Sermon
Elohim - The Creator
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 1 and meet me at verse 1, the book of beginnings.
Genesis 1 chapter mention
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Genesis chapter 1 and meet me at verse 1 and read this with me. You ready? Ready? Read.
Genesis 1 chapter mention
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In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
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Now, notice that in the beginning, before anything ever happened,
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God created the heavens and the earth.
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We're starting a new series that's going to last throughout the summer.
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And we're going to be talking about the names of God.
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And the purpose for this summer series is to reveal his nature and his character,
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to deepen our relationship with him, and to guide our prayer life and worship experience.
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And so as we go throughout this series, and Jeannie's going to help preach some
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of the names of God as we go throughout this series, the goal is for you to draw closer to him,
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to be able to have different sort of encounters and experiences with him as
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you understand his name and his nature.
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And so Genesis 1-1 tells us in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
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God is referred to by a lot of names.
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I mean, we're not going to go through all of them. But today we're going to
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talk about the name of Elohim, because in the beginning,
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Elohim, which is the Hebrew word for God in this passage of scripture,
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created the heavens and the earth.
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Now let's take me, for example.
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There are a lot of names that I go by. Obviously, my name is Devon.
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Mostly everybody knows me as Devon. Some people call me Pastor.
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Some people call me Pastor Devon. Some people call me Pastor Alexander.
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Some call me Pastor D.
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Some people call me Daddy.
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A couple of people call me dad, and then some of my good friends call me Devo, right?
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These are names that I get called and I go by, and depending on what type of
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relationship you have with me is the name you're going to use.
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And then there are different attributes or titles that I carry,
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different characteristics like husband. I'm a husband of one, amen.
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I'm a father. I'm a pastor. I'm a son. I'm a brother. I'm a friend.
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Some people know me as their boss. I'm a mentor and I'm an advisor.
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And so not only do I carry different names, but I carry different titles and
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I carry different attributes.
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And God is the same way.
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Matter of fact, he is the original one that carries different names,
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different titles and different attributes. And today we're going to talk about his name, Elohim.
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Say Elohim. Elohim.
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Elohim is God. Now, it's the Hebrew name for God.
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In this series, Jeannie and I are not going to do an exhaustive college sort
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of course, okay, on these names because they are very descriptive.
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We're going to take the opportunity with the name of God, and we're going to
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describe to you what we want you to see regarding this name and how it can apply to your life.
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My goal as we go through this series is for you to begin to not only say God,
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God, God, God, God all the time when you pray, but you'll begin to call him some different names.
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Maybe in your pro-life, you'll say Jehovah Jireh, or you'll say El Shaddai,
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or Jehovah Rafa, or El Elyon, or Elohim.
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And we find here that Elohim is the very first name used for God in the Bible.
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And any time in scripture, for the most part, you see the name God,
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it is really the name Elohim.
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Now, there are a few times you see the name God in the old covenant where the
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name is El, which is the true God.
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But in this series or in this message today, we're going to talk about Elohim,
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which is the supreme judge, the ruler of all,
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the all powerful and the all knowing,
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the sustainer the covenant
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keeper and the creator of everything
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somebody say Elohim Jeremiah 32
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and 27 Jeremiah 32 and 27 says
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I am the Lord now the Lord here is the word Jehovah we'll get into that later
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I am the Lord I am Jehovah is I am I am the Lord the God this is Elohim of all
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the peoples of the world,
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watch this, is anything too hard for me?
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So Elohim has limitless power, and he operates with mighty power. Somebody say mighty.
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Deuteronomy 4, 7. Deuteronomy 4, 7.
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For what great nation is there that has Elohim so near to it?
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As the Lord our Elohim is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon him.
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Glory to God. So you have access to the great and mighty and supreme power of Elohim.
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Not only is he the sustainer, he's also the covenant keeper and he's the creator
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of everything. Somebody say Elohim.
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Psalms 46.1. Psalm 46.1.
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Elohim is our refuge and strength. a very present help in time of trouble.
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When you're in trouble, when you're scared, when there's difficulty occurring,
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when you are in chaos, Elohim is a very present help in the time of trouble. He is the judge.
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He is the ruler. He is all-powerful. He's all-knowing.
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He's the sustainer. He's the covenant keeper, and he's the creator of everything.
