good morning my friends i'm pastor
stephen brooks welcome today
to our sunday morning online internet
around the world
church service i'm so happy that you're
here
i believe that god's word is able to
build you up strong in faith
so that you can do what he's called you
to do and
even more importantly you can be the
person
that he has called you to be praise the
lord
let's take our bibles and go to the book
of third john
we're going to receive the tithes and
offerings and
this is not the gospel of john but we
have
the small epistles first second and
third john
let's go to third john and look at
something that john the apostle wrote
when he was a very old man now this is
the same
john that leaned his head on the lord's
chest
and asked the lord who his betrayer was
going to be and the lord
of course identified judas but now
john has lived his life out
as the apostle of love and he is now a
very
old man and he has some wonderful
words of wisdom to share third john
verse 1 the elder now that would be john
he's he's an old man now
to the beloved guests whom i love in
truth
beloved i pray or that word pray in the
greek means a strong desire
i pray i greatly desire that you may
prosper in all things and be in health
just as your soul prospers if you're a
new believer
and you now belong to christ and you're
living for the lord
or perhaps if you've been in the church
for any length of time
it doesn't take long to realize that
there are a lot
of different viewpoints on the subject
of biblical finances and
the varying thoughts within the church
range pretty much the whole gamut of the
spectrum from one end where
you have those that basically would say
that
god doesn't really want you to have
money that money's bad and it'll destroy
you so
don't have any money and so you have
people that
suffer financially because of a mindset
like that
and then you have perhaps an extreme on
the other end
where there can be an over emphasis on
the subject of finances
that's not taught in a balanced way and
thus
you can have people that are getting
into areas
of their they're touching the boundaries
of covetousness
and they're touching an area of greed
and
they're beginning to lose the focus
praise the lord
so we have to get the right balance and
i believe as normal
the balance is usually somewhere in the
middle of the road so that's what we
want to do we want to avoid extremes on
both sides
and walk the blessing road that god
has for us now again beloved i pray that
you may prosper
the word prosper in the greek basically
means and this
would also be in context with how that
word was used in the days
in which this was written it meant to
have
a successful journey so i pray that you
may prosper
i pray that you may have a successful
journey in
life so even if you were a person
that did not have enlightenment of all
of the scriptures
in the word of god that speak of the
blessing and of having more than enough
and of having your needs met and
walk in the in the abrahamic covenant
which is blessed
to be a blessing that denotes an
overflow so that you have more than
uh you need so that you're able to bless
others because you're in the overflow
even if you didn't know all of those
scriptures
you could least understand that in order
to have a good journey a successful
journey in life
you have to be in a place where you have
ample provision
and without that it makes life extremely
difficult
so we thank god that there that there
are basic core truths of the gospel
that there is the redemption from sin
there is power over sin and that
the salvation that jesus purchased and
made available for us
truly is a full salvation
that encompasses every need we have
even our finances beloved
i pray that you may prosper have a
successful journey
in all things prosper in all things so
it's prosperity
yes in your finances prosperity in your
marriage prosperity in your
relationships
it's prosperity in every area of your
life and
be in health so right here in one verse
we have the expressed will of god
revealed through his word telling us
that god wants us to prosper
and that god wants us to be in health
praise the lord so
my friends it's easy to go throughout
the scriptures old testament
and new testament and you can find god's
will
for your life expressed through his word
and here we see
along with the plethora of other
scriptures that god wants you to be
blessed
financially want you to prosper and also
he wants you to have health in your
bodies
now there are some believers who
no matter how many scriptures you show
them
they are going to cling to their
sickness and they're going to proclaim
i've met some of them they will proclaim
god put this on me to punish me and
teach me a lesson
and uh this comes from a deformed
soul this is wrong thinking that has
been warped or skewed
by a bad life experience and you never
please listen to me carefully you never
want to build
doctrine on personal life experience
you build doctrine on what the word says
not through maybe some bad traumatic
event that you went through and you
tried to
conform god's word to that that's that's
getting off into error so i have met
christians who say god put this sickness
this disease on me
to teach me a lesson then at the very
same time they're proclaiming that
they're taking medicine and going to the
doctors to try to get believement from
the pain and suffering
so it's contradictory in their behavior
if you really believe that god put that
on you
then why are you trying to get it off of
you and so
there are in a similar way those in the
church that will say
money's not important despite what
solomon said that money answers all
things
now we know it doesn't get over into the
area of spiritual needs and things like
that
but money is a great blessing it can
certainly fix
a toothache hallelujah can certainly
buy you some glasses if you need them if
your eyesight is weak
it can help in so many ways and you can
also be a blessing to others
but there are those who will fight you
tooth and nail
and say that god wants us to be poor god
doesn't want us to have anything extra
we're just supposed to go through life
that way we'll be humble
and we will be reliant upon the lord and
on and on it goes and i heard that for
years
uh you know when i was younger uh that
type of thinking that type of teaching
but my friends what if we just go back
to the word and let the word
decide what we believe how about this
how about we believe this god desires
that we prosper
in all things and be in health
just as our soul prospers and there is a
link
to prosperity being successful in life
