Strong In The Lord

The Bible instructs us to be strong in the Lord. We are to recognise that there is constant pressure from the enemy to weaken our faith and distract us from our purpose. Staying strong means being deliberate about what we focus on, choosing obedience even when it’s difficult, and continuing to act on what we believe

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

I'm gonna take you over something that I've spoken to you about before, but in a different way, and just give you more information on it. Amen. To remind you, because human beings are specialists in forgetting, we forget what God has done. Amen. Yeah, we do, we forget, we forget what He has done. God could have done a mighty thing in your life, and it was last year or two years ago, and you forgot. You forgot everything. And I think that's the purpose of the Bible is to remind you what those who came before you went through, and how God delivered them from those things. Amen. One of the major things that God delivered into my spirit at a very young age is something that really has helped me to come this far and to continue to grow in the Lord. And the thing that he ministered to me was that you may never become what he wants you to become. Amen. God can have a strong desire for you to be something, and he writes it, and it's in his plan for you, and you never walk in it ever. Because he's given you freedom. In our kingdom, freedom is a curse. In the times we're in now, they tell you freedom of speech, freedom to act. In America, it's called the Fifth Amendment. Amen. So it's a lot of freedom. You're free to do what you want to do. But as you grow to maturity, you realize that freedom is actually a cage. Amen. Freedom is an illusion. It's not real. So most of you have been exercising your freedom thus far. And some are very happy. You know, I've met people who are living terrible lives, lives happily. Happy to live terrible lives. They are glad to do it. And for them, it's because they are free. I'm free to make my own choices. Praise God forevermore. Paul said that he's a bond servant of Christ. That was his mindset. He said, I'm a bond servant of Christ. There's no talk of freedom on my side. I'm commissioned. I'm a man under instructions. I don't do what I want to do. I do what I'm asked to do by God. Yeah. So, brothers and sisters, God can literally be enthusiastic about you being the most successful person in your family, and you never become that. You just never become it. God can there could be prophecies over your life. You know, some of you were born, and a pastor came to the hospital when you were a baby. Maybe you didn't know. You should ask. Ask your parents, maybe. A pastor or priest came and anointed you and spoke things over your life and said, This child will be a blessing. Amen. This child will be a good child. This child will be a blessing. And you grew up to be a terror. What happened when from when you were born? You were blessed. They put the expensive oil was poured on you, and words were spoken over you. That you are a blessing to your generation. And you grew, and nothing of the sort happened. So, what I'm trying to pose to you is who has the responsibility to ensure God's plan takes place? Praise God forevermore. He's allocated it into your hand. He said, You are responsible for making my plan happen. I'm telling you, you have walked past the greatest of men in this generation. You have walked past them in the streets. But imagine you discovered very late in your 50s, your 60s, that God had a plan for you all along. Now, a cre a key ingredient that you need to ensure that God's plan happens for you, all right, is a beautiful scripture. I'm gonna give you two. A beautiful scripture in the book of Ephesians, because the church of Ephesus were going through some things, and Paul said to them, Be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might. Say it with me, be strong in the Lord. Why would their mentor, their pastor, send them a letter and say, Be strong in the Lord? Because to be in the Lord, you need to be strong. You gotta be strong. This thing we're doing is not for the weak. I'm telling you, it's not for the weak. You'll find that that's why you find, you know, you know, people, you will come to church, you get through the door, and that's not even half of the battle. Right? Once you come through the door, that the battle after coming through those doors is not for you to not get offended at anything. The battle after not getting offended is you paying attention. You find that you get through the door, you made it into your seat. No one annoyed you or irritated you, so you passed stage two. Stage three is not falling asleep. Whilst the word is going on, which some of you have become experts in. The word is going on in your sleeping. Now, I'm not necessarily blaming you, I'm telling you that it's because you're weak in the Lord. That's why you're sleeping. The word is going on, that is the most important part, and that's the time that your body decides that I will now take a nap. Because you're not strong in the Lord. Praise God forevermore. These are what the Bible calls fiery darts of the enemy. He looks for you and he looks for ways to ensure that you don't get the meat. I've I've been soul winning for years. I've invited people to church. I remember a specific individual. He just he just couldn't sit still. He'll check his phone and then put the phone in the pocket, and then he'll look at the toilet. Maybe he's visualizing himself in there. I I I invited him. I said, What? I said, What's wrong with you, brother? What are you doing? You're making me itchy. He was, you know, it's like he couldn't sit still. The fiery darts of the enemy. That's why I said, This thing we're doing, it's not for the weak. You gotta be strong in the Lord. You don't sound like it.

unknown 9:49

I'm strong in the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

You'll be sitting there if it's not, you know, fidgeting, it's ideas, thoughts to upset you so that you don't catch the message. Praise God forevermore. And those who are falling asleep, you it'll be justified in your spirit. Demons will whisper in your ear and say, It's okay, you worked hard yesterday, it's understandable. You had a late night yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