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Somebody shout Elohim. Elohim.
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Psalm 5110. Psalm 5110.
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Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim.
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And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Notice Elohim is the creator.
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And Elohim will create within you a clean heart.
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He is the original, eternal, creative creator of everything.
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And he has the ability to create within you a clean heart.
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Somebody say Elohim. He fearfully and wonderfully created you.
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He created you on purpose, with a purpose, provides you with power,
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and he sustains you with love. This is Elohim that we're talking about.
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Now, in Hebrews 11.3, Hebrews 11.3, By faith we understand that the worlds were
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framed by the word of Elohim.
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Now, notice this is in the Greek. Now, the New Testament is written primarily in the Greek.
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The Old Testament in the Hebrew, the Old Testament name for God is Elohim.
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The New Testament is actually feels,
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but it's still Elohim, just different languages. Does that make sense?
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So this is still Elohim we're talking about, who framed the world by his word
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so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
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So the great creator, Elohim, framed the world by his words.
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Now, if we look at Genesis chapter 1, it won't be on the screen,
Genesis 1 chapter mention
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but I want you to follow me here.
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In verse 3, we know this in Genesis chapter 1, it says, Then Elohim said.
Genesis 1 chapter mention
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In verse 6, then Elohim said.
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In verse 9, then Elohim said. In verse 10 or 11, then Elohim said.
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In verse 14, then Elohim said.
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In verse 20, then Elohim said. In verse 24, then Elohim said.
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In verse 26, then Elohim said. In verse 28, then Elohim said.
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In verse 29, then Elohim said. And then in verse 31, then Elohim saw everything that he had made.
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How did Elohim make things? He said it.
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He created it with his mouth.
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Elohim is powerful enough to create by speaking. Right?
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Elohim is the creator, the creator of everything and everything that has been
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formed has been made through the words of his mouth.
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There is that he is Elohim or El that he cannot lie.
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If he says it, it's going to come to pass.
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If he said, let there be a three headed dog.
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Guess what will happen? a three-headed dog would appear because Elohim is the
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creator of everything and his words is what creates everything that we see.
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He's the God who creates and he's always active, present, and full of creative power.
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Whenever God created, he spoke first and then manifested his power.
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So it matters how you see Elohim.
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This is why God, this is my opinion. I'll let you know when I'm speaking truth
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in my opinion. This is my opinion.
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People say all the time, well, God's always speaking.
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He's always talking. God's always talking. You're just not listening.
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I don't think God's always talking.
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I don't think he's a motor mouth. I don't think he's running off at the mouth all the time.
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I don't picture God doing it. God is very precious.
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And very intentional about what he's saying. And if you're not listening to
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what he's saying, he's not going to keep talking to you.
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Elohim is going to speak and things are going to happen and he's not always talking.
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So you have to put yourself in position to hear what Elohim will say to you.
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Now through his word he spoke and we can hear his word and begin to see what he's already said.
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But when we're looking at the rhema word of God, which is the spoken word of
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Elohim, then we got to put ourself in position to hear what he's saying.
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And we got to understand that when we are creating or when Elohim is creating, he's using words.
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Now, we like to use words to communicate.
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But the purpose of words were not just to communicate.
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The purpose of words were to create. See, we are created, and I'll talk about
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this in a few, but we are created in the image of God.
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God is a speaking spirit. Elohim speaks. He speaks so that he can create.
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And then he gave us the ability to do the same. So to create means he's going
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to bring something into existence that did not previously exist.
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To create means that he is building something with intention.
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Elohim brings order from chaos and stability to disorganized seasons of your life.
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If there's one thing I wanted you to get from this message today is if there
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is chaos and disorganization, call on the name of Elohim.
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He will bring order to the chaos going on in your life. If you've got pressure,
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if you've got stress, if you've got dates and timelines, if you've got aggravation, call on Elohim.
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Elohim will bring order to disorganization.
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Elohim will settle you down when you begin to call on Elohim because he's the
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great, mighty, powerful, eternal creator. Somebody say amen.
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Amen. Elohim is more than able to see you through any difficulty.
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Now, let's jump to verse 26 in Genesis 1, and I'll talk about this for a second. Genesis 1, 26.
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Then Elohim said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness.
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Let them, somebody say, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
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over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth,
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and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
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Let's keep out here for a second.
