#254: Why God's Word Isn't Working for You

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thanks for listening to the Revival Today podcast with Evangelist Adolf Shuttleswork. To stay connected, check us out on Facebook and Instagram or online at RevivalToday.com. Now, here's Evangelist Adolist.

SPEAKER_04 0:16

Praise the Lord. Why don't you lift your hands in this place one more time? Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I thank you for every person here at Revival Today Church. And I thank you, Father, for illuminating your word in their hearts this morning. And all God's people said, Amen. Well, we are going to start off. First of all, Jonathan is, who knows? I don't know where Jonathan is right now, actually. He was, where was he yesterday? He was, but before that, he was in Slovakia this week, and the meetings were absolutely fantastic. Camila joined him and she was homesick for her mother. So she would just be calling I know. She would be calling me every day weepy. And she's like, I miss you. You're the best mom. Yada yada yada. So I was like, what else? You know, I got it like that. But here's the thing like she had gone to Tampa a couple weeks prior to her going to Slovakia. So she came back from Tampa and she came up to me and she's like, I just want you to know I didn't miss you one single moment the entire time. So I was like, okay, great. And then she apologized for that. So she's like, I'm really sorry. I'm like, no, it's good. So she's more than made up for it in the week of Slovakia because she misses me like crazy. So there's that's that. But um, they're gonna be taking a couple days in Milan, and um, they're gonna be traveling a little bit for Cam because that's where Cam wanted to go. She wanted to go to Italy, and um then they're gonna have a crusade in London. Um, and it's Brother Ashemaloa's crusade. I don't know what it's called. If you've got the the graphics, you can put it up. And so that's gonna be happening this Friday. But I do want to emphasize this week is Fuel Conference Week. And so if you have um uh a teenager, please bring them here. They transform this place into something absolutely wonderful. There's gonna be stuff upstairs, downstairs, and so you don't want to miss the youth conference happening this week. It's a full house. And because of that, there's not gonna be any services during the week. And are we canceling prayer as well? Yes, prayer prayer uh as well as cancels. Uh, but I want to uh open this time up before I get into my message, and I've titled my message. What did I title my message? Um, why the word doesn't work for you. Why the word doesn't work for you. That's my message. But before we get into the message, I want to talk about the offering here today. And the approach I'm taking this morning is one that's very practical. Because as I I went away into to camp in the wilderness last week, turn to your neighbor and say, What? Yeah, yeah. And I didn't poop my pants, but I did swallow a bug, and I've got bruises all up and down my legs, but I made it out alive. Amen. Thank you. But as I was like, you know, in it it's it's quiet, you know, there's nothing out there. You're literally just getting bitten by mosquitoes left and right. But I was just kind of like uh thinking about the prosperity message and how ridiculous it is for people not to believe in prosperity. And so if this offends you, good. Turn to your neighbor and say, good. Because this is what I want. I want to attack it in a way where it's it's actually not logical for you to buy into uh the anti-prosperity message because we are a prosperity church, but here's the thing so is the world. We live in a world where money runs the show. Money is currency. Do you know what currency means? It's always moving. And so for you to think that we shouldn't be talking about money is complete lunacy, if I'm being honest. And so I want to give you this morning four different points as to why not believing in prosperity is crazy. Number one, are you ready? Everyone believes in prosperity, they just don't want to call it that. That's the first thing. No one in here has ever who in here has prayed for less provision? Less provision? Anybody? No, who in here has ever prayed that their child struggles through life? Let me see. So I can bop you over the head. Every church has to raise a budget, every church has to raise funds, every church has to pay bills, every person that's in ministry asks for support. Can you say hallelujah? So if you believe that God answers prayers for provision, then you already believe in prosperity. Turn to your neighbor and say, see? But the truth is that we're arguing over labels. We don't call it the prosperity, it's provision, and we just believe that God's gonna provide. Well, that's prosperity. Number two, if prosperity is wrong, and again, what I'm taking you through is just the logical way of thinking about money matters in in the house of God. Because if you understand, and I'm getting ahead of myself, if you understand prosperity, you understand that it is a tool that God has given people, us, and if we don't properly use it, then we are gonna be at a deficit. Can you say hallelujah? So, number two, if prosperity is wrong, then poverty must be right, and that's a false dichotomy. And here's why. Because is unemployment more spiritual than being employed? The Bible actually tells us different. If you don't work, you don't what? Come on now. Is being in debt holier than being out of debt? Is barely making it a better testimony than having enough to help others? I can't hear you. So if the answer is no, then it isn't prosperity versus poverty. It's prosperity versus greed. And here's the thing that you have to understand, and this is what makes people uh, you know, people have like they they make us feel bad about this, but I don't feel bad. Turn to your neighbor and say, I don't feel bad. Because the opposite of greed is not poverty, so please don't get that mistaken. Well, you're just well, that's just ex that's excess. Well, no, greed, the opposite of greed is generosity, and in order for you to be generous, then you have to what prosper. So there goes that reason reason. There goes that logic. Because it's it seems as though we're attacked because we're just greedy and we just like nice things. Why does Jonathan have to fly in private jets? Because it's faster. Nancy. I know you'd rather have him ride a bike, but I am I would be very scared to see my husband on a bike. I don't even seriously think I have ever seen him ride a bike. I've been married to him for 20 years in September. I have never seen Jonathan ride a bike. And here's a here's another secret that you might want to write down. He doesn't know how to whistle. Do you know what I'm saying? So just because you have a hard time with him flying on on private jets, I want you to know how fast it is to take a private jet. I mean, it it saves years and years and years of time. But just because you have a problem with it, it doesn't make it any less a reality for for Jonathan that he needs that to go where he needs to go. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't make your point right. You know, a lot of people look at me and they immediately just you, they, they, they label me. They say, oh, she's superficial, she's shallow, she's greedy. Look at the nice things on her wrist. This watch was given to me by somebody la last week in what no I has seen. I didn't pay a dime for it. This bracelet was given to me last year at the KCM Southwest Believers Convention by uh Jesse Duplanis' wife, Kathy. Pastor Kathy. She just put that on my wrist and I almost fainted. The only thing I've purchased is this beautiful dress found in Amazon for $26. Thank you. But immediately, you don't see that, you don't know that. You just look at me and say, Oh, look at her. She spent a lot of time in the mirror. Yes, I did. Because I was tired and I needed makeup. But here's the it's those things that we just are are we we we label as the stereotypes and we dismiss, you know, the the the practical truths just because we're feeling some kind of way, or we are just predisposed to believe that something has to be a certain way. It doesn't, can you say hallelujah? Number three, the world understands what many Christians don't. Resources create influence. That's why we're not ashamed to talk about prosperity. We understand that connection. You know, in the secular world, businesses have to raise capitals, capital, and the government has to tax us because there's things that have to be, you know, people have to be paid. The land has to be uh, you know, taken care of. The elitists have to have, you know, money lined in their pockets. Amen. The the universities they build endowments, the Hollywoods spreads their their you know, ways, their their their uh, you know, they spend billions of dollars to try to shape culture just based on movies and music and all this kind of stuff. Meanwhile, Christians are out here saying that money doesn't matter, and that's why we continue to stay small because we don't make that correlation. I want you to understand this very clearly. The people shaping culture are unapologetic for having resources. Do y'all remember Cribs back in the day? The MTV shows how old y'all are. Cribs was this once there was pop culture back in the day. Pop culture is dead right now, but you know, they they they take you through all the nice things and they're not ashamed of it. So why do we have to be ashamed? And why is it that we have to kind of try to fake it like we we we're just barely making it? Turn to your neighbor and say, hell no. It gives me the ick to see people like that that will say that they don't believe in prosperity and they don't believe that pastors should have nice things. All the while they have three homes. All the while is there they they they take off their Timex uh watch to put on a Rolex when they get home. They're fake. I just wish that people in this room would understand how blessed you really are. And if you're against prosperity, then you've not traveled the world to see what it's really like to have nothing to your name. Because every person here has running water, every person here has access to this nice, cute little building, every person here has had something to eat, and maybe not, but you will. There's somebody's planning right now, you're making reservations while I'm talking to you. So, why should the church apologize for funding the Great Commission? Why should we apologize for keeping first things first? I won't. Can you say hallelujah? The number fourth principle that I want you to understand when it comes to prosperity is Satan doesn't care who has the money as long as Christians don't. And that's why this prosperity message gets attacked the way it does. Money itself is not moral. Those who control the money determine what gets built. That's just the actual fact. So whether it's the church or casinos, the output is two totally different things. Whether it's a missionary or somebody in the market, the outcome is gonna be two totally different things. Can you say hallelujah? Whether it's Bible or a wicked agenda, the outcome is gonna be two different things. But the person who holds the money is what's gonna push that. And we have to understand this morning that the issue is not whether money has power, the issue is whose hand it's gonna be in. And so at this church, we believe that we are good stewards of finances, and that the more we sow, the more we will give. Because I'll tell you what, prosperity in and of itself, there's a formula to it, there's a method to it. This is the one thing that you can't pray God to to say, oh God, make me prosper. You can, but there's a way in finances that the Bible says that you've got to do it. So the Bible says, give and it will do what? Come back to you. That's it, that's our responsibility. If we wanna be overly abundantly blessed, then there is a responsibility and an onus we have to take to release the seed that has been given to us. Can you say hallelujah? And I'll tell you, once you start that, you know, beautiful relationship of sowing and reaping, you don't you don't grow tired of it. You see the reality of the blessing of God in your life, and it is the best place to be. Can you say hallelujah? So I want you to think big this morning. We've got so many things that we are are doing at this church. We're opening up a uh a church in Toronto, we've got uh a building in Texas that we're acquiring, and now, fresh off the press just last week, we're getting one in Arizona. And so all of these things they're working because we believe that Jesus is coming back quickly, and his church needs to be established, and there has to be a place where those that are lost can come to and find God, and that's what we are are are you know uh believing for. I'm believing for crazy things, and uh, I'm not gonna tell you about them because I don't want you saying anything negative and ruining my faith about it. But when it does happen, I'll tell you, I'll point, you know, to this video and I'll say this is what I was talking about. But there's lots of things that we're believing God for, and you can be a part of that. You are responsible for pushing the kingdom of God for its advancement, and so we gotta take that seriously because in doing so we understand also that the blessing resides with who? Say me. Yeah, so it's better to give than to receive, the Bible says. So these are the ways to give, it's on your screen. If you need an envelope, they're in your seat back, and once you're ready to give, I want you to stand up on your feet as we go into today's message. Why the word doesn't work for you? Can somebody help me with my iPad? It keeps shutting off, and I'm just gonna be spending 40 minutes trying to get it unlocked. Thank you. Why don't you give it up for Pastor Abraham?

