good morning my friends i'm pastor
Steven brooks welcome to day two
morning glory our midweek bible study
and i'm over in the main studio today
because we're having some technical work
and some upgrades done on our studio b
for the traditional morning glory
message but i'm happy still to be
here with you today and i want to invite
you take your bibles and meet me in
proverbs chapter 6.
we're going to talk today about a fun
subject
it's called rule your world
and while i say fun
it is at the same time demanding but
it's going to be a very very enjoyable
thing for you to experience praise god
again proverbs chapter 6 let's pray
heavenly father as we go into your word
we ask
that your holy spirit would come
and that we would receive the spirit of
wisdom
and unveiling
of the truths of your word thank you
father god
thank you for the light being turned on
by the power of your holy spirit thank
you that we are
students of your word knowing your word
and consuming your word is our spiritual
food
thank you father in jesus name we pray
and together we say
amen
now look at verse six
go to the ant
you sluggered
there's a lot of animals that god has
created of course all of the animals god
created
but it's fascinating that the lord did
not say
you know go to the leopard or go to the
ox
although these animals are mentioned in
scripture
and it certainly doesn't say go to the
sloth you sluggard
i have to admit i do like sloths
i don't know if you can capture
an image or picture of love conveyed
from a mother animal to a
child animal
more than that of a mother moth a sloth
holding its little child the smile
i know they're super slow
and they're not the subject of this
example
but all of the animals speak something
special in their own way
but here we are instructed of course not
to look at the sloth that's not the
object lesson that god is wanting to
convey
but rather the ant
so go to the ant you sluggard
consider
her ways and be wise so that we know the
book of proverbs is the book of wisdom
therefore the focused subject again
would be
wisdom in the sense that we want to
become wise
now this is what's amazing about the ant
and i pray that this same quality trait
will be manifested in your life from
this day forward verse seven
which having no captain
overseer or ruler provides her supplies
in the summer and gathers her food in
the harvest
how long will you slumber oh sluggard
when will you rise from your sleep
a little sleep
a little slumber a little folding of the
hands to sleep so shall your poverty
come on you like a prowler now of course
none of us
uh would want anything to do with
poverty it's always pictured in
scripture as something bad it is a
product of the curse it is a result of
sin entering into the earth so shall
your poverty come on you like a prowler
and your need like an armed man praise
the lord
the amazing thing about ants
is that although they have no overseer
or ruler they don't need anybody to tell
them what to do they're going to be
getting it aft they're going to be
getting after things anyhow they don't
need somebody to stand there and watch
them and drive them and compel them to
work they already know what to do so
without an overseer or ruler yet they
are still able to secure their future
by what by embracing
their responsibility
now we live in interesting times
we have seen the effects of the covid we
have seen certain governments states
or areas where you have individuals that
they get a little bit of control they
get on a power trip and they go crazy
and the next thing you know they are
they are locking people down and really
it doesn't uh it now it's done in the
name of kovid but often times is done on
the on a power trip they've never
experienced power like that so they love
to lock people up lock people down
and we see that particularly being
severely done in australia but let me
say this in in light of the ant in the
light of ruling your world that even
with severe lockdowns don't let
lockdowns stop you from producing
have you noticed that the ants aren't
really aware of covet lockdown
last time i saw them on the ground just
about two days ago they still seem very
very active and busy to me
think just for a moment about the
apostle paul
and what did he do when he was
we could also say locked down or
basically he was put in prison
well during his forced lockdown that's
what it was during that time he wrote
two-thirds of the new testament
wow
so that you could say in many ways paul
was like an ant
even during locked down
he still was extremely productive and
secured his future by embracing his
responsibility
wow and what a destiny that he uh
fulfilled and he accomplished it and we
are reaping those benefits today let's
think about another man just for a
moment by the name of john bunyan i'm
sure many of you have heard of him but
what a lot of people don't know about
the famous book that he wrote
is that john bunyan was put in prison
for 12 years
under a
technicality
or basically a trumped up false charge
that he was not conducting the church
service properly or in proper conformity
conformity to
all the rules and regulations of the
church of england so
basically some of the leaders
got jealous of him got upset at him
didn't like him and caught him on a
technicality and threw him in prison
because he didn't do it just right
so he's in prison for 12 years
and during the 12 years or during his
lockdown moment that's when he wrote the
world famous book pilgrim's progress
still today
it is the second best-selling book of
all time behind the bible now the bible
uh
don't think of it as just the
best-selling book of all time the bible
is continually the best-selling book
every single year so it's it's not like
it had a one-time big moment no the the
bible is always the top selling book in
the world always
and pilgrim's progress is number two on
that list now there have been books put
out by
dictators
there's a chinese book put out by one of
their leaders that was put out in mass
but nobody's buying it they're they're
being forced to accept it and receive it
because it's a government mandate print
the book put it out but as far as people
wanting to read something and they're
still buying it
the bible's number one and pilgrim's
progress is still number two
think about that that this man during
lockdown
was like an ant and he was still
