#253: Faith vs. Faithfulness

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thanks for listening to the Revival Today Podcast with Evangelist Adult Shuttlesworth. To stay connected, check us out on Facebook and Instagram or online at revivaltoday.com. Now, here's Evangelist Adult.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Hi, everybody. I'm so happy that you're here. Um, my message is not about America. Of course. Sorry, I'm gonna change the pace here.

SPEAKER_03 0:32

Uh, but I I think what I'm talking about today is really gonna help you out because I know that a lot of you have come from all kinds of different backgrounds, and now me being a pastor of one of the best churches in America, I see things. And the things that I see are easily rectifiable if we know the word of God. But there's a lot of things that we struggle with as individuals and as Christians that keep us stuck. Turn to your neighbor and say, I don't want to be stuck no more. And this is one of these things that I do believe that once you get the revelation of this, it'll set you all the way free. Can you say hallelujah? Because I'll tell you what, the truth in and of itself has no impact in a person's life. There's a book that you're holding, some of you, some of you guys are holding a phone, but there's a book, and in that book, there's all kinds of truth. But if you don't know the truth, then it can't set you free. And so it's this revelation that I want to talk to you about that helped me when I felt stuck. And I'm I'm telling you, if you understand how simple faith is and how easily it can be activated, then you will leave out of here with something tangible that you can bring back home and have that make uh have that work for you. Can you say hallelujah? So I hope that you lock in. Turn to your neighbor, tap him on the shoulder, and say, Lock in. I know it's nine o'clock, but I'm not like the other speakers. It won't take me long to get my point across. Just kidding. No, no, I'm just kidding. It's it's it's a joke. We love you. He's leaving, he's leaving. Matthew 7 24. Matthew 7, 24. Turn there with me. Matthew 7, 24, and it says anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who built a house on solid rock. Let me tell you something. This is gonna be one of the most elementary, basic fundamentals of the faith, but it's so imperative that you understand it because there's a lot of us that don't. And by us, I mean vosotros, y'all, okay, because I understand this. I understand this to be true because it's the very thing that set me free. Look at this. Anyone who listens to my teachings and follows it, that means are you a believer in here today? Then there has to be a personal responsibility for each and every one of us when it comes to our walk with Jesus Christ. It is not okay that we plateau. Where'd he go? What is it? Where is he? He's on the screen. Is he still walking? Is he still outside?

SPEAKER_02 3:57

He's hurt. Somebody pray for him.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

I mean, he did hand it to me at nine, so just kidding. No, I'm not. But listen. Anyone is like okay, so anyone who listens to my teachings and follows it is like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Give me 25. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on the bedrock. But anyone who hears my teachings and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds the house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash. Verse 28. When Jesus had finished these saying these uh finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teachings. One of the things you have to understand is the difference between faith and faithfulness. The difference between faith and faithfulness because they are two distinct things. Why don't we welcome Pastor Jonathan back? So lots of people think these words are interchangeable, but they're not. They're connected, but they are different. And you have to understand the difference. Because if you don't really understand what's going on and you don't understand the problem, then how are you gonna fix it? Because there's a lot of us that are struggling with this thing called faith, like I did for a very long time. And I just thought, in and of myself, that I just didn't have enough faith. And so I just kept asking, God, give me faith, give me faith, give me faith. But the Bible says there's only one remedy for more faith. Faith comes by and hearing. But I was just thinking, like, it's just, you know, Jonathan has faith because Judy and Tiff did it. And they would sing songs to him and they would anoint him with oil, and they would they would pray over him, and they had him in services since out of the womb. And so that's not fair. How many of you guys had a a brother Tiff and Judy raising you? Good for you. Turn to your neighbor and say, good for them. Well, some of us didn't. But it's okay. Turn to your neighbor and say it's okay. Because that's where faith comes, that's where the word of God comes to help us. Because it doesn't matter what you were raised in or what you were, what your circumstances are, the word of God will help you out. The word of God is the very thing that we need in order to maximize everything we can here on this planet, and it's that easy. You know, there's a lot of people that come into this and they're saying, Wow, this is amazing. Look at what God has done. If only we had the faith of Jonathan, if only we had this kind of money, if only, if only, if only, and you separate yourself from the reality that anybody can have this. All it takes is you believing, all it takes is a little bit of faith. So God calls us to do both, to have faith and also be faithful because faith will reach out, but faithfulness is what remains. Faith is going to receive that promise, but faithfulness refuses to leave before it manifests. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've seen people believing, believing, and then they just quit and back away. Right? Right? And then Jonathan says it often. What do you say? If payday was on on the first, say what?

SPEAKER_01 8:19

If payday's the first, the devil gets if payday is the first, the devil gets you to walk off the job on day 28. I love you.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

