Genesis - Part 30 | Pastor Paul McGee

I pray, oh, to be enamored by the presence of the Lord, the

Lord. Oh yes, Jesus.

Yes, Jesus. Hallelujah, someone say thank

you, Jesus. Amen.

You may be seated for a spell. You desire to tonight.

Amen. Mike Penrod reached out

yesterday, was asking if maybe he could get some help, maybe

some from members here in the church.

He has some trees that have been taken down on his property that

need cut up and the quicker he gets them off his property and

cut up, the quicker he can get permit, a building permit and

such. So if you can help in any way,

you can see him after this service and coordinate with him.

He says I got 4 chainsaws, he just can't operate all four of

them at the same time and such. So if you can help him whatever

time of day or day of the week, whatever you coordinate that

with, with Mike Penrod, he meant tonight and I'm sure he'll be

appreciative of that. You can help him in that regard.

Amen. Want to thank everybody for

giving to the camp. Offering.

We brought in some money and then we put a little bit more

with it and we sent $500 off for camp.

Also here just recently, we paid $768 for three students with

fees in order to for graduation. We do that each year.

We just pick those that may need some help with that, that can't

get it by any other way or means without it being very taxing.

Some of these kids are doing all this on their own without any

parental support. They work a job in order to try

to pay those fees and. And that that would be.

Difficult. And so we try to help.

We don't make no fanfare about it, we just do it.

And the Lord keeps good records. The Lord keeps good records.

Amen. Also this coming Sunday, and,

and this is in preview of this coming week, but actually on

Sunday is International Firefighters Day in celebration.

We usually try to honor our firefighters here in the

community. And so there's going to be food

and such prepared for them and taken to them.

But in previous years, people of this church have helped supply

desserts for that. And so if you can.

Supply a dessert. For that, you can bring it on

Sunday. Make sure it's in some type of

throwaway pan or dish so we don't have to, you know, put

agps tracker on your dish. All right, so they can just go

in the trash. But if you can do that, if you

can help bring a dessert or offer dessert.

If you have any questions concerning that you can see

sister Angie Cruz or sister Sheila McGee and they can help

you in that regard. But if you can help us, Amen.

Serve people who serve us consistent consistently here

within our community. I.

Appreciate that everybody say tomorrow night, tomorrow night

prayer here at the church. Prayer from 7:00 to 8:00.

Come be a part of that and join your voices with other voices as

we pray unto the Lord. The 11th of this month is

Mother's Day. I say this month because this

isn't really the last day of the month.

Next month, I guess I should say.

I'm already in. May all right, but it's Mother's

Day camp registration. Then it's on the 12th, the

actual time of. That of the day that's still

forthcoming. The 23rd of May is game night.

Starting at 7, kind of for the summer months of May, when I say

summer months, those months that we're not in school.

All right, let's state it like that.

August is still a summer month, but somehow they move school.

Up earlier and earlier. Compared to when I was a kid.

And so you start in the month of August also.

Then summer kick off Sunday, which is Sunday the 25th.

That's Memorial Day weekend. And we want that to kind of have

a feel like our chilly supper and fall event kind of kicking

off the the nicer weather. I'm I'm crossing my fingers on

that. And it's not till I came

tonight, I realized that we're under a tornado watch tonight.

I said, oh, not again so we can be watchers.

All day. Just don't be.

Warnings so we can sit here and watch all night.

Praise God. No warnings so hope the weather

is better again. June the 1st through the 4th.

Sunday through Wednesday is revival of Adrian Sanford that

will be right here. Adrian Sanford, Genesis.

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

Chapter 16 if you'll stand. With me tonight, feel like I

might make some friends tonight. I don't think I'll be real long.

I took you in. Consideration.

I'm not even finishing the whole chapter.

Matter of fact, I got to a certain spot and I thought.

If I continue this this is with another like chunk, it could be

long. So I didn't.