It is not acceptable for you to fall asleep in service. It is not. Reserve that for when you get home. Interestingly, you'll find that you're very tired in here. The moment you step out, you know why many people are responding is because they've been recipients of such a thing. They've been there. I dealt with this thing, I dealt with it years ago. You know how I dealt with it from home. I said, No, because interest in the things of God is intentional. It's intentional. You know, if you talk to a person who's full of responsibility, they will talk to you about forcing yourself to do things. Some of you have never forced yourself to do something, you've never been on the other end of doing something that you didn't like, but because you have to do it, you did it. And that is the work of a Christian. The work of a believer is I don't want to do this, I'm not happy about doing this. My body's telling me not to do it, but I'm gonna force myself to do it because I have to do it. Let's look at Ephesians and see what it says about being strong, and when we're finished today, you're gonna be very strong. So Ephesians 6 10. Sorry, 6 10.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Thank you, sir. Ephesians chapter 6 from verse 10 says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. Finally, my brethren or my brothers, be strong in the Lord. Say, I'm strong in the Lord. Say, finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Say now, let me tell you about the power of his might. Be strong in the Lord, be strong in the Lord. That is because there's an enemy, there's there are there's a whole spiritual world that is after discouraging you. Everything is about discouraging you, they are so focused on discouraging you, ensuring that you are discouraged to pursue God and his path. So they put things in your view that you can focus on that would take your attention away from what God is doing for you. Because if you continue that verse, it says, put on the whole armor of God, which I'll talk about very briefly, not for too long. Okay, and if it's calling it an armor, it means you're in a war. You're in a war, brother. You're in a war. There's a war against your mind, there's a war against your belief. Some walk around in life and they don't know it. That there's a war, they're at war, but they're walking around operating as if everything is fine. But you're at war. Praise God. Everything that takes place is to question whether God is real. That's the question. Is God real? Sometimes you've probably sat down, sat down and thought, is God really real? And if if God is real, is he on my side? Is he with me? That's where they want you. Does God love me? Is God with me? But Paul says, be strong in the Lord. What does that mean? What God tells you, stand on that thing. Are you listening? What it what he tells you that he will do, stand on that, and don't move on it. I understand that I'm in a war, and I know how to fight. Are you listening? I know how to fight, and I recognize that I'm in a war. So when you recognize you're in a war, you behave yourself in a certain way, isn't it? So he says, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Now, the power of his might is simply his word. That's it, that's the power of his might. So be strong in the Lord, so believe what he says, and in the power of his might, so that is in his word. This is why I encourage you to consistently be here, consistently come to church so you're learning constantly. Amen. Yeah, uh, my secretary stood here and said, make sure you're taking notes. You know why we asked you to take notes? Well, number one, so you don't fall asleep. Because we know what the devil would do. Amen. So as you're writing and you're thinking, that's called meditation. You're thinking about what you're writing. He said, you know, make sure you take notes. Some are not taking notes. Um I have to address it. We tell you to take notes so that you can stay locked in until the end. Think of the gospel of Jesus Christ as a fine line. Okay, so think of a line in front of you that's very fine, it's very slim, and you have to walk very carefully on that line. The moment you stumble a little bit and you come off, the power cuts, you cut the performance. Do you understand that? So when God asks you to do something, he knows that in order for you to do it, you have to be careful. Gotta be very careful. There's another scripture I want to give you, which is Ephesians. It's in Ephesians 3, I think. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Okay. Uh let's go from 14 and we finish at 16.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Thank you, sir. Ephesians chapter 3, from verse 14, says, For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 15, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Verse 16, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Be strengthened. Be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. Did you know you have an inner man? Are you aware of that? Now, I'm gonna tell you the primary reason why God has asked you to be strong. Okay, it's not because tough times will come. The most important reason he's telling you to be strong is because of where he's taking you. Now, you must know that you may never get to that destination if God scans you and keeps seeing weakness, he's constantly scanning you, he's constantly watching you. He says, Be strong in the inner man. The inner man is the one that is willing to do what God is asking you to do. For example, like self-control, self-control comes from the inner man. I was talking to uh one of the young people here, and I was saying to that person, God said I should tell you to um work on your your need for excitement. Oh, you don't like that, do you? It's because I'm attacking you in the spirit. I said, your need for you know, some people cannot live well without excitement, they must do something that gets their adrenaline going. You know, I gotta do it. Do you understand? So they have to do things to make them excited, and God said, work on your need for excitement, because the things that are bringing you excitement are the very things that are killing you. Praise God forevermore. So for that person to be successful in that instruction, it would take for their inner man to be strengthened, the inside man, because it's the inside man that will stop the outside man from moving on on such things. So when the outside man looks and sees that that's exciting, I want to go and do it. The inner man will say, Stop. Are you understanding that? The inner man will say, stop. The instruction was stop looking for this excitement. I'm not saying life should not be exciting, I'm saying running after excitement is a trap. So you got to be strong in your inner man. Praise God. Talk to the young people who are selling drugs today, they'll tell you, if you really talk to them, you'll find out that they do it. Some of them don't need to do it, they have two parent households, they've grown up in a nice environment. You wonder, what are you doing in this area? This is not even your postcode. What are you doing here? You came up in a nice place. What are they looking for? Excitement. Excitement. Praise God. Even if you talk to men who are polygamous. They're also looking for excitement. I'm bored here. I gotta move on. Amen. So they're looking for excitement. It's a it's a high. And this is something that will attack you as a young person. So you have to nip it in the bud from now. It can floor you. There was a gentleman who worked at the bank. Very, very good job. He ends up stealing from the tilt. We fasted and we prayed for this guy to get this job. He got the job. He'd done so well. Oh, we were congratulating him. Eight months in, he steals money from the thing. And he was caught. He comes back to church and asks for more prayer. To come out of such a situation. No, we had to sit, we had to sit him down and say, You are your biggest problem. You are your biggest problem. What happened? You were doing so well. What happened? Excitement. And he opened up and said, You know, Pastor, I had been doing it for some time. It wasn't like the first time. I'd done it for a while and I never got caught. And from having a conversation with him, I realized that it was like a rush he was getting from doing this thing. Amen. How about the lady who traveled to a whole other country and left her baby girl at home for two weeks? She went on holiday in the UK. Did you hear about that? It was like a year or two ago. She left the baby at home. Why? Because excitement was calling.