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Notice the scripture says, let Elohim said, or Elohim said, let us make man in our image.
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El is the name of God, the true name of God.
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El is singular, the one true God. And we'll get into El later on.
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Elohim is plural.
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It's not three gods it's
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one God functioning in three
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different ways God the Father God
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the Son and God the Holy Spirit they are one so it's not three gods one perfect
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God functioning in three different capacities.
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But here's the thing. They are not the same, but they are one.
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Now, I'm going to get deep with you here because a lot of times people try to
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make it seem like, well, how did God play to Jesus if they're one?
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Because they're functioning different.
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They don't think different.
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They're one. Perfect oneness.
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But not saneness. Are you listening to me?
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Stacey and I, this is a loose example, okay?
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Stacey and I are one, right? We're married, two became one.
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But we're not the same.
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But we're one.
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God, in the capacity that he has, can function in three different ways and think
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the exact same way and be one, all in the same.
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Does that make sense? So because he is one, Elohim is plural.
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So when Elohim speaks, he's speaking as all three functions.
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God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit, all functioning three different
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ways, but one perfect oneness.
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Jesus prayed, let us be one with him as well. Follow me on this.
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And so he says, let us. People get concerned, well, what does it mean, let us?
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Because he's Elohim, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
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Let us make man, man is not the, follow me, it's not simply the male and female necessarily.
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Man is the spirit.
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Let's create the spirit of man and place the spirit of man inside of a male.
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Place the spirit of man inside of a female, only two genders by the way.
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And you put the spirit of man in the male, the spirit of man in the female,
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they work together and they can work together as one.
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One spirit. He said, let us make man in our image. God's not flesh.
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God, God, listen to this. God's not male. He's man.
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This is why people, well, I feel like I'm a man stuck in a woman's body. No, no. You're a spirit.
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You're a spirit strategically placed in the body as God saw fit.
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Here's what I found. Well, I didn't ask you, Siri.
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God,
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and the default function of spirits are masculine,
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I didn't mean to go that deep but follow me he is well there's I've heard people
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say the Holy Spirit is a she no No, the Holy Spirit is the spirit, the spirit of God.
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And the default is he, he, he will.
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Well, there's God is my mother. No, God is a father. We'll talk about that on Father's Day.
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The default function is he, but he put the spirit,
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default he inside of the male, inside of the female, and then he said,
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let the spirit be in our image.
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So he put his spirit inside of us and said, now you are like me.
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Now, here's the part. There's not a lot of ways that we're like God.
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Just be honest. there are not a lot of ways we're like God there are a few but
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there's one critical way that we are like God especially the born again believer we can speak.
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Nothing else can speak. And how many know what speaking does?
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Creates. Your words have the ability to create just like God's word creates.
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So when he said, let us make man in our image.
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Give them the ability to speak like we in oneness speak.
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And when they speak, they'll be able to create just like our oneness can create.
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And notice the next part, let them, he says, after we created them in our image,
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in our likeness, in our resemblance, just like us, a duplicate copy,
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of who we are. We're speaking spirits.
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We want humanity. Nothing else is talking, but you and I, and we want humanity
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to be able to speak so that can create.
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The very next two words he says is let them have dominion.
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Over what? Not over each other. Notice, not over each other.
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Man's not supposed to have, a male is not supposed to have dominion over a female.
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A female is not supposed to have dominion over a male. No, we're not supposed
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to have dominion of each other, we're supposed to have dominion over the earth.
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So people wonder, why is the earth in the place that it's in?
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Because God gave dominion of the earth to humanity.
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This is the big argument that I hear a lot.
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Well, if there's such a good God, then why is the earth in the condition that it's in?
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Because he transferred and delegated Elohim, dominion of the earth to humanity.
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And now we have put the earth in the position that it's in, and we've done it
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through our decision-making and our creative mechanism. are speaking.
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So you can change your world by changing the way you speak.
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You can change your sphere of influence by changing the way you speak.
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1 John 5, 7, it may not be on the screen, but it says, for there are three that
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bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.
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They're one. So Elohim is a creator.
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Words are not just for communication, but for creation.
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And so when we call on the name of Elohim, we're calling on the eternal creator.
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What do you need in your life that needs changing and rearranging?
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You call on the name of Elohim.