So we'll see or not whether or not I was very, very kind to you

or just kind. Genesis chapter 16 I want to

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

read the. First 3 verses and this, this is

where we'll be tonight. The first 3 verses.

All right, I don't know what it is, but that's what it is, the

Bible says now. Sarah Abraham's wife.

Bury him. No children.

You've heard this before. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian

whose name was Hagar. Sarah, I said to Abram.

Behold, now the Lord hath. Restrained me from burying.

I pray thee go in and to my maid.

It may be that I may obtain children by her.

The Abram hearken to the voice of Sarah.

Sarah. Abraham's wife took.

Hagar, my phone's thinking I'm saying Siri.

Every time I say Sarah, it's popping up saying yes.

Can I help you? Took Hagar, her maid.

The Egyptian were in verse 3 after Abram had dwell 10 years

in the land of Canaan and gave. Her to her.

Husband Abram to be his. Wife.

Amen. I'm going to prophetically say

by faith, say. For a little while tonight.

I want to speak to you on this subject.

Navigating the process without losing the promise.

Navigating the process without losing the promise let's.

Ask God to help us. Father I thank.

You Lord, one more. Time God for your spirit, for

your anointing. I pray, O God, that you're able

to help. Us, Lord, in this place open our

mind, our understanding, give us wisdom and knowledge, but God

give us revelation, enlightenment, the touch of the

Holy Ghost Lord upon us tonight as we look at these scriptures

in these verses. Let them speak life, let them

give direction. Lord for our own lives, God for

they are. No doubt applicable, Lord Jesus.

For all of us, in the name of Jesus Christ, that I pray.

Amen everyone. Say Amen, you may be.

Seated tonight in Jesus name. We have looked at extensively

already the promise that has been given to Abraham, Sarah,

been given to them concerning a great nation, a land descendants

of. People, and this is what I know

not. Just from their story, but from.

The stories that manifest themselves.

In my own lives concerning promises, and that is sometimes

there is pressure that comes with a promise that's not yet

fulfilled. Pressure.

Pressure the exact time that elapsed between the last

chapter. Where the covenant was made.

With Abram and God through. The the burning lamp.

The smoke had moved. Through the divided pieces and

what now happens? Here in chapter #16 the exact.

Time frame of how much time went by we.

We don't know. We don't know for sure.

However, verse #3 does. State that.

When this occurred, it occurred after Abram and they had been in

Canaan for 10 years. And so if you'll remember, if

you go back to Genesis chapter #12 Abram was originally

promised this great nation which.

Factors in both land and people. Before he ever.

Left for Canaan. When he was still in urge how

these that. Came to him so.

We we have at least that period of time and now these 10 years.

Of. Being in the land of.

Canaan and still. Without certain aspects of the

promise, it had been repeated to them over and over, right?

The the covenant guaranteed their inheritance because Abram

even asked the question. How shall I know that this Shall

I this? Shall be my inheritance and then

he does this whole covenant thing concerning that for his

land. And if he was going to have land

and if it was going to quote. UN quote be an inheritance, it

was going to mean there need to be an offspring for to.

To be inherited. So we have all this right here.

And So what? What I believe sometimes we can

do. And I've done and I'm guilty and

Pastor McGee and I've done this. You know, we sit around in the

chair and state our name and become part of this anonymous

club. You know of of of having done

this. But it's easy to criticize Abram

and it's easy to criticize Sarai for what seems to be a very

faithless compromise on their part with what what unfolds and

entails here. In Genesis chapter #16.

But whenever you really take everything that happened, you

view it in the context. Of what happened?

We also see through this that their actions, to a certain

degree picture that there was a intense longing in them for

wanting the. Promise to come to pass.

We always focus on that. They shouldn't have done that.

Bless God, yes, but there's also another aspect.

The things that they did do was just showing that they wanted

it, that they desired it. And I, I can connect with that.

I'm a part of this fabric of of humanity.

I can connect with that as when God speaks certain.

Things I want to see that when he's.

