God, Where Are You?! | John Bevere | Inspire Church

everybody ah how is my home church and away [Applause] I was corrected this morning I have been coming to ye for 27 years at this one year in 27 years can you believe it I love this day but can I tell you that I am so so proud of what God is doing through inspired church I love all the churches one of the things I love about inspire your leaders Pastor Mike and Lisa who are some of my dearest friends they love all the pastors of this state they love all the churches of the state and they want the very best for the kingdom of God and that to me I'm turning 60 this year I know I know I don't look a day over 80 but anyway but they you know to see that you become a kingdom person you know it's all about the kingdom and I just want to say this because they're not here they get it really embarrassed when it there to the greatest leaders I know in the planet and into town I'm gonna tell you I'm married to a leader Lisa Bevere okay it is a challenge sometimes when you've got two leaders in a household but you know when you work it out and you work together it it produces it just makes you an unbelievable team and that's what you have here you have a couple that really loves each other really loves their family really loves you their big family and really loves this state and so never take for granted what God is giving you here if I can say it cuz I look you got Papa Mike mama Leakes to Uncle John's here today okay he's in the house and that could that's probably one of my biggest jobs as Uncle John is to remind you of how blessed you are to have a church like this in this state I can show you areas of the world because I go all over the world just last month just last month Lisa and I were in the Middle East being the leaders to places in Asia and Europe so I can show you places all over the world they're crying out for a church like this don't ever take it for granted amen and let me say this I talked to the team the other day and I made a statement I said this church has not hit its stride I didn't say that empty that was the Holy Spirit and can I you that's every one of us you know I have an aunt that she was in a wheelchair for 20 years she had MS you know what she did it was really quite remarkable they had special paintbrushes made and she would hold it with her mouth and she painted greeting cards and I think what could my aunt done with that kind of inspiration that kind of determination what could she have done it for entire body worked so we think it's the head the pastor no no no it's the whole body so you have not hit your stride yet and so you have your greatest years ahead of you and let's look forward to it I am I am really excited because I'm sharing with you out of my newest book it isn't even released yet okay the launch date is Tuesday so you understand this is a premiere okay and so anyway I was so excited when I thought I get to share this really the first time I actually did last week too but but this is the first time I've really really honed in on what I want to share in this book and I get to do it my home church and so I'm just thrilled to be able to share this I'm gonna cover probably one or two chapters and I'm just gonna tell you up front you guys blew me away we sent almost 500 they're gone okay now here's the deal oh they're gone we don't you can just go out and get it when we're done and I will I will pay the FedEx shipping because it's my fault it's my lack of faith we will pay the back so you'll be here next Sunday morning just pick it up I'll tell you about it afterwards all right but just for those of you that know Lisa and I and our family our family has grown we have two weddings in the fall okay and so there's a picture two of our sons our second born son our fourth son got engaged within four days they said we want to get married right away because our family doesn't believe in Long engagements and so we're like we're booked up mom and I are booked up we can't do this they're like we don't care we're doing it so one of them actually got married on a Monday night so anyway this is our baby Arden's wedding he got married November 18th and that is his wife Christian now on the far left is Addison and Giuliana they have been married now ten years so that's our oldest son Addison who's the CEO of messenger international and you just signed a book contract as first books coming out one year from right now okay and it's amazing okay and then those are our four G babies you say what's a G baby I'm Way too young to be grandpa so it's G daddy in G for short okay and then there is my gorgeous bestfriend wife of 37 years this year oh my gosh I'm so in love with that girl and then my mom snuck in this one that's my 92 year old mother she's sharp as a tack you can't get anything back and there is the one that's available okay now I need and inspire a Hawaii daughter-in-law so girls we got Instagram we got Twitter that's boring though go Instagram pictures can be seen okay so anyway I'm joking please don't get me in trouble with my son and then Ben Ben there's Austin and Jessica and Jessica they got married in September and Jessica's family her dad's been on our board for years so it was a big party it really was a big party but anyway that's