spiritual on the

  225. outside. They may sound spiritual. They may appear

  226. spiritual and stable. But then pressure comes.

  227. And you find yourself getting beaten. It seems

  228. like you're being trampled on on the threshing

  229. floor. And there's pressure and you're being

  230. crushed with disappointment and with trouble

  231. or even correction. And the threshing floor is

  232. starting now to reveal what's been in your heart.

  233. And God starts to reveal if there's been faith

  234. or not. unbelief, humility or pride, submission

  235. or rebellion. And so this is what happens when

  236. the wind blows. It starts to reveal what is real.

  237. Reveal the areas. Jesus said that the house was,

  238. he talked about a house that was built on the

  239. sand and one that was built on the rock. And

  240. guess what? Both houses look the same on the

  241. outside. Both houses had a fresh coat of paint

  242. on the outside. They looked great on the outside

  243. until the wind came, until the storm came. And

  244. the storm, watch this, the storm did not change

  245. the house. All it did was reveal its foundation.

  246. If you're going to make it in this hour, if you're

  247. going to endure to the very end, if you're going

  248. to succeed in God and reach your calling and

  249. fulfill your potential in Him and survive the

  250. storms of life, you've got to make sure that

  251. you're planted and rooted and that there's weight

  252. to your relationship with God so that you can

  253. withstand those winds of change and pressure

  254. and persecution. Why? Because they will come.

  255. Jesus said, you're going to be persecuted for

  256. my name's sake. He said, in this world, there

  257. will be trouble. But be of good cheer. Why? Because

  258. I've already overcome the world. How many of

  259. you are an overcomer today? I said, how many

  260. of you are an overcomer today? Hallelujah. So

  261. listen. What we want to do is build strong Christians,

  262. strong homes, strong marriages, strong families,

  263. strong convictions. Amen, somebody. Strong ministries

  264. and everything. We want to be strong. We want

  265. to be rooted. We want to have weight so that

  266. when the wind blows, we stay planted or we stay

  267. where we are. And we're not vacillating. We're

  268. not going with every wind of doctrine, every

  269. wind of philosophy, every wind of trouble. But

  270. there's something that brings. brings brevity

  271. and weight to our relationship with God that

  272. says, I'm not moving from where I am. I'm going

  273. to stand right here, and I'm going to stand firm,

  274. and I'm not going to waver and vacillate. I know,

  275. hallelujah, the God that I serve. As for me and

  276. my house, we will serve the Lord. Come hell or

  277. high water, come wind or waves, I serve a God

  278. that is worthy of all the praise. Why don't we

  279. clap our hands and give him some praise today.

  280. So the wind comes. And what does it do? It reveals

  281. what is real. And we're seeing that today. We're

  282. seeing that. We're just seeing the wind come.

  283. We're seeing trials and tribulations. And God

  284. is, we're seeing a revealing. The Holy Ghost

  285. is revealing those that have got roots and those

  286. that don't. Those with foundations and those

  287. who don't. And I don't know about you, but I

  288. want to add some weight here. Hallelujah. I'm

  289. not trying to put on weight, praise God. I'm

  290. trying not to do that. Hallelujah. Spiritual

  291. weight. Tell everybody, the pastor said it's

  292. time to gain weight. Hallelujah. No, no, no.

  293. It's time to gain some spiritual weight so that

  294. you don't just get, you're not just a pushover.

  295. You know what I'm saying? Not a pushover. That's

  296. why they put the big, on the football field,

  297. they put the biggest guys on the line. Right?

  298. You don't want to put a little fast receiver

  299. running. You know, you want somebody there that's

  300. solid, that's not immovable, unshakable, right?

  301. Somebody that's going to hold their ground. Do

  302. we got any people like that here today that can

  303. hold their ground? Huh? Hold their ground. Because

  304. you know somebody's going to come along, they're

  305. going to try to test your ground. Is there any

  306. weight to you? You know, they're going to test

  307. you. They're going to quiz you. They're going

  308. to say something just to see your reaction. See

  309. how far they can go. They're going to test you

  310. with a little rumor, with a little gossip to

  311. see, uh -oh, does she take the bait? Or is she

  312. rooted? Or is he rooted? Has he got some substance

  313. to him? The enemy's going to try different things

  314. and the wind's going to blow. But if you've got

  315. weight, amen, you're not a pushover. Say, no,

  316. I'm grounded. I know who I am. Amen? I know who

  317. I am. I'm a child of God. So when the wind blows,

  318. it reveals what is real. Secondly, it removes

  319. what cannot remain. When the grain was tossed

  320. into the air, the wind carried away the shaft

  321. because it had no weight, no substance, no future.