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Amen. Raise your offering and let's pray. Father, we thank you this morning for all the blessings that you've bestowed in our lives. This morning, we return to give our offerings and our tithes to you. I pray in the name of Jesus that as your people have given, whatever their expectation, Lord, let it not be cut off. I pray for a hundredfold return on every seed stone. Let them return next week to give their testimonies, saying, Look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord has done, look what the Lord has done in our lives, in our families, in our businesses, at our workplaces, and we will return and give you all the glory in the name of Jesus. Can we shout amen and amen? Our chairs, you can go ahead and uh collect the offerings, and the band will give you a profit.

SPEAKER_04 20:27

If you're taking notes, I do want you to take notes because I'm gonna teach today something from my spirit that's been um something I've been thinking about for the last couple of days because I see the frustration in people, and I see um I see the brokenness of believers, and I'm talking about believers, and it's painful to see people going through things that they should not go through, and so as I was meditating on the word yesterday, I was like, you know, asking God, like, what is it that you want me to talk about this morning? And there was an individual that came into my head, and he said, speak to that individual. And I said, All right, this is this is good. But as I was kind of like unraveling what I want to talk to you about, it's not just all about healing. And this individual is going through some some things in her body, an attack with cancer. And uh, I was just thinking to myself, like, why are these good people suffering from sickness and disease? And why are they depressed? And why are they they just going through it? Like, I it's frustrating to see. And so I was asking God, I'm like, I I need help in in shining the light to help them like you help. Me because I was in a place of darkness and despair where I wanted to quite literally die. My body was not responding the way it should. I was tired. I was constantly in pain. My mind was tormented day and night. There was no relief from it. And I still remember the anxiety. I still remember the darkness and that overwhelming feeling of defeat. Like I'm not gonna be able to make it. I can't pull away from this. And it sucks. It's a really terrible place to be. But I'm just taking you through what helped me get out of that pit. Because there's a lot of times where we're looking at the word and we're declaring the word, but the declaration of the word is not gonna get the job done, church. You can confess all you want, you can pray all you want, you can quote all the scriptures, but why are we still asking, why hasn't this happened to me yet? And the issue at hand is very rarely in the Christian, especially the realm that we are in, the question, the issue is rarely whether you've spoken the Bible because we know that that's what you're supposed to do. Just like I said it. Time and time again, going through my physical ailments. It's like I'm by his stripes, I was healed, by his stripes, I was healed. It's like, okay, I'm saying those things, but why is it not a reality right now? So the issue isn't necessarily what you're speaking, but how you're receiving it. And there is a major difference between just repeating and quoting scripture and releasing the living voice of God in your life. There is a difference between the Logos Word of God and the Rhema word of God, and we're gonna talk about the difference of those two things because the difference is life and death. If you don't have the living word on the inside of you, I feel bad for you, son. You're gonna continue to struggle because this is not a transaction. You coming here this morning is not because it's a uh something that you check off your list. Can you say hallelujah? This is a relationship. I'm going to my mother's house after this service. Some of you guys didn't even know I had a mom. She lives right around the corner. I'm going to eat her food, and I'm gonna spend time with my mom because I love my mom. It's not because she gives me food, I just want to see her. I'm 40 years old, she's 30 years old. I'm not trying to protect her age, I have no idea how old my mom is. Yeah, I just want to spend time with her. When you come to church, it's not just something to appease your conscience, and if it is, you've got to rectify that. Because when I come to a service, when I was at service at what no eye has seen, I came to receive a touch from heaven, and that's the problem. Everybody loves the formula. Just tell me what to do, I'll sow a thousand dollars. It's not about sowing the thousand dollars, dummy, it's about what God has told you to do. It's not you just hearing what Pastor Russ says. See, and there is the frustration, especially if you're in ministry. It's that comparison thing. It's like, why is this not working? I did everything you told you said to do. Well, it's different. God told us to do what we did, God told me to start a vedotional. Ron Da Costa came up to my my um my office back when we were in Carnegie, and he said, I think that you should do a video podcast. And I said, No, Rom, thanks. And then as sure as day, I felt the quickening of the Spirit say, Do what he tells you to do. And I said, You know what, Rom? I'll do it. And I was scared to do it, and if he was here, he would tell you. It took me 30 minutes to say, Hi, I'm a dollar shuttlesworth. That was it, 30 minutes just to sit to introduce myself. Because I was just absolutely terrified of getting in front of people and speaking a camera, anything. I was embarrassed, I was shy, I was all of those things. But I had to listen to the voice of God, and then fruit, there was results. Turn to your