good morning church family and ministry friends i'm Pastor Steven Brooks welcome today to our online internet around the world church service i am so happy that you're here today and i would like to invite you to grab your bibles and meet me today in isaiah chapter 54 verses 1 through 3. these are some verses that we have become very familiar with and i want us to look at them briefly just for a moment verse 1 says sing o barren you who have not born break forth in the singing and cry aloud you who have had not labored with child for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman says the lord verse 2 enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings do not spare lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes of course this is a prophetic word to you concerning god's plan for your expansion and your increase in your life for you shall expand to the right and to the left and your descendants will inherit the nations and make the desolate cities inhabited praise god so i see a rich reward a rich inheritance for you now in keeping with these scriptures and our efforts to move forward and act upon them i must say that the lord is blessing the ministry and new doors are opening and there are some very exciting things that are placed before us and by god's grace with your help we are going to move into them and i'll share some of those things with you in the coming days but my friends what we must first do is complete the project that we have been tackling and that is the pavement project so that we can get the entire parking lot resurfaced with brand new surface and that the parking lot is set up for the next however many decades it will last i know the surface out there has done a good job it's probably been there for a long time but as all things eventually need maintenance and repair that's what we need to do with the parking lot and we're at a place right now where we need to keep on the parking lot project until it is completed and let me say a big thank you to everybody who sowed special passover resurrection seed into the ministry this past sunday that is a great blessing in moving the ministry forward generally moving the entire ministry forward but the parking lot project is a special project and that is something my friends we need to complete and i've got a pavement scripture for you that i would like to share with you as we are trusting god for expansion and increase i know that's touching your life as well and here is something beautiful from the book of ezekiel maybe you've never been so excited about a pavement project before but here's a pavement project in ezekiel chapter 40 verse 17. and here the prophet ezekiel who is also a priest is being shown the future millennial temple praise the lord and because ezekiel through prophetic gifting and the visionary experiences is seeing this he could really wrap his mind around it and get good grasp on it because as a functioning priest himself everything that he has seen makes sense to him regarding the coming of the future temple now verse 17 then he brought me into the outer court and there were chambers and a pavement made all around the court 30 chambers faced the pavement the pavement was by the side of the gateways corresponding to the length of the gateways this was the lower pavement well of course the millennial temple is going to be very nice we know that the sanctuary is going to be spectacular but even as beautiful as the sanctuary will be and this will be the temple one day that christ will rule and reign over the whole world from it will be located in jerusalem israel but even with the beauty of the sanctuary there is going to be a very very beautiful pavement for the outer court and just like there would be a beautiful building structure but yet you would have to have nice pavement here also at the ministry property yes we have several facilities but we also have a parking lot and the pavement needs to be nice as well because when people see the ministry headquarters it is a representation of the lord's work within the earth and it needs to be nice i'm sure that you would agree my friends it may seem a little bit surreal and it may seem something that could even be mystical and far off but one day one day you will visit the millennial temple you will visit the temple in jerusalem that the lord will rule over the whole world from and you will be able to walk on that pavement you'll be able to walk on those stones and you'll think you know what i remember that message pastor stephen brooks taught years back when he taught about how how the church needed a good pavement how they needed a good parking lot and here you will be one day in the future walking on the pavement of the outer court of the temple that christ will govern the world from my friends i want to ask you to help us finish the pavement project here at the ministry offices and the headquarters here we have a remaining budget of 18k 18 000 that we need to meet and i know that's very small in the eyes of the lord but i believe that as we continue to sow into that that we will meet it and we will have a beautiful parking lot out there matter of fact i've gotten multiple quotes and the company the paving company that we have decided to go with you know i was talking to uh the gentleman that does the quoting for their company and we met actually at a different location he didn't know what he was going to be quoting i just told him i had some pavement work that needed to be done uh and this of course would be asphalt type pavement and we were talking at a different location and uh what he was going to quote now of course he's going to come over and take a look at it but before he even saw it when i told him where the location was he said wait a minute he said is that the church building that's located over by the post office next to the school i said yes that's it that's what i need you to quote he said my goodness he said i was standing over on the school's property just a couple of days ago because we submitted a quote to the county to do some paving for them and he said i stood there looking at your property at the church property and i was thinking wow they need to have their parking lot redone i sure would like to be able to do the parking lot for them i need to get a hold of that person and so when he found out that that was the job that he's going to be bidding on he could hardly believe it because he realized this seems like the lord's in on this because the lord was stirring his heart to inquire about doing that parking lot so that just happened to be our parking lot that he was so curious about and my friends that's what's remaining we've already had some funds come in that have been allocated towards this project but we still need 18k now i would like to ask you to go before the lord and say lord what would you have me to do so that that project can be completed oh yes there's other things that maybe we could say are more exciting than asphalt i would agree with that but nevertheless even the millennial jerusalem temple now this is not the temple that the antichrist is going to come into that's a different one that's the one that's coming up next and uh but this is the millennial temple even it even it had to have pavement praise the lord now i'm sure that the millennial temple will not be asphalt pavement it's probably going to be some very beautiful polished hume stone but nevertheless you don't want to be walking around in