  322. Unusable. And this is where things can get a

  323. bit more uncomfortable because the threshing

  324. floor is not just designed to reveal but to remove.

  325. Hear me today. Hear me in the love of God. God

  326. loves us too much to let us stay full of things

  327. that should not remain. He loves us too much

  328. to let us stay full of things that cannot remain,

  329. that are not connected to our destiny in Him.

  330. The shaft represents everything in our lives

  331. that look like something but produce nothing.

  332. Things that are empty. Empty. Empty things. Empty.

  333. Empty habits and empty attitudes. Empty spirituality

  334. and relationships. Empty things. It reveals those

  335. empty things and it wants to take those things

  336. away in the wind. Removes what cannot remain.

  337. It removes that part of us that has form but

  338. no fruit. Shape. but no substance. A form of

  339. godliness, but denies its power. And when God

  340. begins to thresh and the wind begins to blow,

  341. hallelujah, I feel the Holy Ghost today. Amen.

  342. He starts dealing with those areas, not just

  343. to reveal what is real, reveal what is not, but

  344. to carry those things away that can no longer

  345. remain in our life. Listen, things that... Somebody

  346. here today, things that you have been tolerating,

  347. putting up with in your life, accommodating,

  348. making concessions for, that God says it's time

  349. for you to let the wind carry it away. Because

  350. it no longer is indicative of who you are at

  351. this stage of your life in Christ. It's no longer

  352. good enough to have that remain, that attitude.

  353. No, that's the old you. That's you last year.

  354. That's you two years ago. That's you before you

  355. got saved. And you're still carrying some of

  356. that shaft in your life. And God, let the wind

  357. blow through you so that God can carry away those

  358. things that are no longer a part of your future

  359. in the Lord. Ah, I feel like preaching here today

  360. about some of the stuff that God wants to blow

  361. out of your life so that you can serve him with

  362. all your heart. On the threshing floor, God allows

  363. this pressure. He allows these things to break

  364. apart on that floor so that when the wind starts

  365. to blow, it'll carry it away. Hallelujah. The

  366. wind will carry the wind. Someone say the wind.

  367. The wind. You know, the wind is symbolic of the

  368. Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost when they

  369. were all gathered in one accord in the upper

  370. room. The Bible says it was like a mighty rushing

  371. wind. The Spirit of God began to blow through

  372. that place. Let me tell you, God, when he moves

  373. in our life, sometimes he moves like a wind.

  374. He comes in like a wind. Amen, somebody. He comes

  375. in like a wind. And I don't know about you, but

  376. I need that wind to blow in my life because I've

  377. got some stuff that I just can't get rid of.

  378. Amen. Hallelujah. I got some devils and some

  379. things in my life that I can't seem to sweep

  380. out and get rid of. So you know what I need?

  381. I need something that comes from on high. Ah,

  382. the wind comes from on high. The wind comes from

  383. the sky. The wind comes from above. The wind

  384. comes from beyond. And every once in a while,

  385. you need something to come from heaven that you

  386. could not do on your own. You need something

  387. that is greater than you, more powerful than

  388. you, stronger than you, to blow. I wish I was

  389. talking to somebody. I need the wind of God to

  390. blow through my life and carry the stuff that

  391. I've been struggling with. Stuff that I have

  392. not been able to sweep out and to get rid of.

  393. No matter how hard I try, I need the wind to

  394. blow through and carry away that stuff that can

  395. no longer remain. And so God will send a fresh

  396. wind to carry those things and those people away.

  397. And we have to let God do what he needs to do.

  398. Someone say, let him work. Let God work. Let

  399. him work. Let God do what he needs to. God's

  400. going to carry some stuff away in the wind. Amen.

