welcome today to our online internet
around the world church service i am so
happy that you are here today
and i believe that god's word will build
you up
and strengthen you in faith praise the
lord
now today let's go to psalm 112
we're going to receive the holy tithes
and offerings
we're going to bring them into the
storehouse of the lord
and you my friends will be blessed
praise god psalm 112
verse 1 it says praise the lord of
course that in the hebrew
is the word hallelujah so praise the
lord blessed is the man who fears the
lord
who delights greatly in his commandments
so there is a real blessing that comes
out of obedience to the written word of
god
verse 2 his descendants will be mighty
on
earth now i believe that's referring to
children
whether it's natural children or
spiritual children
they will be mighty on the earth the
generation of the upright will be
blessed
now verse 3 is very very powerful
wealth and riches will be in his house
and his righteousness endures forever
the lord does not mind you having wealth
and riches now i know that
forms of religion would say that
it's god's will for you to be poor or
that you should have
poverty because poverty somehow they
never explain
it but somehow it produces uh some type
of holiness or humility or
they they convey that poverty produces a
good heart that's pleasing to god
but from experience i have seen that
poverty
does not produce happiness poverty does
not produce
joy and it doesn't produce contentment i
have found that it actually makes people
bitter
it makes people very disappointed it
stirs up the nature of the flesh it
stirs up jealousy
and it's not a good thing and i know
what it is to be poor
i grew up in the poorest state in the
entire nation i
grew up for the most part in mississippi
in a very rural area very impoverished
area
and so i know what poverty is and then
later in life
for those of you that are familiar with
my testimony i went through a period of
homelessness
that was extremely uh difficult
and that a lot of that was because i
didn't know the word i didn't know
what god's word said concerning certain
situations and those that even tried to
maybe encourage me in different time
those different
excuse me difficult times of my life
they could not
encourage me according to the word of
god they would just say hang in there
and
hopefully one day you'll get through it
they could not take me the scriptures
like what you're looking at right here
psalm 112
verse 3. it was in their bible just like
it's in
your bible and my bible but they were
completely
unaware of it so i had encountered
certain people that not only
sympathize with some of my past trials
but they actually
encouraged me on in them in other words
they basically said i didn't
i even had a pastor tell me one time the
the
great poverty that you're going through
is from the lord
and i i just thought well why me how
come i got selected for this special
assignment
but of course he was not aware of some
of the basic truths that we now
hold very sacred to our heart
he never could have taught me psalm 112
verse 3
but the lord is good and
the word of god is like honey and once
you have tasted it
and the joy that it brings it creates
revelation that's what honey represents
illumination of the scriptures
praise the lord and it was a marvelous
day in my life
when the reality really set in that god
did not want me poor it was not his will
for that
and jesus redeemed me from poverty and
all believers from poverty there on the
cross
that is part of the atonement so
god wants you to have wealth and riches
he just doesn't want you to be covetous
as long as you can keep your heart free
from covetous
and one of the one of the primary ways
of doing that is to be a tither and a
giver
that way you keep that that greedy
graspy thing off of you praise the lord
but my friends the lord wants you
blessed he wants you to be in the
overflow
look at verse nine he talking about the
believer the righteous person
in christ he has dispersed abroad
he has given to the poor now you have to
have
an overflow to be able to do that
you have to be in a position where you
have more than
enough and that's exactly where god is
taking you to
he has dispersed abroad he has given to
the poor his righteousness endures
forever
now look at verse five a good man
lends or deals graciously and lends
he will guide his affairs with
discretion god
even wants you to be in a place where if
necessary
if you can't give the money maybe in
some situations
you can lend the money praise the lord
now of course you would guide
those decisions with discretion and
that's walking in the wisdom of god
making good choices
but my friends to be able to lend or to
be able to give
you have to have more than is needed
just to meet
necessities you have to be in a place of
an overflow
so again come back to the word and see
what the word says
and remember the word is god's will see
what the word says concerning god's will
for your life concerning
your financial well-being
god wants you blessed hallelujah wealth
and riches will be in his house
now whether your house is an apartment
a town home a condominium
or maybe what we would call more of a
traditional type home
whatever it is allow the holy spirit
to lead you into a place of blessing
where there's nice things in your home
praise the lord
this is really something you should
think about this statement i want to
share with you
you really should ask god
for the holy spirit to manifest himself
to
towards you through finances
praise the lord it's a very exciting
journey
it's a very exciting journey now i know
there's a lot of people they're not
interested in money when i say people
i'm referring to christians they think
it's not important
i think that's a very dangerous way of
thinking
remember miracles are wonderful
but miracles are often to get you out of
trouble
wisdom is different wisdom will keep you
from getting
into trouble in the first place praise
god so
while i'm all for miracles and the bible
has a lot to say about miracles
you'll see that miracles often are to
get people out of a very difficult
bind but so often the way that we live
our daily lives
if we walk in wisdom we will walk in
so often in places where we don't need
miracles
hallelujah now should you ever need one
god is able to do it and you can use
your faith
but i want you to really look to the
lord
and talk to him and just say lord
you know i know you as my savior as my
lord as my redeemer
many of you know him as the baptizer in
the holy spirit but just say lord i'd
really like to get to know you
where you manifest to me through the
area of finances
praise the lord and some of you really
need to see some real financial
things come forth in your life
hallelujah glory to god and i'm not just
talking about a one-time thing
where maybe you got bailed out and that
got you over the hump and then you keep
on going and you praise god for it
but i'm just talking where you know you
see the lord blessing you
hallelujah now there are christians some
that don't have any interest in this
and for whatever reason and often
that reason would be ignorance they're
just
you know wanting to go through life
knowing that one day they're going to
get to heaven and they will see the
streets of gold and they will
have the fullness of prosperity but i
tell you what
money can create the most enjoyable
experiences for people and when you have
the overflow
you are in the position to bring joy and
blessing into the lives of others
and there there are very few things that
are on that realm
of joy manifested in your heart when you
were able to bless others in need
or do something special for somebody
they can't do it and be able to step in
there
wow i tell you what that is one of the
highest
levels of living so believe god for
wealth and riches in your house
and you can also use that as a as a
scriptural promise
to believe god for your own home don't
let this thing of home ownership
throw you by thanking or verbally saying
i can never get a down payment you know
and people may say well pastor steven i
can't
i can't pull together 20 down or
or you know i know in some countries
they require more
in germany they require 40 down
so you know banks are different but
they're gonna before they're going to
give you a loan they're going to want
some money down
but don't look at that say oh i could
never do that i could never pull
together 80 000
i'll never own a home my friends just
believe
god that he can bless you to get into a
house
and then into ownership there's a
there's a million different ways he can
do it
but however he's going to do it it
starts with you using your faith
that i also can own a home praise god
think about it like this while
apartments are nice and renting and
leasing is nice
think of it like this there are yet
still
hundreds of millions of people that own
homes
if they can why can't you praise the
lord
hallelujah a lot of people that own
homes don't even serve the lord or know
the lord
but you have a covenant with god and i'm
here to say that
there can be wealth and riches in your
place of residence
and that your residence also can be a
house praise the lord
this is not really in my notes i'm just
kind of floating along here in the holy
spirit
but i did a study one time i've never
taught on it maybe sometime i will
