It's Not What It Looks Like | Bishop Dale C. Bronner | Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral

this is bishop dale broader thank you so much for joining our youtube channel today if this is a blessing to you i want to encourage you to like it and then click the subscribe button and then turn on notification hit that little notification bell so that you never ever miss another one of our videos and then if you're in the metro atlanta area on a sunday check out one of our exhilarating services at 8 30 a.m 11 a.m or 6 o'clock p.m well our scriptural lesson today comes from second kings chapter 6 verse 14 through 18 reading from the new living translation notice there these words so one night the king of aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city and when the servant of the man of god got up early the next morning and went outside there were troops horses and chariots everywhere oh sir what will we do now the young man cried to elisha don't be afraid elisha told him for there are more on our side than on theirs and then elisha prayed oh lord open his eyes and let him see and the lord opened the young man's eyes and when he looked up he saw that the hillside around elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire and as the aramean army advanced toward him elisha prayed oh lord please make them blind so the lord struck them with blindness as elisha had asked i want to speak today from the subject it's not what it looks like it's not what it looks like this is a story here of elisha the prophet who had a bonafide prophetic gift in his life to the degree that from the land of syria when they were planning attacks against israel god would reveal it to elisha the prophet and it was so disturbing to the king of syria that the king of syria brought all of his key people to him and he looked at them and said hey hey i got a traitor among me somebody is is telling the israelis what i'm planning to do and and they knew that if they were discovered that it meant a death sentence for them and they said oh wait wait a minute king no no it's not any of us they said we know who it is it it's a prophet over in israel by the name of elisha god speaks to him and tells him what you speak privately in your bedroom and they said and not only that we know where he is right now he's over in dothan and that's why then the king sent an army over there to meet him and to do a surprise attack so they come in through the night and now they are stationed all around them and and and this is when elisha's servant wakes up and sees the syrian army all of surrounding them and he freaks out and says oh my god what are we going to do now elisha elisha is calm as a cucumber says to them chill out they're more with us than with them and then he prayed lord open his eyes so he can see isn't it interesting here that there is always more to a situation than what meets the eye we ought to know that seriously now particularly by our involvement in the digital world you know how everybody is always putting their best photos and finding the finest filters to remove blemishes and you know to just really make them look totally different they're people that if you see them in person and you've met them online you can't even recognize them because it's not what it looks like it's not what it looks like and so just because you see something in the natural it's not what it looks like because after people take off all of the external filters and by the time they take the weave out and remove the lashes and by the time they they take the teeth out by the time there are some people that when they get fixed up and and i'm not against people fixing themselves up you ought to fix up put an extra layer of paint on the house fix it up i mean fix it up you know but i'm the the issue is have you have you seen people that have had you know work done and then their bodies betray them in the stiffness of the age and their face is looking like they're 35 but the body is moving like the 80 because you still got to rock and push up when you're trying to get up and but your face is tight it's not what it looks like and everybody is always you know on social media everybody is a boss everybody is an entrepreneur everybody is a producer everybody is not what it looks like so they were in a situation here where he was seeing something in the natural and elisha realizes just because you can see something in the natural there's a greater force that's working for you that you may not be able to see it makes me think about pest control the way that you know that your pest control is working if you've had somebody to ever come out and service your house you don't know that it's working because you see roaches you know that it's working because you don't see roaches see it's not what it looks like it just looks like so-and-so's house is clean you know roaches go in clean places too i mean they really do they they really go in clean places and the bible even talked about how spiders even go into the castles of kings so when you don't see them it's because there is a hidden force there's a force greater than what you can see with your natural eyes so when elisha's servant comes out and see this army surrounding them in all of the hill and the mountain around them the servant of god saw what was on the surface and he feared he saw what was on the surface and he feared but elisha the prophet saw the source of all things and he trusted so you have a choice see what's on the surface and fear or look at the source of all things and trust so you can do surface and fear or you can look to the source and trust the servant understood the principle he understood the principle a lot of young folks they understand the principles of things they know everything if they don't know it they've googled it they've watched the youtube video they know everything but what they learned from that is are just principles and the principle is a surface thing he knew the servant looking he knew that the principle said that the odds are stacked against you but one of the advances of having gray hair and having lived on the earth a little time is that you understand more than the principle you begin to