and
also having health in your body and that
link is
the prosperity of your soul i'm i'm
telling you that if you walk in
bitterness and unforgiveness
that will affect the health in your body
that will affect the other areas of
prosperity the
the other compartments of your life and
it's very easy for sickness and disease
to come in when you're all bitter and
angry and
unforgiving uh maybe justifiably in the
sense where you are
upset about something but jesus said to
forgive
just as god forgive us of all of our
sins we have to be willing to forgive
others
who have done us wrong now it doesn't
mean you could maybe have relationships
with those people maybe they are
people that are they've got so many
problems you you have to forgive them
and go on you can't
you can't you can't have some type of
working relationship with them
but we shouldn't let any unforgiveness
be in our hearts we need to let our
souls
prosper and that primarily is denoting
that we need to love god
with all of our heart we need to have
that first and foremost in our lives
and when the lord sees that when our
soul is prospering
well then it's very easy to tie in with
the other blessings
the prosperity in our lives the health
in our bodies praise the lord but let's
let's embrace the truth of god's word
no father would ever stand up in church
and give a testimony
and say i would just like to tell about
the goodness of god
and i want to testify how i'm so happy
that my two children are walking around
homeless and destitute
they have no food or clothing i want to
testify of god's faithfulness
well you would think that person had
lost his mind and to make a testimony
like that
perhaps he would have but the heavenly
father
takes no joy in your suffering your lack
your insufficiency
your heavenly father takes no joy in
some form of sickness or disease
that would attack your body jesus came
to redeem us
from the full curse of the law
the awful effects that sin released upon
the human race
jesus came to redeem us from all of that
praise god so there's full salvation in
him and that
includes of course not only the
forgiveness of sins but also
that we may prosper in all things and
have health in
our bodies praise god so my friends we
just connect with the word
and we allow that to form our theology
our doctrine and our expectations
and our faith the way we think it's all
governed
by the word of god now we're going to
receive the tithes and offerings into
the storehouse of god
because we know that one of the
commandments of god
is to honor him with the tithe we know
that we're also instructed to
give because because
we connect with god's principles we're
not doing this because god needs it
god has no need god lives in heaven
where there's no sin
there's no darkness and the streets are
made of solid gold
mansions are made out of diamonds and
pearls and other exquisite things
that are phenomenal so these things are
for our benefit
so that the blessings of god the
principles of god
are working in our lives praise the lord
at this time let's honor the lord and
bring in the tithes and offerings into
the storehouse of god if you would like
to mail them in
please send them to stephen brooks
international
po box 717 moravian falls
north carolina the zip code here is
28654
now if you prefer to go online and bring
your
tithes and offerings in through our
website portal you can do so at
stevenbrooks.org there's a link on the
home page that says
give there's a red heart on it and you
can click on that
and you can bring the tithes and
offerings in from anywhere literally in
the world anytime day or night
and it's a real blessing praise god we
also have a special project that we're
focused on right now
which is the resurfacing of our parking
lot we need some new asphalt to be laid
down
and it's time to uh tackle that project
we've been on that now for
a little bit and we're endeavoring to
bring in just a little over forty
thousand dollars so we can knock out the
whole job
at once thank you for sewing seed into
that project
if you would like to give into that
specific area there on the website
there's a header called projects you can
click on that
and you'll see the project for the
parking lot
resurfacing thank you also thank you so
much for giving in to that
special project praise the lord now
heavenly father i ask that you would
bless your people
with prosperity i ask that you would
bless them
with health in their bodies and
prosperity touching every area
of their lives father yes financially
because that's important
but father prosperity in their
relationships
and just let everything flourish
in the lives of your people father god
and i thank you father for their souls
prospering i thank you that they love
you first and foremost
and i thank you that you're doing
beautiful things in their life
and you're making them a fragrance of
christ that's so
attractive to those around them now
father we give you praise we thank
you for what you're doing in jesus name
amen
and amen you're blessed praise god thank
you for your faithful giving
now let's take our bibles today and go
to the book of galatians
and well actually let's jump back to
proverbs real quick let me just cover a
few things
that will help us because today
i want to talk about maybe something
that could be called a
missing ingredient in god's blessing
plan
for your life and so we have been
covering over the last few wednesdays
and the few sundays
things that god puts a priority upon
as necessities for walking
uprightly before him and we have talked
about working and we have talked about
practical thinking we have talked about
giving we have talked about what do you
do after you pray and fast and
you're doing all that you can to really
seek the lord
what do you do to continue to walk
things out praise god
well for example in proverbs chapter 14
we come to verse 23 and let's pray
before we jump into the message
father we thank you that your word is
working in our lives we think
that we walk by faith not by sight
but as we walk by faith it brings forth
things that we can see that are evidence
that your word is powerful and that you
are on the throne
governing governing over all things
now father we thank you that as we jump
into your word
we ask for the quickening power of your
holy spirit
to let the word be fresh bread to us
today we thank you we receive it as such
in jesus name we pray
we all agree and say amen now we have
proverbs 14
verse 23 in all labor there is prophet
but idol chatter leads only to poverty
now it is good to talk and it is good to