Given all the promises like he's given per SE to this church, I

get weary in waiting because I desire that.

I'm long for that. I want that.

I mean, it's been 10 years, right?

Abraham and Sarah. Could be it's been 10.

Years since we've been in Canaan.

Sarah or Sarah I or Sarah, however you want to call her.

Watch it. She's been barren this whole

time, but when we take all of that that it's been 10 years,

she's bearing this whole time and we and we get just a little

bit of understanding the culture there this day, we begin to

understand that this could also just be a picture of their

longing for what God. Was going to give to them.

Again, if you will, remember the origin of Abram's call back in

Genesis 12. It was this, he said.

Get out of thy country from thy kindred right from your father's

house and I will make of the a great nation was like

conditional. In other words, I'll make of you

a great nation if you get out bloom, bloom, bloom, bloom.

The Bible says apron departed indication that he desired.

I'll meet the condition because I desire the outcome.

He desired it and historically, I know today this is a little

peculiar to us, but historically it would have not been uncommon

for a husband to release his wife if over 10 years.

And that's just a being in Canaan.

It's longer than that since their marriage.

If Sarah hadn't born a child, any child.

Particularly a son unto Abram. In their culture, if a woman

wasn't giving birth to children, particularly a man child, many

times she was released from her burden of being that man's wife.

The Abram, he's not doing that. It's been this.

Length of time. And he's still faithful to

Sarah. Still faithful.

What's that indicate to me, Sister Sheila?

He desires it. He desires.

The promise to happen. And also then culturally and

this, this is the case with other Near Eastern texts that

that reflect on this time period.

It wasn't unusual for a wife to offer her maid to her husband.

I know we ain't doing that today.

Well, we ain't all doing. That all right, she would give

that maid to her husband, especially if she wasn't having

children. For one, that they might have a

child, or even if they already had.

Children for increasing. The number of children right?

We. We.

See that happen with Jacob? He takes the two handmaids right

of Leah and his wife. Other ones escaped my name there

for a moment, Rachel. And so they did that.

So Hagar was given to Abram according to scripture, as a

wife a a legal. Surrogate, if you will, or as

some translations. Put it given to her him as a

concubine and according to the era of that time, this is what

we know sons of concubines or that type of relationship did

not inherit unless the father adopted them as legal sons.

So I'm saying perhaps they have this in mind as they're going

forward with their activity, right?

Here all. Right, we often read this story

and we we begin to judge it as a compromise and I get to

understand the end result. Overall arching thing is that it

was incorrect and it was. But when you factor in all the

cultural expectations, the emotional weight of what they

had up on them, of the infertility, the pressure of a

unfulfilled promise. It reached to me a little bit

more like this was 2 human beings that were desperate for

the promise of God. Not necessarily just outright

rebellious, but desperate. Does God ever promised something

to you? Because this is really kind of

the way it. Happens.

And you want to get your hand involved just to see it through,

'cause you desired it so much and you wanted it to be true.

And it came from God. You know it's true, but you want

it to be true quicker then later so that their their their

attempted bring all this to pass by their human wisdom.

Right. By by by all the cultural

standards, trying to figure out the dynamics, you know, so that

I've always said, you know, God, we could get this stuff.

You just. Get over a little bit and let me

help. You out, you know, we, we, we

just do this. And they're not really trying to

avoid the promise. They're trying to facilitate the

promise before the covenant that God made with Abram.

Genesis 15 and 4. Abram learned a little further

details concerning the promise that whenever he said Eleazar in

your own house, it's not going to be the one to inherit it, he

said out of thine own bow shall. Thine a or be.

It's going to come from your bowels, it's going to be of your

seed and so whenever they start. Thinking if they were to.

Start to think sister Sheila, well if I give my mate Hagar, if

I give her and to Abram, that still will be a seed from.

His. Bowels, huh?

Maybe Sherry. I wasn't trying to replace God's

plan, just trying to help. It alone just a.

