WEBVTT 00:00:00.341 --> 00:00:08.163 Let's get our Bibles out, if you don't already have it, and pick them up and wave them around Like we do, like it's our custom. 00:00:08.163 --> 00:00:11.291 Wave those Bibles around, make Jesus glad, the devil mad. 00:00:11.291 --> 00:00:17.812 Let's make this confession Together say heavenly father, I've tuned in tonight with ears that are open. 00:00:17.812 --> 00:00:45.484 I'm hungry and thirsty for more of you, and more of you means more of your word, more of your spirit, and and I believe I receive revelation tonight that will feed my faith I Say that my faith is growing exceedingly, so that I can bring forth fruit for your glory, in Jesus name, amen. 00:00:45.484 --> 00:00:47.048 Let's turn in our Bibles. 00:00:47.048 --> 00:00:54.228 We've got two places tonight First Kings 17 and acts 16. 00:00:54.228 --> 00:01:00.990 We'll start with first Kings, first and and this I won't read all of the verses. 00:01:01.820 --> 00:01:07.822 It's the familiar story of God telling Elijah to go and tell a have that there's. 00:01:07.822 --> 00:01:09.989 He's, declaring a drought over Israel. 00:01:09.989 --> 00:01:11.534 And. 00:01:11.534 --> 00:01:13.725 And so he did that. 00:01:13.725 --> 00:01:22.838 And in verse five, god had told Elijah to go to the Brook Charest. 00:01:22.838 --> 00:01:26.570 And I have commanded the ravens to feed be there. 00:01:26.570 --> 00:01:30.823 That's one of the interesting Verses in the Bible. 00:01:30.823 --> 00:01:32.953 Commanded ravens to feed Elijah. 00:01:32.953 --> 00:01:33.635 Why? 00:01:33.635 --> 00:01:37.450 Well, because there's a drought and he had to go to the place called there. 00:01:37.450 --> 00:01:40.239 Brother Osteen used to preach a message called a place called there. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.120 In fact, he wrote a little mini book, a place called there. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:02:23.489 And so in verse five so Elijah went and he did according under the word of the Lord, for the for he went and dwelt by the Brook Charest, and that is before Jordan, and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the Brook, and it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land, and the word of the Lord came unto him saying arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Ziden, and dwell there. 00:02:23.489 --> 00:02:25.614 There's another place called there. 00:02:25.614 --> 00:02:32.834 Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 00:02:32.834 --> 00:02:39.334 All right, now, then let's turn over to Acts 16. 00:02:39.754 --> 00:02:41.319 Let's start reading with verse 9. 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:45.270 This is Paul's second missionary journey with Silas. 00:02:45.270 --> 00:03:04.900 He had his first missionary journey with Barnabas, and they split up, and, and so in verse 9, they were praying about where to go, and the Holy Spirit had stopped them from going to Biphynia and it and then stopped them from going to Asia Minor. 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:17.102 And so, in verse 9, a vision appeared to Paul in the night, and there stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him, saying come over here and help us into Macedonia and help us. 00:03:17.102 --> 00:03:26.850 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. 00:03:26.850 --> 00:04:26.286 Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia and the next day to Neapolis, and from Vince to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, in a colony, and we were in that city abiding certain days, and On the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was want to be made and we sat down and spake unto the woman, women which resorted there, and a certain woman named Lydia, a cellar of purple Worship God, which work in the city of sciatire, which worship God, heard us, who's heart the Lord opened, that she attended under the things which were spoken of Paul, and when she was baptized and her household, she besought us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there, and she constrained us. 00:04:27.761 --> 00:04:32.199 So tonight I wanted to share a message entitled divine associations. 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:35.728 Divine associations. 00:04:35.728 --> 00:04:48.452 You know, a pastor, propheto Escobel, was preaching for us on Sunday morning and and it was a powerful message on servanthood and on Really, it's all about divine associations. 00:04:48.452 --> 00:04:50.519 He didn't ever use that word, but but that's what. 00:04:50.519 --> 00:05:04.370 That's what he was talking about, how important it is to be part of something bigger than ourselves and that's how God is able to connect us to each other, or as through divine associations. 00:05:04.370 --> 00:05:12.430 Or you could say this, say it this way, like what brother mark uses supernatural relationships, supernatural relationships. 00:05:12.430 --> 00:05:20.490 You know, we have all kind of relationships in our lives family relationships, friendships but not all of those are supernatural. 00:05:20.490 --> 00:05:24.480 A supernatural relationship, just kind of as a cut above it's something that God has has ordained. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:37.375 And so today, tonight, I want to teach you the importance of divine associations being with the right people at the right time, the right place, doing the right thing. 00:05:37.375 --> 00:05:46.608 That's all a function of following the Holy Ghost, and you know I've been functioning in this for many, many years. 