good morning church family and ministry
friends i'm pastor stephen brooks
welcome today to our online internet
around the world church service i'm so
happy
that you are here today and i believe
that god's word
has the power to build you up to do
what he has called you to do and to be
the person that he has called you
to be so today we will give careful he
to god's word because it is the
instruction book
for our lives so that we may have
eternal life in christ
and success on the earth while we are
down here praise god glory to god
now we're going to receive the tithes
and offerings we're going to bring them
into the storehouse of god praise the
lord
so let's look at a scripture that will
build our faith for god's best
for our finances ecclesiastes chapter 10
verse 19. a feast
is made for laughter i mean you don't
have a feast
so that you can mourn and be sorrowful
a feast is for laughter when you look at
the
seven major feasts of the nation of
israel that they were called to
celebrate they were actually festivals
and they were told to celebrate
the lord praise god a feast is made for
laughter
and wine makes merry but money
answers everything one translation says
money answers
all things now you will always
have some christians that will say
money's not really important
have you have you ever noticed that
after they make a
goofy statement like that they'll turn
right around
and then work 40 50 maybe 80 hours that
week to do what
to get money wow i'm here today to tell
you that money
is probably more important than what
anybody has ever told you
god wants you to have money and he wants
you to have
plenty of it why
pastor stephen why should i have money
i'll tell you why
because when the questions of life comes
money gives you the ability to answer
that question in a skillful way praise
god
how about this question you're sitting
at home eating ice cream
you finish your ice cream then maybe you
feel like a hot tea
before you go to bed you get a hot tea
and suddenly
in the back of your mouth back there by
one of those
wisdom teeth you feel a throbbing
unlike any pain you've ever felt shoot
through your body before and you realize
oh i have a problem back there
and maybe it doesn't go away maybe it
begins to throb
all night long i actually had that
happen to me one time
when i was in my early 30s and it
started in the evening
and at about one o'clock in the morning
it was just
all out agony of this tooth
that had just gone bad praise the lord
so all the decay and
all of those things touching these
nerves
can cause extreme pain so you have a
question
what am i going to do about this problem
that has come into my life
pastor stephen we should pray and fast
yes go right ahead pray for me but i
need some help right now
this thing's driving me crazy
there are some things you can do but
there are some other things that are
beyond
even the ability of take three advil and
call the dentist in the morning praise
the lord
there are some things that need
immediate attention and you've got to
get to that dentist
the next morning or you can't you can't
think straight
now you could you could skip the money
option and you can go to your garage and
find your
find your tool kit and maybe find a good
player of pliers
and try to take it out yourself see
there pastor steven i didn't need money
i just needed some ingenuity look at my
tooth
that doesn't always work out good one
lady actually worked at the dental
office
she told me that one man actually tried
to pull his tooth
himself and he didn't understand
uh nerves and didn't understand
you know connecting uh root tissue and
all of that stuff
and he pulled his tooth out and when he
pulled it out
the roots of the tooth were still
connected to his mouth and it
sent excruciating pain through his body
beyond anything he had ever experienced
i think he fainted and passed out
he just thought oh you pull it out you
yank the tooth out that's not always the
case there are
roots that connect that tooth in there
that embed
that tooth into your gums and he found
that out in a very painful situation
use some money why pastor stephen
because it answers
everything it answers the problem of the
the truth problem
it answers the problem such as the good
samaritan ran into
of the of the man that had been beaten
up
stripped of all of his possessions uh
beat
uh very very badly and so now there's
the question
what am i going to do about this guy
well
somebody with money can answer that
question
should you ever come up on a situation
like that can you believe the man
actually had the ability the good
samaritan had the ability to take that
man
transport him to a hotel after he has
received as we would say in today's
vernacular
medical treatment and got him you know
bandaged up and
poured oil into all the cuts and things
like that you know
because all the oil back then was spiced
so it in a sense is antiseptic
so let's knock out any bacteria germs
bandage him up
now let's put him in a hotel and just
let him recuperate let him lay there for
you know 60 days until everything mends
back
and the good samaritan told the
innkeeper i'll pay the bill
just let him stay here as long as he
needs to i'll pay the hotel bill
could you pay somebody so tell bill that
needed desperate help
and just needed to be put up how about
for a week
well pastor steve you know hotel's only
twenty dollars a night you can't find a
twenty dollar hotel anywhere in america
no usually seventy dollars and up
usually over a hundred
so you need to have extra you need to
have overflow why
it answers all kinds of questions of
life
we see another example which would be in
the book of james
chapter 2 verse 15 if a brother or
sister is naked
and destitute of daily food and one of
you says to them
depart in peace be warmed and filled
but you do not give them the things
which are needed for the body
what does it profit see if you don't
pull out your checkbook
pull out your wallet your purse or pull
out some cash
and say hey we're going to get you some
clothes right now you're freezing
we're going to go get you some food
right now we're going to get you set up
because we don't want you out here
starving especially especially here
i mean i mean there's food all over the
place
let's let's get some help in here praise
god as well as
other parts that we can reach out to not