have perspective and perspective takes principles and puts them in a right order that makes sense let me illustrate what i mean to you and you know a young person can tell me you know that uh you know water freezes at zero degrees celsius 32 degrees fahrenheit we know scientifically that that's the degree that water freezes at that's the principle we can't change that it's immutable however i've lived a little while and i know that that can be manipulated and if i take water and put salt in it it will no longer freeze at 32. i've not changed the principle but my perspective says i've been introduced to a higher principle and sometimes there's something that you need to add to your faith nothing is wrong with your faith are you listening sometimes people say well i prayed and i've been praying and i've been praying and i haven't seen in your god i'm feeling there's something that you need to add to your faith and maybe you need a perspective from your grandmamma who didn't throw in the towel on her marriage are you listening she understood some things that you've got to live through something that you got to understand the principle behind it but have it with a perspective of what god can do there's a force behind it that you may not be able to see water boils at 212 degrees if you 2 11 it just simmers but when it hits 212 water starts moving it starts boiling at 212 degrees that's the law that's a law it's a scientific law it's a natural law of the earth it boils at 212 degrees fahrenheit but not if you add salt to it it's got to get hotter before the water will boil have i just negated the law that principle no i haven't i've discovered a higher principle then if you add something to it you can manipulate what temperature will do i've been at different altitudes in the world and do you know that baking is different you know you got to bake at a different for a different length of time at the same temperature in order to get the cake done if you're up in the mountains and if you're up in the mountains water will boil at a different at a different uh temperature when i was up in yellowstone last year and i'm going to these uh these geysers they have over 10 000 geysers bubbling up here they they boil at a different temperature than they would at sea level because they're not at sea level they're above sea level and it boils at a different temperature just because it's a different elevation and if you think a principle is a principle anywhere and everywhere you're wrong because there's a different perspective that says that when you're on a different level things work differently and elisha was on a different level than his servant and elijah could see what his servant could not see and so it it it all depends it all depends psalm 119 118 verse 18 says this open my eyes to see wonderful truths in your instructions open my eyes lord to see wonderful and uh truths in your instructions let me say this to you one of the most important keys of prayer is to open our eyes so that we can see according to god's vision because it's not what it looks like it's not what it looks like so you have to say lord open my eyes cause it's not what it looks like when god has given you a prophetic word and when the circumstances are defying it it's not what it looks like when he gave you a word and it hadn't happened yet and you're getting older by the day it's not what it looks like you see when it looks like you're in over your head you've got to learn to look above sea level you get that when it looks like you're in over your head you've got to learn to look above sea level the servant was operating at sea level se level he's operating at sea level and so when it looks like you're outnumbered it when it looks like the odds are stacked against you well i'm the only woman down there that never had a woman in this position look above the sea level because i don't see anybody there in leadership who looks like me you've got to learn to look beyond the sea level sea level prayer opens our eyes prayer opens our eyes it's a tremendous function of prayer that goes to neglected in the lives of believers to use the power of prayer to open your eyes that's one of the reasons that before you ever try to witness to unsaved people you have to bind the devil over them who has blinded the eyes of them that believe not to keep the glorious light of the gospel from shining in unto them don't talk to blind people get their eyes open first remove the blindness from the eye so when you share the truth the power of the gospel will work in their life and so prayer opens our eyes but here's a here's another thing god's word is the thing that turns on the light and so notice psalm 119 and verse 30 the entrance of your words gives light it gives understanding to the simple see the entrance when god's word enters into you it turns on the light it turns on the light one of the greatest things that god could ever bless you with in this world is his perspective is his perspective don't just get the principle get the perspective of god get the perspective don't just get the principle get the perspective young people have principles but wise people have perspective they have perspective they understand the timing of things perspective so ask god to help you to see something in his word that you've never seen before just ask him lord show me ask god to help you to see something in his word before you get ready to read your bible ask god to help you to see something in his word that you've never seen before because before god did anything in creation he said let there be light let there be light and you know why it is because vision vision is the beginning of creation vision is the beginning of creation vision it is the beginning of creation until you can see what you're doing you got to turn on the light you don't create in the dark you got to turn on some light god couldn't do anything until he turned on the light and remember in the beginning when god said let there be light that was not the sun it was not the moon it was not the stars they were created on the fourth day this is in the beginning before god started anything in creation he said first let there be light understanding i've