neighbor and say, There's results. And so I could have easily not done it. And here's the thing there's a lot of people that have come after me that want to do the same thing, and it it doesn't hit because God didn't tell you to do that, God told you to sing, but you want it, you want to kind of fit this mold, and therein begins the frustration of life. You're just trying to get the formula when it's not about the formula, it's about the heart condition, and there is a difference. Here's the truth that people miss God works through his spirit. God is not detached in heaven deciding whether he wants to answer your prayers today. Sitting on the throne, his work is complete, and when redemption came, his name is Jesus, the Father sent the Son. The Son finished the assignment, and then Jesus ascended to heaven. And in Acts 2, Jesus said, Don't do anything until you've received what the Holy Spirit. So here's what you gotta understand about God the Father: He can't do anything apart from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the creative agent, he's the one that goes out to work. God the Father is God the Father, he speaks the the thing out, and then the Holy Ghost creates that reality. So God's up in heaven just chilling, and at his right hand is who? Jesus. And is he sitting next to him or is he sitting next to him? Yeah, he's sitting next to him. So they said, Don't do anything, I've gotta go because God doesn't like to be alone. But I'm sending one that comes after me. So Jesus went up so that he could send the Holy Spirit, which is a person, he's not sprinkle fairy dust, he's not electricity, he's not a bird, he's a person, and the Holy Spirit was sent. Now God accomplishes his work on this earth through his spirit, which lives in who? Me. So God cannot do anything apart from the spirit in his body, which is the church of Jesus Christ. So we've been given this wonderful responsibility to do the work of God, and Jesus said, as you see me do a thing, I send you to do it better. That's a dollars' paraphrasing bug. That's a dollars' translation. Uh and I want you to do it better than me because you have the spirit that's living on the inside of us. Turn with me to John 14, 16 and 17. It says, and I will pray, I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper, the comforter, the advocate, the intercessor, the counselor, the strengthener, the standby. He's all of those things on the inside of you right now to be with you on occasion. Does it say on occasion or does it say forever? It says forever. Look at 17. The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, and take to its heart because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because the Holy Spirit remains with you continually and will be in you. The Holy Spirit lives in us, he's our source. I want you to understand when you're asking for things, God, do this, God do that. Why are you asking if God has already commanded things to be so? See, and that's that's the problem. You are you are you're speaking to God instead of speaking to the mountain. You have the holy, you have God on the inside of you. The authority, the power, the truth, the revelation, everything pertaining to life and godliness, the Bible says, is at your disposal right now. So why are you in a frustrated state? If there is an issue, speak to the issue. And that remains a problem because we're just asking God, God, if you could just do this. No, he's up in heaven chilling with the lemonade, maybe. And he said, I've called you to do it. Go into the world and preach the good news to everyone everywhere. He's given us that responsibility, not just me. Can you say hallelujah? If you're taking notes, I want you to say this or write this down. I want you to understand you're responsible for bringing people to this church. It is not just the pastor's thing. You, as a believer, have to be a soul winner. This is a non-negotiable. This is God allowing us to be a part of his plan. And what an honor it is that we get to be a part of that plan. What an honor it is that you would trust me, God, to fulfill your dream, to fulfill the mission that you have set. You're trusting me to do it because he can't do anything. We are God's hands, we are his feet, we're his mouth. God cannot do anything apart from you. Can you say hallelujah? Hebrews 10:12 says, But this man, Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God from that time, waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. I want you to understand, God is in heaven sitting, and Jesus is in heaven sitting because when he died on the cross, did he say it's kind of complete? Or did he say it is finished? His part to play was it's done. And I want you to see something in John 9:4. Jesus said, I have to work the works of him who sent me while it is still day, because the night comes when no man can work. Well, that night came in the form of Judas, and he was betrayed that night. But Jesus finished his assignment, and then came the Holy Spirit, and without the Holy Spirit, I want you to understand there would be no church. When did the church start? It wasn't when Jesus was born. The church was birthed on the day of Pentecost. That's when God gave us his spirit. So the church we began back in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came. So you've got to understand this reality that Jesus is seated, and the only time he ever stood up was to welcome his servant, Stephen. When Stephen died for the cause, he was martyred, the first martyr on record. And Jesus done get up and applauded him right into heaven. So that's the only time Jesus is getting up off that throne is to to congratulate us. Isn't that a beautiful thing? He stands in honor of his victorious saints. Can you say hallelujah? But here's what I want you to see: we are his body. So this is something that I am still 20 years in. Like I still have to talk myself into