That's it. And most people do that, they walk away on the 31st. Turn to your neighbor and say, I'm not walking away on the 31st. See, because faith will say, God said. But faithfulness says, I'm still here, and I will still contend. And see, that's what you need. There's so many people that just give up too quickly, and it's like you're contending you were in powerful services, but what happened? You go home and you have to face reality. You go home, and this is a charged-up atmosphere. This is an atmosphere of faith. But when you go home, it's surely not that. Some of you guys are married to some crazy people. We're praying for you. Pray for me. He's walking away, he's walking. No, just kidding. But it's interesting here because when I read this story, the winds and the waves are not what prove to be the determining factor of what's the actual reality of the building. Do you know what I'm saying? Because if we understand Matthew 7, two houses were built and both heard the word of God, both experienced the same storm. The rain fell on both of them, the wind beat them up both, both of them. The floods came against both of them. So the storm in and of itself did not determine the foundation of that home. The storm simply revealed it. So everybody talks about like oh the pressure, and now you gotta go through the pressure because in the pressure there's a diamond. No, the diamond's already there. And it's just like squeezing an orange. When I squeeze an orange, I'm not expecting Dr. Pepper. When I squeeze an orange, what's gonna come out? Oh yes, orange juice. Because it's not the squeeze that made it turn into orange juice, it was already orange juice in there. And this is a simple reality that if things aren't going your way, if there are answers that you are still looking for, if there are miracles that you are still contending, don't you dare give up. Pressure simply reveals what is hidden. So when life squeezes you, what comes out? Let me be the first to say. Sometimes it's ugly. Cover your ears, brother Tiff and Judy, please. You're here and you're making me nervous. But I gave a finger a couple months ago to somebody who cut me off, and I was not happy about that, but I did it. And did I want to turn my car back around and chase her like the old days? Absolutely. See, because when life squeeze you all of a sudden, what comes out is who you really are. And I was thinking, like, I'm a pastor. I gotta lock in. Turn to your neighbor to say, lock in. Sorry, sorry, wait, wait. Wait, come back. Wait, come back. I don't know it. It's gonna get worse. Just so you know. It's gonna get darker. So what is coming out? What's coming out when life squeezes you? Is it fear or is it faith? Is it joy or is it sadness and depression? Is it peace that's coming out or is it panic? See, pressure is not the enemy. Pressure is simply a mirror you gotta look at and say, Oh, there it is, that's what I am. And sometimes you look at it and it's not great, and that's okay. Turn to your neighbor and say, That's okay. Pastor just said what she said. It's okay. Because that's where we can fix it. See, there's certain things that I know. We have how many employees? I don't even know. God knows what. 90? Really? I thought we fired somebody. 90 employees. And so what I've seen to be true is that we've got a whole conglomeration of personalities, and sometimes the way they communicate is different from the way somebody else communicates with that one. That's uh that's okay, you know. But sometimes they do so and it's in error, sometimes they do so and it's inappropriate, and so I have to do the cleanup and I've got to point out the different things. And I said, don't get offended, this is just a pressure point. I'm gonna put some pressure on this pain point, and we're gonna see what comes out of here because sometimes, in order to rectify, in order to clean out the gangrene or the infection, you gotta really, you know, rip the bandage off. Look at that thing and see what it actually needs. Can you say amen? Go with me to Exodus 13. Exodus 13, 17 through 18. It says, Then it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn't lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, Lest perhaps the people change their mind when they see war and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. Turn with me to Hebrews 3, 10. Um, 11. 12. Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. Verse 13. You must warn each other every day while it is still today, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and harden against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says today when you heard his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled. And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn't it the people Moses led out of the wilderness? 17. And who made God angry for 40 years? Wasn't it the people who sinned whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18. And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn't it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that because of their unbelief, they were not able to enter his rest. See, when it comes to this kind of thing, the difference between faith and faithfulness, you've got to understand that Israel didn't have an Egyptian problem. Egypt was in them. Egypt wasn't the problem, slavery was in them. Egypt was in each and every one of them. So God knew I've got to bring them the longer way. This is much easier if we just take this path. But I know that they're not ready for that. Lest they turn back around and go back to Egypt, the Bible says. So what we understand to be true is that they had an unbelieving problem, an unbelief problem. God had already delivered them from Pharaoh. Egypt was already behind them, but Egypt was still lingering on the inside of them. So what did the wilderness expose? It exposed that slavery was still in them. When the food disappeared, how did they react? They complained, they bickered. When water disappeared, what happened? Fear. They started flipping out. When Moses was delayed on the mountain, what happened? They started to create idols. The wilderness did not produce their unbelief, it just revealed it. And sometimes we're rebuking things that we're, I don't understand why this isn't happening or why God is doing this and this and that and that. And that very thing is what God is using to expose what you need to surrender. And I'll tell you that from my own testimony, my own walk. Because there was times where I felt, why is this not working fast enough? And I'd get frustrated and I'd get angry with God. And why are these prayers not working? I had everybody pray for me. I was attacked. How many of you guys have heard my testimony before? I'm not going into it, so you're gonna have to look it up. Uh but in 2015, I lost a third of my blood. I miscarried our second baby, and I had a third of my blood was uh gone. And so there I was in the hospital, and then I finally, by by miraculous intervention, you know, I walk out of the hospital, but here I am, and I've got an open door for fear in my life, like I've never experienced it before. I had panic attacks, I was I was um still bleeding, I continued to bleed. They they didn't know what was wrong with me, they just kind of looked at me and were like, you're gonna have to take a blood test every week because we don't really know what we can do to help. So good luck. They literally patted me on the back