00:05:46.608 --> 00:05:57.990 Kind of I Started kind of reflecting on it and then it was kind of it was kind of sealed in a dream that I had it. 00:05:57.990 --> 00:05:59.514 You know, kind of like Paul had a dream. 00:05:59.540 --> 00:06:02.206 Well, I had a dream back in 1990. 00:06:02.206 --> 00:06:09.098 I call it my ship channel dream, but for those of you that maybe not have heard it, I'll just briefly go through the dream. 00:06:09.098 --> 00:06:30.079 In the dream, I was where I believed I was on the Houston ship channel and I was on a, on a vessel, a boat, and, and it had no superstructure, was flat, and I could tell it had cargo holes all the way from the back to the front and I I was standing all the way in the rear of the, of the of the boat, almost like my heels hanging over the back. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:41.838 I mean, there wasn't any more room for me to move back and I was cruising through and I I saw the big tank, batteries and refineries, and and that's why I just felt like. 00:06:41.899 --> 00:07:04.759 In the dream it was a Houston ship channel, and and In the dream I heard this the diesel engines under my feet, the hatch was right under my feet, that was powering this big boat and I was aware that it had a cargo like, like maybe it was carrying oil and and I wanted to know what kind of engines, because I just love engines. 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:06.584 I'm engineer by training. 00:07:06.584 --> 00:07:22.091 So I bent down and opened the hatch, felt the heat of the motors and Smell the diesel fuel and I was impressed with power and and then when I looked up you, the engine sound sounded the same, but now it's no longer on the water. 00:07:22.091 --> 00:07:34.026 Now I'm looking over the hood of a big 18-wheeler and I'm going down a highway at a high rate of speed Now. 00:07:34.026 --> 00:07:39.939 And so then about that time I pulled up behind another 18-wheeler. 00:07:39.939 --> 00:07:41.725 It was a two-lane road and I couldn't pass. 00:07:41.725 --> 00:07:51.158 He was going slower and I, in the dream I remember being a little bit disturbed that I had to take my foot off the gas and slow down. 00:07:51.904 --> 00:08:01.685 And then I woke up and as I prayed about the interpretation, god just showed me that I was at Lakewood Church where we had all kinds of anointings coming through. 00:08:01.685 --> 00:08:23.100 We had this preacher and that preacher, you know, brother Shambach would come, brother Osburn would come, brother Oral Roberts would come, and all of them had these anointings, of course Brother Osteen, the anointing there, and that I had soaked up all kinds of mixtures of anointings and that I was carrying with me. 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:28.430 You know, when you see a vessel in a dream, it always means ministry. 00:08:28.430 --> 00:08:39.669 So it had to do with ministry and it had to do with me discovering the power that God had given me in my ministry, and in those years I'd been ordained a short time into the ministry. 00:08:39.669 --> 00:09:04.745 A couple of years I'd been doing weddings and funerals and I was discovering my authority in my ministry and what God was doing with me, and so the importance what came to me during that time was how important my association was with Brother Osteen and by that association, connecting me up to all these others from which I drew deeply. 00:09:04.745 --> 00:09:10.133 Not as much as for Brother Osteen he was still my pastor, he was the main connection. 00:09:10.133 --> 00:09:15.539 But I had other connections, and that's what I mean about being part of something greater than yourself. 00:09:15.539 --> 00:09:20.831 And so I believe for divine associations. 00:09:20.831 --> 00:09:30.745 They're so important, they're vital, and if we're to fulfill God's purpose in our life, we need to believe God for the right divine associations. 00:09:30.745 --> 00:09:35.392 So I'm just going to share with you. 00:09:35.432 --> 00:09:38.676 I read about two divine associations tonight. 00:09:38.676 --> 00:09:39.697 Let's go into these. 00:09:39.697 --> 00:09:44.745 There are many more in the Bible, but let's start with Elijah here in 1 Kings 17. 00:09:44.745 --> 00:09:49.732 Remember he is a prophet. 00:09:49.732 --> 00:09:52.236 In the Bible, the prophet stands for God. 00:09:52.236 --> 00:09:56.745 There's only three groups of people anointed on the earth the priest, the prophet and the king. 00:09:56.745 --> 00:10:06.899 The prophet stands for God and no one, no Jew, had any access to God except through the priest and the prophet. 00:10:07.499 --> 00:10:36.076 The king was the ruler, and so the prophet was a very important ministry, and many times when God had to deal with his nation, he would use the prophet to pronounce blessing or cursing In this case curses because Ahab and Jezebel were king and queen of Israel and they worshiped idols and they were sinful and they led Israel into horrible sin, and so God pronounced a curse on them. 00:10:36.076 --> 00:10:37.700 There's going to be a drought. 00:10:37.700 --> 00:10:40.684 And so he went to the king and spoke to him. 00:10:40.684 --> 00:10:43.951 He says it's not going to rain until I say so. 00:10:43.951 --> 00:10:45.833 And then he had to flee. 00:10:45.833 --> 00:10:59.702 He had to leave the presence of the king because the king was wroth and God showed him where to go, a place called there, and so his you know I can't say he had a divine association with Ravens, but I mean pretty key. 00:10:59.702 --> 00:11:04.754 I mean you know Ravens fed him twice a day bread and flesh. 00:11:04.754 --> 00:11:08.743 And I jokingly say, well, I wonder if it was roadkill. 