got to have some light turn onto the situation i can't create until i have light i have to have light that was not the sun it wasn't the moon it wasn't the stars they were created on the fourth day check it out the fourth day but god said first let there be light this was the light of god it's not the sun it was the light of god it was learning to see beyond sea level because it's not what it looks like you got to turn on a god light you know how special crime investigators if a murder has happened somewhere they've got special lights that can come in and see even where blood has been been cleaned up they can put it on the special lights and it'll show them where blood was splattered all over the place but you know if you turn that light off it disappears you're going to bring in a special light god has a special light to let you see something that is invisible to the naked eye and i'm telling you that's more real some people have been convicted and sent to jail by seeing the invisible seeing what you couldn't see with the natural eye seeing microscopically can you imagine how much scientific evidence where they left epithelial cells that you had to look under a microscope dna material from saliva from a bodily ex fluid that came out that convicted a person or released an innocent person to say hey the dna does not match this is not the rapist this is not the killer it was because it wasn't what it looks like it's not what it looks like it's not what it looks like and listen as a part of this looking you have to learn how to fix your eyes on jesus hebrews chapter 12 and verse two notice what it says let us fix our eyes on jesus the author and perfecter or the finisher of our faith let us fix our eyes let us fix our eyes i love it that bible scholar w e vines he defines the word fixes this fix is to look away from one thing's so as to see another to look away from one thing so as to see another to look away from one thing so as to see another elisha was telling his servant look away from the army that you see that is against you so that you can see the army of god that is there for your defense in the invisible realm look away from the natural to the spirit if i'm looking in the spirit i can't see the natural when i'm looking in the spirit and so we have to learn how to fix our eyes to look away from one thing so as to see another because let me say this to you that whenever something is broken in our life we often try to fix our faith when what really needs fixing is our focus i want you to understand that very clearly that whenever something is broken in our life we often try to fix our faith when what really needs fixing is our focus it's like god is with us he just had to fix his focus he was focusing on the problem that was against them focusing on the army that was against them focusing on age that's against you focusing on the culture that's against you focusing on the on the governmental structure of the business system that is against you but you got to fix your eyes uh shift it from that fix your focus fix your focus you know how uh you know back in the day if you you had a little bad attitude you're about to cry or something your mama had fussed at you about something and then she's getting ready she said fix your face fix your face they meant don't don't don't bring that attitude in here take that frown off of your face don't you fix your face they would beat you not because you said something because you need to fix your face and here i'm telling you you don't need to fix your faith you need to fix your focus because you're looking at the wrong thing and whatever you look at is what you start believing more strongly and turn the news off turn it off it's producing too much fear in you that's too much misinformation that people are getting in the digital world it's i i've just never seen uh science and medical things doubted so strongly because somebody puts a crazy meme on social media somebody says put something stupid out there that is not even scientifically proven and we take their word because we are focusing in on the wrong thing and now we got a fear in us because we've been focusing on the wrong thing fix your focus fix your focus fix your eyes on jesus fix your eyes on the resources of heaven it'll change how you live your life i'm telling you it will change how you live your life whenever you are over thinking it's interesting psychologists have found this out recently that if you are in a situation where you know how some people are just natural war rewards and they they they sit there and they say oh my god suppose this goes wrong suppose i don't have enough money oh my god it's supposed to be break down supposedly and and that they're just shifting did you know that they said that one way to actually control over thinking by your mind entertaining every negative thing that could go wrong i was amazed at the simplicity of it they said fix your eyes on something because when the mind is over thinking it causes the eyes to shift back and forth they said you know people when they when they when they start uh thinking about different ideas bouncing around their eyes are just shifting back and the eyes are moving and they said that if you hold your eyes focus on a fixed target your mind will stop it won't keep shifting there's something about just if you want to stop your mind from wondering thoughts from overthinking from fear things what does this happen what if they do this what if this goes wrong just fix your focus fix your focus that'll stop your mind i want you to try that the next time that you start feeling anxious just just solidly fix your eyes on something that's stable fix your eyes you'll stop your mind from all of this shifting it's amazing what happens when you fix your focus when you fix your focus oftentimes you can fix your life just by fixing your your focus so fix it on something that is stationary and you know why i say that it's because feelings follow focus feelings follow focus if you focus on your spouse's negative points you'll start feeling negatively towards your spouse but in the in the worst of people there are some good points focus on the good that's in them so you can feel positively