speak
faith-filled confessions over the things
you're doing over your dreams over the
things you desire to accomplish
but we must not be in the idol chatter
in other words just talking about things
but we're never really working on it
or we're not taking the steps that are
necessary in order for it to actually
happen
so my friends we have discussed the
value and the dignity of work
and we need to work and we need to apply
ourselves
so that we accomplish just as much as we
can do
but also along with work we have looked
at
the words of jesus in the gospel of luke
chapter 14
verse 28 and jesus said for which of you
intending to build a tower
in other words do you want to accomplish
something there's something you want to
do and
maybe it could be a literal tower uh
maybe you want to build your own
prayer tower so you can go up high and
pray
but whatever it is that you want to do
the lord gives wise counsel he says
for which of you intending to build a
tower does not sit
down first and count the cost in other
words the counting of the cost
is you're doing analytical thinking
you're processing
thoughts and you're you're going over
the practical steps
that are going to be needed in order to
get that
tower built so you don't just launch off
into a project
say let's do this this is exciting and
then you get into it and you realize oh
we're in over our heads we didn't even
we didn't even know about these other
variables now this is just too much and
you pull out
and so you don't want to do that because
in verse 30 the lord said
this man began to build and was not able
to finish
why he never sat down and he thought
so while we want to work and work hard
we want to work in a very wise way
we want to have our work planned out and
our steps
thought out there was a shoe company uh
decades back and they took two of their
salesmen and sent
them uh to this one nation that in many
ways it was undeveloped in the sense
where it did not have
some of the things that other countries
had already
progressed into so they this company was
a shoe company so they sent their two
best shoe salesmen over to this country
one man one salesman got there first and
he evaluated the situation very quickly
and he sent a telegram back
to the headquarters and said we're not
going to make any money here
i recommend that we not invest any
efforts in this particular country
because he said nobody here wears any
shoes
so he packed up and left came back home
just a few days after that the other man
arrived in the country went to the same
city
and he got there he saw the same thing
and he sat down and he thought about
what he was seeing
he thought about the cultural norms the
mindset of the people
but he kept looking at the situation and
then he sends a telegram back after
having sat down
and thought his telegram says send me
every pair of shoes you have he said i'm
sitting on a gold mine here
nobody has shoes they all need
a pair so if you're in business you have
to
not only work and work hard but you have
to work smart you have to sit down and
think
the product i have is it actually
needed where i'm trying to market it at
it
if it's not where is it needed at and so
you have to
you have to work all of those things out
sit down strategize
and plan praise the lord we're talking
about what you do after you fast
what you do after you have prayed now we
also know that according to
the book of genesis chapter 8 verse 22
we need to engage
in covenant practices verse 22 while the
earth remains and of course
it's still here and i have a strong
feeling tomorrow
it'll still be here and the truth is it
will always be here
even though one day it will be cleansed
thoroughly as by
fire praise the lord but it's going to
be around
while the earth remains seedtime and
harvest cold and heat winter and summer
and day and night
shall not cease so these are not only
spiritual laws
these are actually covenants that god
has established
and you may think that god can only cut
a covenant with the person
but he actually tells us in his word
particularly in the book of jeremiah
that he actually made covenant with day
and night so it's amazing and yes he
made a covenant with abraham he made a
covenant with israel
he made a covenant with david there's
different types of covenants
but we engage god on a covenant platform
and one of those covenants is
seedtime harvest and so if you want
harvest you don't get harvest by praying
you don't get harvest by fasting any
farmer knows that you can sit on the
porch
kneel down and pray and pray and pray
but until you get seed in the ground
out in that field until you get seed out
in that field there's not going to be a
harvest out in that field
praise the lord well not pastor stephen
i don't believe that
well then go go farm for about a year
and then come back let's have that
conversation again try it with just
prayer and fasting alone just pray over
a field don't sow anything into it
just let it sit there don't do anything
to it don't put any seed to it don't do
anything just praying fast
do a hundred day fast and pray ten hours
a day
and see how much harvest springs up out
of that field
that nothing has been sowed into it all
you're gonna have is weeds
praise the lord amen we don't need to
try to reinvent the wheel we just need
to work with the principles
that god has laid out that are proven
and effective not over
a few years but over the millennia
praise god so
we work we think with practical
analytical processes
and we give praise the lord
and we keep moving forward my friends
i'm telling you things are going to
change
dramatically in your life as you keep
making
application to these truths but i need
to tell you about
another application that you're going to
have to make
in some ways i i wish i didn't have to
present it to you because
i don't want it to deflate you in any
way and i don't think it will because
first of all it's biblical so it's from
god it's it's good
but there is something about it that's
not very glamorous
but you're going to have to embrace it
as
just as i do because it is very much a
part
of this process of walking with god
walking into the blessing going from
glory to glory and
faith the faith and going from one level
of strength to
to the other and today that's what i'm
going to be talking about and this
this one would be more of what i would
call a missing ingredient
in this blessing package that god has
for you
pastor stephen when will the blessings
begin to really turn my way
when will things change well first of
all let me just again reiterate
as long as you keep practicing these and
