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What is God doing with me? - Dr. Reginald Klimionok

Logan City Christian Church

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  1. Hello and welcome to Logan City Christian Church Podcast. Today we have an impactful

  2. teaching by Dr. Reginald Klimanok. Dr. Klimanok's preaching has touched the lives of many, inspiring

  3. and challenging audiences with his deep insights into the Bible and Christian theology. Join

  4. us as we delve deep into his powerful messages uncovering timeless truth and practical wisdom

  5. that can transform our lives today. Get ready to be inspired, encouraged and equipped as

  6. we journey through the rich tapestry of Dr. Klimanok's preaching.

  7. Welcome. Thank you. We're going to come to the Word of God now. I want to give about

  8. a dozen titles to this message. One could be What is God Doing with Me? The Elijah

  9. Anointing. How God Prepares a Man of God, a Woman, to Take a City or a Nation for God.

  10. I'm talking about Elijah this morning. Tonight, as I said, you'll be talking about the coming

  11. of Jesus Christ. We're very close to it, closer than we think, very near to the return of

  12. Christ. I know the Church always lived in that light of His coming. But we learned the

  13. other day, last week, that we are closer now. We should know something of the times and

  14. the seasons. And we're in the midst of seasons that are very close to the coming of Jesus.

  15. And I want to be ready. Can everybody say amen in the name of Jesus.

  16. Here we have in 1 Kings Chapter 16 one of the worst conditions that prevailed in Israel.

    1 Kings 16 chapter mention

  17. It was a time when King Ahab took the kingdom and became king over the nation. He was Ahab,

  18. the son of Omri, verse 29, that reigned for 22 years. He did even the sight of the Lord

  19. worse than any of the kings that were before him. He married a woman called Jezebel. She

  20. was the daughter of Ephbael, who was king of the Zidonians, or Sidon, as we would say

  21. today, where a lot of the worship of Baal originated. And she was able to affect the

  22. whole of the nation to the worship of Baal. It's verse 31 tells us that. And Ahab made

  23. the grove and so on provoked the Lord in verse 33 to anger and so on. And chapter 17 verse

  24. one, it says, and Elijah the Pishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead said unto

  25. Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall be no June or rain

  26. these years, but according to my word. And the word of the Lord came on him saying, get

  27. thee hence. He had the results of his own prophecy affecting his own situation. To get

  28. thee hence, it says, turn eastward and hide thyself by the book of Cherub. That is before

  29. Jordan. Thou should drink of the book and I've commanded the ravens to feed you there.

  30. So he went and did according to the Lord, verse five, chapter 17 of first Kings and

  31. went and dwelt by the book of Cherub. It's before Jordan. And the ravens brought him

  32. bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening drank of the book. And

  33. he came to pass after a while, but the book dried because of the drought over Israel.

  34. There'd been no rain in the land. And the word of the Lord came on him saying, get thee

  35. to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell therefor. I've commanded a widow to

  36. sustain thee. So he rose and came to Zarephath and he came to the gate of the city. And behold,

  37. the woman was there gathering sticks. And he called her and said, fetch me, I'll put

  38. a little water in the vessel and I may drink. She was going to fetch it, he called and said,

  39. bring me, I'll pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, Lord, I've got

  40. liver there. I have not a cake, but a handful of meal and a barrel. And all the crew, as

  41. behold, I'm gathering two sticks that I may go and dress it for my son and we may eat

  42. and die. And Elijah said unto her, fear not, go and do as thou hast, but make me thereof

  43. a little cake first and bring it unto me now for thee and thy sons. For thus said the Lord,

  44. the barrel of meal shall not waste me in the course of oil until the day that the Lord

  45. sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and

  46. she did he. And he in the house did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, and

  47. neither did the crews of oil fail according to the word of the Lord, which is spake by

  48. Elijah. And it came to pass these days that the son of the woman, the mistress of the

  49. house, fell sick. There was no breath, he died actually. And again, unusual circumstances

  50. and God brought him back to life. A godless condition in Israel. They were worshiping

  51. the wallach, sacrificing the children to idols under the god, under the bay of worship.

