SPEAKER_01: The Book of Mark.
SPEAKER_01: We're reading chapter 5, verse 25 to 34.
SPEAKER_01: And this month we're talking about confession.
SPEAKER_01: And today I'm talking about the dynamic force of confession.
SPEAKER_01: This is the story you know very well of this woman who had an issue, and God came with a miracle for her.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in verse 25, and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years.
SPEAKER_01: She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors, had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse.
SPEAKER_01: When she heard about Jesus, when she heard about Jesus, when she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, and this is the confession she was having in her mind, and she began to say it, if I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.
SPEAKER_01: Immediately.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your neighbor there is an immediately.
SPEAKER_01: Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
SPEAKER_01: At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him.
SPEAKER_01: He turned around in the crowd and asked, Who touched me?
SPEAKER_01: Who touched my clothes?
SPEAKER_01: You see the people crowding against you?
SPEAKER_01: His disciples answered, and yet you can ask, Who touched me?
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.
SPEAKER_01: Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.
SPEAKER_01: He said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you.
SPEAKER_01: Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.
SPEAKER_01: This is God's word, and God's for said.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: We may be seated as I pray and we give God a glory.
SPEAKER_01: Father, in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: This month we've been talking about confession, the liberating power of confession.
SPEAKER_01: And today, even as I talk about the dynamic force of confession, I pray that, Lord, we shall activate our confession.
SPEAKER_01: We shall hold fast to that confession.
SPEAKER_01: We are already confessing about Jubilee.
SPEAKER_01: We are declaring it, we are saying it.
SPEAKER_01: And dear Lord, sometimes we get tired and begin to confess other things.
SPEAKER_01: And we confuse the purposes of God.
SPEAKER_01: But this morning, somebody has come who needs rest, who needs a reset, who needs a restoration, who needs revival.
SPEAKER_01: And dear Lord, we pray that the presence of the Holy Spirit on this Pentecost Sunday will minister to them in a very special way.
SPEAKER_01: Touch our hearts, touch our ears, touch our lives, and we give you the glory.
SPEAKER_01: This we have prayed in Jesus' name and gossip.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: As we celebrate Jubilee, I think for Arsenal fans, it's actually a Jubilee season.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Simon, I'm asking myself, when other teams win the championship, they don't come to church and celebrate like this.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if whether the Arsenal fans are all Christians.
SPEAKER_01: The other day I saw they went to Ngong Hills, had a big celebration.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's just having fun.
SPEAKER_01: But we want to thank God because that's the Jubilee celebration.
SPEAKER_01: 22 years is a long time.
SPEAKER_01: When Liverpool was winning all the time.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to know, we celebrate with all of you.
SPEAKER_01: Your victory is our victory.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Confession is very powerful.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll be talking about that in a few minutes.
SPEAKER_01: It there's a dynamic force.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your neighbor, there's a dynamic force.
SPEAKER_01: And because there's a dynamic force, the devil knows that there's a dynamic force.
SPEAKER_01: So the devil will do everything he can do to cause you to confess the wrong things.
SPEAKER_01: And our confession is based on the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: And that is why the Bible says, This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth.
SPEAKER_01: You shall meditate on it day and night, because that is where the fire of confession begins to burn.
SPEAKER_01: So that when you are faced with any situation, confession of God's word comes out.
SPEAKER_01: That's what God told Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth.
SPEAKER_01: You shall keep it on your lips day and night.
SPEAKER_01: You shall confess it, confess it, confess it, because there is a dynamic force behind it, a powerful force.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, you know, the power, there's death and life are in the power of what?
SPEAKER_01: Of the tongue.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Simon was talking about prophecy last Sunday and just the prophetic speaking to dry bones.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's a force.
SPEAKER_01: And so when Ezekiel began to speak, the Bible says the bones began to rattle.
SPEAKER_01: They began to move.
SPEAKER_01: And it was a for Ezekiel, it was a serious nightmare.
SPEAKER_01: It was bad.
