Desire For More

So without further ado, we want to get into the word of God

today, amen, if you can open up your Bibles,

we are going to read a brief but powerful scripture,

amen, that'll be our segue into our message today, amen.

If you could open your Bibles to Exodus 33: 18,

amen, Exodus 33: 18, and if you have it, say amen, amen.

The scripture simply reads like this,

then Moses said, now show me your glory.

Then Moses said, now show me your glory.

Heavenly Father, we come before you today, God,

we give you honor, we give you glory.

Lord, we thank you, Father, Lord, for your presence

that is in this place, Father.

We just ask you, oh Lord, to open up our hearts,

open up our minds, Jesus said, we would receive

of your word today, amen.

Bless every person in this place, God,

and those that have joined us online, Father, Lord.

Jesus, God, with a double blessing, God,

Lord, a double portion, God, hallelujah today, God.

In the name of Jesus, we pray, we thank you, we love you,

and the church says, amen, you may be seated.

Amen.

Amen.

In our inherent society, nature shapes our desire for more,

often driven by comparisons with others, amen,

and social pressures.

In a world where success and happiness are linked

to material possessions and social status.

We feel compelled to keep up or surpass those around us

intensifying our pursuit for success.

Cultural and societal influences, including consumerism

propagated by advertisement and advertising,

amplifying our desire for more.

Fostering a belief that acquisition or more leads

to fulfillment.

Eternally, the pursuit of personal growth and fulfillment

further fuels our desire for more.

Our inmate drive to set and achieve goals propels us

forward.

But it can also perpetuate a cycle of constant pursuit

as we continually seek improvement.

Balancing these external and internal influences is

essential to navigate the desire for more while finding

contentment and fulfillment in our present life.

This is also applicable when it comes to desiring more of God.

That we just don't desire more blessings, but that we desire

more of the bleser.

That we would not only seek and desire our own personal

improvement, growth and or success, but as the children

of God, we never forget to desire more after God and God

alone.

We should desire more of God like the Psalmist says in

Psalms 42, 1-2.

It says, as a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul

pants for you, my God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

As I thirst for water, my soul thirsts for my God.

Amen.

I can recall a time when I was a young man, amen, and being

raised in this thing, we would go to service after service.

And amen.

We would get excited every time they had a youth service

because it was in a different location and different area.

So we would all gather up together and get in a car and

carpool to wherever we are going.

Whatever church.

I don't know how many of you remember consecration week.

Am I the only one?

I got one, two, three.

All right.

That shows my age.

But they used to have consecration week and every day

we would go to a different church.

And I was pondering this, I was thinking of the times when we

would walk into church and don't get me wrong, we were young.

We hung out at the lobby, you know, we all did lobby ministry.

We were all there talking and socializing and things like

that.

But I do remember that prior to church starting, I remember

walking into the church and not even going to my seat but going

straight to the altar.

And I remember that the altar before the church started,

before the worship started, before the music started, the

altar was full of people.

Youth, adults, old and young alike, amen.

And I remember that we weren't just there just in a typical

prayer but I remember hearing the speaking of tongues.

The power of God was so strong that although we were there and

church hasn't even started, I don't even believe that sometimes

church had to start because we were already having church.

We were already in the presence of God.

And young people, I know I love all of you.

I know you all desire more of God.

I know you all desire these things.

And I know that God moves in your services.

But I have been to your services.

I have been to plenty of services.

And I have yet to see what I saw when I was young.

An altar full of young people, women and men of God,

worshiping in spirit and in truth.

Praising, amen, and speaking in other tongues.

Amen, because they weren't just there to be blessed.

They were there to bless the bleser.

They weren't just there to receive but they were there to

give of themselves.

They weren't just there to hear the speaker or to hear their

favorite amen MC or their song or to get the music going so

they can get going.

They were there, amen, for one reason and one reason only and

that was to worship the almighty God.

We come to church and we speak in tongues.

We come to church and experience the move of God.

And we go home feeling great.

We can hear all the great things that God has done and God is

doing.