  401. But can I give you some advice? Can I give you

  402. some advice? Somebody say, go ahead. Don't chase

  403. what the wind blows away. I'm going to say it

  404. again. Don't chase what the wind. If God sends

  405. it away, if the wind carries it out, what does

  406. that mean? It means you didn't need it. God.

  407. would never blow something out of your life that

  408. was essential or something that you needed. So

  409. if he blows it out of your life, you didn't need

  410. it. So don't go chasing after it. Whether it's

  411. money, whether it's people, whether it's opportunities,

  412. if it's gone, let it be gone with the wind. And

  413. let it, somebody say, let it go. If God blew

  414. it out of my life. That means I didn't need it.

  415. If God sent them out of this place, that means

  416. we didn't need it. Come on. I wish I had. If

  417. God released, that means I've got to let it go.

  418. I've got to let the wind carry away those things

  419. in my life and get rooted and establish where

  420. I am today. Somebody give God some praise today.

  421. Come on, somebody clap your hands. I don't know

  422. if there's somebody here today that's a witness.

  423. God blew something out of your life. I've got

  424. to let the wind carry it away. I'm not going

  425. back to that thing. got to let God carry it and

  426. don't go chasing. If the wind carried it, you

  427. didn't need it. You didn't need it. I don't care

  428. how nice, how lovely it is. Let it go. Let them

  429. go. Hallelujah. Some of what you are losing is

  430. shaft. Empty things. And what God removes, you

  431. don't need to carry that stuff into your next

  432. season. God is preparing us today, church. I'm

  433. not going to be much longer. But I really feel

  434. like we are at a moment as a body, as a church

  435. where, yes, we're on a threshing floor. Amen.

  436. I said, we're on a threshing floor. And the wind

  437. is blowing. It's not the pastor. You know, it's

  438. the wind of the spirit. It's not anybody in the

  439. church. God is threshing his church. God is causing

  440. the wind to blow, and some things are being carried

  441. away. And, you know, maybe it's not always easy.

  442. It's hard sometimes when things get blown away

  443. in the wind, you know, especially if it's something

  444. you feel like you do need. Oh, man, the wind,

  445. you know, sometimes, you know, you pull out a

  446. dollar or something, and the wind takes it. You

  447. know, here you go chasing after, you know. Sometimes,

  448. man, just let the dollar go, man. Running across

  449. the street, risk your life, get hit by a car

  450. just for that. You know, some of you are risking

  451. your potential in God because you keep wanting

  452. to chase things that God is trying to send away.

  453. Are you hearing what I'm saying today? So God

  454. just, you know, he's allowing the wind to blow

  455. in our life and he's allowing these things to

  456. happen. And what we got to do is recognize, okay,

  457. this is God's church. Amen. If I'm on the threshing

  458. floor, I'm in the right place. Amen, somebody.

  459. You know, it may not be comfortable. It may not

  460. be, you know, an easy thing. I may not be sleeping

  461. on my sleep number bed and I'm adjusting it.

  462. Oh, man, that's just the way I like it. It's

  463. not going to be comfortable. It's not always

  464. going to be perfect and ideal to the way we like

  465. it, our preferences. Yes, it would have been

  466. nice to have this. Or yes, it would have been

  467. nice to go there. But this is where God has me.

  468. You know, so if this is where God has me, this

  469. is the church that he has me in. I'm surrounded

  470. by the people. Then this must be God's will.

  471. I must be in his will. This is where he has me.

  472. So what is it that God then is trying to teach

  473. me or show me, reveal to me? What is it that

  474. God is trying to accomplish in my life? And what

  475. is he carrying away? But not just what is he

  476. carrying away. Because when the wind blows, it

  477. doesn't just blow things away. It doesn't just

  478. blow and remove and reveal. When the wind blows.

  479. It also rewards what is left. Oh, hallelujah.

  480. It rewards what is left. Hallelujah. The true

  481. grain will fall back on the floor and then the

  482. grain would be gathered. and it would be preserved

  483. and then used maybe to cook a delicious meal

  484. or to prepare something, a feast. It had value.

  485. It was good. It was pleasant. And that is the

  486. beauty of the threshing floor. It not only reveals,

  487. it not only removes, but it rewards the true

  488. grain that held firm. Hallelujah. The true grain

  489. that held its ground even when the wind was blowing.