productive that's not the only book he
wrote he had quite a few famous other
books but this is the one he became most
well known for
and although that book pilgrim's
progress
was written over well right now 330
years ago people are still reading it
people are still studying it and can you
believe this people are still buying it
even if you can get the download for
free which you can on many app stores
people still want to buy it they want to
have their own special copy of it so
we can't just sit back and say well we
can't do anything we're locked down no
even if you are locked down
and you're on your own room hey you got
a laptop in your room you've got you've
got something you can do and so you have
to be creative and you have to be like
the ants
praise the lord which having no overseer
no captain no ruler
they're going to start making things
happen anyhow regardless of what the
situation might be
now someone once said
you are not a failure
until you look for someone to blame
isn't that true because today
it has become extremely popular and it
has become now politically correct to
now blame others
if something uh didn't work out
it's always somebody else's fault right
and we see that from the top of our
government all the way down to
smaller
areas of administration and governance
my friends
we're going to have to change that but
we change it primarily within our own
lives and anytime there's a failure
or we've blown it or we've missed it we
need to own up to that and we need to
accept
that responsibility and make corrections
so that we can prevent that from
happening again
and even
even if a person
makes a big blunder
and they don't admit it matter of fact
they may even double down and say no we
did everything right
what's going to happen is that even your
most
loyal followers they'll begin to say
you know what even we can see through
that even if we're on that person's side
or even if we belong to that political
party we can see that that was an
absolute mess and yes we're going to try
to lie to get out of it but you know
what
that doesn't fix the situation that's
that's just going to actually make it
worse so we need to always accept our
responsibility
thank my friends just for a moment about
certain nations that are labeled by
the u.n
and these other world organizations
these certain nations are labeled as
being undeveloped nations they used to
be called third world nations okay now
they're
trying to use different terminology and
they just they call them undeveloped
nations
but you have to ask yourself why is that
nation undeveloped let me tell you why
it's because the people
are
undeveloped
if you're stopped to think about that
that if you develop the people you do
what you're going to end up developing
the nation
this is very very
important
because
we need to be aware of the present day
we need to look to the future and the
way things were done in the past
it could be fading out it could be
technology that's being surpassed
and we need to
be people
that are continually in a state of
ongoing development with our minds with
our understandings praise the lord you
know in the county in which i live
several
well-known corporations have sprung out
of this little county we've had bank of
america started here in this county in
which i live
we also have lowe's home improvement
store started in this county if you ever
came to visit my ministry i could take
you in a vehicle i could drive you about
seven minutes from here i can show you
the first lowe's home improvement store
that ever existed and so
we also have other industries we have
the furniture industry but see things
shift over the years lowe's primarily
moved most of their operations to
mooresville and then just recently they
moved the main thrust of their
operations to
charlotte so
they left behind a workforce of about 2
000 employees here in the area that's a
blessing but what we would call their
high paying executive type jobs
you know technical jobs those are all
now in charlotte or mooresville so what
does the county do
you have to be able to adapt what do you
do when the county primarily in the
early 1900s was known for what furniture
production this area of north carolina
and this county produced
most of the furniture for
the american population they were
shipping all over the world but almost
all of that probably 95 of that is gone
and the only memory of it is contained
now in old pictures and the chinese have
completely taken over that market
and so it's not like we can really go
back to some of these things we have to
look forward we have to make progress or
else we're going to fall into a state of
undevelopment praise the lord well that
means we have to develop ourselves and
understand where can we go so that we
move into prosperity
another example of a corporation maybe
not a corporation but
more of something has had a worldwide
worldwide influence is nascar believe it
or not nascar originates out of this
little county as well that's because
unfortunately this county was known for
moonshine moonshine or the
production of illegal alcohol that sold
the people individually with no taxes
involved and all the legal legal
activities involved with that all came
out of this county and so those that
were running moonshine would be chased
by the law so they got the idea if we
get a faster car then the then the
police can't catch up with us and we can
make these illegal deliveries so the
cars got faster and faster and then the
police cars get faster and faster and
then now the moonshiners are trying to
outrun
the policemen and before you know it
some of these old moonshiners realize
hey we can drive pretty good
and that turned into racing that turned
into more and more modifications on
engines and faster cars and bigger tires
and more horsepower
and it developed into what we know as
nascar that came out of here
well yes pastor stephen the county
should get back to that
well there are some things actually
being done right now whether state has
released some money several million
dollars to the county to revive an
element of that
but still it's the past it's the past
and you know
we have to look towards the future i was
talking with one of our county
commissioners my wife and i were
speaking with him just the other day
a very brilliant man and we were saying
some of these things are in the past and