unknown 24:03

Ah.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

She saw it. She saw all the music, the drinks. What happens in Napa stays in Napa? She said, Yes, I want to be there. She forgot. I have a child. And unfortunately, the child passed. I'm sure you heard the story, right? The child passed. She was arrested. As she landed in, she got arrested. The child passed. What a terrible, terrible, terrible thing. But what was that? Looking for excitement.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

It takes a man or a woman who has strengthened their inner man that will have self-control. That will say, I know that looks exciting. I know that a couple of years ago I would be there, but I'm not going to entertain that because I'm strengthened in the Lord. God has strengthened my inner man. I don't have a desire to do that anymore. Yeah. It's easy to run into those situations, isn't it? Praise God. Or for you ladies who are taking advantage of weak men and using them for their finances. It's easy. It's easy. They approach you and you can use them. But because you're filled with the Holy Spirit and you're strengthened in your inner man, you say, I'm not going to do that. Maybe I'm boring you. Amen. So I'm void of excitement. You're not saying it with energy. It's like you know, I know I know many young people as the year begins, they're looking forward to summer. Have I killed the devil there? Oh they are looking forward to summer. Tell me why. Tell me why. And don't lie and say it's the sun. It's not the sun. It is the stuff that happens under the sun. Amen. Yeah. It's the it's it's this it's the things that the sun can make you do. Praise God forevermore. Imagine 12 months you're looking forward once it hits June. As a June, I will start living. This country will know me. What a life. So from January till that time, you're ineffective. Walking zombie doing nothing. Once it hits June, you've come alive because the sun is out. So that's your purpose. Your purpose and your future is tied to how hot the country is. No, you see, what I'm saying is amusing, but you gotta think. Think really use your mind. Praise God. It's terrible. I'm really trying to operate on your mind. I'm trying to operate on your mind. I need you, I need you, and God needs you thinking different. God needs you to think different. Your future is not contingent on how hot the country is, or the sun, or winter. No matter what the climate is, you are a success. You are self-controlled. You're a woman or a man on a mission. Praise God. I'm gonna take you to Matthew chapter 2 and I'm gonna show you something, and this will be an illustration, okay, of how God reacts when you are weak. Let me take you there. Let's go to Matthew chapter 2. Look at this. It shouldn't shock you.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Thank you, sir. Matthew chapter 2 from verse 1.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

I want you to jump to verse eleven.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Matthew chapter 2 from verse 11 says, And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Verse 12 Then being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Verse thirteen. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, take the young child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. Verse 15, and was and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I called my son. Verse 16. Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem, and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Verse 17. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying. Verse 18, a voice was heard in Rama, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they are no more.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