making application of
biblical truths i'm telling you things
are going to turn
but in the interim this is something
today that we're going to talk about
that we must also understand please go
with me now to the
book of galatians chapter 6 verse
9 praise the lord and let us not
grow weary while doing good for in due
season
we shall reap if we do not lose
heart it's interesting
in this journey with the lord there
comes a time when you can see the
blessings of god they're starting to
flow into your life
but there can be other times when you're
really trying to
go all out in your service to the lord
your commitment your faithfulness to the
lord
and you may you may think hmm
seems like i'm really pushing on all
levels but lord
um where's the change when is the turn
going to happen but let me just say this
my friends
there can be those times when it seems
like nothing
and nothing and maybe nothing but
boom suddenly suddenly you see
oh my goodness this is working
and i'm here to tell you today that
you're going to have those suddenlies
you're going to have those concrete
realities of the blessing
not only catching up with you but just
overtaking you praise the lord
and all beautiful facets of god's
goodness reflected upon your life but
until that time comes
you must not grow weary in the place
where you're at right now which is the
place of
doing good your due season is going
to come praise the lord but don't be
discouraged
because you're in a place right now
where not
perhaps it quite hasn't clicked
perhaps quick enough or in the way that
you thought it
would but i will say this the moment you
turn your heart towards the lord
and you start putting these principles
to work in your life
there is a shield and it's invisible
it's in the spirit realm
there is a shield that begins to go up
around
your life of protection and you
instantly start walking out of any
situation that would have been something
that would have been a form of captivity
you'll start coming out of it
immediately the moment you turn to the
lord
and you start living for him and start
living very importantly by
his principles whoo praise the lord
somebody once said this this book the
bible
it's not a book of do's and don'ts let
me tell you right now
it is if god says don't do that he meant
it
and he's not trying to ruin somebody's
fun he knows if you engage in that
and you cross boundaries that he set and
you go do something that he said no
it's going to hurt you it's going to
hurt you and he when he said
do this he knew that if you do that
it's going to work right for you so this
is god's book of wisdom
you cannot have wisdom without having
instructions
so this is our instruction manual for
life and we must
know what god instructs us to do my
friends you're going to have to wait
when you look here at galatians 6 and
verse 9
there will be periods in your life of
waiting
and you're waiting and you're working
the word and you're doing what the lord
has told you to do and you may think
lord where's the harvest
i'm here to tell you that your harvest
will come but
this waiting period is something that
god
incorporates into the life of every
believer my friends i believe that we
all understand
that for example quick prosperity
usually ends in a person's ruin why
they don't know how to handle it they
don't know what to do with it and they
get taken advantage of
and they get done wrong and uh you know
they don't even know who their real
friends are
and so they're just giving it out and
they're doing crazy things with it or
they do not have the character
development to
uh perhaps handle that type of money
uh because all money is in a sense is an
amplifier
it amplifies what you already are and
who you are and so if there are
major character flaws or insecurities or
whatever
you know or or bad habits or bad things
then then and you're not you're not able
to handle it then it's going to amplify
all of that but god will always not
sometimes god will always take
his eagle saint that's you he will
always take his eagle saint
through the lane of a strong foundation
first
why so that his blessings in your life
will have long
lasting results whoo praise god
so that you will know the good and you
say i choose the good
hallelujah and i reject the wrong i
don't want it
yes it's tempting but i resist the
temptation and i
live for the lord i say no to the bad
praise
god hallelujah thank you jesus so there
is a waiting period
which is often a developmental time
so that you will step into all that god
has for you each thing
each step along the way at the right
moment praise the lord
now hebrews chapter 6. let's go over
there today
there are some amazing statements by the
way in the book of hebrews concerning
this area of what we would call timing
the releasing of the blessing at the
right time
hebrews chapter 6 verse 13
for when god made a promise to abraham
because he could swear by no one greater
he swore by himself saying surely
blessing i will bless you and
multiplying
i will multiply you now let's pause just
for a moment
we know that the apostle paul said in
the book of galatians chapter 3 verses
13 and 14 that those who are in christ
that's many of you of course that are
believers
those of you that are believers those of
you that are in christ
are this you are
how can i let me say it like this if
you're in christ
the blessing of abraham has now come
upon you
so the the blessing of abraham was for
the jewish people it was a natural
blessing
but that blessing as well as all the
spiritual benefits of the new covenant
they all are yours in christ praise the
lord hallelujah
and so the blessing of abraham is yours
so
those special things that god
empowered abraham to step into and that
would include many good things many good
natural things
they're yours also in christ now that
would be blessing
that would be a addition and that would
even be
multiplying surely blessing i will bless
you and multiply and i will multiply you
god has plans big plans
beautiful plans to bless you in very
unique ways
and even to bring his multiplication
blessing
into your life and you say yes pastor
stephen i'm
i'm ready for it okay let's continue
verse 15 and so after he had
patiently endured he obtained the
promise
and it's going to work the same way for
you too
you will patiently endure patiently
endure and then boom
boom you will get there you will get
there
it's not unusual for young children
riding in the back of the vehicle
to say are we there yet are we there yet
what are we going to get there
but see that's that's something that is