only in our local area even around the
world praise the lord
but money does what it answers that it
answers that so god
wants you to have extra so that you are
blessed all of your needs are met
yes and you have overflow to
answer life's problems now you could be
ultra wealthy you could be a billionaire
and
you do realize there is a place money
can't take you in the sense you can't
buy your salvation
you can't uh buy your way into heaven
you can only enter heaven
through god's grace and receiving that
grace
through faith by putting your trust in
christ
what he accomplished at calvary for the
redemption
of all lost humanity to come back to him
through his
shed blood putting your faith and trust
in him so money
money can't touch that but from a
natural perspective which is what
solomon
the wisest man on earth is commentating
is
speaking of in context it answers all
kinds of questions
what are your kids going to do after
high school what about college what
about a trade school what about some
some um job career field
that they can get on track with so they
can have a good job
how are you going to go how are you
going to send them to those places
money is going to answer that answers
all kinds of things
pastor stephen we would like to see the
bible print it
in the native tongue of one of these
foreign tribes well that's wonderful
who's going to pay for it because you
have to print it
you have to have researchers study it
somebody's going to have to buy the
paper
somebody's going to buy the press you
know so all of these things
money answers all of it don't let
anybody
ever tell you money's not important it's
one of the
stupidest lies that floats through the
church
and amazingly enough there are some
believers
christians who actually believe it
my friends you'll be able to answer all
kinds of things around you
and remember we know this there's needs
everywhere
so you just can't you can't pour in
everything you'll you'll be depleted
you can be elon musk and if you started
pouring in everything
in a week you're depleted so you're let
you're led by the holy spirit
your life is governed by the spirit and
biblical principles
and you have those moments yeah this is
one of those times
you can you can answer a situation why
because you can you have the extra whoa
praise the lord whether it's helping the
poor
whether it's helping a ministry project
or whatever it might be
it is one that one of the most wonderful
things when you
practice giving and you realize it is
more blessed to give than it is to
receive
praise god glory to god hallelujah thank
you jesus now
let's walk in the light of the word and
work biblical principles
such as tithing the sowing of financial
seed in order to reap a financial
harvest
so that we can be a blessing so let's
honor the lord with our finances
right now praise god if you're new in
the faith
we are instructed in scripture to honor
god by giving him the tithe that's 10
from all of our earned income or even
income or monies that would come in that
we did not earn such an inheritance or
special bonus at work or something like
that the tithe belongs to the lord
let's bring it in right now praise god
if you prefer to mail
your tithes and offerings in please send
them to stephen brooks international
p.o box 717
moravian falls north carolina zip code
28654 if you prefer to bring the tithes
and offerings in online of course you
can do so
any from anywhere in the world
just go to our ministry website
stevenbrooks.org
right there on the home page is the the
giving
link called give and there's a red heart
and you can click that
and you can bring your tithes and
offerings right into the ministry
storehouse we all
also have special projects that we're
working on right now
our key project right now is the
resurfacing of the
parking lot we want to have new asphalt
laid down
so it's nice and up-to-date we've got
too many cracks and too much
broken up concrete or not concrete but
just old asphalt
we need to have the new put in it's a 40
000
project if you would like to sew into
that you can click
the tab that's called projects and
it'll open up the various projects
you'll see the parking lot project
and any offering sent into that will be
used specifically for that purpose
and it is greatly appreciated praise the
lord thank you jesus amen
father bless your people let them have
more than enough money
father we give you praise because it's a
good thing
in jesus name we pray
we all agree and say amen
praise the lord now today
i would like to talk about the subject
of keys
for reaching dream
fulfillment i know i'm speaking to some
dreamers
that are out there and i'm not just
talking about wishful thinkers
you know you have i've met these people
they're always walking around wishing
hoping hoping intuition that they would
win the lottery or something like that
no we're talking about those that have
dreams
and are very serious about the
fulfillment
of those dreams so today we're going to
talk about keys
and i'm going to focus on one of these
keys it's essential it's not optional
it's essential for reaching dream
fulfillment today we're going to launch
from the book of proverbs
which is the book of wisdom proverbs
chapter 10
praise the lord let's pray heavenly
father as we go into
today's message we ask that you open our
hearts to receive your word
with joy and father if there would be
any slackness
in this area that we study today let it
be pulled tight
and let our lives reflect your
christian values your biblical values
which are
eternal in in their nature they'll never
change
we thank you for this we bless you in
jesus name
amen we're beginning today in proverbs
chapter 10
verse 4 he who has a
slack hand or lazy hand
becomes poor but the hand
of the diligent makes rich
praise the lord the power
for you to step into wealth and
prosperity by the way did you ever
notice that your dreams
in order for them to be filled fulfilled
a lot of that is going to revolve around
what money money pastor stephen i have a
dream to start an orphanage
good good you're going to need some
money
to put shoes on those children to put
food in their mouths
praise god most dreams are going to have
some form or connection with the need
for financial provision
and the power to get wealth the power to
step in the prosperity
is not solely based upon you or i