the dirt i'm asking you to help us to finish the parking lot project now as you also bring in your tithe ask the lord about sowing a special seed into the pavement project and if you want to give online please visit the ministry website stevenbrooks.org there's a link on the home page it has a red heart on it that says giving and you can click that and you'll see the category where you can send your tithes and you will see also the opportunity to click on the tab that will allow you to give directly into the pavement project whoa praise the lord i've never been so excited about pavement before but one day one day we'll look back and laugh we'll look back and laugh one day we'll stand on that pavement of the millennial temple and we'll think wow i remember when i sowed into that pavement project glory to god god's up to good things thank you so much for your giving and your support now if you prefer to mail in your tithes and your special pavement offering praise the lord just send it to stephen brooks international p.o box 717 the city is moravian falls north carolina the zip code is 28654 praise god hallelujah please lift your hands father i pray that you bless bless bless your people that is a sow into the paving project father god that we can complete this project that we are finishers that we can complete this project for your glory and father god that you give your people insight and revelation into into their future hallelujah thank you father god that you give them revelatory insight because one day in the future we will stand on some very unique pavement there in the millennial temple now father we thank you thank you thank you for your anointing flowing thank you father bless the seed that your people are sowing blessed 100 fold return your very best harvest flowing back into their lives in jesus name we pray and agree and we say amen amen thank you again for your giving praise the lord and i know there will be quite a few of you eventually you'll you'll want to come visit here to the ministry headquarters and you'll walk on the pavement here praise god thank you jesus now let's take our holy bibles and let's go over to the book of jeremiah chapter 12. today we want to talk about lions in the thicket we're going to be in jeremiah chapter 12. and let's pray now father as we go into your word on an exploratory journey into your word we ask that illumination of your word would come so that your word is not a history lesson it's not ink on paper it's not intellectual information but father let it be a rhema word that it literally be spiritual food that feeds our spirit that inspires our soul and quickens our mortal flesh we thank you father for it in jesus name we pray we all agree and say amen praise the lord now jeremiah chapter 12 let's begin today in verse 1. praise the lord righteous are you o lord when i plead with you so here we see jeremiah pleading with the lord because he doesn't like the situation he doesn't like who's an authority he doesn't like the political situation we could say he's not happy with the way things are he's not happy with the uh the collapse of morality and ethics within his country and he's pleading with the lord to do something about it the response that the lord is going to make is going to be very very interesting matter of fact the response probably if he were to take the lord's response and uh get on popular talk shows christian talk shows of what's going to happen in the future they probably don't want to hear this angle but it's a true angle and it is very very encouraging when you see it in the illumination of the holy spirit righteous are you o lord when i plead with you that's a good way to start talking to the lord lord you're the best lord you're righteous now he's he's going to begin to pour out what is really in his spirit that's troubling him but he comes into this prayer the right way righteous are you o lord when i plead with you yet let me talk with you about your judgments now this prayer maybe we could even say if we're honest that it merges into a complaint that's okay we thank god that god has big shoulders that we can lean on him maybe even cry on him maybe maybe even in a righteous way uh complain not that we're complainers but in the sense we're like hey lord uh we're aware of what's going on and it's really not the way that we would like it to be okay let me talk with you about your judgments why does the way of the wicked prosper anybody out there ever thought about that when you take a glance across the the structure of america not only america but the the way things from a global perspective you could see how so strongly uh there are those that would walk that would want to take the world into a one world global system that is ruled by one religion that is governed by one person that is even funneled through a one system of economic exchange you see how those uh individuals that are out there there are those that would just give anything for that to happen and some people actually think it would be a good thing because they're not aware of the scriptures that tell us how dangerous this actually is well jeremiah of course was a very observant prophet and he is aware that the wicked are prospering and he doesn't doesn't think that's the way it should be and there will come a day when that's all going to change but he's right in the thick of the reality what's going on why does the way of the wicked prosper why are those happy who deal so treacherously well i saw on the news recently that there was a certain public servant a certain government official that makes two hundred thousand dollars a year according to their government position so they make two hundred thousand dollars a year and they just file their taxes and it's you know it's a public tax report and it was reported how much money this government official has made in the last four years now keep in mind they they get paid two hundred thousand dollars well that's easy pastor stephen that's two hundred thousand times four times four years that means they would have made eight hundred thousand dollars being a good public servant working for the u s government well the tax report showed that they had they made over the person made over 140 million dollars uh where did that all come from well why does the way of the wicked prosper why are those happy who deal so treacherously there are politicians who literally sell themselves to corporate interest groups or to big uh you know these lobbyist groups and these politicians pass legislation not because they're passing legislation for the well-being of the people not because they're trying to represent those voters who voted them into power no they're passing legislation that favors certain corporations or certain big interest groups or certain large unions and they pass legislation that favors them so that later later they can receive large bonuses and kickbacks for example a politician will work with other politicians to pass a bill that bill could favor for example a large corporate entity these various corporations say it's a banking entity and so they pass these laws that favor these banks to do certain things and then and then maybe a few years later the politician is invited to come give a speech or give a talk towards maybe you know some employees at the bank and so the politician goes and gives a 30-minute talk maybe they really work hard and speak for 45 minutes and when they're done the corporation gives them an