my family my Ohana and I tomorrow I get to know the more I love my family the more I realize how much God loves us can you say amen to that now I really want to see God impact your life I really don't want to fly all the way over here and just bring you a message I could be the best communicator on the planet but if the Holy Spirit doesn't touch these words you're just going to get information we need transformation so how many of you can believe do you believe this I want to ask you honestly the Holy Spirit can change your life forever today let me see your hand I put your other hand up Bible says we don't have because we don't have so we're in Aspen so Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus I'm asking Lord you always save your best mind for last it's the last service I get to do in Hawaii on this trip Holy Spirit I'm asking that you and invade this sanctuary every place that's watching whether it's Kuwait whether it's some state the United States I'm asking that you invade our sanctuaries that you would do what you love to do the most reveal Jesus to us in a way like we've never known him before it as you do this make me go from glory to glory and face to face for I'm asking in agreement with everyone that's with their hands right that this would be a day our lives would be changed forever as a result of what you do and we give you all the praise and the glory and the honor and the Thanksgiving and it is in Jesus mighty name we pray and everybody that agrees shouts come on give him praise in the bath amen thank you guys you can be seated you want to know how gold is purified it's ground down beat down then it's thrown into a furnace melted down by 2,000 degree fire the heat increases impurities begin the surface that you never saw before they appear you scrape away these impurities and what are you left with refine pure gone the trials you face as a human being are through furnace decide to remove the impurities in us or the only thing that remains is what was placed at the core of us God's nature and character some of you are in the furnace right now are you seize the fire all you feel is the heat each day feels like a struggle did you want to give up you want to hit the snooze button you want to give up on that marriage you want to quit that job take the easy way out but you weren't created for you were created with the fire supply for raging keep going it's always remembered on the other side of pain try joy promised [Music] all right I want to I want to open up today with just sharing you a little bit of my history I was actually raised in church and my parents made sure I was there every weekend but I had no relationship with God whatsoever and you know in my high school years and college years people were witnessing to me like crazy and I just didn't connect all right I mean one guy actually witnessed to me for two hours of my freshman year of college and he told me later after I got saved he said I left your room literally crying that day because you were so clueless to what I was saying but then what really drew me in is my sophomore year of college in my fraternity one of my fraternity brothers shared with me how that God wanted to have an intimate personal relationship with me and that's what drew me and I began to find out hey wait a minute God loves me uniquely he cares for me deeply he wants to reveal himself to me he has actually planned something special for my life that's unique he literally wants to make promises to me as any good parent would do with their child and this is what brought me in and I remember when when Jesus came into my life and the Spirit of God filled my life man his presence was amazing I mean I I was like I would just be like whispering his name and bam he's there I remember he was answering prayers in such unique ways that I knew it was him I remember one time this is true my my cassette player was broken in my car do you know what cassette do you know what those are okay good uh yeah I'm really showing my age right now so anyway you know I'm like lay hands on the sick and they'll recover I'm not my my cassette players sick so I laid hands on it and I prayed and God fixed my cassette player and it never broke again it was amazing right but then but then all of a sudden things started changing and his presence became elusive and I I started having some really really intense questions questions like these why are Casa promises being fulfilled I mean he made me promises in there they're not being fulfilled right now I'm going the opposite direction why why does it seem like I'm going backward what why does nothing seem to be going right in my life right now okay we are we on the same page God why aren't you moving in my life so here is basically the question of all questions God where are you now be honest can anybody relate to this can I see a show of hands alright or am i speaking over your head and if your hand is not raised it will be raised in a few weeks or months okay so just take courage okay but you know so I want to talk about this this morning what was what in the world was going on why was his presence elusive why did it seem like I was going backwards well the first thing I need to say is God does have a plan a unique plan for every single one of us