SPEAKER_01: Just standing in the middle of bones and seeing a bone rushing, one skull going and connecting to the neck bone and the neck bone, connecting to the shoulder bone, and the shoulder bone, connecting to the bones going down, to the neck bone, to the spine, to the pelvic, to the femur, to the knees going down, down, down.
SPEAKER_01: And then the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Now that is the bad one, flesh.
SPEAKER_01: And the blood veins and the capillaries and all those things.
SPEAKER_01: And the organs.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says in seconds, these men stood up.
SPEAKER_01: They were all soldiers.
SPEAKER_01: Not only standing up, but covered in uniform, ready for a great fight, great warfare.
SPEAKER_01: And that all happened because God just told Ezekiel one thing, prophesy.
SPEAKER_01: Because there is a force.
SPEAKER_01: There's something that is released, and things shift in your situations.
SPEAKER_01: So this lady, for 12 years, not knowing what to do, the Bible says, heard about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray that you have heard about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Because it is only Jesus who can turn things around.
SPEAKER_01: And you see, Jesus was walking with a lot of power.
SPEAKER_01: There was power in him.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus was not walking around zapping people with power.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine Jesus has all this power sizzling inside him?
SPEAKER_01: Then he sees a blind man.
SPEAKER_01: And the blind man sees, bang, then goes around, sees a guy who is deaf.
SPEAKER_01: A guy who was not even expecting to hear, suddenly is hearing, and it would have been chaotic.
SPEAKER_01: Imagining opening the eyes of a blind man, and then the blind man says, Who told I wanted to see?
SPEAKER_01: Very comfortable like this.
SPEAKER_01: And that is why Jesus met them and said, What would you want me to do?
SPEAKER_01: The God of the universe can humble himself enough, though he knows what you need, can humble himself and say, What do you want me to do?
SPEAKER_01: Because God is waiting for your confession, the dynamic confession to come out.
SPEAKER_01: And so three areas I want to talk about today is about the force of confession.
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk about the force of favor.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your neighbor the force of favor.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, the force of uplifting, and thirdly, the force of realignment.
SPEAKER_01: So let me say that again: the force of favor, the force of uplifting, and the force of realignment.
SPEAKER_01: Confession brings about favor.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read Matthew 10.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said something interesting, and it's about our confession.
SPEAKER_01: It's what we say.
SPEAKER_01: He said this whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my father in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me read this in the Amplified Version.
SPEAKER_01: The Amplified says this because there's a word that is being used that is the same.
SPEAKER_01: And he says this in NIV.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, the one who does what?
SPEAKER_01: Who confesses and acknowledges me before men as Lord and Savior, affirming a state of oneness with me, that one I will also confess and acknowledge before my father who is in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: But the one who denies and rejects me before men, that one I will also deny and reject before my father who is in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Pastor Simon, the word acknowledge and the word confess in that scripture from the Greek version of the Bible is the word homo logio.
SPEAKER_01: So it's the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: Homo logio is made of two words, homo and logio, where we get the word logic or the word word.
SPEAKER_01: So it means homo means same.
SPEAKER_01: Logos or logio means to say.
SPEAKER_01: So when you say homologio, or when you say confess, it is saying the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: You're just saying the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: You are confessing.
SPEAKER_01: And usually in our minds, every time somebody tells you confess, the first thing you do is you start feeling sorry for your sins.
SPEAKER_01: Feeling sorry for your sins is not confessing.
SPEAKER_01: So tell your neighbor, when you are sorry for your sins, that is not confession.
SPEAKER_01: That's just being a crying baby.
SPEAKER_01: Just tell your neighbor that's that's there's no confession there.
SPEAKER_01: Hello.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in Romans, the Bible says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: So that's what God says.
SPEAKER_01: God says, all have sinned.
SPEAKER_01: Confession then means you say the same thing and say, Lord, I have sinned.
SPEAKER_01: That's confession.
SPEAKER_01: Stop saying, Oh, Jehovah God, you know how bad I am.
SPEAKER_01: God already knows.
SPEAKER_01: So you don't tell him things that he knows.