operating in just the principles of
giving and receiving only
there has to be more there needs to be a
balance
between watch this our giving
and are you ready our
working i know
that in today's culture that
the dignity of work often now is
actually
smeared upon and there are those who
live off maybe state benefits or have
learned to even work the government
system
and they sit home and they say why
should i work
when the benefits i get almost equate
to what i would get if i went out and
worked
i'll tell you why so that you could rise
way beyond
15 an hour level living
that these government subsidies and
these government entities would
have be happy to see you stuck at for
the rest
of your life
leaving the planet having accomplished
less
than one percent of your potential of
what god put you here for
whoa praise the lord so break out of
that system of entrapment and look to
the lord
hallelujah not for a handout
of cheese or some government
check that barely keeps your nose above
the water so you can just survive
don't be looking to that as some form of
living that's terrible that's that god
didn't even create you for a purpose or
for
uh some kind of a miserable existence
like that where you sit home
all day surf the internet
you just waste your time playing video
games for 12 hours a day
or something like that it's a trap of
satan
to abort your destiny and the high
calling that you
actually have to leave a mark in the
earth
that brings glory to god hallelujah
needs to be a balance between your
giving
and your working giving
establishes the blessings of god
but working provides the channel
through which those blessings are
released glory to god
giving without working it's like pouring
oil
into your hands can you imagine this
picture this
pouring oil into your hands and trying
to use that as a system to transport oil
let's move some oil around here pour it
in my hands i'll carry it over here
well by the time you get over there to
empty it wherever you're trying to put
it into
you you've lost it why your hands are
not designed
to be a channel oil does not flow
uh properly through something like that
you're it's going to be leaking all over
the place
giving without working is like pouring
oil into your hands
foolishly trying to move it from one
place to another
your hands are not a suitable channel
for transporting
oil or
alone your giving is not that suitable
channel alone
by itself for the fullness
of god's plan for your life to unfold
now let me give you two scriptures
that will give you a solid connection
between
giving and working
let's stay a little bit longer in the
book of wisdom the book of proverbs
let's go now to proverbs chapter 18.
let's drop down to verse 16. praise the
lord
a man's gift makes room for him
and brings him before great men
there is something about the giving of a
gift when you can
understand a person what they like
what makes them happy have you ever had
a goofy gift given to you
something really that would maybe even
be called a
you wouldn't tell the person but
something that you think this is a
stupid gift i don't even like this why
it's not even my color doesn't even fit
why did they give this to me
then maybe you realize they they just
gave it because
it was a leftover christmas gift that
they didn't want
they thought it was stupid so what do
they do they gave it to you
they forgot to take the sticker off of
it and you turn it upside down
and the sticker says 2.99
not good not good but when you get the
gift
right you read the person right and you
think they would really like this
and you and they do wow and you nailed
it on the gift
and it opens their heart a man's gift
makes room for him it sure will
sure will there are times when you're
going into certain
ecosystems into certain environments in
the certain places
you bring a gift and if you get the gift
right
it will open some big doors praise the
lord and
brings him that gift brings him before
great men
so giving is very very
important now proverbs chapter 22
verse 29 do you see a man
who excels in his work he will stand
before kings
he will not stand before
unknown men now here
we see that is it is your giving
and your working that determines
the ultimate outcome of your life
praise the lord do you see a man who
excels in his work
he will stand before kings he will not
stand
before unknown men
you need to excel excel i'm not talking
about the microsoft
program i'm talking about you rising to
the top
of your career field of your profession
do you see a man who excels
in his work let me tell you right now
the person who's the very best at what
they do
they're going places you're going to the
very top you will be rewarded
you will be rewarded he will stand
before kings
he will not stand before unknown
men see kings can appreciate that why
they realize hey we've got a major
problem solver here that's
on the scene we're gonna we're gonna get
this person we're gonna employ this
person
we're gonna make sure they're well taken
care of we ain't ever letting them go
whoo praise the lord why they're too
good at their work
those are not a dime a dozen they're not
praise the lord
thank you jesus so you're giving and
you're working that determines
high you go the outcome of your life
now that's what i like in a sense about
my ministry
because this is a ministry that the lord
established
he told me to start this ministry and to
move forward with this ministry
and we are perhaps you could call it
non-denominational
in a sense that i don't have to you know
get
a superintendent or general overseer's
permission
uh to work past 40 hours
i i don't need that if i want to work 60
hours i can
if i want to stay up writing on my
manuscript to two o'clock in the morning
i don't have somebody saying no don't do
that we're gonna owe you a whole lot of
overtime stop
stop it no no i can i can work all i
want
and i like it praise the lord i used to
work at a company
and they would anybody that got the
moment you start getting around 38 hours
of course i was
time but if you got the 38 hours they're
watching you like a hawk
now remember at 40 you have to clock out
at 40.
and it's a multi-billion dollar company
oh but you've got to get off the clock
at 40.
hallelujah now look when you're going to
rise to the top
i can tell you right now you're going to
you're going to go past 40.