00:11:08.743 --> 00:11:17.333 And I can just say unequivocally tonight it was not roadkill, it was kosher, because he's a good Jew and he did not violate the Jewish dietary law. 00:11:17.333 --> 00:11:25.705 So I don't know where the Ravens got their kosher meat, but they did bread and flesh twice a day. 00:11:26.466 --> 00:11:27.551 And then the brook dried up. 00:11:27.551 --> 00:11:30.922 And when the brook dried up, it didn't dry up all of it Suddenly. 00:11:30.922 --> 00:11:31.745 I mean it dried up a little at a time. 00:11:31.745 --> 00:11:53.725 You can imagine how it kind of got dark, you know muddy, and then it got soupy and thick and I can you imagine what it was like, you know, trying to try to maneuver on the side of the banks of that creek and that brook and get a water clean enough to drink. 00:11:53.725 --> 00:11:55.167 But finally he couldn't. 00:11:55.167 --> 00:11:58.673 And so God gave him a word to go to Zarephath. 00:11:58.673 --> 00:12:02.600 I've commanded a widow woman to feed thee there. 00:12:02.745 --> 00:12:08.893 Now, when you, when you finish reading this chapter, the widow woman is obvious that she's a heathen. 00:12:08.893 --> 00:12:12.096 She is not capable of hearing God. 00:12:12.096 --> 00:12:14.139 She didn't hear from God. 00:12:14.139 --> 00:12:15.767 What was he talking about? 00:12:15.767 --> 00:12:17.009 I commanded a widow woman. 00:12:17.009 --> 00:12:20.754 He, you know, god doesn't live in time, he lives in eternity. 00:12:20.754 --> 00:12:22.817 He just sees the end from the beginning. 00:12:22.817 --> 00:12:28.692 So the prophet is the one that commanded the widow woman when he got there. 00:12:28.692 --> 00:12:30.677 When he got there, he commanded the widow woman. 00:12:30.677 --> 00:12:32.539 The widow woman is going to cook her last meal. 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:37.774 Remember, I'm going to cook my last meal and me and my son are going to eat and then we're going to die. 00:12:37.774 --> 00:12:39.616 Well, you don't eat and then die. 00:12:40.865 --> 00:12:47.596 And so she was intending to kill her son and commit suicide because of a death by starvation. 00:12:47.596 --> 00:12:48.557 Why would they starve? 00:12:48.557 --> 00:12:49.678 Well, because of the famine. 00:12:49.678 --> 00:12:54.392 And so the starvation was such a horrible way to die. 00:12:54.392 --> 00:12:55.995 It took you months to die that way. 00:12:55.995 --> 00:12:57.977 It was very painful, very horrible. 00:12:58.745 --> 00:13:05.357 She couldn't bear the idea of her son dying like that in front of her, and so that was what she planned on doing. 00:13:05.357 --> 00:13:08.695 But she was going to cook, she was going to bake a little cake. 00:13:08.695 --> 00:13:10.058 She's going to bake a cake first. 00:13:10.058 --> 00:13:14.971 And the prophet commanded her, says Well, do as you said, but bake me a little cake first. 00:13:14.971 --> 00:13:18.017 And then he gave her the promise for the saith, the Lord. 00:13:18.017 --> 00:13:20.889 You know, the meal will not waste you. 00:13:20.889 --> 00:13:25.015 The cruise of oil fails till God sends rain again in Israel. 00:13:25.035 --> 00:13:26.458 Well, how could he say that? 00:13:26.458 --> 00:13:28.309 Well, first of all, he's a prophet. 00:13:28.309 --> 00:13:29.212 He stood for God. 00:13:29.212 --> 00:13:33.971 Second of all, he knew that God's promise was true. 00:13:33.971 --> 00:13:38.058 God was going to feed him and he was going to use this woman to do it. 00:13:38.058 --> 00:13:41.249 So there had to be a miracle of multiplication. 00:13:41.249 --> 00:13:42.791 And there was. 00:13:42.791 --> 00:13:52.394 There wasn't an 18 wheeler pulling up to her house with a bunch of flour, and there wasn't a big tanker truck full of oil. 00:13:52.394 --> 00:13:54.057 I mean God multiplied. 00:13:54.057 --> 00:14:02.717 Every day when she prepared her meal he replaced what was used, and they ate on that little bit for a whole year. 00:14:02.717 --> 00:14:10.705 And uh, and then later on, when the young man died, elijah raised him from the dead. 00:14:12.028 --> 00:14:18.745 So I'm talking about how important for her to have, and for him to have, this divine association. 00:14:18.745 --> 00:14:22.033 It was truly a win-win situation. 00:14:22.033 --> 00:14:25.993 God wanted to bless this widow woman. 00:14:25.993 --> 00:14:27.697 So what did he do? 00:14:27.697 --> 00:14:50.109 He sent a man who knew about God's kingdom to show her how to tie, how to give the first of what she had to the man of God, and then God could bless her, even though she was not a covenant woman she's not Jewish, she had no right, but tithing works for anyone, and so she needed to know that. 00:14:50.109 --> 00:14:52.211 And so God saved her life. 00:14:52.211 --> 00:15:00.729 He had mercy on her and mercy on his prophet with a divine association, and so they both benefited. 00:15:01.932 --> 00:15:05.061 Now you know this was a temporary divine association. 00:15:05.061 --> 00:15:06.756 It didn't last for the rest of their lives. 00:15:06.756 --> 00:15:09.339 There's no record of this going on and on and on. 00:15:09.339 --> 00:15:12.097 He went on down the road, did other things. 00:15:12.097 --> 00:15:14.476 We don't know anything else about her. 00:15:14.476 --> 00:15:15.595 She's not written about. 00:15:15.595 --> 00:15:21.898 So we have to conclude that this particular divine association was one that was temporary. 00:15:21.898 --> 00:15:32.255 Well, whether a divine association in your life is temporary or whether it's long lasting, I mean, listen, I'm telling you they're very important, no matter what. 00:15:32.255 --> 00:15:36.730 Very important, all right. 