we can't rely on that to be successful
in the future it's already faded out or
it's the process of fading out
so
we may always have a remnant of it but
we need to move into the new and i told
him i said i think this is the new he
said
he said i've been thinking the same
thing
praise the lord so my friends that's why
we have to be like ants we just can't
sit around and say we're victims it's
somebody else's fault
[Laughter]
that's not going to fix
the problem praise the lord we need to
walk in the wisdom of god and have that
hustle like the ants
and move forward i think of the uh
very brilliant new york rabbi he passed
away a few decades ago his name was
minikim
schneerson he was a brilliant man
he
he could speak fluently seven languages
he could read
10 languages
by the age of 17
he had already mastered the 5
700 torah commentaries he was a genius
he was like an einstein but a genius in
the religious sense and he was a
brilliant man
and he he immigrated from russia
eventually to america
and he was very active in
organizing uh you know
the jewish people in primarily in new
york but also around the world because
his voice was an influence
to the developing israeli nation and
also many many people in america that
were well known including john f kennedy
they wanted his advice because he was so
wise why
because the torah because god's word
my friends even billy graham he told the
people in japan he said even if you
don't accept jesus christ
would you please study the book of
proverbs it'll make you wise so that you
make good decisions in life
and so just knowing the torah like he
did will help you have principles that
will cause you to win and be a success
in life
and one time rabbi schneerson
had a very
energetic jewish businessman come to him
and say i have an idea i'm going to
start a business and the business plan
is i'm i i've got i have invested i have
bought all of these old world maps from
the medieval ages from the 1600s i've
got maps that are you know 900 years old
and i'm going to open a business and i'm
going to sell these exotic maps
and the rabbi didn't say anything he
just listened to the man talk and so the
man goes off and starts his business he
comes back six months later and he tells
the rabbi my business is a complete
failure
and the rabbi said well i knew it was
going to be a failure he said because
nobody wants that old stuff everybody is
moving towards more and more advanced
technology so he said you're going in
the wrong direction and i knew your
business would not be successful
and the young man said to the rabbi
schneerson he said well how come he
didn't tell me
and the rabbi
without blinking an eye responded very
quickly and said because you didn't ask
me
whoa
whoa glory to
god humility
humility to walk in the wisdom of god
and move forward and also
sharpen your mind
with those who have sharp minds
as iron sharpens iron
so does one man sharpen another you
cannot sharpen iron with wood
you cannot hang around people who have
no interest in the wisdom of god who
have no interest in wanting to succeed
in life and have a lump of a log sharpen
iron what's going to happen is the iron
is going to be made dull
and the wood is going to be just it's
going to lose wood because it's rubbing
up against iron and that's going to do
away with the wood my friends
if you want to
be like the ant and you want to walk in
wisdom you're going to have to
understand that only like minds of
wisdom like minds that are wanting to
move forward can sharpen each other you
can't sharpen your mind by somebody who
just
just wants to roll through life do as
little as possible and just you know
is just content to let things play out
the way they play out no no no no iron
sharpens iron okay wood cannot sharpen
iron so you have to be
connecting with those that
are polishing continually and sharpening
continually their mind so you have that
spark of creativity and also that
transference of wisdom praise the lord
ants are productive we must search for
ways to enhance
our productivity can you say amen praise
the lord amen now
we could
for example teach
people how to fish
and if we teach them how the fish that
is that is the primary way that we get
them out of that state where they're
just constantly begging for fish hey can
you give me another fish i appreciate
you bought me one yesterday and gave me
one of yours well listen i'm tired of
you giving you my fish i'm going to give
you a fishing pole because you need to
get out there and work and start doing
some fishing
pastor stephen you don't have any
compassion no i have a lot of compassion
i actually have enough compassion to
help them get out of that state of
bondage
praise the lord
now let me say this
every upward change
will always require
an applied force
of upward thrust gravity is all it takes
for something to fall down going down
you don't need any help gravity is going
to take care of that
but
my friends an applied force of upward
thrust is needed in order for us to go
up
so
we must apply biblical based forces to
go upward and guarantee a change
for things in our life for the better
see my bible if this bible was on the
floor
and i wanted to take it from the floor
and put it back up on the pulpit okay
there's a process there's the leaning
over there's the picking up there's the
engagement of certain muscles and there
is the placement of the bible from down
there up here all we're doing today is
we're looking at some
of these upward forces that move us from
a place
of great potential into a place of
actually walking and manifesting that
potential
we're identifying those upward forces
today
and really one of the primary upward
forces
to achieve the things that you desire
and what it is that you're wanting to do
through the power of the holy spirit one
of these primary forces my friends is
oh
i'm gonna say it
it's the d word oh pastor stephen is
that a bad word well for some people it
is it's the word
discipline
discipline
please say it say discipline
praise god we must ask ourselves what
is
discipline this great upward force this
this booster rocket that can lift us up
into
uh not just dreaming but seeing dreams
manifested
discipline
is doing
what is required
to get
what is desired i want to say that again
discipline is doing what is required to
get what is desired
it is doing what is demanded not
what is convenient and that right there