and said, Good luck, we'll see you next week. And then they gave me some some type of um treatment that was for cancer patients. And so I started taking the treatment, but then I felt checked in the spirit and I was like, whatever, I don't, I don't, I don't want to do this. If they're not gonna help me, then surely God can help me. And so then then, you know, surely. Like I'm telling you, where I was back in 2015 is not even close to where I'm at now. I didn't know all God could do for me. Like I had a blood issue, and the first time I thought about the woman with the issue of blood was two weeks later. Like, what kind of a person was I? But here's the thing: I just thought that if I just go to church, I'm good. I just thought that like when when when prayer and fasting came about, Jonathan could do it for the both of us, and I'm just gonna have a burger. I just thought that when when you know it was time to pray, Jonathan, you pray for the both of us because the Bible says to become one. I literally believe that. So I didn't have a prayer life, I didn't even like walk in the word like I do now. I just went. I just went to church, I did all the motions, I did everything, but I never had this intimate relationship with God, and it showed because all of a sudden there's a wide open door for fear to come in and attack me the way it did. And boy, oh boy, did it attack me. And so I remember just crying out to God and saying, God, if you can do something, do do something, please. Because I am I'm desperate, I'm depressed, I had thoughts of suicide. I wanted to cover your ears, I wanted a drink, I wanted to go back to that lifestyle. I was like, a corona right now sounds really good. A little bit of lime. But I said, no, this has to be spiritual. And in fact, we went to Hollywood, Florida, I think it was, or Jupiter, Florida, something like that. Jupiter. And I had a panic attack, and my heart was like like going like a hundred and you know, 30 miles, whatever. 30 miles, I don't even know what that is. Okay. Uh the beats. And I was getting like faint. I'm like, oh my gosh. So I literally told Jonathan, I was like, Jonathan, I'm getting out of here. I have to get out of here. And he was so Understanding. And he looked at me and he said, Adolis, you could do whatever you want. And he's like, But I want you to know you're okay. This is a spirit of fear. And when he looked at me and said that to me, it was like this light went off on the inside of me. And I'm like, okay. See, because you've got to understand there's certain things, there's certain things that God reveals to us that put us in position to fight a better fight. The Bible says we've got to do some fighting. Praise God. Where are my fighters at? That's right, but not flesh and blood. Boom, roasted. It's the good fight of faith. And so all of a sudden, this light came on. And I was like, wait a minute here. I've been being blamed. I mean, I one of the reasons why I hate um bullies is because I got bullied when I was uh a freshman in in high school. And I got bullied, and and uh my mom was like, if you ever come back home and I found out find out that you ran away from a fight, I will beat you up. So I was like, come on, mom, this is not fair. But she taught me something. She's you know, it's to confront that giant. And so uh when I was in high school, this one Brazilian, she was um right at my feet, and I kind of like stumbled into her by accident, and so she started calling me names. And I was like, oh my gosh, she's like, and I understand the names, you know what I'm saying? Because I'm Spanish and it's very, very much the same. So she's like, you know, saying things, and her friends are kind of like egging her on, and finally she pushes me. And at that point, Matilda is is has come into my into my mind, and I was like, I can't let myself get bullied here. I'm a freshman, I had these cute little pigtails on, and um, and I remember like thinking, like, oh, it has to go down. Like, whether I win or lose, I'm gonna put up a good fight. I'm gonna attempt, you know, Daddy Dag said, attempt great things, and so here I am, because she's a sophomore, and I'm like, I'm gonna attempt something great here today. And I succeeded. Thank you. I pounded her face and blah, blah, blah. The vice principal had to, you know, pull me away from her because I had both fingers like in her eye socket. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of that. But I do I remember feeling that that little bit of helplessness and hopelessness. And I was like, ah, I wanna run away. Your first instinct when you when you meet a giant or you're facing something very scary is to run away. But you've got to just position yourself and say, I'm not going anywhere. If you want to pick a fight, I'm gonna gouge your eyes out. And so when he said that to me, I was thinking to myself, that's a bully. Satan's the bully. He already jacked it up like back a couple months ago. Why am I still in this mess? Why am I still in this kind of fear? And he illuminated that light on the inside of me, and I said, Absolutely not. And I remember there was a balcony on that hotel room, and I got up out of that balcony and I started praying in the Holy Ghost and saying, God, I rebuke the spirit of fear. I will not let this control me another day in my life. And poof, just like that, it was gone. All panic attacks, everything just gone. And I was like, Okay, I'm gonna go to Target. Did I not go to Target? I was like, see, I went from like literally having a hissy fit panic attack to I'm gonna go to Target. And that's what I did. I went to Target. I would like to tell you that that fear never came back, it absolutely came back. Don't clap about that. It came back. And so I was thinking to myself, what in the world now? Now what do I gotta do? You know, it came back, I stood against it, and now what do I have to do? And I said, This is a spiritual battle. Turn to your neighbor and say, duh. Yeah. So I'm a little slower than the most, you know. And so I said, God, if I if you tell me how to get rid of this thing, I will tell everybody about it. I said, because I don't want anybody facing this kind of fear. So I said, I'm going to be dogmatic about what this thing is that's on me called fear, and I'm gonna uncover it, and I'm going to expose the enemy, and it, and, and, and that's it. But only if you help me out is what my covenant with God was. So help me out, God, and I'll be your servant. I'll speak about this forever. And so I I was still bleeding, I was anemic, I was down to, I don't even know, a hundred and nine pounds, a hundred and ten pounds. I was skinnier than than than Russell Johnson. Yeah. Serious. Serious. And I remember thinking to myself, like, I I need help. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm dying here. And so finally I just started listening to the word of God because I was like, let's put away the Malcontonio Solis. We're gonna put away the Rihanna for a little bit. I gotta put the umbrella under my bed. Ella, Ella, hey, hey. We're in church. So listen, I put it away, and I'm like, I'm gonna start listening to the word of God. And so I was just devouring the word of God when I was vacuuming my living room at 2 a.m., the word of God was on. When I was in the car, the word of God was on. I just started getting really fierce about what this thing was. I started listening to Kenneth Copeland and and uh what's the guy's name?