00:15:36.770 --> 00:15:42.857 Now let's look at Paul and Silas and we go over here to Acts. 00:15:42.857 --> 00:15:51.053 You know, I'll start with Acts 16, I think Acts 17,. 00:15:51.053 --> 00:15:58.710 Excuse me, I'll get it right here. 00:15:58.710 --> 00:16:01.323 I wonder who's starting? 00:16:01.323 --> 00:16:02.129 Acts 15, excuse me, acts 15. 00:16:02.129 --> 00:16:09.110 I wanted to go back with Barnabas, because Barnabas and Paul had a divine association. 00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:18.725 If you'll go back in the history in the book of Acts, you see that Barnabas was kind of an apologist for Saul and Paul. 00:16:18.725 --> 00:16:35.039 An apologist for Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul because you know, he persecuted Christians and was responsible for the death of many, and so a lot of people in Jerusalem didn't trust him, and the 12, the 12, the Hossels, didn't trust him. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.998 But Barnabas said, no, he's okay, he's saved. 00:16:37.998 --> 00:16:43.255 And so he kind of took him under his wing and kind of showed him the ropes when he first started ministering. 00:16:43.255 --> 00:16:54.849 And they started ministering together and if you look at their travels, that was always Barnabas and Saul, and then sometime later in the deal it started becoming Paul and Barnabas, paul and Barnabas. 00:16:54.849 --> 00:17:03.764 So there was a shifting, there was a promotion, and so now, when they decided to go on their second missionary journey, they went all the. 00:17:03.764 --> 00:17:08.490 You know, they were gonna go and they were gonna be sent on their second journey. 00:17:08.490 --> 00:17:12.228 And it says in 15, verse 36,. 00:17:12.811 --> 00:17:20.369 Some days later, paul said to Barnabas let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we've preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do it. 00:17:20.369 --> 00:17:26.682 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark, that was his nephew, john Mark. 00:17:26.682 --> 00:17:31.869 But Paul thought it not good to take him with them, who departed from them, from Pamphilius. 00:17:31.869 --> 00:17:34.449 He was there on the first missionary journey. 00:17:34.449 --> 00:17:42.730 He's a young man and he couldn't take the rigors of the trail, rigors of travel, and for whatever reason, he left them. 00:17:42.730 --> 00:17:45.117 And when he left them he left them in a lurch. 00:17:45.117 --> 00:17:48.519 He left them, you know, and it was not convenient. 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:59.078 And so Paul thought it not good to take with him this young man who's still young and inexperienced and not as faithful as he needs to be. 00:17:59.078 --> 00:18:00.295 That's the bottom line. 00:18:00.295 --> 00:18:10.277 And the contention was so sharp between them, between Barnabas and Paul, that they departed asunder one from another. 00:18:10.277 --> 00:18:22.634 And so Barnabas took Mark John Mark and sailed into Cyprus and Paul chose Silas and departed, being recommended by the brethren under the grace of God. 00:18:22.634 --> 00:18:24.997 So then you had Paul and Silas. 00:18:24.997 --> 00:18:29.934 So Paul and Silas had a divine association that lasted for a while. 00:18:29.934 --> 00:18:32.617 It lasted at least for the next missionary journey. 00:18:32.617 --> 00:18:38.138 They were beaten with many stripes together, thrown in a prison together, so forth and so on. 00:18:38.138 --> 00:18:39.596 They made a successful journey. 00:18:39.596 --> 00:18:46.219 They went to the Macedonian man, but I'll get back to that in a minute. 00:18:46.390 --> 00:18:47.776 But look back at Barnabas. 00:18:47.776 --> 00:18:50.720 We don't see anything more about Barnabas in the Bible. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:51.974 His name disappears. 00:18:51.974 --> 00:19:02.736 You do hear about John Mark because Paul said bring John Mark with you because he's profitable unto me for the ministry. 00:19:02.736 --> 00:19:07.221 So they later on had a good association together. 00:19:07.221 --> 00:19:08.809 John Mark did so. 00:19:08.809 --> 00:19:18.330 It was not a personal thing that Paul held against John Mark, it was just that his maturity level wasn't. 00:19:18.330 --> 00:19:21.160 He wasn't mature enough to go on this trip. 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:22.275 That was the bottom line. 00:19:22.650 --> 00:19:32.541 So when you look at Barnabas, he elevated a kinfolk above his divine association with Paul. 00:19:32.541 --> 00:19:39.795 Yeah, he elevated that and he said look, this is a deal breaker for me. 00:19:39.795 --> 00:19:41.230 You don't wanna take my nephew. 00:19:41.230 --> 00:19:43.971 He got Huffy and of course they both. 00:19:43.971 --> 00:19:45.085 They had sharp contention. 00:19:45.085 --> 00:19:46.892 The Bible says they had sharp contention. 00:19:46.892 --> 00:19:49.612 How many of you know Jesus didn't fall off the throne? 00:19:49.612 --> 00:19:52.673 How many of you know Paul kept being used of God? 00:19:52.673 --> 00:19:57.805 John Mark got used of God, silas got used of God, but we don't know anything about it. 00:19:57.805 --> 00:19:59.049 We don't know what happened to Barnabas. 00:19:59.049 --> 00:20:01.390 Barnabas kinda disappears. 00:20:03.808 --> 00:20:06.517 So you see then, let's take these men. 00:20:06.517 --> 00:20:09.555 Sometimes we elevate them because they're great in the Bible. 00:20:09.555 --> 00:20:13.133 They have great things that they've done, but sometimes they've made mistakes. 