SPEAKER_01: So when God says, All have sinned, you repeat and say, God, I have sinned.
SPEAKER_01: Don't try to argue, don't say I was tempted, don't say he's the one who started.
SPEAKER_01: No, just say, I have sinned.
SPEAKER_01: That's confession.
SPEAKER_01: And then when God says, if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, then you say, after you confess, you say, God has cleansed me from all unrighteousness.
SPEAKER_01: It's called confession.
SPEAKER_01: Saying the same thing God is saying, and where do you get those things?
SPEAKER_01: In the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: When God says you are a champion, what do you say?
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: You don't start saying, you know, I have not even started, this thing is not going.
SPEAKER_01: When God says you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, so what do you say?
SPEAKER_01: So you don't contradict him.
SPEAKER_01: One of the guys who contradicted God and was not thrown into hell, and I really feel for him, was a guy called Gideon.
SPEAKER_01: God comes to Gideon, and Gideon starts a whole series of arguments.
SPEAKER_01: Judges chapter 6, verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this about this Gideon.
SPEAKER_01: I hope you're not in that in that clan of the Gideonites.
SPEAKER_01: Hello.
SPEAKER_01: Judges, when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.
SPEAKER_01: What does Gideon say?
SPEAKER_01: Pardon me.
SPEAKER_01: Who are you talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Gideon replied, and then he says, God manner, you're not saying the right thing.
SPEAKER_01: If the Lord is with us, you're saying that the Lord is, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?
SPEAKER_01: Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?
SPEAKER_01: But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of the media.
SPEAKER_01: Now God did not change his mind.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord turned to him and said, Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand.
SPEAKER_01: Am I not sending you?
SPEAKER_01: See what he says.
SPEAKER_01: Pardon me.
SPEAKER_01: Look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor, stop pardoning.
SPEAKER_01: Pardon me, pardon me.
SPEAKER_01: When God says it, believe it.
SPEAKER_01: And say it.
SPEAKER_01: But let me stop dealing with Gideon because that's for another day.
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk about the force of favor.
SPEAKER_01: Because when you decree and confess Jesus before others, he then confesses you before his father.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when somebody confesses you about you in an office you have never entered, that is favor.
SPEAKER_01: If somebody is talking about you in a good way, in a high office, that is a lot of favor.
SPEAKER_01: Daniel was that kind of a person.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in Daniel chapter 2, let me read one or two verses there, because Daniel found favor, but it was because of his confession.
SPEAKER_01: It's because of what he said.
SPEAKER_01: Very interesting story there.
SPEAKER_01: In Daniel chapter 2, the Bible says, let me just start with chapter 2 there, verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams.
SPEAKER_01: His mind was troubled, and he could not sleep.
SPEAKER_01: So the king summoned the magicians.
SPEAKER_01: Now these are the guys who surrounded him: magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, astrologers.
SPEAKER_01: Ah, the one Pastor Saban was talking about the other day.
SPEAKER_01: He wanted them to tell him what he had dreamed.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_01: When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, I have had a dream that troubles me.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to know what it means.
SPEAKER_01: Then the astrologers answered the king, May the king live forever.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.
SPEAKER_01: The king replied to the astrologers, This is what I have firmly decided.
SPEAKER_01: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble.
SPEAKER_01: But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor.
SPEAKER_01: So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.
SPEAKER_01: Once more they replied, Let the king tell his servants the dream.
SPEAKER_01: Now you see the problem.
SPEAKER_01: Now, who can do that?
SPEAKER_01: In fact, this was so serious, and the king decided all the magicians are going to get killed, all of them.
SPEAKER_01: And even the guys, the wise men, were the ones who killed.
SPEAKER_01: Among them was Daniel and his friends.
SPEAKER_01: And so, when Daniel got to hear about it, he decided that he needed to find out what God was saying.
SPEAKER_01: So scroll that down to around verse 19.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is the vision.
SPEAKER_01: And Daniel finding out from God what God was talking about.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in verse 19, during the night, because Daniel had asked God, what did Daniel, the king, dream?