But what about actually experiencing them ourselves?

Where is the thirst for God in this day and age?

Where is the thirst for more in this generation?

Where is the desire for more?

To witness the manifestation of God in our lives each and every

Sunday.

Day in and day out.

As we look at Moses in the book of Exodus, we see God moving in

such a supernatural way.

From the burning bush experience to the parting of the Red Sea.

But Moses I believe had a desire deep inside of him that he didn't

even know he had.

A desire for more.

A desire to see God.

To see God in a way that no one else had.

Amen.

And for a moment I would like to briefly speak on the subject

desire for more.

Amen.

Desire for more.

And throughout and on Moses' journey in discovering this,

there are a few things that I want to point out and mention.

And the first thing I want to start off with is that Moses had

to trust God.

Someone say amen.

He had to trust God.

And we pick up in the story of Moses where the angel meets him

at the burning bush and he has that burning bush experience in

Exodus 3.2.

And the Lord tells Moses that he has seen the misery of his people

in Egypt.

Amen.

That he has heard the cry of his people.

And that he is concerned for their suffering.

And the Lord says this in verse 10, he says to Moses, now go.

I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites

out of Egypt.

But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and

bring the Israelites out of Egypt?

And oftentimes when we desire more of God and we ask God to use

us, amen, we question God.

And what God does and how God does it.

We forget, hallelujah, we forget that he is in control.

And we focus on our inabilities and our own status just like

Moses did.

And there is one thing that we need to remember is that we are

chosen.

We are chosen just like Moses was chosen when the angel

appeared to him in the burning bush.

God chose Moses because he called him by his name.

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to

him from within the bush saying, Moses, Moses.

And Moses replied, here I am.

Moses, excuse me, God called and Moses answered.

Will you call when God answers?

Do you call, do you answer when God calls?

God chose Moses just like he chose us.

First Peter to a nine.

But we are a chosen generation.

A royal priesthood, a holy nation of peculiar people that

ye should show forth the praises of him who had called you out of

darkness into his marvelous light.

Can somebody say amen for that, hallelujah.

If you ever pose the question who we are, we are the chosen.

Come on, somebody say the chosen.

And if we are chosen and we are called by God, amen, we have to

trust God and know that God will provide and give to us all that

we need.

Moses heard those words, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring

my people to the Israelites out of Egypt.

Moses quickly and almost instinctively doubted himself.

And he didn't hesitate to ask God about his decision.

Would we desire more of God?

Amen, he will put us in some uncomfortable situations that

might cause us to do the same.

We question and doubt if we are even qualified for the task.

And I want to remind you what the apostle Paul said in Ephesians

2 and 13, he said for we are God's handiwork created in

Christ Jesus to do the good works which God prepared, someone

say prepared in advance for us to do.

Amen, because God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the

call.

Someone say amen.

And this can put us in these situations where we are still

uncomfortable and unsure, doubting just like Moses doubted.

And we have to get used to the idea sometimes of being

comfortable, of being comfortable with being

uncomfortable.

And it's crucial that we trust God.

I know that you hear this day in and day out, trust God, trust

God.

You have to trust God.

Every day you have to trust God.

And sometimes we say yes, we know, yes, we understand.

But why is it so important to trust God?

Why is it so crucial to trust God?

It is crucial because his plans are not our plans.

We think one day that we are going to go left and the next

day the Lord is taking us another route.

When we truly put our hands, amen, our lives in the hands of

God, God is in control.

My plans aren't your plans nor are my ways, amen, nor are your

ways my ways says the Lord.

Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways

higher than your ways.

My plans than your plans.

Isaiah 55, 8-9.

From one day to the next there can be a shift in our lives.

And we need to understand that we are not in control.

God is in control.

That his plans are not ours, his ways are not ours, but they are

higher than ours.

Someone say amen for that.

Moses went from tending the flock to fleeing the flock.

He went from the wilderness to the palace.

He was understanding, he had to stand before God at the burning

bush.

And the next day he is standing before Pharaoh commanding him to

let God's people go.