  52. But like today, no values upon abortion, upon babies born. And God chooses a man, Elijah,

  53. to break through the condition of that day, to destroy the darkness that prevailed until

  54. he stood upon Mount Carmel and had an amazing victory. Few people had the anointing that

  55. Elijah had. The Bible speaks of the fact that in the last days, Elijah, the spirit of Elijah

  56. will come back. John the Baptist, we know it speaks in Matthew, came in that spirit,

  57. came in that person. Jesus said that. And yet there's more to come. More of Elijah's

  58. anointing or presence or whatever will be with us. Something of that awesome power of

  59. that day will be present in the last day. How is that anointing developed? In moments

  60. of explosive power, yes and no. Moments of mighty baptism, yes and no. Wonderful prophetic

  61. voice, so encouraging to receive something from God. But there are other issues that

  62. are often even more significant in the preparation of a person, a man and a woman of God, to

  63. become what God wants them to become. Indeed, I am not here just to have a meeting every

  64. Sunday with people that are hungry for God and I appreciate that and I will do that.

  65. But my ultimate purpose is to prepare you. They say it takes some time, but to prepare

  66. you for something effective for God, can you say amen? To let the Lord do something special

  67. in your life. And when you read the mighty men of God of old, God always took them through

  68. experiences of preparation until they reached the place of divine effectiveness. I think

  69. of John G. Lake, what he went through. I love that man. I've read his books. I've read his

  70. life story. I've read everything that was written about him and what the messages he

  71. preached. But he went through horrendous times. When he was in Africa, he was attacked financially

  72. and he would not ask for any money. His wife died of malnutrition. He was away and yet

  73. he went back to Spokane and built that powerful healing ministry that touched the world for

  74. Jesus Christ. Finney, Charles Finney, didn't have it always easy. Many cities he was vilified,

  75. attacked, humiliated. He couldn't at times, how do you enter a city? If you read about

  76. it, I was up there in New York preaching. I went to that place, that factory where he

  77. went to, had that unusual move of God. And yet these men did not have it easy to do the

  78. work of the Lord. In our charismatic frame of mind, we want everything just nice as pie

  79. and we will not cry and we will get to heaven one day. But the ways of God are always like

  80. this. Even Benny Hinn, I have an interesting story I may have told you before, I don't

  81. know. But he joined a certain major movement. He wanted to be part of it. A friend of mine

  82. who was at that stage very close to him, was like second in command of him, spent many

  83. hours with me talking about some of these events. So I'm not just, it's not second

  84. hand, although some are heard on television. But he went to that movement and they lectured

  85. him how he should behave behind the platform. Because Benny Hinn is unusual, so was Elijah

  86. and other men. I would not like to tell them what to do. It's not my job, but anyway,

  87. he was very irritated by it all. He came out of the room and two young men met him as he

  88. was coming out of this place and they said, pray for us. He didn't want to pray for them.

  89. He just put his hand on them. He wasn't in the mood for prayer. But they grabbed him

  90. and pulled him into the room. One was Triplet, and the other was brother, Lauren Triplet's

  91. son actually. And the other one was Steve Hill. He went to the room and prayed for them

  92. to regain the power of God, fell within three weeks. Steve Hill started the Pensacola revival.

  93. And yet, and then later on, because of his public image, they asked him to resign. And

  94. my friend said he went into the bathroom in his home because he was there at that time,

  95. and he shone and wept like a baby. Then we go through things at times we don't understand.

  96. Hello church, all of us, all of us, whoever we are. And here is the story of a man who

  97. went through unusual experiences to get to the place where finally he stood before Mount

  98. Carmel and was able to take a nation powerfully for God. I told you Elijah characterized the

  99. anointing Jesus likewise. And we are, I remember years ago when I was pastor in Mount Covet,

  100. years ago, a couple came into my office, young people, 22 years of age, they were actually

  101. related to somebody who was in the church. Beautiful couple, attractive, both graduate

  102. from university. I've never forgotten this experience. Brilliant young people. And they

  103. were serving a Baptist church in Ipswich, I think at that time. They started to live

  104. by faith and they got a support of $10 a week. Those days it wasn't as bad as now, but they

  105. decided to live like that. And they're seeing the hand of God working wonderfully for them.

  106. And suddenly the scene changed. The baby was born in their home. It brought nervous tension

  107. because the baby couldn't sleep properly. The mother couldn't sleep. Financial problems

  108. multiplied. Trying to live on 10 days, $10 a week. They began to live on papaya, paw

  109. paw in this country. And, and they came to me in distress and they said, does this life

  110. of faith work? We gave more and we got less. How does this work? I looked upon my own life

  111. and remembered some of the incidents of my own experiences. When God called me to England

  112. years ago, I remember this so clearly. He said, I would go and then a man came to me,

  113. had a vision to pay our fare. You have to get a vision to pay our fare or whatever it

  114. was. And he said, God told him to pay our fare. And he did. And we arrived in London

  115. and I had spoken to 51 Newton road, the sentence of God. And so before that, I mean, I've spoken,

  116. but those days you didn't speak, you wrote letters and I wrote them and so on. And I

  117. remember arriving and going there to this office and they said, we have little for you.