is the great challenge that we all face
in moving towards our dreams and the
fulfillment of those dreams is that
discipline is doing what is demanded not
what is convenient most people they're
only wanting to do what's convenient and
i'm talk when i say most people i'm
talking about most christians all they
want to do is what's convenient but we
have to also do what is demanded
and that is going to require discipline
discipline
engages
our full responsibility for every
outcome that we experience in life
now here's a quote from dr frederick
casey price the pastor former pastor of
chris shaw christian center out there in
los angeles
dr fred price said
if you fail
it is your fault
and if you succeed
it is your choice
now you also now listen to this
statement that he's making and you have
to also understand his audience and his
congregation when he started that church
he had many many struggles many things
that he was working to overcome
the mentality of the peoples that he was
speaking to
bringing people out of poverty bringing
people out of you know wrong mindsets
and uh
dr price as an african-american man
ministering to his precious people
and teaching them the word it was
changing the people it's changing the
way they're thinking instead of begging
for another fish and starting to think i
can get my own fishing pole i can be a
success god can help me be a success i
don't have to degrade myself or
humiliate myself and live a life a
beggarly type life
and it's changing the people
did you know it's a true story dr price
said
local pastors from the area
african-american pastors came to him and
said to him you cannot teach messages
like this
he said well no he said i'm ministering
the word to them it's changing them they
said oh no no you can't teach messages
like that we have to play the cards
right so that we get government support
he said oh no he said i'm not doing that
i'm not compromising the word i'm not
playing those games you know what they
told him not all of the pastors of
course but the ones that did come to him
you know what they told him they said if
you don't stop we're going to kill you
that is a true story but he kept on
going how many of you know he became a
great success
built a beautiful
church built a phenomenal church
structure that today still stands and
the ministry still continues on today
through his son
so dr price said if you fail it is your
fault and if you succeed it is your
choice
my friends it takes discipline just like
the ant it takes discipline to re
uh take responsibility for our lives and
if you're gonna rule your world you're
gonna have to take responsibility for
things that would be out of order not
blame it on somebody else it's your
world it's your life you're going to
have to make it the way that you want it
to be praise god
george washington the first president
said that discipline is the soul of an
army
it makes small numbers formidable it
procures success to the weak and esteem
to all
i certainly agree with that
socrates said let him that would move
the world first
move
himself
praise god amen
it's only changed men that become world
changers so discipline requires my
friends that we take
our responsibility praise the lord
god is good and god's going to do some
miracles in your life to move you
forward when you rise up and do the
right thing
you have set
spiritual principles into motion and you
are
achieving that upward thrust you are
achieving that upward thrust to go to
where god has called you to be
now let's go to the book of genesis
chapter 2.
genesis chapter 2
verse 15. today we're talking about
ruling your world let me get a drink of
water
now verse 15
then the lord god took the man and put
him in the garden of eden to tend it and
keep it
to tend it and keep it so we have the
involvement here of work now verse 16
and the lord god commanded the man
saying of every tree of the garden you
may freely eat now we have instructions
for
food
please notice that god first gave adam
work before he showed him what to eat
[Laughter]
god my friends is never going to keep or
dress
your garden
you're going to have to do it
you're going to have to take that
responsibility god's not going to brush
your teeth he's not going to send angels
to comb your hair he's not going to send
angels to trim your toenails or your
fingernails i don't like the way this
looks then you're going to have to do
something about it
because god has delegated that
responsibility to you
so it's your duty and my duty that we
keep the garden we each keep our garden
uh and whether that garden is your own
business
your own career path your own ministry
your own devotional life you have to
keep the garden so here's a spiritual
principle the garden that we do not keep
or dress is not permitted to offer us
food
think about that
the garden our own garden that we do not
keep or dress or take care of or tend to
is not permitted to offer us food
i was thinking about this
why do men and women like to play golf
why does somebody want to go out there
and hit that little tiny ball and you
may think oh it's easy you just hit it
it goes that way but you hit it and it
curves to the left curves to the right
and you suddenly realize that this is a
very technical game it's not like you
can just hit it it goes where you want
it it goes all over the place and it re
requires very finely tuned
uh muscular
skills and it's hard to get that little
ball into that hole but why do people
just
not only play golf but uh even pay
exorbian prices to sign up and for
memberships and stuff like that
i'll tell you why
because the game of golf is played where
basically in a well
kept garden and if the garden is well
kept and the greens are luscious and the
sandpits are nice and you put it next to
an ocean and you create backdrop and you
cultivate beauty people will come
they'll play golf they'll play checkers
they'll play they'll play anything that
you want that you create in an
environment like that that's why my
friends golf
uh is so successful because it's played
in a well cultivated well-taken care of
garden
here's something to think about
how come nobody plays golf
in the ghetto
well
the game if it's moved from
pebble beach
to the ghetto
the game has not changed right we're not
changing the golf rules we're not
changing the golf equipment we're not
changing the shoes we're going to take