In our pursuit and desire for more of God, we have got to trust

God.

We must trust God and it will take us to higher places,

levels we could never comprehend and or imagine.

But the question remains, will you trust God?

When you trust God.

When you trust God with everything, God will provide us

with everything.

When you trust God with everything, God will provide us

with everything.

And Moses still doubting himself.

He asked the Lord in Exodus 4, what if they do not believe me or

listen to me?

And I say the Lord did not appear to you.

What if I go to Pharaoh and he tells me the Lord did not appear?

The Lord did not send you.

God answers providing Moses with all that he needed.

Because what Moses lacked in the natural, God provided in the

supernatural.

God gave Moses three examples of the manifestation of his power

to use if Pharaoh questioned him.

And guess what?

Pharaoh questioned him.

Because God knew that Pharaoh would challenge Moses.

And God knew that Moses would come back to God asking for more.

The first example that I want to quickly amen, highlight is the

serpent.

In Exodus 4 and 3, amen, the Lord asked Moses what he had in his

hand.

He said his staff.

He said throw it on the ground.

The Bible said it turned to a serpent and he told Moses pick

it back up by its tail.

And he said, I will give you the staff.

And the serpent came to symbolize Pharaoh's sovereignty,

royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt.

It was used in the headdress of the king of Egypt.

Using the symbolism of the snake, God was showing Moses that he

alone is in control of Egypt and Pharaoh.

That Pharaoh was not in control.

God was in control.

The second example is leprosy in Exodus.

Excuse me.

There is a picture of the headdress.

And if you notice the snake sitting at the head of Pharaoh,

the serpent.

The second example was the example that God used of leprosy

when he told Moses to put his hand into his coat to take it

out.

And the Bible said that his hand would turn to leprosy.

And Moses looked at that incurable disease and put it

back in his coat and pull it back out and it was fine all

over again.

It was made brand new.

And the leprosy was believed to be a punishment for sin and a

divine curse because it was chronic and an incurable

disease.

So the second sign was to show Moses that God intended to

punish Pharaoh.

Thank God that he fights our battles for us.

His intention was to punish Pharaoh for what he had done to

his children, to the people of Israel.

And since leprosy was an incurable disease, God would

ultimately end Pharaoh and his troops.

The third example was the water turning to blood.

This was to show Moses that God is in control even over the

physical land and water of Egypt.

It was a sign of God's deity over Egypt.

Amen.

You have to remember that no matter what God calls us out to

do and no matter whatever situation we find ourselves in

that we are not alone.

Hallelujah.

And even though we might lack in certain areas and even though

we might not have it all together, God is going to give

you every single thing you need.

God is going to provide you with everything that you need.

Hallelujah.

In the natural and in the supernatural.

Hallelujah.

God is going to give you the faith.

God is going to give you the courage.

God is going to give you the boldness.

Hallelujah.

He even sent his brother with him, the Levite, to speak for

Moses.

Because Moses told God that he was not an eloquent speaker.

God gave Moses every single thing he needed.

And he was trying to get to Moses to understand that he had

to trust God without a shadow of a doubt.

Because God is true to his word.

He will never leave you nor forsake you.

And let me remind you of 1 Chronicles, amen.

What David said to Solomon his son, he said be strong and good

and be of good courage and do it.

Someone say do it.

Fear not nor be dismayed for the Lord God, even my God will be

with thee and he will not fail thee.

Nor forsake thee until thou has finished all the work for the

service of the house of the Lord.

No matter what God has asked you to do or called you to do, be

strong and do it with good courage.

Hallelujah.

God will be with you until it is finished.

That we trust in the Lord with all of our heart and lead not on

our own understanding.

And always we acknowledge him and he shall direct our path.

These signs were given to Moses not only to reassure him that

God was going, hallelujah, to do what he had called it to do,

but that God needed for Moses to build up his confidence and his

trust in God for what he was about to do with him.

Hallelujah for what Moses was about to do next.

Because the next thing that Moses had to do was that he had

to implement, excuse me, and he had to exercise his faith.