SPEAKER_01: During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I like that because Pastor Simon the Bible says, Call unto me, and I will do what?
SPEAKER_01: I'll answer you.
SPEAKER_01: So during the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
SPEAKER_01: Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said, Now, this is his confession that releases favor.
SPEAKER_01: Praise be to the name of God forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Wisdom and power are whose?
SPEAKER_01: Are his.
SPEAKER_01: He changes times and seasons.
SPEAKER_01: He deposits kings and raises up others.
SPEAKER_01: He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
SPEAKER_01: He reveals deep and hidden things.
SPEAKER_01: He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with him.
SPEAKER_01: I thank and praise you, God, of my ancestors.
SPEAKER_01: You have given me wisdom and power.
SPEAKER_01: You have made me known to me.
SPEAKER_01: You have made known to me what we have asked of you.
SPEAKER_01: You have made known to us the dream of the king.
SPEAKER_01: Then Daniel went to Ariok, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, Do not execute the wise men of Babylon.
SPEAKER_01: Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.
SPEAKER_01: Ariok took Daniel to the king at once and said, I have found a man.
SPEAKER_01: May God find a man in us in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: A man who can confess in a challenging situation.
SPEAKER_01: I found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.
SPEAKER_01: And so the king asked Daniel, also called Belshazzar, Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpreted?
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to Daniel.
SPEAKER_01: Daniel replied, No wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about.
SPEAKER_01: But there is a God.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: If you confess me before men, I'll confess you before my father.
SPEAKER_01: He said, There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
SPEAKER_01: He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the days to come.
SPEAKER_01: Your dream and the visions that pass through your mind as you are lying in bed are these.
SPEAKER_01: Then he gave them him, gave him a detailed uh of all his all what he dreamt about.
SPEAKER_01: Now, let me fast forward this because that's a long chapter.
SPEAKER_01: Around verse 47, chapter 2, verse 47, he has interpreted this thing.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 47 to 49, the Bible says this.
SPEAKER_01: The king said to Daniel, now he has already told him what he dreamt and the meaning.
SPEAKER_01: The king said to Daniel, Surely your God is the God of God.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord of kings.
SPEAKER_01: This is Nebuchadnezzar.
SPEAKER_01: He's he's a heathen, he he serves idols.
SPEAKER_01: But because of this amazing confession and interpretation of the vision, he's so overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, The king, surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and the revealer of mysteries, for you are able to reveal this mystery.
SPEAKER_01: When the king speaks well for you, then good things happen.
SPEAKER_01: May the king speak for you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Then the king placed Daniel in a high position.
SPEAKER_01: That is called promotion.
SPEAKER_01: Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished, lavished many gifts on him.
SPEAKER_01: He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men, including the magicians and the sorcerers and the enchanters.
SPEAKER_01: Moreover, at Daniel's request, I like that.
SPEAKER_01: This is one I like.
SPEAKER_01: When God blesses you and God gives you favor, remember your friends.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Remember your friends.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, moreover, at Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Mishak, and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: It's called the dynamic force of confession, the force of favor, that when you confess God's word, favor will locate you.
SPEAKER_01: When you confess God's word, favor will locate you.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm saying this week in the name of Jesus that in the next three days, favor will locate you in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking to somebody here in Jesus' name that you are completely giving up, but God is about to turn things around.
SPEAKER_01: He's about to lift you up.
SPEAKER_01: Count three days today, tomorrow is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday on.
SPEAKER_01: Where's the mark it on your calendar?
SPEAKER_01: Because something good is coming your way in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Because the king is going to speak good things on your behalf.
SPEAKER_01: But very quickly, I want to talk about the force of uplifting.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your neighbor the force of uplifting.
SPEAKER_01: In Job 22, verse 28-29, the Bible says this.
SPEAKER_01: When people are brought low, and you say, Lift them up, then He will save the downcast.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me read this in the New King James Version 28 and 29.
SPEAKER_01: This is where we get that word of decreeing.