the same equipment same clothing
everything same rules and we're going to
go from pebble beach
and now we're going to go to the ghetto
how come the
how come nobody plays golf at the ghetto
but it's the same game and we haven't
changed anything
um the answer is is because the ghetto
is what
it's an unkept
garden
it's a garden that's grown that's gone
that has just completely gone wild and
there's no beauty there's no structure
there's or no there's no safety and
therefore nobody wants to play golf
there
what determines the price
of a golf course membership
that's interesting
well if it's a ghetto even if you made
it free free membership come play on our
asphalt tee off area right over here
come on sign up sign up
dodge the bullets while you swing and
hit the ball
no
avoid the drug dealers while you uh tee
off on the first screen no
no you can make it free nobody's going
to come
but why are there literally
golf clubs today
as of today that the membership that if
you want to play their greens and eat in
the golf course restaurant why is it the
membership
is
75 000
we have golf course pretty close by if
you want to play there
seventy five thousand dollars get out
there and hit the ball around well
pastor stevens surely nobody pays money
like that they're lined up they're lined
up they're busy all the time and people
are finding that money somewhere and
they're out there playing
well pastor steve that must be an
exception to the rule no
no there's a golf course in california
membership annual membership six excuse
me it's not annual it's the one-time fee
to join but
then you do have annual fees associated
but just to sign up become a member six
hundred thousand dollars
there's one on the east coast
that cost one million dollars if you
want to be a member at that golf course
well pastor steven surely nobody would
play there
that they've now they've kept the limit
of how many people can become members
but it there it's all filled up and
there's a waiting list
there's a waiting list
pastor steven i don't i don't understand
that how in the world why in the world
would people pay money like that to play
a game that can even be frustrating
where people uh hit the ball in the
water what's going on here well-kept
garden
well ordered well-kept garden that's all
it is
they have created their own garden of
eden and people come
and if you make your life like the
garden of eden you're on the way up
you're on the way up but i'm telling you
today it's going to take discipline to
do that we have got to stop all excuse
making all blame shifting and all of
that we have to each take our own
responsibility and rise up and as we do
we begin to rise up and to the fullness
of what god has called us to do praise
god so for adam
adam no food until you work here's work
first given to you and then we'll talk
about food you have to put things in the
right order
now look at genesis chapter 12.
pastor stephen i'm not really under this
god has given me certain prophecies and
i don't need all this type of stuff this
is all pastor stephen you're just being
you're trying to put legalism on me and
i'm under grace
my friends
look at abraham just for a moment
in genesis chapter 12 verse 2
i will make you a great nation i will
bless you
and make your name great and you
shall be a blessing now remember in
christ you are now in abraham your
abraham's seed in christ galatians
chapter 3 verse 13.
but please notice
please notice that although abraham
had a promise from god that god would
bless him abraham did not sit back on
that promise and go to sleep
well lord thank you for that word lord i
tell you what i'm so excited about that
word i'm going to take a two-week
vacation with my wife and i we've always
wanted to travel the mediterranean
no he went to work
what did he do did he pray all day no he
went to work look at verse 13
or actually verse two abraham was very
rich in livestock he started the cattle
raising business he became a cattle
baron and it made him wealthy abraham
was very rich in livestock in silver and
in gold
you can have promises you could have
prophecies my friends but you're going
to have to go to work and that requires
discipline you must be a disciplined
person with your life praise god
thank you lord jesus
now for example
when we examine the
meteoric rise to prosperity
of the nation
of south korea
we see that
only in 1948 which wasn't very long ago
that south korea was listed among the
poorest nations of the world
but today
oh
what a difference today i love going to
seoul korea beautiful skyscrapers
beautiful streets
beautiful parks and flowers
and it's just
an incredible uh country and it's
amazing what has taken place
well my friends what took place
uh despite the extreme poverty in the
late 40s early 50s is that right around
the early 60s
there was a peaceful revolution
they got a good president in that had
some wisdom
good common sense
and he began for the first time to let
south korea begin to trade
internationally and that immediately
began to produce prosperity at the same
time the church growth movement of
strong evangelism began to take place
and god began to move through dr cho his
church turned into a mega church but you
have to understand when you go to
south korea or in seoul
uh the the yowito full gospel church
that's just one mega church there's mega
churches all over the place all over the
country so you had good biblical
teaching you had you had all this
combined and it created
a spark
of
prosperity that
took
south korea into the position of
becoming the 13th
industrialized nation of the world when
i say an industrialized nation i'm
talking about a nation that moves off uh
a system where their whole economy
centers around agriculture we're just
trying to grow food so you can eat and
stay alive and you're living day by day
season by season no we're now talking
machinery and advances in science and
technology and so you have dr cho
preaching and many other ministers now
preaching that god is a good god god
wants you to succeed and now people are
studying the bible christians are are
spreading the gospel and the nation is
now
exchanging goods and services with other
countries as well as within their own
borders and it was an explosion an
explosion of prosperity
and they are still reaping
the benefits of that today but it took
great discipline and even today you see
