God is our Father and fathers say, “No.” When God says no it’s not rejection—it’s protection. This is the bad math equation: a tough season plus an open door doesn’t always mean God wants you to leave a hard place. Stay put and God will give you strength. The one that causes the wounds can be the very one that heals the wounds when you choose to stay in the difficult places. Many times God’s “no” is a course changer.
Unbelief in our trial grieves the heart of God and causes Him pain—it's the mountain we must move. Yet, it's agony that leads us to a place where we pray the ultimate prayer. After fasting, prayer and weeping we will cry out just as Jesus did in Gethsemane, "Not my will but thy will be done." To move the mountain, we must be absolutely convinced of the love of God.
Have you deviated from the path of God in pursuit of self? If we don’t get the self-focus out of our heart, we will begin to create another Christ that will accommodate our selfish pursuit and we will end up in a dry place. Today, if you have this cry in your heart, “God come and speak to us, we are dry and we have lost our confidence and our joy is almost gone.” God’s answer to you is, “Hear the Word of the Lord.” God desires to give you a power source that is not your own. He will bring you up out of every place where death has reigned.
There is a difference between the message of Christ and all the other religions that are available to humankind. God almighty in the form and power of the Holy Spirit is not only willing to save us but He is willing to indwell us and transform us from the inside out. If you have Christ in you, the Hope of Glory, that is God’s way of making Himself known to others who are outside of His Kingdom. Christ in us gives us the power to break every bondage, endure every storm and empowers our speech to bring light to others who are captivated in darkness.
Our nation is experiencing a breakdown of decency, morality and civility. In the very near future sin will have its full expression creating the last worldwide rebellion against the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In the midst of it all, there will be a people who will rediscover that we are the Church of the Living God and the Christ who triumphed over sin and Satan lives inside of us. We, as God’s people, have power in prayer to turn this hellish agenda back and make it bend its’ knee to Christ. If we will pray God will hear.
As the people of God, we have lost our focus. We have lost sight of our condition and our calling. It’s imperative to rediscover our identity in Christ and what God ‘s purpose is for us in the earth. If you open the door of your heart God will open the scriptures to you, give you understanding and bring you into a place of power. Let your cry be, “Lord anoint my eyes, show me Your purpose for my life and give me a heart to do the work of an evangelist.”
Have you ever heard a Word from God and you went out in faith only to feel like God didn’t go with you? There are moments when you will do everything right only to have everything go wrong and the first step of obedience will feel like you made a mistake. Sometimes we feel like we are kicked over by God but don’t give up God is teaching you to get up and keep going. God always delivers His people and your story is never over because He is writing it.
What are these dreams that old men will dream? The Holy Spirit will give you divine revelation and power to speak to the next generation. If our hearts are turned inward we will lose vision and power, but when our heart turns to the children of this generation God will pour out His Spirit upon us. Pastor Carter gives an illustrated sermon of his life’s journey to encourage us to speak into the lives of our family and to influence another generation.
This message comes with a warning. The world as we know it is going to plunge into an unspeakable darkness. Israel will soon be encompassed by enemy armies. Jesus warned us in the last days that many false prophets are going to arise and many people will be deceived because they are not in the Word of God. There is power in the Word of God to bring life, strength and direction. The promises of God are there for you to establish your thoughts so you can get through your day.