  118. Very little that was with me because you sound like a Russian that thought a Russian was

  119. coming here. And I remember so clearly walking along the Thames as a young man saying, God,

  120. what am I doing here? I was walking by faith. I was walking with total trust in God. What

  121. is happening, Lord? Did you call us? Have you forgotten us? And I remember we, we, we

  122. went to a meeting in East Croydon and somebody gave us a prophecy there that like Elijah

  123. was fed by the Ravens, you'll be fed. That was a slightly encouraging, I was waiting

  124. for the birth to come. Now, and then I was going to a meeting in WCA at Richard's home,

  125. Richard's church. Those days, he had about 350, which was a large church in London in

  126. Slough, England in London south out of, out of London. Wends United. And he said, there's

  127. a father here from Australia, brother, come up and share your testimony. Say what God

  128. wants. And I did and the power and presence of God came down. By midnight, he had run

  129. through the greatest churches of England and opened doors for me supernaturally. Hallelujah.

  130. And I was never without ministry yet for a whole year. And halfway through, I was preaching

  131. for Nelson power, the largest church in England, but a thousand members. And I remember we,

  132. when we came back from the train, I arrived there. He took me to a restaurant and those

  133. days we'd never been to restaurants. It was a life different to these days. I remember

  134. these was also nice. And I'm seeing, I still remember this thing. Well, this is marvelous,

  135. you know, and we had this Easter convention there. Now I was speaking at the convention

  136. speaker because Richard opened the door. And I remember that he said to me, brother, he

  137. said, Nelson, do you want to go to Europe? No door had opened. He said, yes, I believe

  138. God's calling me there. He said, go for me. I can't go. Take my place. So this great English

  139. of that preacher gave me his position and God opened it. I took, I was in Willard Cantillon's

  140. tent, which was the great evangelist of the world doing these great crusades in Europe.

  141. Hallelujah. Amen. And then I knew God had called me to the world Pentecostal conference

  142. step by step. Amen. No money. Just that Beth was working in London all the time, try to

  143. help us put this together. And God knows what he's doing. Can you say, amen? The week that

  144. when we were, when somebody came in a meeting gave me a hundred pounds, which was about

  145. these days, $2,000. Well, a birth on a ship from there to Australia cost about what? $170

  146. or something. Yeah. You remember that. It wasn't much. It was unusual. So for me to

  147. get a hundred pounds was a lot of money. And I was so excited and I called Beth because

  148. at that stage I said, we'd go on to America and if we'd gone to America, we'd have never

  149. come to this country back again. You always would have opened the door of America and

  150. you must, you've got a message from God. You must go to America. And I called her and she

  151. said, how did you know? I said, what? So we just had an invitation from a church in Australia.

  152. I was a little church to come back. We knew God at work. Come on church. The moment money

  153. came, the moment provision came. Hallelujah. So God knows what he's doing. I was able to

  154. assure them that God cannot fail and will not fail. It is impossible for God to fail.

  155. If you want to be a real man, a woman of God, you've got to go through something. Come on

  156. church. If you want to be anointed, you've got to develop this place of faith. Look at

  157. the mighty men of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. See the gallery of men of faith, what

    Hebrews 11 chapter mention

  158. they went through. You know, we sort of have a different interpretation, but see what they

  159. went through to become the mighty men of God that moved nations for God, that stood against

  160. lions that did great things for God. Open the pages of history and you will see that

  161. they had a love reading church history, a love reading the story of mighty men of God

  162. because you see that God cannot fail and will not fail. Come on church. They took the cross

  163. from Notre Dame in Paris that same day. William Carey was sailing up the river. Calcutta,

  164. to begin his missionary enterprise. Hallelujah. God cannot fail, but to succeed, to triumph,

  165. there are things you have. There's a process that you go through for God to make your mighty

  166. powerful man and woman of God. You know, in America, it's only about out of 60, they say

  167. about four or five men or women ministers that ever make it to retirement. In other words,

  168. out of 60, five or six make it to the end. And the cha, and the car yachts are filled

  169. with ex-preachers doing other work than ministering the gospel. You see, there's a price to pay.

  170. It's not all easy. Like Charles Hatton's, if you get out of the ministry, get out of

  171. the ministry if you can, because there's a price to pay. Not all easy. Come on church.

  172. And I want to view this in the life of Elijah. I want you to see how God developed a man

  173. to make him a powerful, mighty servant of God. Because supernatural development is progressive.

  174. By a process that God changes the human spirit, that God fashions the soul and makes it powerful

  175. for his glory, for his praise, for his honor. There's a process that makes us. The first

  176. thing that God said to Elijah was, go and hide thyself at the book Cherith. Cherith

  177. means trench. Bury yourself from the world. Never easy. Submerge yourself in Jesus Christ.