toward them focus feelings follow focus fix your focus feelings follow focus if you focus on the negative stuff if you focus on the on the negative statistics if you focus on the negative data if you focus on it you'll start feeling the fear of it you start feeling i can't do it it's too much it's too much it's too much fix your focus because feelings follow focus you focus on god you start feeling emboldened courageous loving peaceful fix your focus fix your focus fix your focus feelings follow focus feelings follow focus and listen because god is a moving thing when you focus on god you have to do a couple of things here you focus and follow please make a note of that focus and follow focus and follow it's like looking through a telescope at a moving target have you ever followed an airplane or a shooting meteor you you focus and follow focus and follow it is like a model walking down a runway and you know i love to see them strut and it's like back in the day i used to see men when i was up near our business you know just leaning upside the building and when a fine woman walked by these guys would fix their focus and follow they just sit there and just watch and homegirl knew she was being watched and she strutted extra bam boom bam [Applause] she she knew she could she could feel the eyes on her as she walked and she knew that focus was on her and that they were following her every stride they don't just they didn't just say they're okay that she was in this way i was gazing and now she's walked past it no no they focused and they followed they focused and they followed it's a spiritual principle you got to focus and follow because god is a moving thing you got to focus on it because sometimes god will tell you now i sent you there but it's time to leave the party it's a i'm shifting i am shifting something in your life i'm taking you now to another level and and that that assignment is complete here i'm gonna make you restless and unfulfilled now what used to fulfill you will no longer fulfill you anymore but trust me i'm who am i talking to in this place but he's saying i'm leading you i'm leading you to something else that'll bring you to another level of fulfillment but you got to focus and follow you got to focus and follow you got to focus and follow because what used to be enough over there will not be enough here because you've grown because you've developed now and i've got to take you where your gift will function i've got to take you now where you'll be able to bless on a different level you got to focus and follow you got to focus and follow focus and follow focus and follow touch somebody tell them focus and follow focus and follow focus and follow focus and follow focus and follow i love the the truth of god's word second corinthians chapter 4 verse 18 so we don't look at the troubles that we can see now rather we fix our gaze there's that word again fix fix your gaze fix your gaze on things that cannot be seen for the things that we see now will soon be gone but the things that we cannot see will last forever fix your focus fix your gaze that means that you turn away from what you're looking at and turn to the things that you can see what god is really trying to show you fix your gaze fix it fix it he says it's not what it looks like it's not what we what it looks like so don't look at the troubles don't look at the troubles we see now don't look at the trouble that you see now with your finances with your family member with your fitness in your body don't look at the troubles that you see now rather fix your gaze on where you're going put a picture of you when you were the picture of health when you were out exercising every day when you were trying to eat right put a picture of it fix your focus fix your focus and follow it fix your focus and follow it focus and follow focus and follow notice what jesus said in response to the the parables that he was teaching and he was quoting actually from the book of isaiah in matthew chapter 13 and verse 15 notice this for the hearts of these people are hardened and their ears cannot hear and that and they have closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear and their hearts cannot understand and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them there's some people that can't be healed because they're focusing on the wrong thing he's like open the eyes the best prayer that you can pray if you're hurt and if you're broken is to say god open my eyes open my eyes god open my eyes show me what's wrong god show me how to fix this help me to focus lord and follow you focus and follow we miss a great deal if god does not open our spiritual eyes we miss a great great deal i'm telling you we don't use this prayer enough to ask god to open the eyes because people's lives are jacked up because they can't see better they can't see what to do they can't see notice first corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 notice this but people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from god's spirit it all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it for only those who are spiritual can understand what the spirit means some things are only spiritually discerned and so he says listen they can't even see stop getting frustrated over talking to people whose eyes are not open you're just talking to them wasting your time you got to start praying god open their eyes before i even talk to them so that they can see the truth god open their eyes don't talk to people that you have not prayed that god would open their eyes particularly when you're talking about a spiritual principle that needs to to help because you're trying to explain things to other people and they can't see it so god has to flood their life with with light so that they can understand the things that are only spiritually discerned notice notice what uh ephesians chapter 1 verse 18 through 20 says i pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand god open their eyes flood them with light that's what the pupil is it regulates light coming into the eye it floods flooded with light so that they can understand the confident hope that he has given to those he called