of all the prophets and the men of god
and the lord himself who owned
their own homes it's incredible they all
had homes
it's phenomenal well pastor stephen
jesus never had anywhere to lay his head
he said foxes
you know they've got their little little
holes in the ground and the birds they
have their little nest
but the son of man has nowhere to lay
his head
well how come when the two disciples of
john the baptist
went up to john uh went up to jesus for
the first time
and uh wanted to get the meeting uh
how come jesus didn't tell them uh foxes
have holes and
uh birds have nests i don't have
anywhere to go so don't talk to me he
said no
he said come with me to my home. he said
come with me and they
he they went to his house praised the
lord
the reason jesus said that about not
having anywhere to lay his head was
because
a certain town that he was wanting to
minister in
they rejected him and they said we don't
want you here
and so jesus didn't force it he you know
there's other places he can go
but back in those days you know if
you're outside the city gates at night
and the
the leadership doesn't want you to come
in they barred you from coming in
it's a long way from someone somewhere
else so what does that mean
it means you're gonna have to sleep
outside just roll out the sleeping bag
and uh that's the way it is sometimes
and he encountered that praise the lord
thank you jesus but that didn't mean
that in the normal course of operating
when he wasn't out itinerating
and on on ministry it doesn't mean that
he came home and just lived under a tree
no he had a house and so
so many of the prophets had a home
and so many of the even the new
testament saints had a home
god wants you to have a home i can't i
can't get away from this praise the lord
watch this
he wants you to have a home in a safe
place in a night
in a nice place well pastor stephen i
guess i'll just have
to have to get a home where i can afford
i'll get one in the ghetto
no god can get you a nice home i'm not
saying that you need to move the beverly
hills
but i'm saying that in the area of where
you live
god can help you get he can help you get
into a nice home you're going to have to
use your faith
praise god use your faith to get into a
nice home praise god for the apartment
that you're in
you know i i used to lease and things
like that i've been through that
i remember the one time i was leasing a
home and my wife releasing the home
and i just kept taking good care of it
we took good care of it we did a lot of
things
that as tenants were not required to do
and so you know i i did all kinds of uh
landscaping and just made the place
beautiful
i'll never forget the day as long as i
live
i'll never forget the day when the
landlord
came into my office my ministry office
and she walked in and said stephen
god told me to give you
my home whoo can you imagine that
see a lot of people they'll rent they'll
leave still like well who cares it's not
mine they'll tear it up
throw all kinds of things down the
toilet that are not supposed to go down
there
clog piping up and do all kinds of
things and
pour all the coffee grounds down the
kitchen drain sink and clog it up and
you know just do all kinds of things to
let it run down but you know what god
he'll make a way for you all you need is
you and the lord
that's all you need you need the lord
and you need to be in faith and god will
get you into a house and get you the
home ownership
praise the lord and if you really take
this to heart
psalm 112 verse 3. you'll be moving on
up
i'll tell you that you sure will the
least you can do is go out and drive
around and look
go go around and look what's on the
market what's for sale what's available
what kind of a price range does my faith
feel comfortable at
praise the lord and then just you know
pray
and talk to the lord and say lord i
would really like to know you in a way
where you manifest yourself to me
through finances
towards home ownership you know so talk
to the lord like that
and you'll see that god can get you into
a house
that you own praise god
hallelujah now let's honor the lord
today by bringing the tithes and the
offerings into the storehouse
and as we do this we are in financial
covenant with god
and i believe that god will release his
best
blessings into your life hallelujah
let the lord work on your behalf to do
wonderful things in your life
praise god now as you're bringing the
tithe and offering in remember that the
tithe is ten percent
of all of your gross income
the 10 the tithe it belongs to the lord
and as we honor him with the tithe he
blesses
the 90 and does uh
the supernatural blessing for us and
does more with the 90 than we could ever
do with the 100 praise god and special
offerings
also are seeds that you can sow that god
will multiply and
bring a harvest back into your life
praise god
now if you prefer to mail in your tithes
and offerings
please send them to stephen brooks
international
p.o box 717 moravian falls
north carolina the zip code 28654
if you'd like to bring the tithes and
offerings in online
it's very safe highly encrypted and
secure please go to the ministry website
stephenbrooks.org there is a link on the
home page it's a red
it's a red tab and it says give
and you can click on that link and it
will take you to
the options of how you can give on your
tithes and offerings you can bring it
right into the ministry storehouse
praise god and as you do
as you do whether you're giving a check
by mail
mailing a money order or something like
that cashier's check or however you like
to do that or whether you're giving
online
make a little notation and put psalm
112 verse 3. just write that out in the
little memo
write that on the little note i'd like
to see that praise god
and watch what god will do for you and
then of course once you get into a home
then you can make it the way you like it
oh i i don't like it pastor steven
there's no home out there that i like
or you can you can change that you can
at least get in the ownership and then
change the paint uh you know change
change you can change all kinds of
things change the faucets change the
lights
you know make it the way that you want
it but get into it first praise god
thank you jesus and then you can also
believe god and use your faith to get it
all paid off
have a debt-free home praise god so
let's believe god for his word and for
great things to take place
because he will perform his word
in the lives of those who hold onto his
word
and believe it praise god father bless
your people
as they're bringing the tithes and
offerings right now into the storehouse
father bless them with home ownership
bless them with all bills paid
bless them always always always to be in
overflow mode where they always have
something to give
and even let them be in the place of a
lender should they need to do that in
special circumstances
we give you all of the praise thank you
father for the overflow
working in the lives of your people i
speak your blessing
of prosperity and increase over their
lives in jesus mighty name
amen and amen praise god
now today we're very close to a psalm
that i i would like to teach from
and this is going to be psalm 84 praise
god
i would say probably one of the most
beautiful psalms in the bible
i think most people would go to psalm 23
for the ultimate classic beautiful psalm
but i'll tell you what psalm 84
there's some statements made in here
that are really um
it's it's uh just represents a beautiful
walk with god
and this psalm represents understanding
the deeper
walk with god and we want to look at
this today
praise god hallelujah
we're going to be in psalm 84 and let's
open up with prayer
heavenly father thank you for your word
it
is spiritual food for us it nourishes us
and we cannot live without it
so that as we now consume this spiritual
meal
we ask that your holy spirit would
illuminate the scripture so that we have
understanding of what it is that we are
eating
and so that faith will arise in our
hearts and that we will move forward
in the will and the plan that you have
for our life
in jesus name amen praise god
thank you lord now
psalm 84 verse 1 how lovely is your
tabernacle o lord of hosts
my soul longs yes even faints for the
courts of the lord
my heart and my flesh cry out for the
living god
so the psalmist is indicating
his great love of being in what we would
call the house of god
there at the tabernacle and the the
tabernacle was originally built
by moses who received the instructions
and the layout
for it from the lord during his
experience
up on the mountain for 40 days while he
was up there in
fellowship with god he came down off the
mountain
and then they began to uh implement the
pan the plan to build this beautiful
structure called the tabernacle
now later when david was king
the tabernacle system was a little bit
different
and you could say in some ways it was
almost like the ark of the covenant
and the furniture the furnishings in
the tabernacle they were almost like
mobile
praised the lord for for a while for
about 400 years the ark was in shiloh
and then you know it kind of got moved
here or there
but we see the love
that these these men these women had for
just being around the presence of the
lord what they would call the tabernacle
the place of meeting
but even in this same psalm towards the
end
particularly verse 12 it says o lord of
