From The Mouth of the Lion

And I'm going to invite you, if you can, we're

going to be reading out of the book of Amos.

Small, small little book in the Old Testament,

but God has led me here. Amos chapter 3 in verse

Amos 3 · chapter mention

12. Amos chapter 3 in verse 12. Just going to

Amos 3 · chapter mention

read one verse of scripture. Man, there is, there

is a message here that God has for... for us

and we're continuing uh a thought that i shared

a couple weeks ago on taking it back and so we're

just going to amen add another another phase

to that amen and and this is what the word of

the lord says it says thus says the lord as a

shepherd takes from the mouth of the lion two

legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children

of Israel be taken out. Someone say taken out

who dwell in Samaria. I'm going to preach today

for a few moments on this thought from the mouth

of the lion, from the mouth of the lion. Would

you be so kind to join me with a word of prayer

right now? Father, we love you today. We thank

you. For all the things that you've done thus

far, God, many blessings and Lord, but we know

that there are some God right now who are under

the weather. We pray for them, God, that you

would restore their health. You bless the church.

And today, God, we also are anticipating your

word. And I ask God that you would anoint all

of our hearing today that we have an ear to hear

what the spirit is saying to the church. and

anoint my lips of clay that every word i preach

god would be yours and not mine we give you all

the honor and all the glory in jesus name everyone

say amen you may be seated i don't know i was

going to do it like a little poll and ask how

many of you i guess i'm doing it now but if you

don't want to raise your hand you don't have

to but how many of you have ever been bitten

by a dog all right few hands gonna And I might

have triggered something for some of you who

have had a traumatic experience. If you've ever

been bitten by a dog, it is an unforgettable

pain. And I've only been bitten by a small dog.

But can I tell you, small dogs have strong bites,

too. It hurt. It hurt, that little bite. And

if you've ever experienced the bite of a dog,

you know, it's just one of those things that

you just never forget. And I began to look at

the bite forces of dogs. And the bite force of

an average dog is about 240 PSI. And PSI is pounds

per square inch. So the average dog has a bite

force of about 240 PSI. A German Shepherd bites

at about 238 PSI. And a Wattrider has one of

the strongest bites among dogs, even stronger

than a pit bull, in fact. A Wattrider has a,

in fact, I think pit bulls get a bad rap sometimes,

you know. A Wattrider has an even fiercer bite

than that, and it registers up to 128 PSI. And

that's powerful enough to cause serious injury.

It could even be fatal. It could puncture flesh.

And so your arm definitely doesn't want to be

like that wooden branch right there caught in

the mouth of a Wattweiler. And as lethal as that

sounds, and it is, it really pales in comparison

to that of a lion. A lion's bite, by comparison,

is over 650 psi that is three times stronger

than your average lion or excuse me average dog

such a bite is so powerful it's powerful enough

to easily easily without a lot of work pierce

flesh crush bone sounds sounds terrible right

clamp down on its prey So the bite of a lion

is so much more stronger than that of your average

dog. And a lion's bite is one of the fiercest

displays of power in the wild. Once a lion locks

its jaw, once it gets a hold, once it grips something

with its mouth, it rarely lets go of it. It has

like this lockjaw that can penetrate and hold

on, not letting it go. And when you consider

that, it makes the imagery of the text that I'm

reading today all the more dramatic and impossible.

If a lion's bite is strong enough to crush bone,

how much stronger must the hand be? to rescue

its prey from its grip? That's the question that

Amos answered in his brief but chilling description

of Israel's fateful condition and God's promise

to restore them. As he begins to tell in this

dramatic form of Israel being like a lamb or

a sheep caught, in the grip of a lion's mouth,

begins to share, begins to expose the seriousness

of Israel at that time. Now, it was the promise

or it was the prophet Amos that began to share

these things. And the thing about Amos is that

he actually wasn't a prophet in the classical

sense in that he wasn't a trained prophet. didn't

come from a lineage of prophets. In other words,

he wasn't the son of a prophet. He wasn't a part

of a school of any prophets. What he was was

a shepherd, a shepherd whom God had called out

of the sheepfold to speak boldly to his flock,

which was the nation of Israel. And so this was

just an average guy, just an ordinary worker

in the fields working with sheep. And God called

him out of there to speak to his people. And

so it is with that background in mind, the fact

that this was a man who understood the nature

of the wild being a shepherd himself, that he

was able to pin such a warning to God's people.