done
out of youthfulness that is something
that's done
uh in an in immature state god are we
there yet
are we there yet but as you mature
as you mature yes you look forward to
arriving
at that faith destination but as you
mature
you also enjoy the journey because the
lord is with you
on the journey praise god now let's go
to the book of habakkuk
chapter 2 praise the lord today
habakkuk chapter 2 we're going to drop
straight down the verse 3 for the vision
is yet for an appointed time
but at the end it will speak and it will
not lie though it tarries
wait for it because it will surely come
it will not tarry now the thing about a
vision
catching a revelation from god maybe you
got it
in prayer maybe you were spending time
with the lord maybe you're in his word
maybe you were praying
and over a period of time you began to
pick something up in your spirit
and it didn't go away it just kept
building and then
maybe one particular day you got boom
really hit
with the revelation where the light was
turned on and you're like oh my goodness
this is something
that god wants me to do this is a plan
that god has for my life but as many of
us
understand that doesn't mean that just
because you caught
the revelation of that vision that you
go out and you begin to implement it the
very next day
nor does it mean that you get to
implement it
the next uh the next month or even
perhaps
the next year whoo praise the lord
hallelujah
it takes time and you have to be willing
to wait
while this vision works its way out
as you grow in the lord as you walk with
the lord as the angels
orchestrate and work behind the scenes
and set things up and do all of the
uh invisible logistics that we're
unaware of
and they're working to do that against
opposition from the enemy the enemy will
always
contend with a true vision from the lord
he will try to
do things to detract detour
uh distract but the the lord is working
still to keep you on the path
to see the vision fulfilled but you're
going to have to wait
you're going to have to understand that
waiting is a part
of this process and no
it's not very glamorous is it it's not
and uh we would like to arrive there
tomorrow but in so many faith projects
and so many true visions there is
that waiting process praise the lord
though it tarries because it will though
it tarries
wait for it because it will surely come
doesn't that make you happy
you're still going to get there yes
we're going to have to do some waiting
yes while we're fasting while we pray
while we work
while we think while we give while we do
all of these things
yes we're still going to have just these
times where god
requires waiting more
development more strengthening
praise god let's continue on that
journey
because we will see it manifested these
great things that god
has revealed to us you know it was
in the year of 2004
when my wife and i both knew with
no doubt that the lord had an
international television
ministry for us and we we knew that
and we had some uh moments before then
uh going back ab about five years before
that where television doors had opened
up and we would
go through those doors and we would be
you know a guest on a show or
a guest on a program and things like
that and you know then i did some
uh more lengthy programs overseas on
different networks and stuff like that
and that would always go to be a guest
here or there or where or wherever
but in 2004 we knew that the lord had
uh laid out a vision for us
where we would have our own program and
it would be our own half hour program
and it would
it would be able to go around the world
but you know what
that was not launched until the year of
2020
and when 2020 came we uh
we just knew it's in the air it's right
the timing is right and everything came
together in there
it takes a lot for all of that to come
together and not only that but
in the waiting period in between
i kept on praying kept on seeking the
lord kept on working
i kept on thinking i i kept on giving
and sowing
even into the vision that the lord had
showed me
and then the time finally came praise
the lord
and in the interim also while doing all
of that
i had done literally i'm not
exaggerating
hundreds of other tv programs before i
ever
got to have my own if somebody said
pastor stephen
i want you to come on my show and be a
guest or i would like for you to come
over here record some shows for me
so that i can put them on my network i
did all of that for years and years and
years
and then in uh 2020 the vision
began to speak whoa it came to pass
hallelujah and now we're building on
that vision praise god
was there a waiting time yes 16 years
16 years so you have to understand this
this is not
uh something isolated that you're
experiencing
this waiting element is something that
goes all the way back to the days of
abraham
praise god and we we need to be able to
embrace it also with a good heart
praise the lord and enjoy the journey
please go with me now to the gospel of
luke
let's look at something jesus said along
this line
and this will be in luke chapter 8.
let's go to verse 15.
but the ones that fell on the good
ground that would be the seed
being sown on the soil but the ones that
fell on the good ground
are those who having heard the word
with a noble and good heart keep it and
bear fruit
with patience wow praise the lord
so the seed being the word of god
the word of god sown into your heart the
word the rhema word
that quickens you and you catch your
revelation ah
god has this plan for my life and you
caught it you
you you didn't uh pick up something that
was misleading or wasn't from the enemy
it was from the lord
you're dialed in look the lord's sheep
hear his voice i have no doubt you can
hear from the lord
for yourself i have no doubt about that
the lord said you could and i've seen it
proven
trust me in the church over the years
god's people can hear from him
and so this thing that you've picked up
on yes uh
you're getting that from the lord and it
has been sown
into your heart because your heart is
good soil
and it's growing and it's developing
but it bears fruit with patience
and patience involves
waiting praise the lord so we we embrace
yes the element of faith we know that's
always going to be an equation
in working with the promises and the
blessings of the lord
but my friends you're going to have to
also work in this waiting element
this element of patience praise god
thank you jesus now romans romans
chapter 4
speaking of our spiritual father of the
faith
this would be abraham let's go to verse
20 romans chapter 4 verse 20.