unknown 28:12

Who?

SPEAKER_03 28:13

No, Andrew Womag. Andrew Olmag, yes. But who's the the the black guy that was with um Fred Price? No, not Fred Price Urkel. Whatever, John, get out. Security! So listen, I started listening to this thing uh with with uh Kenneth Copeland and what is it? Bill Winston. Thank you, man, man of God. Got my bag. Sit over here. Bill Winston, and they were talking about fear and faith and and and and where fear came from. And I'm telling you what, something, another light, another light came on. And so for two and a half months, almost three months, I just started just it was this insatiable desire to understand the word of God, and I was not relenting, I was not giving up, and then finally I'm looking at myself and I'm thinking to myself, when was the last time I had a panic attack? Why am I not feeling so tired anymore? Oh my goodness, I haven't bled for two and a half months. What the heck is going on? And you know that I was so stupid that I was like, I wonder if it's the B12 vitamins. Shut up. But that's what I thought. I thought I'm like, I just I just took this and I was in my bedroom, okay, thinking myself, thinking to myself, like, it might have been the B12. You know, I think it's the B12, but and then there was almost an audible sound that came into that room and into my head. And he said, No, it was the word of God. And I said, But that would be too easy. And the Holy Spirit said, Yes, that's the point. Now go tell him that it's all that easy. It's that easy, and I remember to myself, it's that easy. You just gotta know what the word of God says. So that's what helped me. That's what changed me. That's the whole reason why I'm here today. I in the beginning of our ministry, I told Jonathan, if you ever have me come up to greet the people, I will cuss in the mic. I will embarrass you. And he's like, All right, crazy. He just probably thought it was a Puerto Rican thing. It was. But what I'm doing right now is evidence that there is a God, and with him all things are possible. So I'm telling you right now, uh if you're looking at this ministry, you're looking at a motley crew of people here that should in no way have the qualifications to do what they're doing, but we're doing it, and the only thing that's driving this thing, this movement, is faith in God, and that's all you need. Can you say hallelujah? Faithfulness is not emotional. The Hebrew word for faithfulness is a Muna. It comes from the root amon, which means to support, to establish, to remain firm, to be trustworthy, to stand steady. It's the exact same root of why we say amen. It is established, it is firm, so let it be. Faithfulness has nothing to do with emotions. And you know a lot of people are gonna leave this place and say, I just don't feel God anymore. Who cares what you feel? Faithfulness has to do with the structure. What are you built on? Faithfulness isn't loud, faithfulness isn't glittery, it's not pretty sometimes. It's load-bearing. You know, when you go into the Empire State building, you're not like, wow, look at these beams. Huh? Wow, look at that metal beam holding this structure up. Nobody cares about the metal beams. We're actually trying to cover the metal beams if you didn't get, if you didn't, uh, beams, if you couldn't tell. Because nobody's is is is is is you know uh taking a picture next to the beams. But the beams are foundational for the structure of this building. If you remove them, this whole thing collapses, and that's the part that nobody celebrates is the structure of a thing. But faithfulness in God is hidden in the architecture of your life, so it's not just about saying I have faith, hallelujah. It's what are you gonna believe when you're going through the storm? That's what matters. The Greek word for faithful is pistos, and it comes from the word pytho, which is faith, and it means to persuade, to convince, to become fully assured, and that to me is so fascinating. Because biblical faithfulness is not just simply being consistent, that consistency is born from how persuaded you are. Taste and see that the Lord is good, taste and see that putin is good, but if you've never had poutin, I can't help you, boy. But it is good. You got French fries that have been fried in oil, I don't care what kind of oil it is, is oil. Then you got some hot gravy that they pour on them French fries, and then they've got this squeaky cheese, I don't even know what it is, and they put the squeaky cheese on top of that fry, and then it's just like a mixture of God's goodness, and I can tell you about it, or you can experience it for yourself, but when you experience it for yourself, you are persuaded, you're like, this is the best thing I've ever had. See, there's a difference in order for us to become persuaded, we need to have an experience. When I was going through that thing, everybody was praying for me, and nothing was happening until finally I got my act together, and I said, I need to know what's going on here. And God says, Finally, let me show you. And it was through that experience with God that changed my life, and it's why I'm empowered to do what I'm doing today. One moment in the presence of God changes everything. You don't have to wait 35 years to get your miracle, all you need is today. The Bible actually says, faith is today. Now, faith is, and just like Brother Jesse was talking about, stop frustrating your faith and leaving it for the future. Faith is right now. So here's the thing when it comes to this kind of persuasion, it stops the negotiation. Well, God, if you do this for me, I'll be a missionary to Africa. No, he's not interested in that. He wants to do that for you because he loves you. Everything God does is because of his love for you and I. Stop negotiating yourself into things or out of things. Can you say hallelujah? It's settled, it's convinced you're convinced, and that's exactly what Paul was talking about in 2 Timothy 1.12. Put it up there in the amplified. Uh 2 Timothy 1.12. This is why I suffer as I do. Still, I'm not ashamed, for I know him and I am personally acquainted with him who I have believed with absolute trust and confidence in him and in the truth of his deity. And I am persuaded. Turn to your neighbor and say, I'm persuaded. Beyond any doubt, that he is able to guard that which I have entrusted to him until that day when I stand before him. See, he knew something here. I am persuaded, is what he said. In who? In him. He didn't say I'm persuaded in this kind of doctrine, I'm persuaded in this type of denomination, I'm just persuaded in this type of theology. He said, I am persuaded because I know him. And so many people want the faith principles, but it's not about the faith principles, it's about the person, and the more you know him, the more persuaded you become. Do you want to know why? Because he doesn't even own tools. Because I live with him. Judy can back me up. How are his motor skills, Judy? They're off. Judy's mom, uh, Irene, she said they should just put you in a cage, Jonathan. And when when it's time to preach, they should just let you out and go preach and then put you back in the cage. I just, I, I, you know, this morning he was commenting about me yelling because of the power or whatever, because you know, he left some clothes on the side of the bed. I just don't understand why there's 17 pairs of shoes next to the bed when the closet is six steps in that direction. I don't get it.

SPEAKER_02 39:05

He gets scared, he said. Oh, mercy, pray for me, amen.