Little bit, you know, just have a little shortcut.

I mean, would you like a shortcut to some of the promises

in your life? But her short cut incorporated

using the right father but just the wrong mother.

They wanted this They. Wanted this and so the.

Danger in these. Things and what happens is this,

and we're not just talking about, oh, disobedience.

Sometimes what it is is this. Misguided obedience.

Misguided obedience. In the Old Testament scripture,

we read of a story. Where Saul?

Offered a burnt offering. I, I I made.

Mention this not to me weeks ago it seems like the Saul made an.

Offer to burnt offering. Unto the Lord, whenever Samuel

the the prophet, the the priest, if you will, was.

Delayed in arriving to do it on a particular day, he said.

He said I'll be there on the 7th day.

I believe it was. I'll be there on that day and

I'll do it. It became that day.

The people are getting nervous and that made Saul nervous.

You know, it's like it's not happening yet, right?

That's when we want to get. Involved.

When we feel like it should have already happened, but it's not

happened yet. And it's like, well, what can we

do? And so Saul, he's really wanting

to honor God. He's one to make the sacrifice

before they go off, you know, into war.

But he disobeyed the clear structure.

Only the prophet, only the priest could offer the

sacrifice. And so he thought.

He thought that worship would justify the method.

But what did God tell? Him, he said, obedience better

than sacrifice. Aaron's sons, nay dab in the by

who the Bible records, they offered strange or if you will

unauthorized fire before the Lord, and the Bible says those

two boys were consumed. They engaged offering fire.

Amen. Is this form of worship?

They offered worship, but not according to the divine pattern

and structure. That God had had laid.

Out and so whenever they did that and it was outside of God's

design. It became dangerous.

Amen. For sure, whenever worship's

supposed to be spiritual and it's outside of God's, it

becomes dangerous. And so sometimes we, we are

doing the right thing, facilitating the promise, but

we're out of alignment with God's specific instructions

about timing, design, spirit. In other words, if we got to be

careful not to take matters into our own hands concerning the

promise he's given us, huh. A good desires that we have for

the promise still got to submit to God's design.

I want it to happen, but it's got to happen God's way and

according to God's timing. Oh, that.

Kills me. So they had the right, the right

father. They had the wrong mother.

Right, they're playing. They got him.

Abram was going to be the man. It's going to be according.

To his bowels even his heir would come.

But they got the wrong mother. But here's the awesome thing

about Scripture, especially historically.

Faith comes from the mother. Faith comes from the Mother.

You were not a Hebrew. Unless your mother was a Hebrew

Hagar verse, one tells us, was. An Egyptian lineage, tribal

identity, all those. Things are typically traced.

Through the father for inherits reasons land rights tribal.

Affiliation. All that was through the Father.

But when you talked about spiritual identity or covenant

status, things got a little bit more complex.

Many times both parents. It was a necessitated.

It was connected to both. When I say that fate comes from

the mother, or the influence of that least comes from the

mother. We have a few examples.

Even the book of Ezra, chapters 9 through 10 we read of it.

Ezra 9 · chapter mention

Also in Nehemiah. Nehemiah concentrates on this

fact. That there were concerned.

He'd come back. To Jerusalem after he left.

For a point in time. And he noticed that there were

some of. The Jewish people that were

marrying foreign. Women.

And he called them out on this aspect of of them having done.

This and this. Is what the Bible?

Says that he. Came to find his findings.

Were when he got there and they had done this.

He says. In there and this.

Is in verse. 24 of Nehemiah 13. He says, and their children

spake half in the speech. Of Ashdod and could not speak

the Jews language he was. Point to the fact of a mother's

influence in the life of a child, all right, that it messed

with her identity and even their covenant faithfulness, because

according into what type of mother that you had.

He said if you. Choose a mother that is not a

Hebrew. For these children, it'll have

influence on the spiritual context of their life and the

covenant context of their life. Amen.