Now you probably don't understand the message I want to convey to you, so I will explain it to you. The greatest man to ever walk this earth was Jesus Christ. In every capacity, till now, he is the most famous. Nobody comes close at all. And you can fact check me on that. Amen. With that being said, baby Jesus was born, and three magicians approached. They recognized that a king was born. They'd never seen an anointing like that before. In the Bible, it's described as a star. If you understand spiritual things, it's actually the anointing on his life, the oil. They'd never seen anything like it before. And that anointing attracted them because, as magicians, they could see in the realm of the spirit. They said, We have to go and give offerings to this baby. We don't know who this baby is, but we've never seen the caliber of anointing on a human being before. So they followed the anointing or the star and it took them to where Jesus was. But they got there, and Jesus was a baby. He was a kid, he was just born, crying. He was probably naked. And they said, That's him right there. Being spiritual men, amen now. So they gave myrrh, frankincense, gold. They left it there. The Bible says they went on their knees and bowed to him. These are grown men, seasoned magicians. Alright? Dibbling and dabbling in magic. They knew that this is the king. Praise God. That I'm telling you that for you to know who he was as a baby. Nevertheless, even though the magicians reacted that way, God in heaven appeared to his dad on earth and said, Go and hide the boy. He's not ready. You don't understand what I'm saying. Jesus, who was the king, the king of kings, because he was a baby. So he could not protect himself. He could not perform. He was weak. God in heaven said, Take that boy and run to Egypt and hide him. Are you listening? This is what he does to us. That's why he said, Be strong in the Lord. Because when you are strong, he can expose you. Do you understand that? He says, be strong because he can put you in a position of power and influence. When you are weak, he hides you. And you stay hidden for as long as you need to be hidden. There's no time to it. Until you decide that I will be strong in the Lord. Some people get so frustrated that God has hidden them that they go and consult Satan and start working with him. You know why? Because Satan doesn't care about your well-being, he will expose you way before you're ready, and that can cause for your death. Amen. That is the nature of Satan. But God hid baby Jesus. He said, Take him to Egypt, hide him. He's not ready. Now, I I have a question. My question was, um, why is it that God didn't just strike Herod straight away? After all, Jesus is God. Praise God. You don't believe Jesus is God? Jesus is God. So I asked myself when I was reading that, I said, Why didn't God in heaven just strike Herod right there for having a hit on Jesus? Why didn't he just strike him? Praise God. And God said to me, when I was reading this, he ministered to me and said, I don't meddle in human affairs until prayers are ushered. Mary didn't pray. Joseph didn't pray. Jesus himself didn't pray. You don't understand this thing. You don't understand this thing. Charles Spurgeon says, he said, it seems as though God moves on nothing until a person prays. He said this in like 18 something, you know, in that time. That was years ago before most of us were born. Charles Spurgeon said, It seems as though God moves, doesn't move on anything. It's like he just watches until one person prays. And he held Jesus to the same standard. No one prayed. So, brother, you may give birth to a baby and the baby is sick and the baby dies, but God says, I love you because you are not strong. Strength comes through knowledge. What will separate you from those who are not performing in the kingdom of God is information. That's why I always encourage you to come. Keep coming. Whether your friend comes or he doesn't come, you come because your life will start to look different to your friends over time. Praise God. So you gotta be strong in the Lord. I've prayed prayers and I said, God, I feel like I'm ready for this. I'm ready. He says, You're not strong enough yet. You're not strong enough yet. Listen, only a husband can tell what is tempting enough to turn the head of his wife. You're too quiet there. And if you don't know what is enough to turn the head of your wife, you're not the husband. You're the side man, you're the side guy, brother. I'm telling you. Ask a husband, he will tell you, I know exactly where my wife can and cannot go. Because I know what is tempting to her and what isn't. As God the Father knows what is too much for you. He knows. So when you ask for certain things, he says, No chance. Because he knows when you get there, your head will turn. Because you're not strong in the Lord in that area. The Bible says God will not allow for you to be tempted beyond your means or your capacity. I want us to read on. It's the same same verse. I think we finished on. Where did we finish? 17. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

No, we finished on 18. Go to 19.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

Thank you, sir. Matthew chapter 2 from verse 19 says, Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. Verse 20, saying, Arise, take the young child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel. But those who sought the young child's life are dead.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