hosts blessed is the man who trusts in
you
that gives an understanding that the
psalmist knows
it's more than just being in the house
of god it's
more than just being in the presence of
the lord
that's wonderful but that alone is not
enough to really
lock you in into the deeper walk you're
going to have to still
walk away from the whole thing believing
where your trust
is really in the lord
as marvelous as it is to sit in the
tabernacle and to enjoy the presence of
the lord
still you must trust god
hallelujah even even when perhaps you're
not in that tabernacle
maybe you're you know maybe you don't
live in jerusalem and you live somewhere
else
back in the old testament far away from
the ark of the covenant
well until it's time for the next feast
and the next pilgrimage up
to there you're going to have to stay in
faith
right where you're at praise god thank
you jesus
now i want to drop down to verse 5
blessed is the man whose
strength is in you whose heart
whose heart is set on pilgrimage
an understanding within your heart that
you're a pilgrim
you're just passing through you're on a
journey
and the journey itself has a purpose and
the journey can have different levels of
experience
we see a little bit about that in the
next verse
as they pass through
i think it's very important to take a
pen
and underline the two words pass through
because for some christians they have
camped
they have literally pitched tent and
said i can never get over this
this certain event is too hard for me to
deal with and they camp
in a place that was supposed to be
something that was a learning experience
and learn it and then move on but for
whatever reason
maybe they got offended maybe they got
bitter
but they stayed in the valley of baker
i remember i had a church member and
something happened to this church member
where
something offended him i don't know who
i don't know what i don't know
what caused him to become bitter
but something happened to him where he
was bitter and he had a bad
he had a bad attitude and i'm not sure
what it was i asked him one time i said
brother
i said something has obviously upset you
i said what's wrong
i said did i do anything to upset you
has something happened in the church was
something wrong you seem offended oh
no pastor stephen everything's fine well
the way he said it and the way he was
acting
and the the great change of his uh his
countenance
told me that well something was wrong he
just wasn't going to admit
it well i don't know what it was but i
i remember that we brought a prophet to
send the minister she's a friend of mine
she's from california but when i heard
that she was close by
i said hey let's let's connect and since
you're close by come speak for me on
sunday morning
i'll let you just you know take the
service
and she said okay and so because
she's a prophetess so i knew that
because i've seen her minister before i
know
what she's going to do she's going to
preach and teach a message
and she's probably going to talk for
about 40 minutes then she's going to
finish
but she's not done then she's going to
begin to minister to the people
personally well that's exactly what she
did
she taught for about 40 minutes and then
she stopped and said okay and the
message was great
but it's time for part b she said now i
want to minister prophetically the lord
is showing
me some things and she began to minister
very accurately to people
and everybody's happy and getting
blessed and then she looked at that man
that i was just telling you about she
looked at that brother
and she said sir the lord says that you
have taken offense
and that you need to forgive it and
forget it and go on
but you are very very offended and the
lord can't bless you
as long as you're in this state of
bitterness and unforgiveness
and oh did he ever get upset how dare
you
you know and um but this is a veteran
prophetess soul
she's had a lot of uh stuff kind of
thrown at her so she doesn't get moved
when somebody
you know gets their feathers ruffled
that's all a part of
beautiful maturity in the ministry but
she was right on
and you know what i didn't tell her
anything as a matter of fact i was if
i'm
correct i wasn't even there this is what
i was told afterwards by my wife
uh who saw this dear friend of ours
minister uh but she was right
and uh this person just uh he would
never
let it go he camped in the valley of
baker he just camped there
and something threw him for a spin and
um
you know he he passed away not too long
ago and
but he just uh he would never open his
heart to me to
you know uh share what was wrong he
seemed like he delighted in carrying an
offense
but we can't be like that your stay in
that valley
of sorrow the valley of the valley of
crying or the valley of weeping
but we're supposed to go through it and
not only go through it it says as they
pass through the valley of bacop
they make it a spring the rain also
covers it with pools praise the lord
hallelujah
thank you lord jesus they passed through
the valley of bacon
by the way it's kind of funny
it and that's often the case when people
get offended
or something upsets them and then they
you know
they they hold this grudge or whatever
usually
uh it that's go that's a that's a young
immature believer that's going to do
that
and so because that's that's fitting
that that uh
that mold usually the reason of what
offended them is also pretty stupid
and he never told me why he was upset
but i think what upset him
was that uh his wife
who was not a spiritual person she
wanted to be spiritual and uh she she
was always wanting something
supernatural to happen
his wife was and to her it never
happened
so one day in a prayer meeting one of
the young people in the church
slipped up behind her during the prayer
meeting and tapped her on the shoulder
this little child did this
i didn't know about this until later
little child tapped her on the shoulder
and then the little child went and hid
and so when she turns around and there's
nobody there
she thought an angel did it so she turns
back around and uh
she tries to keep on praying and the
little child comes up behind her again
taps her on the shoulder and then the
kid runs off real quick so she turns
around
there's nobody there well that happened
three times and she thought she thought
that was an angel
and uh boy was she ever i've had an
encounter i've had a supernatural
encounter
well her husband the one that uh camped
in the valley of baker he saw that
happen
and he got upset that the little child
had done that
and although uh he never said yeah
that's really what's bothering me
he uh he he just uh
he never let it go but i thought that's
that's the funniest thing because he had
to tell his wife i think he told his
wife hey
it wasn't an angel this little kid over
here you know poking you on the back
kind of like having having a good laugh
off of your um
you know just not being able to see
what's going on praise the lord
so usually when there are these
offenses quite often it's something very
juvenile
or silly that should just be let go as
they pass through the valley of bacon
they make it a spring
you should be able to just say oh you
know what maybe that person had a bad
day
that person that spoke those awful words
the only reason they would do that is
they're probably
they're probably miserable i was
when did this happen this happened a
couple of years back
when i was at a particular coffee shop
and a lady walked in to get a coffee
and she looked frazzled and she looked
really cut
and she was rushed hurry up i want my
coffee and uh she was really kind of
like uh
just wanting to get a coffee and run i'm
sitting towards the back of the
of the coffee area so you know there's a
sitting area so i could i could see what
was going on this was a waste for me
and so she wants her coffee she's very
worked up and then the door opened again
the entrance door and a big man walked
in
and he saw that lady there and that man
exploded in rage he said
you took my parking spot on purpose you
saw that i was backing up into that
place
and i had to back slow he said i've got
a big truck you had that little car and
you came in there
knowing i was trying to park there and
you took my parking spot and he verbally
just unloaded on her
like with like a tirade and um
it wasn't physical it was he wasn't
going to get violent but he was
he was hot and uh and she never
apologized she never said she's sorry so
it kind of like created
this great atmosphere of agitation to
the point where
uh the manager of the place had to step
out real quick and say sir
okay you've already verbally blasted her
uh that's that's good enough you you
know
you obviously wanted to vent so you've
done it now please leave
and and so this big guy was like hey you
know i can fight you too and uh
so it was starting to go downhill it
looked like pretty quick so i just
started praying
lord just just to help him get out of
here and dissolve this
and he turned around and left but
you know if you find yourself going
through the valley of baker
and you're weeping let it be a learning
experience
you know the lady she got her coffee
after being publicly humiliated by all
the people that were in the coffee shop
who saw that and um you know small small
town so you know everybody
saw that happen so she gets her coffee
she goes and leaves
