good morning my friends I'm pastor Stephen Brooks and welcome today to our online internet around the world literally church service where we can gather together as a family of believers a family in Christ in God and enjoy the wonderful word of the Lord and enjoy the Spirit of God moving around the earth today in the lives of many many people now I would like for you to take your holy Bibles and meet me in the Book of Leviticus chapter 19 and I want to share just a couple of scriptures to prepare our hearts today to receive the holy tithes and offerings and to bring them into the storehouse of the Lord praise God again Leviticus chapter 19 verse 9 it says when you reap the harvest of your land and let me just interject that I really sense that amazing harvest is coming into your life so the tithes and offerings message plus what I'm going to share in today's sermon is highlighted by the Holy Spirit as preparation for your harvest so this is essential knowledge that you need to know here in Leviticus 19 again verse 9 when you reap the harvest of your land you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest and you shall not glean your vineyard nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger I am the Lord your God now we understand that Israel was operating under primarily an agricultural system and you would have designated seasons of harvest and you would bring that harvest in and while you're bringing the harvest in you don't need to go over your fields or your trees or your vineyards like you know like the ultimate tightwad just you know ranking everything you know taking every everything off the vineyard even every great no leave some behind for those that would be poor and those that would be strangers or another maybe modern translation would be would be those that are immigrants that need help and we see this in the Word of God now in today's culture you can still apply these principles and you're going to need to because harvest is coming to you and you're gonna have more than enough and so you have to understand God's God's Way of working this with your harvest now here in town locally we have Starbucks we have some other coffee houses several of them of course have Drive thrus and when you order your coffee and pull up to the drive-through to pay there's usually a little tip jar right there and what me and pastor Kelly like to do because you know we go use it at different times sometimes will go together but we'll always give a tip usually a dollar and I don't just stick it in the tip jar I give it to the person in the drive-through window that way they can touch it and they can feel it and then they can put it into the tip jar themselves and it's more personal I would encourage you that you always have on you or in your vehicle some one dollar bills now that would be for Americans I know in you know if you're in Europe you that's gonna be a coin but here in America it's good to have some ones I'd say have like twenty of them that you have just twenty ones that way you always have that ability to tip somebody and you know you and I both understand normally people that are working in those types of positions they're making minimum wage and so they're not working that job to become wealthy usually for people like that is a transitory job they're usually young people maybe I have a high school or still in high school high school so it's a real blessing it's a real blessing to them it may not much to you but a dollar in when others do that those dollars add up I remember years back when I used to work at the Lowe's home improvement store and I had I had a friend of mine he was a lot older than me but we worked together and one day he came to me and said Steven there's a person that's purchased some heavy stuff and he's asked me to load it for him he said would you help me I said yeah I'll help you and so we loaded this stuff up for this person put it in their truck the person before he drove away reaches for his wallet and pulls out of to $10 bills gave one to my friend gave one to me got in his truck drove off and you know you know he said thank you thank you for doing this and you know doing it with a good heart and a good attitude he said I appreciate it so my friend turned at me and said now Steven let that be a lesson if you hang with me you were to see money come to you and I said oh is that right ten dollars huh he said hey Bella cover your lunch I said yes it will I said that was nice that he gave us a tip like that and you know ten dollars was not going to make my world but it did buy my lunch and at a time where you know that was nice that was a nice blessing okay so two days go by and I sold some things and the person said will you load these for me I said I'd be happy to load them for you and there were some big items so I called my friend I said hey his name was John I said John come help me load this stuff outside for this person he goes okay so we loaded it all up and the person was happy and just before he left he pulls his wallet out and he pulls out two 20s then he hands me a 20 and he hands my friend to 20 he gets in his truck and drives off with the stuff that we loaded up he's happy and were happy and I turned to my fur nice - now look I said as long as you run with me you're gonna know what real prosperity is I said cuz that's the double hallelujah well you and I both know that $20 is not going to alter the destiny or the outcome of your world but it does cover a nice lunch maybe even dinner on top of that but look when you're in to that place where your reaping your harvest you're going to have people that are in your life that that means a lot to them that does mean a lot to them and it's fun it's a real joy to be able to do that it's fun to be in the drive-thru at McDonald's I don't always eat at McDonald's maybe once a month I'll go to McDonald's but it's fun to be in the drive-thru at McDonald's and I can look at my rear view mirror or you know I've got the big side mirrors also and I can look and I can see the person behind me and I've had sometimes people behind me that you know maybe a broken-down car that for them $5.00 for them to pay $5.00 that's that's you know you know and that's going all out because you know there's there's people in the community that don't have a lot of money and you can look at the car cars about to fall apart got four bald tires you know looks like the car is thirty years old and you know the person looks like they're struggling and you know it's fun to go up to the window now you can get away with this when it's just a single window if it's double you can't do it because then they're gonna know who you are but what is just a single drive-through window you can pay they hand you your food and you're gone but you can also pay for yours and say hey I want to get the person behind me and it's just so much fun to do that and then you you paid for them too they don't know it until they pull up to the window and they were just gonna pass them their food and drink and he's gonna be ready to pay and he's gonna find out it's already paid for it's a lot of fun to do that what are you doing you are operating in these principles that God laid out that when you reap your harvest you know don't just take all of it consume all of it on yourself be mindful of those who are poor now my wife is really good at this because she likes to bless the police officers and anytime we're out eating and she notices a table just even if it's 1 or 2 or a whole table full of you know sheriff's or law men or law officials or whatever she'll just go over to the once we we paid we're ready to leave she'll go over to the counter and she'll pay for them they won't know and just pay off the whole bill for them and you know they'll probably get up we're not there when it happens but they probably get up and go to pay and find out hey it's all been paid for it's just blessing to do that for people that would be persecuted and you know the the police officers are right now in so many ways it's just nice to be able to do wonderful things like that and we are actually commanded to do it now Deuteronomy we see it again chapter 24 verse 19 when you reap your harvest I'm telling you your harvest is coming and you need to know the the protocol of handling your harvest properly when you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field you shall not go back to get it by the way aren't you glad that Boaz didn't tell his workers gather everything don't leave anything for the poor no he intentionally said look we know we know the word okay we know what we're supposed to do so make sure that you know you don't grab all that leave some for the poor and he noticed Ruth and said make sure you drop some on purpose because she's coming that direction just kind of like accidentally dropped some so that she's able to gather much more than what normally would be gathered when you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field you shall not go back to get it it shall be for the stranger the fatherless and the widow that the Lord your God may bless you and all the work of your hands so we have the stranger we have the fatherless or orphans and we also have the widow and when you do this it says the Lord God will bless you in all the work of your hands when you beat your olive trees you shall not go over the boughs again it shall be for the stranger then that many times could be the immigrant the fatherless and the widow when you gather the grapes of your vineyard you shall not glean it afterward it shall it shall be for the stranger the fatherless and the widow and you shall remember this is very important and you should remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt therefore I command you to do this thing well pastor Steven I'm not a slave anymore I'm not in Egypt anymore I'm doing pretty good that's good but don't ever forget and I know this is true for many of you the way it used to be and the way you used to struggle and just you know you're gasping for that next paycheck but come in because you've run out of money and you still have days left and you're you're just you know you remember what those days were like but now that the Lord has blessed you have a heart of compassion for those where you can reach out and be a blessing look you don't have to be a millionaire or multi-millionaire to do this this is something that you can do and you know when when the guys come over to mow our lawn there's a team that comes over my wife she always goes to the refrigerator and grabs some Gatorades or whatever would be in there apple juice or whatever and she goes out there and and hands it to them there's never been one time one time where they've never said know why they're hot and thirsty but you know there's some there's some people that they don't have the money they don't have the extra money to go out buy a six pack of Gatorade but you know what we keep things like that on hand and as our house over the last year has been going through a remodel we've had a lot of different subcontractors come in whether it's plumbers whether it's electricians or whether whoever it is HVAC guys or whatever it doesn't matter they're in the fridge we keep extra drinks we keep the Gator raids we keep various things and sometimes I'll put Red Bulls and the energy drinks you know like the rock star or whatever they're called and you know sometimes people say well those are really good for you and have too much sugar in them but I have steel nevertheless I have never had one subcontractor ever turned me down when I come walking out with those because why they're hot and they're thirsty and you know what it's not like everybody can go out you know it you know al pastor Steven that's not that big of a deal look for some people in some communities it is because that's a $3 dream hey would you like a Red Bull I'm holding a $3 drink in my hand you guys want a Red Bull you guys want a rock star energy drink here take one what's wrong which flavor do you want walk out with five or six flavors they think wow I'll come back and work at this guy's house anytime I want to come back and work for him he's the guy that hands out