not just preachers every one of us the Bible says he created this plan before we were born but he has a three-step pathway to get us to our destiny and that three-step pathway is this number one he will give us promises he'll give us a glimpse of what he's called us to do he somebody says well I don't have a glimpse wall the Bible says he rewards those who diligently seek Him and faith not those who casually seek him and wonder in doubt so maybe seek a little more in faith you understand what I'm saying but you know I'm seeking him I'm in college and God started giving me glimpses of what I would do and you know that there is actually I haven't written down in dated 1981 there are things that he said to me and gave me a glimpse that I didn't start doing until I was in my 50s you understand what I'm saying you track him with me so he makes us these promises and then the next step is the process and I've affectionately coined that term as the wilderness okay and part of the revell wilderness is refining okay and the process is important because without going through the process you don't have the character to handle the promise and so once the process is completed then we move into the promotion which is the promise fulfilled right so to open up I wonder I'm going to the Apostle Peter he writes to several provinces in Asia and to us because there's no private interpretation of the word of God and you know anyhow he opens up his book I love this first Peter chapter 1 he talks about our inheritance in heaven okay and you know I love I love reading about heaven I'm reading about a surgeon who died kayaking right now she's a New York Times bestseller and I was reading it before I went to bed last night and how she was dead for 30 minutes and how she saw Jesus and her whole life was reviewed and all the stuff she went through and she's a medical doctor and is like it's it's an amazing book but anyway but I look at that as desert what do I mean by desert you can't live off desert so I love what these apostles do in these officials I don't know if you've noticed it but they will start out by talking about how amazing our inheritance is in heaven that Jesus has bought for us right like Jude does it he says man I wanted to write to you about our common salvation but I have something else I need to write about what you're going through right now and this is what Peter kind of does he opens up going man oh man I could talk about this and talk about this but I want to talk about what you're living through right now does that make sense so Peter makes this statement he says we have a priceless inheritance an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you look at this pure and undefiled beyond the reach of change and decay I love that don't you but then he makes the statement this he says but in this you greatly rejoice your you know your rich inheritance in heaven but he says though now so here we go now we're gonna start talking about now for a little while now let me stop right there a little while - God can be three four five six seven years how do I know that because the Bible says the day with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day to God so if you divide a thousand years by twenty-four twenty-four hours in a day you get forty two point six years so one hour - God is forty two point six years so that means 15 minutes of seminary seven or eight years boy that was good news wasn't it alright alright so now for a little while if need be let me just answer that question the need is all right you have been grieved everybody say grieved that means to cause someone to be sorrowful or distressed you've been grieved by various trials these trials will show that your faith is genuine that were genuine means that it's the means of proving its testing you're gonna hear that word a lot today all right that your faith is genuine it is being tested if I say tested as fire tests and purifies gold wow that's good though your faith is far more precious far more precious than mere gold so you know my plan when I got saved I thought hey I was studying engineering at Purdue University I was actually on the Dean's List playing varsity tennis there and I I had already talked to my counselor I was gonna my plans where I was going to go to Harvard get an MBA I'm going into corporate America I'm gonna make a lot of money I'm gonna marry a pretty girl I'm gonna take three vacations a year and I'm gonna tie it to my local church that's how I was gonna serve God but in my my 20s in my in my fraternity I'm praying and I'm seeking God diligent and God's like I'm not called you in the marketplace I've called you to ministry now let me let me tell you this most of us he hasn't called us full-time to ministry we've all been called to ministry we're all ministers but-but-but I was off you know I'm going down this path that others had set for me and I had set for myself and God was like no no this is what I've called you to do so I started getting excited about the ministry and I thought you know what since Jesus has come in 1988 is 1983 I gotta get moving you know cuz 1948 Israel became a nation and Jesus said a generation wouldn't go by I'm like 40 years ok he's coming in 88 you know so so like I'm like I'm like God you gotta send