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Elohim, I'm in the midst of this chaos.
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The great, mighty Elohim, come on the scene and change and rearrange this thing.
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Elohim, we beseech thee, come and reorganize what's going on in my body,
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what's going on in my family, what's going on in my life.
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You call on the name of Elohim and he will begin through words, create.
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And then he will give you things to say let's go to mark chapter 11 real quick
Mark 11 chapter mention
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we'll look at verse 12 through 14 mark chapter 11 12 through 14.
Mark 11 chapter mention
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Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he, Jesus, was hungry.
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And seeing from afar off a fig tree having leaves, he, Jesus,
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went to see if perhaps he wouldn't find something on it.
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When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
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Verse 14, in response, I think the fig tree said something to him. He responded. it.
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In response, Jesus said to it, let no one eat fruit from you ever again.
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And his disciples heard it.
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Now you might just say, pastor, we're talking about the feed tree spoke to him.
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How many times your bank account spoke to you?
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How many, I remember I used to drive when I first got going and you know,
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you're buying cash cars, like real cheap cash cars.
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And the cars used to tell me, we're not starting today.
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It would tell me we're not, and I'm cranking, cranking. We're not going to start today.
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And I would have to talk. Yes, we are. We're going to start today.
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Items and things subconsciously will begin to talk to you.
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I believe this fig tree spoke to Jesus and said, in response,
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he spoke to the fig tree, said, let no one eat fruit from you ever again.
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What is he saying? He used his words.
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In this situation, he uses words to curse.
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Now let's pick up in verse 20.
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I love this. He says, now in the morning, less than 12 hours,
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as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
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And Peter, remembering, said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed.
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How did he curse it? With his words, has withered away.
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Jesus answered and said to him, have faith in God. Say those four words. Have faith in God.
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All right, now watch this. For surely I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
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be removed and be cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart,
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but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
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Now I want to spend some time here because a couple things I want you to notice.
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Number one, I want you to notice the power of your words.
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Jesus used his words, Elohim.
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You know, Jesus is Elohim, used
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his words, spoke to the fig tree that was supposed to have figs on it,
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cursed it, said, let no one eat fruit from you ever again, and it dried up from the roots.
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Literally, the tree is laying down, the roots are now within 12 hours,
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you know, less than 24 hours, the tree is upside down, roots hanging upside down.
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That's how powerful his words were. But notice instantly nothing happened.
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When he spoke to it, he kept walking. Nothing happened except it was happening
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underneath the surface first.
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Your words work in the invisible realm before you see them working in the physical realm.
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When you say something, this is why it's powerful. This is why people,
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this is why preaching is so powerful.
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This is why commending the blessing is so powerful because things are working
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in the invisible realm first before you see the manifestation of it. He spoke to that tree.
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Something is working underneath that surface because we know this 12 hours later, the trees upside down.
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I use this illustration all the time.
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We have two stories in our home. I'll call one of my kids if I'm downstairs.
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Zarek Jay, come down. I don't see Zarek Jay. He's upstairs.
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I don't see him. I call him and 45 seconds, a minute later, here he comes downstairs. Why?
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My words cause movement to take place.
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And whether you see it or not, it's working.
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And this is why you got to be very, very astute to not use your words to hurt, harm, and to curse.
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There was one particular time I saw this restaurant. It was tucked back somewhere in the corner.
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And I drove by and I said, there ain't no way that restaurant going to ever
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get any business being in that location. And the Lord arrested me as I drove
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by. He said, why did you curse that restaurant?
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I said, forgive me. My words curse that restaurant.
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And what you don't understand, well, I'm just talking. No, you're cursing or
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you're creating all at the same time.
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And so here you are trying to figure out what's going to take place.
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And, oh, I ain't never going to, that ain't never going to happen.
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That ain't never going to happen. I just, man, I want this to happen,
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but it's never going to happen.
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You're starting to create something never happening.
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But when you start using your words to create, man, that money is going to come in.
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My back is healed in the name of Jesus.
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I resist these symptoms in Jesus' name.
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My husband is coming in the name of whatever it might.
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You call him in, use your words, and underneath the surface, things are moving.
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But what's happening is the enemy is trying to get you to stop talking.
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There was one particular time I told the Lord, I was like, Lord,
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whatever I was believing for, I said, what's taking so long?