  178. Remember when I arrived here and I did this throughout Australia, I was very strong on

  179. the death of the self-life. Because the Bible is filled with scripture in the New Testament,

  180. we must die daily. We must give ourselves to God totally. And I used to say as I preached

  181. this in Romans 8.13, it says, if we by the spirit mortify the deeds of the body, we shall

  182. live. And I used to say there's two ways you can die. Either by the Holy Ghost and by experiences.

  183. Which do you want? Everybody said the Holy Ghost. And then one day God reminded me, you're

  184. wrong, Rich, because that's not the only way that God led people. You possibly pull one

  185. of the mightiest men of God that lived in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 as he talks about

  186. this death of self. For example, in verse 10, always being about the body, the dying

  187. of the world of Jesus. But the life, remember I said it's never for death, but for what?

  188. Life. Never for destruction, but for resurrection. Come on, Church. I thought my message was

  189. always there. I always live unto death. But prior to this, notice there in 1st Corinthians

  190. chapter 4, I'm a Bible man, you have to open your Bible. It says we're troubled, we're

  191. distressed, we're perplexed, we're in despair, we're persecuted, hallelujah, but forsaken,

  192. cast down, but not destroyed. In the 1st chapter, he talks about a very similar thing in chapter

  193. 1, and he says, we have this sentence of death, rather than we have to be ignorant, our troubles

  194. came to us in Asia, we were oppressed above measure, above strength, and we despaired

  195. even of life. We have the sentence of death, and I said that we should not trust in ourselves,

  196. but in God which raises, raises the dead. Pour in through things. If we're going to

  197. be mighty women of God, are we ready? Are we willing to pay the price? Or do we melt

  198. at the vine when something goes wrong? Oh, God, this is not the point. How strong are

  199. we to sustain the experiences of life? Not to give up, but to stand firm with God, to

  200. keep believing Him, to expect God's presence and miracle power and victories, no matter

  201. what we go through. Overcome us means you have to go through something. The promise,

  202. the reward is for whom? Overcome us. To overcome, there's something you've got to fight through

  203. and fight over to become what God says you can become. Come on, Church. It's not all

  204. easy. There's a battle to be fought. If he talks about the spirit of faith in Chapter

  205. 4 of Corinthians here, he talks about the resurrection pound that he says in verse 17,

  206. for our light affliction. He quoted what? Do you quote it that? For our light affliction,

  207. I'm preparing this message, and yesterday, Beth has a terrible accident in the car.

  208. The Merc is gone for a moment. Come on, Church. And you know, what do we do? Do we go under?

  209. Or do we go on? Come on, Church. You can't go under for what? Going over. It's hard for

  210. a while. It's painful. The next moment, bang. Not easy. It's tough. But when the going gets

  211. tough, sure as says what? The tough get gone. I like that little statement he makes. Sometimes

  212. you've got to be isolated totally from the Word of God. Most men in life have had deep

  213. trenches. Paul even had a messenger of Satan to buffet him, lest he should be exalted.

  214. If you lose everything in the common realm, you'll gain everything in the spiritual realm.

  215. Some of the last words of Catherine Kuhlman were these, not some of self and some of thee,

  216. but none of self and who of thee. I am convinced that God will continually take us to task

  217. to put us in the trench. We may die to self and become what God wants us to become. God

  218. wants us to be holy. Can somebody agree with me? God wants us. Paul often lived in the

  219. light of the cross. There are strongholds that may still have to be broken in your life.

  220. Things that don't reflect. Oh, give me a message of faith. Wait a minute. I want to prepare

  221. you for Christ's coming. Can somebody say amen? God be ready for him. Refined by God

  222. for his divine purpose. Hallelujah. To the glory of his name. We always understand like

  223. when Dr. Cho's son died, you know the story. He got home from an afternoon meeting in Korea

  224. and he started praying for him. He had eaten some food, whatever it was, kimchi or something

  225. that they eat over there. He was poisoned. All the other boys, about 18, had all died.

  226. Now I see Cho's son lying there and he starts praying. He prays for one hour. It's as dead

  227. as anything in that room. Nothing happens. He prays for two hours. It's as dead as anything.

  228. Nothing happens. He prays for three hours. It's as dead as anything. And finally he starts

  229. confessing all of his sins. He just pours out his heart. That's why Cho these days,

  230. you heard him, the past prayer message he preached there at the Gold Coast. He spends

  231. at least three hours an hour every day cleansing himself. He prays about three hours a day.

