WEBVTT 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:04.320 Hi, my name is Michelle Steele. 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:10.240 I want to thank you for listening to this message from my church. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:11.839 We have more resources. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.280 Watch the live stream scene from our church. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:29.519 Our web store. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.359 And discover more about life effects church. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.640 Producing life city's technical world. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:44.399 Amen. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:48.719 Let's go to First Corinthians, chapter 16. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:51.920 And verse 9. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.840 And this, of course, is our quarterly strengthening meeting. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:04.239 And we have different ones ordained with our fellowship. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:12.159 Those that have graduated, some are not ordained, but they have graduated or licensed, but they've graduated from our Bible school. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:26.719 And so these meetings are geared towards encouraging, strengthening, but also dealing with where we're going, what God is doing in the fellowship and what he wants us to do. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:37.840 And in 1 Corinthians 16, and verse 9. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:43.200 Notice what the Apostle Paul says. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:52.799 He says in 1 Corinthians 16, 9, he's talking about an opportunity. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:11.919 And he says here concerning this, for a great door, when it says a great door, an effective door is what it says. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:18.639 An effective door is open to me, and there are many adversaries. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:35.840 The Amplified Bible says, for a wide door of opportunity, for effectual service has opened to me, and a great and promising one, and there are many adversaries. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:50.479 The CEB Bible says, in spite of the fact that there are many opponents, a big and productive opportunity has opened for my mission there. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:52.000 Notice what he says. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:12.080 Never allow the size of the opposition to get your focus off the size of the opportunity. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:20.080 Don't allow the size of the opposition to stop you from seeing the size of the opportunity. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:22.560 Hallelujah. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:27.759 Anything that any of us do for God is going to come with challenges. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:30.240 It's going to come with opposition. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:31.280 All right? 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:34.879 Now, not something that just drags on and drags on and drags on. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:37.759 I mean, there's going to be opposition to it. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:42.159 You know, the Bible's very plain to tell us we have an enemy, we have an adversary. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:44.719 The Bible says he's your adversary, the devil. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:45.840 He is defeated. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:51.680 That's how we approach him, that's how we deal with him, as though he is defeated, and he is defeated. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:04:04.479 But the issue is that he tries to be this adversary to resist what God is trying to do in the lives of his people, in the ministries of his people. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:12.960 So I never can allow the size of the opposition to get my focus off of the opportunity. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:14.400 Right? 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:16.319 Whatever it may be. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:26.639 When we we talked about things that you're going after and you're believing God and God says that's yours, and the first thought will come is, don't you know how much that is? 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:28.720 Don't you know how much that costs? 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:35.120 Immediately, the opposition, the problem, is trying to get bigger than the opportunity. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:37.680 Right? 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:38.959 Amen. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:50.480 When Joshua was dealing with Jericho, you know, we talk about how Jericho was so wide that they could race chariots on top, and and I get it. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:54.959 I mean, the Bible doesn't say that, but I mean history does, and and I understand. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:03.600 I don't know how it all was, but here's the issue is that God took Joshua and he said this in the book of Joshua. 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:13.600 He said, See, I have given into your hand Jericho and the king thereof and the mighty men of valor, right? 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:19.759 He said, I've given it to you, but there had to be a taking of it. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:21.040 Right? 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:24.079 They couldn't focus on the opposition. 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:26.800 They had to focus on the opportunity. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:28.560 Amen. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:35.199 When God asks a church to do something, there's gonna be, there's gonna be opposition, right? 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:42.319 The enemy doesn't want a church in a city accomplishing what God has for them to accomplish. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:43.199 Right? 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:49.360 So he puts pressure, he puts financial pressure, other pressures on that church. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:57.680 And if that church is more focused on the opposition than the opportunity, they'll miss what God has for them. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:04.240 And Paul said this: he said, in spite of all the opposition, I'm focused on the great door that's open. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:05.519 Hallelujah. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:07.839 Tell your neighbor, I'm focused on the door. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:10.639 Tell them, say it's a big door. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.040 It's an effectual door. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:15.519 Oh, hallelujah. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:16.399 Tell them one more time. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.680 If you see somebody don't have a neighbor, make sure and make yourself neighborly. 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:25.040 Say to them, I'm focused on the door and not the opposition. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:27.759 Glory to God. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:29.120 Amen. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:30.319 Do you see that? 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:41.199 Because the opposition is designed to get you to back off, it's designed to get to get you to stop moving forward in whatever the situation may be. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:48.480 Listen, the Bible says in the book of Ephesians, and I've taught on this, taught on it in Bible school, when I taught the series Dress to Kill. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.560 And the Apostle Paul says this. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:07:06.000 He says in the book of Ephesians, he said, We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against spiritual wickedness in high places, against these rulers of the darkness in the heavenlies. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:10.240 That word against means face to face, eyeball to eyeball. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:20.879 Everybody's gonna, if you're gonna do anything for God, you're gonna have a face-to-face confrontation with the one that wants to stop you from accomplishing what God has for you. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:24.800 You can't, you can't you can't worry about that. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:27.120 There's opposition there. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:29.279 Focus on the opportunity. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:31.600 You've heard people say this before. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:36.480 Everybody else was talking about how big Goliath was, right? 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:39.759 And David was focused on, yeah, so big you can't miss. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:42.160 Right? 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.519 You you I've told you that story. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:47.759 Everybody else is hiding. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:49.279 And David comes up. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:50.480 What's the first question he asks? 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:52.480 What do you get if you kill him? 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:54.560 Isn't that what he said? 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:03.839 Now that's that a large part of our misunderstanding about that story comes in that we think David was this little boy. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:06.000 Read your Bible. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:08.079 Don't just read your Bible. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:09.360 Right? 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:22.240 Remember what it says when it says we need to search out a man, not a boy, a man that's cunning in playing, so he can come and play, and so Saul can get some relief. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:25.040 And the man stepped up and said, I know a guy. 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:31.360 He said, David, the son of Jesse, who is a cunning player and a mighty man of valor. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:40.000 Mighty man, not a boy, not a little boy, not 12 years old, a man of valor. 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.159 And this, he was the youngest, but he wasn't a little boy. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:46.320 And we have we have great. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.159 I took Lily to see a movie. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:51.360 That was the most unbiblical thing I've ever seen in my life. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:54.960 David, a little boy, out there fighting the giant. 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:56.480 That's not how it happened. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:58.320 He was a young man. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:00.080 That's irrelevant. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.480 If you want to believe he's a little boy, that's fine. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:09.600 But I'm saying, a little boy don't walk up to grown men and say, Wait, wait, yeah, if you kill him. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:13.679 Right? 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.120 Oh well, boy, you bother me. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:19.120 No. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:27.200 That's this young man, anointed by God, walked up and said, What do you get if you kill him? 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:30.080 He's focused. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:30.879 What do you want to know? 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:32.399 What's the opportunity? 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.639 What's the opportunity here? 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.120 Not what's the opposition. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:38.320 Amen. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:44.720 In order to embrace the opportunity, the opportunity has to have your focus. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:47.600 The opportunity has to have your focus. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:49.519 You're thinking about it every day. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:51.440 You're pushing into it every day. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:55.759 You're focused on the opportunity every day. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:56.799 Amen. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:04.159 Listen, no matter what happens, no matter what happens in the ministry, no matter what we may be facing. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:09.039 And if my wife was here, you could ask her to have her stand up and she could testify. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:23.519 I mean, I am just so giddy about going to the office every day because you know how many years I believed God to be in the full-time ministry and to be doing what He wanted me to be doing with my life, and now I get to do it every day. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.399 I'm focused on the opportunity, not the opposition. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:36.799 I may, I may, I may get reports sometime that the finances are not exactly where I would like them to be concerning a certain thing. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:38.159 I don't focus on that. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.240 I focus on the opportunity. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:41.919 Amen. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:44.639 Look at Acts 20. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:53.519 The Lord said to me not too long ago, He said, There is so much happening in the Spirit. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:11:00.159 And he said, All of it will occur to those that will rise up and possess it. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.000 Rise up and possess it. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:07.440 Acts 20, verse 22. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:18.240 And it says, Paul said, Now behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that befall me there. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:23.840 Save the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city that bonds and afflictions abide me. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.679 But none of these things move me. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:39.600 Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:44.960 Now, whether you believe Paul was out of the will of God going to Jerusalem or not, many do. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:47.919 I personally believe that, but here's the point. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:51.840 Whether that's what you think or not, look at his focus. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:56.159 Even if I'm pressing in myself, look at his focus. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:00.559 His focus is on finishing his course joyfully. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:06.399 Pursuing the opportunity that had been given and making the most of it. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:11.919 So yeah, there's bonds and imprisonment, but none of those things move me. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:15.759 There's challenges, but none of them move me. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:21.840 When the door of opportunity opens, there are those who step in but never embrace it. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:28.480 When the door of opportunity opens, there are those that step in but they never embrace it. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:30.000 Hallelujah. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.080 You've heard the story over and over again. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:35.519 The Lord uh told me I was his third choice. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:38.000 Amen. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:40.720 Told me praying right on that platform. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:46.080 We had a baby grand piano praying under that baby grand piano, and he said, You were my third choice. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.120 He said, The previous two would not do what I asked them to do. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:52.399 He said, Now will you do it, or do I have to get somebody else? 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:54.480 Nope, sign me up. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:55.679 I'll do it. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:56.240 Right? 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:57.679 You got to embrace it. 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:06.320 The Lord told Pastor Calwell that he was his seventh choice for that ministry to do what he had been asked to do. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:07.120 Seven. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.519 He had asked seven or six other people to do it. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:14.159 See, the opportunity can open. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:15.840 You got to embrace it. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.080 Okay, this is what I'm gonna do. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:20.639 This is what I'm this is how I'm gonna function. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:27.360 When somebody comes and they say, I believe God's opened this door for me, they're saying a lot more maybe than they think they know. 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:30.879 It's you you gotta step in there and you gotta embrace it. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:31.679 Right? 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:37.360 And so Paul's saying, I understand what I'm being told, I get what I'm hearing in the spirit. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:44.320 Now, whether he was overriding it or not, my point that I want you to see is he's saying, Here's my focus. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.399 In spite of the opposition, I'm gonna finish my course. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:50.559 Right? 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:51.919 Amen. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.120 Say it out loud, I'm gonna finish my course. 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.000 My course is my course. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.399 God gave it to me. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:14.000 Someone else may have been asked first and quit or got off doctrinally or just didn't take it seriously, but regardless of how it was given to me, it's now my course. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:17.919 It's now my course. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:20.320 I've got to embrace it fully. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.399 I've got to take it to heart. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:23.360 Amen. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:24.960 This is not a game. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:34.320 This, this, this is not, this is this has to be something that you say, Lord, this is what you've asked me to do, whatever it is, and I'm gonna do it. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:40.480 It may not be in the five-fold ministry, it may be in something else, but that is nonetheless a call from God. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:42.879 Amen. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:51.039 Regardless of how it was given, it's now my course. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:59.440 In 1995, the Lord said to me, The vision for your life and ministry is to build people's faith and frame their world by the word of God. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:09.360 In 2014, he added to it by saying that we were to raise up a spiritual production center, producing life, city, state, nation, and world. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:12.879 That's not just the vision for Michelle and I. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.080 That's the vision for this church. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:21.120 That's the vision for this fellowship, that's the vision for our ministry. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:26.000 God gives the vision to the pastor and carries it out through the people. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:28.240 Hallelujah. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:29.200 Amen. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.440 We, all of us, are a what? 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:38.879 A spiritual production center, producing life, city, state, nation, and world. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:40.080 Amen. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.080 Hallelujah. 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:44.879 Glory to God. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.000 2 Timothy chapter 4. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:16:05.600 I got some things I want to deal with further down here that speak a lot to some things that we were talking about in the fellowship time about this generation. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:11.440 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 5. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:13.200 Notice what Paul said. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:25.440 He said, Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry. 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:31.039 Of course, he's writing to Timothy, who was the young pastor at Ephesus. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.240 You have to prove your ministry. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:39.200 And people have asked over the years, well, how do you prove your ministry? 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:42.720 By enduring and overcoming trials and afflictions. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.200 By enduring and overcoming trials and afflictions. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:50.240 That's how I prove my ministry. 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:52.240 Hallelujah. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:57.200 Every time you overcome something, you have proven something. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:00.399 Hallelujah. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:04.400 You know, I told somebody one time they were talking about the devil coming around. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:05.440 And I said, you know what? 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:10.319 You can't stop him from coming around, but you can make him sorry for showing up. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:13.599 Right? 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:18.559 If he knows every time he comes around, I'm gonna smack him right in the mouth. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:21.200 He's gonna think twice about showing up. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:22.799 Right? 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:24.640 You what do you do? 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:30.799 You endure and overcome trials and afflictions. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.480 Remember, trials and affliction is just pressure. 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:36.960 In whatever form it comes. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:42.079 But he said, you've got to make full proof of your ministry. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:45.279 Hallelujah. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:49.839 Tell your neighbor, I'm gonna make full proof of my ministry. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:53.119 Amen. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:59.119 You know, the devil knows the people that offer very little resistance. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:01.359 You don't have to work very hard on them. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.559 There's some people just a little, a little resistance. 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:09.599 And they, what do we say, fold up like a lawn chair? 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:10.559 Right? 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:13.759 He he recognizes that. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:22.400 But when you when you will just endure and just overcome, there's nothing he can do. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:24.000 Right? 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:27.039 What do you do with a person that just won't quit? 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:31.680 Not what Destiny said today, don't quit. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:33.359 Don't quit. 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:37.119 I've told people for years, anybody can quit. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.720 It takes no supernatural strength to quit. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:42.960 All you gotta do is give up. 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:44.799 Right? 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:47.200 We're not giving up. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:49.440 Say it out loud. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:50.799 I'm not giving up. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.119 God has called us. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.599 We know how to overcome the devil. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:57.920 We'll finish our course. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:01.200 I say, we'll finish our course. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:02.480 Amen. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:06.079 In uh Habakkuk chapter two. 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:16.640 I know this is a scripture that very often we go to concerning vision. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:21.519 But this is so important. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:25.839 Habakkuk chapter two, verse one, I will stand upon my watch. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.759 Everyone say, My watch. 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:32.880 See, every every generation has a watch. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.519 Every group of people have a watch. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:41.680 And when I say a watch, I don't mean the timepiece on your arm. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:47.039 I mean a watch that they're to keep, watching over their generation. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:48.160 The Lord told Dr. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:51.759 Orl Roberts, he said, take my healing power to your generation. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:52.960 And he did. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.160 He took his healing power to that generation. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.680 And when that generation passed away, he passed away. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:00.799 The Lord told Dr. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:06.559 Les Summerall, he said, take my, he said, show my strength to your generation. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.240 That's what he did. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:09.200 Right? 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:14.240 He said, I will stand upon my watch. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:15.599 Amen. 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:17.599 Everybody has a watch. 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:20.559 Every generation has a watch. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:26.960 Notice, and I'll watch to see what he will say to me and what I'll answer when I'm reproved. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:30.559 And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:34.559 Make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:34.880 Why? 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.440 The vision is yet for an appointed time. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.039 But at the end it will speak. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:48.079 I asked Pastor Caldwell one time, I said, How did you know that you were pressing into everything that God wanted you to do? 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:52.640 How did you know that you were doing everything God wanted you to do? 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:54.480 And he said to me three things. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:58.559 He said, first of all, he said, you know it in your spirit. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:03.039 You know you're pressing into what God wants you to do, right? 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:04.720 You know it in your spirit. 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:05.920 You got to know it in your spirit. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:12.000 And then he said, and he said, you got to preach the vision because the vision will speak. 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:14.319 The vision will speak. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.319 The vision will speak. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:21.359 Notice he said, for the vision will speak and not lie. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:26.319 Though it tarry, waits for it, wait for it, because it will surely come. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:27.839 It will not tarry. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:29.680 It will not be delayed. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:30.720 It will come. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:32.000 It will happen. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:32.559 Right? 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:36.319 That door of opportunity that God opens, you will walk through it. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:37.920 You will see it occur. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:38.400 Why? 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.599 Because it's the vision that God gave you. 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:43.359 Hallelujah. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:49.599 So we have to, all of us, have to finish the course God's given this ministry. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:50.559 We can't quit. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:51.519 We can't give up. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:53.039 We can't back away. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:53.839 Right? 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:57.119 We have to finish what God has asked us to do. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:58.000 Amen. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:03.680 I remember one day I was sitting in my Office, and this was back uh before it looked like it looks now. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.160 My desk and whatnot was in there, and and I was looking, I had on the wall at that time. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:17.119 I had a chalkboard, uh, a chalk wall in my uh blackboard wall in my office, and I had things written on it, and all God had asked us to do. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:18.559 And I was looking at that one day. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.400 I just leaned back in my chair and I said, God, how can I do all this? 