As we move forward in the story of Moses and we move past the

plagues and the Passover in chapters 5-12, that's not to say

that these things were not important to discuss or cover,

but that we come to a place where Moses is now challenged

again.

But this time it's his faith, his faith that was tested.

When we desire more of God, we must learn to exercise our faith

because our faith will be tested.

The third, amen, that the trial of our faith or the testing

of our faith, being much more precious than gold that

perisheth though it be tried with fire, might be found unto

praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

The trial of our faith, the testing of our faith.

You want more?

I will give you more.

You want to be used?

I will use you.

But be my friend, don't, hallelujah, dismiss the fact

that your faith will surely be tested.

How, amen, how can we not be responsible?

How can we not tend to the small things in Christ and expect

God to give us greater things?

Hallelujah.

For much is given, much is required.

Exodus 14, the Lord says to Moses, tell the Israelites to

turn back and encamp near Phiah, Ha-Hirath.

I said it in syllables but I wanted to say it correctly.

Between Middol and the sea, we are talking about faith.

We are talking about faith.

God is telling Moses to go out and encamp.

Remember they are on the run.

And Pharaoh is chasing them.

Pharaoh is after them.

And they are to encamp by the sea directly opposite of Baal

Zephron.

And Pharaoh will think the Israelites are wandering around

the land in confusion, hemmed or surrounded by the desert.

And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them.

I will gain glory for myself to Pharaoh and all his army.

And the Egyptians will know that I am God.

So then the Lord tells him to go and encamp in this area and in

this place right on the edge of the water.

And now the Israelites are there, amen.

And they are waiting because God told Moses to wait.

And they are waiting at the edge of the water.

Amen.

And all of a sudden they look to their left and see Pharaoh's

army.

And God did not say that he would harden Pharaoh's heart to

follow the Israelites.

So then Pharaoh goes and gets 600 of his chariots and the men

and mounts the troops and gets them together and they charge

after, amen, Moses and the Israelites.

The Israelites are sitting there, amen, waiting.

Waiting like sitting ducks.

They look to the left, all they see is desert.

They look to the right, all they see is water.

And now they see Pharaoh and the chariots charging towards them.

And they panic and then they look towards Moses and say,

what did you do?

And why did you bring us here?

Did you bring us here to die?

Was this all part of your plan?

Was there not enough graves in Egypt?

Was there not enough of us that died in Egypt that you would

bring us here to die?

Sometimes we find ourselves in these peculiar positions where

we look to the right and all we see is water.

And we look to the left and all we see is desert.

We look in front of us and behind us and the enemy is

charging for us.

That's church when our faith needs to kick in.

And we need to remind ourselves that God will not leave us nor

forsake us and he's not going to take us to a place to die but

he'll take us to a place to bring us to a greater victory.

It was all a setup.

It was all a setup.

Sometimes we have to stand firm in our faith because this is

exactly what Moses did when he responded to the Israelites.

He said, do not be afraid.

Stand firm and you will see the deliverance.

The Lord will bring you today.

The Egyptians you see today, well, you will never see again.

The Lord will fight for you.

You need only to be still.

And sometimes this is all that is required of us is to be

still.

The noise, hallelujah, is getting louder.

Be still.

The ground is starting to shake.

Be still.

Things start to fall apart.

Be still.

Doubt starts to settle in.

Be still.

Sometimes I got to remind myself, brother Ricky, David, be

still.

Don't worry.

But God, be still.

Lord, be still.

Because God is about to do something great if you would

just stand firm and be still.

Moses stood still.

And Moses, hallelujah, as a result of this, Moses' faith was

building once again.

And he needed it.

Because what God was going to ask of him to do next could only

be done by faith.

Because as Moses stood there, the Lord said to Moses, why are

you crying to me?

You know sometimes God, amen, you don't need to speak a word to

God.

God already knows what you need.

He hears your thoughts.

He hears your heart.

Do you know what God, he can even hear the tears that are

running down your face.

He knows why you are crying.

He knows why you are suffering.

And he tells Moses, why are you crying out to me?