And the Bible tells us in this little book that

he wrote, that he left his Judean village of

Tekoa, marched all the way northward into Israel.

And there he began to witness some things that

really disturbed him and shook him to the core.

He began to see the prosperity of the people

of Israel. And all of this prosperity was on

the surface. But underneath that prosperity,

the Lord began to show him some things about

Israel that there was sin and corruption underneath

all of that outward prosperity. And he began

to see that they had gone astray and that they

were living in sin and they were neglecting the

word of God and living with idolatry and had

accommodated and tolerated wicked leaders and

the oppression of the poor. So despite the outward

sign of health and wealth and prosperity, underneath

was a nation in decline. Underneath was a people

who had found themselves in the grip of the lion's

mouth. He begins to prophesy. He starts to condemn

the surrounding nations. And then he starts to

condemn Judah. And then he finally turns to Israel.

And he paints this picture of their enemy. And

he wants Israel to understand the nature of the

enemy that they're up against. That he is this

ferocious lion tearing through their lives and

wanting to leave nothing left behind it. And

in this warning, He exposes not only Israel's

adversary, but he also gives us a picture, church,

of our adversary today. He also shows us in that

picture what we are up against on a daily basis.

And there are some things that we want to look

at today, understanding the spiritual battles,

the spiritual warfare that we are engaged in,

understanding the nature of the enemy. And the

first thing we see about the enemy is that he

is like a lion. He is a lion who hunts to tear

apart. He wants to tear things apart. You know,

in Scripture, He goes by many names, adversary,

bells above, the accuser, devil, Satan, the wicked

one. All throughout Scripture, there are various

labels that our enemy is given to describe. He's

also described as a serpent and a dragon even.

But the Holy Ghost inspired. Peter, in his book,

to describe our enemy as a lion. And he writes

this in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8. He says,

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

be sober. Be vigilant because your adversary,

the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking

whom he may devour. And so he lifts the veil.

He exposes the nature of their enemy. I mentioned

a couple of weeks ago that it is imperative.

It is crucial for us, and especially in the time

and the season that we're living in right now,

church, that we understand that we are in a spiritual

battle. Can I get an amen from somebody? We are

in spiritual warfare. And it is important, and

it is my job as your pastor and the under -shepherd

of this church to prepare you, to help you to

see the nature of the battle and what is at stake.

We need to understand that the devil is not some

comic book character, you know, with little horns

and a pitchfork. We need to understand that the

enemy is not just some boogeyman, you know, hiding

in the closet like we see maybe in the... these

other depictions of horror or scariness. We need

to understand that he is not just a figment of

our imagination, but that the enemy is real,

that Satan is real, and he has very real intentions

on tearing apart our lives, tearing at the fabric

of our lives and ripping us away from the promises,

the blessings, and the inheritance of God. And

we have to understand this, not so that we can

be afraid of him, but so that we, like Peter

writes, can be sober and be vigilant and be cautious

and walk through this life aware that there is

an enemy who is seeking whom he may devour. And

lions, lions, when you really begin to think

about... how they hunt. They are strategic hunters.

And I want to just pull out a few things about

lions because I've seen some parallels with the

way lions hunt and the way that Satan seeks to

devour God's people. So take note of the following

tactics that lions use. There are three that

I want you to look at very briefly because there's

a lot I want to cover today. But number one is

that lions watch and wait. They watch and wait.

They rarely... down their prey at full speed,

unlike perhaps a cheetah or another type of predator

in the wild. They don't chase down their prey.

Instead, they are patient predators who study

their targets. They watch and they wait and they

study and they analyze and they do, you know

what lions do? They do their homework. They don't

just go and run and just chase every rabbit and

every little animal that moves. They study their

prey. And they might do it day after day after

day. They're very patient hunters because they're

not just after anything. They're after the big

prize, you know? They're after a big meal. They're

after something that's going to be worth it.

Because once they exude all of that energy, they

got to make sure that they have timed it just

right. And they don't waste any of their energy.