Amen. Now, let me give you two secrets there. Yeah, I'm gonna give you two secrets there. Okay. Number one, I've told you this before, so this is for the newbies. Okay, God is not supposed to fight your battles, you fight them yourself. I'm telling you, this is biblical. Yeah. For baby Jesus, God handled it by removing him out of the picture until things took their natural cause. When Herod died, then God sent an angel, and the angel said, You can go back to Israel now. Are you listening? Go back to Israel now because the people who were looking for the boy to die are dead. How do I know that it is up to us to fight our battles? Because when Jesus turns 30, he starts his ministry. I don't see God turning up anymore. Everything is by what Jesus says. When they tried to arrest him, he spoke. When he got to the fig tree, the fig tree didn't respond. He spoke. When Satan came to tempt him, he spoke. The responsibility is on you to fight your own battles with the principles in the Bible. I really want you to come out of that place of God, please fight my battles. Stop it. If you consider yourself a baby, that's fine. Cry out to God. Maybe He may do it. He may. When you come to a place of maturity, you start to learn that I've been equipped. It's my responsibility. I am the one that can free myself from these shackles. I have to use what Jesus has given me. Praise God forevermore. So Christ Jesus reaches the age of 30. He starts handling business as he should. I just love it. I can give you many examples, but that's for another time. So Jesus is handling business, he's doing what he has been called to do. Now I'm gonna tell you the different ways in which you can be strengthened. Write this down. Number one, you're strengthened by the word to act on the word. One. Two. You are strengthened through your faith. What your faith can meet you're strengthened by. God strengthens you by what your faith. Imagine if you have faith in your spirit, your faith jumps out and meets the situation ahead of it, and it handles business for you. That's how faith works. Faith has to be released. Do you understand that? You have to release faith. I told you the Christianity is a fine line, so the moment you find yourself wavering or doubting, you've cut the power. Praise God. I was praying for who did I pray for? I prayed for and I prayed for you. He he came to me at the end of service. Everyone had left, it was like maybe midnight here or 1 a.m. He says he had a football injury on his knee, and it says he says it's coming back. He can feel the pain, and it's difficult for him to walk up the stairs, right? That's what you said, yeah. And I said, Really? And he said, Yeah. I said, Okay, no problem. So I said to him, Step on my foot. Right? I'm sure he was probably taken aback by that, but I said, just step on my foot. That was when. When did I s when did this happen? Yesterday? Yesterday or the day before yesterday. This was like yesterday or the day before. For yesterday, I said, I said, uh step on my foot. And he was stepping, and I said, No, no, you're there's no you have to there needs to be contact. Step on my foot and put your heel on the floor. Do you remember that? I said, press on my foot. He pressed on my foot. I said, It's done. You're healed. It was like a game. I said, You're healed. I said, Go and run up. There's a he he ran up. I think you said you tried to jump or something like that. He came back down and he was laughing. He said, I can't believe how I'm feeling at the moment. I can't believe it. Praise God. He said, I can't believe it. What am I trying to show you? My faith jumped out and met the situation. I was not moved. He said, You know, this this pain. I heard him, but I didn't consider what he said. I was not moved. I was not moved. I am not moved. I was not moved by the situation. What does that mean? I'm not moved. Well, I was not moved. I was not influenced. I heard it for the purpose of solving it. Some of you are sleeping because you don't know what I'm releasing right now. I heard it for the purpose of solving it. Praise God. It wasn't to move me, it wasn't to influence me. Praise God. I heard I lost the job. It's for me to get a job. Are you listening? I have to keep teaching you these things and reminding you of these things so that you don't live life as a failure. I cannot be the most successful person in the church. I as the pastor. I just can't. I'm not comfortable with that. And I'm very successful because I know how to fight and be strong in the Lord. I am strong in the Lord. Praise God. And by the way, success is what you see as success, is subjective to you. Maybe success is family life to you, then fight for family. Fight for it. Amen. Now or maybe success for you is having your little kiosk in the shop. That's fine. Then fight for that. Amen. I grew up with brothers, you know, who we had dreams and visions, and we used to speak about them in our fastings and prayers when we were young. We're speaking about the things we want to do. One said, I want to be a boxer, the other one said, I want to be this. And I watched as each and every one of them were knocked out of the race. And I decided every time someone was knocked out, it made me stronger. I saw it, I saw weakness so I can be strong. Do you understand that? I saw people in depression so that I may be happy. You just can't find me there. You can't find me there. What is strong enough to drag me out of light into darkness? What is it? What is it that is strong enough to make me depressed and down and lamenting and thinking, what is it that is strong enough? After all, after everything I've done, God is still on my side. What is it that can drag me into that place of darkness? What is it? Praise God. Think think differently. Stretch, stretch, say it with me. I'm gonna stretch my mind. Stretch it. I I gotta stretch my brain, my mind. I gotta, I gotta really just stretch this this this mind of mine. Amen. Yeah. So as a man of faith, I I see things, but they don't influence me. So I'm strong in the Lord. Another one was was she came on the same day. She says, I'm ill. You know, she was moping around. Some of you saw her moping around at the end of service. You know, she was really ill. Really ill. She said, My head, I'm coming out with a fever. You know, this is terrible. And I remember in the Bible, a man came to Jesus and said, My daughter is ill. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He came to Christ and said, My daughter is ill. Jesus didn't give it much attention. You you you gotta you gotta look at how he handled that. He didn't give it much attention. Jesus said, Really? Okay, he said, after they had like a one-minute conversation, then he says, Go, your daughter is well. But he oh but but but he didn't pray. Are you listening? He didn't pray. He said, Your daughter is well. He spoke, he didn't pray, he spoke, he said, your daughter is well, that's it. He didn't give him much attention. Listen, brother, what you focus on, you become what you stay close to, you start to smell like. Because they smell like it. If you're around something long enough, you start to look like it. Drug dealers all look the same. Put them in a suit, you look like a drug dealer. Yeah, you look like a drug dealer because you're around that stuff, so you metamorphose into it. You change into it. Praise God. So, Ama was there, she was moping around, and you know what? Before I handled that situation, you know, because she's very close to my heart, she's in my team, you know. I really love this young lady. So her moping that way made me sad. Do you understand that? So, you know what I did? I sat with her and her partner, and we spoke about other things. And I'm sure I'm I'm I I think they were probably thinking, What is Pastor Sitting with us talking about random things? I was trying to forget what I'm seeing. Do you understand? So I we spoke about random things, we were laughing about it. I was talking to her and her partner, we spoke for about 10 minutes. How about I was I was looking and I was looking forward. She was sitting next to me. I said, I'm not gonna look at her. We were talking, I was you know, talking about other things and stuff, and then I said, Okay, I think I'm ready to pray for you. They didn't understand what I was saying. I said, I'm ready to pray for you now. So I stood up and I left. Amen. I stood up and I left. Praise God. I prepared myself. She came, she sat down, and I said, Alright, I'm gonna pray for you. I laid hands on her, said, Be healed in the name of the Lord Jesus. I finished the prayer. Some of you were there, you told her reactions. Amen. Instant results. This is someone who was almost crawling on the floor. She looked miserable, jumped up. I feel better. The pain is gone. She said she hadn't eaten the smell of food. She texted my wife in the middle of our session, our uh uh discipleship session. She said the smell of food is making me sick. I have to go outside. Right? She texted you and she ran outside. The moment I prayed for her, she said, I want food. I want food. Praise God forevermore. I'm showing you how to fight. I'm literally teaching you how to fight. This is how you fight in the spirit. Say, I cannot be moved, no influence by the things in which I see, I just cannot. I can't afford to. Sit down. This is how you get strengthened in the Lord. If if you give these things that you're seeing too much attention, you will find that one of these things will kill you. In this fight that we're fighting, one of these things will kill you. It will. I've given you the illustration of Peter who was walking on water. He walked, he did it. Wow, congratulations! You did, you did it, brother. You walked on water, just like Jesus. The second man ever to walk on water was Peter, but no one even talks about it because of the way he ended. So, brother, it's not about how you start, it's about how you finish. Some of you would tell me, but Pastor, I've been with you for years. Yes, you have, but you're weak. And the ones who came after you decided to be strong and fight, and God took them somewhere. Yeah, that's the story. That's how it goes. That's how it goes. And I want you to take this message and teach it to your family, your brothers and sisters, and cousins and aunties. Teach them how to fight. Teach them what I'm teaching you right now. Go and teach them. Yeah. Go and teach them. Now, the part I wanted you to focus on is the fact that Peter walked and started drowning. What what what what happens when you drown? Tell me. If a person drowns, are they alive? Is that the process of dying?