his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance how in the world can you feel worthless when god has called you his rich and glorious inheritance may god open your eyes to see the riches that are in you to see the inheritance that you carry he says i also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of god's power for us who believe him this is the same mighty power that raised christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at god's right hand in the heavenly police heavenly realms and i encourage you seek god for spiritual revelation for understanding and not mediums and when i say mediums i'm talking about uh psychics and horoscopes and astrology not astronomy astrology and ouija boards and tarot cards do you know why we should not consult these things i know too many christian people who are based on whatever their zodiac is or reading the zodiac to guide their life every day god is not guiding you through your zodiac i mean there's only 365 days in the year you you got to be born at some point and now you take 8 billion people and divide it by 365 don't feel special there are billions of other people that likely share your same birthday who are also the same zodiac sign that you are do you think that god is that you are so common that god is gonna treat you like hundreds of millions of people you have an individual destiny in god he's not seeing you lumped in a group with a whole bunch of other folks and yet people allow a zodiac to to to to uh to lead them but one of the reasons perhaps the main reason that we should not consult these mediums is because jesus christ is absent from them jesus is absent tarot cards are not going to point you to jesus a psychic is not going to point you to jesus your zodiac is not going to point you to jesus jesus is absent from them you know why the great sin of it the focus of the horoscope and ouija boards in astrology in horoscopes and tarot cards and familiar spirits the focus is not jesus when we seek the occult for answers the focus is on the seeker not on jesus that's why a psychic they need a piece of your hair a piece of the person's clothing a picture of the person the focus is on the person it's not on jesus fix your focus fix your focus because in the occult the focus is on the seeker not the savior the focus is on the seeker not the the savior i'm not against anything but i'm for jesus i'm for jesus i am for jesus the christ i'm a christian i'm a christ follower i'm not bashing anything but i'm telling you as christians we sin if we try to replace jesus with something that jesus is providing for his people and here's the principle that if your understanding is limited your life will be limited if your understanding is limited your life will be limited there are people that are limited in their life because they have limited understanding and you see whenever you really see something it means that you come to understand it and whatever you understand hear me carefully you then begin to care for if you don't understand an issue or a problem that is in the world you really don't care about it but the moment that you come into the knowledge of it into the understanding of it the more that you understand about the contamination of planet earth the more you learn about it the more you start caring about it the more you understand your body and what helps it to be healthy and what makes it sick the more you begin to care about what you put in your body and about your getting up and exercising and to be as healthy as you possibly can the more you understand the more you care people that don't uh care about themselves don't really understand the importance of it they don't understand it and they don't have time when they go to the doctor to really get a full understanding of it to the degree that they start caring about it if you don't have any investments in the stock market you don't care they tell you to stop market crash what do you care your care goes to where you're invested you don't even check it what difference does it make of a stock is up or down if you're not going to benefit from it any kind of way you don't care because you have no understanding of the market and if you're not invested in it and so when you care about people when you understand people then you begin to care about them that you know that even people with special needs they're still people they have emotions they can feel and they know when you laugh at them and they know when you make mockery of them and they know when you're impatient to them and they know when you're patronizing to them they can feel when you love them they still have a need to be loved and the more you understand them the more you can deal with them with compassion but if you don't understand you you don't care so get understanding you can understand now while solomon said what was told by david his father solomon solomon get understanding get understanding whatever get understanding because it'll make you care deeply about things you don't give a flip about things that you don't understand you don't understand science you understand geometry you understand trigonometry you don't care because you don't know you don't understand it but the more you understand it the people that understand it are actually passionate about it somehow understanding makes you care and you know jesus taught us to pray he taught us to pray for the kingdom of god and the will of god to be done on the earth as it is in heaven matthew chapter 6 look at verse 9 and 10. jesus said in this manner therefore pray in this manner he's teaching us how to pray our father in heaven hallowed be your name praised be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven now notice notice this one of the main reasons that we are struggling in praying for god's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven in the earth realm is because we can't see into the heavenly realm we can't see into that realm if you can't see into heaven to know how it is in heaven how are you going to know how to pray it on earth now here's the key malachi chapter 3 verse 10 notice this bring you all the tithes into the storehouse this is really not about money it's about revelation bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and notice what he says and prove me now here with says the lord of hosts if i will not open you the windows of heaven may i say something here god didn't talk about open the window god says i'll open you you are the window if people are going to see what's going on in heaven they need to be able to look into your life they need to see that jesus is sitting on the throne of your heart he said i will open you the windows of heaven and notice this and i will pour you out a blessing a blessing is not what you get in your hands a blessing is who you are i will pour you out you are what god wants to pour out god says that the community is suffering i make you a blessing and then i'll sow you into that community because i'm pouring you out as a blessing and you will take your ideas your strategy your innovation your gift of healing your gift of teaching you'll take your music i'm going to pour you out are you listening to me you are the blessing you are the blessing god blessing is not what you catch a blessing is what you are i pray god make me a blessing make me a blessing before i came out today i said god make me a blessing to your people i don't need anything from you but lord make me a blessing to your people make me pour me out a blessing i'm not saying give me give me give me i'm saying share me share me what you've given to me share it through me god share it now let me take you to this quickly as we close that when god allows us to see into the heavenly realm he is often giving us some things number one he's giving us direction direction direction is for what we should do you know when god opens the windows of heaven for you he's giving you direction if god gives you a vision or a dream he's trying to give you direction direction for what you should do in acts chapter 16 paul had a vision that a man was in macedonia uh you know saying beckoning for him to come come come over to macedonia and help us god was giving him direction take your ministry over to macedonia paul knew that because of a dream that he gave him god gave him direction as to his next step simon peter was able to have direction for his ministry to the gentiles when it emerged through a vision that god gave him in acts chapter 10. you remember he was in a situation where he saw this sheets coming down and and and he was calling uh the gentile people unclean and all of this and god says how dare you call what i have called clean unclean you know go to them go and serve these people god had to shift his uh twisted mindset his prejudice attitudes against gentile people because he was a jew and he says i want you to take this to people that don't look like you and who didn't come from your background i'm gonna use you to minister to people that are totally culturally different from you peter i've got to shift you and he he couldn't even talk that into peter's head he had to give him a vision the vision shifted his ministry the vision shifted him and peter's greatest ministry became to the gentiles and not to the jews god shifted that in a vision god gave him direction for his vision for his life for his ministry through a vision so visions are used for direction you know why when god gives you a vision a vision gives you full faith in your future because if there is no faith in your future there is no power in your presence if there is no faith in your future the vision shows you where you're going and if there is no faith in your future there is no power in your presence if there is no faith in your future there's no power in your presence and god is saying i've got something bigger for you i've got something that's bigger than where you are if there's no faith in your future there's no power in your presence and the thing that makes me get up and work now is because i see where i'm going i see what god is building i see that god is in process right now that he's working on something in my life and so i've got faith in my future it empowers my presence so when god allows us to see into the heavenly realm he's often given us number one direction number two he's given us warning god will warn you in a dream a warning for what we should avoid or what we should not do he's given us warning as to what we should avoid and what we should not do notice in job chapter 33 verse 14 through 18 notice this for god speaks again and again you know why he has to speak again and again to hard headed folks but god speaks again and again though people do not recognize it i know you know somebody like that and oftentimes if we'll be honest we'll say lord you're talking to me god speaks again and again though people do not recognize it he speaks in dreams in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people and they lie on their beds has god ever waking you up in the middle of the night with something and you know you're like god can you wait until morning to talk about this but he's already telling you way back in job jobs is one of the oldest books in the bible the bible is not arranged in terms of chronological order job if you put job chronologically where it belongs it would be intertwined in the book of genesis it's one of the oldest books of the bible notice in verse 15 he speaks in dreams in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people as they land in their beds he whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings notice that he whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings i told you one of the reasons of god given vision is to warn you he makes them turn from doing wrong he keeps them from pride he helps you to avoid things here he protects them from the grave from crossing over the river of death god will show you in a dream don't do this don't do that i remember we had a lady from uh orangeburg south carolina a friend of my mother and uh she shared with me one time her testimony of how she was getting ready to board a plane and the holy ghost says don't get on that said around get on that plane don't you dare get on that plane and then she had her bags packed she's at the airport she's getting ready why didn't he tell her before she left home she's at the airport see by the time