And so they study their target. They look at

their habits and the things they do and the places

they go and the daily habits of their life. And

they're just studying them. They're making notes.

You know, these lions are like making little

mental notes about what their target is doing.

That way, they can expose and they can exploit

them in that moment. And this is exactly how

Satan seeks to get the upper hand on the people

of God, is that he's studying us. Can I tell

you today that Satan has been studying you? Hallelujah.

He has been analyzing you. In fact, I will go

as far as to say that Satan's got a file on every

one of us. He's got a file. I don't know if it's

like an actual filing cabinet, but he's got a

case file on every one of us. He's got a report.

He's been studying. He's been analyzing. He's

been conducting surveillance. He's been looking

at our lives. And you know what he's doing? He

is waiting for an opportunity to strike. And

usually it is an opportunity where we are vulnerable.

He looks for the vulnerable. And the same way

that a lion looks for a vulnerable target, he

waits to see when we are at our worst. He waits

to see when we are hurt and upset and frustrated

or tired or perhaps anxious or fearful. He doesn't

come when we're at our best. He doesn't come

necessarily when we're We're on the mountaintop

when we're riding on cloud nine. He doesn't come

in those mountaintop moments, but he comes in

those valley moments. He comes when we're at

our lowest because he likes to take cheap shots.

You know what I'm saying? He comes. He doesn't

want a fair fight. So he waits until you get

bad news. He waits until you're feeling kind

of melancholy, kind of low, until you're sort

of this sort of, you know, treading water spiritually.

That's when he decides to come. And this was

the reason why when. And Cain, way back in the

beginning, was about to, after he had fallen

into disappointment, the Lord told Cain, he said,

sin, he said, be careful, Cain. He said, sin

lies at the door. Other translations say sin

is crouching at the door. The picture that God

was painting for Cain was that sin or temptation

is like a lion that is crouching, hiding underneath

the brush, and he's waiting for an opportunity.

He said sin is crouching at the door and his

desire is for you. But he said you should rule

over it. I've come to tell somebody today that

you have to make sure that when you are weak,

you find your strength in him. You got to make

sure that you don't go too long with that. If

you've got anger, you better let go of that anger.

If you've got bitterness, you got to give that

to God. If you're frustrated, if you're tired,

if you're weak, if you're anxious, if you're

hurt. Don't keep going through life in that way

because eventually the enemy is going to come

in and he's going to take advantage of that and

he's going to attack you at your weakest moment.

And he's very patient. He'll show up on a day

you didn't think he would show up. That's what

he's waiting for. And the second thing that lions

do is that, and this goes hand in hand with the

first, they target the isolated. They target

the isolated. In the wild, lions look for those

sheep or prey who have strayed from the herd,

who have went off from the herd. And typically,

typically, it's the young or the weak, the wounded

or the distracted. And this is what happens if

a lion will rarely, I mean, unless he's really

hungry, you know, desperate, he'll rarely attack

an entire herd. But he goes after that one, the

slow poke, the one who is trailing, watch this,

from the pack, the one who is taking their sweet

time, or the one who is drinking at the watering

hole while everyone else has moved on. He waits

for the one that is isolated, the one that is

disconnected from the body. The one that's disconnected

from the herd. The one that is kind of doing

its own thing. And just distracted and isolated.

This is why spiritual isolation is so dangerous.

It's when you are disconnected from the church.

Amen. From leadership. From your pastor. From

fellowship. From the word. You may not realize.

I don't care how spiritual you think you are.

When you are disconnected from the body. you

are more susceptible to attack from the enemy.

Because if he can isolate you, if he can cut

you off from support, cut you off from encouragement,

cut you off from accountability, cut you off

from these things, and he isolates you, then

when you find yourself in trouble, you won't

know who to call on. You won't know who to call,

who to text. You won't know who to ask for help.

You'll be all by yourself. No one will be able

to hear your cry. will be able to know when you're

hurting because you have disconnected yourself

from people. You've allowed your obsession for

privacy and secrecy to rob you from the beauty

of unity and fellowship with the body. Your soul

is at stake. If you disconnect yourself, you

become a prime target. So what you've got to

do as a believer is fight to stay connected to

the people of God. Fight to stay connected To

the church of God. Fight to stay connected. To

the brethren. Lest you find yourself. Somewhere

on an island. And in the mouth of the lion. So

what does he do? He waits. And he watches. And

then he targets the isolated. And then thirdly.