me you called me to preach to the nation's and this has got to get going and and it wasn't happening you know I'm just like you know it seems like going backwards but one day I'm out praying and you know you don't understand I worked at a church that had 450 paid employees it was one of the most well known churches in America and I had a very high-profile position I took care of the Pat I was his direct assistant and took care of all the guests that came in to church and our church at that time we just we just didn't talk about you know whole and crucified like we talked about miracles and praying for people and and these are all good things but we just didn't talk about holiness so I'm out praying one day and the Holy Spirit speaks to me and he said son I'm going to begin to teach you how to deny yourself take up your cross and follow me I am going to begin to work a work of holiness in your life oh my gosh I was so excited I ran back to the apartment I walked in I remember Lisa was taking off her makeup getting ready for bed and I said babe babe this is amazing God spoke to me say he's gonna begin to work a work of holiness in my life you know at least all these excesses that are in my life you know all the TV i watch i watch so much sports on TV all the excess food food was like an idol for me I'd eat even when I wasn't hungry I said God's gonna remove he's gonna work holiness in me right so you know what happened in the next three months I ate twice as much as what I did before I watched twice as much sports on TV I just got a whole lot more fleshly so after three months of this mess I go out and I go God what's going on you told me you were at work holiness on me in me and God said to me he said son that's because you've been doing it your way he said holiness isn't a product of your flesh it's a work of my grace he said now I'm gonna begin to do it my way I had no idea what he was talking about all of a sudden you know the pastor and his wife loved me so much they created a new position to get me even closer to them okay and they Creed's this position and you know one after a few months we all saw it wasn't working out so we had already hired somebody to take my other position so they had no place to put me and they were like well we're gonna put you in satellite sales you know because we have 3,000 churches that watched our conferences by satellite and so I used to look at the guys that work to the satellite sales ago glad it's them and not me so now I'm working in satellite sales and I'm reporting to a woman who reported to a man who reported to the pastor so I got demoted three levels and I didn't do anything wrong and I start going through all these trials then I was not bringing on my self okay like everything's just going wrong okay now in this time period I and in his last in nine months I am like angry at everybody I'm yelling at Lisa for the stupidest things I'm impatient with our 9 month old son I am disappointed with my pastor I am upset with the people I work with my friends are not giving me the sympathy I think I should get so I'm really disappointed with them and I'm just like mad at everybody and so I go out and I'm praying and I and I go hi this is nine months later right or six months later I go oh God where's all this anger coming from I mean I'm angrier now than before I got saved what do i bind what do I cast out and the Holy Spirit spoke to me so John he said son you can't cast out flesh you crucify it and then he showed me my ring now this is not the ring I had on my finger at the time I had the original gold ring it looked like a gold ring this is white gold Lisa gave it to me at 25-year anniversary but he said son look at your ring now you gotta understand I'm an engineering background so I'm scientific so God's gonna speak that way to me right so he says you look at your ring he said does it look like pure gold to you I said oh yeah yeah looks like pure gold but I know he said but it's not and I said yeah it's not and I knew was 14-karat gold which means fourteen parts out of 24 parts is gold ten parts out of 24 parts is impurities copper zinc nickel etc okay other metals he said it looks like here go right he said I said yeah he said but if you put it in a furnace and you heat it up a couple thousand degrees what happens I said well it liquefies he said then what happens I said well the impurities because they're lighter metals they come to the surface and the Holy Spirit said they appear right and I went yeah he said they were always there but you just didn't see them I went yeah he said son you're saying where's all this anger where's all this but where's all this business where does all this stuff come from he's the son it's always been in you he said it was apparent to me but it wasn't to you so he said I brought you in this furnace of affliction to allow you to see so that you can repent he said now the way you handle it's gonna determine your future you can blame your wife blame your pastor blame your friends blame the people you work with and it'll all go back down we got start to process all over again or he said or you can repent and he said I'll take my ladle and skim off those impurities right off the top oh my goodness in this time period I was living in pain you know