Tell the Israelites to move on.

Someone say move on.

Raise your staff.

Stretch out your hand over the sea and divide the water so the

Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

Parting the Red Sea was one of the most phenomenal supernatural

manifestation of God's power ever to record and be recorded.

The event was a final decisive act in God's delivering his

people from slavery in Egypt.

The parting of the Red Sea was truly the birth of a nation.

When we desire more of God, he will take us to places that only

our faith will allow us to see.

Now faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence

of things not seen.

I want to point out in verse 26 that the Lord said to Moses

when he said stretch out your hand over the sea so that the

waters may flow back over.

This is after they have crossed through and the sea opened, amen,

in the miracle of the dry ground.

Because that was a miracle in itself that God made a way but

it just wasn't a way.

It was the right way.

Amen.

The ground was solid so that the children of God can flee.

And when they got to the other side, God told Moses, lift your

staff again and cause the water to come over.

To come over the Egyptians and their chariots and the horsemen.

And you know what this tells me?

This tells me that God led Moses to the part of the sea where it

had to be the deepest.

It had to be deep enough to flow back over their enemy.

And God called Moses to a deeper place with him through Moses'

faith.

Because we cannot get to that place until we have faith.

God is calling us to a deeper relationship with him.

Just like the psalmist says in 42, 7-8, deep calls unto deep

understanding of who God is.

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and

unsearchable things you do not know.

A deeper relationship with God.

We will discover unsearchable things.

We will discover things about ourselves that we would never

have known, that we would never have seen, that we would never

have discovered or uncovered until we got to that deep place.

We must desire more of God to discover his glory.

I'm not talking about what we experienced earlier.

That is the spirit of God.

And that is God's grace and mercy that he would visit us

Sunday after Sunday and allow us to feel his presence.

Amen.

That we would open up our mouths and speak in tongues.

Hallelujah.

And we can experience heaven on earth.

Hallelujah.

I'm not just talking about this.

I'm not talking about this.

I'm talking about the manifestation of God's presence

in our services where people will come to the altar and we

don't even have to put our hands on their head.

Brother Ben, we don't even have to pray for them.

And immediately God would fill him with his presence.

Hallelujah.

Holy Ghost.

I'm talking about a place where legs will start to grow, where

cancer, hallelujah, has to flee.

I've seen it with my own eyes.

I've experienced it.

I've shared this with you plenty of times.

I've seen people vomit out AIDS.

I've seen people vomit out cancer, disease, sickness.

I've seen it with my own eyes.

This is what I'm talking about.

This is a deeper place with God.

That we not only just experience this on Sundays but we

experience this every single day of our lives.

You know, when my kids are sick or my wife is sick, God bless our

doctors, our medical staff, amen, those that are there at

the hospital, amen, we got to use wisdom.

When you got to go get checked, you got to go get checked.

Right, you got to go get checked.

We got to use wisdom.

We can't be ignorant.

We're not ignorant people.

Amen.

But I'm going to tell you one thing that before they leave the

house, the first thing I do is ask what's wrong.

The second thing I do is grab my oil.

And the third thing I do is I pray for God to heal them before

they leave the house.

How can we believe that we serve an all-knowing, all-powerful God

and not experience these things in our daily lives?

Why can we go out to the sick and pray for them and God heals

them immediately?

When is the last time your shadow casted over someone and

they were healed?

The Bible says it happened to Peter.

Peter wasn't praying.

Peter wasn't speaking in tongues.

Peter was walking with God.

Because it wasn't Peter's shadow that healed.

It was God's power that healed.

God is calling us to this deeper place.

On Moses' journey, amen, the burning bush, the burning bush

experience.

Being called out, amen, on the backside of the wilderness.

And now being in front of Pharaoh commanding him to let

God's people go.

Amen.

For the parting of the Red Sea and the destroying of the

Pharaohs and the chariots and all the horsemen.

All of these things God was building up his faith.

God was building up his trust.

God got Moses to the point where now Moses can go deeper.

Now Moses can go deeper.

Now we ask ourselves how much deeper can we go?