00:20:13.133 --> 00:20:17.511 They're in the Bible for our instruction, so we can learn from what they've done wrong. 00:20:17.511 --> 00:20:22.153 And I believe it was wrong for Barnabas to make an issue out of his nephew. 00:20:22.153 --> 00:20:32.164 He should have just said well, you know, you might be right, and instead of just burying the hatchet, instead of just being humble and saying look, let's just, god has used us together. 00:20:32.164 --> 00:20:33.039 We're gonna do it again. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:38.193 Let's just, you know, maybe we get somebody else to go with us that'll help us a little bit more. 00:20:38.193 --> 00:20:47.404 Okay, but he didn't, and so the record shows that it interrupted his divine association with somebody that wrote two thirds of the New Testament. 00:20:47.404 --> 00:20:50.713 I don't know, that didn't seem like a very good bargain to me. 00:20:52.207 --> 00:21:18.271 All right, so now you've got Paul and Silas, they've got the dream, they're headed and they got on a divine association with a young woman or a lady, we don't know how young she was, but anyway she worked in the industry of making purple dye for our garments and she got saved at one of Paul's meetings and invited them, constrained them. 00:21:18.271 --> 00:21:21.234 We've already been kind of looked at that word before. 00:21:21.234 --> 00:21:22.530 We've heard that word before. 00:21:22.530 --> 00:21:24.030 It just means that she urged them. 00:21:24.030 --> 00:21:31.349 She said if you've judged me faithful, well, she just got saved. 00:21:31.349 --> 00:21:32.353 I think it's kind of funny. 00:21:32.353 --> 00:21:36.412 I kind of laugh every time I see that If you judge me faithful, come and stay with me. 00:21:36.412 --> 00:21:39.492 Well, they just met her and she just got saved. 00:21:39.492 --> 00:21:50.869 They don't know anything about her, so it must have been the Holy Ghost, and so I'm sure they preferred, you know, being under a roof than, rather than, being out in the mosquitoes anyway. 00:21:50.869 --> 00:21:54.615 So they stayed with her while they were there. 00:21:54.704 --> 00:22:25.173 And then, of course, there was a bunch of persecution, rose as they kept preaching Jesus and people started getting saved and they were laying down their worship of Diana, this false God that all of that area was worshiping, and so they were beaten with many stripes, thrown into the inner prison and then a earthquake came and released all the jail cells and released them out of their bonds and they wound up getting the jailer saved. 00:22:25.173 --> 00:22:29.391 And the jailer I believe the jailer was the divine association. 00:22:29.391 --> 00:22:33.530 I believe he was the man in the dream that said come over here and help us. 00:22:33.530 --> 00:22:35.809 What was the help he needed? 00:22:35.809 --> 00:22:36.653 To get saved. 00:22:36.653 --> 00:22:43.590 That jailer got saved and so that was the next divine association and what happened with him? 00:22:43.590 --> 00:22:55.109 He and all of his household were saved and baptized and then he ministered Paul and Silas and washed their stripes and comforted their wounds and all of that kind of thing. 00:22:55.109 --> 00:22:57.772 And then you don't read any more about him. 00:22:57.772 --> 00:23:00.212 It was a temporary divine association. 00:23:00.765 --> 00:23:10.472 Many divine associations in my life have been temporary, that some last weeks, some last a few years, and then there are some that just are more permanent. 00:23:10.472 --> 00:23:17.852 Like my pastor and I've never considered that to be permanent one until he went to heaven, and I never considered that to be temporary. 00:23:17.852 --> 00:23:20.105 And it was not. 00:23:20.105 --> 00:23:21.171 It did not end when we started the church. 00:23:21.171 --> 00:23:25.172 We still had a divine association that was profitable. 00:23:27.464 --> 00:23:35.172 I remember one time we had started the church and I think it had been going about a year and we were just doing great. 00:23:35.172 --> 00:23:40.410 And he asked me to go to Hyderabad with him to do a crusade. 00:23:40.410 --> 00:23:47.373 And I really wanted to go and I didn't really pray that much about it, I just said, sure, I'd be honored to go. 00:23:47.373 --> 00:23:48.528 What do you do? 00:23:48.528 --> 00:23:50.691 John Osteen asked you to travel with him. 00:23:50.691 --> 00:23:54.769 I didn't really pray about it, but I couldn't sleep. 00:23:54.769 --> 00:24:06.172 I could I mean, the Holy Ghost was not in that trip and I felt so bad, but I just I knew all I had to do was tell him look, pastor, I just lost my peace. 00:24:06.172 --> 00:24:18.048 I can't go and I really don't know why, but anyway, I couldn't go and I didn't go, and so anyway, I never got a chance to ever travel with him after that. 00:24:18.048 --> 00:24:21.208 But now he's in heaven, praise the Lord. 00:24:21.208 --> 00:24:22.486 All right. 00:24:22.566 --> 00:24:27.679 So Paul and Silas got to the jailer. 00:24:27.679 --> 00:24:37.414 They fulfilled that dream, and in the Bible you have all these different ones that had divine associations. 00:24:37.414 --> 00:24:40.705 King Saul and David had a divine association, remember? 00:24:40.705 --> 00:24:54.174 He would play the harp and the demons that would torment King Saul would leave him and he would be comforted as long as David the Psalmist would play and sing. 00:24:54.174 --> 00:24:55.770 It would give him comfort. 00:24:55.770 --> 00:25:13.215 And then you know, that's then after the death of Goliath and there was there was contention there because that same jealousy, that insecurity that Saul had, he started wanting to eliminate David. 