you know maybe she wept maybe she cried
but you know what you could
you could get back in your car drink
your coffee and say you lord say lord
you know i did cut that person off
that person was probably having a really
bad day
obviously so i mean if you lose a
parking spot that's no big deal who
cares
what would cause a person to trigger
like that well there's people out there
that are like that
and i have i have found that sometimes
the lord will turn them loose
not that he's not that he's uh working
through that person to be mean or nasty
but the lord will allow these people
sometimes to be uh i call them like buzz
saws
he uses them as crude rough teaching
instruments
for the christians that just don't get
it because the lady that that took his
parking spot was a christian
spirit-filled tongue-talking prophetic
person
uh she went to another church here in
town this prophetic church
and so you know she's going to get that
spot no matter what well maybe she
needed a little
uh verbally of a verbal straightening
out i'm not saying it should have been
the way that he did it
but for people that are real crude
and real stubborn and uh
don't go through the simple teaching
process that the lord would require
well he's got like donkey type
experiences for them
and there are the donkeys out there that
are very happy to step in and teach
should they be called upon should you
take their parking spot
should you cut them off in traffic
they're out there trust me
so you want to honor the lord live for
the lord and should something like that
happen
well don't just camp there well that
person said that about me it hurt my
feelings and made me look bad
well you know just forgive just forgive
and turn that experience into a spring
the rain also covers it with pools
praise god
they go from strength to strength each
one appears before god
in zion praise god thank you jesus
hallelujah
i got up out of my seat one time
on the airplane and
i was in front of another person
and when i got up another person
got up and he grabbed his uh you know
carry-on bag
and he pushed past me and he started
pushing past all kinds of people
and when he started pushing past me i
just let him go
well that's cutting a line yeah but i'm
not in a hurry
maybe he's got a flight to catch not
that that justifies doing that to me or
others
it was very rude but he was just pushing
he's going to get through and uh
he probably did have another flight to
catch but it was just real real rude
real nasty but when i i just kind of
leaned back letting go on by and the
stewardess said
thank you for doing that i said yeah no
i said
no problem it's it's okay praise god
see the guy that did that eventually
he's going to run into the bus saws that
are out there
they're out there they're the teachers
they're the donkey teachers
and they teach the other donkeys that
quite haven't learned these things in
life
praise god thank you jesus
but these teaching experiences my
friends they're invaluable they're
invaluable
and so because of that the valley of
bacop the valley of sorrows
when you turn it from weeping
and you forgive and you turn it into joy
and you turn it into a learning
experience what happens
you go from strength to strength each
one appears before
god in zion praise the lord
hallelujah glory to god the lord
is the master teacher he'll teach you
when you're walking with him right he'll
teach you so
beautifully but he'll also teach you if
you're being stubborn
he'll still teach you but he's going to
use a different format and if you're
being rebellious he'll keep on teaching
you
but he's going to use a totally
different format and the instructors are
different
you want to be instructed by the word by
the spirit
by sweet people that god puts in your
life if you don't
choose that method of instruction
god can use very difficult circumstances
to develop you and to mold into you
the image of christ despite the great
resistance
praise the lord hallelujah glory to god
my friends don't ever camp in a valley
of bacon experience
it says pass through you're supposed to
pass through
and when you do you're going to come out
on the other side stronger
than you were before thank you lord
jesus
hallelujah hallelujah
let's go to the book of job
job chapter 1.
here we have another experience of an
individual
who's going to go through a valley of
baker
and this is a serious valley of makeup a
serious
valley of weeping a valley of not
understanding
why is this happening to me not
understanding that behind the scenes
there has been this cosmic
throw down of the gauntlet god's man
is standing before the eyes of the lord
and before the eyes of satan and the
demons are watching
the angels are watching and god has put
all of his
all of his weight all of his trust
behind this man to hold to his integrity
and god was right job came through
but what a very very difficult time
job chapter 1 verse 7 and the lord said
to satan
from where do you come so satan answered
the lord and said from going to and fro
on the earth and from walking back and
forth on it
then the lord said to satan by the way
some people think that satan somehow
went up to heaven
and now here is satan who's already been
kicked out of heaven
here he is again back in heaven having a
conversation with the lord
uh remember context it never says
that this took place in heaven so the
lord was not in heaven when this
conversation that took place
there's a lot of areas to meet not uh
outside of heaven itself then the lord
said the satan
have you considered my servant job
would you dare to put your name in there
could the lord
say the same thing about you oh i'm not
saying that a trial would
suddenly befall you or that you would go
through something difficult or
have an experience there in the valley
of bacop
but should that take place could you put
your name here
have you considered my servant put your
name there
that there is none like him on the earth
a blameless
and upright man one who fears god and
shuns evil
praise the lord so satan answered the
lord and said this job
fear god for nothing verse 11 but now
stretch out your hand
and touch all that he has and he will
surely curse you to your face
and the lord said to satan behold all
that he has is in your power
only do not lay a hand on his person so
satan went out from the presence of the
lord
the lord actually allows
satan to increase the intensity
of difficulty to where it's boiling
even maybe that's a pun on words because
god is going to open the gate of access
wider to the enemy to come in and tempt
test and try job
and he is going to get boils which were
very very painful
job chapter 2 verse 5 but stretch
out your hand now and touch his bone and
his flesh
and he will surely curse you to your
face and the lord said to satan behold
he is in your hand
but spare his life wow so satan now
has the ability to take job right down
to
the wrestling mat and wrestle him and
pin him
and get him to a place literally where
it looks like
he's going to die where he's lost
everything technically up to this point
in so many ways he has he's lost his
family all of his children have been
killed
he's lost all of his great wealth it's
all completely gone
and now his body is going to be severely
afflicted
so satan went out from the presence of
the lord and struck job with painful
boils
from the soul of his foot to the crown
of his head and he took for himself a
potsherd
with which to scrape himself while he
sat in the midst
of the ashes praise the lord
there's a particular minister here in
america i really love him he's a great
teacher
great man of god he's in his 70s now
when he was two years old satan attacked
his life
when he was just a child and
doctors could not explain why
what was happening to him was happening
and they couldn't stop it they couldn't
figure it out
as a two-year-old child he was eaten up
with worms he said that later
on when he grew up his mother told him
that on one day alone
she counted over 600 worms that came
out of his mouth he was eaten up with
worms
and they took him to the doctor and the
doctors would say they examined they
said we don't know what's causing these
germs give don't give him all the
antibiotics and all the medicines they
had
nothing's doing anything the worms are
keep multiplying
so if the mother held the baby uh to her
chest the worms were even coming out of
his mouth getting on her
it was it was demonic it was disgusting
and the father who
was a pastor a man of god and this is
his son
two years old sees his son eating up
with worms
doctors can't do anything there's no
explanation for it
he said i'm going to pray for my son and
if i have to i'm going to pray all night
and i'm going to see him delivered now
the father was a spirit-filled minister
man of god himself
and he went into prayer he went in the
prayer seeking god
and during that time of prayer the lord
jesus gave him a vision
and in the vision he saw his
two-year-old son
in the arms of satan and satan was
holding his little boy
and it was satan im imparting all of
those worms
in into him but in the vision
the man of god saw jesus walk into the
scene
walk over the satan take the little
child
his son out of the hands of satan and
walk away with the little child
and at that point he knew his son
had been delivered and sure enough the
next day
the words just begin to vanish vanish
vanish gone no more worms