  232. And after about cleansing himself, suddenly he feels divine authority. He commands the

  233. life of God to enter the body of his son. And suddenly the son sits up and says, Hello

  234. Dad, say hello to Jesus. Cho said, I didn't see Jesus. I just said, Hello Jesus. And he

  235. was raised from the dead. But their experiences and he learned the power of cleansing, the

  236. refining fire is the power of holiness in the presence of God. The second thing we learned

  237. about Elijah was he learned the great power of intercession. In James chapter five, the

  238. Bible is very clear. It doesn't tell us so much. He says he stands in God's presence.

  239. But when it talks about the prayer life of our life before God, praying for the sick,

  240. he sent this message throughout the whole of Asia. It wasn't just for one church, for

  241. all churches. He tells us how Elijah prayed. He prayed before that it might not rain. He

  242. prayed afterward and prevailed in prayer. I believe we must learn today the power of intercession.

  243. I choose my words. We must believe in prayer. We must believe in intercession. Like Ray

  244. Oakland said, you keep clawing and scratching for the quiet hour all your life. It's the

  245. toughest thing that I know. One day in quiet of Lidlson, Sweden years ago on a survey that

  246. nobody knew who they were, how much did they pray? It was just minutes every day, minutes

  247. every day. Because the key to our life is our prayer life. Can you say amen? You can

  248. change the mind of God. You can move the heart of God by prayer. Can you say amen? Remember

  249. I told you before, I think maybe not. I'll repeat something to you. I was preaching in

  250. Chesterfield Convention when I was over there in England. I was staying in this very old

  251. ladies home, beautiful gray hair. In those days you never went to hotels. You just went

  252. to homes. When I woke in the morning and went for breakfast, she said, you slept in the

  253. bed that Stephen Jeffries slept when he had the great crusades here years ago. This man

  254. that opened blind eyes and saw creative miracles as no one has seen in England. And she said

  255. to me this, there was not a night when I went to make his bed that the pillow was not wet

  256. with the tears he'd wept all night for the souls of men. There's a price to pay. There's

  257. a price to become what God wants you to become. Can you say amen? All the mighty men of God

  258. had this power of intercession, learned it somewhere. Moses learned it and moved nations

  259. for God and he succeeded on behalf of Abraham. Abraham affected Sodom and Gomorrah, learned

  260. to pray. Job finally learned to intercede for his so-called friends. David, when you

  261. read the Psalms, his whole life was a life of intercession. Daniel was greatly beloved

  262. of God. Three times a day he went to prayer. I don't have time to go into something I want

  263. to go into, but the first thing I want to say is he also learned that God was a God

  264. of order and discipline. Like clockwork, those ravens came to feed him. Ravens are unclean

  265. birds, very selfish birds. They don't give you anything. You've been in a picnic and

  266. no one around you. Has anybody ever lost any food because of some of the... Yeah, they

  267. come, they swoop down to take that food away. But here they come with bread and meat every

  268. day. Amazing things like clockwork. Because God is the God of order and discipline. Can

  269. somebody agree with me? Things happen with God in order. For example, the day of Pentecost

  270. was at the right place Israel. The whole way Israel was set out in tents. They didn't put

  271. the tent anywhere because everything was in perfect, perfect order where they were. The

  272. sacrifices were exact. The feasts were exact. God, when the apostles went out, went to the

  273. tent, but at the hour of what? Prayer and seemed to keep. Daniel prayed three times

  274. a day at special times when an Israeli would pray, a Jew would pray. I'll tell you the

  275. life of a man that greatly inspired me. His name was John Wesley. He believed he would

  276. someday stand before God and give an account of his life. So he decided to record in 15

  277. minutes increments exactly what he did every day of his life. Wow. From his extensive,

  278. accurate journal, we have compiled the following facts. He prayed for 60 years. He rose no

  279. earlier than 4 a.m. to pray. No later rather than 4 a.m. Often he rose at 3 a.m. to pray.

  280. He fasted two or three days a week. He traveled 250,000 miles on horseback. He preached 42,000

  281. messages, sermons, five times a day. For 50 years he preached each morning at 5 a.m. to

  282. common laborers on the way to work. He often preached to open air crowds of 10 to 20,000

  283. without these lovely things we have these days. At the age of 70, thank God he was still

  284. gone, there's hope for me, he preached to the crowd of 30,000 without any public address.

  285. He preached to common poor laborers. He studied, he knew 10 languages. He was a university

  286. scholar. He constantly read when he was driving on horseback from town to town. He knew classical

  287. and Christian authors by heart. He was a renowned theologian, logician, linguistic and scholar.