the energy drinks whoo praise God Oh Pastor Steven that was just a $10 blessing yeah yeah but it means something to people that are living paycheck to paycheck praise God well we had the fence guys out and they did a wonderful job and most of the guys technically all of the guys that were on the work that were literally on the project you know putting up the poles and putting the semen in the ground and running the chain link and doing all that all of them 100% they were all immigrants from South America different countries some from Honduras and some from Mexico and so forth now they're all here legally but they're all here and they're still trying to get their footing in an American culture they've got good grasp on the language already but they still you know that they're just looking to establish their own life there they're looking to find their place in life and you know they want to be successful and so forth and they worked they weren't like like a machine they worked so hard and every time they've completed a certain phase we went through three phases on the fence project every time that we finished a phase I would always be out there to give that team a tip and ho-oh it meant it meant a lot to them and when we completed the Phase three and I went out there and gave them each a tip one of them said to me he said Oh mr. Steven he said it makes me so happy in my heart the way that you have treated us and in other words don't just say look this you know I'm paying for this and you better work hard and what expect to get any of though that you can't hardball people like that you you could but you you're commanded actually in scripture not to your command that don't do that to be kind now let me say this there's always two sides of a coin don't don't overdo it you you have to you have to learn the art of this the grace of this you can't overdo it I was just in Carolina where I was doing some ministry and I I don't know where I saw this but anyhow there was a there was a lady in South Carolina working at a Burger King drive-through window okay so she's making minimum wage she's working at the drive-through window I what would you like today okay a large whopper and fries and a drink okay pull around and I'll take your payment and uh so somebody pulled around somebody with a lot of money I think it was it was one of these professional athletes comes through the drive-through orders his six dollar meal pulls around and gives her a four thousand dollar cash tip I mean just you know pays for the meal didn't hands her a wad of cash four thousand dollars it's okay then he gets his food drives away well you know for a young girl making minimum wage that you know kind of like you went tilt a little bit and so she went and guess what she did she went and told the manager who you know you know even though you're the manager you're still that you know this is fast food this is not like you're managing a you know a large fortune 500 corporation she went and told the manager he goes over we need to put that money in the safe and I Suz me not the safe we need to put it over here in my cashier and you know where I keep the store cash and he kept it never gave it back to her and so she she called like the local TV station or something like that to put pressure aren't even saw it see see what I'm saying is that that type of money for people on that level they they go crazy over stuff like that it will inflame jealousy it will rise up envy and hatred it will cause strife and friction why that that is that is not the right way the tip that's that's not being generous that's being foolish you you will actually hurt people by doing things like that and it caused all kinds of problems so you have to you have to know how to do it the right way to do it that's why I say keep small bills don't just hand them a ten dollar bill if you were to give somebody a ten don't give them a 10 give them ten once why to them it seems like a lot more it's the same amount but to them in their way of thanking it seems like a lot more because you get to count through it and it just feels better than half more and you got a bigger but you know amount you can put in your pocket makes them feel good so understand those types of things and remember where you came from and God's not done with you yet you're gonna go the higher levels praise God but my friends remember this is what we're told when you reap your harvest don't just reap it to the max where you take every olive off every tree take every grape off every vineyard take every apple off every apple tree there's nothing for any you know have a heart have a heart of kindness you'll have those opportunities they'll come by and just walk in the grace of God in this area now always remember first and foremost honor the Lord with your tithe bring the tithes into the storehouse and when you want to also sow seed make sure that you do that so financial seed so you are working these principles that bring the supernatural increase of God into your life his provision will flow into your life your working his kingdom principles and they work anywhere any place any time regardless of what's going on out there so stay on that covenant platform now let's do just that let's now bring the tithes and offerings into the storehouse if you would like to mail them in please send your tithes and offerings to Steven Brooks international peel box 7 1 7 Moravian falls North Carolina the zip code is 2 8 6 5 4 if you prefer to bring the tithes and offerings in online you can do so from anywhere in the world please visit the ministry website Steven Brooks org there is a link on the home page called tides and offerings sow and reap and you can go there and you can bring them in now we also have a header on our website called projects and under that project hitter we have the the airplane hangar and if you would like to sow into that that is a project that we're just working on we're working on and when we get to the amount where we have the amount that's needed then we can make a move on that but we're still sowing into that so that project is active and if you want to do something beyond your tie then you want to giving offering that is available praise God thank you for your generous giving Heavenly Father bless your people bless your people and as they come into their harvest and they experience the more than enough we thank you that they'll also know that that inward grace where Paul quoting Jesus said it is more blessed to give than it is to receive so we thank you for these ways where we can honor you O God by leaving some gleanings in the field for those who have not been so fortunate we thank you Father in Jesus name we all agree and say amen you know I know that those in the world don't understand this but you cannot ever eradicate poverty it doesn't matter how much money you pour into it and that's been tried before by governments it won't fix it jesus said the poor you will have with you always why because poverty is more than lack of knowledge lack of education those can certainly contribute to it but poverty at its core root is a spiritual problem and it can only be resolved through Christ Jesus and the teachings that are found in the Word of God so when you have those that are not disciples of Christ when you have those that do not obey biblical Commandments then you have sin you have the curse of the law working and one of those one of those effects is poverty but we thank God that we are redeemed completely from the curse of the law and our portion is prosperity and blessing praise God now let's take our Bibles and go to the New Covenant over to the book of James James chapter one praise God today and we want to talk about when is the best time to receive a miracle hmm what an unusual question when is the best time to receive a miracle I know when pastor Stephen - a today is the day of my miracle well let's just look at some things in Scripture and see if we can get some insight from the Word of God of understanding when is the best time to receive a miracle praise God hallelujah Heavenly Father as we jump into your word we ask that your Holy Spirit would flow into the eyes of our understanding with that anointing of wisdom and understanding thank you father let that spirit of unveiling be all over us which is your Holy Spirit's anointing to grasp and understand the truths of your word and father even as it says in the book of James let us be hearers and doers of what we find out and discover in your word now we thank you we thank you we praise you help us to make any adjustments that may be necessary and help us to also to continue doing the things that are working right we give you praise in Jesus name Amen now James chapter 1 verse 5 if any of you lacks wisdom let's stop there just for a moment there are many in the body of Christ who do of course love their Lord and Savior Jesus who do many great things in the kingdom of having a heart for God but they can have a major deficit in another area where in one area they have a spirituality but in another area they're having great defeat and that would because of lack of wisdom in certain areas and we want to fix that if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him so that's really good news so if we're lacking wisdom and so many times we can be and you can be you could you can be walking with the Lord for decades and still there could be something vital you don't understand and it's hurting you because of that what is the solution God's wisdom and so we know that if we ask in faith he's going to give it to us but let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind for let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord he is a double-minded man unstable in all this ways so you can be a man and you need wisdom you could be a woman and you can need wisdom you could be a young person and you can need wisdom my friends is very very important now what is wisdom one of the best definitions I've ever heard of wisdom I'm talking about biblical wisdom I'm not talking about what the world says but one of the best definitions of wisdom that's biblically based is this it's the ability to discern difference the number one difference would be between good and evil now the reason I say that this is a biblical definition of wisdom is because when Solomon asked God for wisdom he asked for wisdom so that he could discern between good and evil okay so true wisdom first and foremost will allow you to discern between what God endorses and what God says hey that's out of bounds for you that's a no-go okay and so that's knowing what's good and what's evil regardless of how culture will try to redefine definitions and terms of what they think truth is well God has written the manual the eternal standard on truth and God's Word never changes and cultures and you know mores and norms all of that can can vary greatly but we must hold to the wisdom of God which is what the ability to discern difference between good and evil right and wrong and on and on it goes the difference the difference in a person's countenance oh the boss was not in a good mood today what his wisdom say today is not a good day then to ask for a raise even though if you're planning on it if you had your speech all prepared don't ask him today he's not in a good mood ask him when you can discern the difference of when he's in a happy moment oh that's when you want to ask him see wisdom the ability to discern difference hmm I talked to a pastor one time he said that he was in a conference there sitting on the conference platform who was supposed to be the key speaker was the world's most famous evangelist a man that could get more people saved by accident than what this other guy could do on purpose trying in a lifetime but this other guy who was a he was an unknown minister when I say unknown I'm not saying he was not important he was loved by the Lord and he's God's servant but he did not have the anointing that the guy did sitting on the in the chair over there who was supposed to be the main speaker but this minister got up they were supposed to have given him like two minutes but he was one of the guys that he loved