no more worms praise god there can be
times
when the enemy comes and he can really
he can really bring the heat and you
feel like lord
uh have you abandoned me now we know
that he hasn't
but you can reach low points in your
life
such as job or those who understood the
valley of
experience that we've looked at and you
think lord where are you
why are you allowing this lord what's
going on my friends you must pray
you must seek the lord and the lord will
come in there if there's something that
the devil is doing
the lord will come in there and he'll
drive the enemy out
there can be other times also where the
lord allows attesting
so that you can draw near to him and
learn
his ways praise god and through all of
these experiences
we can learn more of the ways of god
and so job
he later learned that ah this was the
devil
that was doing all of these bad things
to me it's not god
well did god allow it in this case he
did
but remember he still kept satan
on a leash he had a long leash
and he was able to do some bad stuff to
job
but god said you can't kill him you
cannot take his life
and god basically was saying i'm only
allowing you to do this
for a proving point of my faithfulness
now the story
was so phenomenal and it's so important
to understand
go through the valley of bacon don't
camp keep moving
the story is so important that it was
put into the bible
it's the inspired word of god and for
thousands of years
it has been one of the most studied
books in the bible
but if job would have camped there he
never would have gotten out
to have seen the conclusion of the
matter to have the veil pulled back
and and then see oh that was going
that's what was taking place
this was a battle between god and satan
over who's going to serve who
thank you jesus
well pastor stephen if i keep on going
what awaits me restoration blessing
joy deeper walk with god deeper
understanding of god
and also great refreshing and that
refreshing can come in many many
different ways
job 42 verse 10 and the lord restored
job's losses when he prayed for his
friends that denotes forgiveness because
his friends said a lot of things
they had good they had good intent but
it didn't
fit it came out wrong a lot of the
things they said
were accusatory basically job you've
obviously done a lot of sinning
the things we've never known about
you've been doing this is why this has
happened to you
so they falsely accused him but he
forgave them
and the lord restored job's losses
indeed the lord gave job twice
as much as he had before praise the lord
hallelujah that's why don't camp in the
valley of weeping
keep on moving keep on moving get out of
that
while you're there it's difficult turn
it into something beautiful turn it into
a spring
let water come let your tears have a
purpose
water the earth let beautiful things
come up but keep on moving
keep on moving praise god thank you
jesus and let there be restoration
verse 12. now the lord blessed the
latter days of job more than his
beginning
for he had 14 000 sheep 6 000 camels one
thousand yoke of oxen
and one thousand female donkeys he also
had seven sons and
three daughters praise the lord
by the way that that two-year-old child
that was healed from the worms
grew up to become a great man of god
who has printed and distributed over 23
million bibles
and has done many other things to preach
and extend the gospel
all around the world thank you lord i'm
so glad that his father prayed for his
son
and didn't just say well you know this
is not right god shouldn't let this
happen to me
you know here i am living holy planting
churches and and preaching and
suddenly i've got this mess on my hands
this is not right
he could have become offended and could
have pitched the tent and camped
the sun would have died but you know
what
he kept a good heart the whole time
the whole time that father was praying
for his son
who was eaten up with worms and the
doctor said we can't stop it there's
nothing we can do about it we have no
medical explanation for it
the whole time the father was praying
for his son
he was praying and he kept on saying
lord you are a good god
you are a good god you
are a good god if you can say that
in the valley of bacon then
then the lord's intent is being carried
out
you may cry while you're saying it
because it is called the valley of tears
that's what that means valley of sorrows
but if you if you could say in the
valley
lord you are a good god lord you are a
good
god praise god then
there's a miracle on the way there is a
solution there is a way out
and god will reveal himself to you
praise god
hallelujah by the way trouble doesn't
always last
difficult times pressure cooker
scenarios
whether you're in the valley of bacon um
often those are testing periods god
doesn't
even want your whole life to be a valley
of baked experience by no means does he
want it to be your whole life
it's it could be something that goes two
months maybe it could go
nine months or something like that most
theologians
agree it's it's a consensus they agree
that the experience of job here
in the bible this experience
could not have been longer than nine
months
now some christians read it and they
think this was job's whole life
no just a sliver of his life but the
sliver was so
important that it was put into the
eternal
word of god if you ever test it
and you have a valley of bacon that you
have to go through for whatever reason
that's the route that god has for you
and you go through it my friends
go as you go through it just say god
you are a good god you may not
understand it all
job certainly didn't but that's not the
point
the point is is that you must live by
faith
you must stay in faith faith has no
feelings
we don't walk by sight or what we see
well looks like pastor steven god has
abandoned us
looks like we're all going to die that
yes is the way it looks
but we don't judge the outcome by the
way it appears or else
yeah it looks like certain death we
don't do that though
we judge the outcome based upon our
belief in faith in god's word
and yes it can be a severe trial at
times
but those severe trials they're never
meant to be a lifetime experience they
are short-lived
and you're going to come through it what
happens when you come through it you
will
realize you've gone from one strength to
a total new level of strength
praise god now
here's a book that i've been reading the
here's the only problem with this book
it's
475 pages
the problem is is that it's so good
you don't want to stop reading it but
it's so
big uh you know it just keeps on going
and and so that that's a great problem
to have a book that's so good
you can hardly put it down uh but it's
also
so big that you you can't quite finish
you keep wanting to finish in it
you want to finish it but it's so big
you can't praise god
maybe if you had an entire day you could
read it i don't think you could read it
in the entire day it's too heavy
i'm not talking about the weight of the
book because it's so big i'm talking
about the content
it's so intense the book is called the
thousand
miles of miracle in china a thousand
miles
seems like it should say a thousand
miles of miracles but it says a thousand
miles of
miracle in china it's by a
e glover and i believe the a stands for
archie archie glover
sure you can get it online and you can
download it into your ibooks or whatever
format you use for
a tablet reading but i would encourage
you to get this as a book
you can never beat books you know books
are great
technology software all of that you know
what's used today 10 years today will be
a dinosaur
and who knows if it's all on that tablet
or something like that if they'll even
work 10 years from now
but if you have the book if you have the
book
and it's always available it's a
blessing to you and who knows who who
else might read it as they visit your
home
or something like that but this book
called the thousand miles of miracle
in china is the story of mr glover
his wife their two children
and another lady that worked with them i
think her name was miss gates
and they worked at a missionary outpost
deep into china inland china
and they got caught in the crossfires of
the boxer
rebellion and in the boxer rebellion
i've talked about it before it was in
the early 1900s of china from 1900
to 1930 and it was basically a
government edict
passed down from the empress herself
that said
kill all of the foreign
invaders and when she she passed this
edict
it was it was mainly aimed at the
american
and the british uh or whoever wherever
they're from we had a lot from europe
all also from the
scandinavian countries it meant kill
every single missionary
no matter where they're at everybody it
it it went out to all china
kill the missionaries kill them
and so it it was persecution
that was fierce over 50 000
missionaries were brutally killed
brutally killed
well mr glover
wasn't if you want to read one one of
the most intense
valleys of baker that anybody could ever
go through
this is a wonderful book because every
time it looks like they're going to die
oh there's no way out of this one
they're all going to die now they're
going to die for sure now
god would deliver them now they were in
faith for deliverance
because they're trying to get out of
china they're trying to escape but from
village the village town to town they
were hunted