particularly amongst the older uh south
koreans that discipline that it took to
just work
and make their sacrifices yes believe
god use your faith but also get out
there and just put your hands fully to
the work and engage praise the lord
as christians
we are
ambassadors representatives of the lord
jesus christ and we cannot
afford to be going around the world
begging wanting the world to have pity
upon the church looking for another
grilled cheese handout no you need to be
able to buy your own grilled cheese and
buy one for somebody else
praise the lord thank you jesus
yes there's a time for everything
there's a time to pray there's a time to
read your bible my friends there's a
time to be disciplined and get up and
work whoa praise the lord
look at proverbs
chapter 13
verse 4
the soul of a lazy man desires
and has nothing
but the soul of the diligent shall be
made
rich
our desires
that we have within our hearts can be
communicated to god through prayer
but prayer alone is not enough
we have to pray we have to meditate the
word be in the word but we're also going
to have to do what the word says and a
big part of that is discipline ourselves
to do the work
the required work that is necessary to
go in the direction that god is showing
us to go
and don't ever forget my friends there's
there's dignity in labor praise the lord
idleness
is a ruthless enemy of your destiny
again idleness is a ruthless enemy of
your destiny
for example right now if you're someone
that's seeking a job
and you have not yet found the job that
you want don't let months and months and
months go by because you can't find the
perfect job no grab something
and as you grab something and put your
hands fully to that the job that you
truly desire in the process will come to
you that is a spiritual principle that i
have seen work over and over and over
for believers that actually exercise it
but if you just sit back and you wait
and wait well that's not the one i want
i'm really waiting for what i i really
want you know uh
what's going to show up are the bills
but if you're doing something that's
going to be uh
bringing in productivity that's going to
bring in uh money praise the lord and in
that process the job that you really
want is somehow going to show up or come
to you or it's going to open up whoa is
that ever a truth praise god so don't
sit around
being lethargic be
like the ant
rule your world
not from the couch watching tv rule your
world go to work and put it in order
like the garden of eden praise god thank
you jesus
i think this would answer the question
that maybe some of you have wondered
why
do some christians who are givers
uh why is it they have not experienced
some type of breakthrough positive
change in their finances
and sometimes for some of them it's
because if we were to examine their
lives
we notice that they are not making the
proper application of diligent
disciplined work
and we have to face the reality
god does not reach his arm over the
balcony of heaven and say oh i see my
son there i see my daughter over here
gabriel the angel give me a whole stack
of hundred dollar bills i'm gonna throw
a wad of ten thousand dollars on that
one right now here take it
my friends god doesn't throw money down
from heaven
praise the lord he can only prosper the
works
of our hands therefore if we're not
doing anything
with our hands with our minds if we're
not doing anything then we have
eliminated the primary channel of
blessing through which god can flow
in order to get blessing prosperity and
increase into our lives
i want to encourage you
to never view
disciplined work as being something that
god
is doing to punish you
rather i want you to view disciplined
work and a disciplined life as something
that god gives to polish you god's not
trying to punish you god's trying to
polish you pastor steve i don't i don't
like this job they're demanding too much
out of me
oh that's good that's going to awaken
all of that creativity that's been lying
dormant so long because all you've been
trying to do is as little as possible to
just get by while still wanting the full
reward
my friend sometimes you need somebody
over you that'll give you that push that
will give you that challenge and that
will pull the giftings and talents that
god has pulled excuse me has put inside
of you
and i remember i remember years back
when i worked in a certain retail store
the supervisor over me would make the
most unrealistic work demands that even
if i worked maybe 20 hours in one day i
don't think it could it could get done
but that didn't matter to him he still
demanded it to get done and if it
doesn't get done you're getting written
up
and uh he was crazy he was he was
fanatical and he was a blessing in
disguise to me god wasn't trying to
punish me god was trying to polish me
what happens when you polish something
it begins to shine and that that crazy
supervisor pulled out a level of work
out of me that i didn't even know was in
me and once i hit that higher level i
never went back and i remember one day a
new guy came to work
and he was older than me and sometimes
you you you want to equate
age or being older with wisdom but that
doesn't always connect you see what i'm
saying so he says to me one day while
we're working his first day on the job
he said hey hey man we need to slow down
because if we work like this all the
time they're going to expect this level
of output from us all the time i said
yeah but i said i'm not i'm not working
for them i'm working for the lord and i
said this is the way i want to work i
want to work all out
i'm not just working
to earn something i'm working to learn
something i'm not here just to get a
paycheck and earn something i'm working
so like i can learn i'm a constant
learner why because i'm not staying here
forever i'm moving up to the next level
and that's been years ago it wouldn't
surprise me if he's still there
still there working what he calls the
rat race working what he calls the grind
but it was never a grind for me it was a
joy because i knew god was polishing me
even with a ruthless supervisor one time
what did that produce in me it produced
ants in my pants
whoa praise the lord that guy pulled me
up to a place where i didn't need a
supervisor i didn't need somebody
watching over me now you do this and
when you get done with that do come over