himself and he loved the microphone and he turned to two minutes in the 20 minutes and then he turned it into 25 minutes and and the whole time the main speaker is sitting over there within the 19 a world-changing anointing he's sitting there and he's just see what's going on what that the guy that's up there talking who thinks he's all of that when he's not does not have wisdom what is wisdom the ability to discern hey that guy sitting over there has a lot more horsepower beneath the hood than what I do so I should sit down and let him come up and minister because the anointing on him is about a thousand times stronger than what it is on me that's that's wisdom it's the ability to discern do friends difference in doctors this guy is a brain surgeon this guy is a he's a family practitioner which one do you want to work on your brain oh they're all the same no no they're not no they're not whoa praise God mmm the ability to deserve difference now we have to understand some things about wisdom the biblical wisdom this wisdom of God which is according to what James wrote the wisdom that is above all other so-called forms of wisdom whether it's earthly wisdom demonic wisdom whatever it is this wisdom of God is higher than than any other form of wisdom that would of course be disclosed in chapter 2 chapter 3 of the book of James but when you look more carefully you also see that this wisdom of God will carry you into a place where you are consistently making right decisions making right decisions over and over and over now I'm talking along this line today because of some things I've seen recently that have troubled my spirit and they're not things that I'm facing because we're we're blessed we're doing good but they are decisions that others have made that have caused great difficulty in their life and it was all because of decisions they made now you're going to receive harvest you're going to receive blessing and increase but my friends you must do the right thing with it you're going to need the wisdom of God bad decisions hear me today please bad decisions make you vulnerable to the enemy maybe not immediately but if you've made some bad decisions one big bad decision eventually eventually the devil is going to try to exploit that situation and if he has leverage he most certainly will and if you're a minister you can just count on it he's going to make a move on that bad decisions are almost certain to bring unnecessary pressure and distress into your life please underline the word unnecessary because it could be avoided through making right choices I want to say it again bad decisions are almost certain to bring unnecessary pressure and distress into your life we're going to break this down today and look closer into this like almost like under a microscope your life that you're living while viewed casually from a distance may look like a game of checkers being played out but it's not it's more like a game of chess and you need to be thinking not one or two moves ahead you need to be thinking multiple moves of head when you make a decision when you exercise the wisdom of God because when you're asked 40 is going to give it to you and you believe you've got it and you walk in it and you will begin to have the heart and the mind of God for what it is you're supposed to do and when you make those wise decisions you will realize those decisions are not just for seeing one or two moves ahead you're like 10 moves ahead you're seeing things down the road that are 10 you know stratus played out before you ever get there may I add this today because we are in the end time scenario you don't have the luxury of making a major blunder and possibly being able to fully recover from that why because time is running out and you you need to get it right there's grace if you miss it but how about this how about instead of trusting God for grace for first trusting God for grace to cover a blunder how about this why don't we trust God for grace to do what Paul said grace will do in the book of Titus chapter 2 which is that grace will teach some translations say instruct grace will instruct you to do what to live righteously and soberly and godly in this present age and it will also instruct you to deny ungodliness and to deny worldliness and say no to it I'm going to do the right thing I'm not going to be governed by my feelings I'm not going to be governed by you know like a wild passions unrestrained I'm going to be governed by the word I'm going to be taught by grace I'm gonna get it right the first time I'm gonna continue to get it right because grace will do that it teaches you to deny to deny to say no no who praise the Lord mm-hmm okay now you're going to make these right decisions you're gonna be like the master chess player a master in the world of chess is somebody that is on a very very high level we would call them professional this would be somebody that anybody on that level is on genius level and it's the ability to foresee many many moves even up to 50 moves ahead woo praise God with all the different scenarios and possibilities of how the enemy enemy might even try to counter-attack mmm you're walking in the wisdom of God you're walking in the wisdom of God and you're going to know when is the best time to receive a miracle go with me now to the Book of Joshua chapter 5 Joshua chapter 5 whew verse 10 verse 10 now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month that Twilight on the plains of Jericho and they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land thought for a moment just say that verbally out loud then the manna ceased and the children of Israel no longer had Menna but they ate the food of the land of Cana that year their now into the Canaan land now why did the miracle of the manna stopped it stopped for this one main reason because God wanted to mature them he wanted to mature them now we are told by the Apostle Paul in the book of Galatians chapter 3 verse 11 that the just shall live by faith now when he's quoting that he's quoting that from the Prophet Habakkuk who spoke the same thing in chapter 2 verse 4 but Paul liked that statement so much he even quoted it in the book of Romans chapter 1 but it is true that the just that's you and I shall live by not by miracles and if God had intended for us to live by miracles Paul would have been all aboard on it and he would have said the just shall live by miracles now Paul was not against miracles I'm not against miracles I love miracles but my friends you live your life by miracles the just again that you and I you live how by faith faith in what somebody may say well I have faith in God I'm trusting God mold what do you mean when you say that well I'm trusting God well what you're actually meaning is that you're trusting his word because if you trust God then you're trusting his word is that correct so if you have faith in God then you have faith in his word and if you have faith in his word then you're having faith in his principles and in his ways of living that he has instructed for us here in this book now there's no question that the Israelites when they were in the desert wilderness they need it miracles nothing's going to grow in the wilderness except for these various forms of cacti and but it's just a place where with a couple of million people you're gonna have to be supernaturally sustained and they were and even the manna itself somehow had all the nutrition and vitamins and minerals packed with the tremendous density into a little bitty wafer and you could live off that little bitty piece of a little like flour cake looking thing you can live off that it was supernatural it was even called the food of angels and they needed miracles then but when they got into the Canaan land God expected them to start living not by miracles anymore but by faith principles he wanted them to live off principles now God established the natural laws a miracle is the overriding the temporary suspension of a natural law because God chooses to do so but it does not continue God will eventually lift that miracle anointing and then you're back to the everyday method of operating which is the natural laws which he created so they're good well pastor Steven what were they supposed to do in the Canaan land but how will they were supposed to operate they're supposed to operate by principles of faith and principles of living because they are now in a territory that has very fertile soil and they did not have that out in the wilderness well pastor Steven what were they were supposed to do can you show me yes here's a few example they were supposed to take seeds and plant them possess land drive out the sinful wicked inhabitants under the authority and directive of God's instructions possessed the land the land is very for fertile and start growing crops how about that how about some cantaloupe how about this I like this watermelon mmm these were all sent to me by an online church member praise God hot peppers entry-level jalapenos mmm looks good spice up your life praise God these are always good nice and a salad cucumbers pray used to Lord I used to grow those all the time growing up sweet corn that's wonderful how many of you like the heirloom seeds those are oh those are really nice if you're gonna plant any kind of seed it's it's best to plant the heirloom seeds they'll taste a hundred times better and here's sweet Spanish yellow Utah jumbo onions mmm praise God and and we might as well make the church property look as beautiful as possible here are some chamomile seeds and who knows maybe we can make some tea out of that and here we have beautiful lavender mmm lavender for some reason really is big in Ireland Wow does it grow in Ireland really well and of course in France also praise the Lord so my friends that's what they were supposed to step into well I don't want to do all that that's a bunch of work yeah it's quite enjoyable actually that's it's it's called maturity and you begin to build dignity into your life instead of just having something handed to you all the time now you begin to establish yourself and grow up and see the rewards of your labor whoa praise God hallelujah and you can you could use variety you can plant what you want and if you want a bigger crop then you can you could plant more seeds and you have all these four variables now of blessing and increase what was the whole point of stopping the manna God wanted to mature them and take them on in their spiritual development praise God now if you're the kind of person who's still living as a Christian on trying to exist off miracles and you're sitting there watching me and you're thanking by tomorrow I've got to have ten thousand dollars or there's gonna be a major problem and I've got to have it tomorrow well if you're in a situation like that and the deadline comes and the money doesn't show up then what you need to do is honestly just sit down and have a little talk with the Lord and say Lord why am i living like this where am I missing it now if you find yourself in a situation where you need a valid miracle and you have been doing your part your responsibility and you're trusting God for miracle well then I believe God loves us and cares for us and he will never fail to do his part but if we are failing to do our part and we are refusing to mature and to grow up then this learning experience can be rather difficult if you buck against God's teaching or as Paul said kicking against the goads that's what he was told how Paul was basically said hey you're kicking against the goads in the goats for those sharp pointy iron points that would stick out from the from the plow area of the oxen and you could only imagine busting your shins into that over and over but a very difficult lesson to learn well there are Christians that are out there that in many ways are refusing to grow up and the culture can really do their part of trying to warp your understanding because there is a there's a move in our culture where everybody now wants everything for free and you get a participation trophy even if you didn't participate you get it you get the first-class trophy even if you just showed up it's stupid it's it's really