SPEAKER_03 39:13

But it's about knowing the person, and the more you know a person, then the more persuaded you become about that person. And once you get to experience Jesus and you read his word, because the Bible says the word of God is God. Well, I just I wish that I could have coffee with Jesus. Yeah, open up your Bible, it's it's there. He can talk to you right there. Can you say hallelujah? So you need to learn how to know him. He's not this ethereal thing, he's a tangible person, he's real, and there's certain things that I've experienced myself, like giving. Did you know back in 2023? Was it 2023? The house 2024 that God gave me a house. Yeah. I made a check a couple times because Jonathan, uh, what he likes to do is just spend it in in irrational ways. So I was like, you know, we could just kind of save the money and buy a house. He's like, nah, that's lame, that's boring. Let me buy these $15,000, you know, mittens. This is something stupid. I'm like, what? You paid that much? Stupid. But here am I. So I was like, God, I'm gonna contend. I'm gonna contend for this home. And so it was uh back in in it was 20, 2019 or 2020 when we wrote the twenty the check for $100,000. 2021. 2021. I go in and it's Texas. I don't even know what what what what what what what what state was it in that I met you. It was Texas, yeah. And so I said, John, the Lord has spoken to me to give a certain amount. He goes, Praise God, what is it? I think it's the same amount. And I was like, $100,000. And uh, and he goes, Me too! All right, we'll have Patrick. I said, no, no, no, leave Patrick out of this. I'm saying you and I, us personally. And he went from smiling to like a real frowny face.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

It was shocking because I actually did finally save up $100,000 to get a house.

SPEAKER_04 41:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

And then you wanted to dump it. That's why it shocked me. Because I was like, I did I quit buying mittens and stuff. And then you, you were responsible for that.

SPEAKER_03 42:05

Sure was. So I told him, I said, it's time to give, it's time to up our giving. And he was like, all right. And so I wrote our first hundred thousand dollar check, and in the memo, I wrote for my house. And so I was standing on it, and yeah, year after year, I didn't see no return. But every time in the beginning of a prayer and fasting, I'd remind God, I said on April 16th, 2020, what is it? One, I done wrote you a check. And I'm just reminding you, it's a gentle nudge that I haven't forgotten. I hope you haven't either. And then all of a sudden in 2024, this guy called Frank calls me, and I'm on my way to a meeting that I had for a women's uh at the Pittsburgh Airport. At the Pittsburgh Air Airport, Southwest gate. Some of y'all are gonna see that gate tomorrow. And I drop to the floor because this guy calls me up and he says, Adoles. And I said, Yeah. And he's like, Did you like that house that I showed you? Because this guy is a close friend of ours, and I would go visit real estate because he's like a real estate mogul, you know, so he he knew exactly what to look for. So we jump in the car and we'd ride around and see different places, different um, you know, future homes for revival today. And so we we already had that conversation going, and he showed me some of his work because he built homes here in in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So he showed me this one house. I was like, that is beautiful, you know? And I made it out like, oh, this is no big deal.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

When inside I'm like, this is the most beautiful thing in the whole wide world.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

Just trying to have a little tact. But anyway, so he's like, Did you like that house? And I said, Yeah, who wouldn't like that house, dummy? I said it like that. And he's like, Well, I was watching Andrew Omack. Big ups to Andrew Omek. Right? Huh? No? Okay. So he said, I was, I was, I was doing my devotions with Andrew Womack, and the Lord spoke to me as clear as day that I was to give you that house. And I said, He, yep, yep. Uh-huh. Yes, that's mine. And I was just buckled down at the knees, and I'm like rolling on the floor, and he said, and I don't want you to bring any furniture because I want to fully furnish it. And I was like, Yep, yep, yep. And now I'm like seeing tunnel vision. I'm like, Am I going to heaven right now? And he's like, and there's a two-car garage, and I want to fill it with one car for you. Any car you want. It's the car I'm driving right now. He gave it to me. And so I said, Not only did you give me a house, you gave me all the fixings. The fixings. He gave me the furniture. He gave me the car. And all I had to do was just keep standing there, declaring. It was that easy. Look how good I look next to that car. Shoo. See, because when I wrote that check, I was fully persuaded that this thing is gonna come back with brothers and sisters. I said, at the very minimum, Lord. What's what's what's what's uh a tenfold of of of a hundred thousand? A million dollars. I said at the very minimum. And did it can I tell you that's exactly how much he wrote for all of that stuff? A million dollars. So next time, believe for the 30, the 60, 100. But see, I was fully persuaded when I wrote that check, it was as good as gold, it was as good as done. And so I was like, that's it. I received my house, and now it could have been easy for me to just been frustrated. And you know what? There were times where I did feel frustrated, and I wanted to have my Ishmael and try to do it my own way, but everything that we could afford was a fixer-upper, and I'm like, he ain't gonna help me. I have to be here for seven years by myself. So, one of the things that I told God is that it has to be turnkey ready. That house had never been lived in with anybody before, it was brand new, nobody had lived in it before. Everything about it is is is us. It's the the mighty blue. I had I picked out a blue and it's mighty blue. It's like it the Lord had prepared that for Jonathan and I. And it's so amazing because it's as easy.

unknown 46:34

He prepared that for you.

SPEAKER_01 46:35

That's why legally I only have her name on the house because the lady gets it in the divorce anyway. And then secondly, I wasn't believing for a house. And I told her, I said, we're not putting our names on it, your name's going on it because I was not caring, and you had your faith out for a house, and God gave you the house. And that's why I'm telling you, all the single people that are here, marry somebody that has faith. Because you're believing for things and they're believing for things. Don't marry somebody that fights your faith, marry somebody that's like a jet engine on your arm, believe it even past where you're believing. You've been a joy to live with for 20 years. Just want to tell you.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

Thank you. You two, back at you. Except you gotta clean up after yourself. Okay, so here's the thing. The devil is not trying to steal the promise first, he's trying to steal your persuasion first. Because it's much easier. And if we don't remain in a place where we're persuaded that the promises of God are yes and amen for us, then it's easy. Let me add one more thing on this. Yes, get me going. Go.