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And he said to me, you're not in faith about it. And I was like,
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no, I am in faith about it. I believe that this could take place.
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He said, no, you're not. I said, yes, I am.
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He said, no, you're not. You're not in faith about it.
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I was like, my goodness, it's on the inside of me.
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And finally, I said, well, let me be quiet and listen and see what Elohim will say to me.
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I said, Elohim, reveal to me what's going on. He said, you stop talking about it.
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You stop talking about it. And once you stop talking about it,
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you stop being in faith about it.
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And you can say all day long, I believe, but you're not creating.
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And Elohim wants to create. And he's in you and I, if you're born again,
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with the Holy Spirit, creating.
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Using your mouth to create, not what you already see, but what you desire to see.
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Somebody say amen. And so we notice that he said, have faith in God.
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And he said, for surely I say to you, whatsoever things, watch this,
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whoever says to this mountain.
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So he's talking about a literal mountain here. Be removed and be cast into the sea.
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Does not doubt in his heart, but believes those things he says will be done.
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He will have whatever he says. What I want you to notice in this verse is that
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Jesus, Elohim, mentions to us three times that we have to say something.
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And only one time did he mention believing it.
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So I believe we've been spending more time trying to believe it and less time saying it.
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I believe we need to spend more time saying it.
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And the more you say, the more you're going to believe it.
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This is what get liars in trouble. They say the lie over and over and over and
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then they start believing a lie and they don't even know what the truth is anymore.
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They just believe the lie because they've been lying for so much.
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We're going to have to begin to say it and this is how we're created in the image of Elohim.
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He's a speaking, creating spirit And when he speaks, the whole universe changes.
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But because he lives on the inside of us, when we speak, we can change our sphere of influence.
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And so stop seeing or saying what you see and start saying what you desire to see.
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This is so critical because when we call on the name of Elohim,
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he's going to change and rearrange things.
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And he's going to tell you and give you words to say because you have creative
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power as well. A lot of times I hear some new songs.
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Oh, if we can get God to say it. Oh, if we can get God to say it. God, you can speak to it.
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God, you can talk to the mountain. God, you can talk to the fig tree.
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God's telling us, it's time for you to talk to it. That's right. Amen.
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Come on. Yes, he can, but he told you. Put that verse back on the screen if
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you don't mind, I think it's verse 23.
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He says, I say to you.
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Get me to talk to the mountain and it'll be removed. That's not what he said.
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He said, whoever, are you a whoever?
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Whoever will speak, it will be done.
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He will have what he says. And I think religion, and I hear a lot of these Christian
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songs, these new ones, God, you can talk, God, if we can get you to talk to
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it, God, God, you do it, God, you do it.
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You talk, God's like, I gave you the power to do it.
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You're just a chip off the old block. Right?
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If he's the father of your sons and daughters, you can act like me.
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You talk to the mountain.
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You speak to it. And the same creative power is on the inside of you as well. Amen.
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I want you to understand the power of your words today.
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Death and life are in the power of your tongue.
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It is the way and it is synonymous.
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Maybe not on the same degree because God is the God of Elohim,
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is the God of the universe, but in your sphere of influence,
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when you speak, things are changing and rearranging.
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And you have to know that you were created in his image to create with your mouth.
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It is important, crucial, of significance as to what you're saying about yourself.
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What's coming out of your mouth?
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Because you are creating what you want to see.
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And people unintentionally are creating a devastating future.
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Oh, when I get older, you know, they say when you get older,
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all this pain going to just attack your body.
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As you get older, I hate getting older because I'm just in a lot of pain.
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And then you start getting, and that's what you're going to start.
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You're creating your future.
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Which are he Hebrew says that his words
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framed the world's
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your words can frame your world
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and so it is vitally important
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that we begin to say what God says say what Elohim says he is the mighty powerful
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eternal creative creator and he uses words to do it.
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If you want change and significance in your life, you're going to have to get
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a word from Elohim in this Bible, and you're going to have to put it in your mouth as well.
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Come into agreement with the word that he's already spoken. I'm fearfully and
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wonderfully made. Amen.
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He loves me.
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I'm a masterpiece.
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Not because of you But because of what he said About you Amen Did y'all get
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something out of the message today This is how you experience True life Glory to God.