appreciation gift or a check of 6 600 000 or 1 million dollars or wherever it might be and you think now what did they do for 30 minutes to get a million dollar check oh they didn't do anything then they did something previously when they passed legislation that favored them and now here's the kickback and it's done in a legal form but just because it's legal doesn't mean it's ethical and it doesn't mean it's moral but these people don't care about ethics morality that's not what's moving them why does the way of the wicked prosper jeremiah is really letting it loose he's pouring his heart out to god why are those happy who deal so treacherously who deal in these ways of uh it's just fraud it may be legal but it's still it's unethical why do they do that verse 2 jeremiah says you have planted them yes they have taken root they grow yes they bear fruit so he says you have planted them and you know what it's true in a sense god has planted them well pastor stephen why would god do that because that's what the people actually want that's what many of the masses want they they just want to be left alone to be able to engage in their lifestyle regardless of how displeasing it would be to the lord regardless of how opposite it would be to god's instruction manual the bible they just want to sin and so they're just like whoever's running the office up there let them do whatever they want to do as long as we can do what we want to do and that's why god allows many times wicked corrupt leaders why that's what the people want that's what the majority want now now the remnant doesn't want that the jeremiahs don't want that the people that are living for god that that believe in uh justice and honesty honesty and doing things the right way they don't want that but oftentimes they're not the majority they're the minority but being courage god always always has his eye on the remnant and always has blessing prepared for the remnant praise god and sometimes the remnants not quite as small as people would think it is there it could be it could be a million people praise the lord it could be even more thank you jesus but jeremiah is certainly being very upfront with the lord you have planted them yes they have taken root they grow yes they bear fruit he's really saying god you need to get rid of these people they're so corrupt lord get rid of the king he's corrupt uh yeah he is he's completely compromised and so is his whole court yes lord now what would fix it is just get rid of all of them how many of you know it's not going to happen it didn't happen for jeremiah it hasn't happened in other governments of the world it didn't even happen amongst the jewish nation and so there are these times where god plants them and they're there but that doesn't mean that you have to be under oppression god has a lifting up for you praise the lord you are near in their mouth but far from their mind how many of those politicians that we know they're bought sold and paid for how many of them do we know that still will go to church or will go to mass or on the exterior act religious they act like they actually love god but it's only in an external act you are near in their mouth but far from their mind you'll you'll hear some of them act like they uh belong to the church and then they turn right around and they just push push push the murder of the innocent of the unborn it's all fake you are near in their mouth but far far from their mind but you o lord know me jeremiah says you have seen me and you have tested my heart towards you pull them out like sheep for the slaughter and prepare them for the day of slaughter well jeremiah it's not going to work out like that god kill them all well it's um it's not going to happen like that now pastor stephen if we just had an evangelical president and we just had the right people on the supreme court and if we just had this and that then everything would be right no it doesn't always work like that it doesn't always work like that especially when you have a nation that in many ways has forsaken the lord so you have to bring this in the right approach now i know jeremiah is a little bit different because of his background and so forth he's a prophet he's in church all the time and uh he's he's singing praises to the lord and he's i mean he lives in a priestly town but but uh that doesn't mean that others out there are living the same way the truth is that there's a lot of decay in the nation and you have to look at this through the right lens with the right filter praise god now verse 4 how long will the land mourn and the herbs of every field wither oh so it's starting to affect all the wickedness in the nation is starting to affect the land things aren't producing the way they should sounds to me like there could be a drought some type of famine going on the beast and birds are consumed so now we have innocent animals that are being stricken by the repercussions of a disobedient nation for the wickedness of those who dwell there that's why it's happening for the wickedness of those who dwell there because they said he will not see our final end so you have animals going into some into extinction you have others that are dying prematurely and the very people that live in the land that are hearing the prophecies of jeremiah they say he will not see our final end in other words jeremiah you're going to die before we do we're going to outlive you you'll you won't even see our end you're going to die long before we do we're going to live and be fine but you're going to be finished very very soon so he tells these things to the lord now you would have to agree he poured it out there didn't he he had his talk he had his prayer but it's it's it's a very interesting prayer it's a synopsis condensed of all of the corruption that is taking place within the nation verse 5 god responds are you ready praise the lord hallelujah glory to god we're going to go on to verse 5. god's going to begin to share some very fascinating things you would have to think that jeremiah has done a good job of basically explaining to god why he cannot complete his assignment god we cannot be successful during times like this because of the persecution god we cannot move forward the way that we're supposed to because of the right leaders are not in place god we can't do this we can't do that god is just a big mess and so he has presented some very valid excuses for why he cannot fulfill his destiny as a prophet now now if we had the right leaders then it would all work out if we got rid of all this craziness and just god get rid of them all then then we could really do what we're supposed to do what does god say about all of this verse 5 this is god's response if you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you then how can you contend with horses praise the lord if you've run with the footmen they've got you all wore out jeremiah then how can you contend with the horses praise the lord jeremiah is saying i can't succeed in this current oppressive environment but the footmen here representing basically the disobedient jews in the small town of jeremiah's hometown of anathoth well those are the footmen god's saying jeremiah what are you going to do when i start introducing you to the leaders of the nation what are you going to do when you have to prophesy to the king of of judah look if you've had a hard time with the local folk now i understand prophets never really accepted in his own hometown you go outside