it's belittling people it's actually behind it let me tell you what's going on behind it what's going on is is an effort to dumb people down and to reduce people down into slavery into a mentality of slavery and that's what the Lord had to work with with this people why they're all coming out of Egyptian bondage they're all coming out of that of captivity so God has got them out of Egypt but the Egyptian Way of slavery thinking is still in them so what does God wants to do God wants to say hey grow up grow up you know don't always be looking for a handout you know you look to be handing out you look to be a blessing mmm Pastor Steven I want somebody get me a free cell phone why when you could when you are living in the most prosperous economy that the world has ever seen why would you need somebody to buy you a phone why can't you go on by your own praise the Lord mm-hmm so that's what we're working with and that spear of the world has come into the church and it makes people want to settle for the lowest possible place and that place will keep you in a position of begging that place will keep you in a also in a in a position of always relying upon that hand to feed you now you're always relying upon that hand to feed you why they gave you free education they gave you a free cellphone and now they got you trapped and now you're in this cycle what are you gonna give me next what are you going to give me a next and you know what that that source whether it's the government or the state or whatever becomes your God and that's the way they want you to be hold them that's the way they want you to see them as your God mmm but let me tell you this right now you cannot look to Jehovah Jireh and say you're my god while at the same time you're over here look into somebody trying to manipulate them begging and just looking for another hand Alice Wow see that stuff will steal all of your dignity it will strip all of your honor as a human out of you hmm praise the Lord so no more mana some of them probably cried bald and squalled well you mean we got to go out and work get our hands dirty yeah yes that's exactly what you have to do and do it for 12 hours a day and when you go to sleep at night you'll feel so good whoa praise God mm-hmm Oh Patsy but I don't want to sweat well starve Paul said he who will not work let him not eat hmm praise the Lord very very interesting praise God so I see these people sometimes here Lord I've got a deadline I need the miracle I need to America by the deadline the deadline comes and goes it doesn't happen they pushed the deadline back god I need it by then can't you see something's not working right something's off mmm praise God let's go on second Kings chapter 4 if if you're squirming a little bit and this is making you uncomfortable then I just have to warn you that this next story just may it may push you to a place where you finally decide you know what I'm gonna have to make a change here hopefully this is what it will do we're in second Kings chapter 4 and we're gonna go into verse 1 and I'm gonna read it to you and for some of you you're in a thing that's talking about me let's find out some of you are doing good but I know that there are some that you're listening to me and you've been playing this area over here too long of of just not rising up the way the Lord wants you to but you're gonna make that shift today now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha saying your servant who was a horse a prophet your servant my husband is dead and you know that your servant feared the Lord stop right there this servant of Elisha the esteemed prophet Elisha the number-one prophet in the nation at that time largest ministry strongest anointing eccentric syndrome he had schools of prophets he had spiritual children they were prophets and this man that is being referred to was one of them he feared the Lord I don't doubt it one bit he feared the Lord he prayed they prophesied let's get real did you know that you can fear the Lord and still do really stupid things in life mmm did you know that you can fear the Lord and turn right around and make decisions that are so dumb that you're like what in the world that I just do why did I do that why did I do that mmm and you want to kick yourself but it's too late you've already signed you you gave your word your word is a legal binding in your contract you're in it now you can't get out and they won't let you out mm-hmm you think why did I do that you think how did I get in this mess pray God praise the Lord praise the Lord so he feared the Lord he feared the Lord now and the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves the creditor is coming he feared the Lord but you you need the fear of the Lord but you need more than that you need more than that so this lady you can only imagine what she's been going through he's coming and he's going to take my two boys see just because the husband died didn't mean that the debt was terminated back in those days they they played rough and so the repo man is coming and I can imagine that the mother of the children she's having sleepless nights she's probably having problems with her heart and blood pressure issues because of the stress and the worry and the anxiety of this of what this massive debt has caused now it would also appear to indicate that there was a deadline where the payment is due and if you don't get the final payment in look we've extended maybe the repo guy gave us some grace periods and said you get 30 days or whatever but the time came and went she couldn't deal with the debts beyond her ability and now the the person who is the you know the paper holder says look no more grace period I'm coming and so the deadline came and went whatever look whenever that happens something's wrong somewhere and you've got to get it right so it never ever happens again can you say yes praise God he shows up he's called the repo man he repo yachts by the way did you know that rich people also can get in the financial trouble they overextended themselves they they you know bought a bunch of stuff then they had a hiccup then they had a money problem suddenly they can't cover the payment and so yes yachts get repo'd I'm talking million-dollar yachts airplanes jets get repo'd yes wealthy people have financial problems too just get repo'd houses get repossessed cars get repossessed children got repo'd whoo well if you want the money we'll take your kids and it was totally legal well Pastor Steven that slavery yes that's exactly what it was has existed for thousands of years and still exists today still exists today it's called child slave labor oh that would no need to even get into the sex slave trade that's a total different massive global mess but you've got these various companies that do all of their virtue signaling that are all for social justice that are all for the betterment of all people of all colors oh really that is that really what you say and proclaim but yet you turn and do the exact opposite on the other side of the world Nike hello Nike and you didn't change until you got caught and it was all videoed and exposed to the world so you have a seven-year-old girl sitting in dirt working for 12 to 16 hours a day stitching together soccer balls and you pay her $2 for the entire day of labor and she's only seven years old and you know it and these giant child slave labor work factories Oh addy tiss-you you did the same thing you did the same thing employing thousands and thousands of them knowing fully about it and you didn't care you didn't care but yet you'll stand before Americans say we're all for social justice you're just a bunch of total liars and you know you are your total frauds you'll do anything for money including putting little children in the forced slave labor camps you have no conscience don't act like you do don't virtue signal to church and that like you're holy and we're not no we're the ones that are holy we're the ones that hold up the standard of truth and righteousness you know from a true source whoo hallelujah praise God and there's many other companies that played the same card acting like you're righteous when you're just as filthy and sinful and dirty as can be and you literally have blood on your hands and you don't care you'll do anything for money and you'll say anything and you'll bow to anybody for money at the lowest form that's called prostitution you prostitute yourself for money mmm hallelujah praise the Lord pressure pressure my dear brothers and sisters get out of this wicked world system that has control over you that takes away your sovereignty would even take away your voice because they say we can control you because we actually own you mm-hmm praise the Lord build a financial moat around yourself you don't have to be super wealthy to do this you can start right where you're at build a moat around yourself financially and walk in the wisdom of God's Word mmm well he shows up he's on the way to get those boys she's desperate she's got to get ahold of a man that can operate in what the Bible calls the gift of working of miracles why she's a miracle just let you know there's not a lot of people walking around with that anointing have you have you noticed that have you noticed that that even in the church today that gift is a priceless gift that's called the gift of working of miracles well there is a man in that generation in that moment in that day who had that anointing and that would be Elijah she gets ahold of him basically explains the story to him and look at verse 2 look at his response so Elijah said to her what shall I do for you I mean what what do you want me to do I mean do you think I've got like a paper money printing machine over here in my ministry office do you want me to start printing money for you what am I supposed to do I mean you think I'm God hmm well pastor Stephen he bailed her out he did he did he had that anointing but look let me let me say this let me see if I can explain this to you so that you're in a place preferably where you never need this in the first place because she's how many years do you think this took off of her life five years ten years - strain the stress maybe all of her hair went gray just to trouble the debt the the pressure that was caused by this made her look 10 years older who knows what a mess do you really want to go through stuff like this over and over again no let's not live like this let's not live like this Pastor Steven we believe in miracles I do too God does too but I'm gonna reveal to you in just a moment the best time to receive a miracle now it holds your finger here let me share something with you first Corinthians chapter 12 verse 10 I wrote a whole book on the gifts of the Spirit and I wrote a whole I wrote a whole chapter on this gift that I want to cover very briefly to another is given the working of miracles all nine gifts of the Holy Spirit they're all supernatural they are all on the supernatural realm here we have the gift called the working of miracles the fact that there is the working of it denotes that there is a human there is an individual involved in God's power that miracle power coming forth it's being manifested through somebody most often and when I operate in that gift working of miracles and the miracle happens God works the power through me and I'm working that miracle on somebody I'm not the one who is the source of that power I'm just I'm just the cup the vessel that it's being poured through but it is working of miracles it's going to be work through somebody but here's the thing you have to understand all Pastor Steven you have that gift I need a miracle now pray for me right now but you have to understand I can't flip that switch on and off like it's a toy I can only operate in that gift working of miracles when the Holy Spirit is manifesting through me and if he's not manifesting through me I'm standing around like you lied you and all or like you lie ship and all you can say is what shall I do for you I mean you think I'm God do you think I can just like flip it on and off like that that doesn't work it doesn't work like that but he gets into the spirit he gets into the spirit