Jeremiah makes a statement and Jeremiah I think twelve or fifteen I think it's fifteen he said God why is my pain perpetual you seem to be like an unreliable stream oh wow but I understood Jeremiah statement because I woke up in pain I went to work and pain I ate in pain I went to bed a pain at night and I remember one day I closed my door in my office you know my satellite sales office and I put my head up against the wall and I said God why do I hurt so bad inside he said cuz you're dying he said there's always pain in death and he said son do you want to know how are you gonna know when you're dead I said how will I know he said you won't hurt any more dead people don't have pain I said God please kill me quick so this is what God does he puts us through this process because he's more concerned about us finishing well than starting well and if we don't go through this process we will not have the character to handle the promotion and if he gives us the promotion the lack of character will destroy us still women see it's kind of like Joseph come on you know about Joseph right Joseph Joseph the guy in the Bible Genesis right Jacob son if you don't know about him read Genesis 37 to 42 you'll get it okay so here's Joseph God gives him this dream you're gonna be a leader and even your brothers will be under your leadership even your mom and dad he gives them two very clear glimpses in these dreams that he gives to Joseph right but when you see Joseph show up a lot of people don't see this yeah there's some character flaws here because look at verse 2 Joseph's reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing he's a tattletale okay and then if you look at verse eight Joseph's brothers hated him why did they hate him because of his dreams he's the one with the robe of many colors I am the favored son and he's letting his brothers know about so he's not only a Teletubby he's a bragger okay and now look at this because of his dreams and the way he talked about him the way he talked down to them he talked down to his brothers so if God would have put him in that position of leadership right then you would have had a very narcissistic insecure selfish leader so God says oh we got to do a little character purification here okay so now God does not author this God just knows the end from the beginning and says I will use people's wrong behavior for my furnace so his brothers one day they tear his robe throw him into a pit pit stands for preachers in training in case you didn't know and he sold into slavery now you don't you and I don't get this back then when you are sold into slavery you will be a slave the rest of your life your wife will be a slave your children will be a slave their children's will be slaves now it is one thing to be born asleep it is a totally different thing to be born the heir of the very wealthy man and have it all stripped away from you by your family your Ohana oh my goodness you know what Joseph's thinking he goes into slavery he is sold as a slave to an officer of the king of Egypt house right and he's thinking you know what my brothers my dad's gonna come rescue me and you know one month goes by two months go by three months go by six months one year two years and you know what the hope of a father's rescue is now gone he's in slavery now because of what his own brothers have done to him he's a slave in that man's house for ten years would you stop and think about ten years go back ten years I mean I didn't even know Inspire existed ten years ago do you realize that that's how long 10 years is but you know he's doing ok but then something really evil starts brewing under the surface the mess Potiphar's wife the officer of Pharaoh's wife she gets the hots for Joseph and she listen listen listen she doesn't approach him once she approaches him every day now I love this man's fear of God he is like one of my favorite people in the Bible you know Paul made a statement in Philippians 112 or 212 and and it really this is not Paul speaking this is God speaking to us he said as you have obeyed in my presence even more so obey in my absence and work out your salvation with fear and trembling in other words it is easy to obey God when you're in a rise conference and the presence of God is right but what about Wednesday night at midnight when your child's throwing up in the toilet and your Hut and your spouse isn't treating you the way you thought you should have been treated and things aren't going right on the job are you gonna obey God see if the thing I love about Joseph is there is no pastor in Egypt there is no family members in Egypt there are no friends that can go tell a leader in Egypt he is there alone and she has got a seducing spirit up to your eyeballs and she's dressed in the best and scented in the best and she's seducing him are trying to seduce him every single day and every day he obeys god I love this he obeys God hey God gave me a dream I'm gonna be a leader my brother's gonna serve me but now I'm a slave for 10 years and he's still obeying God then finally there alone in the house she grabs his robe he does what the Bible says he obeys got he flees sexual immorality and what happens he runs out naked she's got the robe she's the scorned woman now her less turns into hate and