  490. But the true grain that stayed put and bloomed

  491. where they were planted. The true grain that

  492. said, hey, it doesn't matter what's going on.

  493. I've got to wait for my relationship with God.

  494. And this is what God begins to do in our life.

  495. He begins to reward what is left. And for some

  496. of us today, that's hard to compute. It's hard

  497. to understand how God. can take something that

  498. is left and do something great with it because

  499. we have been programmed to think that the Things

  500. that are leftover have no value or are not very

  501. usable. For example, you know, you got some leftovers

  502. in the fridge, and that's generally what you

  503. eat when there's nothing else to eat. You know,

  504. it's second choice, right? Leftovers, hallelujah.

  505. Unless it's enchiladas, those always taste better

  506. the next day. Hallelujah, but we won't go there.

  507. Hallelujah, or spaghetti, amen. But most of the

  508. time, I'm getting you hungry, it's second choice,

  509. right? It's leftovers. Whatever is left, you

  510. get rid of, right? If you had a yard sale and

  511. you didn't sell everything, whatever is left,

  512. you might say, well, just give it away. It doesn't

  513. have any value to you anymore. But in the kingdom

  514. of God, it is the exact opposite. The value is

  515. found in those things that are still left. After

  516. the wind, I wish I had a wind. After the wind

  517. has blown. After the threshing on the floor,

  518. it may not look like very much in this condition.

  519. It may not look like very much. It may look very

  520. little. But God is saying, that's all that I

  521. need. That's all that I'm looking for. I don't

  522. know if there's somebody here today that could

  523. say, Pastor, I have lost some things in my life.

  524. I've lost some things in my home. I've lost some

  525. things in my walk with God. But I'm still standing

  526. here today. And I've come to tell you that if

  527. you're still here, God can anoint what is left.

  528. I wish somebody would give God some glory today.

  529. Hallelujah. God wants to bless what's left. It

  530. may not look as bountiful as it did. Well, of

  531. course everything looked better when it was a

  532. big pile there. Of course it all looked, wow,

  533. look how much stuff we've got on this floor,

  534. man. Look at all that's here, all the people

  535. that are here. that's here, man, that's awesome.

  536. Yeah, but half of it is chaff and only half of

  537. it is wheat. So then God blows the thing that

  538. doesn't belong and then what is remaining, that

  539. is what God wants to use. That's what God wants

  540. to bless. That's what God wants to run. Whether

  541. it's in your finances, whether it's in your emotion,

  542. whether it's in your marriage or the ministry

  543. or the church, that's what God is looking to

  544. multiply and bless in our life. And I really

  545. feel this in my spirit today. In the eyes of

  546. God, the blessing is not in what's lost. It's

  547. in what's left. Hear me today. God does his greatest

  548. work with what's left. He does his greatest work.

  549. He does his greatest work with what's left. What's

  550. left of my faith. Last year was a long year.

  551. I'm just coming out of a difficult season. I'm

  552. just coming out of a difficult trial. I'm just

  553. coming out of a difficult period. I'm not sure.

  554. I'm not ready yet. I don't know if I still have

  555. what it takes. I'm not sure if we can listen.

  556. God can take whatever is left. That's what he's

  557. looking for. He rebuilt Israel with just a remnant

  558. of people. He can rebuild your life with whatever

  559. is left. Whatever is left of your faith. Left

  560. of the church. Left of your strength. Left of

  561. your family. Because the blessing is not in what

  562. was lost. It's in what's left. Because what is

  563. left has weight. I said it has weight. You know

  564. what that means? It's been proven. If you're

  565. still standing, if you're still here, if you're

  566. still, you've gone through a proving process.

  567. Somebody say, I've been proven. I've been proven.

  568. I've been proven. You may have lost some things

  569. along the way. That's the case. That's how it

  570. works. Amen. We have lost some things, lost some

  571. people. Lost some friends. What's going to happen?

  572. You've been blown away. Maybe you're wondering,

  573. well, what am I going to do with what's left?

  574. God sent me here to tell you today that what's

  575. left is enough. Somebody say, that's all he needs.