you're going to go past 40. and it's a
good thing
it's a real good thing praise god
that freedom to work now what we're
discussing today
this key for reaching dream fulfillment
not just
perpetually dreaming no dream
fulfillment
this is something that actually a lot of
charismatics
tongue-talking bible-toting believers
they they don't know a lot about this
area of work
now the charismatics they know about
giving but
in this area of work and really
churning out the output a lot of them
haven't been taught
they have never heard messages on this
subject
and they'll give they'll pray and
they'll you know walk with the lord and
they're like
lord another year's gone by lord three
more years have gone by
well hope i don't die before this thing
ever comes to pass
well sometimes there can actually just
be flat out
a lack of work and they're not staying
on task they're losing focus
and it's not getting accomplished so
we're here today
to get it done through the dignity of
good labor
and diligent work now you'll notice
in genesis chapter 12 and also chapter
14
that abraham he encountered
the promise of blessings through the act
of giving
but we see clearly in chapter 14
that he gave tithes to melchizedek
who blessed him but you have to
understand
even with these blessings going on
that abraham took delivery of those
blessings
through hard work
praise god well pastor stephen what what
was he doing how did he do it
well principles are eternal but
methods are different for all of us
because the method
you have different method why you have a
different quality in life you have a
different skill set you have a different
desire to do something what was his
method
he was a he was a cattleman he was a
rancher
he had a huge ranch
with lots of animals and he wasn't
raising them
for pets he was selling them making a
lot of money
and he became very very wealthy as a
rancher
here's another here's another rancher i
don't i don't think he wore a cowboy hat
um i don't think he had on tony llama
boots
but i'll tell you one thing he was a
rancher if you ever saw one
and that man was job praise the lord
would you like to see it
in the bible now before i show it to you
now you get ready
because you need to understand that job
in his time had the largest vehicle
dealership not only in the middle east
in the world oh no pastor stephen he
wasn't out there in the desert
selling mercedes benzes i'll show it to
you in the bible
pastor stephen are you telling me he's
he was a dealer for rolls royce well let
me just show you what the bible says
job chapter 42 which is technically the
book of job
according to theologians is actually the
oldest
written book in the bible
hallelujah praise god now genesis covers
the beginning
but they actually say that genesis was
written after
the book of job had been written praise
the lord now
job chapter 42 let's go directly to the
verse
verse 12. now the lord blessed the
latter days of job
more than his beginning for he had
fourteen thousand sheep
six thousand camels there it is
right there because the camel was the
mercedes-benz
of the desert back in those days
and he had 6 000 of them on the
dealership lot
now if you went to any car dealership
and you saw they had an inventory on the
lot of
6 000 vehicles you'd be like this is the
largest dealership i've ever been to
look at all the cars as far as i can see
brand new cars for sale that's what job
had
that's what job had you have to have a
channel
for the blessing to flow through what
was his channel
he was a rancher his what he was
ranching over was a lot of animals a
whole bunch of sheep
oxen donkeys but the camels
6 000 camels
think about the size of the labor force
that he would need to take care
of all of these animals oh no pastor
steven he just put them all off in the
field somewhere and just they they just
multiplied no it doesn't work like that
they're going to get sick they're going
to die you know our people are going to
steal them
he had an enormous workforce
of employees and i'm sure they were paid
well
i'm sure they were well taken care of
and the blessing of god was upon job
but that blessing was being manifested
through a certain channel
and that was his what his work
oh we know job was a heavy weight giver
rescuing
the poor literally he says snatching
the destitute right out of the teeth the
things of the wicked
well how they do that pastor stephen
with money
with money same thing handel did when he
wrote the messiah
and it became famous it
became a phenomena and people wanted to
listen to it and people wanted to hear
it over and over and over and he became
wealthy after having previously been
i think impoverished would be
maybe saying it too well he was so poor
and broke
before this infusion of wealth into his
life
and when the money flowed in you know
what he did
he would go to prisons and he would pay
off people's debt because you had people
in prison because they they couldn't pay
their debts
and he would pay their financial debts
off and liberate people
literally from out of prison
so you know you know he was a giver yes
pastor stephen i want to emulate that
good
you need to go to work too you need to
give
you need to give i just you do the work
oh he's just off in the tent somewhere
pastor steven's sleeping no no
nothing runs on his own and the bigger
it is the more oversight it takes
he has a huge employee base and he has
leaders over that he has to he has to
uh teach and instruct the leaders big
big operation
you can imagine car dealership six
thousand vehicles on the lot
that's only the camels
praise the lord
abraham and job were both givers but
they were also workers
when you are not working please please
let this go deep deep into your spirit
when you are not working please please
if you're sitting all day long playing
video games
relying on a government check please
listen to what i'm trying to share with
you out of a heart of love
when you are not working god has nothing
to bless
when you're not working god has nothing
to bless
so there's no channel for the flow
well i'm a sweet person pastor stephen i
helped an old lady across the street she
didn't get run over
that's nice and god sees things like
that that's that's nice
but work is a primary channel
for the blessing to flow and when you're
not working
god's unable to reach you with that
blessing um
thank you jesus if you get a little