unknown 55:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:58

And by the way, the window between the physical realm and the spiritual realm has opened. The moment you start drowning, you're now playing between two fields. Because you're dying, you're on your way. That is the tunnel that you're using to go into the afterlife. That's that's what you must know. As Peter is drowning, Jesus runs to him and pulls him out. Jesus pulls him out. Now, for those who remember my teachings, what did he ask him? What did he say? Why did you doubt? Now, the the the higher revelation in there, yeah, is how my because I have to put myself in Peter's shoes. Why are you asking me why I doubted? Can you not see what I'm seeing? We're both walking on the sea, and the wave, the Bible describes as a strong wave came. Jesus is asking me, Why did I doubt? What kind of question is that? Did you not see what I saw? So, what does that tell you? I think you're missing it a little bit. He saw it, but he considered it not. Do you understand what I'm saying? For Jesus to say, Why did you doubt? It means that he was not influenced the way Peter was. And if I'm Peter and I'm drowning because of the strong wave, and you're asking me why did I doubt? That will confuse me. Say, were we not in the same scenario? Just imagine someone hits him. Yeah, someone beats him, slaps him, and he slaps back. And I ask him, Why did you slap back? In his mind, you think, Did you not see that I've been slapped? So that's why I returned my own as well. Praise God. So Jesus set the principle. He said it. He said he said the principle. The principle is consider not what it is that you're seeing or feeling. You feel like you're in danger, but you're not. You feel sick, but you're not. Praise God forevermore. Now, the last way to be strengthened, because remember I said faith is the second one, alright? Right? The last way to be strengthened, which I found to be interesting, it took me to a place in uh second Samuel. Second Samuel. Yeah, 2nd Samuel Chapter 3. This is a very interesting read. So I need you locked in. This is our last verse, amen.

SPEAKER_02 59:20

Thank you, sir. 2 Samuel chapter 3 from verse 1 says, Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

SPEAKER_01 59:37

Amen. The house of David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of soul grew weaker and weaker. So I asked myself, I said, God, how do you grow weaker and weaker? What are the key elements? Alright. And then I read, I read on. I read this story, and it blew me away. Look at look at this, right? Okay, I want you to read. Well, it's not a long read. Okay, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:12

Thank you, sir. Second Samuel chapter 3 from verse 2 says, Sons were born to David in Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam, the Jezreelites. Verse 3, his second, Chileab by Abigail, the widow of Nabal, the Carmelites.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:32

Okay, jump to verse 6, because it's just telling you about all David's children. He's been very active.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:38

Thank you, sir. Second Samuel chapter 3 from verse 6 says, Now it was so, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner was strengthening his hold on the house of Saul. Verse 7. And Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Ayah. So Ishabeth said to Abner, Why have you gone into my father's concubine? Verse 8. Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbasheth and said, Am I dog's head that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty to the house of Saul, your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David, and you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman. Verse 9. May God do so to Abner, and more also if I do not do for David as the Lord has sworn to him. Verse 10 To transfer the kingdom of the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba. Verse 11. And he could not answer Abner another word because he feared him. Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make your covenant with me, and indeed my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel to you. Verse 13. And David said, Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:18