How further, hallelujah, deeper can Moses go?

The burning bush experience probably would have been enough

for me.

The Bible says that it was on fire, amen.

But the fire did not consume it.

Maybe parting of the Red Sea might have been good enough for

you.

For God to tell you to stand there, brother Isaias, raise

your staff.

And you just saw the wilderness part.

That might have been good enough.

The plagues, amen.

Or how about the writing of the Ten Commandments?

That might have been good enough.

Hallelujah, but I want to thank God today.

Hallelujah, that that was not good enough.

That was not good enough.

The signs and miracles and the wonders that you have seen in

your life, I want to tell you today that that is not good

enough.

Why?

Because you serve a greater God.

Hallelujah.

That is just the tip of the iceberg of what God wants to

show you and what God wants to do in your life.

Hallelujah.

He has brought you from victory to victory.

He has conquered your trials.

Amen.

He has helped you through it all to get you to a deeper place.

And this is exactly where Moses ended up.

Brother Ricky.

You can stand with me.

Moses got to a place, amen.

He got to a place, amen.

A place, amen, where he desired God.

Moses desired more of God.

Moses, hallelujah, did not only desire more of God, he demanded

it.

Moses, he demanded it.

Exodus 33, 18, then Moses said, now show me your glory.

In pursuit of our God, we finally get to the place.

Amen.

Where we are no longer asking for it.

We are no longer asking God, Lord, let me feel you, Lord.

Lord, let me touch you, God.

Lord, why don't you use me, Jesus.

Lord, why don't you do this and do that, God.

I want to experience you in such a greater way.

We get to a place now where we demand God.

Just like Moses did.

Their burning bush experience wasn't enough.

Telling Pharaoh to let God's people go wasn't enough.

The parting of the Red Sea, it wasn't enough.

Manna and quail falling from heaven wasn't enough.

Speaking to God, remember the tent meeting where the Bible

said that God would speak to Moses if he was speaking to him

face to face.

That still wasn't enough.

Moses desired, he desired to see the glory of God.

Show me your glory, Moses cried out.

And you could tell by his response that he was anxious

because prior to saying that, the Bible says that Moses said

to the Lord, you have been telling me, oh, how long has

God been telling you it's going to happen?

How long have you been hearing, hold on, God is going to make

away?

How long have you been hearing hallelujah, just keep praying

about it, brother, God is going to answer that prayer.

How many times have you heard, just keep coming to church, be

faithful and God hallelujah will answer.

Moses says you've been telling me, lead these people, but you

have not let me know who you will send with me.

See, this time God wasn't sending anybody with Moses.

God didn't send any signs.

God didn't do anything to convince anybody otherwise.

God wanted Moses to remember that it was him that was with

him all along.

Moses says you have said I know you by my name and you have

found favor with me.

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may

know you and continue to find favor with you.

Remember that this nation is your people.

After Moses questions God yet again about being pleased with

him, the Lord responds to Moses in verse 17.

He says, and the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing

you have asked because I am pleased with you and I know you

by name.

So the Lord acknowledged all these things.

But it wasn't good enough for Moses.

He said, I know you are with me, God, and I know that you

called me by my name because I answered you.

And I know that you provided every single thing for me, God,

that I needed on this journey.

But he said, God, hallelujah, that is still not enough.

Show me your glory, God.

Show me your glory, Lord.

Lord, I want to see you like no one ever has.

I want to see the manifestation of your power in my life, God.

Lord, show me your glory.

In our pursuit after God, hallelujah.

It's not good enough just to pursue his presence.

It's not good enough just to pursue after the gifts.

It's not good enough just to pursue after the blessing

church.

All of those are great.

And all of those are promises that God has promised unto us,

hallelujah.

But today, hallelujah, the Lord is asking, hallelujah, do you

desire more of me?

Do you desire more of me?

Of my glory, hallelujah.

Moses, hallelujah, just caught a glimpse of God's glory.

Because he told Moses, if you see the front side, you'll die.

But I'm going to give you a glimpse of my glory, Moses.