When he attacks. He don't just go for anything.

He goes straight for the throat. This is something

that lions strategically do to bring down their

prey. They aim for the throat. When lions attack,

they go straight for the jugular, straight for

the throat. And what they do is they cut off

the air supply for an effective kill. They cut

off the air supply. If they can cut off the air

supply, you know what they can do? They can silence

their animal's cry. They can silence the plea

for help. If they can silence it, they can kill

it. And they cut off all the vital passageways

leading with oxygen to the brain. It's an effective

kill. And no wonder. One of the things that Satan

does to effectively tear apart someone's life

physically or emotionally or spiritually is what

he wants to do. Hear me what I'm saying. He wants

to silence your voice. If he can, it doesn't

matter. There could be a lot of things going

wrong in your life. But if he can just get his

mouth and grip it and if he can silence your

voice, what do I mean? If he can shut up your

praise. My God, if he can shut up your confession,

if he can silence your voice, if he can silence

your worship, then he knows that it's only a

matter of time until he can devour your life.

So what do you've got to do as a believer? You've

got to fight to keep opening up your mouth. You've

got to say, no, hallelujah. You've got to say,

in all things I will bless the Lord and his praise

shall continually be in my mouth. Tell somebody

you got to let God know that he is true. You

got to continue worshiping and praising God because

the enemy wants to silence your voice. I wonder

if there's somebody right here right now that

could just lift up a praise unto the Lord. I

wonder if there's somebody today that can just

magnify his name. Come on, clap your hands. Come

on and give God some praise today. He wants to

silence your voice. He wants to shut up your

witness and your testimony. He wants you to stop

talking about him. He wants you to stop witnessing

about him. He wants you to stop praising him.

Because if he can silence your voice, it's only

a matter of time until he can drag you back into

the lion's den and finish you off. But I've come

to tell you today that even if you have been

avoided these things, even if you have done your

best to not fall, pray in isolation and even

if you've done your best to continue to praise

him when life tries to silence you, there is

something we all need to understand today is

that no one, and I mean no one is immune from

the lion's bite. Even the most, even the righteous

get bit. You don't believe me? Watch what happened

to the Apostle Paul on the island of Malta. That

time it wasn't a lion, it was a snake, but he

got bit. You can get bit doing the will of God.

You can get bit doing the right thing. It's not

always a sign that you're doing wrong. So even

if you have somehow avoided and deflected these

things, you can still, no one is immune. Even

the faithful can have pieces of their life bitten

off. But just as the lion is about to feast on

his portion, just as the lion starts to think

that I finally got my prey where I want it, I

finally got it in position, I'm ready to finish

this thing off, and maybe, and as graphic as

this sounds, just bear with me, but maybe he's

taking some chunks. Maybe he's taken some things,

you know, some painful things. Maybe he's bitten

into something. Maybe he's crushed some bones.

Maybe you've got some bones that have been crushed

and some dreams and some hopes and desires and

things and goals in your life that have kind

of been crushed or stamped down a little bit

or at least delayed at the very most. And maybe

those things have been crushed. And maybe he

thinks that he's about to finish you off. He

says, I got sister so -and -so and brother so

-and -so right where I want him. And I can just

finish him off right here. And maybe the devil

thinks that he's about to, you know, the table

is set. And he's putting his little bib around.

And he's got his fork and his knife. And he thinks

he's about ready to just finish you off. And

just have himself, you know, a fancy feast. And

just feast on your life. And destroy everything.

And destroy your home. And destroy your marriage.

And destroy your family. And your children. And

the goals and the visions that God has given

you. Just when he thinks that he's running away

with it. He's running away with his portion.

Running away with his pride. Running away with

the thing that he wants most. This is where we

see the good shepherd. It is the shepherd that

steps in and fights for what's left in our life.

Hallelujah. it is the shepherd. The shepherd

will fight for what's left. Somebody praise God

today. Somebody say amen. The shepherd will fight.