she shares his testimony she's probably in her 70s and she said i was getting ready to board this plane and the holy ghost told me don't you get on that plane she didn't get on the plane she went on back home she didn't understand what god was saying but he was warning her because that plane went down and she wasn't on it and she knew that she had heard god i wish you could hear the testimonies of people that worked in the in in the towers in new york where the planes went into that were not at work that day there was one lady who worked up in that and she would have been right in the path of the plane for whatever reason she liked coffee in a coffee shop across the street she had gone down she had been to her office and went downstairs outside of the building across the building was in the coffee shop getting her coffee when the plane hit the building now why all of a sudden she have an urge another man whose life was spared he's sitting at home and his alarm clock didn't go off and he was late to work he was on his way to work when he heard the news you'd be surprised what god would do sometimes just in a warning to try to save your life in acts chapter 27 the apostle paul was on a voyage on his way to rome and and and i want you to get this very carefully because god can be destined for you to get someplace but he and and he gave paul a revelation that hey the journey that you're on is going to be dangerous and it's going to be it's going to involve a lot of loss but you're going to make it i'm thankful to god when god will tell you the truth about a situation that you're getting ready to get into marriages but you're going to have a hard time but you are gonna make it you're gonna feel like you're gonna die but you're gonna make it and then i mean god told him ahead of time you're getting ready he says you will appear before caesar in in rome you've got to go to wrong paul but it's going to be a a a journey filled with so much turbulence and there's going to be danger of the loss of the ship and also of your lives and when everybody was panicking when that storm hit and everything was breaking apart it was dashing against it paul said that the lord appeared to me last night and he told me this that that would be loss of the cargo of everything that we're carrying he said but nobody's life will be lost ever i think there were 287 people on board and not one law not one life was lost god warned him though about that in a night vision in a night vision so god uses these things to give us direction he uses to give us warning the third thing god uses is for opportunities opportunities things that are hidden for you they're seeing there are some opportunities that are hidden for you that you cannot see without the help of god and notice isaiah chapter 45 and verse 3 i will give you treasures hidden in the darkness secret riches secret riches god says i got something i want to bless you with he says i will do this so that you will know that i am the lord the god of israel the one who calls you by my name i will give you treasures hidden in the darkness treasures hidden in the darkness secret riches i'm gonna show you opportunities that other people are blind to it's not hidden from you it is hidden for you god says i have hidden things i've hidden witty inventions and ideas i have in this for you i've hidden this for you i've hidden this to bless you so god uh gives us dreams he opens up our eyes of our revelation to give us direction to give us warning to show us opportunities number four for comfort and consolation sometimes all hell has broken loose in your house and you just need a word from god that everything is going to be all right romans 8 18 says i am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us what you're dealing with right now listen it's not going to last always and it cannot be compared with the glory of what is coming god begins to bring comfort to your your heart to let you know it's going to be all right i know you're hurting right now but you're going to heal you're going to get through this he begins to show your vision on the other side of that if you're coming into a place of glory and you're coming into a place of of of a provision you're coming into a place of power you're you're coming into a place because let me give you a few things that vision does for us vision focuses vision unifies vision empowers it focuses it unifies it empowers vision encourages vision prevents vision prepares and vision disciplines you find people that don't have any any discipline in their life is because they like they lack a vision when you're working on something it disciplines you to get up when you're working on something it'll discipline you to stay up when you're working on the gold the gold for example in the olympics it it imposes a discipline when you find people that are undisciplined in their life it's because they have no vision vision produces discipline vision will discipline you if you're motivated enough for the vision of god to be fulfilled in your life it will discipline you and can i tell you what the word of the lord says in proverbs chapter 5 verse 22 and 23 notices the iniquities of the wicked ensnare him and he is held fast in the cords of his sin he dies for lack of discipline that's strong he dies for lack of discipline and because his great folly he's led astray he dies for lack of discipline some people because they can't discipline themselves with their knife and their fork they die for lack of discipline for lack of discipline for lack of discipline because they have no vision of how beautiful life can be there's something about it when god begins to empower you with a dream and a vision my god it changes something on the inside of you and so god has to he has to birth something in you that will make a difference in your life i'm telling you it's not what it looks like we could feel sorry for steven that was being stoned as a young christian he was being stoned and you could your heart can break and said oh my god why are they killing that young man for his faith he should be allowed to express his own faith but i want you to see that as stephen was being stoned for his faith his eyes were open notice