trickle something the little trickle
blessing little little
a little sprinkle of a blessing that's
nice but that's that's nothing compared
to what god wants to do for you
praise the lord psalm 1
verse 1 blessed is the man who
walks not in the counsel of the ungodly
nor stands in the path of sinners nor
sits in the seat
of the scornful but his delight is in
the law of the lord
and in his law he meditates day and
night he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water that
brings forth its fruit
in its season whose leaf also shall not
wither
and whatever he does
shall prosper catch it
whatever he does
shall prosper praise the lord
did you notice that it does not say
whatever he gives shall prosper
yes whatever he gives will prosper
that's
there is a place for that 30 60 100 fold
but that's not what we're talking about
today
we're talking about a different key
that's often neglected
the key of diligent work
praise the lord and whatever he does
shall prosper thank you lord jesus
there's no future for the lazy man
in this covenant there's no future
for the lazy man in this covenant
praise the lord you have to get up and
you have to work
praise god now you have a choice
between hard work or
hard life by the way i made my choice
years back for hard work and because of
that
you can see obviously i'm very much free
from a
hard life praise god but it's a choice
that we all have to make john chapter 5
verse 17 but jesus answered them
my father has been working until now
and i have been working
can you imagine a messiah
laying in bed 11 o'clock in the morning
not shaved
well maybe they didn't shave back then
certain times maybe didn't you know
culture and customs back then but you
know not ready for the day
you know just wasting time you know
hoping hoping no
no the messiah the true messiah jesus of
nazareth
he was a worker he was a worker he was
not he was not some kind of a hobo
preacher
no no he had a phenomenal work ethic
and the more growth of your ministry or
of your business of your career field
know what uh the workloads you learn to
balance it
but you're gonna be you're gonna be in
high demand praise god
thank you lord jesus i'm telling you
jesus was a worker
he was a worker and he said he was so
he's not not a lazy person not a lazy
bone as we would say
in his body
praise god now
i want to share something interesting
with you from deuteronomy
let's go back to the old testament again
just for a moment deuteronomy chapter 28
verse 6 blessed
shall you be when you come in and
blessed
shall you be when you go out
that's the problem with some of you too
much sitting
too much sitting around no going in no
going out
you're going to have to have the work
activity going on
praise the lord movement hallelujah
actively going out and coming in
ecclesiastes chapter 9.
verse 10 whatever your hand
finds to do do it
with all your might praise the lord
well pastor stephen i haven't been able
to find a job
i met one man i'm not i'm not
exaggerating
i met one man who told me he couldn't
find a job
it has been now over 10 years
and he still says are you ready for this
he still says i still haven't found the
job
i still haven't found the job
wow crazy crazy stuff
crazy stuff see it says in scripture
whatever your hand finds
your hand needs to be a finding hand
and needs to find a job well i don't
have one well now you have one
you have a full-time 40-hour work week
job
which is to find the job and your hand
will find it
just stick it out there start looking it
will find it
it will find it but you need to go out
there and look for it praise god
whatever your hand
finds to do do it
with all your might
praise the lord god's going to open up
something very
very special for you if you don't have a
job right now maybe you've lost it
because maybe the company you work for
went out of business because of the
you know the covet and various companies
and businesses not recovering
once they reopened or perhaps never
reopen
but you know what you
maybe lost a job but you didn't lose
your hand
your hand can find another job better
than the one that you had and if you'll
get out there and use your faith and
work
by looking you'll see god bless you
with the best paying job with the best
benefits
with the best atmosphere with the best
company that you've ever worked for in
your life before
praise god get up get moving father
bless that person
that man that woman that needs
employment bless them
let their hand find it let them work to
find it
we thank you father god you're going to
give them something better i agree with
them
the best job they've ever had in jesus
name
amen praise the lord hallelujah glory to
god
now let's go to the book of haggai
chapter 1
again we need to understand that it
takes giving
and working but we must
know in our hearts that hard work
without a giving heart will leave us
in places of frustration of being
spiritually stranded even perhaps
financially stranded
which is why we need to engage always in
covenant practice
of working and giving verse 11
god says for i called for drought on the
land
and the mountains on the grain
and the new wine and the oil on whatever
the ground brings forth on men
and livestock and on all the labor of
your hands
so there's a drought and things aren't
working
like they should be why
verse 9 tells us
because of my house the lord of hosts
says because of my house
that is in ruins while every one of you
runs to his own house
the problem here is that they were not
engaged
in a giving covenant
they were selfish only interested
in their personal ambitions and they had
no heart
for god's agenda and because of that it
was like
the monies they had they put it in their
pockets in their pockets it were as if
they had
holes in their pockets so yes
giving is critical it's essential but we
must also
work and be very consistent
with doing both continuing to sow
but at the same time working working
consistently
working and working and you're going to
see
you're going to see god bless you
and take you into realms where it's like
a new dimension
it's not it's not even like it's like a
raise or i got
like this much of a raise it's like no
you go into a new
dimension praise the lord
of blessing galatians chapter 6 verse 9
and let us not grow weary while doing
good for
in due season we shall reap if we do not
lose heart don't grow weary
keep giving keep