SPEAKER_01 47:50

And let me tell you, no one thinks they've like lost their persuasion. Yeah, but she's right, and that's what got me out of my seat. He doesn't take the promise first, he takes the persuasion, because that's where in the ministry you see people start losing it. Hey, uh, just have some questions. You don't have some questions, you're wavering. We've been tithing for over four months now and haven't seen any kind. Yeah, you're losing your persuasion. You can't back, you cannot, you that's where you fight. That's where you fight the good fight of faith. I'm not entertaining thoughts that this might not work or why is it not working? It's working, it's impossible for it not to work. I'm standing strong, and having done all to do to stand, I'm standing.

SPEAKER_03 48:41

So you gotta understand how the enemy works. He under uh uh he he works by deception. The devil in in the Greek or whoever, don't don't quote me, Pastor Steve, because I know you're throwing darts at me already. But like it means that word is diabolos, and dia means repetitive, no, no, dia means to pierce through, and bolos means to bounce over and over and over again. So that's just his method of operation, his mode of operation. So what he does is he tries to get you to question the integrity of God. He's not gonna come through for you. This is too hard. Look how long you've been waiting. This is not gonna might as well take hand take matters into your own hands. You might as well just give up and quit. And so all of a sudden, he's throwing those ideas at you until it pierces through. And once it pierces through your brain, then you make a stronghold of it, and then you start defending the very thing that's holding you captive. You can't do that. That's why we need the word of God. Because how in the world are you gonna come against a lie if you don't know the truth? Let me let me tell you something on that note.

SPEAKER_01 49:58

Let me tell you how to win in that area every time. When we were building this place and needed uh whatever we ended up, what have we paid so far, Pat, on this building? Roughly gone. Seven million? And we we had seven hundred thousand in the bank, and I'd catch my mind starting to like wonder on well, you know, we're like two bad weeks away from zero. So you know what I did? Don't battle thoughts with thoughts. I made a playlist of Bishop Boyadepo, Fred Price Sr., and uh Matthew Eshmaloa and a couple other guys on prosperity and just put on YouTube on the Smart TV on a loop and just let my mind, if your mind's getting bombarded with doubt, it's because your speakers are off in your house. Load the word of God on YouTube or whatever and have it play, and your mind can't entertain two things at once. And I'm gonna tell you, it was five days of playing that where where the guy called and said, if you want to fly over, we have a check for 100,000. Old lady sends 1.2 million from another state. Because my mind's not only not meditating on the wrong thing, it's getting filled with the word till it bubbles up over and starts producing the thing you're getting the word on. If you're battling, if you're battling sickness, don't just try to battle against thoughts of sickness. Make a custom playlist of T.O. Osborne healing the sick and whoever Oral Roberts, hey Allen from their pride, and keep it playing. And as it plays, not only are you not entertaining bad thoughts, you're getting the word of God dumped in your spirit, and soon the light breaks out, and when the light breaks out, the darkness has to flee.