they were they were captured over and
over
and so many times it's like certain
death
but god got them through got them
through got them through over and over
and over again
and the book it's a heavy book from the
perspective of
the depravity of what evil people do
wicked people do of what unbelievers do
when righteous government is not in the
picture
wow wow it's amazing and so
very intense book i would encourage you
to read it
it will also help you to understand that
persecution has been very normal
to many christians around the world now
here in the western church we haven't
uh particularly in america we haven't
faced what we would call
physical persecution where you're you
could be killed for your faith but many
others
even right now around the world uh
pakistan
north korea you have to put your life
totally on the line
if you receive christ as your lord and
savior but let me say this about this
book
while it's 470 something pages long and
while it covers a journey of over a
thousand miles
and ongoing miracles and some of the
most intense
persecution you could imagine and
awful stuff you i can't even explain it
you'd have to read it so it's so intense
but the whole book covers a span of
four months four months
four months of the most intense
persecution
while being kept alive that i've almost
ever heard of
now remember job nine months not his
whole life
not god doesn't design you to go
something like that through your whole
life
your mind would snap you'd lose your
mind
if that was just a yearly experience
well it's time for the yearly experience
we're all going to die again
every all the kids are going to die uh
we're going to lose all of our money and
we're all going to get sick and get
boils again
no that no that only happened to job
once
and he got through it he passed through
the valley of bacon he got through it
and because he got through it it's
immortalized in the word of god
think about this four months of almost
living hell
suffering for being a christian
suffering for preaching the gospel
to those lost in sin perishing and dying
in their sins
four months four months of the most
intense persecution
that you could ever imagine but they got
through it
moral of the story is this
120 years later we're still reading
about it
120 years later later a minister in
moravian falls north carolina named
steven brooks
is reading this book 120 years after it
happened
and i'm reading something that only
lasted four months but it was so
phenomenal
that he turned his valley of baker into
a place of beauty
and he came out of it and he absolutely
went from strength to strength
passing through you are just passing
through praise god and you're learning
as you go
hallelujah thank you jesus
intense times if you get through them
there is reward and blessing for you on
the other side
and so often even the establishing of a
legacy can happen even though you may
not even notice
notice it you may not even be aware of
it but coming through that
in faith the lord will take that
experience
and it will bless the lives of many
many people hallelujah i believe god
is creating something very powerful in
you very strong in you
a very real witness hallelujah praise
god
hallelujah glory to god one more
scripture
second corinthians chapter 4
verse 8 the apostle paul said we are
hard-pressed on every side
yet not crushed we are perplexed
but not in despair persecuted
but not forsaken struck down
but not destroyed
people read that and they think pastor
stephen i can't even comprehend
the life of the apostle paul his
ministry what he endured
first of all when it was intense as he's
describing
you have to understand also there's
grace and a presence of god that comes
that holds you up somehow when you feel
like you're about to totally collapse
god can come and he'll get you through
he'll get you through the word of the
lord will come
he'll get you through and on you go but
don't make the mistake of thinking that
this is the way it was for paul
every day for every part of his life as
a minister
because that would be incorrect let's
continue
verse
verse 17
for our light affliction which is but
for a moment
is working for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory
praise god praise the lord
he said our light affliction which is
but for a moment
people have taken the beatings of paul
the imprisonments of paul the shipwrecks
of paul
they have taken those amazing stories
and testimonies
and they have said it was like that for
his life every single day until he died
no that's not true we know that when
he's
when he taught in the school of
tyrannius that he taught there for two
years
and he welcomed people and he was
teaching and uh
he had a wonderful teaching ministry
going on there and then people could
come over and see him and things like
that so he's
talking freely so no he wasn't getting
beaten up he wasn't getting mobbed and
uh you know he
he had breaks he had intermissions god
knows what you can take he will not take
you beyond a level that you cannot bear
praise the lord
the minister jesse de plantis
who has many wonderful stories he's full
of the joy of the lord
jesse duplantis talked about the special
vision
that he was granted by the lord in which
he had a vision he was he was taken to
heaven for five hours
and fifteen minutes and he said he met
many people there he met king david
of course he met jesus it's all about
the lord jesus
father son holy spirit he saw
the father but only from a distance but
he couldn't look up he wasn't allowed to
look up because of the glory
but he also met the apostle paul
and paul told jesse while he was in
heaven
that the church has taken
verse 17 and where it says for a light
affliction which is but for a moment
he said they have taken it from a moment
and they have made it a lifetime
and he told jesse take it and turn it
back to a moment
see there are many they just uh
they're just like camping in the valley
of baker and sometimes life can be very
challenging
very difficult and you have to keep on
going
and if you get through it if you get
through it they'll be refreshing
and blessing and the joy of the lord
going from strength to strength
but you must not just stop in the middle
and say i can't go any further
maybe just for a moment you may want to
just take a little pause but you're
going to have to
get back on track and keep on going
praise god
because the truth is is that god
staggers your life in a way where
you may have one of those special
moments where you pass through something
extremely difficult
but just be aware this will not last
forever
this may this may lift tomorrow maybe
over with tomorrow
hallelujah praise god but you're still
going to have to keep on going
thank you jesus because the lord has
blessing
for you for me
in ministry there are times where
things get so intense with
uh there it's like things collide
together
uh maybe international travel and maybe
there could be one meeting that's
uh it's very very pivotal that it go
well because of souls and because
of all the preparation and all the
planning and all the hopes that are
being put into that
and the enemy of course will be fighting
that
with everything he can with all kinds of
things to cause that not to go right
and it can be extremely demanding i've
had
times where i've been out on the road
traveling internationally
and there was one point in my life i
reached such a place of depletion
from having done so much ministry i
really i literally went around the
entire planet
ministering here here boom boom stop
here minister here ministry here
there was one time in one day
where i went from one place to another
uh
there in the morning went to another
place in the evening so i can go
minister
there was a change in temperature of
over 100 degrees
so my body clock and heat clock and
biological clock and all of that
i went from a place in the morning of
being cold and super
cold trees trying to stay warm to the
evening where i was ministering at in a
different place in the evening a long
ways away
because i flew all day to get there and
in the evening the pack of gum that i
had that was still wrapped and
completely sealed in the plastic wrap
when i opened it it had turned
completely the glue
to goo because of the severe
humidity of where i was ministering at
so i have had times where i've been
absolutely completely
depleted of all human strength and then
pile on top of that all of the things
the devil's trying to do to cause havoc
to cause trouble to cause car wrecks to
cause people to make mistakes
and add some more crazy stuff on that
driving in areas of
undeveloped nations where the driver for
whatever reason
thinks that he's the next mario andretti
race car driver
and he is he's zipping around uh
curves where one false move the drop
is straight down thousands and thousands
of feet into a
gorge with a vertical cliff and there's
no guard rails
and if we went off out in the middle of
nowhere nobody would even know it
they might not find this for a year
praise god
in such times as that you just sit back
and
and you may be totally wore out and you
just say lord
you're good it's okay it won't be like
this always
it won't be like this always praise god
i know what it is to get on an airplane
and be taken straight to the front
i know what it is to be on the airplane
to go straight to the top uh