he gets thrown in the dungeon now can I say this are American prisons our country clubs compared to Pharaoh's dungeon I have been in personally in a middle-eastern dungeon most Middle Eastern dungeons are Hume doubt cisterns in other words they were cisterns that used to have water but they're empty and they're now very damp and cold there's no sunlight that gets in there usually four feet tall so you can't even stand and the Bible says that God sent a man before him even Joseph who was sold as a slave now look at this they hurt his feet with fetters and he was laid in irons so he's in this dungeon laid in irons are you tracking with me and you know what the Bible says they give them the bread of affliction and the water of affliction what's that called the bread of affliction water affliction or this they didn't want you to die because dying is too easy so they want to give you just enough food to keep you alive so you can suffer more he's in there 2 years ok so then God brings the greatest test to Joseph ok what's the test God brings two guys that work for Pharaoh for the King about lerner Baker and they had dreams what's Joseph's test King Joseph proclaimed to the butler and a baker the faithfulness of God when he hasn't seen one shred of evidence of it in his own life for over 12 years think about it God says you're gonna be it gives him a drink says you gonna be a leader your brothers are gonna serve you and he's in a dungeon he's gone backward from that position of leadership can he proclaimed to the Butler and Baker the faithfulness of God when he hasn't seen any evidence of it in his own life you know if Joseph would have been like a lot of Christians you know what he was said you had a dream last night leave me alone I had a dream once dreams don't come to pass what would happen if he did that he would have died in that dungeon you know what he would have died saying God's not faithful he doesn't keep his promises do you know many people have died saying those words because why all they had to do is do one thing proclaim the faithfulness of God and stay faithful to God and they would have been promoted to their dream that God gave him think about it Joseph would have said dreams don't come true leave me alone he would have died sure is quiet in his Presbyterian Church see I love this guy the more he obeys God the worse as life gets think about it I just proclaimed the vision that God gives me and it gets me the pit then it gets me slavery then I do exactly what God says I will flee sexual immorality and what do I get I get the dungeon do you know the Bible actually talks about Malachi that this group of Christians in the last days are going to be going through the fire and you know what they're going to do you know what they're gonna do they're gonna complain see I asked God one time why is complaining such a serious sin because it's one of the five that kept Israel out of their destiny and God said complaining says to me I don't like what you're doing in my life and if I were you I'd do it differently it is a lack of the fear of God and it's an insult to my face I went oh my my my my you tracking with me so Joseph Joseph interprets these dreams and he's in the dungeon two more years two years later Pharaoh has the dream and the butler the butler goes oh my gosh I remember that guy I forgot about him he was in the dungeon he interpreted my dream and it came to pass and one day Joseph becomes the number two man in the world Pharaoh's number one ruler in the whole world he's number two so now you go through seven years of plenty remember and then there's two years of famine and what happens here comes Joseph's brothers here's the guys that caused him twelve years of nothing but grief and they don't even recognize him and Joseph is number two in the world baby if he would have been in that dungeon plotting if I ever see those boys if I ever see my brothers I'll kill him God would have had to leave him in the dungeon to rot why because he would have killed eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel including Judah whom Jesus and Judah came through but you know what Jose does because he's got a different character now he's not a narcissistic he's not insecure the leader he blesses them he gives him double and he gives one of the brothers five times the character of God had been developed in him in such a way that he blessed those who cursed him he did good good to those that abused him see the problem is when we're in the trial because the trial is usually in the marriage and the home and the job in the church we want out do you know what do you know what I learn about Joseph this is what I see about Joseph this is the lesson that all of us need learn no man no woman no child no organization and no devil can get you out of your destiny get you out of the will of God it's impossible the brothers said we're gonna kill him and we'll see what becomes of his dreams King Saul said I'm gonna kill David see if he ever gets my throne but God used salt to refine David God used his brothers joseph's brothers to work the character and Joseph that was needed for the position that he would hold for the calling that he was called to no man no woman no child can ever get you out of the will of God the only one