Oh yes, Amos. Amos may have reflected on the

times in his life where he had to defend one

of his sheep in the pasture. He was a shepherd

himself. Maybe he remembered those times where

he had to jump into action and save one of his

bleeding sheep that was being dragged away by

a ruthless hungry lion that wanted to do nothing

more than ravage his little flock. Maybe he recounted

on a day where he saw Saw the life of his lamb

hanging in the balance in the mouth of a lion.

And he had to go over there and just rip from

that lion's mouth anything that he could to salvage

the life of that lamb. And take anything that

he could back from the mouth of the lion. It

could be that Amos was visualizing this in his

life of that moment. And it could also be that

Amos was reflecting on the testimony of King

David. Young David was getting ready to fight

Goliath and they had questioned him on his credentials

to do just that. It was David that stood up before

King Saul and testified saying these words in

1 Samuel chapter 17 in verse 34. He said of himself,

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

your servant used to keep his father's sheep.

And when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb

from the flock, I went out. After it and struck

it. And delivered the lamb. From its mouth. And

when it arose against me. I caught it by its

beard. I struck and I. killed it. Oh, what we

see here today is more than just a picture of

what David can do, more than a picture of what

Amos can do. My friend and my brother and dear

friend today, I come to tell you about what God

can do because our Bible says, anybody going

to preach with me here today? My Bible says that

Jesus is the good shepherd. If you know him to

be the good shepherd, why don't you give him

some glory and some praise right now? Come on.

I said give God some glory and some praise. If

you believe that he's the good shepherd. I come

to tell you today. That the good shepherd. shepherd

is ready to come and deliver us out of the mouth

of the enemy he wants to reclaim what belongs

to him when we see David snatching the lamb from

the lion's mouth this is a foreshadowing of Jesus

Christ two thousand years ago he came from his

royalty in heaven and he stepped down into the

mess of our world and he saw each and every one

of us in the mouth of sin in the mouth of hell

in the mouth I wish I had a witness in the mouth

of the enemy but God said no anybody grateful

that God stepped in and he snatched you out of

the mouth I wish somebody would give God some

glory in this house today I'm preaching to somebody.

He snatched you out of depression. He snatched

you out of drug addiction. He snatched you out

of alcoholism. He snatched you out of pride,

out of anger, out of hurt, out of despondency.

I'm so glad that God didn't leave me in the mouth

of the lion. He could have left me there, but

he didn't leave me out of the mouth of the lion.

He came for me. Someone say, he came for me.

He came for me. This is what he came to do. And

he came when Satan had a grip on you. He came

to rescue you from the mouth of the lion because

his hand is more powerful than the grip of the

lion's mouth. Now, I can understand. As I get

ready to close, just give me a few more moments.

I can understand how and why God would come and

rescue. or why a shepherd, I could say, would

rescue an entire sheep. I can understand if a

sheep is in the mouth of its predator and a good

shepherd goes and rescues and saves the life

of that sheep. That makes total sense to me why

a shepherd would do that. But what I am struggling,

help me, some of you who are very biblical, help

me understand this. Help me understand why though

would God, the same God, do that for nothing

but a leg and an ear. I can understand why God

would go and redeem an entire lamb. But what

is it about God that is willing to go? What is

it about this good shepherd that sees value in

something that most people would look at and

say, well, just cut your losses. Let it go. But

the good shepherd goes way beyond. Can I just

be honest? What you and I probably would do in

that situation. If somebody, even if you, I mean,

as much as you've got some dog lovers in here,

as much as you love your dog, man, if a lion

took off with his ear, I'd be like, man, you

know what? Let's have a moment of silence for

its ear, you know? I mean, at least you like

have the rest of him there, right? But what kind

of love, what kind of, whew, what? What kind

of person, what kind of character would possess

someone to say, you know what? I'm not willing

that anything should be lost. Oh, my God. I'm

not willing. And this is the good shepherd. I've

come to recur with somebody. Is that all right?

Someone say, go ahead. That even when the damage

has already been done. And it seems like, well,

why don't we just cut our losses and just move

on? We should just be happy with what we have.