SPEAKER_01: It says this, you will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you.
SPEAKER_01: So light will shine on your ways.
SPEAKER_01: When they cast you down, when situations cast you down, when neighbors cast you down, when challenges cast you down, and you say, Exaltation will come, then he will save the humble person, he will lift you up.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your neighbor there's a lifting up, but it is waiting your decree.
SPEAKER_01: Are you getting what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: Your lifting up is waiting for your decree, something you need to say, a decree that you need to say.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard me tell you this story about uh the amazing journey of my education when I when I was in Jamori High School and I was a seriously bright boy.
SPEAKER_01: I'm making a confession here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying this is a forceful confession.
SPEAKER_01: Confession.
SPEAKER_01: Bright from primary, uh passing with flying colors.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we did three subjects maths, physics, uh maths, English, and general paper.
SPEAKER_01: I got an A in maths, A in English, A in general paper.
SPEAKER_01: You're looking at a smart guy.
SPEAKER_01: You better praise the Lord for that.
SPEAKER_01: Landed in Jamori High School, but when I landed in Form 1, I met other guys who had also got A.
SPEAKER_01: So we were all bright there.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I was thinking that I'm very bright.
SPEAKER_01: Ah, we got other guys who are bright.
SPEAKER_01: Form one.
SPEAKER_01: Form two.
SPEAKER_01: I woke up from a dream.
SPEAKER_01: I became number 38 out of 39.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: And then I realized Nikubaya.
SPEAKER_01: But I woke up and continued.
SPEAKER_01: By the time I was hitting phone four, I passed with flying colors.
SPEAKER_01: Those days with the they used to have Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, Division 4.
SPEAKER_01: If you got Division 4, it was just to tell you that it was good for you to have had you in secondary school.
SPEAKER_01: I got Division 1.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you.
SPEAKER_01: Landed in Form 6.
SPEAKER_01: My father being an engineer, I said I'm going to be an engineer also.
SPEAKER_01: Two engineering subjects: maths, physics, and chemistry.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: But then I found another, I found giants in the land.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Simon, I found giants in the land.
SPEAKER_01: I knew maths very well.
SPEAKER_01: Simultaneous equations, those things I knew them very well.
SPEAKER_01: Then in forms 5, I met something called calculus.
SPEAKER_01: Differentiation, it killed me.
SPEAKER_01: Then I met another giant in chemistry called organic chemistry.
SPEAKER_01: I suffered those two years badly.
SPEAKER_01: But I was the chair of the Christian Union.
SPEAKER_01: And I could say, I am the head, I'm not the tail, I'm above.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not below.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, I was going through this.
SPEAKER_01: I had already decided I was going to do Bachelor of Education at Kenyatta University because I had suddenly decided I'm not going to be an engineer.
SPEAKER_01: Results show up.
SPEAKER_01: The Ministry of Education has studied my exams, they have looked into it, and they've decided to tell me that in maths you need an F.
SPEAKER_01: Those days, Pastor Simon, you remember they used to plaster your results in front of the school so that everybody could see how wise and foolish you are.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody, they could just see that.
SPEAKER_01: And I was I saw a big F in front of me, like F.
SPEAKER_01: In chemistry, I got the immediate neighbor of that F.
SPEAKER_01: And in physics, another neighbor.
SPEAKER_01: Just just my friend, my dreams for Kenyatta University disappeared.
SPEAKER_01: I was not going there, I was not going to the university, I was not going anywhere.
SPEAKER_01: The only way I was going to go to Kenyatta University was just to pass by as I go to Moranga.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, I was I was done.
SPEAKER_01: It is those moments in time that your confession is to come to God.
SPEAKER_01: And I started confessing.
SPEAKER_01: As I was leaving school, I said, God, you cannot do this for me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm the chairman of the Christian Union.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot do this for me.
SPEAKER_01: I have served you diligently.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a prefect.
SPEAKER_01: But see what you have done.
SPEAKER_01: And God spoke in that moment.