Not only that, Rabbinical law. Rabbinical law codifies what is

known as the matrilineal identity, and it states this.

If a Jewish or Hebrew woman was a child has a child with a

gentile man, the child is Jewish.

If a Jewish man has a child with a gentile woman, the child is

not. Jewish faith is connected to the

woman. So Ishmael, that child that's

born of the union of Haggar and Abram, Ishmael cannot be the

promised seed because he had the wrong mother.

Let me say like this. It doesn't.

And I say. This like gingerly.

Here it doesn't. Matter who Your father.

Is. If you don't have the right

mother. Let's just.

Transfer just a little bit. In a spiritual sense, many claim

God as their father. There are generations and eons

of people that claim God is their father, but you also have

to have the right mother, the church.

New Testament Scripture speaks of Jerusalem, even the New

Jerusalem, even that thing, that entity that's known as the

church, as being the motherly figure.

It's a lot of people that's claiming God as their father,

but they don't have the church as their mother.

And if you don't have the church as your mother, you don't have a

good transfer of faith. You have covenantal, you have

covenantal issues. So we could really plunge in

deep right here. There's a lot of teachings in

the ideologies of Scripture that get mixed and muddled when you

just claim and God is your father, but you don't have the

right mother. Is it important?

It is. It is important.

You need the right mother. Galatians 4 verses 22 and 23.

Galatians 4:22

The Apostle Paul is writing about this whole.

Scenario of Sarah and Hagar. Speaking of it as a allegory and

such, and the Bible says in verse 22 of Galatians 4.

For it is written that Abram had two sons.

Yes, we know that to be Ishmael and Isaac as they'll come about

the one by a bond maid meaning Hagar, and the other by a free

woman meaning Sarah. But he who was of the bond woman

was born after the flesh, But he of the free woman was by the

promise. It matters who your Mama.

Is. Amen.

He who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh.

There's another aspect to this statement as well.

Abram was not circumcised when he had relations with Hagar.

He was. Circumcised.

When he had relations with Sarah, when Ishmael was

conceived, that that thing that indicated his flesh had not yet

been cut off. But before he conceived Isaac,

circumcision had happened. Circumcision, which we'll get to

in the next chapter, which was a sign of being God's covenant

people. What you said, I say this, no

spiritual children can be had until you do away with the

flesh. We'll perhaps look at that more

in the next chapter, but it takes the cutting off the

severing away, if you will, of these sort of things.

And so when we look at this, there's, there's a few, there's

a few indices here in Scripture that that could have tipped

Abram and Sarai off perhaps at, you know, the timing.

Isn't right, timing isn't right, and one of those is.

The blessing that was up on Adam and Eve.

You remember this all the way back to.

Genesis 1 was for multiplication reproduction.

Same thing was spoken. After the flood with Noah.

And his family for multiplication, for

reproduction. Abram now is getting the words

of great nation descendants. So on and so forth and so.

Sarah must surmise, as she did in verse #2 she.

Says then. The Lord hath restrained me.

From. Bearing.

And if God did, then we must. Subject ourselves to His plan.

If you get the mindset, if God is all for the blessing of

reproduction and multiplication and yet I'm not having a child,

then he must be restraining me. I mean, if God is for and he's

not allowing it, then he must be the one that has the hand on the

dial, so to speak. He must be the one that is

restraining me. And if he is, then I got to

subject myself to the plan of God that it's not never, it's

just not now. Oh, the hardest thing to deal

with. A promise is a maybe.

It's not never, just not now five years go by, it's not.

Now 10 years go by, it's not. Now 15 years go by, it's not.

And you remember some of the things that apron that was

really promised to him. Were not things relieved for his

enjoyment? As much as it was his

descendants, I'm not trying to. I'm not trying to cause someone

to be in in despair right now over the promise God-given.

You know this ain't for me. Yeah, but your descendants will

never be. Or enjoy if you're not a link to

it. Amen.

And so that should have tipped them off a little bit, because

when we talk about faith, faith is more than just believing in

the promise, trusting. The process.