of your hometown and you're celebrated but in your own hometown they don't they did they they uh they don't treat you right because they you know they know who you are you you grew up there and stuff like that but even still hey jeremiah if you're really struggling in anathoth that's a priestly town what are you going to do against these people the religious leaders and the royalty there in jerusalem you're going to have to have a different type of mindset you need to understand that the environment is not the problem it's having a wrong mindset um i can't succeed in the current environment pastor stephen god needs to change that first no you need to let god change you praise the lord because it's technically not the externals that are holding you down thank you jesus whoo hallelujah now let's continue the footman representing the disobedient jews there in jeremiah's hometown of anathoth the horses those who can move at a different level because of their wealth because of their uh position oh pastor stephen you don't understand we can't we can't run with them they wear suits well maybe it's time for you to go out buy a suit praise the lord oh pastor stephen we we can't we can't move in those circles they they have different level well god god can take you into those levels too praise god now let's continue on we're in verse 5. if you have run with the footmen the locals and they have wearied you then how can you contend with horses those that do have more speed more strength more resources i'm telling you god's taking you into some high places get ready get ready praise god and if in the land of peace that would be his hometown and a thought the peaceful area and if in the land of peace in which you trust it they wearied you well that those were your many of your relatives live that's the priestly town and that yet their verbal assaults are getting you fatigued and wearied and tired then how will you do in the floodplain of the jordan now the word floodplain there in the hebrew is denoting the embankments along the jordan river on both sides east and west side but if i could put you in a time machine and take you back to this time to this era you would realize that if you were actually to walk up to the jordan river you would not even be able to see the jordan river why because in the area of the flood plains where that river kind of levels out as it gets further south what would happen is that because there could be times when the river would overflow this these areas that within that flood plain they all get a lot of moisture and you would have trees small trees and reeds growing everywhere and small bushes going they're just growing everywhere so thick that this word floodplains also can be translated as the thickets and it was so thick that it was actually said in ancient rabbinical writings that you could not even see the jordan if you were to walk up to it this whole floodplain area had such dense thick growth and it was all along the river for quite some distance and it was growing outward for quite some distance you would not you were not even able to see the river now you could hear it you could hear it rushing by but you couldn't see it ah ah there's something hiding in the thickets if in the land of peace and you which you trusted okay the peaceful land they wearied you they got you all fatigued they criticized you on your instagram or they criticized you on facebook okay then how will you do in the floodplain of the jordan the floodplain the thickets of the jordan now when he made that statement everybody in his era and in his time would have understood exactly what he is talking about jeremy jeremiah makes several references to it here's one in jeremiah chapter 49 verse 19. behold he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain from the thickets of the jordan everybody knew back in that time that when there were heavy rains in that whole southern area that negev area was getting a lot of moisture a lot of overflow of the jordan river watch out be careful if you're going down to that river you better have some weapons because there's lions in the thickets praise the lord now the thickets the vegetation was so thick uh you know if you want to get to that river you're gonna have to work your way through that remember these these bulrushes and all these reeds they were head high so you can't see over you can't see through it and if you're going to go in there there are lions in there now for many of us today when we think about the land of israel we don't think about predatory type animals but they were there we know that david killed the lion and a bear we know that samson killed a lion and according to israeli history the last lions that were seen in the land were killed off by the crusaders in the 13th century and the bears were also killed off also but we know that david killed the bear so they were there and they were on the hunt and they were hungry they were ferocious so if you're going there you've got to be ready praise the lord you've got to get prepared praise god and you must embrace a different type of mindset that we can go into those places and many of you are called to go into the thickets of the jordan you're called to go into the flood plain and god is going to lift you up to do some amazing things this is not the time for you to retreat this is not the time for you to start buying tribulation food this is not the time to buy thousands of dollars of storage food because it's all going to fall apart the world is going to get more technologically advanced the world is going to move forward yes it's a very fragile system out there the whole financial system is extremely fragile it will look like at times it can completely collapse but it's not going to happen yet there will come a time when there will be a plan collapse so that the world can be put on a one world economic system where you can't buy or sell unless you take a certain mark but we're not there yet it may look like we're ready to step into it and there are those that want it but it's not going to happen yet well pastor stephen some of the things out there look very scary yes they do and there are real difficulties and real challenges out there there are real lions hiding in the thicket there is real corruption there in jerusalem but that's not the issue that's not the issue god can still empower you to do what he has called you to do and you can get it accomplished regardless of the corruption or regardless of the lions that's not the problem the problem is your focus you must get your focus on the lord because god wants to empower you to run with the horses and walk through the thicket praise the lord it's fascinating it's fascinating so god's basically saying jeremiah i'm aware of all of this but i'm not necessarily changing all of this yet now he deals with it later i mean we know the babylonians are going to come in we know what they're going to do it's not going to be good but god later judges babylon and they get destroyed god judges anybody that touches israel and god judges anybody that touches the church but it may not happen overnight and it may not happen for a couple of years or a couple of decades so what do we do in the interim you must move forward with the empowerment of the holy spirit oh yes there's challenges and actually the challenges are beyond what jeremiah has even understood them to be god gives a little more insight while he also builds up his prophet his servant he