why there has been honor shown yes he remembers that man yes he was a good servant he was a good servant there is a connection there is a relationship and that's something that honor will tie you into and when others go down on there's something about honor God really highly values so Elijah is able to get over into the anointing he's able to give her a supernatural word of wisdom to get out of the mess she goes and obeys that word and the next thing you know something is beginning to happen the miracle is working and she gets the debt paid off and has enough left over to even live on the rest not going buy lottery tickets lord have mercy for the absolute foolishness of God's people who do such idiotic things pastor Stephen if I win the lottery though I'll pay the time you're not even tithing now stop living in deception like you're straightened up as if doing something wrong twice will make it right once no it never works like that you live by principles you don't live off of miracles or else or else you're gonna probably meet the repo man have you ever known a nice repo man I'm here to repossess your house and look I feel so sorry for you that before I take your keys away because the marshal standing here backing me because I have legal papers to do it before I take your keys away I just I brought you some flowers and a card I understand how hard this must be for you no there's no such thing as a repo man and I excuse me a nice repo man hello me and my wife went to go visit a very godly Christian husband and wife with their wonderful family their wonderful children we went over to their house and this was a dear brother that lived by flying by the seat of his pants you you couldn't take wisdom and give it to him if it were literally gold bricks and you said here take some of this he'd be like oh no there's something about wisdom that I understand what it says in Proverbs that concerning the fool that you put if you were to put him into a mortar and ground him you still cannot grind wisdom into a fool and that's the way he was I tried to share some things with him over the years and he just he just it wouldn't I could tell it's not clicking so I'm not gonna waste my energy it's particularly on somebody who doesn't care but we we felt led to go visit them one day and we drove by their house they were home and we sat down and we visited with them and talked with them and I could tell the family was shaken I could tell something was also missing I talked to the husband privately one-on-one I said on I said brother I said where's your vehicle that you know is usually parked out front oh well they they repo'd the vehicle I said they did he goes well you know what last night my you know we're all asleep and it's about three o'clock in the morning and my son a teenage son yells dad dad because the son had the upstairs room by the window looking out over the parking area dad dad there's a tow truck it's backed up to our vehicle and there they're hooking up our vehicle son that's okay go back to sleep son don't worry about it go back to sleep dad they're hauling our vehicle way dad what's going on dad they're hauling their vehicle a son it's okay go back to sleep don't don't let it trouble you he knew what was going on he hadn't paid the payment in four months didn't pay the payment in four months and just would never face responsibility and oh oh love the Lord loved the Lord tremendously they the whole family loved the Lord but in this area of wisdom just doing the most foolish and silly and goofy things over and over and over and over and thus they were having experiences like that over and over and that and and see now the kids are seen that now that the the teenage children are seen oh this is how our life is we get to meet the repo man we have to know what these desperate moments are what pastors even though we're believing God for a miracle well you were doing that last month last time I saw you you were doing that and you get up to the miracle deadline God has to do it by this date but he doesn't do it when will you learn this is not a good way to live this is not a good way to operate by the way that dear brother was in his 40s and had been in church for four decades still hadn't figured it out still hadn't figured it out he's wanting God to give him manna he wants Samana but he doesn't he doesn't want to take the time to get into the word and receive the wisdom of God learn principles and begin to live all principles hallelujah plant some seed hallelujah have your own crop have your own harvest biet either have some dignity in your life have your vehicle be a blessing but pay somebody else's monthly payment because you're in the overflow help somebody else who's out and struggling no they were constantly in struggle survival mode constantly year after year after year hmm praise the Lord thank you Jesus mmm I had a situation years back where I had written my first book and working with my publisher they required of me I found out later that they didn't really require it but they required of me that I purchased really in a sense what was an astronomical amount of books for my own self you know they're going to promote the book but they really wanted me to promote it and more do they ever want me to promote it so I purchased a whole bunch to promote it and you know here's the true story behind that most authors when that's done to them they know the author's never going to be able to sell all those books but it does help they'll sell some but they'll never sell all of them but it does help you know the publishing house to you know move a bunch and to get a bunch out there I know I know authors who have boatloads of books thousands literally thousands I know one pastor who has 40,000 unsold copies of his book that his publisher required him to purchase up front and he never sold them all he maybe sold 30 but he still has 40,000 left and what's the chances after 25 years when it first came out that you're going to sell those remaining 40,000 books it's not going to happen you might as well just give him out for free nevertheless I sudden the contract and I I signed to their terms and their agreements and you know the good part the part is is that the Lord did help me to sell every single one of those books literally thousands of them by the way you don't know how much space that is of thousands when you get into thousands of books and you see it in real life you're like wow where am I gonna put these things that's a lot of material a lot of product nevertheless by God's grace sold every single one of them but I still had three concurring payments that I had to make to cover all of that so the first one I got it the second one I got the money these are big chunk and the third one the money while I was believing for it and praying and using faith and really when you're praying that you're already in the area shouldn't have to work like that but I did say Lord I'm using my faith but you know you and I both know hasn't showed up in the deadline it's getting real close long story short I needed a very large amount of money in the thousands of dollars by the next day and it was nine like 9:30 at night maybe even 9:45 at night when God came through for me with the last-minute miracle and somebody as bizarre and as crazy as it was gave me a check called me and told me they had a check sitting on the mantel of the fireplace for me to come pick it up and it was the exact amount for what I need it and I paid it the next morning because the money was in the bank I could cash the check and make that payment for that final payment and I was happy whew God is America working God and he was and he is God did a miracle I believe you know the miracle song and miracles and you know of us I was the miracle man and people loved the testimony and stuff like that are you ready for part two second book second contract I just kind of zipped through the contract again signed the same thing didn't change anything didn't really negotiate didn't you know didn't really look over the numbers and went through the same thing signed the same contract and boy did I ever struggle through those payments Oh still sold the books you know through a lot of a lot of a lot of Prayer and a lot of labor and still got the payments made but it was hard it was hard and I went before the Lord and I said Lord but you're the miracle worker how come the miracle money didn't come and the Lord just he didn't like verbally speak to me but he just impressed so strongly upon me when will you finally begin to walk in wisdom and negotiate the contract in terms that are favorable for you mmm I said all Lord now I see I'm getting off the manna now and I'm starting to have to do some things where I've gotta pull my own load and do my part here and the Lord said yes that's right or else it's gonna be up here for you all the way I remember one time I was in Seoul Korea and had finished a conference and I'm signing my autograph on my book that I wrote that I prayed for and sweat it out and produced him and so I'm syan people are buying it the line is so long it's going out the door and I signed and signed and signed and signed and you know I thought well at least the good part is my books are selling hallelujah I'm an internationally acclaimed author praise the Lord they're buying my books overseas hallelujah and I'm signing away till I can hardly even move my hand I found out later I'm not getting a penny for it even if I got in a time dime for it I maybe would have thought well at least I got something I didn't get I didn't get anything for it I didn't get a bowl of ramen noodles for it I got absolutely nothing for it why fine print fine print they have the right to sell your book with the foreign international rights to another publisher or something like that and they the publisher and the international publisher they make all the profits and the author doesn't get anything doesn't get anything I thought that's not right and it's not but you know what it's my fault why I didn't read the contract I didn't get into the fine print Lord to America cover it anyhow he didn't he didn't and you look sometimes that your toil and labor and you think that's not right and it's not but it is what it is why because you didn't do your part you have to do your part whoo praises to the lord of one of my books after that after that I'd negotiate it so hard because I you also wanna go she ate from a platform where if it's not something that you're agreeable with no matter how much you want it you have to be willing to walk away from the table and that's azam and i it so hard with you back and forth back and forth back and forth so hard that the the person I was working with I guess the person's not really called a Salesman whatever their title was but he's the representative of the publisher as I'm working with him we had got to a point well I was finally happy and he said Stephen she said you've negotiated that you have negotiated to the point where we can't make any money on the book and finally I thought now finally finally I'm finally out of place because first of all that's best just to talk you understand that that's the way it is but finally when you hear something like that you know finally both of you are now in a win-win situation yes yes they could still make money on the book but finally I can make something on the book because the book proceeds they've been going to the ministry work they've been going to the ministry they check whenever then the royalty checks would come in Stephen wrote four years there were Steven Brooks International and they would just go straight back into the ministry but when I heard that statement I finally knew for the first time that I have finally negotiated properly and brought it to a place of where it should be it should be win-win if it's not if it's not then that you shouldn't you shouldn't sign on it praise the Lord but these are things my friends that we go through where God wings you off the mana or sometime just cuts it completely like cold turkey there's no more mana don't expect it don't look for it and doesn't matter if you cry ball squall there's no more mana now start