this. That's why we need to renew our minds in the word every single day. Because if we don't, we're just bound to fail. Because I was taught that God is everything and I am nothing, that I'm just a worm, that I'm insignificant. And that might sound really humble, but it is not biblical. So I want you to see in Romans 8:19, it says, For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. They're not waiting for another Messiah, they're waiting for you to manifest into everything God has called you to be. Osborne said this, and he says it so beautifully. He says, God needs me as much as I need him. And that just it just, you know, it should unsettle you, it should break every kind of stereotype and tradition in your brain that would have you or or view you as something that's lesser and insignificant to God. Because again, from what I just said, God has no hands but our hands. Look at your hands, wash them next time. Get a pedicure, some of y'all. Nasty. But God has no hands but our hands, He has no feet but our feet, He has no mouth but our mouth. And so it's important that we don't distance ourselves from that because He loves you. And here's the thing that maybe you've never heard before: God needs you. Turn to your neighbor and whisper, God needs me. It's kind of creepy. But the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6 20, for you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are whose? God's. Can anybody place a value on the blood of Jesus or is it priceless? So when he purchased you, you were priceless to him. God never pays a price for something of infinite value that means nothing or that means little. So if you look at yourself and you say, I'm just a speck, I'm just I'm just a nobody, I don't know what God would use me, you'll stay small thinking that way. You've got to change your mindset because here's the thing: God loves you, and he loves you so much, and he doesn't want you to continue to struggle. He's given us his word so that we could be empowered by it to live a supernatural life. But there's too many of us that are riding well below that supernatural line, and we're frustrated and we're stale and we're stagnant and we're plateaued, but we're not supposed to live like that. Can you say hallelujah? John 14 10. Turn there with me. John 14 10 in the new KJV. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, I don't speak of my own authority, but the father who dwells in me does the work. Notice the order. The father in me who dwells in me, the father who dwells in me does the work. You guys are so frustrated. Why is it not working? Why are things not working? Is the father dwelling in you? The father dwells, the father speaks, then what the father does the work. That's the order. The spirit dwells on the inside of you, the spirit speaks, but here's the thing: if there's no word, you ain't gonna have a word. That the he can't he can't speak. The only language God uses is his word. And if you're not familiar with his word, you're gonna miss it. And after you have the word, then what happens? The father does the work. The miracles always follow the spoken word of God. And this is the difference between logos and remah, because a lot of times translations will translations will say the word, but in in its original context, it's logos. It's the difference between logos, which is knowledge, which is the word written out, and then remah, which is uh a spirit word, a word that just illuminates on the inside of you. So logos in the Greek is the written word, God's revealed truth, a divine message, doctrine, reason, scripture. Logos is God's written revelation, and without that logos, we can never have a Rhema. God needs his word. Well, I'm just waiting on the word. Have you read the Bible? You want a specific thing done in your life? What scripture are you are you thinking about? You know, you can give me the name of all of the diseases and the 15 different medications that you have, but you can't quote me one scripture on healing in the word of God. That's a problem. And what is the Rhema word? The Rhema word means the spoken utterance. You see the difference there. This is not just knowledge, this is a voice that is speaking to you, a spoken word, a living declaration, a word that is presently spoken to you specifically. I'm not talking about you as us, I'm talking about you as the individual. Say me. Turn to your neighbor and say, She's talking about me. Rhema is when the Holy Spirit breathes life into the Logos. Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word. That word is Rhema, the word of God. So it's not just the intake of the word. Some of you guys can get really dogmatic about it, but when were you at the feet of Jesus asking him for help and saying, Father, I need you to move on this. I need a Rhema word this morning. See, that's where it makes a difference. Because you can memorize the logos, you can speak out the logos, but only the Holy Spirit can make it Rhema. So here's the difference the logos brings information, but the Rhema will transform your life. See, we can't do away with the logos because the logos is what brings us knowledge, and the knowledge is what sets us free. So we need to be out of our captivity. It starts with the word of God. That's the fundamental basic of Christianity. So if you think that the word and the Bible is just a coaster, I want you to wipe the soot off of your Bible this afternoon and start reading it. We need the word, it brings us the truth, and the truth brings us the freedom, but it doesn't stop there. We need a Rhema word because that's what brings true lasting transformation. I see people come around this place like a revolving door. And why is that? Because the word has not become a rhema to them.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

It's just a formula. Well, I did that, I tried giving. Pastor Denise, I tried giving three times.