SPEAKER_03 51:52

So, how do we respond? We respond the way Paul responds. I am persuaded. That's right, and that's what faith is. And faith is not pretending that these different circumstances don't exist, we're not denying reality here. Faith is refusing those circumstances become the highest authority in your life, and there is a difference. The fight of faith is the fight to remain persuaded in the word of God, and if the enemy can unpersuade you, is that an is that a word? No, whatever. If the enemy cannot unpersuade you, still not a word, who cares? He cannot defeat you. Can you say hallelujah? He might oppose you, he might delay you, he might pressure you, he might even mock you. But if he can't stop someone who refuses to move off God's word, it's a wrap. Every promise that God has for you has resistance. Otherwise, why would God give us armor? In Ephesians 6, it's not a comfy, cozy pair of PJs. Put on the comfy PJs, it says, put on the full armor of God. Why? Because we're walking through enemy territory. When the Israelites were promised Canaan, giants occupied the land. When David was anointed king, he still had to fight a Goliath, Saul, rejection, delay, betrayal, all of them things. Paul had a calling on his life, but he also had to face prison. A snake bit him. There were shipwrecks, beatings, opposition of every kind. See, the truth is, God never promises his people a life without resistance, he promises victory in the smack dab middle of it. And the Bible says, resist the devil. Actually, it doesn't just say resist the devil, it says first, submit yourself to God. When you submit yourself to God, you submit yourself to his word, and then you have the tenacity, the persuasion to resist the devil. Let me see it in the amplified. Submit yourself, therefore, to God. So submit to the authority of God, resist the devil, stand firm against him, and he will flee from you. Second Corinthians 10:4. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God. See, a lot of times when we're looking at these weapons, we aren't really impressed when it comes to our natural minds. But what you have to understand is that we fight the fight of faith, and that's a spiritual thing. You cannot fight depression any other way than spiritually. Sickness and disease is spiritual, addiction is spiritual, it all is rooted in the spirit. In the beginning, God spoke the world into creation. So before there was anything in the natural, there was a spirit. So spirit is the final reality. We just don't see it. But if we treat things in the natural, then we're always gonna live a very frustrated life. But you've got to understand the way of the spirit is very strange to man. Praise is the very thing that brought Jericho down. A stone was the very thing that killed Goliath. A stick is what opened up the Red Sea. Prayer is what shut the lion's mouth. A cross is the thing that defeated Satan. So when we're talking about faith, it says faith, faith says God can. And faithfulness says, I'll still be standing here until he does. I was listening to Kenneth Copeland, not Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagen, and this was years and years ago. And he said something, and correct me if I'm wrong. He says, if I'm willing, if you're willing to stand forever, then you'll get your miracle. And he said something like that. Do you guys remember that, or did I just make that up? Maybe, maybe I I took creative liberty there, but that's how I translated it. And I just thought to myself, because I was going through some things at that moment, and I thought to myself, well, what do you mean stand forever? I don't want to stand forever. I want to give up and quit, actually. Because it seems like I've been standing for a very long time. But it's not about the stand, it's about being persuaded that I don't care how long it takes, this is the reality of my life. By his stripes, I'm already healed. I am the head and never the tail, above and never beneath. I have the mind of Christ. You've got to make that the final word in your life. Can you say hallelujah? Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. And it says here the title deed, the confirmation. So I looked up the substance or assurance of that. And the word is hypostasis. And hypostasis means the underlying reality, the substantial basis, the title deed, or that which gives real existence to what is hoped for. So think of it this way: hope will see the future. And faith gives that future a present reality. Faith is the substance that allows tomorrow's promise to be experienced today. And so I asked Grok and I said, Well, tell me another scripture. Because I was looking at that thing. What does that word substance mean? I said, What what uh where else is this word hypostasis located? And she took me to Hebrews 1:3, and it says, He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of him. Let me see it in the New King James Version. And he is the radiance of his glory and the exact presentation. What happened? Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had himself purged our sin, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, who being the brightness of, go back, his glory, and the expressed image of his person. That right there, the expressed image of his person, is that same word, hypostasis. And a lot of English translations will will translate that word to be nature, being, or the essence of somebody. And hypostasis means that it's the very essence or actual reality of God Himself. So when we're talking about the substance, it's talking about the structure. See, Jesus was God's son, and he was the flesh to the substance. Do you understand what I'm saying? So when we're looking at things in the faith, you've got to understand that it first starts with the substance, and that substance is structural. That substance starts with you. Can you say hallelujah? Please don't make faith is something thrown up in the ethereal. You have a part to play. That's what you need in order to make that miracle happen. It's not just about hope, it's about the substance behind the hope. What are you built on? Is it the word of God? Because if it's the word of God, it'll never fail. Faith and fear cannot mix. And that's the reason why there's a lot of people suffering from the same thing. Because you've got to understand that substance requires something on the inside of me. I've got to do something about it. I've got to position myself to fight the good fight of faith, and I will remain steady, I will remain uh uh planted in the word of God every single day of my life until I see that thing manifests for me. That's what it takes. Can you say hallelujah? It's not happy clappy. All of this stuff you see right here didn't happen just because God was rolling the die, and we turned out lucky sevens for Jonathan and I. Y'all didn't see when we were in in in what part of Vermont? Bethlehem, Vermont, Bethel, Vermont. Trying to forget about those days. You you weren't there when we were at White River Junction and a Motel A, because Jonathan forgot to book the hotels. And he booked it on peak fall uh season. It was like uh the the like leaves changing, foliage. So he's like, We I could only get us a place that's at this a motel eight. And I was like, ah, it's fine. I've never, it's gonna be an adventure. I've never slept in a motel A before. And I got bit up by fleas because there was fleas and bedbugs. And Jonathan looked at me and he said, This is not where we're gonna finish. And he said, It's bad right now, but it's gonna get better. And so I just believed him. Because when I met that man, I was like, this is the next Billy Graham, he's gonna be a household name. And I was thinking, like, he's gonna, because he came to pick me up one time from my TJ Maxx uh uh job, and he picked me up in a denali, was it a den a suburban? It was a suburban, it was a black suburban, and I got up in that car and it was like brand new, impeccable. I'm like, oh my gosh, this guy is serious. It was stolen. Exactly. So I was like, I'm about to marry royalty. If I knew he had a beat-up, Chevy, whatever it was. What was it, the car that you had? It was my dad. No, I know the other car that you had.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:25

Pay attention. It was a Toyota Camry with damage.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:28

A Toyota Camry with the whole bumper dented in. If I knew that was his car, I'd be like, ah, we we can wait. My dad was on the road and I stole his SUV. Yeah, he he stole it. So he stole his dad's SUV to come pick me up. And so I was thinking, like, this guy, wow, he's rolling and he's so successful.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:50

My dad came home from Europe and he walks by his car in the driveway, and I he was like picked it up. He goes, Did you drive my car? I went, well, they say it's not supposed to sit for a long time. He went, I was gone three days. He goes, Where'd you take it? I went, Boston. Four and a half hours, but it paid off. Grand Theft Auto is a fun game, but it's more fun in real life.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:30

Mercy, Jesus. But in those small days, in the small beginnings, you're thinking to yourself, like, oh man, like this is this is it. This is ministry life. And I remember getting married to him, and the the first place we went to preach was in Huntington, West Virginia. Was it Huntington?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:49

Huntington, Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:51

No, West Virginia. I remember the creepy hotel. It wasn't St. Mary's, but it was near St. Mary's. And it was Brad Riser and and uh Miranda Riser was there.

unknown 1:05:03

No, I can't remember.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:04

It was it was it was Richie County. It was Richie County. Richie County. It was some something down there. And so I just remember thinking, like, I'm gonna go preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is gonna be the best thing ever. And then you show up and it's like a haunted mansion. And you gotta understand, I'm from Boston. They don't have little towns, I don't know what a little town looks like. So I'm going to these places and I'm thinking, like, what in the world did I get myself into? But God spoke to me, and he said, You gotta marry that man and you're gonna help him out. And I said, Yes, sir, I will. And he said, He's going places, and I said, Yes, sir, I know he is because I felt it, I sensed it when I first met him. I thought that there was something different about that man, and God confirmed it time and time again. And so it would have been easy for us to just give up in those little moments where people aren't even noticing, but God notices, and God sees to it that you are paid in full, and then Because nobody was there when we were driving through the night, and that guy's back was like you know hunched over. All of our towel things from the bathrooms were ripped off because he would try to like hoist himself off of things with a towel rack or whatever because his back was so bad. Nobody knows about those days, nobody knows about the small beginnings. Everybody just talks about Jonathan with the airplane, rah, rah. But you don't know the faithfulness of that man and everything he's done to get up here, to get to this place.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:36