00:25:13.215 --> 00:25:14.971 He was jealous of David's fame. 00:25:14.971 --> 00:25:21.750 And then you see a divine association between David and Jonathan and they cut the covenant together. 00:25:21.750 --> 00:25:25.374 And then you see Jacob and Laban. 00:25:25.374 --> 00:25:41.515 They had a divine association 20 years, his uncle and worked for his uncle, and they had a divine association until such time as it was ended, jesus in the 12, divine association. 00:25:41.515 --> 00:25:42.907 How about that one? 00:25:42.907 --> 00:25:47.795 So the Bible is filled with divine associations. 00:25:48.845 --> 00:26:01.333 Now I mentioned about family a minute ago because the family here in Barnabas's case, he put the family relationship above the divine association. 00:26:01.333 --> 00:26:10.113 And I know I'm kind of hitting on something who could be kind of tender. 00:26:10.113 --> 00:26:21.113 But if you will just realize that divine associations are based on common commitments to the reveal will of God, your family, you don't have anything to do with your family. 00:26:21.113 --> 00:26:26.847 Your family is a matter of biology, it's your family, you were born into your family, that's it. 00:26:26.847 --> 00:26:28.252 You could say God ordained it. 00:26:28.252 --> 00:26:33.988 Okay, you can say that Part of my family, I've got a divine association with my brother. 00:26:34.964 --> 00:26:37.292 We've been close friends for decades. 00:26:37.292 --> 00:26:45.932 We always were close friends since I graduated Well, even before I graduated college, we've always been close, closer than I was to my two sisters. 00:26:45.932 --> 00:26:47.589 I don't know how that is. 00:26:47.589 --> 00:26:56.191 And now, even in the ministry, he and I have a very close spiritual, ministerial relationship. 00:26:56.191 --> 00:27:04.192 It's not just brother, it's not just a family, it's a spiritual relationship that I do not have with my other two sisters. 00:27:04.192 --> 00:27:05.410 I mean, I love them there. 00:27:05.410 --> 00:27:12.075 I love them because they're my sisters, but we don't have the same divine association. 00:27:14.545 --> 00:27:23.833 So you see, friendships I'll get to friendships in a minute but you know what Jesus said when his family started giving him trouble. 00:27:23.833 --> 00:27:31.711 His mother and his brother came after he started preaching unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 00:27:31.711 --> 00:27:32.548 Remember that one? 00:27:32.548 --> 00:27:37.111 He was trying to put something into them and they didn't understand what he was saying. 00:27:37.111 --> 00:27:43.173 And I have to believe that Jesus spoke in a parable just to see where the people would stick with him. 00:27:43.173 --> 00:27:47.849 I believe he tested the people around him to see how loyal they would be. 00:27:47.849 --> 00:27:49.094 And guess what? 00:27:49.094 --> 00:27:51.634 He had 70 full-time preachers that left him. 00:27:51.634 --> 00:28:02.586 They left him and then his mother and brother and come and they are not happy with what he's saying and they want to talk to him about what he's talking about. 00:28:02.586 --> 00:28:08.046 Philip comes to him and says hey, jesus, your mother and your brethren are out there to see you. 00:28:08.046 --> 00:28:10.305 He said Look around this room. 00:28:10.305 --> 00:28:14.940 This is my mother, these are my brothers and sisters, those people who hear the word of God and do it. 00:28:14.940 --> 00:28:15.843 That's my family. 00:28:15.843 --> 00:28:18.941 He wouldn't see them Now. 00:28:18.941 --> 00:28:24.186 You know he, you know I think his mother repented, I think his brothers finally came around. 00:28:24.186 --> 00:28:27.462 Jude came around, james came around. 00:28:27.462 --> 00:28:35.342 They came around, but not right away, and he did not go after them and try to convince them of anything. 00:28:36.701 --> 00:28:45.240 And so again, a divine association is ordered by God and it's based on the revealed will of God, commitments to the revealed will of God. 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:50.151 So so maybe your family may not be in the same situation. 00:28:50.151 --> 00:29:02.028 My family, my immediate family, my daughter and her husband, my son and his wife, my, my in-law, my daughter-in-law and son-in-law are more like daughters and sons to me. 00:29:02.028 --> 00:29:06.099 I mean they're, they're so close and my, my family is close. 00:29:06.099 --> 00:29:18.961 We have a divine association, we have a family ministry and not every minister has that and in some cases, when, when, when you force that, you wind up with trouble. 00:29:18.961 --> 00:29:22.771 But we've wound up with blessing because it's God. 00:29:22.771 --> 00:29:25.766 God did it and I thank God for it. 00:29:25.766 --> 00:29:29.448 It's, it's valuable, it's, it's precious to me and to them. 00:29:29.448 --> 00:29:36.404 So God ordains divine associations, but, but a family is something you're born into. 00:29:36.560 --> 00:29:38.093 And then friendships, another thing. 00:29:38.093 --> 00:29:40.305 Friendships is usually something that somebody you choose. 00:29:40.305 --> 00:29:47.525 And again, friends, friends, if I can say this, I want to say it it's not a sin to have a friend. 00:29:47.525 --> 00:29:49.048 Okay, friendships, fine. 00:29:49.048 --> 00:29:56.464 I have friends that I, that I love, but I never put that above my divine associations. 