SPEAKER_04 44:00

Still do the work, and it'll never work for you because you need the Rhema word, you need a word that is breathed upon by the Spirit of God to illuminate something inside of you personally, not me. See, that's a lot of you might have come here this morning, like, please, I'm I need a word. You can get this word every day in your life. You don't have to just be dragging throughout the week waiting for somebody to just give you a pep talk. You can pep talk yourself out of misery today and every day. Can you say hallelujah? Logos builds the faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God. But the rhema word releases the miracle. See, the woman with the issue of blood, she was hearing it like everybody else. But then a rhema word came into her for her body specifically. And what did the rhema word tell her? If I could just reach the hem of his garment, I will be made whole. And what did she do? She was made whole that same hour. Why? Because that rhema word came upon her. So see, the rhema word is imperative because it sets you above the natural. That's why everything you see here is supernatural. If you talk to Jonathan and I, you'd be totally underwhelmed. But it's now we are listening to the Holy Spirit. I need the Rhema word. Where am I to go? What am I to do? How am I to do it, Lord? And then all of a sudden, He breathes life into it. And it's specific for me. God told me to give a hundred thousand dollars. He didn't tell you. But even if you gave a hundred thousand dollars, you're not gonna see the return like you did it he's done in my life, unless God spoke it to you. And that's where people get frustrated. It's like, well, why didn't this work? And why isn't it? And I gave this. You know, God's uh God spoke to me one time. The gift of faith came on me when I was in Finland, and God said, You're gonna get a million dollars by Friday. Because I was doing the calculations, I had texted Pat and I said, Pat, how much have we given? He said, Uh, about two million. I said, Well, or however it was that at that three million, and I said, Well, there's a there's a turnaround this year and last year, and we haven't seen the turnaround yet, and so I'm believing for a million dollars, and just as as sure as day, I felt the Holy Spirit say, A million dollars is coming to you on Friday, and it came on Friday. Have I tried to conjure that up again? Every day, every day. I'm like, I feel the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost is like, I didn't say that. But you feel the difference, and what's the difference? The results. Logos is what builds the faith, Rhema is what releases the miracle. That's why people become frustrated. They're quoting scriptures, but they're never hearing God, they're echoing the logos without receiving a spirit-breathed word on their lives. So, how do we how do we know? Let me let me just make it as clear as is as day here. When Peter was on the boat, he didn't open up the manuscript to Exodus, and he's like, I read here that Moses parted the Red Sea, and because he parted the Red Sea, he did something crazy there with the natural elements. I'm just gonna stand on this word. No, he said, God bid me to come. And what did Jesus say? Come. That come word was a Rhema word that produced supernatural results, so that's the difference. He wasn't trying to quote Exodus and you know, I'm just gonna stand here and just believe that just like Moses, no, he said, God bid me to come and I will come. And that's exactly what happened. Realities are created when that rhema word comes into you, and it's specific to each and every one of us. You have to begin to hear the word of God for the rhema word. Faith comes by the rhema word, not the logos. Logos is information, logos is knowledge. But this rhema word is specific to each and every person. That man sitting in the front row. I want you to actually come up and tell them your story about when you emptied out your bank account and uh you said, you know, I I want to be on your payroll. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 49:13

We decided to move here to come to uh Pittsburgh. One of the things the Lord had had spoken to us was we uh we had just sold our house. We had never owned a house in our life. We had always rented. And when COVID hit, we ended up getting a house that Denise ended up buying unbeknownst to me. She bought a house, never asked me. That's crazy. But it worked out well, and God paid that. It did, because here's the difference between the Rhema and the logos. Because I'm looking at it from the standpoint of do we have it appraised? Do we know what it's worth? What did you pay? She goes, I don't know. He's gonna tell me what it's gonna be. I said, Denise, are you out of your mind? But you know what? When you get a Rhema word and you act on it, the truth of that is seen in the results. So we get that house. God pays that house off in 21 months, 22 months? 22 months, pays that house. I've never had a house all my life. So, anyways, we came here, we sold that house, we owned it, we got a real good price for it, and the Lord began to talk to us to sow. And we sowed, and we sowed, and we sowed in 2023 when we first came here. Matter of fact, in 2023, just to give you reference, this is not to pat me on the back, this is to give you reference. In 2023, we sowed $240,000. That's I that's less than I made in 2023. But one thing we did not stop doing from 2023 to today, we never stopped giving. Even when we didn't see the things that we were believing, got our faith on, confessing and declaring, we had a rhema word from God that said, This is what I want you to do. And I was going back through looking at my notes the other day during what Noah seen, before we began to sew that, the Lord spoke to me. I actually said to the Lord, I said, Lord, I'd like to be on your payroll. He asked me, What do you want? He just asked me one question sitting in that service. What do you want? I said, I want to be on your payroll. I wasn't hired here at that time. I was sitting 23 rows back. I had just moved here, trying to decide what I was gonna do for work. And then Pastor John hired us the last day of what Noah has seen. And God put me on his payroll that day.