it says he did not waver at the promise
of god
through unbelief what was that promise
well god had made
various promises to him but it's
contingent
upon him having a son so yes he's he's
endeavoring to do all he can to be
obedient
but he knows in order for these things
that god has spoken to come to pass
it it means he's going to have to have a
child
and he understands that so he did not
waver at the promise of god through
unbelief
but was strengthened in faith giving
glory
to god praise the lord
my friends when you're facing negative
circumstances
that are very real and you see the
natural
impossibilities you have to be like
abraham
you just keep on going you trust the
lord because god
is going to take you over it now sarah
she looked at the circumstances also and
she got into flesh and she pushed over
this
hagar project and said you know
abraham i know you've got a promise uh
you know god spoke that to you
at least you say he did you know because
he's the one that received
the vision he's the one that received
the word and she's just like you know
what
i'm glad you heard from the lord but i'm
getting a little frustrated over here
and you're getting older and i'm getting
older the writing's on the wall
and so she's like i'm going to step in
and i'm going to help god out
and so she comes up with this crazy idea
of using her handmaiden or her servant
to
uh to join up with abraham so they can
have a
a child a son and uh you know that'll
just be
something that they can accept as the
promised child
and it was a bad idea and
it didn't turn out good now let me say
this
and this is something that was that's a
remarkable remarkable revelation
i i received the moment i heard it but i
have to tell you the truth i got this
from walter butler
walter butler who was a prophet of the
lord he got it from the lord when the
lord corrected him
and this is the truth here it is
to rush god is to find fault with god
now i know that any christian would
never say god hurry up
we're too um how can i say we we tried
to put our best behavior forward so
we know that's blatantly wrong we would
never say god you're taking too long
you know you would never really uh kind
of launch out that
because you know that's uh something in
your spirit would say
that can't be the case because we know
god's perfect so
that really can't be the issue but
nevertheless
to rush him innocence is doing the same
thing it's basically accused him
of having a fault he's doing something
wrong because he's not
coming through as we think he should on
our time clock
and uh walter butler said that he was in
a hotel room
he had actually gone to the hotel room
because he sensed
god wanted to talk to him so he actually
goes and rents
a hotel room and he stays there and he's
praying and he's fasting he's not eating
any food
and after he had been there for several
days and
you know he's tired and he's he's hungry
and he's he's praying a whole lot he's
not just there watching tv he's not
watching tv at all he's just seeking the
lord
and uh he said he sat down on the bed
a little bit exasperated and he said
lord
sure does take you a long time to talk
and the moment he said that
the lord corrected him that was actually
the holy spirit that spoke
and the holy spirit said to rush god is
to find fault
with god well he immediately repented he
knew that was wrong
he apologized to the lord and got that
straightened out
got his heart back right with the lord
and then just right after that
he had a major ministry altering
encounter
with the lord that took him from a
ministry that was very
compact in its size and in its dimension
and took him to over 100
nations of the world where he just
ministered this one message
one message all over the world and that
one message came out of that one
encounter
so god's timing is right and abraham was
very patient he did not waver at the
promise of god through unbelief
but was strengthened in faith giving
glory
to god be strengthened in faith just
keep building your faith up
everything is going to come together at
the right time just stay on task
praise the lord don't do like sarah
start you know reaching into these other
you know crazy ideas don't do that
praise the lord stay on the plan that
god has for you and just keep working
all the things that you know that are
the right things to do
and that will also include embracing the
element
of waiting praise god
now i want to show you one of my
favorite scriptures in the bible
that is speaking along this context of
today's message
and that is found in isaiah chapter 64
verse 4. here it says for since the
beginning of the world
men have not heard nor perceived by the
ear
nor has the eye seen any god besides you
who acts one translation says who
performs
who acts for the one who waits
for him now there is an element where we
have our responsibility
where we need to do our part but i'm not
talking about
somebody who's being uh slothful or lazy
i talked about the person the believer
the covenant man or woman of god
who is making application of all the
truths they know
they're working the principles of god
they have a good heart
of the lord they love the lord and
you're doing all you can
there are these other elements sometimes
where you want movement in a certain
area
but for whatever reasons you can't move
it
and god's not doing anything in times
like that
you must be willing to wait with a happy
heart
continue to do all you can in these
other areas and watch
what god will do himself because it says
that
he will act for the one who waits
for him i had a situation about
a month ago where i was
walking around the back side of my house
and i looked at the electrical panels
on the outside and i just said lord
that whole system right there just
really needs to be replaced all the
breakers they're
they're old and um uh the electrical
panel all that stuff
it just needs to be it needs to be made
new
and it needs to be fixed up so i called
an electrician an electrical company and
they came over
and they said um stephen we'll give you
a quote on this and we'll get back to
you
and so they they examined it and looked
at it and
they got busy and i got busy and they
never even called me back to give me a
quote
and i understand because they're very
busy and at the same time
my focus is not on electrical panels and
stuff like that my focus is just on the
lord
and i want to keep working for him and i
have found if i'm working
for him and there's something i can't
touch because i'm too busy then the lord
will touch it
and so i just had a few thoughts from
time to time lord i would really
i would like to be able to get that
fixed but then i would get so busy doing
things with the ministry
because of all the stuff that's going on
with the ministry and
not only the work of the ministry but
the the demands upon the anointing which
requires prayer
and and and study in the word that i
just couldn't get to it
i couldn't get to it so i just decided
just to wait and do my part with the
lord
and you know what on monday
literally there was a knock on my door
i opened up the door and there was a man
standing there
and he said mr brooks he said my name is
is uh mr so-and-so and
i'm with the energy company the largest
energy company
in north carolina that supplies all of