SPEAKER_01: Boom! He said, Ambrose, I know the plans I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: I know.
SPEAKER_01: I said, God, Banna, what do you know?
SPEAKER_01: And I've gotten an F.
SPEAKER_01: What is this you know?
SPEAKER_01: And God says, plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and the hope.
SPEAKER_01: And as I was going home, I started rewinding those words.
SPEAKER_01: Then I found my dad.
SPEAKER_01: My dad comes and says, Ambrose, how did the exams go?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Ah, they went very well.
SPEAKER_01: How did you do?
SPEAKER_01: Ah, I did.
SPEAKER_01: And then he said, Tell me exactly what you what would you do?
SPEAKER_01: So I told him I got an F, I got an E and another E, and then I got a subsidiary, so I paid school fees.
SPEAKER_01: For those six years, I've paid the fees.
SPEAKER_01: F E E S fees.
SPEAKER_01: I have paid the fees for the whole education.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you touch your casual.
SPEAKER_01: But you see, I was discouraged and I was I was remembering what God was saying, but I was not believing him.
SPEAKER_01: But then my father, out of nowhere, he was not a believer that time, he said, Ambrose, you know God knows the plans he has for you.
SPEAKER_01: It blew my mind.
SPEAKER_01: God used this person to remind me what he had said.
SPEAKER_01: For God is not a man that he should lie, he's not a son of man that he should change his mind.
SPEAKER_01: This God who knew me from the time I was born, no exam was going to change his plans for my life.
SPEAKER_01: Because he had the plans for my life.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm telling you, after that, I became an untrained teacher teaching maths, teaching maths.
SPEAKER_01: Do you think my students passed?
SPEAKER_01: They passed.
SPEAKER_01: To know how God works because there's an uplifting.
SPEAKER_01: When you're down there, God knows how to lift you when there's a casting down.
SPEAKER_01: Say that God will lift you up.
SPEAKER_01: Not when you're up, when you're still down there, say God will lift me up.
SPEAKER_01: Ten years exactly.
SPEAKER_01: I was on a plane going to Arkansas on a full scholarship to study theology.
SPEAKER_01: You see, this is ten years.
SPEAKER_01: This is ten years before.
SPEAKER_01: When I'm in the valley.
SPEAKER_01: God already has seen on a flight.
SPEAKER_01: I'm in the valley.
SPEAKER_01: But God can see my flight.
SPEAKER_01: But it needed a decree.
SPEAKER_01: I know the plans I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: So say the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Lord, you know the plans you have for me.
SPEAKER_01: Plans for welfare.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Lord, plans for welfare.
SPEAKER_01: To give you a future.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Lord, to give me a future.
SPEAKER_01: And I hope, and I hope that hope was on the plan.
SPEAKER_01: Ten years.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to work and so.
SPEAKER_01: And suddenly I remembered I had misinterpreted the word F.
SPEAKER_01: F is not failure.
SPEAKER_01: F is fantastic.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Ah, God was taking me places.
SPEAKER_01: So it doesn't matter how down you are.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you this: there's an uplifting.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what happened to that woman.
SPEAKER_01: Twelve years.
SPEAKER_01: Suffering and suffering and suffering and suffering and suffering.
SPEAKER_01: And then she heard about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And she began to tell herself, if I can touch his garment, I'll be healed.
SPEAKER_01: I'll be healed.
SPEAKER_01: And she arrived.
SPEAKER_01: There was such a crowd.
SPEAKER_01: She pushed herself into the crowd.
SPEAKER_01: She said, I don't want Jesus to talk to me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want Jesus to touch me.
SPEAKER_01: I'll be the one to touch him.
SPEAKER_01: When she did, and she made that confession.
SPEAKER_01: That confession released an uplifting.
SPEAKER_01: In an instant, she was healed.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus then turned to her and said, Woman, your faith has made you whole.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking to somebody here and I'm saying, Your faith has made you whole.
SPEAKER_01: Your faith has given you that job that you didn't have.