  288. He wrote over 400 books including a whole medical textbook called The Primitive Physique

  289. that went through 20 editions plus an English dictionary, countless pamphlets, letters,

  290. sermons, tracts and so on. He cared tirelessly for prison reform, for mental hospital reform,

  291. for abolish slavery. I get tired of just reading this stuff. For orphans and orphanages and

  292. so on. He trained himself 550 preachers, was personally trained by John Wesley. He organized

  293. and developed a discipline system that included accountability among believers, small groups

  294. sharing caring, highly methodical training leadership. He went on his death to 153,000

  295. Methodists that was big in those days. Then by 1850 there was 1.5 million Methodists and

  296. there were very much a lot of supernatural powers present. He was to fall from trees.

  297. I think it was the other woodcliff was the other preacher wasn't it? Woodcliff or wood

  298. field. The preacher when he heard this he was very upset because people would sit in

  299. trees and the power of God would hit them and they would come down. At the age of 85

  300. he was ashamed that he was not able to preach more than twice a day. He had an increasing

  301. tendency to lie in until 5.30 in the morning. At the age of 88 the saint went to be with

  302. Jesus. His last words were, there is no way to the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The

  303. best is yet to come. Oh hallelujah. I am moved by men like that. I am moved by their devotion

  304. to God. I have read many of these lives and I tell you we are on clover compared, we are

  305. blessed with the easy life we have. Two more things I have tried. He learned that the unexpected

  306. can become the perfect. A number of times it happened in his life that the unexpected

  307. became the perfect. He the raven, the unexpected became the perfect. Then the widow of Zarathustra

  308. became the perfect. Why did he get a rich millionaire to look after him? The unexpected

  309. became the perfect. Even when he was running away from Jezebel and felt he wanted to die,

  310. he was finished. The unexpected became the perfect. I want to take you for a few minutes

  311. in the life of another woman of God in the Bible who so wonderfully typifies this where

  312. the unexpected becomes the perfect. Her name is Ruth. A whole book is written about Ruth.

  313. Ruth was not a Jewess. She was a Moabite. She was from a nation that Israel despised

  314. and especially there were so tight those days that you could not get in. It was totally

  315. impossible to mingle the Jews with others because God wanted a pure nation and they

  316. took it to extreme. Ruth married a Jew, an Israeli Jew. Her mother-in-law's name was

  317. Naomi and they are living outside of Israel. They are both married and both of the husbands

  318. died. Remember then you have these amazing words that Ruth says because Naomi says, ìI'm

  319. going back home to my people.î Ruth said, ìWhether you go, I will go. Your people shall

  320. be my people. Your God shall be my God.î Wonderful words. I have used them in marriage

  321. very often. But then she is home. She is really in a mess because they are widows and widows

  322. didn't have any pension those days, didn't have any real provisions for what they were

  323. going through. But they had a plan in Israel to look after them. That was that when they

  324. would reap the harvest, the women, the certain girls that would bind them together would

  325. leave stuff on the ground so that the widows, the orphans could come and pick up food so

  326. that they would not die but live. It says, and I want you to turn to this if it is up

  327. to you but I want to assure you there is wonderful scripture in Ruth. In Ruth chapter 2 and verse

    Ruth 2 chapter mention

  328. 3 it says, ìShe was gleaning in the fields then and she went and came and gleamed in

  329. the field after we were and her hapî that is an unusual word but ìhapp was to light

  330. on the fields of Boazî or a better translation, ìit just happenedî. Are you with me? ìIt

  331. just happened that she was gleaning in the fields ofî what? ìBoazî hallelujah. And

  332. she was in a survival mode. She came to an area that was an unknown place. She was sparring

  333. downwards. She was devoted to know her, to look after this but she was a widow herself.

  334. She was a young woman. She had lost her husband. She had left her home, impoverished, frustrated,

  335. confused, weeping forlorn. She was not particularly welcome in this place. She was a second class

  336. citizen. What are you interested in a Moabite woman? Would she be accepted socially? She

  337. was not part of them. She didnít belong to them. She was in a survival mode. Her faith

  338. was in trial. Can God bless a woman like that? My answer is yes. Can God bless a second class

  339. citizen? My answer is yes. When everything is stacked against you, can God still do something?

  340. My answer is yes. God can take you from nothing, from hopelessness and despair and do something

  341. great for you. Come on church. He can suddenly come. It just happened. And in most cases,

  342. these just happenings come out of tragedies. Here is Elijah going to the widow of...tell

  343. me who? Thank you. The widow of Zarech. I just want you to be listening. It just happened.

  344. It just happened. God can do it. And when she touched that realm, the unexpected became

  345. the perfect. Say with me, the unexpected can become the perfect. Say it again. The unexpected

  346. can become the perfect. Hallelujah. Come on church. You just didnít stumble into that.