working keep putting your trust in the
lord yes walk with god pray
seek the face of god but my friends
prayer and fasting are not a substitute
for work when there needs to be hands-on
working when there needs to be boots on
the ground
it's not going to get done unless you
jump in there
and do your part yes i i preach on
prayer often as you know
we discuss and open up the subject of
fasting
and it is a spiritual discipline that we
engage in as the holy spirit leads
but my friends we must also be willing
to put the work
in now let's go just for a moment to the
gospel of mark
mark chapter 4 verse 26 and he said this
would be jesus speaking
the kingdom of god is as if a man should
scatter seed on the ground
and should sleep by night and rise by
day
and the seed should sprout and grow he
himself does not know how
for the earth yields crops by itself
first blade
then the head and after that the full
grain in
the head praise the lord
no matter how marvelous the revelation
that you have received from god
it's still going to unfold in phases
you're not going to jump from a to z
you're going to go a
b c you're going to have to follow the
biblical principle first the blade
then the head then the full grain in the
head
therefore we see from the lord's example
that it takes patience for us to reach
the place
that god has planned for you
particularly the plan
that you begin to discover in the school
of prosperity
and you see it there's unveiling of the
plan you're like oh this is going to be
good
and it is but you're going to have to go
through the different phases
so what must you do keep working keep
giving
keep praying keep seeking the lord and
work work
work praise the lord thank you jesus
let us now go to the book of of habakkuk
habakkuk chapter 2 and we're going to
look at one more scripture
here in habakkuk let's go to habakkuk
chapter 2
verse 2. then the lord answered me
and said write the vision make it plain
on tablets
that he may run who reads it praise the
lord
write the vision you know often the
vision is so much higher
than what we could have ever conceived
perhaps when we were young
maybe you were raised in a certain
environment or community
that if you were honest looking back
maybe you could just say you know what
there was a spirit of laziness in that
county
in that culture in which you were raised
i remember riding one day with my dad in
the pickup truck as we were going into
town
driving on the street it wasn't a street
it was a road like a state road
where the speed limit was 55 miles per
hour
and there was a truck kind of an orange
kind of faded orange
color pickup truck in front of us that
we kind of caught up with that was going
30 miles per hour under the speed limit
so the speed limit is 55 and they're
crawling along at 30 miles per hour
and two men in that truck i said to my
dad i said dad why
why are they driving so slow he said
well suddenly you'll notice on the truck
that color and the writing over here on
the side it tells you this is a county
truck
so those are county workers they work
for the county
and he said the reason they're driving
so slow is to milk the clock
and they don't really want to work so
while they're on their way to their next
job they're driving just as slow as they
can
because they're stuck on a certain pay
level they have no motivation
to go any higher in life so they just
drive real slow they don't really care
about anything
and it gets done when it gets done
so i began to realize in life that you
could be
raised in a culture like that you could
be raised maybe in a house
where you were you were taught growing
up you need a two hour nap
yep every day at 12 you have to have a
super
extra long siesta you need a two hour
nap you look tired
did you get your two hour nap in now
look
if you need a 10 minute nap lean back
close your eyes for a few minutes that's
understandable
but you don't need a two hour nap in the
day unless maybe you only had one hour
of sleep
two hours of sleep at night no you need
to get uh eat your lunch
enjoy yourself take a little break and
then get back to work praise the lord
now pastor stephen now hold on just a
moment i was raised on island time
well you better get off that island time
or you're going to miss the plane
because the plane schedule does not
operate on island time
it boards at 11 it takes off at 11 23
and if you're not there and you miss
your gate too bad well that's not fair
uh we don't do it like that on the
island well
you need to you need to adjust your way
of thinking
praise the lord hallelujah and by the
way if you want to come into
civilization get your island into
civilization
such as paved roads and hospitals and
you know grocery stores and stuff like
that
you're going to have to get off this you
know well i guess we'll just get it done
when we get it done
well that's fine you just keep on
walking barefoot live on a dirt road
and you know you're going to have to
make these adjustments
praise the lord and have a hustle glory
to god in your step
thank you jesus there are two states
in america the these two states lead
when it comes to hustle
it's california particularly southern
california and
new york particularly new york city and
there's a hustle
and there there's a vibe and but there's
like let's get it done
and you can be impacted by that in a
good way
and then you go to another place where
everything's on molasses
time schedule well we're still working
on that
that pastor stephen and it's not done
yet well when's it going to be done
well now we don't really know when the
time of completion for that is going to
get done but we're going to give you a
call
once it's done i'll go somewhere else
i'll go somewhere else because what
happens is stuff like that
it just stretches out longer and longer
and longer and i've had it happen here
in the county i live in
and i love the county i live in
but we don't have island time here we
have foothill time here we're at the
foothills of the mountains
and and a lot of people like it real
slow
we don't want none of that city stuff
pastor steven we like our ways
uh that's nice that's that's nice and
there are some good attributes of that
well you know you have peace and calm
and stuff like that
but if you want to attract some things
that will benefit the community
and help your children to have a better
quality of life
you may want to pick up the pace a
little bit