Trusting. The process.

That he's going to bring. It to pass when it needs to be

brought to pass because what we understand sometimes we

separate, but what we understand we should understand is that

both the. Promise and the process.

Are God. Ordained.

Sometimes we only think the promises.

Ordained. And somebody's really messing.

With this process, thank God, that might just all be.

God. It's hard and it's hard.

It's hard to wrestle with that concept or idea.

But yes, it could just all be God later in Genesis. 21 and. 12

God said through Isaac that Abram's seed would be called,

states it plainly. God gets more detailed with his

promise to Abraham. As they go along the process.

In the beginning it's real vague, but he starts filling in

some of the blanks of details as Abram.

Goes through the process. He says plainly, through Isaac

shall thy seed be called. And then later he would ask

Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.

But the writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 11 that Abram

believed that God would even raise up Isaac from the dead if

necessary. How in the world do you believe

something like that? How in the world do you even

think like something like that? Abram, Because Abram believed

now at that point in time, later he believed in the promise of,

of descendants, but he also got to a place where he trusted the

process. We had our time accepting the

process early on and they make some choices and decisions, but

they're finally got a place in this journey.

I believe the promise, but I also trust the process.

So if you're going to take my boy on the altar, you'll raise

him up because I know that the, it, it's going to happen.

The promise is sure, the process, it may look jagged,

unknown, uncertain, but I trust it because the same person that

has his hand on the process has his hand on the originality of

the promise. So we got to navigate, navigate.

Amen. So.

Who else we have with Joseph? There's a good one, right?

Dreams of rulership. Dreams of.

Prominence even among his. Family.

In his young mind, these dreams betrayal, slavery.

False accusation, prison, all of those things brought the dream

to pass. And amid all that, the Bible

constantly lets us know that Joseph.

Remains faithful. Why?

He believed in the dream, and he trusted the process.

David anointed to be the next king when he's still just a

youth, yet he spends years after that moment in time.

He's running from Saul, he's living in caves, he's facing

betrayal. And even when David had sister

Melinda the opportunity to kill Saul, take him out.

Shortcut, shortcut. I know what God already wants.

He wants me to be the next king. What a better shortcut than

eliminating the former king straight to the throne room,

honey. Shortcut that when he had

opportunity to do it, he didn't. He refused the shortcut.

He refused to shortcut the process because God's timing

mattered just as much as the promise.

Secondly. This whole thing should have.

Sounded a little strangely familiar to Abram and Sarai.

This should have sounded familiar to the foundational.

Oops, in the garden. Let's.

Let me reread Genesis 16 and I'm going to skip around a little

bit, but verses 2 and 3. Are we doing?

Oh, I'm still doing OK. I'm not lying yet.

Genesis 16, verses 22. 3 And I'm skipping around a little bit in

this, these verses and listen to these, just close your eyes for

a moment and just listen to these, will you?

And Sarai said, I pray thee, go in unto my maid.

It may be that I may obtain children by her and Abram.

Hearken to the. Voice of Sarai and.

Sarai, Abram's wife, took. Hagar her maid and gave her to

her husband Abram to be his wife.

Now watch this Genesis 3/6 And when the woman saw that the tree

was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and

the tree to be desired to make one wine, she took of the fruit

thereof, did eat, and gave also unto her husband, and he did

eat. There's a lot of similarity

happened right there. Abram listened and heeded.

To what Sarai said. Adam listened and heeded to

what? Eve said.

And there's a dangerous pattern to be followed here.

Adam partook of the fruit. It was a mistake.

Abram I don't. Want to use the word partake

but. Abram lay with Hagar.

And it. Was not what God?

Had in mind concerning the promised seed?

Adam hearken to the voice of his wife.

Abram hearken to the voice of his wife.

And there were consequences in both both men.

And you say, well, brother McGee, are you are you endorsed

him, Brother McGee. That means a male in the

leadership of my family that I don't have to listen to my wife.