I love this because there's more to it, but I can only touch on a few, like one or two today. Amen. So the Bible makes it clear that the house of Saul was growing weaker and weaker. Yeah, and the house of David was growing stronger and stronger. Okay. So as I read on, I will try to illustrate this for you very quickly. Abner, yeah, was a mighty leader in Saul's house. He ran the army. Okay. This was a very interesting uh gentleman, very strong. And as the Bible tells us, that he made himself strong, he was a strong supporter of Saul. Okay. Now something had happened where he had taken another man's woman and it caused a rift in Saul's house. And he was confronted. And he said, How dare you confront me? Like, do you not know that I'm a very important person in this house? So he what what effectively he was saying was that because of what I bring to the table, I should be free to kind of do certain things. Do you understand? And because he was confronted, he got really upset and said, From this day, I will hand over the kingdom of Israel to David. He spoke as if he was the king. He said, I will give David from this day, it was it will be me that will hand over Israel to David. And David was in hiding, but yet God said he was growing stronger and stronger. In hiding. Remember what I told you earlier on? That God hides you when you're not ready. So God was waiting for him to get stronger. And the moment David was ready, God saw him. He said, Okay, you're ready to go now. God said, I will strengthen you a little more. And look at the strength. The strength came from a person, an alliance. I don't think you're getting it. The house of David was strengthened through relationship. Some of you are here, God gave you a partner, you didn't realize that He strengthened you. You met her, and God made you stronger. You may not feel strong because of your definition of strength, but God says, as you met that wife, you've gone stronger. You're too quiet. Let me show you. Listen, relationships, not just romantic ones. Let me show you. Jesus grows into a man, he hits 30. He starts his ministry. He was hiding that entire time. Even at the wedding in Cana, he said, It's not my time. Because he wasn't ready. Jesus hits 30. As he's now, the Bible says he grew in wisdom and stature. Is that in your Bible? As he's grown in wisdom and stature, he gets to a place, ready to start his ministry. The first thing he does, first thing he does is look for men. Alliances, relationships. And those 12 that he recruited were his belt. So so alliances and relationships are another way for God to build you and strengthen you. So I'm here to tell you that the fact that you met me, God has strengthened you. That's one. If we met and you're wise, you've gotten stronger. And when God sends your wife or your husband, you've gotten stronger again. Key relationships and key alliances. Praise God forevermore. I know Christians who say, you know, I just want to keep myself to myself. It's just me, myself, and I let me tell you something I discovered. That's a terrible, that's a terrible way of thinking. It's a terrible way. You cannot affect change if it's just you. You're actually weak. The Bible says David was growing stronger and stronger. Saul was getting weaker and weaker. And God added a person to David and removed the person from Saul. So the less relationships you have, what does that mean? You're weak. Even in the Bible, it talks about a father, okay? A father is safe in the multitude of sons. The more sons he has, the safer he is. Am I telling the truth? So I know I know I know Christians who have this idea that I'm just gonna keep myself to myself and focus on focus on me. That's not what you are called for. Listen, the place of consecration or the place of being hidden should only be for a time to be strengthened to come out and create impact. The monks, the monks that you see hidden away, they had the right idea, but they went left because they are hidden away forever. What are you doing? They are hidden away forever. No one in the Bible that God used was called to be hidden away forever. He would hide them to impart on them, he will hide them to build them, he will hide them to grow them, influence them, strengthen them. Then he'll say, Come out and go and deal with the people. Moses was up there for 40 days. God himself sent him down. He said, Go back down there and deal with the people. God didn't come down himself in light and say, Israel, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna, you know. He didn't do that. He didn't do that. He said, Moses, go down yourself and deal with them. Is this message too advanced for you? Some people look confused. You see, when you come to a place of maturity, God strengthens you through relationships. If you find someone who keeps burning bridges and burning relationships, that person has a demonic spirit, and that spirit is called the spirit of limitation. How can it be that you you everybody that you come into contact with you have problems with? How? Tell me, and in your mind, they are the problem. I I think you're ill. I'm telling you, some of you are still at a very peculiar place in your life. Alright, build relationships. Trust me, build relationships. Build them and build them strong. Build relationships. Relationships can take you into places money can never take you. Never. Doesn't matter how rich you are, you will never step foot in that place until you know someone. Am I making sense to you? Even there's some information you can't pay for. You can give them a billion, they will never give it to you until you have a relationship with someone. And all of a sudden, you have muscles. No, God is a strategist, brother. God said, David, I will strengthen you. And he brought one of the mightiest warriors from the other side to join his camp. Praise God forevermore. Which brought me to a place of understanding that the more souls we win, the stronger God's house becomes. Not his name, his name is strong enough. You're strengthening his house. Yeah. Praise God. You're strengthening his house. That's why I will encourage all of you when you get married, have a lot of children. Do it. Have many kids. I'll send you an email for the second one and the third one. I'll be emailing you guys. Yeah, I'll send you emails. I'll say, Don, when is the first one? Amen. When is the first one? Amen. Yeah, we want more children, more kids. You raise them in God. Alright? So that they can they can become somebody for the gospel for tomorrow. Not raising little rascals that are terrorizing neighborhoods and gang members and all these terrible kids. Amen. It's terrible. God wants you strong. He wants you strong. Start looking at your partner from that lens. Do you understand? Some of you are too annoyed at your partner for small things. It's ridiculous. It's because of the way you see them. Look at your partner as your strength. She is my strength. And I'm not being romantic. I'm giving you a fact. As I am her strength. Do you understand that? When God put us together, He strengthened me. Yeah. He strengthened me. Someone that can consider all your mistakes and all your errors and all the things that are terrible about you. And still say, I'll protect this person and be with this person, and we'll build together. That's a strength. Do you have eyes at the back of your head? Do you? So who's gonna look for you? If you're a man, it's your wife. Your wife will look behind you and say, They're coming. Yeah, yeah, they're coming, they're running after you. She'll give you signals. Praise God. So if you found somebody by the special grace of God, you've been strengthened. And if you haven't found someone, you will be strengthened. Yes. God is doing it for you this year. This applies, this specific specific section applies for the mature. This is for the mature. Before you can think about God, send me someone so I can be strengthened. Woo! You I want you to be strengthening your faith first. Go to stage two. You remember what was stage one again? What did I say? Stage one is again. Look at your notes. The word learn the word first. Learn the word first. And then be strengthened in your faith. And then relationships will come after. Praise God. Amen. And I've realized that even in my personal life, this is where I will adjourn. Amen. But I realize that in my personal life that God is connecting me more and more and more and more. Amen. I will talk about this in our Iron Man conference here. I'm still preparing it. You know, I'm very patient with events. Men, your strength is your network. It's what you have in your book, your phone book. I'm telling you. Have a man for everything. Your wife says, We need this. I got a guy. Your kids say, Daddy, we need this. I got a guy. Have a guy for everything who can attend to everything. You don't have to do everything. Just have a guy who can do the things you need.