Can I tell you that we serve a God that is not

willing that anybody should perish? We serve

a God that is not willing for half of your life

and 30 or 60 or 70. God is a God who will fight

for everything that is left. You know what he

fights for? The missing pieces. Oh, my God. He

fights for the missing pieces. He fights for

what's left of your dreams, what's left of your

desire, your heart, your dignity, your family,

your business, your life. He fights for what's

left. Someone say, what's left? I say, whatever's

left, God will fight for it. God wants it. God's

going after it. God's not satisfied. He wants

to see the whole picture come back together again.

He wants to see everything come back. Can I tell

you that with God, with God, it's never too far

gone. Because he can work miracles. In fact,

let me just tell you like this. He does his best

work with what's left. Oh, my God. Hallelujah.

He does his best work with what's left. You don't

believe me? You can ask the widow that Elijah

ministered to when the creditors were knocking

at her door, threatening to take her children

away from her to make them slaves. He asked her,

he said, sister, what do you got in the house?

Hey, that's my version right there. Hermana,

what do you got in the house? He said, all I

got is this little jar of oil. He said, that's

all I need. Little jar of oil? that was the leftovers

it was the whatever was left in the pantry it

was there just little jar he said i want you

to take that and with that jar of oil she kept

pouring out the oil pouring out the oil filled

up as many jars as she could until she could

pay off all of her creditor god does miracles

with what's left Oh, my Lord. How about the other

widow? The widow of Zarephath. When Elijah came

to her and she was about to eat her last meal

with her family and only had a little bit of

flour. And he said, well, what do you have? He

said, make me something to eat. Make me something

to eat. She could have looked at him and said,

get out of here, man. Go to Jack in the Box.

This is my food. You know, this is the last thing.

We're about to eat this and die. He said, no.

Give what you see. The struggle that some of

us are having is we won't give him what's left.

God doesn't want this. If God is asking for it,

even if it's just a little bit of faith. Oh,

I'm going to help somebody right now. Even if

it's just a little bit of faith. I don't have

a lot. You all remember that song? Faith, faith,

faith, just a little. This is kind of old. This

is old. Just bear with me. Just a little bit

of faith. Faith, faith, faith, just a little

bit of faith. You don't need a whole lot. Just

use what you've got. Faith, faith, faith, just

you can go and Google it later. Hallelujah. A

little bit of faith. You know, that's all that

God. Didn't Jesus say a mustard seed? That's

it. And you can move mountains. I don't want

to sit here and talk about what you've lost.

I want to talk about what's left, what's worth

redeeming in your life. Say, oh, it's just my

little prayer time. No, God wants to redeem it.

God wants to redeem it. Because what's left has

value. Oh, my God, I feel something right now

in the Holy Ghost. God wants to take whatever

it was, whatever it is, and say, look, if you

just give it to me, I will multiply it. I will

do something with it. I will bless it. And so

what I've come to tell somebody today is take

back what the enemy bit off. Amos said, this

lion ran off. He thinks he's getting away. You

know, the devil thinks he's going to get away

with some of this stuff. Oh, man, what a lunatic.

He thinks he's going to get away with the way.

You know the devil thinks he's going to get away

with the things he's done to your family? He

really thinks he's going to get away with it.

He thinks he's just going to run off with a piece

of your family in his mouth. He thinks he's going

to run off with a piece of your life and a piece

of your children. He said, no, you know, even

if just one of them, you know, three out of four

is not too bad. No, no, no. We're not playing

like that. It's everything or it's nothing. Oh,

my God. I don't know about you. Hallelujah. I

don't want to see partial victory. I don't want

to see most of my family saved. I want to see

all of my family saved. I wish I had a witness

today. And so God, what does he want to restore?

He wants to redeem what was left. What was taken.

And you know the two things. I'm going to wrap

it up. The two things that he went after. The

Lord showed me something. As the shepherd goes.

And he tackles down this lion. And with greater

hands of strength. He begins to pull and pry.

This lion's mouth open. And you know the two

things. The things he went for. He said number

one. He went for a piece of an ear. Piece of

an ear. Why would he go for a piece of an ear?

Well, I think God is interested in going after

someone's ear today. Because the ear represents

spiritual hearing. You see, if there's one thing

the devil wants to take from you, it's your ability

to hear clearly the voice of God in your life.

And notice it said one ear, not two. You know

the devil's satisfied if you only hear God half

the time? That's good. You ain't going to get

that on Amazon, man. Let's just thank the Lord.