here and do this it produced such a um a
flow of productivity that if i finish
something i didn't need somebody to tell
me what to do i can see what needs to be
done i'm on it
and jesus said if you cannot be faithful
with what is another man's who will give
you your own
i want my own business yeah you're going
to run it just like the way you're
working right now coming in late taking
long extended lunches having somebody
else clock you out so that you can get a
few extra moments that's called theft
and you you can't think well if i had my
own i'll just switch no you won't switch
you won't switch just because you go to
a new building or put on different pair
of shoes or now maybe you have your own
business to get your name on the on the
building or something like that you're
still the same person you have to make
those adjustments and when you change
everything else begins to change and
that begins with the responsibility of
discipline and taking full
responsibility for our lives no more
excuses no more blame shifting
and when you do that what's going on
you are walking in biblical principles
and you start going up it is it is the
rocket propulsion that takes you up into
the areas of success praise the lord my
friends it's time for you to shine
through a disciplined life
it's time for you to create your own
garden of eden praise the lord
well i can't pay anybody pastor stephen
the uh blow my grass mort yourself
go out there with a weed eater uh sweat
work praise god and make it pretty
well now pastor steven that's not right
though because you your church building
and every time i drive by it it looks
beautiful oh yeah like we just woke up
and it just turned into that like angels
show up at night and weedied the grass
and angels angels get the spiderwebs off
the off the building
it just it just all happens
mysteriously
supernaturally no no we have a team
that's on it
and if something's not right we address
it so that it's pretty postcard pretty
golf course pretty
i had a person
showed me a ministry building one time
not mine
it was another ministry and he said look
at this building pastor stephen the the
president the president had that
building built
the first thing i thought when i saw the
building i thought well the president
needs to get somebody out there with a
giant swiffer because the thing's
covered in cobwebs cobwebs all over
cobwebs well pastor steven that's what
spiders do yeah when they're left to run
wild they're gonna build webs all over
your building why don't you get rid of
the spiders knock all the webs down
remember if you get rid of the spider
you get rid of the web spray it with a
healthy uh you know insecticide and make
it pretty
um well that's the building i built well
you should take care of it look looks
looks creepy
but it's a holy building it's a holy
creepy looking building
praise god
hallelujah but see you can't
you can't rule somebody else's world
that's that's the world they created
that's that's their world and that they
want it to look like that that's their
world but don't expect somebody to pay a
million dollar membership to come into
their world no but in your own world you
can apply these principles like adam
work
work no i want to eat no we'll eat later
work
work
work the next thing you know you've got
what you've got a garden and the animals
are like yeah
he's the man
everybody is happy birds are happy
tigers are happy everybody's happy why
man you're living in the garden of eden
this place is beautiful
praise god lift your hands
father i pray for your people
that any element of lethargy
any any element of
emulating the sloth as sweet as he is
be shifted
into the anointing of the ant
i thank you father let them be sweet
with that sloth sweetness
with uh
with elements of compassion and love but
with elements of moving forward in life
let them have that ant mentality without
having any captain overseer or ruler
it's just knows what to do it makes it
happen
father and i also ask for grace because
often times many who have this anointing
are misunderstood they're misunderstood
as being pushy or being
being uh like a drill sergeant
but father if somebody doesn't do it
the plane's going to be missed
the deadline will never be met
and stuff doesn't get done so father let
your people have that anointing to get
it done and they will never ever be
without
employment without a good job or without
even having for some their own business
father we give you all of the praise we
thank you
in jesus name
amen amen do you know there's wealthy
people
that hire
disciplined organized individuals to
come into their life and do what make
their life structured to come into their
life and take control
i have a friend of mine and uh
he's he's good at administration he runs
his
his business very very smooth has a
couple of small businesses runs them all
good oversees them
and look there's always something to do
so there's always work that needs to be
ongoing
and uh
he
he said stephen he said i met this man
at the airport the other day
and uh got to talking to him and he's a
multi-billionaire and he's got
properties all over the planet
all over the planet and he said i got
the talking with him and he the man
stopped in mid conversation and said if
you will come to work for me
right now i'll pay you a million dollars
a year please come work for me and
just oversee my properties he said i've
got so much going on i've got to have
somebody responsible and capable like
you and i can discern that just by
talking to you for the last 20 minutes
come to work for me right now i'll pay
you a million dollars a year just fly
around the world and take care of my
properties
i said what'd you tell him he said i
told him no because i've already got my
own thing that i'm running my world
and uh of course you know the
billionaire didn't like that those
people are used to everybody saying yes
to them
but once you have your own garden of
eden and it's it's really good
then sometimes
god will keep you there but you always
just want to be where the lord wants you
to be
one time
billy graham's right hand
assistant
this man was asked once hey
you know you're running in many ways so
much of the
you know the billy graham ministry and
uh you're doing things for uh dr graham
of course dr graham's at the top but uh
he was asked why don't you go start your
own ministry because you could you could