SPEAKER_04 51:57

Hallelujah. See, there's people that come all the time and they're like, Well, I cleared my bank account and I didn't see the return. Did you hear from God? Because you need the Rhema word to see the results. So the Rhema word is a serious thing that we've got to begin to activate as believers of God. This thing is real. I don't care what the view says about not your our inability to speak to God. I speak to God every day. He speaks to me every day, and you can develop that in your own life as well. Can you say hallelujah? Turn with me to John 15:7. The Bible says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. That word, word is Rhema. So that phrase, it shall be done, comes from the word gonomi or gonomai. Who knows? You don't know, I don't know. But when I looked up the word gonomi, the meaning is to become, to come into existence, to happen, to be brought into being, to be made. Can you say hallelujah? So there's a difference here. Even when Jesus was talking about it, I do what my father tells me to do. The word is already there, it's pre-existing. But here we see another fundamental truth in our faith is that we could actually begin to receive the word of God to where a reality is created where there was no substance there to begin with. So it might not make sense to you, but it doesn't have to make sense to you because God is so good at creating something from nothing. This is much more than just receiving, this is creation. God brings into existence what previously never existed. Can you say hallelujah? He creates the provision. If the opportunity doesn't exist, he creates an opportunity. If the miracle hasn't happened before, you'll be the first to experience that miracle. You you've got to understand, even even the miracles we see, we'll we'll use Moses again. Moses didn't see that miracle until God spoke to him. The word was sent, come. Was Peter the only person on the boat? No. Everybody was on the boat. Why didn't everybody just jump up out of there? Because it was specific for Peter. It was created and released for Peter because he had the faith to believe for it. So this is where there's a turning point in our lives. If we want to see the work manifested, then we've got to be able to hear his voice and hear it clearly. Take it serious. Turn to your neighbor and say, Be serious. So how do I get a Rhema word? Number one, be born again. I don't know everybody here, but if you've not given your heart to Jesus, John 8 47 says, He who is of God hears God's word. So you've got to be of God in order for you to hear God's word. And it also says, Therefore, you don't hear because you are not of God. See, the thing here is that God is always speaking. The question isn't whether God speaks, the question is, can you actually hear Him? Being born of God enables you to hear the voice of God. And let me tell you something here. God wants to speak to you specifically. It's interesting the the series of things that have happened in my life where people were praying and people were fasting, but it was until I got in communication with God, until I got serious about the word, serious about inclining my ear to Him and His instruction for my life that everything changed for me. Because you could go through the method, you can go through the motions and still have it not affect who you are. But until you get serious-minded about it and say, Father, I'm gonna do everything to listen to your word. Number two, stay in the word. Joshua 1:8 The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written. For then, say then, you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. This is the secret sauce. You want good success, you want your ways to be prosperous, you want God to come through for you, then you've got to be able to meditate on the word day and night. And that word meditation isn't like the fat Buddhas in a Chinese restaurant. That word in the Hebrew context is to mutter. You know, it's like the the Israelites going to the wailing wall. Has any of you guys seen that documents and stuff? Has any of you guys actually been to the wailing wall? And you see God's people, and they're going like this, and they've got the prayer shawl thing, the the um scarves. I'm killing it, but you know, and they're like doing that thing, and they're and it's just like a hum because that's what they're doing. They're meditating, they're humming, they're speaking out the word of God. And I want you to understand that it's so effective to do that because that's when that rhema word takes takes root. Again, you can't have a rhema word without the logos, so you literally have to continue to meditate on it, speak it out. And here's that thing the same word for meditation is to imagine it, to sit there and ruminate about God coming through for you. It's not just quoting, by his stripes I'm healed. It's you're imagining yourself free from every oppression. You're imagining yourself running a marathon, you're imagining yourself at the beach, you're imagining yourself walking your daughter down the aisle. That's what that means. You gotta get intoxicated with the meditation of the word of God. Faith is built by you speaking. Can you say hallelujah? So you keep saying it, then you keep hearing it, then you keep saying it, and you keep on not hearing it, and all of a sudden it's catching. It didn't work right away for me. I still had reservations, I still had doubt, I still had unbelief. Let's call it what it is reservations. That's just the diplomatic way. I had unbelief in my life until I made the word of God my business and my number one priority, and then in three weeks' time, everything shifted for me. I was looking at the mirror and it was a dollar shuttle's worth, but it wasn't a dollar shuttle's worth. Something changed, and it was the word of God that illuminated on the inside of me that started showing me the reality of my life. So I can't be down and out about that person anymore when God says I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I can't say negative things about that individual because God has placed a calling on my life, so it just changes everything. Can you say hallelujah? So when you keep hearing it, you keep speaking it out, eventually the spirit catches the signal. It's like you're with an antenna in the spirit, and you might be just like, it's just overwhelming, but all of a sudden, you you you guys don't know what radio is, but back in the day, I was taking a car ride from Canada yesterday, and it was the it the the that noise, the white noise from the radio was coming in. And I remember it took me back to when I was like 12 years old in my dad's car because that's what he would play for music, because he thought like secular music was worldly, so he just put it on AM and it would be. And I was like, Oh gosh, there's no signal, and it would drive me crazy. But I think he was like hard of hearing back then, so it didn't bother him. But I was like, Mercy, Jesus, help us. But every now