  347. God was there. Suddenly a job opened that you thought would never open. Suddenly the

  348. healing power of Christ came. I am reminded in all the scriptures, the steps of a good

  349. man are what? Ordered by the Lord. In Proverbs 3 it says, ìTrust me with all thine heart,

  350. in all thy ways.î How many ways? ìAll thy ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct

  351. thy path.î Donít be too stubborn, but wait. The unexpected can come what? The perfect.

  352. God can intervene. Somebody say amen. My cheerleaders arenít here today. I wish they were here.

  353. They normally help us along. Amen. I think of Reinhard Bonnke. He was having a crusade

  354. in Nigeria years ago and he had a lot of Muslim rioting in opposition because he was saying,

  355. ìIíve been to Nigeria, itís one of these places where you stay like that.î Staying

  356. in this compound, he was safe. They tried to kill him and he got out in time, but he

  357. lost his visa, his part, whatever it was, and he could never go back to Nigeria. But

  358. it just happened. He was preaching in Benin in Cottenew, I think the capital city is.

  359. There was a general staying in the same hotel as he was. The general heard that Reinhard

  360. Bonnke was staying and said, ìI want to meet this man that he may lead me to Christ.î

  361. Reinhard Bonnke meets with him and leads him to Jesus Christ. This general said, ìI give

  362. you my mobile phone. If you need anything, call me.î Months later, he hears that this

  363. general has become the president of Nigeria. So he calls him on the phone. He told him

  364. who he was. By private plane he got in and started this great crusade and heís had about

  365. 13 million decision cards for Christ in Nigeria. It just happened. The unexpected can become

  366. the perfect. Let faith arise. Let God arise. Letís expect that the unexpected can become

  367. the perfect. One more point and weíll let you go. The widow of Zarathoth, God says to

  368. him, ìI command the widow to sustain you.î First in Zarathoth was a godless place. It

  369. was the center of idol worship, the very place he was fleeing from. God takes him right back

  370. there and she wasnít even a Jew. She was a Gentile. Remember when Jesus in Luke chapter

    Luke 4 chapter mention

  371. 4 meets us back to his own town of Nazareth. You might remember that he had been preaching

  372. throughout Galilee before. This was not his first message in Luke 4, 18. He was already

  373. preaching throughout Galilee. Some Jesuits spent a year there before he went back to

  374. Nazareth. He stands at temple and it was the exact message for the exact hour, for the

  375. exact time, the exact reading rather in the synagogue of Nazareth. In Isaiah 61 he says,

  376. ìThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Heís anointed me.î Finally he says, ìThis day

  377. is the scripture fulfilled in your ears.î Theyíre sitting there and fairly critical

  378. of him. But the one that the gracious word that says, ìI am going to preach to youî

  379. and then he said this, ìSurely you will say to me this perfect position,î verse 23 of

  380. Luke 4, ìHeal thyself. Whatever youíve done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.î

  381. In other words, ìCome on, show yourself.î Thatís how some people respond to God.

  382. Then he says, ìI tell you, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah. But when

  383. the heavens were shut for three years and six months when great famine was throughout

  384. all land,î heís just talking, ìbut unto none was Elijah sent, but unto Zarepta, a

  385. city of Zion, a woman, she was a widow.î Then he talked about the healing of Naaman,

  386. another Gentile. These people got furious. They got offended. Remember? They tried to

  387. throw him out over the hill and Jesus passed through them.

  388. Here is the incident where Jesus, where this prophet is led to this woman, to this woman,

  389. to Zarephath, ìI commanded a widow to feed you.î I donít know what he expected to happen

  390. there. But he got there and widows in those days were the lowest of society. Forgive me,

  391. but I must tell you what happened. A very poor woman, this woman was literally facing

  392. death. She had nothing left in the house. She went out to gather some sticks. This was

  393. the last meal she was going to prepare. An unusual thing developed. He had the test of

  394. provision upon him. You might remember God chooses to provide for us in sometimes unusual

  395. ways. When we got married, it was a widow. We didnít have enough money to get married.

  396. That gave us, I think, $40 to help us get married. Brother Ted built the rest of the

  397. church there. A man promised me $50,000. He never gave it to us. I was so excited to get

  398. that $50,000. The ordinary people that gave the money, ìCome on, church,î and provided

  399. for the building that happened there. It was the unusual. You expect the rich to do it

  400. all. Not always the rich. Hello, church. Many have been deceived by thinking that which

  401. person would give us $100,000 and we would be right. But it doesnít happen like that.

  402. Itís common people. Amen, church. Amen. But notice here, God says to this woman, ìGive

  403. me first.î I wonder what the newspaper would do with that today. You know, God expects,

  404. may I just say this from our life, the first fruits. Tithing is a principle of first fruits.