now a lot of airlines are retiring
there's 747s but on the 747 you have
that upstairs suite
and that's where the first class would
be at i know what it's like to go up
there to be sent
up there i know what it's like to go to
the front of the plane
i also know what it's like when you pass
the valley of baker
and you get somewhere and everything
goes totally wrong
uh in a on the other side of the planet
in a country
that is dangerous where you can't go to
the bathroom or you come back in your
luggage it'll be gone everything will be
gone
you have to watch everything and your
fatigue and your body aches and you want
to go to sleep and you can't
you're not allowed to you have to stay
up because it's it's
it's you all eyes open dangerous stuff
i know what it's like to spend all
nights in the airport
and i'm not talking like an airport at
dallas or dfw or jfk or
you know charles de gaulle and in paris
i'm talking some airports out in the
middle of nowhere
in nations that are undeveloped where
you go to the toilet it's just a hole in
the ground
that's all there you can't wash your
hands you don't have anything like that
praise the lord well pastor stephen uh
what should we say well we should just
say you just passed through it you don't
you don't camp
there hallelujah glory not glory to god
now if i did
camp there i'm going to say hey we need
to get a real toilet hallelujah let's
get let's get a toilet
let's implement some sanitation here
praise god
but for me that's not my my set place of
where i'm supposed to be so i know i'm
just traveling through
pressing on praise god but your whole
life is a journey
going where going to zion going up the
mountain of god
and it's a learning experience you must
not stop
you must keep going even through
difficult experiences that can stretch
you
stretch your mind stretch your body
stretch you in ways where you didn't
think you could even go there
but i'll tell you god will pull some
things out of you and he'll let
interesting things happen to you
i've told this story many times um
let me just mention it briefly when i
worked at a certain
job uh this this company was not
not just a fortune 500 company this is a
top fortune 50 company
and i worked this job and we somehow got
this manager
that was evil he was an evil manager
looked evil uh and he actually delighted
in that
uh used profanity uh listened to
the most horrible disgusting music went
way beyond acid rock this is this stuff
was really really bad
he would play it we got to listen to it
some of the people didn't like it but
you know you know the centers they
didn't care all that much but
i didn't like it it's pure filth and uh
he he would give me a work schedule
of things to do that uh if i were
superman
maybe i could do it with superhuman
ability uh i could maybe do it but
outside of that it was unrealistic he
wanted it done anyhow
didn't want any excuses and this
person's
this person was relenting against me uh
uh excuse me unrelenting against me and
anybody else in the department
and he he almost broke full-grown men he
almost made people's minds snapped
and the craziest thing was we were we
were just like we can't believe
that the higher management is allowing
this person to do this
this person has done so many things
could get fired so easily
and maybe today he could because people
today they're going to carry their phone
they're going to leave their phone on
and you can capture
somebody doing some of these awful
things he did crazy stuff
crazy stuff and
just a very wicked person
but you know what the lord wouldn't
remove him
and the lord kept him there and that
person
because of that demand and pressure he
brought
a level of productivity out of me
that i didn't even know existed and i
began to see that god was doing
something through this wicked man
to to bring me to a higher level
and it did it did because he had he had
the energy
i don't know what was creating it um but
he had
he had an energy that just uh it's like
somebody
living on red bull and monster energy
drinks he's just wired all the time
and when his shift was over he wouldn't
leave he'd keep on working
off the clock technically that was wrong
but he didn't care he i guess he just
was driven
driven and he was driving us too driving
us hard
god wouldn't get rid of him but the day
i got the victory
in my heart concerning that guy and i
just prayed for him and felt a great
love for him because he didn't know the
lord
it wasn't long after that the day i
really got the victory
and he couldn't he couldn't irritate me
or anything like that i just you know
the day i knew i'd won in my spirit with
such peace and love for him
was the day he got fired and he was
fired on the spot
taken out and that was a wrap
but i i received what i needed praise
the lord
was that a valley of bacon yes how long
did it last
about about four months four months
of just walking in the work with
absolute dread and having to go into
work if you're not prayed up you're
going to get
just um you're going to get steamrolled
so praise the lord should a should a job
be like that
oh no but sometimes things happen and i
i couldn't control it and i couldn't do
anything about it
well i'm going to go talk to management
we're getting removed pastor steven or
you go talk to them they wouldn't do
anything
and so i just pressed on through
pressed on through got to the other side
and there was blessing
well pastor stephen is is life like that
now are you under a slave driving
position
no see it's not always like that
remember
for our light affliction which is but
for a moment
it's working for us working for us a far
more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory knowing what
knowing the ways of god
knowing the ways of god learning those
things
where you learn a lot in the valley that
doesn't mean you can't
learn on the mountaintop or just on the
daily walk
but you'll you'll learn a lot in the
valley there's no question about it
so i would say turn that valley into a
beautiful place
let the learning experience be something
that you could say lord
i've got it oh and lord by the way i
think i've learned it really well
i would like to never go through
anything else like that ever again
praise god and you know what i haven't
and you'll find out that's usually the
way it is
job never went through any time ever
like that again it didn't happen
god didn't ask him to do it but
you take that experience you learn
praise god and you keep on going
hallelujah some of you have learned some
things you'll never pass that way again
in that good news hallelujah
thank you lord jesus glory to god
glory to god hallelujah praise god
father we just thank you that
there's going to be a good report
we thank you for the conclusion of a
matter
hallelujah lord we give you praise
thank you for the taste of sweet victory
thank you father god for your people
pressing on pressing through
father we thank you that paul the
apostle didn't quit
he didn't camp in bacon and say this is
too hard lord i've
got myself shipwrecked and uh i don't
have pizza hut tonight or dominoes
i'm out here in the middle of the
mediterranean floating around lord this
i
this is not the way it's supposed to go
but lord
you were working in him a far more
exceeding weight
an eternal a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory
and you're working that also into your
people and we thank you that should
anybody
that's listening to me father anybody
that's listening to me that would be
right now in the valley of bacon
anybody that would be in that place
where they're hard-pressed on every side
and they can feel it but yet they're not
crushed father
anybody that would be to a place
mentally where they're even perplexed
about what they're facing father i thank
you that they can also be in comfort
that
they're not in despair but father should
they even be
persecuted or even struck down
i thank you father god that you never
abandoned your people
but you're always there so father
strengthen your people
anybody going through the valley of
bacon help them to come through it help
them to come through it
those that go through that go through
help them to go through it keep moving
keep moving keep moving keep moving
father we give you praise i thank you
there's victory on the other side
and the other side's a lot closer than
what they think it's a whole lot
closer than what they think things are
going to get a lot easier for them
father we give you praise
we give you praise hallelujah
we thank you father that the conclusion
of a matter is better than the beginning
hallelujah we thank you father god
glory hallelujah praise you jesus
thank you lord glory the holy spirit's
moving right now
thank you father god thank you father
god
just like the apostle paul you had to
get in the rome
to appear before caesar to witness
to the most powerful political figure in
the world
and i thank you father god that you got
him through despite all the difficulties
and values he passed through
and father you're going to get your
people through also glory and you're
going to get them positioned right where
you want them to be
in their set assignment
praise the lord praise the lord
i'm seeing david right now you have to
understand david was hunted
if you've never had somebody
threaten your life or try to take your
life it's hard to
read these stories and understand