No, that's not what I'm telling you.

I'm telling you. They put too much stock.

In human. Counsel over godly counsel, all

right. So, men, don't be going home and

putting that scripture on your refrigerator.

There you go. He's a hen Peck.

I just so happen to like the hen that doing the Peck and they say

well never mind. Here's what I'm look at.

He says you have any tree in the garden.

Except that in the midst of knowledge of good.

And evil. We see later in the scripture.

Of Genesis 322. That God even omits.

Had they done that, he said they'd be like he said me.

God possessed the knowledge of good.

And Evil Bob doesn't even say that that knowledge.

Was evil just the knowledge? Of good and evil, but acquiring

it. Through disobedience would have

been incorrect. Follow me here in Hebrews.

Chapter #5 and verse 14 the Bible states this, these words

in this verse, but strong meat belongeth to them that are full

age right? Saying you're not going to give,

you know, a stake to a 2 month old.

It's those of maturity, even those who by reason of use, have

their. Senses exercised to deserve

them, both good and evil. This scripture follow me this.

Scripture shows us that maturity or maturity.

Is. Tied to discerning good and

evil. This is just a Could it be with

Pastor McGee? Hey, that rhymes.

Could it be that God intended for Adam and Eve to grow in such

maturity? With him, by walking with him

and learning his ways that. The knowledge of good and.

Evil was to be learned gradually by them from him.

Rather than. Season it in a moment from the

tree. What does that boil down to?

Then process. Process because there's some

things at certain stages of your journey you're not mature enough

to handle. That's.

So true. Even promises that it takes a

little bit more maturity and walking with God for you to be

able. To really process and hold on to

it correctly. Process matters as much as the

knowledge. So we serve, undoubtedly, yes,

we serve a God that makes. Promises, but God also ordains

process. And whether it's stated or, it's

like the fine print at the bottom of the document every.

Process. Every promise comes with some

sort of process. But too often we're like the

Abram and we're like the Sarai, right?

We believe in the promise, but we're trying to help him.

Manufacture the outcome. I say I trust God.

I trust you God. I trust you, God.

And then we start to operate on our own timeline.

We cling to His word, I cling to His word, but sometimes we act

like his methods need our management.

No, but I'm not talking to anybody in this church tonight.

Ain't nobody. Here I'm talking about what it

reminds me of, what this whole story reminds me of.

Just three verses of this. Story.

What it reminds me of is this is that I can have the right desire

but the wrong delivery, right father, but Hagar was the wrong

mother of the promise. I can.

I want to facilitate but sometimes me want to facilitate.

Is just frustrating the total outcome.

So. Did they have it?

They desired it, they wanted it, yes, I agree with that 100%.

It may not just been blatant rebellion.

They wanted it. It was just misguided obedience.

And whether it's unauthorized fire, whether it's building

calves in the wilderness, you know.

To the Lord, the Bible even says.

Whatever it is. We got to you there.

There's ability. Where you can worship.

God. In, in, in, in the.

Wrong way. Does that make sense?

Who was it? Jeroboam.

He made 2 gold, he made 2. Golden.

Calves and Dan One and Beersheba.

The Bible says he. Did that for the convenience of

the children. Of Israel so they wouldn't have

to travel all the way to. Jerusalem and have to travel.

All the way to Jerusalem worship, yes, but number one,

wrong way, wrong place. Right.

And so. I am absolutely.

I'm absolutely. Convinced that there are there

are sincere. People all in the world.

They're sincere. People all over the world.

Right. Their hearts are sincere.

But no matter how much. Sincerity there is our shortcuts

are still not sanctified. So fate doesn't just merely wait

on the on the promise. It also walks in according to

the promise. If you're staying with me

tonight, see I'm doing good. I held, I kept my.

Promise. And that was the.

Process. God, don't you know God?

Understood that whenever he promised Abram what he promised,

he knew the womb was buried. He knew that.