SPEAKER_01: Your faith has given you that promotion in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Your faith has healed you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Your faith is turning around, but faith is connected to a confession.
SPEAKER_01: For faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm telling you, I was in the state, I was on the Dean's list.
SPEAKER_01: If you know what a Dean's list is, the whole time I was there.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say it another way.
SPEAKER_01: The God in me, Nimkuba, He's a big God.
SPEAKER_01: He's inside you.
SPEAKER_01: And when I graduated, I graduated on a Saturday, on Wednesday, I was on a plane flying back to Kenya to tell my friends, this God you can depend on.
SPEAKER_01: And I have been doing that until today.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm repeating that to you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: This God you can depend on.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your neighbor there is an uplifting.
SPEAKER_01: But tell your neighbor it depends on your decree.
SPEAKER_01: There are some things that you will say that will put you into a pit.
SPEAKER_01: And there are some things you'll say that will put you on a mountain.
SPEAKER_01: So choose which direction you want to go.
SPEAKER_01: But finally, I want to talk about the force of realignment.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your neighbor the force of realignment.
SPEAKER_01: Many times we get out of God's parts, and sometimes we don't know how to get back.
SPEAKER_01: So, confession.
SPEAKER_01: The force of realignment.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read these verses in Psalms 103, verse 1 to 5.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this.
SPEAKER_01: These are verses that you know very well.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Praise the Lord my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
SPEAKER_01: Then he lists them down who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things, that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Let me go to that first verse and just look at your neighbor and tell and just whisper to your neighbor and say, Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So tell the neighbor that just ignored you and tell them, Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Simon, the word praise the Lord in the Bible, in the Hebrew Bible, just means hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: So when you say halel, halel, that is praise.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah, that word Yah is Jehovah.
SPEAKER_01: So when you say hallelujah, you are just saying praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So there are times in your life, if you're going to realign yourself, instead of trying to stress yourself about the circumstance, just look at it and say hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: So look at your neighbor one more time and tell your neighbor when you're caught in traffic, just say amen.
SPEAKER_01: This is what realigns us.
SPEAKER_01: The confession of praise.
SPEAKER_01: Tell your neighbor the confession of praise.
SPEAKER_01: There's a guy in the Bible called Jehoshaphat, King Jehoshaphat, who faced a very difficult situation.
SPEAKER_01: He was attacked from three sides, and things were bad.
SPEAKER_01: Things were just bad.
SPEAKER_01: Then they were crying, the children were crying, the mothers were crying, they were trapped, the forces were just arriving, they were just near Sarit.
SPEAKER_01: They were coming, they were coming, they were coming.
SPEAKER_01: They could not run.
SPEAKER_01: Then a prophet stood up and he said, and now I want to read those verses.
SPEAKER_01: 2 Chronicles 20, verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: The prophet, this is what the prophet said.
SPEAKER_01: He got a word from the law.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes when situations are hard, you just need a word from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: This is what he said.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Listen, King Jehoshaphat, and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: This is what the Lord says to you.
SPEAKER_01: For the battle is not yours.
SPEAKER_01: But whose?
SPEAKER_01: But God's.
SPEAKER_01: I'm speaking to somebody here.
SPEAKER_01: This is the month of May.
SPEAKER_01: You may have faced all kinds of challenges.
SPEAKER_01: We are saying today, the battle is the Lord's.
SPEAKER_01: So don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: So that's the word they received.
SPEAKER_01: But then God gave them a strategy.
SPEAKER_01: So Jehoshaphat now is excited because the Lord is going to fight this battle.
SPEAKER_01: But how is he going to do it?
SPEAKER_01: How is he going to do it?
SPEAKER_01: So now scroll down to verse 20.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this in verse 20.
SPEAKER_01: Jehoshaphat is speaking here, and he's saying this.
SPEAKER_01: Early in the morning, they left for the desert of Tekoah.
SPEAKER_01: As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: Have faith in the Lord your God, and you'll be what?
SPEAKER_01: Upheld.
SPEAKER_01: Then have faith in his prophets, and you'll be what?