does let a few more things out of the bag so to speak i mean after all jeremiah asked and the lord gives him a more accurate appraisal of what he's really facing of what he's really up against verse 7. i have forsaken my house now when he says my house that is a direct reference to the temple i have forsaken my temple because he dwelt between the cherubim they're above the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant and of holy of holies that's where the presence of god was kept but that presence has left there has been a forsaken i have forsaken my house i have left my heritage i have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies wow so there's difficulties there's difficulties but we are walking in the glory you know the lord also shared something interesting with jeremiah concerning his own family members that he did not know they're talking and plotting behind his own back verse six for even your brothers and most scholars view this verse as being literal this is not talking about his tribe this is not talking about you know uh the the other priest that he knew in town and so forth excuse me this is talking about his literal flesh and blood brothers for even your brothers the house of your father even they have dealt treacherously with you yes they have called the multitude after you do not believe them even though they speak smooth words to you now when it says they have called the multitude after you in the hebrew that is the same type of an expression that you would use to cry out loud and identify a person as a wrongdoer who would be the type of a person such as a thief or even as bad as a murderer and that's what his brothers are saying behind his own back so the lord says yeah there's a lot going on jeremiah you you're gonna have to pick up the pace and i've got great plans for you but you're gonna have to get ready to lift and go into a higher level oh by the way your own brothers that you think love you so much they're talking behind your back saying the most awful things about you but my friends you have to go on with the lord you have to walk in love you have you have to forgive people but you've got to keep moving you've got to keep moving because not everybody's going to move into the eagle saint category there's going to be people even within the church that look at the situation and say it's impossible to succeed the whole system is rigged why even try my friends jeremiah was very well acquainted with this but let me tell you he completed what god told him to do and he was a true voice and he was a true success in his generation and you're going to be the same thing praise god now god was basically letting jeremiah know jeremiah you have function at this level and you've been a blessing and you've done good but you've had some struggles of that level but jeremiah i'm about to open some doors for you that are going to take you to a whole new realm so you're going to have to start to move faster because i'm going to i'm going to start allowing you and empowering you to run with the horses and i'm even going to send you into the very thicket around the jordan where the lions are at you're going to be shocked jeremiah and who you're going to be prophesying to and who you're going to meet and that doesn't mean they're going to love his message but god's going to bring him to a national level he was even known he was even known beyond the borders of israel he became an internationally established prophet thank you jesus now because of that god's basically saying get ready new opportunities are coming to you stop looking at all the trouble i know it's there too thank you for uh reminding me of all of that but i already i'm already aware of all of that and god's not saying he's going to change it overnight either but he's basically saying get moving get up get in faith because i'm taking you to a higher level praise the lord now last sunday on passover easter resurrection celebration we talked about the fact that what took place with peter was so amazing how god got him out of the prison that while it was happening peter didn't he did not even realize that it was real until later when he's completely out and he's delivered and things start to get very real for you and i want to say thank you for the powerful passover seeds that you sowed into that the it's about to get real see you you have no clue about how real is about to actually get what i need you to understand that opportunity this is what the holy spirit told me i want to read it word for word opportunity is about to be presented to you that will be gifted to you it's almost like literally it's going to fall in your lap don't be surprised if they contact you don't be surprised if they ask you to be involved pastor stephen i'm ready for things to get real yeah it's going to get real alright and when it does you have to take advantage of that open door peter when the angel came although he doesn't doesn't understand really what's going on thinks maybe it's a vision doesn't really know fully what's taking place but he's still cooperating with it and it is real and he is walking it out in real time so when the door opens and it does get real you need to take advantage of that moment right then right there because it's coming and it's coming quick praise god i talked with the minister friend one time years back i'm going back about oh maybe maybe 18 years or something like that and there was this one evangelist that had a real gift from the lord he was true calling had had the supernatural equipment but he couldn't he couldn't find his place in the body of christ and he was frustrated and his name is tim and he talked to me one day and said you know stephen i don't know where i belong really i said i know where you belong you need to go join this particular ministerial association i said you would fit it would be like your hand fitting into a perfect love it's like you're made for that organization and he joined the organization and you know what he and his wife loved it i mean they clicked the organization which was very large as an international organization they loved tim and tim loved them and it was fantastic and he's just like i found my place and he really did and i was really happy for him and he's still there today by the way but after tim had been in that organization for about nine months uh it's not like any doors really opened for him that they said oh you're an evangelist good we're going to start plugging you in it didn't happen like that what did happen though is that he told me he said stephen this was after he had been in it for about nine months and he's loving it but he and he loves them they love him but there's still nothing's really shifted with his ministry he's just happy that he found where he belonged but after about nine months he told me he said stephen he said the leaders have contacted me and they have asked me to start a uh a meeting uh in my area they want me to be an uh an area director i said i said that's wonderful i said i believe god's in that you should do it he said oh he said but stephen he said they've told me what all the responsibilities are and i i already knew that because i used to be an area of director for them this this was years back and he said but oh he said steven this means i'm gonna have to start hosting meetings and host meetings that means i've gotta i've got to use my own money to cover you know like uh renting a a ballroom at the hotel so that