He's happy if you only are half obedient. Because

what you don't realize sometimes is that half

obedience is still disobedient. If I could just

get them to miss some Sundays for no reason at

all. If I could just, hallelujah. If I could

just get them to tithe 5%. Oh, hallelujah. If

I could just get them to get a half, you know,

hit the devil, you know. you'll negotiate with

you a little bit you're like well if they only

hear it half the time but The shepherd goes all

the way. And he says, no, I need to reattach

that ear back. I need to get that ear. Oh, do

you remember the story of when Peter took his

sword out and he cut that dude's ear off? Hallelujah.

Malchus, the priest. And this guy was like, what

in the world? He's bleeding. He's got this ear.

And Peter thinks he's doing the will of God,

right? But Jesus steps in. You know what he does?

He picks up the ear. Hallelujah. Oh, I know we

think, oh, man, that poor ear. Just let it go.

You know, tape the thing up, you know, and just

move on. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. But Jesus, he

goes and he gets the ear and he reattaches it

because God's not willing for you to hear only

half the time. God's not willing for you. Oh,

my Lord. God wants to attach so that you can

have complete hearing of his voice and his word.

He said, my sheep know my voice and I know them

and they will follow me. Would you stand to your

feet up this hour? Hallelujah. And the other

thing that he went after was the leg. Someone

say the leg. legs he said go give me he said

give me those two legs he said give me the two

legs and there were two legs i don't know if

they were the hind legs or the front legs but

but the shepherd said i need to get those legs

because the legs represent your spiritual walk

oh my god oh you know the devil would be satisfied

if you would just walk crooked spiritually the

devil my god the devil see let me tell you something

there are some of you here today and i say this

with all due respect The devil knows he might

never be able to get you to backslide. He knows

that he might never get you to be able to denounce

God and become an atheist. But if he can simply

cripple you from walking into your destiny, if

he can simply, my God, handy, if he can just

take your legs out and make you a wooden stone.

you know in the church and and if he could just

take away your spiritual obedience and mobility

in god and to prevent you from walking out the

word of god and walking out the the purpose of

god if he can cut your legs off from underneath

you then he can sideline you from being fully

engaged in the work of ministry and get you doing

something else but i hear the voice of the lord

saying i came to restore your hearing and i came

to restore your walk oh hallelujah because the

steps of a righteous man are ordered of the lord

i come to tell somebody right now god wants to

restore your walk so that you can walk again

in faith oh we walk by faith and not by sight

somebody give god some glory today come on somebody

praise him today i feel something in my spirit

ah You say, yeah, pastor, but the walk is hard

sometimes. Nobody said it was going to be easy,

but you got to be like that sheep in Psalm 23.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you

are with me. Hallelujah. Your rod and your staff,

they comfort me. I can get through a lot of things

in this life. in high water all hell can break

loose but as long as i keep walking as long as

i've got my legs get through it i will see the

other side somebody with the whole i dare somebody

to pray right now i dare somebody to close your

eye i dare somebody to lift your voice i dare

somebody to extend those hands god is working

right now in the holy ghost Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. It might be there's only one person

in this whole room. And you know that God loves

you enough. God loves you enough. You say, would

God dedicate this service for me? You better

believe he would. Would God dedicate that preaching

to me? You better believe he would. Because God

is not willing that anybody be left behind. God

is not willing. I don't know if there's somebody

right this altar is open I don't know if there's

somebody that just needs to get into the arms

of the shepherd right now let the shepherd pick

you up let the shepherd carry you on his shoulder

let the shepherd raise you up let the shepherd

heal you let the shepherd restore you let the

shepherd let the shepherd redeem you let the

shepherd do a miracle let the shepherd heal your

heart heart. Let the shepherd heal your mind.

Let the shepherd heal your spirit. Let the shepherd

restore your relationship with God. Let the shepherd

renew your anointing. Let the shepherd renew

your spirit. Come on. Come on. God's waiting

on somebody right now with the Holy Ghost. He's

waiting on somebody right now with the Holy Ghost.

You want to be upon this altar claiming that

lost ear, claiming those legs, claiming whatever

the devil has tried to bite off of your life

and say, I want it back.