that can ever get you out of the will of God is you the children of Israel God intended for them to be in the wilderness one year they constantly complained they complained about Moses God said they not complain about you they really complain about me they never entered their destiny because of their complaining that's a mate you know they had one of the best pastors in the Old Testament Moses had a church of three million people but you know only two adults in his entire 3,000,000 congregation entered into their destiny I don't care how good your pastor is the question is are you going to obey God I'm sure Joseph felt abandoned in that dungeon would you watch this I think this will explain what he was going through everybody has a hero Minds my dad since mom died it's only been us he has a way of filling my life with color [Music] and what always brought us together was I love for running what's wrong I'm losing my sight and real quick read to me the lowest level that you can see on there what is called is inter ocular melanoma eye cancer unfortunately you will lose your vision that was the day my father disappeared we're gonna run Jim come on I thought he would always be there for me I guess I was wrong there are you you abandoned me where are you dad where did you go do you not love me anymore am I still beautiful are you no longer proud of me [Music] how could you leave me when I need you the most [Music] [Music] Abby thinks I've left her and as much as it pains me to hear that she's right [Music] I've left her I've left her to realize she's more courageous than she ever imagined I've left her to discover how beautiful she is from the inside out I've left her to challenge herself in ways she never considered I've left her to discover how strong she really is [Music] hey it's me why did you leave I was right here where did you go I was always here baby no one believes in you more than I do [Music] think about how far you've come my dad says he gave me what I needed not what I wanted [Music] love is allowing someone to see their true Worth and beauty and even though I can't see my dad I know he's guiding me the entire way [Music] I've seen that so many trying jobs another one who went through some refining let me read you his words think about it relationship to this short film our teammate look I go forward but he's not there and backward but I cannot perceive him when he works so he's working on the left hand I cannot behold him and he turns the right I cannot see him so here's God working the entire time just like her dad was he couldn't see he continues he said but he knows where I'm going god knows where you're going he's the one that planned it [Music] steps of a good man and woman are ordered of the Lord but he knows where I'm going and when he tests me see can I say something we got such a negative attitude about tests why because of our midterms and our finals we hated them I kind of tell you test is a good word you know I'm getting on a plane I'm flying back to the mainland tomorrow and I'm so glad I'm not gonna fall in the middlee ocean because they tested the pilot in other words he's capable of getting him there and me there okay I'm really glad about that okay but he knows where I'm going and when he tests me I will come out it's pure gold so what was job's response for I've stayed on God's path I have followed his ways and not turned aside I am NOT departed from his Commandments see this is what Joseph did it looked like God wasn't doing anything for Joseph for 12 years but he still obeyed [Music] it looked like God wasn't working in him but he was the wilderness is not where God puts you on the Shelf until he's ready for you God's the one that tells us to redeem the time it's not a waste of time he's working but you don't perceive it I have not departed from his commands you know how many times I've seen people disobey God because they were discouraged they were disillusioned disappointed things aren't going the way I think they should be going in my life complaining it always begins in the heart I have not departed from his commands but I've treasured his words more than my daily food back in the 1980s you know when I first got saved I just thought this was normal Christian I mean people were coming into our church remember guy red-and-white walking cane he was completely blind he walked out saying I know it wasn't a fake because I was the pastor's executive assistant I remember an ambulance pulling up we arranged pulled up guy has 24 hours left to live the paramedics wheeled him in and the guy got healed so miraculously he pushed his bed out one time in a service 4,000 people Jesus appeared the entire balcony saw it on the left side and excuse me on the right side he appeared on the left side and it was really quick and when you let when he disappeared there was an image of his face on the wall don't even ask me how this happened eight feet by six feet looked like the Shroud of Turin it stayed there for 18 months and just gradually faded out I thought this is normal Christianity and then yet one day God spoke to me and he said son I've given my church and a thimble a thimble full of my power to see how she'll handle it do you know the half the ministers I picked up that we're getting people up out