He knew that. So he's not really after a human

solution, He's just after their trust.

So as we close tonight, I just got a few little, little bullet.

Points here as we close to help us along.

The way as we're navigating. This, this promise and this.

Process everybody say stop, stop.

Trying to manufacture the promise through fleshly means.

God doesn't need your help. He needs your faith.

The flesh will always. Produce a Ishmael only faith can

bring forth in. Isaac so stop trying to do it #2

submit your desire to God's design, huh?

We even got to. Take our good intentions, we got

to filter it through the divine. Instruction of the Lord, huh?

Because what you may want it may be absolutely right, but.

How and when you pursue it, that's still got to be under his

submission. How that takes place you got to

discern to listen to the voice of God among all the voices that

are in the world Eve right say right and all the how good they

sound instruction wise, we got to have an ear to the voice of

the Lord above all others and this is the last big one.

It's the one that gets me at my gizzard.

We got to learn to wait well. I'm going home now.

We got to learn. To wait, well, keep walking.

Keep worshiping Abraham. Keep, keep, keep.

Exploring the areas of the. Promise keep obeying because.

Whenever you have a promise and it's without God's process, you

still are going to have a flesh born outcome.

They go together. They go together.

Sometimes don't look like they fit.

It's like finding that piece, I said.

I don't think that puzzle piece really fits their.

Site and you start. Pushing on it, you know what it

does? It's just like an optical

illusion. It just didn't think it, really.

Fit, but it does. Your process fits your promise.

Your process. It's your promise.

Hallelujah. Let's go to the Lord in.

Prayer right now I saved you all.

Amen. God, I need you tonight.

God, I'm in this. Life and there has.

Been spoken to us collectively. And to many of us individually.

God promises into our life God. They've come by the word of God.

They've come, Lord, through a prophet.

Or. Or someone Lord speaking

something in our. Ear that identified with our.

Soul and spirit about something. Perhaps in the future.

Lord a promise God. But sometimes we get weary.

In the waiting. God, we desire it.

We. Want it?

But there's the. Pressure of an unfulfilled.

Promise in our life that. That drives us to seek out.

Answers and drives us to. Seek out ways for the

materializing of that which has. And spoken.

I pray, O God, help us, O Lord, to subject ourselves to your

timing. Help us, O God, to subject

ourselves to your plan and your process.

They're not working against each other.

They're working in tandem. They're working with one

another. Help me, O Lord, to mature and

grow and Lord, find the stage pre adventure in the future that

I would be at a eager place God and a place the Lord in

maturity, God, where I can accept.

Got something that maybe you said 10 years ago, 15 years ago,

20 years ago. Help me, O Lord, to derive Lord

that maturity God from you. Help me God not to be idle.

Help me Lord still to go forward and pursue and and walk the path

that you've shine light upon Lord and and scratch off Lord

the details Lord that you share along the jury that become more

detailed as I go along the way. But God help me to navigate.

Help me Lord not to act prematurely or just be searching

for a shortcut. God is something that has an

outcome that is not really Lord Jesus, what you prescribed for

me. Help me, O Lord, today, God, to

give you glory, praise and have faith and trust, Lord Jesus, the

path and the trajectory, Lord, of every promise that's spoken

in my life, in the life of this assembly and will give you all

the glory and the honor for it in the name of Jesus Christ that

I pray Hallelujah and Amen. The church say Amen.

Amen. God bless you.

That was just three verses, folks, so we couldn't.

Have done it, God bless you. Amen.

OK, tomorrow night prayer. Don't forget that tomorrow

night. Prayer if you can help, Mike.

Penrod with cutting up trees. That are on his property, talk

to him. About it, all right, About

coordinating with him and also desserts for firemen on Sunday.

You got questions or you want to let them know that you're going

to be bringing something that might even be a nice courtesy so

that they know what's coming. Talk to Sister Angie and Sister

Sheila about that Throw away dishes.

OK. All right.

Mother's Day.