what they were going through david was
hunted
saul was on the other side of the
mountain with his men
circling trying to catch up with david
and his small group
and they are catching up and it looked
like certain death
wow what does that feel like
some of those things i haven't had those
direct experiences
but there can be these times where you
had you feel it
but know that no matter what you're
going through
god's with you hallelujah and if he's
got to do
a thousand miracles over a thousand
miles
like he did for mr glover he'll do it
for you too
but don't stop stay in faith and
keep on moving praise the lord
thank you jesus psalm 84 concluded by
saying in verse 12 o lord of hosts
blessed is the man who trusts in you if
you're going through the valley of baker
stay in faith in faith in what god's
word
keep trusting god he's still there he's
still there
one of the greatest encounters with the
lord that i ever had in my life
was when i went through an intense trial
for two months
that was so intense and that didn't make
any sense in the natural
well i know why now is because the devil
doing a bunch of goofy stuff behind the
scenes
causing these circumstances
to confront me to be up against me
but
the lord came to me and
he stepped inside of me and we went
down to the very depth
of the foundation of my spirit
of who stephen brooks really is it was
like getting into an elevator
and we went down we didn't go up we went
down started at my top and went down
you're very large on the inside you have
no idea how big you are on the inside
i'm not talking about your height and
feet in inches i'm talking about your
spiritual
your spiritual capacity because it says
that god gave solomon largeness of heart
on the inside he had all of this
uh creativity and ingenuity on the
inside of him
you're gigantic in your spirit well in
my spirit
the lord stepped in to me and we began
to go down
in me and when we got to the very depth
to the to the bedrock of this of my
spirit of who i am
we stepped out of the elevator and we
stood literally it looked like on rock
it looked like
um on the bottom of the ocean floor
there's rock sometimes there could be
some sand on top of it but if you just
move it away there's rock and many times
you can just see the rock
so we got down to the bedrock of me and
we stepped out of the elevator we
stepped onto that stone
and the lord pointed to a billboard
inside of me it came up i could read the
letters on it
and it said it said though he slayed me
yet will i trust in him
and the lord said what are you going to
do about that
praise the lord
all comes down the trust whether you're
on the mountaintop
having something supernaturally
wonderful or just like hey
you know you got a gigantic raise or you
sold something or
everything's going great or just maybe
it's just normal
what we would call everyday living or
the valleys that we don't prefer to go
through but
they're going to be there praise god
no matter where you're at you're still
going to have to trust god
if you want to go forward and i'm here
to say that you can make some of the
biggest strides
through valley experiences you can make
some of the most amazing
learning experiences in the valley
when all of that pressure and all of
these what we would call
overwhelming odds come on you to a point
you feel
like you're crushed and you even despair
of life
you you even wonder if you're going to
live
praise god the lord will never leave you
nor forsake you praise god
he's always with you and he's going to
get you through so get
up and keep on going because
good times really good times
are just right around the corner father
bless your people
let this word be sealed in their spirit
that they always
hold to you on the mountain or in the
valley
or wherever they might be in jesus name
in jesus name amen
amen praise god you know i've slept in
hotel rooms
with blood on the wall i've slept in
rooms before that
i don't even know if i'd call it a room
really might as well stepped outside
bugs crawling all over the wall and
the the sheets if we could call them
that
covered with creepy crawly things and
you know what that was the only option i
had
there was no other option just lay that
batter lay on the dirt
so you know what you keep on going
and i've had other times pastor stephen
welcome to seoul korea
you're staying at the grand ambassador
hotel we have you in one of the
executive suites
okay whoo praise the lord hey that's
nice hallelujah
it is what it is wherever you're at keep
on praising the lord and
keep on trusting the lord
thank you father in jesus name
if you're watching this message today
and you don't know christ as your lord
and savior
but the holy spirit's working on your
heart tugging on your heart
right now let's get you right let's get
your life right with god
make that decision right now pray this
prayer
after me say lord jesus
i'm a sinner but jesus
you died for my sins
jesus come into my heart
wash my sins away give me your
new life write my name
in your book of life and jesus
from this day forward take control of my
life
and lead me and guide me in the path
that you have for me
thank you jesus for saving me in your
name i pray
amen and amen
and those of you that have prayed the
sinner's prayer i would love to hear
from you please email me at contact
at stephenbrooks.org praise god
now let's take holy communion together
glory to the lord grab a little wafer
and some grape juice let's pray father
we thank you
we thank you for the grape juice the
bread
we pray over it and set it apart as holy
this is now the body
and the blood of christ our savior
thank you father as we receive the body
of jesus
we just say that we trust your word and
that should there be
any hardship we thank you that it's not
permanent it's only temporary and so
lord let us learn
from it while we're going through it
we praise you in jesus
name amen let's receive
hallelujah
have you ever been so far from
civilization
or what we would call modern stuff
that the only way you could brush your
teeth was brushing with coca-cola
you ever done that i've done that
because coca-cola is all over the place
if the water is infected with disease
you can get dysentery so you can't drink
the water and there's nothing else oh
there's coca-cola
so you drink the coca-cola and you also
take the cola and you brush your teeth
with it with the toothbrush at the same
time
or you're also not going to be able to
brush them at all
i've been in places like that for not
not an overnighter either
for extended periods of time
i've been in places where they say be
careful pastor stephen if that
this particular fly lands on you
and stays on you just for a few seconds
it will delay eggs the eggs
are so microscopic and small they go
right through your skin
and then worms will develop and break
out in your body don't let that fly
land on you what does it look like
i've been in places like that praise god
thank you lord jesus and the real stuff
real threats to the the
natives know about it but they're also
aware of it
but for me you know that's you know i
don't we don't have a fly like that
north carolina
praise the lord but see i was also just
passing through
praise god hallelujah father thank you
for the blood of jesus
father we thank you that the main thing
is that we're all pilgrims and we're all
just passing through
on our way to heaven that our
citizenship is of heaven
and one day we will be there father we
thank you we praise you
for teaching us along the way thank you
for forgiveness of sins
if any sins have been committed we ask
you for forgiveness of all of them right
now
we thank you and father we forgive those
who have sinned to get
who have sinned against us we completely
forgive them one hundred percent
we thank you father we give you glory
and honor
in jesus name amen let's receive the
blood of jesus
hallelujah glory
glory glory to the lord praise god
hallelujah the sun will shine again
praise the lord god has wonderful things
planned for you
let him do his work let him teach
god can really teach in the valley whoo
praise the lord
amen and i believe the things you learn
in the valley you can share with others
it will really really help them so
father we thank you
seal the word in jesus name
bless your people in jesus name amen
and amen thank you for watching
and i would ask that you would be
praying for me this week
as tomorrow i go back into the studio
and record for several days in a row
day after day after day recording
programs for pure gold
i would ask for your prayers for
strength and endurance
it is amazing how it happens every time
it's time to record the enemy attacks my
throat
he attacks my voice and sinuses
and um really tries to hit me on that
and so
because that starts tomorrow he's
already trying that stuff now i'm
resisting i'm standing strong
but i i would ask that you would pray
for me it says in the bible paul said we
are not ignorant of his devices
praise the lord and i know that these
messages that are going to be recorded
are going to bless many people around
the world
so thank you for praying for me i ask
that you would pray for my health
i also ask that you would pray that i
would have boldness
to preach the gospel in the fullness of
its power
as the lord would have it shared thank
you so much for your prayers
and i'll see you back next time real
soon
bye bye