of wheelchairs aren't even in ministry anymore today my own church they had to destroy the building pastors not even in the ministry anymore and God said I'm gonna I'm gonna give my church a thimbleful I gave my church a thimbleful my power and then I'm gonna send her into a wilderness and it's been 30 years ok and he said in that wilderness I will develop her character so she can handle the full measure of my power we are about to come into the greatest move of the Spirit of God this earth has ever seen and the greatest attack against our harvest comes just before the harvest and I believe God showed me this is a prophetic message so that my people don't faint before their harvest job said I have treasured his words more than my daily food look I don't get it how come we make time to eat three times a day when we're not fasting but yeah we don't even make time to read 30 minutes a day of the Word of God how are we existing do you know job said when he has tested me I shall come forth is pure gold do you know what the characteristics of pure gold are it's so amazing 14 karat gold is hard but pure gold is soft when you go through God's refining process you become tender you become flexible and pliable if you look at gold Gold cannot be tarnished by the atmosphere if you look at brass brass looks like pure gold the grass can be tarnished by the atmosphere when you go through God's refining the atmosphere can't affect you how are we gonna live in this world and not be affected by by treasuring his words more than our necessary food another characteristic of pure gold is its transparent the streets of heaven are made out of pure gold you can see through it they're transparent when you have gone through his refining process now people see the treasure in you see Jesus not you but here's what we want to do we want to leave our marriage we want to leave the job want to leave the church instead of realizing really what God's trying to do is expose what needs to leave us it's my pastors fall it's mice its connect groups leaders fall they're not recognizing me I'm not getting the attention I should I'm just not being promoted like I should have you spent two years in a dungeon have you spent ten years as a slave I told my team I said you know two years ago this month guys I told him this just this month I said two years ago I had dinner with five pastors Lisa and I had dinner with five pastors in Vietnam we went in and spoke to 4,000 leaders in Vietnam the government approved it was historic meeting but the five pastors we had dinner with last 20 years they spent more time in jail than they have free they had teeth missing because of the torture they put him through from being Christian leaders we is anybody in here gone through that [Music] it's not your spouse it's not your children it's not your boss it's not your pastor it's not your connectr believer turn your focus and say God what do you want to show me in me Paul makes this statement and I'll close and second Corinthians 4:17 for our light affliction which is but for a moment now Peter says if need be for a little while Paul calls at a moment remember a moment can be two three four five years is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory weight of greatness every head bowed every eye closed Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus I've preached what you've commanded me to preach and I thank you Holy Spirit strengthening this church this church that you love so much church I love so much I want you to be honest I want your heads bowed your eyes closed I want you to just be honest you say John I've been complaining I don't care if it's complaining in your heart or complaining with your mouth say man I I realize I have behaved incorrectly I'm in a season of a wilderness and my behavior has been incorrect and I want to repent if that's you I want you to just raise up your hand high right now I want to pray for you every head bowed every eye closed man 50% place has their hands up put them up high can you pray this with me can everyone with their hands raised pray this with me actually can everybody in the building pray this put both hands up and pray this and say Father in Heaven thank you for caring about me my character even more than what I do I'm asking you to forgive me I've complained I murmured I've been disgruntled and I realize but I've been wrong wash me with the blood of Jesus for I repent of complaining and this moment forward I'm asking you to strengthen me that I would handle these challenges correctly that I will come forth as pure gold that I will treasure your words more than my necessary food I ask that you would complete this good work that you've begun in me and Jesus come on say this with a greater understanding than I've ever had before I give you the lordship of my life my life is completely yours from this moment forward in Jesus name now give him praise [Applause]

Channel: John Bevere

Views: 62,208

Rating: 4.8966908 out of 5

Keywords: John Bevere, Messenger International, God where are you?, MessengerTV, Lisa Bevere, Full sermon, Faith, Refiner's Fire, Prayer, Hope, Love, Religion, Christianity, Inspire Church

Id: 14KJMXtTeBs

Length: 49min 50sec (2990 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 16 2019