we can have meetings and conferences he said i i don't know if i'm ready for this and you know what he did you know what he did he told him no he told them no i mean it's not like they're going to man thousands of dollars i mean they'll you you reserve the room for 400 you know and buy some flowers and put some iced tea out have your meeting but he just started looking at it and got overwhelmed with it and uh he told them no i said you told them no he said yeah and i didn't say anything i mean it's his life his ministry but i knew i knew he missed a golden opportunity and you know what a whole year went by and nothing nothing moved with this ministry his ministry did not move one inch forward and you know what happened a year went by and they approached him again and said tim we really would love for you to be an area director you have our heart you have our spirit we're all on the same page doctrinally and not not just doctrinally but we have a good good rapport tim would you please start up start a meeting in this area we'll make you an area director and you know what at that time he said i'll do it he said he finally said i'll do it and when he did everything about it worked and people came to the meeting and people gave and the in the meetings and now the budget was always met and his ministry began to grow and then he began to get plugged in with meetings why because now they know that he's a real part and so doris began to open to him matter of fact when the last times i ever talked to tim he told me that one of the ministers that was also a member of that ministerial association saw him minister at one of the smaller meetings asked him to come minister at his church which was and they were having a very large convention i said tim how did that uh how did that convention go where you spoke at he said stephen he said the one offering they gave me met my budget now he spoke one time he said the one offering they gave me met the entire budget for my ministry all of our personal needs for my family life for four months but see this stuff doesn't start moving until you step in you step in pastor stephen i have prayed i have fasted i'm ready for it to get real it gets real when you go through the door it gets real when the invitation that god extends in front of you may be almost like with big neon glowing lights all around it it happens when you go through boom praise the lord no amount please listen very carefully to this no amount of preparation no amount of prayer no amount of fasting will substitute you getting up and just doing just doing it when it happens and there it is presented to you you're that's what all the prayer and fasting is for it's the preparation to get you ready to be strong in the spirit that go through go through but if you don't go through then then it's just like um it's like you're doing all this exercise for no purpose praise the lord that's why you're doing all of that so you can be strong in faith to actually do something with it whoa praise god let me tell you you're going to go through and god goes through with you now i i talked to a local friend sometime back and i said i said to him a fellow minister i said brother i said your church is really growing he wasn't the pastor he was one of the elders i said your church is really growing i said um why don't you guys get a bigger facility he goes oh he said he said brother stephen he said i told the pastor that and i told the other elders that i i told them hey god's blessing us we're outgrowing this place we can't even fit into this place anymore and we have he said i knew of another building that we could get into that was larger that was almost the exact price just a little bit more sure there would be some other expenditures that would have to be uh paid for as we stepped into this larger place but he said that's god's door for us that's god's blessing for us and the pastor and the other leader said no no we we don't think we should make that step and you know what they're now still stuck in that little place and all of the growing stopped all of the growth stopped and they're just stuck there and he said stephen he said we missed it we missed it and now we're stuck in this place and well see god will come back around again god will come back around again but you cannot make a door open on your own get ready the holy spirit is going to present a heavenly opportunity to you oh oh pastor stephen there's lions there though yeah there are there always will be in the thicket but god's with you go go oh pastor steve about what will some people say well look they're already saying things where you're in anathoth who cares what they say they're certainly going to say things in jerusalem go that's your door go over pastor see my family don't understand my brother-in-law said it's not a good idea but but you must follow the holy spirit hallelujah glory to god you've got the armchair critics that that never go or do anything they don't even know this walk and this is the faith walk they're completely clueless of it yes say born again they love the lord but the actual walking out um going into the next level praise god that's the living faith walk thank you jesus i remember that uh uh prophet walter butler when he was just like just starting in ministry he said the holy spirit told him to get a passport and he thought now why would i get a passport i have no international meetings planned and you know i'm just doing little bitty local meetings why would i get a passport so the holy spirit impressed him again very strong get a passport and he didn't do it and so about a month after that while he was speaking in a small church and he finished up um speaking there a lady came up to him and said brother butler i've got a round-trip ticket to germany and back and you know there it would be like 10 days over there and his mother lived in germany and he had a ministry contact in germany but he had nowhere to get there but he had at least had a contact and she said i i want to give you this ticket but do you have a passport now this is back in the days when tickets could be exchanged a lot of that was done just by you know a personal agent making adjustments there's no computers or anything like that so she said i'll give you this uh ticket if if you've got your passport and he said oh i don't have it he said i'll go apply now and i'll she said oh no no no no she said that won't work she said um you'll never have your passport in time before this trip takes place this trip is coming up pretty soon uh so no you'll never have your passport in time and he missed it and he knew he missed it he didn't go through the open door until about nine months later and he said another door came around and that time of course he had he went out immediately got his passport after the first blunder but the door didn't reopen until nine months later you must be willing to go praise god opportunity opportunity is coming to you and it could be it could be right in the center of the jordan where the floodplain is at it doesn't matter move move move praise the lord because the lord is moving with you praise the lord now i remember a time that kelly and i had just gotten married and we were going through ministry training and things like that but you know you know the phone's not ringing off the hook for me to come preach because we're just brand new just getting started still learning things and i don't know how i end even ended up at this place but