maturing grow up start using your faith and start doing your part praise God and you'll be so glad that you're standing on God's Word cause it'll lift you up just like it was lifting the others up that you looked at and thought wow I can never do that well sure you can sure you can it'll work for you too praise God thank you Lord Jesus I want to go a little bit further praise the Lord I was at the ministry facility I'm gonna I'm gonna give you preacher a preacher be both real stories I was at the minute facility of preacher a beautiful facility it didn't need one single thing done to it it was perfect I told him I said this is an absolutely beautiful facility he said yes it is he said goddess God has blessed us and I said how did you pay for it and cuz he's a close friend so I could ask him he said he said Stephen we paid cash for it we don't own we don't owe a penny on it we paid the whole thing off in cash I said how did you do that he said what he said as the ministry will always have needs some of those needs are needs that are long-term and you don't have to always address them you just you know you just kind of save and take care of them but as we were increasing as a ministry we would just always take some extra and put it over here put it over here put it over here and we would save it for quote a rainy day or also a golden opportunity well there came a time when they outgrew their facility and they need it another facility and a golden opportunity came to buy a building that was worth way more than what it was being offered for and he bought it cash and it was such a perfect fit it was like a hand going into a perfect sized glove and it was perfect he didn't own any money didn't owe any money on it everything was covered no weird legal issues everything was perfect and today multitudes are being ministered to through that ministry now preacher be preacher be had a facility that he was renting and they never put any money aside so that one day they could buy their own facility they kind of got stuck in that rut of well we've been renting and you know what we're clearing the rent and you know we're growing in numerical numbers but you know they were just kind of moving forward but not in wisdom well because the church did continue to grow and there was prosperity in the church although they weren't saving what happened is that the landlord began to raise the rent on them they had also not really examined the the landlord the least they had signed they had not examined that within the turning and there were some strings in there that the landlord was able to pull and so cuz he was able to pull them and he's a sinner he doesn't know God and was very even anti Church and by the way that's never who you want to lease from rent from or do business with well he began to raise the rent astronomically and the rent got higher and higher watch this the rent went from about $12,000 to $15,000 $20,000 a month $30,000 $40,000 $60,000 it went to over seventy thousand dollars a month and they have to pay it because now they're stuck because they're too big to move because you can't just like move a large body like that quickly because you got all this stuff and but now they're also stuck in the contract and they can't get out and you talk about pressure wild pressure mm-hmm it bought it brought strife not only to the pastor to the elders it brought it brought pressure to the worship team it just it was just very very difficult so guess what they needed a miracle now the other man of God Minister a didn't need a miracle he just had the money moved right on it and guess what people said some Eric oh is it a bet it's a miracle was it really or was it just operating their wisdom okay so the other pastor needed a miracle and he received it offering and it was a miracle offering but guess what the offering was enough to pay up all the back rent but they're still in a place where it's gonna keep coming again and so finally God had mercy on them and there was a loophole but they could get out they finally brought an attorney in examined that they were able to get out and they got out and boy were they happy but they no longer had a place to meet that caused a diminishing in the church and today that church no longer owns a property and they're having to just rent and rent and uh look when you start working on principles it will lift you up into a place of great strength and solidity and you'll be in a place where you don't have these vulnerabilities especially if you're doing the work of the Lord because if the enemy sees that you're doing the work of the Lord and you have vulnerable areas trust me he'll try to hit you so you want to be strong in the Lord now if you're doing your part and you do it all you can do and you're walking with the Lord and you need a miracle he can do it I had a pastor friend still he's still friend of mine and watch this it's Friday afternoon they have moved forward into their nest their next phase of building and everything's going great everything is going along just fine and he fasted and prayed the whole church had fasted and prayed and they can cover the budget everything's good but the construction firm pulled something sneaky on them and said on Monday we want 750 thousand dollars now watch this you've got this was on Friday afternoon so you got two days you got Saturday and Sunday he said on Monday we want 750 thousand dollars to cover this one phase upfront or we're just gonna pull back and we're gonna leave all the work that we've started which is you know steel structure and stuff like that we're just going to abandon it and leave it and that was just the enemy doing something yucky so the man of God went before the church and said look this is what the enemy is trying to do but I believe that because we're doing everything right responsible and we're doing everything up to code and stuff like that they're just kind of doing something over here let's just go ahead and pay it let's believe God for the money and and that would take a miracle but he took one offering and in that offering they raised over seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars and the next day they paid that payment and everything was good and the facility was finished I've actually preached in his facility and it's ginormous is like going to a city going to the church is like going to a city it just goes on and on and on but my friends there are some people they just live on miracles and if you do that you're going against the will of God and it's a very difficult path God wants you to walk by faith and should you need a miracle God will be there for you but you don't want that to be a method of operating praise God let me talk about your body just for a moment fred price dr. Fred price pastor Crenshaw Christian Center wrote in his one of his books I don't have the book with me I think the name of it will probably come to me in just a moment but he talked about the story and he's also shared it on national television about when his wife Betty got cancer and they begin to use their faith she went through the chemotherapy they're believing God for healing but they are also gonna work with the doctors and you know so she goes through the whole process and she pops out on the other end after all the chemo and you know chemo us horrible and what it does to you all the nausea hair loss and you know swapping out good cells along with bad cells but you know if you want to live you know you know and there's not a miracle you you go through it trusting God well she got through it but dr. price said that he had talked with the Lord about it in prayer afterwards and the Lord did reveal to him and his wife that there was an open door and that open door was terrible eating habits you know you could be skinny and still eat junk and watch out because you can look okay on the outside but if you're clogging up your arteries there have been runners that looked like they were healthy but they clogged their arteries up by eating all kinds of garbage probably the most famous one was Jim Fixx who wrote the famous book on running who was the guru so to speak of the running world you need the Run for health and while running one day an apparent good help drop dead of a heart attack and when they did the autopsy they found out that you know his main arteries were completely blocked up so you can go out and run around be skinny maybe look like you're in shape but if you're shoving in fried food all the time and you're you're going against biblical principles of healthy eating my friends don't turn around and say God will do a miracle it's okay I believe in miracles well you'll be saying that while they drive you to the hospital in an ambulance my friends please walk the balance of the word and the spirit praised the Lord even pastor Benny Hinn when he was having the heart issues and would have these irregular heartbeats which could be quite scary when your heart skips a few beats you're like hey that's not normal that's not good and it's not good it means something is really wrong well he talked to the Lord about it from the perspective of God heal me Lord I prayed for healing for all of these people Lord and you have healed all of these people that I prayed for with miracles and signs and wonders now Lord come heal me he took the Lord rebuke team he said the Lord rebuke him and said you should know better you with the way that you're eating and your eating habits are very unhealthy and you're gonna do that to your body and cause your body to have this breakdown and then your turn around me to ask you to heal they to heal you he said the Lord rebuke him and said you change the way you're eating and start eating right don't eat all this junk and the Lord said basically you do your part I'll do my part and he did his part and the Lord did his part and he's still going today still preaching today do you see how you can walk in the fear of the Lord and love God deeply and sincerely yet have a total area of vulnerability over here in another area of your life because of not walking in wisdom and you need to have that wisdom for your finances that wisdom for your health the wisdom for your marriage the wisdom for relationships mmm thank you Lord Jesus thus God do miracles yes pastor Steven tell me your answer when is the best time to receive a miracle let me answer that with a story this was about 25 years ago me and my wife were sitting in a certain church a very good spirit-filled Church in Southern California that day the senior pastor did not speak he allowed one I guess speaker to come and minister and he taught a message that I've never forgotten it was really good now he was from I can't remember where he is from Caribbean Bahamas and that now when I say that most people think Myles Munroe no it was not Myles Munroe but he was a speaker from down from that area he was he was an apostle and so he came and he ministered and he shared a story of how he had read a verse in the Bible let me read that verse to you it's so simple it's so simple but it is so true he had read a verse in the Bible here's the verse for surely I say to you whoever says to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart but believes that those things he says will be done he will have whatever he says so he read mark chapter 11 verse 23 and he said hmm so if I don't doubt my heart but I really believe this that what I'm saying if I believe what I'm saying I'll have it he said okay he said this is what I'm going to do and he told the whole church while he's speaking what he decided to do he wrote on a little piece of paper that I believe in my heart that I receive 1 million dollars and he wrote it on a little piece of paper and every night before he went to bed and he went to sleep he put that he would take that little piece of paper out because it kept under the pillow he would take it out and read it I believe according to Mark chapter 11 verse 23 I believe that I receive a million dollars and Jesus said that I will have whatever I say and I believe it I believe it I believe I've got a million dollars he would do it at night when he went to sleep and he would do it in the morning