the energy for our
our city and you know most of the places
in north carolina
and he said we want to replace
the all the electrical equipment on the
back of your house
we want to take it all out and give you
all
brand new equipment i said oh
that would be nice i would like that he
said we'll do it all at no charge he
said it won't cost you a penny
i said great he said when can we do it
i said when can you be here he said
we'll be here wednesday
at nine o'clock in the morning i said oh
please please do come right over
and they came over and
he and he told me he said i'm the
supervisor
he said i will be coming over throughout
the day to observe the work
and to check the progress but he said he
said the men that are coming
are the best that we have in the entire
industry
and so wednesday came along and the
trucks
rolled in all of these trucks rolled in
from this large company
and they hit this project
that was a very expensive project and
they began to go to work on it
and the work that the men were doing was
so
beautiful the work i mean i mean it's
just it's you know it's
electrical stuff right but they they not
only did what needed to be done
they're doing all the bells and whistles
at no charge to me and i know how much
it cost because i had a friend have
his done and he told me how much it was
cost and it was like wow
and so they're doing it all at no charge
and when i looked at the finished work
the inside of all the boxes with
everything brand new all the brand new
breakers and everything and all that
it looked like artwork and then when
they closed it all up
wow it looked like artwork on the on the
exterior as well
and you know what they did not do it
for one other house in the entire
area not even on the street i don't even
think another house in the subdivision
received that but my friends
i've discovered that one i take care of
the lord's business
he'll take care of mine and when you're
busy for him so busy for him
that some of the things you want to
touch you don't even have time to do it
if you wait on the lord because you're
you're working for him
he'll come touch those areas he will act
for the one who waits for him so it's
all done now
it's all done now can you imagine if i
would have been impatient
and i said now lord you know i'm busy
but that should have been taken care of
by now and i'm going to jump in there
i'm just going to get somebody out here
and pay for it
can you imagine if i'd have paid for all
of that and then the guy would have
showed up and told me we would have done
it all for free and
nobody's going to do it better than his
team they're the best in the entire
state
wow praise the lord and that looks so
good
whew didn't cost me anything glory to
god
thank you jesus god is going to act on
your behalf also i know
that there's some things that need to be
addressed in your life
in the various areas of your life as
you're busy for him
he's going to come in as you're working
on the promises the things he's assigned
you to
he's going to come in but yes there are
these areas of waiting
don't be impatient don't try to pound
a square peg through a round hole be
patient
well i don't like looking at that i want
to do something that be patient you're
supposed to be doing something else over
here
and you're not supposed to pull off that
you have to follow that flow of the
spirit
that anointing of the spirit
thank you jesus this may this
sermon today may drive a perfectionist
crazy
but the only place that's perfect is
heaven anyhow
you can't put everything in order
overnight
you have to be willing to walk it out
step by step and eventually
you will get to it and it will be done
the right way
but get there in the right way which is
the lord's way of peace
and blessing and walking close with the
lord
he's going to do some beautiful things
for you and things are changing
already in your life i don't quite see
it the way i anticipate it pastor
stephen
stay on target keep working the words
keep walking close with god
you're going to see some amazing changes
take place in your life this year
now this next verse is also one of my
favorite verses
i would say that in this area of waiting
that isaiah 64 verse 4 and the next
verse
are probably my two favorite verses in
the bible along this
subject now hebrews chapter six here's
the other verse i want to share with you
hebrews chapter 6
verse 12.
this is god's desire for us that you do
not become
sluggish the united the niv says lazy
that you do not become sluggish lazy but
imitate
those who through faith and
patience inherit the promises
and oh yes you certainly have promises
you must assuredly do and you're going
to possess
you're going to inherit those promises
through faith
yes yes pastor stephen i'm a woman of
faith
pastor stephen i'm a man of faith and
power
and see that sounds cool sounds good
we like that you know back back in the
50s you would have the um
you have the power evangelist and you'd
have a walk out like uh
uh you like when dr oral roberts would
come out on the platform he had an
answer and the announcer would say get
ready here he is
god's man of faith and power
and then the curtain would fly open and
then would walk
the doctor royal roberts or you know a
allen was kind of like that too he would
have an introducer
and they'd walk out on the stage and you
know that's real exciting
and it is you know faith and power
but see if you would say here he
is get ready for god's man of faith and
patience
he'd be like what a god's man of faith
and patience that
doesn't sound very exciting you know why
because it's not
here she is god's woman of miracles
god's woman of faith and patience
we believe we'd be like do we have the
right woman in here
well my friends it is something that we
need to
embrace because it's it's part of the
recipe
of it's part of the ingredients in this
recipe blessing again
again verse 12 that you do not become
sluggish or lazy
get moving praise the lord hallelujah
but imitate those who through
faith and patience such as abraham who
through
faith and patience that's waiting
inherit
the promises there's going to be some
waiting
involved praise the lord there's going
to be some areas you can't touch
you want to but god's not moving on it
so just be at peace i would
i would say this in a word of caution
don't try to live in your tomorrow
today pastor stephen i'm not a
millionaire
i'm not a mul i'm not a millionaire
millionaire yet if i can get the word
out
i'm not a millionaire yet but i'm living
big right now
i'm living in it already well you don't
have the money to live that type of
lifestyle
right now you need to get control of
yourself
praise the lord amen now yes speak
speak words of faith and words that
agree with the
with the vision of where god is taking
you
but you also don't want to try to live
in your tomorrow
today hallelujah thank you jesus
enjoy the journey because the lord
is with you praise god
i want to pray for you because i sense
that some have been anxious
and you have even said is it working i'm
a giver
i'm sowing seed and i'm praying
lord is it doesn't look like i'm seeing
any kind of movement
my friends god sees
god sees praise the lord
praise the lord
walter butler said that there was a time