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:27.519 And he said to me, and it just it it it hit me right in my heart. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:30.720 He said to me, son, you must do this. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:32.880 You must do it. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:38.720 You know, whatever God's called you to do, you may think that there are people just lining up to do it. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:39.839 There's not. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:41.119 There's not. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:44.480 The people are not just lining up to get the job done. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:46.960 That's why God asks you to do it. 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:51.359 And when you take that mindset, I must do this. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:52.720 Right? 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.319 I must do this. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:23:02.559 Whatever it may be, whether it's helping in the church or uh or your ministry in the church, whatever it may be, right? 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:05.680 Don't get so focused on the opposition. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:06.480 It's there. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:09.440 You're facing it, you're going through it. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.599 But you got to keep moving. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.799 Because there's something more important here. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.000 It's the vision that God gave you. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:24.240 There are people that trade in the vision for the for the ease of the opposition. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:30.640 And whenever you give up the vision, so that the opposition will decrease. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:31.839 What have you lost? 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:33.599 What have you gained? 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:35.440 Nothing. 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:41.200 The vision for your life is what gives you parameters. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:43.279 The vision is what speaks. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:46.240 The vision is what directs your life. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:47.359 Amen. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:51.759 You know, you're here tonight, not just because you want to have a good service. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:57.920 You're here tonight because you believe this is where God placed you and where God put your family. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:00.319 And I look around and I see families here. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.960 I see families with a vision to do what God wants us to do. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:06.880 Amen. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:10.720 Not just right, not just you and your wife. 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:13.440 You talk to your kids about it. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:18.720 You talk to them about what God wants to do, what God wants to do with their life. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:19.519 Amen. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:20.319 And what do they do? 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:23.599 Then they lay in their bed at night and say, God's got something for me to do. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:25.839 God's got a plan for my life. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:28.400 God's got something for me to accomplish. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:29.519 What are they doing? 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:30.960 They're getting a vision. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:32.960 They're getting a vision. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:34.240 Amen. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.559 He said, though it may tarry, so there'll be challenges. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.279 There'll be times it seems tough. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:44.480 What's our job? 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:46.000 Stand our watch. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:49.440 And fulfill the vision God's given the ministry. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:51.119 Amen. 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:53.920 Look at Acts thirteen. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:56.000 Am I helping you? 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.559 Acts thirteen and thirty-six. 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:14.079 This is Paul and Barnabas ministering in Antioch. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:21.519 And he's ministering concerning Jesus. 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:35.759 But he says, for David, after he had served his own generation, by the will of God fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:37.839 But notice what it says. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.000 He had served his own generation. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:49.839 I made a statement in ministering on the core values of the believer. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:55.759 And about, I talked about the three aspects of faith. 00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:56.640 Right? 00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:01.599 That I'm seeing, I'm embracing, and I'm persuaded. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:05.039 Three aspects of faith. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:18.960 And one of the things that I said when I was ministering along that line is at the end of the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, you read these words, it says, These all died in faith, not having received the promises. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:22.559 But they saw them afar off and they embraced them. 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:23.599 And what does it say? 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.960 It says, because God had something better for us. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:29.519 Right? 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:33.200 We're not the promised generation. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:35.279 We're the receiving generation. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:38.799 We're the receiving generation. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:39.680 Right? 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.599 Some generation had to live in the last days. 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:47.039 And it just so happened to be your generation. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:48.960 Hallelujah. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:54.079 Ever how old you are, ever how young you are, God allowed you to see this generation. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:01.519 Because his desire is that you touch this generation in whatever capacity that it may be. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:03.519 So we'll serve our generation. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:11.039 We'll build faith and frame worlds, raising up that spiritual production center, producing life, city, state, nation, and world. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:15.039 Notice God has given us a particular course to follow. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.240 And that's all we're responsible for. 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:20.799 I'm not responsible for anything else. 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:25.359 Except the particular course that God has asked me to follow. 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:27.039 That's all you're responsible for. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.480