when he would wake up and he did admit that his wife thought it was a little bit odd that's ok he had the revelation he had understanding of the verse she didn't but that's ok I'm sure she was happy that he did later so he said 11 years went by he did that every night and he did that every morning for 11 years after 11 years he's out on the Golf Course playing golf he doesn't have money problems he's he's not under pressure he's actually relaxed he's out on the golf course as a man of God taking a day off playing golf and yes he's about to swing and hit the golf ball he got a call on his phone his cell phone from the secretary back in his ministry office and said sir I think you probably should have come in today to the office he said why she said well you just got an envelope in the mail he said well you have permission to open the envelopes what's inside of it she said well that's what I'm saying she I think you might want to come in and see this she said there's a check here for you for a million dollars it goes okay he said I'll come on down so he received the check in the mail for 1 million dollars and yes the check did go through it cashed it went through just totally fine okay so here's the thing when is the best time to receive a miracle when you don't really need one when you don't even need one Pastor Steven he received a million dollar miracle let's all shout and praise the Lord hallelujah yes you know what the true part of it was he didn't even need it he already had plenty of money now he had some plans oh yes he had he had plans of what he could do but he didn't even really need it praise the Lord and that's the way your life is going to become you're not going to be existing on the Manica on the manna yes God took on new miracles you're going to see amazing things and we are going to see the gift of the working of miracles manifest let me say this that gift working of miracles when you read that entire chapter and towards the end of 1st Corinthians chapter 12 it starts talking about miracles Paul they're at the end of the chapter is actually talking about not the gifts of the Spirit but the ministry Offices of the Spirit apostle prophet evangelist pastor teacher and when Paul mentions miracles later in that chapter he's actually talking about the gift of the Evangelist so the evangelists so often operates in the gift of working of miracles why he's ministering to the Lost he's ministering to the Lost and God so often does miracles for unbelievers who have no way of operating by biblical principles they can't even find the book of Revelation in the Bible they don't even know what it is so God has mercy on them they don't know but when you know and you've been in the church for a while there does come a where God says we need to get you out of diapers and we need to get you established and discipled in the word hallelujah so you're not trying to exist and live off luck and chance and happenstance no you live off the principles of the word and you begin to prosper and thrive and all you do hallelujah and most often when miracles like happened then you don't even need it why your life has already sold rock-solid and established it's just icing on the cake mm-hmm when's the best time to receive a miracle when you don't need one praise the Lord hallelujah see here's the thing with miracles you cannot make God do a miracle you cannot make him do it and sometimes on purpose he'll pull back and not do it because he wants you to stop trying to exist on manna and he'll pull back on purpose and not do it he won't bail you out sometimes he wants you to shift and grow up and you'll be so happy that you did when you make that adjustment and by the way when you live like this you'll never meet the repo man unless you own a repo company okay it's your company or something like that outside of that you'll never you'll never know the Wolves praise the Lord mmm thank you Jesus thank you Jesus hallelujah Pastor Steven you talk about signs and wonders and miracles yes I do and I believe in them but you want to be walking in that blessing thank you lord walking in the blessing okay walking in the principles of the word thank you Jesus hallelujah thank you Lord Jesus Lord we give you praise Lord we give you praise hallelujah there's these different areas of your life if any area needs to be cleaned up and healed and if there's something you can do in the natural then make that adjustment if there's an area that's out of control and need to put the brakes on then you have to be willing to do that praise God praise the Lord hmm I don't know if I should share this but I think I will praise the Lord sometimes my wife she says she says Stephen you tell sometimes things that are too personal well I think it helps people you some things you can't share here's one I think that you'll find interesting there are some people in the community that are Christians but they don't believe in what I call the Full Gospel message which is victory over sin victory over temptation victory over lack they just think they love the Lord they just think well you know you'll have victory when you get to heaven but long as you're on the earth they're going to be defeated and suffer and you have to just yell press through that I'm like no Christ redeemed us from all of those things and Satan is actually a defeated foe and you have to enforce the victory of Christ at Calvary over him his victory is your victory and when you resist the devil he'll flee from you they're like oh that that's crazy we don't believe in that well that's why you have so much failure in your life and so I've had some of those people in the community who don't agree or believe in the full Gospel message persecute me severely with articles and with statements and with slender and with lies and all of these other things and I had a member of the community talked to me one day he was actually a still is medical doctor and he likes my ministry he's a good man he said pastor Steven he said don't let those things trouble you that those who don't understand the full gospel the full inheritance that Christ purchased for us he said he said don't let those people who say those mean things against you don't let that trouble you he said I'll give them a talking-to I said what do you mean that you'll give them a talking to I said how do you know them he goes all I'll meet them I said why do you say that he said because the critics he said I know where they eat at what do you I said what do you mean by that he said I know where they eat and all of your critics they're clogging up their arteries with their food there he said they're ticking time bombs for a heart attack and when they come to the hospital and I'm there in the operating room because he you know he's involved in you know and all of that and the surgery takes place for us to clean out the plaque and to open up the arteries and that take their heart out of their chest and to sit it over on a tray while it beats while we work on that individual I'll be sure the talk to have a little talk to their spirit while they're in that place in that moment and then when we saw them all back up and they get back out and maybe they'll be nice to you because I'll give them a little talking to while they are under the knife so to speak because you said they're all gonna be showing up to meet me because I know what they're doing to their body and you cannot you cannot abuse your body like that and eat nothing but junk like that and not have it come back and bite you and he's not saying that out of any sort of vengeance or you know bad heart he's just saying hey you can't do that you can't put that in without ending up here at the hospital he said I'll be talking to him I'll be seeing them well maybe they'd be blessed and he loved the Lord I hold no animosity against anybody praise God and I certainly wouldn't want to see anybody go through that oh that's that's painful you know they literally cut your chest open cut through all the bones sternum and everything open you up and take your heart out oh lord have mercy praise God but my friends let's do our part let's do our part mmm this is a culture in America particularly with the young generation where they don't want to earn it but when you earn it and you rise up and you do your part I tell you it develops maturity in and we need leaders we don't need wallflowers and these little you know milquetoast people that espouse all of this stuff and the stuff doesn't even work and the moment that real life happens or the moment that the rubber meets the road you know they've never even been there they've never even been there reminds me of Karl Marx and all of his ideologies and all of his philosophies of what he thinks is the proper way to run a government he never ran anything he set in a stupid library reading stupid articles all the time and then when he couldn't even find data or information to back up the way he thought it should be done he fabricated and falsified certain forms of data that tried to justify his beliefs he's just a Wallflower he never did anything he's just a critic just with a bunch of ideas that have never been proven never worked and his ideas all they ever did when they were implemented is killed millions and millions of people Wow praise God so earn it earn it believe God walk it out dared to believe God hold to the word stand on the word fight for what is yours praise God have a backbone along the way glory to God glory to God and be tough be tough praise the Lord be sweet hmm wise as a serpent but as harmless as a lamb be very sweet but be very very wise at the same time praise the Lord praise the Lord thank you Jesus hallelujah I'm not sure what this where this fits in but I'm gonna put it out there I had a vision this morning while in prayer getting the notes ready for today's sermon I saw a man sitting at a computer the computer had three screens one in the front one on the side of the angle and another one at an angle I couldn't see who the man was I just knew he was a man that he was a Christian I don't doubt that he was a Christian that feared God but he was a man sitting there and he was investing in stocks I couldn't seem like a cloud was over him but he was investing in stocks and I could sense from the heart of God that this man was really into making money through stock investing and you know the stock market is doing good and if Trump president Trump stays in office which I'm praying that he will the stock market is just going to do better and better so in some ways doesn't take a genius to make money right now in the stock market but I'm not endorsing that you get involved in that because you could lose your shirt too if you don't know what you're doing so please don't get involved in that unless you have good knowledge base and good skill in that and it takes a while to learn all of that but I saw this person really into their investing making money and I felt the heart of God because the Lord said to me if that if that believer would be as passionate about making money in the stock market if he would be as passionate as winning souls I would allow him to make more money in one day than what he could do in ten years with his own efforts if he just had as much of a heart to see the lost saved as he does to see his stock portfolio increase hmm and I saw people all over the world sitting in sin sitting and darkness lost not knowing the gospel on their way to a burning hell and I saw him sitting there having no interest in that no care about that he loves the Lord he loves the Lord but just so absorbed in his own life I said Oh Lord Oh Lord let us always have a heart for you and for your kingdom and when you put the Lord first and that is walking in the wisdom of God mmm God will protect you God will bless you and he'll add all of those things to you that the world just craves and lust over and would do anything to get and God will just give it to you he'll just bless you with it oh praise the Lord praise the Lord make things right make things right the number one thing is keep the Lord first keep the Lord first now wisdom is extremely important Solomon had tremendous wisdom but Solomon had a