praise the lord
now maybe you were raised in a culture
like that
in a county like that and
and you get around other stuff that's
moving real real quick and you're just
like
well sometimes god will merge you into
that because you you need some of that
well i'm getting overloaded pastor
steven well then you need to
you need to acclimate to a faster pace
and i had that happen at a certain job
when i lived in southern california
i had this certain job and everything
was going good we had a great team
it was a large corporation but we we all
liked our team
and in one day it went from being
comfortable
and we all loved our work in one day
it went to like like hell like hell on
earth
in our job department with this new
manager that came in
wild wild he had no corporate
uh uh dna at him at all he was like
we were all like how did he get this job
i mean how did they let like a crazy guy
like this in
but he had a work ethic that was through
the roof
oh he could cuss and he could use
profanity like you would you wouldn't
believe he was a
he was a sinner and very happy to be one
but his work ethic was unbelievable how
much he could get done
and he would push people so hard
including me
to accomplish workloads that i think it
would challenge the avengers
or this or superman to meet the quota
of what he's laying out but he wanted it
done
by this time and he's going to check it
and uh and he put the pressure on you
know you're going to get written up
if you don't do it or whatever so you
know so
he pulled for those that
kind of like could see his heart how can
i say
because he's really wanting the
department to shine he's wanting to
climb the ladder that's all he's wanting
to do and he's
you know in order to do that you got to
run you got to run the ship
so i saw what he was up to i could see
the good
part i could see the wicked but i could
see the good part and
that that work ethic was phenomenal and
that
that jumped on me i realized i can get
it done now sometimes i didn't get
everything done that he wanted
but i got so far beyond what would be
considered normal
that i was working so fast that one day
one of these guys stopped and said
he stopped me and said stephen if we
keep
accomplishing this level of work
they're going to expect this all the
time and they're we're gonna have to
perform like this all the time
i said that's that's okay
that that's all right by the way that's
not
that's why i'm not there anymore i i
went beyond that
yes the calling the ministry and all
that but also even
should god have chosen in his
sovereignty to have sent me in a
different path in life
i guarantee you one thing i wouldn't be
at that place anymore why i worked my
way out of that place
i went way beyond that why because of
that
instrument that god used
to show me something about work that i'd
never really seen
on that level before praise god so
you know i just took that with me i took
that with me and after i had learned
that lesson really good
and that was something that
ignited and took on the inside of me and
i just stayed like that
then he was fired he was gone
glory to god well pastor steve now he's
gone i guess you could just sit back and
really shoot the breeze with the boys
i guess you could really now you could
no i kept
i kept on working like that i kept on
working
like that that high output
high output praise the lord
now pastor stephen god gives different
anointings to some
some are called to just do a small work
for the lord and some are called maybe
to a larger work
god decides that there are
different levels of anointing but that
doesn't mean you're necessarily
stuck on a certain place and you have no
involvement in
shifting that you can go higher if you
want to you can increase the anointing
you can certainly decrease it nobody
would argue about that you can certainly
decrease the anointing stop praying stop
seeking god and all that
so but you have to understand you can
increase it as well
but with that increase of anointing that
positions you to minister
more effectively to god's people yes
it's going to require more work
praise the lord praise the lord that's
okay
that's okay there's never a place god
overloads you
there's because it's a labor of love
you know i was i was working yesterday
doing some polishing on my manuscript
and i got so caught up that
before i knew it i had i had hardly
moved for three hours
and just like i looked up and i was like
oh i only meant to do this for an hour
i've got to catch back up now shift over
this other thing that was supposed to
get done
so you can get so caught up in your work
why
you love it it's who you are it's what
you do that
it's you're not like you're not like
mentally depleting yourself because
oh this this is taxing me i don't know
how much longer i can take this i want
to retire i can't
no you don't want to retire because you
love what you do
praise god you retire when you get to
heaven praise the lord
thank you jesus there was a point in the
life of dr oral roberts
where he told the certain minister he
said i'm going to retire i can't
i can't stand up anymore and minister to
people i can't i can't stand up and
preach anymore
and the minister wisely said don't
retire
he said just sit down and talk to them
and dr roberts said sit down and the
the minister said yes sit down he said
they don't care if you're standing or
sitting
you you have an anointing you have a
message that will bless just keep keep
talking
even from a chair dr roberts decided to
do that and thus extended
his effective ministry and uh you know
teaching and training
for many more years right up until the
time that he went home to be with the
lord he still had ministers coming over
to his apartment
and he's mentoring people and stuff like
that sitting down but he's still going
why he loved it is what he loved doing
thank you jesus thank you lord jesus
now habakkuk chapter 2 again we have
moved through verse 2
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 your dreams going to come to pass
your dreams going to come to pass at the
end it's going to speak
it's going to speak and it's going to
say
it's going to say i have been completed
it's going to be saying because it's
going to be speaking why because
it was built it was raised up
and it there it is and in a sense it's
speaking even if it's a building
structure
or whatever it might be a hospital
whatever it could be