00:29:56.464 --> 00:30:04.287 See, there's, there's got to come a prioritizing, there's kind of come a prioritizing in your life. 00:30:04.287 --> 00:30:20.048 And I have to say this from the Bible when people prioritize family above divine associations or God forbid, they prioritize friendships above divine associations, that's when they get out of the will of God and that's when they can get into trouble. 00:30:20.048 --> 00:30:24.102 They can get, they can open a door to Satan to steal, kill and destroy. 00:30:24.102 --> 00:30:29.090 So, not a sin to have friends. 00:30:29.090 --> 00:30:30.378 Now I'm still, I'm smiling. 00:30:30.378 --> 00:30:32.599 Don't, don't say pastor said I couldn't have any friend. 00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:42.127 No, just you have to keep everything in a proper perspective and a proper priority. 00:30:42.127 --> 00:30:43.423 That's what I'm saying. 00:30:43.423 --> 00:30:46.945 Friendships can become a weight. 00:30:46.945 --> 00:30:51.409 They could become 11 if your friend goes off rails. 00:30:51.409 --> 00:30:53.644 I think right now. 00:30:55.030 --> 00:31:27.329 I've seen more friendships being ruptured by this false narrative coming out of Washington since 20, I don't know it's been the last number of years, but especially since Trump was president, all during the Trump campaign, trump presidency, and then now, now, right now I see this there's a dividing line among many families, a lot of friendships, and you've got to hold your divine associations close and put them at higher priority and, if need be, you might have to just relate. 00:31:27.329 --> 00:31:28.459 I'm not saying be rude. 00:31:28.459 --> 00:31:33.940 I'm not saying I'm through with you calling somebody, emailing somebody and say, well, we're no longer befriending. 00:31:33.940 --> 00:31:35.184 No, I'm not saying that. 00:31:35.184 --> 00:31:45.743 I'm saying, as far as what attention you pay and what time you spend, you prioritize your divine associations ahead of those other things and God will bless you. 00:31:45.743 --> 00:31:47.829 Amen, all right. 00:31:47.829 --> 00:31:55.061 So again, I'm not talking about rude and being and breaking up with family breaking up Sometimes. 00:31:55.061 --> 00:31:56.667 You just have to keep a healthy distance. 00:31:56.667 --> 00:31:58.144 That's all in some cases. 00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:02.509 So let me give you four facts before I wind this up. 00:32:02.509 --> 00:32:14.869 I trust this is a blessing and it's the benefit of 40 years of living this out and having to navigate these waters, and I regularly thank God for divine associations. 00:32:14.869 --> 00:32:16.084 I thank God for I've got. 00:32:16.084 --> 00:32:19.586 I've got fresh ones and new ones coming in and I thank God for them. 00:32:19.586 --> 00:32:21.923 So four facts. 00:32:21.923 --> 00:32:23.407 I got four things, four facts. 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:26.890 First of all, recognize the value of divine association. 00:32:26.890 --> 00:32:27.663 Recognize it. 00:32:27.663 --> 00:32:30.929 I think the main one that you have is pastor. 00:32:30.929 --> 00:32:36.625 Your pastor is probably the most important divine association that you can have. 00:32:36.625 --> 00:32:38.345 Brother Osteen drilled this into me. 00:32:38.345 --> 00:32:44.586 He said Jesus said, pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers in. 00:32:44.586 --> 00:32:46.971 You know, send laborers into the harvest. 00:32:46.971 --> 00:32:50.280 He said the harvest indeed is plenteous and the laborers are few, john. 00:32:50.280 --> 00:32:52.970 He said to me, john, the laborers are few. 00:32:52.970 --> 00:32:56.884 Protect the anointing on your life, john, protect the anointing. 00:32:56.884 --> 00:33:13.469 And so a divine association is something you ought to thank, and it's it's, it's beneficial to you to have a pastor, and if I'm the pastor, then God is the one that ordained it. 00:33:13.469 --> 00:33:14.863 Don't, don't, you know? 00:33:14.863 --> 00:33:21.846 Hold it in the right level of esteem and value it in the right way and prioritize it. 00:33:21.846 --> 00:33:27.948 God orders it, god is the one that did it All right. 00:33:28.779 --> 00:33:33.429 Number two recognize that not every association is necessarily divine or supernatural. 00:33:33.429 --> 00:33:39.646 Sometimes it's just, you know, sometimes it's just we're attracted to people for a variety of reasons. 00:33:39.646 --> 00:33:53.223 Sometimes we like what they're saying, we're friendly friends with people for a lot of reasons, like interests, hobbies, all that kind of thing, golf friends and bowling friends and all those kind of things I've had over the years. 00:33:53.223 --> 00:33:58.271 And but again, recognize a divine association. 00:33:58.271 --> 00:34:01.385 It's the witness, the witness of the spirit will tell you when it's God. 00:34:01.385 --> 00:34:05.806 And then, number three recognize that you're giving. 00:34:05.806 --> 00:34:11.887 Yeah, recognize that you're giving. 00:34:11.887 --> 00:34:15.949 You're sowing of seed attracts divine associations. 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:20.346 What in the world are you talking about? 00:34:20.346 --> 00:34:24.445 Well, jesus said it best. 00:34:24.445 --> 00:34:26.246 He said give and it shall be given unto you. 00:34:26.246 --> 00:34:28.608 Good measure, pressed down, shaking together, running over. 00:34:28.608 --> 00:34:29.824 Shall God give unto your bosom. 00:34:29.824 --> 00:34:34.327 Shall Rhinovirus is given to your bosom. 00:34:34.327 --> 00:34:36.463 Baboons give a no. 00:34:36.463 --> 00:34:39.164 Shall men give unto your bosom, in other words, human being. 