  576. I invite you to stand with me today. That's all

  577. God needs. Listen, at the end of the day, I came

  578. to preach a very simple message today. I came

  579. to be the voice, the mouthpiece for the Lord

  580. today. To tell, to announce to somebody that

  581. when you put what's left in the hands of God,

  582. he knows how to multiply it. He knows how to

  583. bless. Just ask the young boy who gave Jesus

  584. what was left of his lunch. The two fish and

  585. the five loaves. Just ask him what God can do

  586. with what's left. I tell you what he can do.

  587. He can feed 5 ,000 men. He can feed a multitude.

  588. And some of you are looking at, well, this is

  589. all that I've got left. This is all that remains

  590. of my. My strength, this is all that remains

  591. of my ministry, all that remains of my heart,

  592. all that remains of my dreams, all that remains

  593. of my hope. I mean, this is it. You know, I don't

  594. have some, you know, a backup account somewhere

  595. else. This is all I got in my bank. This is it.

  596. This is all that we have right here. And you

  597. know, even as a pastor, I look around and say,

  598. hey, this is who God has given our church. But

  599. you know, God doesn't look at our church and

  600. say, oh. God looks at our church and says, that's

  601. all I need. That's all I need. Because I can

  602. take what's left. And I can multiply it. I don't

  603. know if I'm talking to somebody here today. I

  604. feel the Holy Ghost right now. I'm here to tell

  605. you there's a miracle about to happen in your

  606. life right now. There's a miracle. I feel this

  607. in the Holy Ghost. Somebody came today. You absolutely

  608. need God to do a miracle in your life. You need

  609. God to do a miracle in your heart. You need God

  610. to do a miracle with whatever is left of you.

  611. You've gone. The wind has come. And it's shaking

  612. you up a little bit. and maybe you come out of

  613. a hard trial or maybe you're still in the midst

  614. of it. I've come to tell you that this altar,

  615. this church today is a threshing floor. Oh, I

  616. see it in the spirit. It's a threshing floor.

  617. I'm on the threshing floor here this afternoon

  618. and I've come to tell you that there is a fresh

  619. wind that is blowing in this place right now.

  620. God is stirring up something in my life. The

  621. spirit of the Lord is moving again. I don't know

  622. if you feel what I feel, brother. But I invite

  623. somebody right now, if you need God to move in

  624. your life, if you need God to work in your life,

  625. if you need God to do something impossible for

  626. you, if you've been waiting on him, if you've

  627. been looking for him, I've come to tell you today

  628. that you might have been on the threshing floor,

  629. but God's about to take whatever is left after

  630. the wind, and he's going to multiply. He's going

  631. to give you double for your trouble. He's going

  632. to give you double for whatever it is that was

  633. gone with the wind. This is what the Lord told

  634. me. Shut up. I feel this in the Holy Ghost. God

  635. woke me. God interrupted me. It was a couple

  636. of months ago. God had interrupted me in my prayers.

  637. I was praying to the Lord and seeking him. about

  638. a number of things in my life, both personally

  639. and in my ministry, just a number of things.

  640. And the Lord told me, he gave me this message

  641. about blessing what is left, and that's where

  642. the value is. But the Lord said, don't you worry,

  643. because just like Job, who lost all his money,

  644. All of those precious things. I restored unto

  645. him double of everything that he lost. And the

  646. Lord spoke to me and said, Jacob, don't you worry

  647. about what was gone in the wind. Don't you worry

  648. about what you lost in the wind. Don't you worry

  649. about what was lost on the threshing floor. Because

  650. I'm going to restore to you double. I'm going

  651. to give you twice as much as you thought. know

  652. if there's somebody here that wants a double

  653. portion. If you want a double portion of God,

  654. then I invite you right now to connect with him

  655. right there where you are, or you can come to

  656. this altar, extend your hands to heaven and say,

  657. God, I want to, I wonder if there's somebody

  658. there. I want a double portion, God, a double

  659. blessing, a double portion, Lord. A double portion

  660. of that anointing. A double portion of your power.

  661. A double portion of your glory. A double portion

  662. of your miracles. A double portion, God, of healing.

  663. A double portion, God. I'm ready, God. I want

  664. you to do something in my life today. Is there

  665. somebody? Is there somebody that's willing to

  666. say, God, have your way in my life?