missing ingredient that you must have in the end times you know what's amazing about Solomon Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes and most most theologians believe that the book of Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon after he came back to the Lord now here's the thing when Solomon got into idolatry Solomon said I still retain my wisdom so he had the wisdom of God while he began to explore all of these sinful pursuits so he could tell others what to do and it would work for them but he wouldn't implement it or walk it in himself by the way that's the difference between Solomon and David David blew it really bad yet it says in Scripture that God even says that he was a man after God's own heart what's the difference between David and Solomon because Solomon blew it too David never got into idolatry David got into sin he got into the flesh but David never ever bowed down to any type of Idol Solomon did and may you never ever bow down to any movement to any worldly thing where you bow your knee just to get the pleat of the appeasement of somebody that says we're so glad that you agree with us no I don't agree with you and I'm not battling down to that I'm not bowing to anybody but to God ever sick it's disgusting it's idolatry it is wickedness to do that that's why David was a man after God's own heart he never ever bowed his need to an idol may you never do the same thing either to any movement or to any idol of ideology woo glory to God praise the Lord but you must have the missing ingredient what is its faithfulness you must have faithfulness or that blessing that blessing you might want to start looking at that blessing that wisdom will produce the blessing the blessing of the Lord will make you rich but you must have faithfulness where you stay centered in Christ don't start getting away from the cross well I don't need the fast anymore pastor Steve and I I did a I did a 10-day fast back in 1992 watch out for drifting watch out for your flesh mmm-hmm I don't really pray that much anymore pastor Steve and I don't really need to I've got I'm on cruise control now watch out watch out for drifting mmm praise the Lord may the Lord strengthen you with faithfulness what is faithfulness I will not bow and the only way that you can have that strength is to walk daily with the Lord daily with the Lord daily with the Lord because if you compromise anywhere on the way to the top if you compromise anywhere before the Lord if you compromise his values his word his principles anywhere on the way to the top once you get to the top they own you they own you and they'll come collecting Dew they'll come wanting to make collection because you bow to them on the way mmm and if you've done that you might as well just back up back up throw the whole thing out and get right with God and you have to be willing to walk away from it well we've got stuff on you well go ahead and look if that's what you're going to do go ahead and do it I'm going on with God do your stuff if you ruined my political career go ahead and do your thing I'm going to serve God I'll never bow to your agenda praise God you have to be willing to do that do you understand I'm not running for politics I'm using it as an example woohoo glory to God you can't bow as a preacher either pastor Stephen I want them to like me hmm well you know there will be those also Paul said the message of the Cross is foolishness and they're going to think that you're a fool if you preach it so what are you gonna do well you have to make up your mind may you have faithfulness to go along with the wisdom that God is releasing to you whoa praise God now watch this God wants to release such wisdom into your life that the things that you do start to out do the things that the world does that God is looking for those that he can trust that are proven and will not bail out on him so that he can lift you up and start doing things through you that the Senators stand back and say he's doing it better than we are she's she's making better movies than we can make but see you don't you don't compromise you don't bow mmm praise God that's what the Lord's weren't looking for now let me tell you why this has to be really settled in your heart with the Lord because here's what the Lord is working with this this is the potential of what you're dealing with watch this I can take all of my wealth and I can take every single bit of it and I could give it to my daughter legally and I could sign it over and give it to her but do you know what if she decides not to serve the Lord and I've given all that to her she could turn right around and take all of that money and use it to support an abortion clinic I'm not saying that this is happening this is just a make-believe scenario that's what happened with Adam God gave all authority all Dominion to Adam over the whole planet and when Adam had it you know what he did he turned right around and committed high treason against God and gave to the devil mmm now through Christ that authority has been won back but let me say this the Lord wants to release authority and unprecedented levels of wealth magnitudes of wealth released into his people that you like the world has never seen to fund the work of God to raise up works of God anything and everything that will expand the kingdom and make disciples of the nations but you cannot turn around and then bail out on God with that kind of authority he he's looking for trusted proven vessels that's right that's why right now you need faithfulness there is a shifting that's going on right now between those that bow that will just go along with things to be appeased and those that say no no God has seven thousand who've never bowed the knee or kissed bail and God God's got his faithful ones and God will raise those up and in the end times greater 19 tremendous power and authority tremendous provision wisdom unparalleled like the world is unlike what the world is seen before and we're gonna use all of that together to pull the gospel Nets the foam and the Pullum whoo praise the Lord hallelujah glory to God glory to God so right now just let your heart be settled with the Lord any areas that you've seen perhaps that you you said you say I need to make application better in this area do that do that and then you will see miracles and the amazing thing is often when they happen you don't even need them well praise the Lord all right so father we give you praise we thank you for what it is you're sharing we thank you for the privilege of working with you in these great intime works that you are commissioning that you are that you our unveiling and unfolding and as you do it you're gonna do it first-class you're gonna do it the very best hallelujah we thank you for the release the empowerment the blessing father we give you praise we give you praise I ask that you would strengthen and solidify every person watching today that the be great maturity in them in Jesus name in Jesus name we pray amen now there will be those of you because you're getting a good grasp on this you're going to see others making mistakes sometimes may be the same mistakes we've all made thinking that God's going to just come through that regardless of what they do that God is going to bail them out with a miracle and you're gonna say please please stop slow down this is not going to end the way that you thinking it's going to please reexamine this please and because of your love and your willingness to help there will be those that listen and they will not be shipwrecked they will not go through the trauma that otherwise they would have faced praise God hallelujah amen in Jesus name let's get ready to take holy communion today grab some unleavened bread grab some grape juice if you're watching today and you don't know Christ as your Lord and Savior my friends let this be your time where you get your life with God right right now right now you can pass from spiritual death into spiritual life through salvation in Christ pray this prayer after me say Lord Jesus come into my heart wash my sins away wash my sins away with your precious blood that you shed for me on the cross at Calvary Jesus I give my heart to you write my name in your book of life thank you Jesus I belong to you now praise God now serve Him and live for him with all of your heart and follow his word if you don't know anything about the Bible get your Bible and begin reading in the book of John praise God if you're watching today and you have fallen away from Christ you were a Christian but now you're out in the world and you haven't been serving God come back right now God's arms are open to you and you'll wash all of your sins away and it'll help get you out of any mess you may be in come back to him right now say this say Lord Jesus I have fallen from you but I turned my heart back to you now say Jesus deliver me forgive me of my sins and help me get out of the trouble that I would be in right now heal me restore me back unto you Jesus thank you for doing it in your name I pray amen and amen and Christ has never forgotten you one day this is your moment hallelujah thank you for making that moment right with God serve the Lord with all of your heart if you have made a decision to receive Christ into your heart today or if you have made a decision to rededicate your heart back to God I want to know email me and contact at Steven Brooks org I want to rejoice with you let me know your name let me know where you live at what part of the world I want to hear from you now everybody now that is watching and your heart is right with God let's take Holy Communion father we thank you for the bread we thank you for the juice we consecrate it and pray and set it apart as Holy we thank you that this is now the body the flesh and the blood of Jesus father as we receive the flesh of Christ we thank you that we belong to you and that we're gonna live in heaven with you forever and ever and ever woohoo and father as we're faithful to rule and reign and govern our lives not others lives but our lives we thank you that as we do good that into the ages to come you can give us rule and reign and authority over greater responsibilities and even in this life you can increase our effectiveness and our outreach because we are being faithful with what you've put in our hands so father thank you help us help us now to be hearers and doers of your word in Jesus name Amen let's receive hallelujah father thank you for the blood of Jesus that is able to wash any sin away that is able to turn the heart of the darkest sinner into a heart that is washed pure and clean o God we thank you for the blood of Jesus father we ask that you would wash all of our sins away thank you that you are faithful and just to do just that and we give you praise and we thank you that our sins and our iniquities you remember no more thank you for the blood of Jesus covering us every day every day hallelujah and thank you Father God that we overcome by the word of our testimony by the blood of the Lamb and we do not love our lives unto death thank you Father God for the privilege of living in this day an hour the last days before the soon-coming return of the Lord thank you Father God thank you Father God thank you Father God let your heart be our heart we give you praise we give you praise thank you father in Jesus name Amen let's receive the blood of Jesus praise the Lord praise the Lord glory to God the word is a sharp sword sharper than any two-edged sword and divides between soul and spirit and we need that because so many things that we think that our spirit it's just actually soul so it's able to discern between soul spirit able to discern between the very thoughts of our heart and God is working right now God is keeping you on that straight and narrow path hallelujah and you're gonna make it all the way to stand before the Lord one day and hear him say well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord oh you're gonna be so glad that you live for the Lord now while you're here on this earth you'll look back you'll be so glad amen thank you for watching I look forward to seeing you back next time till then stay richly blessed