and again it would come through, people bump, hey, this is his, because that's what he was trying to like, you know, listen to with some Spanish, some Spanish Christian radio. La luz, la voz. And I was like, Oh, thank God, there's there it is, we got the signal. Well, there's a lot of us that are hearing the white noise, and we're not catching the signal, but if you're in it, if you put that radio on in your spirit, eventually you're gonna catch that signal. Can you say hallelujah? So you gotta start declaring that God, you're a God that will supply my every need. And at first, when you're doing it, you're just quoting it, but then you begin to see it, then you begin to believe it, and then finally there's a knowing. And I was talking about in the conference that there's gotta be like a convincing of these things for you. There has to be, you've gotta be convinced that the word of God is true. Well, how can I be convinced that the word of God is true? By a rhema word, because once you get that word, ain't nobody taking you off of that word. It doesn't matter what the enemy says, it doesn't matter what the doctors say. You have a rhema word from God. I want you to turn to one of the most random um scriptures for this, and we're gonna close in the moments to come. Isaiah 31:4. See, we're not talking about just wishful thinking here, it's not just hope alone. We have to have a confidence that's settled on the word of God. The word has to move from into your head to your spirit, and that's where it becomes the Rhema word of God. And when you have that word, ain't nobody taking it from you. Isaiah 31:4. For thus the Lord has spoken to me, as a lion roars and a young lion over his prey, when a multitude of shepherd is summoned against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor be disturbed by their noise. So the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. So I put it in Chat GPT and I said, Explain this to me. And you know what Chad said? The picture Isaiah gives is powerful. A lion that has seized its prey is not intimidated by the shouting of a crowd of shepherds trying to scare it away. In the same way, the Lord is not moved or intimidated by loud voices of his enemies, he comes down to fight for his people with unwavering determination. Stand up on your feet. That's a Rhema word. When it becomes a roar, when it becomes so subtle that you don't give a rip who is against you or what the doctors say or what the report is, you walk through that with a prey in your mouth. Can you say hallelujah? So the goal here isn't simply to know more scripture, the goal is for the written word to become the living voice of God in your heart. And when the Logos becomes the Rhema, then faith comes alive. And when faith comes alive, the Father does the work. And I want you to know here today that the word still works, it's always worked. The question is whether we're allowing the Holy Spirit to make the written word a living word inside of us. And so you've got to position yourself. Enough with the defeatist mentality, enough with looking at your circumstances as though they're so insurmountable and you're never gonna get through it. No, you'll get through it. You've got to roar like that line, you've got to get that Rhema word of God and understand I can never be defeated another day in my life. Will the storms come? Certainly, but I'm ready for it. I've got my muck boots on, I'll tread through the water, but I'm not going anywhere. Can you say hallelujah? See, we have to have that kind of determination on the inside of us. We can't be weak, shallow Christians at revival today. You gotta learn how to access the power or you're gonna die. And here's the wonderful thing about it anybody can do it. Any bozo can take the word of God and just meditate on it. What is it that you're struggling with? It is is it finances? Is it, is it, is it your health? Go rope, crack that open. Start believing it. Start imagining it. Start speaking it out and watch it take root in your heart. And all of a sudden, you're unassailable. Is that a word? Sweet. So you know what I'm saying? There's a way of doing it to live above that norm. But you gotta find out for yourself. I can't tell you. You gotta do it. You've got to put in the work. The word doesn't work because you don't work it. But from this moment forward, we're gonna work it. Can you say hallelujah? I'm gonna have a multiple um uh like phased thing. Altar call. The first one is if you've never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, I want you to come down to the front and make that a reality today. You wanna hear the voice of God? You can't do it if you're not saved. When you're saved, you proclaim, God, you're my father, I'm your child, and I've got to make things right with you, and I'm gonna live for you, sold out for you. Where you go, I'll go, what you say, I'll say. But you gotta make that determination in your heart. If there's never been a time in your life where you've uh uh made Jesus Lord and Savior of your life, the Bible says, today is the day of salvation. That's the first call. The second call is if you are living this frustrated life and you're thinking to yourself, What in the world? Why is this not working for me? First of all, you've got revelation now, but I'm gonna lay my hands on you for an empowerment to come on the inside of you. That from this moment forward, everything of negative thoughts, tradition, all of the lies that you've bought into drop off of your life here today in the mighty name of Jesus. The third part of my altar call is if you're struggling in your body, you need a touch from heaven, you need healed in your body, you need healed in your minds. That's my third and final thing, line of this altar call. But I want you to make it your business here today that you're not gonna leave the same way you came in. Enough is enough. Aren't you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Then I want you to come into the altar. The first row I want it to be for people that have never given their hearts to Jesus, because I'm still gonna pray that. And then everybody else, y'all gotta have to figure that out. Right in the first row, next to these brothers and sisters, these are the people that um are gonna get saved. Everybody else, you can just follow the ushers and they're gonna lead you beautifully. And you know what? Ushers, if we can get the people that need a touch from their bot for their body up against that wall, there's like lots of space back there. If you need a miracle, if you need a touch in your body, I want you to go all the way to that wall, that white wall over there with the cement. And I want those who came up to give their hearts to Jesus to pray this after me. Say, Heavenly Father, forgive me of my sin. I believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior of my life. I'm never turning back. I believe in you. You're my savior, I'm forgiven, I'm a child of God. In Jesus' name. Amen. Congratulations.