do really well
he said i would rather be god's number
two man in the will of god being number
two then go off and do my own thing and
be out of the will of god and be so
called number one so
and that's the position for some of you
you're called to be that supporting cast
you're called to be the number two or
the number three but you're right where
god wants you to be
and you are a great impetus in the
overall success of that business that
corporation and my friends
you will enjoy
the fruit of that corporation as it
rises praise god or that business as it
moves forward or in some situations that
ministry praise god hallelujah please
lift your hands again father bless your
people let grace be upon their lives let
the
the anointing of the ant the discipline
be upon their lives thank you father god
we give you praise it's their time to
shine in jesus name
amen amen you can see why everybody
wants to be a star but very few are
willing to pay that price or walk in
that discipline to rise to those high
levels
i see you going there
now
if you're watching today
and you don't know christ is your savior
you may be a very disciplined person you
may work 20 hours a day but you know
when it's all said and done life is
still going to end and if you don't know
jesus
you don't want to be lost in your sins
separated from god and receiving the
full punishment of sin which is eternal
judgment and that includes going to hell
and then that also includes being after
your final judgment moved into the lake
of fire and you go to go you look you
don't want to go to hell or the lake of
fire that's where all the lazy people
are at that's where all the uh excuse
makers are at so all the liars and all
all that that's where they're going so
you want to go to heaven
and so if you would like to receive
eternal life right now
you must be willing to give jesus your
entire life
and obey him and live for him but i know
that's what you want pray this prayer
after me say jesus
come into my heart
wash
all of my sins away
with your precious blood
write my name in your book of life jesus
i give my life to you
i give my life to you
thank you for saving me now
in your name i pray
amen
and amen
that not only was the greatest decision
you ever made in your life that was also
the greatest element of discipline that
you could ever do that you could ever
exercise
praise the lord hallelujah glory to god
if you're watching
and you're a backslidden christian not
serving god you've gone away from god
and you're you're just in the mess you
need to come back to jesus you're on
dangerous ground you're in the devil's
territory you're in his kingdom of
darkness
don't delay another moment say jesus
i give my life to you
today i come back to you please forgive
me of all of my sins wash me wash me
clean and restore me in your name i pray
amen
praise the lord praise god we have
people come into the kingdom right now
god bless you welcome to the family of
god you're putting your faith in christ
oh praise the lord praise the lord now
let's take holy communion together
hallelujah grab some
unleavened bread and grape juice i use
these little package cups that have it
all together
but whatever you have available will
suffice
and let's pray father we pray over the
bread the juice
we bless it we consecrate it through
this prayer
and we thank you this is the flesh and
the blood of jesus
when we look at it we still see the form
of bread
and juice
but it's the body and the blood
concealed hidden spiritually
through these two elements so father we
thank you that as we receive
the flesh
of jesus his body we receive his word
his promises
today we receive his principles the
principle of a disciplined life
where we don't have to have somebody
constantly badgering us trying to get us
to do something we know what to do we're
like the ants
we thank you father let that anointing
flow we receive the body of jesus
in his name we pray
amen
let's receive
praise god
thank you lord jesus
praise god
father thank you for the blood of jesus
we ask that if we have committed any
sins that you would wash them away that
you would cleanse us from all
unrighteousness that you would deliver
us from the evil one thank you father
we thank you for protection
from covet and all the variants and all
the other junk that's out there sickness
and disease
uh
fear and phobias we thank you for
protection we have oh god covenant with
you through the blood of christ and we
have your holy spirit immunity
your
your capsule
of protection
father in the name of jesus we receive
the blood of your son in his name
amen let's receive
praise god
praise god
hallelujah if somebody's watching it
today is your birthday may this be a
breakthrough birthday today for you i'm
smelling birthday cake that's why
and i know that's also representing
there there are those are being born
again today this is your spiritual
birthday the day you gave your life to
christ praise god but also perhaps if
this is your natural birthday be blessed
in jesus name
father we thank you we give you all of
the praise those just lift our hands and
thank the lord lord we give you praise
and glory
lord we give you praise and glory we
thank you father god we thank you for
the lifting power of your word we give
you praise and glory thank you father
god this is the age where we have gone
into the end times and there is gross
darkness in the earth but oh god this is
the time where your glory is shining
upon your people and this is our time to
rise
for your glory and that your word will
begin to cover the earth that your
knowledge begin to go throughout the
earth through all the forms of
technology
and ministering your word to your people
we thank you father god that is the
church's finest hour it's our finest
hour we thank you father god that we
cannot be locked down shut up or shut
out because we are overcoming all o god
thank you through the word of our
testimony we give you praise father
through the blood of the lamb and we
love not our lives unto the death
father we thank you in jesus name i
proclaim freedom and liberty and divine
creativity over your lives to do all
that god has called you to do and to
create your own garden of eden of your
world as an inspiration to many others
who will see it and be blessed
be blessed in jesus name amen hallelujah
thanks for watching i'll see you back
next time