when he went on a long stretch of really
seeking the lord in a very intense way
which included getting up right around 2
30 in the morning
and waiting on the lord in prayer
seeking the lord
and he did that for quite some time
quite some time
and he he had moments where
there was a beautiful presence he had
certainly had moments where
you know the lord is speaking with him
and sharing wonderful insights with him
but he never really had anything that
was like what we would call maybe
spectacular or dramatically you know
like a vision or something like that
but just still really rich good times
so he he did he did have that thought
lord are you are you seeing this effort
that i'm making and he wasn't saying
that critically
he wasn't saying that like in a sense i
don't think you are he was just like
lord
like encouragement would help me and so
again he was up seeking the lord sitting
there in the dark
spending time with god when most people
would be asleep
and he's just he's giving up comforts
to seek god and he said
after he had done that for a long time
extended period of time
he said one night the lord jesus walked
into the room now he didn't see him but
the lord walked into the room and came
and stood behind him
while he's sitting in a chair and as
walter butler sitting in the chair the
lord walks up behind him
and stands in a sense over him
and walter butler said i had the
absolute
distinct sensation not trying to make it
up because
this is 100 real he said as the lord
stood over me
he was weeping that he was weeping
tears of gratitude that one of his
people
would be so hungry for him that such a
person would get
up and rise to seek him with such an
intensity
and it had touched the lord's heart so
much that as the lord was
leaning over him and weeping the tears
were coming down and hitting brother
butler
or falling on brother butler's head and
running down him running down him
he could sense the lord's tears falling
on him
and the lord began to recount
to him every single time
he had gotten up and the lord began to
give dates and began to give
the time of every single time he had
sought
that brother butler had got up and
sought him and so the lord was basically
saying
i saw i saw every effort you made
to seek my face and my friends i need to
tell you
don't be discouraged the lord has seen
your giving
he has seen your faithfulness he has
seen
the push and the efforts that you have
made
and he is going to bless you continue to
trust him
and continue to embrace these elements
of waiting
when you certainly do learn the reality
of walking by faith and not by sight
because
perhaps you're not seen very much but my
friends i'm here to tell you today
as a as a servant of the lord he sees
and he has blessing on his mind
for you and you're going to see the
goodness of the lord
in the most in the most extraordinary
ways
so get ready for it now heavenly father
i pray for your people
bless them with encouragement let them
continue
with an all-out push to seek you to live
for you
hallelujah and to walk in the light of
your word
obeying your word hallelujah endeavoring
with all of their hearts to please you
i thank you father god that surely they
will see
your goodness in their lives hallelujah
and the work and the the weight will
certainly
be worth it so thank you father thank
you
for fresh blessing in jesus name
amen praise the lord if you're watching
today's program
and you do not know christ is your lord
and savior
there is one thing that you don't have
to wait for
and that is salvation you can receive
forgiveness of sins and the
spiritual life of god impart it into
your heart
right now and you can be born again
right now you don't have to wait
you can receive christ right now if you
would like to
say goodbye to all the sin and all the
junk
and receive jesus as your savior pray
this prayer right now because he's
listening
say lord jesus i'm a sinner
but you died to save sinners like me
jesus come into my heart wash
all of my sins away with your precious
blood
i receive you now as my lord
and savior thank you jesus
for saving me in your name i pray amen
and amen woo praise the lord glory to
god
i told you you didn't have to wait amen
he heard and he has
saved your soul praise god amen
now let us take holy communion together
today
i would like to invite you to grab some
unleavened bread if you don't have one
of these little wafers
which you can order from any christian
bookstore
but if you don't have one you can grab a
little saltine cracker or something like
that
and grab some grape juice and let's take
holy communion together
let's pray father we thank you for the
bread
the juice we consecrate it
and set it apart as holy through this
prayer and we thank you that this is now
the body
and the blood of jesus our savior
father as we receive the body of christ
we embrace waiting and father we thank
you that jesus
had to wait for 30 years before he could
start
his ministry and that was something that
was
an essential requirement but at the
right time
he was sent forth and so father we just
thank you for the waiting periods
we thank you we embrace it we embrace it
and we
embrace not only the reaching of the
destination which will come but we
embrace the journey
so father we thank you that you're with
us and it's all good
it's all good we embrace waiting
we receive the body of christ now in
jesus name
let's partake together
praise the lord glory to god
i feel the joy of the lord um thank you
jesus
i feel happy feel the the laughter
anointing even
thank you jesus i believe
there are some angels tickling your
spiritual funny bone right now
hallelujah because you're starting to
realize god's been here the whole time
he's been
he's been working the whole time
everything's the way it should be
praise zorin you're laughing because
you're you're seeing that
the waiting is all a part of it father
thank you for the blood of jesus
if we have committed any sins that we
ask that you would forgive us of our
sins
wash us pure and clean thank you father
we choose
to completely forgive anybody anyone who
has sinned against us
thank you o god we praise you father we
ask that you would lead us away
from temptation we ask that you would
deliver us from the evil one
and we trust you to keep us safe to keep
us protected
thank you father god for yours is the
kingdom and the power
and the glory forever thank you father
for jesus
and his precious blood in his name we
pray
amen let's receive
praise god amen
amen woo glory glory
thank you jesus the angels are working
the lord is working everything is on
track
and everything is moving forward god has
not forgotten you
god has his eye on you and he's going to
bless you
praise the lord continue to seek him
continue to seek him with all of your
heart have a good time with the lord
woohoo glory to god
you'll get so caught up in that you may
not even notice when the blessing comes
you're having so much fun in the lord
you're like oh there it is praise the
lord hallelujah but you're just
you're so caught up in the lord amen
some some of your friends may have to
drag you out of the lord's presence to
say
come look here it is you'd be like
that's great i'm having too much fun
with the lord
be blessed whoo praise god see you back
next time bye bye