a bible college whatever it could be
there it is and it's
speaking fulfillment the dream has
been realized but it speaks when
at the end and that's why you're going
to have to keep
giving and you're going to have to keep
working
until you get to the end because it
doesn't speak until you get
to the end praise god
i'm not in any way into
get rich quick i don't believe in that
there's so much deceit
in that i don't believe in that i'm not
an endorser
of money being used simply as a
weird tool for glamour no that's not
what it's all about
i'm into a practical covenant
pursuit of wealth in other words i would
say
money with a mission
wealth for a purpose
for the accomplishment of the dream the
assignment
that god has designated for you to
complete
so we must work and we must give
and it will come you will be blessed
and you will have overflow and you will
be a blessing
to others the vision will speak at
the end praise god and you will see the
fruits of your labor
hallelujah praise god and somebody will
say isn't that nice look what you did
praise god that just happened overnight
you're thinking no work for years
behind the scenes working working well
look at that he just prayed and there it
is that they don't they don't see the
work often
they don't see so often the word but
you know that yes you paid a price
to stand in that place and when it's
done
it's very rewarding because that vision
will speak but
again it only speaks at the end stick
with it
you're going to be there and your dream
is going
to come to fulfillment let me pray for
you heavenly father i pray for those
that are watching right now they have
dreams
let them give feet to those dreams let
them put
their hands to the plow not only in the
sense of the gospel
the salvation life walking with christ
but also to the assignment
that you have given to them let them put
their hands on the plow not look back
let them work
the plow is an instrument of working let
them work
let them plow let them work thank you
father god let them keep giving
walking in that covenant platform
of finances we thank you father god we
thank you for the channel
they're creating huge channels
for provision to flow for wealth to flow
we give you praise father we have seen
ranchers we've seen abraham we've seen
job
there's many different methods so father
as we work
the principles we thank you for the
different designated methods that are
going to be applied in the lives of your
people
through work many streams of income
will be established for those because
you will
prove faithful in one channel god's
going to open another channel
you will have multiple streams of income
touching your life shout and say
amen father i bless your people to have
multiple streams of income multiple
channels of work where the income can
flow
thank you father into their lives in
jesus name
amen praise god now my friends if you're
watching today and perhaps
you've never made christ the lord of
your life
but in your heart you feel the holy
spirit working on your heart
and you want to get your life right with
god then why don't you
do that right now and pray this prayer
after me just pray this out loud 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
write my name in your book of life i
receive you now
as my lord and savior thank you jesus in
your name i pray
amen and amen praise the lord welcome to
the family of god praise the lord
let's take holy communion together i
want to ask you to grab some
unleavened bread if you don't have
these little wafers you can always use a
cracker or something like that
and grab some grape juice and let's pray
over it
heavenly father we thank you we bless
the bread the juice
we set it apart through this prayer as
holy it's now consecrated
it's holy this is now the body and the
blood of christ
and father as we receive the body of
jesus
we receive his wisdom
and we thank you that wisdom always
carries instructions
we are instructed by you to work
diligently
so father as we receive the body of
christ
let the spirit of energetic work
work that we love let it come upon us we
thank you father there's also times the
rest and refresh
but when it's time to work father let us
burn with your holy spirit in that area
to accomplish much for you we thank you
father we receive the lord's body
and his anointing for work in jesus name
amen let's partake
those of you that are older and more
mature in the faith
when you see the younger ones who have
been influenced
through the false teachings of socialism
and communism
and like a corporate welfare type system
teach them lovingly
the scriptures and the biblical
principles of god
and how work is honorable and work
is good it brings dignity and
distinction
into their life and allows them to shine
as an individual
teach that to them and
one day they'll thank you for it teach
them in love no condemnation teach them
in love
and one day they will rise so far beyond
the welfare system
a basic living they will rise so far
beyond that and be a blessing with such
financial strength
that they will look back to you as the
one that spoke
that wisdom those instructions that
altered
their destiny from being one of
frustration
failure and poverty to one
of being a light a blessing
to many so father we praise you i thank
you for
divine encounters that your people are
going to have with the down and outers
who don't know what to do they're
confused they've heard conflicting
messages conflicting stories
but one thing's for sure they're not in
a good place
so father we thank you that as we
instruct them with your word
step by step going through the process
of the blade the ear and the fullness of
the
of the ear ready to be plucked for
harvest
we thank you father you're going to
welcome right out of financial
frustration
we thank you father god we give you
praise father as we receive the blood of
jesus we proclaim his death until he
comes
that he died for us to redeem us from
our sins
and lack an insufficiency
and the full force of the curse of the
law
he has set us free
father we celebrate the blood of jesus
we thank you that he died for us
in his name we pray we thank you for
abundance
and more than enough money to do what
you called us to do
and to be a blessing to so many others
in jesus name
amen let's receive
praise god my friends
it's time to go to work thank you for
watching
i'll see you back next time bye bye