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:44.813 So when you give, you set up a divine association down the way. 00:34:44.813 --> 00:34:59.047 It might be, it might be in business, it might be a customer, it might be, you know, depending on what, what you do, it could be another source of income for you, it could be just a raise, a bonus, your boss thinking more favorably of you. 00:34:59.047 --> 00:35:00.465 You got God giving you favor. 00:35:00.465 --> 00:35:04.668 That's a divine association that God has touched because of your giving. 00:35:04.668 --> 00:35:14.375 And I believe too that when you honor God, because giving is an honoring of God, see, you can't honor God. 00:35:14.375 --> 00:35:16.896 You can praise Him with your mouth, but you have to honor Him with your substance. 00:35:16.896 --> 00:35:19.217 There's no honor without substance. 00:35:19.217 --> 00:35:21.336 The substance has to be transferred. 00:35:21.336 --> 00:35:31.018 And so when you honor God with your substance, he will honor you with all the divine associations that you need to accomplish your mission. 00:35:31.018 --> 00:35:32.755 And you all have a mission. 00:35:32.755 --> 00:35:34.878 Every one of us have one, amen. 00:35:36.409 --> 00:35:40.260 I just think about the business partners I had when I was in business. 00:35:40.260 --> 00:35:42.778 I mean, it was my sowing that attracted them. 00:35:42.778 --> 00:35:49.893 I just know God just anointed them to give to me and help me and be in business with me, and so forth and so on. 00:35:49.893 --> 00:35:53.619 I think about this church, all the seed that we sowed. 00:35:53.619 --> 00:35:57.693 It gave us favor with our landlord, our first landlord, who turned into our. 00:35:57.693 --> 00:36:08.695 You know somebody that became a benefactor and gave us, you know, this land and we gave him our land, the other land that we had, that we had a million dollars in. 00:36:08.695 --> 00:36:11.077 He forgave $600,000 debt. 00:36:11.077 --> 00:36:14.557 So I mean that's like he got a. 00:36:14.557 --> 00:36:21.217 You know that he only, basically he could receive $400,000 for a $9.8 million piece of property. 00:36:21.217 --> 00:36:21.972 That's what he got. 00:36:21.972 --> 00:36:28.293 So we were how could you create something like that unless God did it? 00:36:28.293 --> 00:36:29.929 Are you with me now. 00:36:29.929 --> 00:36:35.769 So and then, brother Osteen, I mean what a what an amazing, divine association. 00:36:36.657 --> 00:36:49.409 Back in those early days of going to Lakewood, you know they used to have four boxes on the envelopes Pastor Osteen, missions, general fund and building fund and you could put your tithe and offerings anywhere you chose. 00:36:49.409 --> 00:36:51.489 You just check the box and put the amount. 00:36:51.489 --> 00:36:59.188 So Gladys and I determined way back when we started learning about tithing, I said I don't ever want brother Osteen to think about money. 00:36:59.188 --> 00:37:01.530 I want to bless him every chance we get. 00:37:01.530 --> 00:37:04.400 Let's give most of it to them personally. 00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:05.807 Now, like you, can't do that anymore. 00:37:05.807 --> 00:37:09.130 The IRS got away, you know, did away with that. 00:37:09.130 --> 00:37:17.409 But I know it attracted him and he called me on the phone one time to recognize my giving, and it was the beginning of him knowing who I was. 00:37:17.409 --> 00:37:21.130 And then God just added to it my sewing opened a door. 00:37:21.130 --> 00:37:23.311 You know, your gift will make room for you, amen. 00:37:23.311 --> 00:37:27.009 I didn't give it for that reason. 00:37:27.009 --> 00:37:28.458 Now I gave it to God. 00:37:28.458 --> 00:37:33.929 I didn't give it for the reason for him to notice me. 00:37:33.929 --> 00:37:36.070 That's important distinction. 00:37:36.070 --> 00:37:37.688 All right, then the last one here. 00:37:37.971 --> 00:37:44.170 Recognize that friendships and family members who serve no godly purpose listen to me carefully. 00:37:44.170 --> 00:37:56.603 Friendships and even family members who serve no godly purpose in our lives should be placed lower in our priorities. 00:37:56.603 --> 00:37:58.659 I didn't say this on your family member. 00:37:58.659 --> 00:38:01.918 I didn't say divorce your friends. 00:38:01.918 --> 00:38:11.215 I'm just saying put them on a lower priority and leave room for the highest priority, which is your divine association. 00:38:11.215 --> 00:38:16.815 And there could be some associations that have to really basically end. 00:38:16.815 --> 00:38:18.134 So let them end. 00:38:18.670 --> 00:38:23.480 One of the things that I've seen over the years is people are reluctant to just let something end. 00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:29.518 I'm not meaning write an email or a letter or something like that, just let it go. 00:38:29.518 --> 00:38:37.418 Let it go, quit being initiate we're initiating contact and just let it go back to. 00:38:37.418 --> 00:38:49.358 If it's nothing, it's nothing, and sometimes you just have to let things like that go, especially if someone could be 11 in your life, somebody that's doing things that are wrong. 00:38:49.358 --> 00:38:51.536 You just better separate yourself. 00:38:53.652 --> 00:38:57.197 I'll end with this last statement that I haven't said this in a while. 00:38:57.197 --> 00:38:59.096 I used to say it more often, so I wanna say it. 00:38:59.096 --> 00:39:07.059 Your success and even your fulfillment often comes from what you say no to. 00:39:07.059 --> 00:39:15.077 Your success and your fulfillment in life often come from what you say no to. 00:39:15.077 --> 00:39:21.960