Let me tell you another thing. And if you took my airplane away, you think I would shut any of the churches down? You think I'm I wouldn't drive to Arizona or drive to California or Greyhound bus it? I'm using the plane because it's there and it was given to me and it's fast. I'm not, I would do anything I did that I had to do in the past, I'd still do right now. I'm not too big to do any of that. I'd take a Roman prison ship and swim ashore like Paul did. I'm on a mission for God and I have access to a plane, and I'm thankful, but I would do it all again, and I'd do it all right now.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:10

And anybody can have access to that. You just can't give up. You just can't quit. And in order for you not to give up or quit, you've got to know the God that you serve, you've got to have a personal relationship with Him. It's easy for me to talk about Jonathan, and there's a lot of you that that come up to me and say, You're like my best friend, and I'm like, I don't even know who you are. Security. This was got a crazy look. There's gotta be a communion between he and I, between you and him, and that's what makes him a reality in your life. It's not just about what's written in the book, you've got to experience it for yourself, and when you experience it for yourself, nobody can take that away. And that's what that's what changed my life. It's this understanding that you love me, that I don't have to struggle with fear, that I'm okay the way that I am. No, no comments from you because if I end up thinking like I'm not that, I'm not that white girl, I'm not gonna say things so eloquently, I'm gonna mess up a lot of what I say, and so it's the very thing. Fear was the very thing that kept me from doing what I was called to do until I met the Lord, until I made his respon uh relationship my responsibility. And I said, I'm I'm I'm never I'm never letting this go because who you are is who I want to be, and then all of a sudden the Bible says that the word of God is likened to a mirror. So all of a sudden you're seeing these nasty things about yourself, but God is changing you from the inside out. So now when I see myself in the mirror through the word of God, I'm in alignment with his word. See, that's a lot of times the problems that we face. We get stuck because we're only a foot in when God wants you to be totally sold out for him. You've got to be assured, and to be fully assured means you're all in. I'm not turning back, I'm not questioning your integrity, I'm not gonna go back on your promises, I'm standing firm right here. Can you say hallelujah? I want us all to stand up on our feet. You've gotta be fully persuaded, you've gotta be fully convinced. You've got to settle it in your heart tonight that what God says about you is the absolute truth. But unfortunately, if you don't have that truth, then you'll you'll start struggling left and right all the time. If you're still here, how what what year is this for what Noah Hasid? Four. If you're still here contending for your delivery of depression, and it's four years now into it, you've got to take some responsibility. You've got to start looking at your life and saying, What is it that I'm missing here? And tonight is that night where you start getting serious about the things of God, and then you make a heartfelt determination that I am not going backwards. The kingdom of God is built on increase. Every year of my life, I should see an advancement, I should see an increase in every area of my life. When we look at the likes of Russ and John, you think, like, what in the world is going on? And I'm like, what? What's it what is this? And now I know he's counting consonants or whatever. He said, and you're thinking to yourself, like, what, like, why is God using these people and not me? Why are they seeing the miraculous and not me? You gotta ask yourself, how sold out am I? Because I can tell you right now, I've met Russell, I've met Jonathan, I've met Tiff Shuttlesworth, I've met Daddy Degg, and I've met uh Matthew Mashimaloa, and I can't find one thing that connects them all, as different and diverse as their personalities are, is that they're faithful men of God. They've been faithful to the call. My father-in-law almost died ten times over, and he showed me the pictures of it, and I wish he hadn't. But he should have been dead. But you know what he told the the the nurses with his raspy voice? He said, Christians heal faster. And in a time of complete chaos, that's what came out of him. So what comes out of you when you're you're you're you're you've got the storms of life coming. And I'm I'm I'm imploring you today. I'm so thankful that you've come to what No Eye has seen, but please don't be one of those revival junkies that just get a fix, they get a hit, and they go back to their miserable lives. Do something about it. Take responsibility for your house, for your life. Say from this moment forward, like I did back in 2015. I said, I'm gonna be responsible for my life. You know what was such a sobering reality is the fact that I was dying on that bed right here in UPMC. A third of my blood gone, and I felt my spirit hovering. I don't care if you call me crazy, you probably think I'm nuts anyway. But my spirit was hovering over my body, and I was thinking to myself, I'm gonna meet the Lord, and I wasn't excited about it because all of a sudden this sobering reality came into my into my head, and I was like, I'm gonna have to present to him what I've done here on this planet, and I know that he's given me a call, I know that he's called me. So, what am I gonna present him? I ironed a really mean crease in Jonathan's pants. I'm a really solid mom. These things are gonna count, but it's not the main thing. He called me, and so now what am I gonna present to him? And I thought I'm just gonna blame my mom. I'll blame Camila, I'll throw Jonathan under the bus. I was already giving, I was getting ready to make excuses when seeing Jesus. Like Jonathan just was awful. I don't I don't know. But that was a sobering reality because I I had to I had to face Jesus and I have to present him with something that resembled me. That was that was that was me, and I I had not much, I didn't have much, and I felt shame, and I cried out even while my body was hovering over or my spirit was hovering over my body. I cried out to God and I said, Lord, if you just give me one more chance, and he saved my life, he plucked me out of that darkness, and it's why I'm doing things right now because all it takes is your determination to say, I have had it. How many times am I gonna come up to what Noah has seen with the same issues? Today you can refuse to have those issues follow you another day into the future. You just have to be dogmatic about it. You've just got to say, Hey, this is the word, I'm gonna stand on the word, and I'm gonna see the word manifest in my life. Is it that easy? Absolutely.