SPEAKER_01: Successful.
SPEAKER_01: Let me repeat that for somebody.
SPEAKER_01: Just go back to verse 20.
SPEAKER_01: That is what we call the 2020 vision.
SPEAKER_01: 2 Chronicles 2020.
SPEAKER_01: 2020 vision.
SPEAKER_01: He says this.
SPEAKER_01: Early in the morning, they left for the desert of Tekoah.
SPEAKER_01: They're now facing the enemy.
SPEAKER_01: As they said out, Joseph stood and said, Listen to me, Judah and the people of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: Have faith in the Lord your God.
SPEAKER_01: That's why it starts.
SPEAKER_01: Don't start, don't trust in the prophets first.
SPEAKER_01: Trust in God first.
SPEAKER_01: Because Pastor Simon was saying last week that there are many false prophets.
SPEAKER_01: So hinge the word from God first.
SPEAKER_01: Have faith in the Lord your God and you'll be upheld.
SPEAKER_01: Have faith in his prophets and you'll be successful.
SPEAKER_01: You'll be successful.
SPEAKER_01: Have faith in Pastor Ambrose.
SPEAKER_01: You will be successful.
SPEAKER_01: Hello?
SPEAKER_01: I'm just giving you the word.
SPEAKER_01: Because us, we connect our faith with God.
SPEAKER_01: Ah, Pastor Simon.
SPEAKER_01: But that's what he said.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the king is saying.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to the next verse.
SPEAKER_01: So forget this one.
SPEAKER_01: This one.
SPEAKER_01: We are going to the strategy.
SPEAKER_01: After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to do what?
SPEAKER_01: Now remember, they are in a war zone.
SPEAKER_01: After consulting people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness.
SPEAKER_01: As they went out at the head of the army saying, Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.
SPEAKER_01: What a strategy.
SPEAKER_01: We don't use it today.
SPEAKER_01: But let me tell you this: this strategy, this confession of praise, this confession of the goodness of the Lord is going to unlock so many things.
SPEAKER_01: It will realign you to God's purposes, to God's victory, to God's blessings.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I like this verse 22 says this.
SPEAKER_01: They didn't have to wait for one week.
SPEAKER_01: As they began to sing.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, they were not singing quietly.
SPEAKER_01: They were not singing these songs like, my lord, kumbaya.
SPEAKER_01: Oh Lord, Kumbaya.
SPEAKER_01: You know, when you sing that, you become sadder and sadder.
SPEAKER_01: Pretty soon you actually start crying, Kumbya my Lord, Kumbya.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when you are in a battle zone, don't sing those songs.
SPEAKER_01: They were shouting.
SPEAKER_01: Like Arsenal.
SPEAKER_01: They were just praising God.
SPEAKER_01: They were just shouting as they began to sing.
SPEAKER_01: And praise the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seah who were invading Judah and they were defeated.
SPEAKER_01: The Ammonites and the Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seah to destroy and he led them after they finished slaughtering the men from Seah.
SPEAKER_01: They helped.
SPEAKER_01: They helped to destroy.
SPEAKER_01: May the enemy in your ministry help themselves to destroy themselves.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because you released the praise word.
SPEAKER_01: They slaughtered the men from sear, they helped to destroy one another.
SPEAKER_01: When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground.
SPEAKER_01: No one had escaped.
SPEAKER_01: So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value, more than they could take away.
SPEAKER_01: There was so much plunder that it took how many days?
SPEAKER_01: To collect it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, sometimes when your enemies are attacking you, they are bringing you provision.
SPEAKER_01: They are bringing you what you need.
SPEAKER_01: May you praise the Lord in your midnight season.
SPEAKER_01: And may the bonds of the devil break apart.
SPEAKER_01: And may you be realigned to the purposes and the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you this: your confession is dynamic.
SPEAKER_01: It releases favor, it releases an uplifting, and it releases a realignment.
SPEAKER_01: Where would you rather be but to confess the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living?
SPEAKER_01: Receive that in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, somebody better give God a big hand.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.