  405. Notice in Leviticus 20, Chapter 26, just for a minute. I wonít be long. Leviticus. Where

  406. am I? I am in Leviticus? Where should I be? Geronimo. Chapter 26. When God talks about

  407. giving, he says in verse 2, books of Israel, he says, ìThe harvest offerings thou shalt

  408. take of the first of all fruits of the earth. Thou shalt bring to the land that the Lord

  409. hath given thee in the basket and sown.î I often wondered why God didnít accept Cainís

  410. offering and accepted Abelís offering. Letís go back and have a look. Very clear. Very

  411. clear. Go to Chapter 4. It says, verse 2 of Chapter 4, ìAnd she bare his brother Abel,

  412. and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was the till of the ground. In the process of

  413. time it came to pass that Cain brought up the fruit of the ground an offering.î An offering.

  414. Say an offering. ìAnd Abel also brought theî what does it say? ìFirst sling of his flock.

  415. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain he had no respect.î Because

  416. why? He brought the first fruit, the first of the flock. See the difference? Look at

  417. it carefully. The something all through the Bible they gave of the first fruits to God.

  418. Off the top, first. Not handouts. When you give your offering here, make it spiritual.

  419. Make it a divine appointment. Wherever you give it, make it in a way whereby itís first

  420. to God. Amen, Church. Itís important. Itís important. That brings the blessing of God.

  421. Remember what happened to this woman? Amazing things happened. She did this. She didnít

  422. give it all to Elijah, but gave first to him the principle of first fruits. God then provided

  423. for her for the rest of her time. Yet even after that you might remember that her son

  424. died. There are always mysteries. Come on. There are always mysteries. Hereís Elijah

  425. praying his heart out to get this boy back again. He says, ìGod heard his prayer and

  426. God gave him the son back.î Weíll never understand the world of God until we get there.

  427. But what we do with our experiences are crucial. How we handle them, what they become in our

  428. life and also most of all, let the unexpected become the perfect. How many agree with me?

  429. Let God come into the unexpected moments of your life. Let them become the perfect moments

  430. of the works of God. If youíre going through things, donít let go of God. Donít set him

  431. aside. Donít think that God cannot fail. Come on, Church. God cannot fail. Weíre missing

  432. in Bible college. He cannot fail for He is God. He cannot fail. I donít understand it

  433. at times. I mean the last two weeks have been horrific in our life, but God cannot fail.

  434. We must rejoice. We must keep what? Praising Him. Come on, Church. We must ever glorify

  435. His name. And donít let go because God is with you. If God be for us, who can be against

  436. us? God always finally leads us into triumph. Can somebody say amen? Always. Always. Always.

  437. Come on, Church. Hallelujah. And He will be with us. And the unexpected will become the

  438. perfect in Godís divine moment, in Godís gracious plan and purpose. Shall we stand

  439. please together? Weíve come a bit earlier today to the end of the journey. Thatís a

  440. good thing. Praise God. Amen. I donít know if I should. I just want to keep ministering

  441. to people. If some of you are going through difficult times, you need prayer, Iíll be

  442. delighted to pray with you. I will sing the Lordís prayer together. We havenít sang

  443. it for a few weeks. Please sing the Lordís prayer. Itís such a blessing to us. People

  444. love it, so weíre going to sing it unto the Lord. Amen, Church. And if there is some but

  445. one prayer, I pray. Otherwise, I go to the door and greet the friends, the people. But

  446. if you feel you are going through difficult times, you need prayer. Some of you need maybe

  447. prayer because the way is hard at the moment. You need the strength of God in your life.

  448. But take somebodyís hand and letís sing the Lordís prayer.

  449. Letís sing the Lordís prayer.

  450. Letís sing the Lordís prayer.

  451. Come on, Christ, letís sing.

  452. Come on, Christ, letís sing.

  453. Come on, Christ, letís sing.

  454. Father, teach us your ways. Bring us to the place of effectiveness. A time the way is

  455. not easy for people, but youíre always faithful. Hallelujah. Let the unexpected become the

  456. perfect. Perform miracles for your people this week. Let them step into the unexpected

  457. and see the supernatural workings of God. We pray in jobs, in circumstances, in finances,

  458. in physical needs, whatever Lord, you step in. You step in, Master, because youíre the

  459. living God if He is an answers prayer. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the

  460. glory forever. Amen.

  461. Thank you again for tuning in to todayís powerful message from Dr. Reginald Climinop.

  462. We hope this has touched your heart and inspired your spirit. Stay connected with Logan City

  463. Christian Church for more uplifting sermons and spiritual guidance. Follow us on social

  464. media to join our community and stay updated on all our latest happenings. Remember, together

  465. we grow in faith and love. Until next time, may Godís blessing be with you always.