i ended up attending for some reason i'll have to ask my wife how we even got there because i don't remember how we were invited or i don't know how we even got there but yet we were there we ended up at a chapter meeting for a full gospel businessmen's association so there we are at the meeting and it was fun you know it was uh it was strong at that time and it was still strong today but today there's new leadership and everything but back then richard shakaryan he had taken over from his father demas and he's he's running the uh the headquarters of the global outreach and so the the meetings were really popping it was very powerful and uh but they told me uh that this chapter is soon closing we need somebody to start a new chapter we need somebody to start a local chapter and they asked a local uh there was another businessman he was in the tourney he was coming to the meetings they asked him if he would do it because he had you know he had all the money he had the fancy three-piece suit he had he had all that they asked him if he would do it he said no and so they looked around and they're like we need somebody to start a new chapter to take over and start a new chapter and while they were even saying that we need somebody they looked and their eyes fell on me and i could tell there was a pause i i wasn't the attorney i didn't have the high-powered status and all the money and all of that but they looked at me and the demon excuse me richard shakarian's right-hand assistant he looked at me and he decided something in him must have been the holy spirit decided to go for it he said stephen will you do it and kelly and i looked at each other and we said yes we'll do it we didn't even know we were getting ourselves into we we said yes we'll do it and now that meant of course you know a commitment of my time meeting every week and renting a facility and making sure that you know there's catering and there's food and all of this stuff and all the logistics planned into it you've got to do it quick because these are businessmen coming on their lunch break so you got to feed them and get a get a speaker now you got to get a speaker in every week you can give a testimony and you know and then you got to work an altar call into all of that and uh wow so we jumped into it did it require a lot at that point in my life i thought it did because it yeah you especially when you're doing it every week it can be very demanding trying to get an anointed speaker every week but once we got into it we soon realized the great door that it was why we were holding meetings in the same city where the world headquarters was at so whenever these multi-million dollar high-powered christian spirit-filled businessmen would come in to visit the headquarters we'd pull from that we'd say well hey since you're here come over and speak at my chapter so we ended up with some of the greatest speakers in the world giving incredible testimonies we had people getting saved at every meeting we had people getting uh physically healed at every meeting we had the most we had the most fun it was one of the most funnest times we ran it for a little over a year non-stop now there would be times that were beyond my control when at the last minute speaker would say stephen i can't make it something's happened um you have to find somebody else well the other the somebody else was usually me because at the last minute you just can't pull somebody in so either i would uh share some things or i would call one of the men that were coming regularly and we had women coming too we had people coming from all over the place and it was a glorious time but you know what if i had not gone through that door then i would have been sitting around just waiting for something else to happen but see that started generating things literally that i know i'm going to end up getting to know the leadership little did i know that i would be privileged to sit in the office with richard shakira and while he kicks back and puts his feet up on his desk or go to his uh you know the he had this phenomenal office with uh that was like a beautiful living room part of it a little nice couch and he would sit back and talk and lean back and uh we would talk and ask him questions and stuff it was just an absolutely tremendous time and that began opening doors i ended up giving my testimony at the usa uh world conference uh wow it was i mean just all kinds of stuff started happening then other doors would open and things like that and then while all that's going on ministry starts getting traction into ministering in churches ministering in other types of places so traction is happening over here but a lot of it was bouncing off of that one big door that i had gone through it was a life-changing door praise god now when the opportunity has it go for it go for it god is with you yes we know that there's other stuff out there we know what's going on but that's not the focus god's trying to get jeremiah's focus on the right thing jeremiah get ready i know it's all out there but but you're the man for it there's god's got the woman for the position god's got the man for the position but get ready to go whoa praise god because the externals that's not the issue it's the internals hallelujah your faith your focus on the lord and your willingness to go through the door thank you jesus one more scripture matthew chapter 14 thank you lord jesus matthew 14. and let's drop all the way down to verse 26. once in a lifetime type open doors verse 26 and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying it is a ghost and they cried out for fear but immediately jesus spoke to them saying be of good cheer it is i do not be afraid so that we know that we know that jesus is walking on the water there the sea of galilee he says you know be a good cheers i do not be afraid and peter answered him and said lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water so he said come you're about to have that moment where what you have always wanted what you have prayed about what you have desired god i'm ready for it to get real yeah it's about to get real all right and it gets real it gets real when you put your leg over the side of the boat and you come down out of that boat and you do what you've always wanted to do i think god puts these things on the inside of us i think for some reason peter as a fisherman out on the water for so many years of his life probably thought hm sure would be fun to walk on top of this sometime through god's power wonder what that would be like here it is here it is and it's now look watch this it's now or never it's now or never you go for it now well well i i'm not i'm not in the mood pastors even my lion might jump out and get me a wave might get my hair wet mess up my hair do no no go go because this is your one shot well pastor stephen maybe jesus will set up the same type of scenario and maybe nine months we'll do this we'll have another shot no no this is it you've got to go now and he does and you're going to also praise the lord and peter answered and said lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water so he said come by the way when the lord gives you the thumbs up when he gives you the green light what else do you need you don't need an angel to push you just go he knows the risk he knows the waves he knows all of that just go though go this is not the time to pray this is not the time to fast this is what you've been fasting and praying