acts chapter 7 verse 56 look he said i see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of god can you imagine he saw jesus now normally jesus would have been seated but he saw one of his children being abused in the earth and he stood up his eyes were open he's being stoned to death and the heavens opened to him it's not what it looks like i know you think that this in a difficult time and that you're in a painful season of your life right now and there's an uncertainty but it's not what it looks like i know it may look like like you may die that you may not make it that you might lose the house or lose the car lose the family lose the relationship but it's not what it it's not what it looks like there is a realm that is beyond what you can see with your natural eyes that really is more real than what you actually see in the natural that when you can have trouble but yet have peace on the inside because you're looking at a higher revelation because you see into that heavenly dimension and you realize god is working on something in me and i see where i'm going and god is the one that has anchored my soul so that i'm not about to lose my mind up in here you realize god is with me he's holding me right now when thomas edison the great inventor was on his deathbed his dear wife in the room with him as he lay in the final weeks of his life in a coma and all of a sudden he wakes up out of his coma on his deathbed and sits straight up in the bed and starts pointing toward the heavens and says it's so beautiful over there and he lay back and fell back into a slumber and died he got a glimpse that where i'm going is a beautiful place there was no sadness in him because he saw in a dimension that was beyond the sickness that was in his bed he saw into the heavenly realm it empowered him it changed the countenance he came up out of a coma and had his eyes open and saw into the heavenly realm and what is it that you need to wake up to and see the divine provisions of heaven for i just came to remind you today that whatever you're going through right now no matter how long it seems like it's taking is not what it looks like it's not what it looks like there's a different reality and you need to be able to see from god's perspective and i pray in the name of jesus that god will open echecapastrix notice that foreign when you trust upon me and will not merely look at the things that you can see with your natural eyes i will allow the resources of what's in heaven to begin to flood into your life that where you have been filled with stress and anxiety but yet in my kingdom it's righteousness peace and joy in the holy ghost peace will begin to flood from heaven down into your souls and a calm will come in an assurance of where you will know that surely all things are under control and under the power of god trust now not in merely what you see but the natural eyes but what you discern with your spiritual eyes that the resources of heaven are moving in your favor and that all is already well in the heavens when you see that you'll be that and peace will wash over your soul saith the lord father we honor you today and i just pray god that you will feel your people with your peace let it flood over them i said kulamas flood over them like warm honey flood over them flood over them distress them god may they relax in you open the eyes of our understanding god that we might see and know the depth the height the width of life to be able to perceive you in just some dimension to get a glimpse of you and to be able to focus upon you god and follow you wherever you lead us god we trust you with our very lives now give us god your divine perspectives for our life our purpose our families our destiny our legacy show us god who we are what we're supposed to do show us open our eyes father we pray for unsaved loved ones open their eyes jesus open their eyes allow them to be able to let the glorious light of the gospel shine in those who sit in darkness today god open their eyes open their eyes our leaders father in government from the president down to governors and mayors and council individuals god we pray that you will open the eyes of their understanding so that as it is in heaven so let it be on the earth may that peace flood us god may the peace that passes all understandings flood us god flood us flood us fill us oh god with the essence of who you are even though not everything is perfect in our lives god we thank you that you are perfect [Music] that you are the author and the perfecter of our faith god thank you thank you thank you that we don't have to wait until it's perfected until we have peace because we see it as though it is already done [Music] our hearts trust you today now lord jesus may we rest in you may every anxious thought be calmed because they've been looking at the armies the enemies standing around them and father we realize today that while elisha prayed and his servant's eyes were open he also prayed a second time that the eyes of the enemies would be closed and the whole syrian army went blind and while you open one eye you closed the eyes of the enemy those that are trying to target us god today to do harm to us blind them confuse their agenda as your divine protection let it be soul and we covenant in advance to give you the glory and the honor and the praise for all that is wrought in the name of jesus amen hallelujah to the lamb of god hallelujah [Applause] i don't know about you but i'm so glad that god has his hands on us and that he's leading us and that he's guiding us that god is speaking to us right where we are i'm so glad i'm so deeply glad i'm so glad i want to invite those we hope that you enjoyed that message don't forget to like and subscribe and then press the notification bell so that you don't miss another one of our videos and if you want to partner with us click the give now button thank you for what you do

Channel: woffamily

Views: 73,083

Rating: 4.9177799 out of 5

Keywords: Bishop Dale C. Bronner, Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, Church, Sermon, Encouragement, Hope, Message

Id: rQSiKJaUM2o

Length: 56min 36sec (3396 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 15 2021