unknown 1:16:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:19

Praise God. When I need my car fixed, it's one guy I call and he turns up. Our tires for the car, same guy, he turns up. If it's not him, he'll give me someone else. When we need boiler fixed, one guy. Amen. Yeah. You're building your network. This is for the men, by the way. The iron men. Amen. Yeah, iron men. We'll talk about this in our conference. It will be a private setting meeting. But I will teach you how to be high-value men in the Lord. Praise God forevermore. Yeah, value relationships, especially as a man. Value them. Value relationships and keep them. I was thinking the other day. I was just thinking, you know, and and now this is where the women can learn. Yeah, this is what you can learn. I noticed that uh God said, Adam, get out of the garden. The guy just left. I said, What a bad child. No, I said, What a bad guy. God said, I'm angry at you. As a father, he says, I'm angry. If it was me, I would have laid on the floor. I would have stayed there. I said, God, you have to kill me. I'm not going, I can't go. I can't go. Well, where will I go? And I saw that when you jump into the New Testament, all right? And Jesus asked the disciples, Aren't you gonna leave? What did Peter say? So where will I go? That's a good child. Adam. He took his wife. He said, Let's go. Let's go. He just left. What a bad guy. And his wife wasn't even wise enough to say, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is this is an error. Can I can I add another one on top? We jump to the book of Job. His wife is telling him, burn the bridge. You're too quiet. Job's wife told him, Burn the bridge. He said, This is the God, this is what your God has brought us to. Burn the bridge with God. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. Can I give you wisdom? For the women. Women have a tendency to burn every bridge, every single bridge, every bridge for their husband and their children. Did I kill a demon there? A woman will cut off her parents and her brothers and sisters for her man that she met yesterday. She'll tell them, You guys are all against me, all of you. She'll cut them off. For a man she met yesterday who made her feel good. And she'll she'll go to war with the world for her child and burn every bridge. Praise God forevermore. But a man will not do that. Am I making sense? The men are like, sir, I think I'll a man will not do that. He will find a way to balance everything because he understands that relationships are important. Even if this person is doing this, okay, this person can be against my wife, but there's something I can get there. He's just not seeing it the way you're seeing it. And sometimes women get so mad, they're like, I would do it for you, I would burn everything for you, but he's not seeing it like that. Praise God. I'll stop. You don't like what I'm teaching. I'll stop. Amen. He's not seeing it like that. The man will reason with you. You will say, But this woman doesn't like me. Why do we have her around? You'll say, No, you see, you'll try to reason because he's benefited from the person being around. Why did I say it's for the women? Because I want you to be wiser. Although you have a tendency to destroy every relationship for your partner and your children, don't do it. Be wise. Meanwhile, about the baby, he spoke to Mary. I'll show you that another time. Praise God. Thank you for listening to Pastor Max's teachings. Make sure to subscribe and for more information, find us at Faith and Victory Wallace.