for this is what you've been preparing for and no other thing will substitute for you actually now getting out of that boat so he said come and when peter to come down out of the boat he walked on the water to go to jesus and if you will go through that open door even if it were to walk on the water that's probably not going to be for you because maybe that's not your fisherman's desire but whatever it is you'll find that that word will support you yes peter walked on the water technically if we look at it from the mechanics of what a miracle is he's actually walking on the word come that word come is actually what's holding him up and it's the lord's invitation it's the open door and you're sensing with out of all of your preparation this is it that when you go through that same empowerment of the spirit will hold you up as well so that you could walk right through the thickets with lions all around and you could still go to the jordan and do whatever you would like to do with the jordan and you could still go to jerusalem despite all of the opposition even the fact that times are going to try to kill jeremiah and take his life when you're on assignment and you're walking right with god listen to me very carefully i'm not i'm just talking to ministers or preachers i'm talking to you when you're on assignment and you're calling doing what god has called you to do there is a supernatural invincibility about your life and you're not going anywhere unless god says that your assignment's up and that your mission is completed but until then no you're not going anywhere you're on task and you're going to do absolutely everything god has called you to do is not withstanding you're still going forward and that is what god's trying to do with jeremiah jeremiah come on i've heard your complaint i've heard your prayer i'm aware of all of that but come on jeremiah i need you to step up hallelujah and go through the amazing doors that i'm going to open for you and that's what god's going to do for you right now lift your hands father i pray for those that are watching that love you with all of their heart that are willing to do anything for you i thank you father god that you're going to open an amazing door between now listen to me between now and passover excuse me between passover and pentecost 50 days between now and pentecost something is going to open of the supernatural blessing it is the door that the lord has prepared specifically for you to go through father i pray for wisdom for strength for anointing and for faith and courage to be strong for your people thank you let them look for it let them look for it as they're coming up the pentecost it's going to be there we thank you father we thank you father god in the name of jesus amen and amen praise the lord look when you go through it you may even hear the lions rustling in the bushes yeah they're there keep on going the lord is with you whoa praise god hallelujah now if you're watching today's program and you don't know christ as your lord and savior let me tell you right now he's the lion tamer we found that out with daniel who even was locked in a cell a prison a dungeon with hungry ravenous lions it didn't touch the man of god and there is safety and protection in christ and in christ alone if you don't know him but you want to know him make him your lord and savior right now pray this prayer after me say lord jesus i'm a sinner but you died to save sinners like me jesus wash me of all of my sins with your precious blood wash them all away and jesus i give my heart to you write my name in your book of life thank you jesus save me now and i take you now as my lord and savior thank you jesus for saving me amen and amen and some of you have had ravenous lions pursuing you watch how the lord will shield and protect you whoa praise god you're in the safe place praise the lord now let us take holy communion i want to ask you to grab some unleavened bread grab some grape juice we are now going to proclaim the lord's death because until he comes whenever we take communion we are realizing that through his death was the purchase of our ransom he ransomed us from sin through dying upon the cross as a sacrificial lamb for us praise god we're going to walk in all of his blessings that he purchased for us through his sacrificial death praise god father we thank you for the bread and the juice and we ask that you would bless it we consecrate it and set it apart right now through this prayer as being holy thank you father god that this is now the body and the blood of christ our eternal savior father as we receive the body of christ let our spiritual antennas our spiritual receivers be alert to pick up the open door the blessing that you have for us thank you father god that we will catch it and enjoy moving to the next level of blessing the next level of influence for you to represent you in the earth father we receive the body of jesus now in his name amen let's receive praise the lord when the opportunity presents itself you will say within your heart this is what i've been preparing for many of you you need to pray in the spirit more build up your most holy faith by praying in the spirit so the word is like dynamite on the inside of you your faith is strong and you're going to grab that open door and go through it father we thank you for the blood of jesus we ask that if we have committed any sins you would wash them all away through the precious blood of christ and we thank you that you're so good that our sins and our iniquities you don't even remember them we give you praise thank you father god for our full salvation through the shed blood of christ and father we proclaim his death until he comes there will be a day we thank you father when he will come and he will establish a righteous rule and he will govern the way this world is supposed to be governed and he will represent what true kingship is and his kingdom will be glorious so father we thank you until then his kingdom is within us so thank you father for expression of that in our lives we receive the blood of jesus now in his name we pray amen let's drink praise the lord praise the lord lift your hands lord we praise you let's praise the lord lord we praise you we give you glory we thank you in advance for the open door we thank you in advance for the open door we thank you in advance for the open door father we thank you for those who went through jesus today the door of salvation and eternal life we thank you for the soul saved thank you father god now father thank you for the door of promotion the door of expansion the door of increase thank you thank you thank you father for courage and strength thank you father let it be infused into our hearts thank you father this is the church's finest hour thank you father we're not retreating we're moving forward we give you all of the praise we thank you that we're walking in the spirit of faith thank you father god we bless you father thank you for the great victories thank you for taking us through these doors thank you for your pre-planned blessings released strategically into our lives just at the right moment and we thank you father god that between now and pentecost there will be the special door and we will go through it we give you all of the praise for it in jesus name we all say amen praise the lord my friends thank you for joining me today thank you for watching this program i'll see you back again real soon god bless you bye-bye