Looking Unto Jesus Pt 5 - God is our Provider - A - Joe Sweet

praise God I'm in week number five of a series I'm calling it looking unto Jesus part five that we've seen in previous weeks we've seen the Lord Jesus as our righteousness our sanctification and our Redemption then we saw the Lord Jesus as the Living Word of God then we saw him as the Lamb who was slain and then we saw Jesus last week as our refuge God is our refuge our safe place where do we get this looking unto Jesus that principle is all throughout the scripture Old Testament and New Testament in Isaiah 45 verse 22 God says look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth for I'm God and there is no other that's all we really need to do is look to him if the Holy Spirit could open the eyes of our heart and give every one of us a fresh glimpse of who God really is we would be changed and God says look to me I am God there is no other look to me and be saved we're told in the New Testament look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith in numbers 21 when the children of Israel sinned and serpents were biting them they were dying God instructed Moses to lift up a serpent on a pole a bronze serpent he told everyone who looks they'll be saved so all they had to do is look at the serpent on the pole they would be healed that's it that represented Jesus Christ on the cross in John chapter 3 Jesus told Nicodemus he said in the same way that Moses lifted up the serpent on the pole the Son of Man will be lifted up speaking of the crucifixion that whoever believes in Him will be saved so to look to him means to believe in him means to look to him to rescue us look to him to help us look to him to sanctify us look to him to instruct us look to him to protect us so God says look to me and you will be saved I am God there is no other the last scripture verse of John chapter 17 it's verse 26 jesus prayed to his father and he said father I have declared to them your name name means character in your nature so Jesus made no and to his disciples the character and the nature of the father he said I have declared that to them and he didn't just declare it with his words he did declare it with his words but he also declared it by the very life he lived when Philip said Lord we show us the father he said Philip you've seen me if you've seen me you've seen the father so Jesus was making no one who God was by his life by his words he said I've declared to them your name and I will declare it that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them so what the Lord is telling us in John 17 26 is that each one of us every time we get a greater revelation of who Jesus really is it causes us to love God more when we get a greater revelation of who the Lord really is it causes us to be more filled with the Holy Spirit he said that I may be in them so that's what our greatest need Psalm 34 verse 5 it says they looked to him to the Lord and their faces were radiant the Bible says God is light when we look to him his light fills us Amen so we saw him as our righteousness our sanctification our redemption we saw him as the Living Word of God God in His Word are one we saw him as the Lamb of God the lamb on the throne we Oh God as our refuge refuge means he's the shelter that protects us safe and secure not from the storm but in the storm he said when you pass through the fire I'll be with you he's our refuge he said a thousand could fall at your side ten thousand you're right near you it will not come he didn't say we'll never see trouble he even said in Psalm 91 with your eyes you'll see the recompense of the wicked but I'll be with you I'm your strong tower I'm your refuge that's what we saw so today we're gonna look at the Lord another aspect of the Lord he's infinitely multi-dimensional I want to know him don't you I want the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of my heart to see him because there the result will be faith result will be light we look at him and our faces begin to shine when we look at him depression goes when we look at him faith rises up encouragement rises up we're gonna look at God today as our provider praise the Lord I I believe you're gonna see things from the word you haven't seen before because the Holy Spirit is with us to help us jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes he will not glorify himself but he'll take the things that are of me and he'll reveal them to you so the Holy Spirit takes who Jesus is and reveals to us now we're in the season now of Haggai chapter two I brought this message back in February we're now in the season and at the time I brought that message I had no idea it would be like this today I just knew what the Holy Spirit was telling me back in February we're in the season of the shaking of all things and of the glory of God rising up in the church let me read it again because this has to do with God being our provider for thus says the Lord of hosts yet once more it's a little while I will shake heaven and earth the sea in the dry land I will shake all nations right now over a hundred and fifty nations are shaking and they shall come to the desire of all nations the purpose of the shaking is to help us it's not to hurt us is to help us turn to Jesus he is the desire of all nations and I will fill this temple with glory wherever you are you can say this with me we are the temple of God that's what the Bible teaches us we are the temple of the holy spirit so while the shaking is going on God's filling the temple with glory I believe there's a sanctifying work going on in the body of Christ even though we're not gathering together in buildings God's at work in your home God's at work in your heart God's at work in the priorities in our life things are shifting around God's preparing a people for the manifested glory on a level none of us have ever seen before and we should be aware of that while he's shaking the nation's he's going to fill his temple with glory then God said the silver is mine the gold is mine then he goes on to say the glory of this latter temple we are the latter temple this shall be greater than the former now in the former temple the former you could say was a first century Church it's going to be a greater glory at the end of the age there was a glory in the days of Solomon that filled the temple but the glory of Pentecost was greater than that and now we're the latter temple it's a greater glory God always saves his best wine for last so the latter the glory the latter temple will be greater than the former says the Lord of Hosts and in this place I will give peace says the Lord while the nation's shake there be peace in the hearts of those that are walking with God turn your eyes upon Jesus look to him and our faces will begin to glow he said I'm gonna fill my church with glory and God said the silvers mined the gold is mine to me that him flies God said I have all the provision what is shaking right now the economies are shaking all around the world God's shaking other gods this what he did when he released the plagues on Egypt he was dealing with their gods he was dealing with their gods God's dealing with the god of Mammon right now he's dealing with self-reliance self-sufficiency the shaking is not meant to hurt us it's meant to help us come to Jesus because every other God is a false god and false gods can't sustain you they will fail but Jesus is the first and the last he's the beginning in the end he's the eternal God God wants us to trust in him that's what the shakings for God's not mad the shakings not because he's an angry god it's because he's a loving God he's going to shake us out of idolatry he's going to shake us out of wrong priorities into the place where we're trusting him and God said trust me follow me and I'll lead you into the fullness of my glory I have all the silver all the gold I'll meet all your needs come on it's where we we've all sung the song or maybe we have most of us have Jehovah Jireh my provider His grace is sufficient for me that's one of God's compound names Jehovah Jireh where does it come from it comes from Genesis chapter 22 when God had instructed Abraham to offer up his son Isaac as a living sacrifice offer him to burn him on an altar and then God provided for Abraham I want you to read this with me if you have your Bible I believe God will show us something out of this passage we may not have seen before this passage is about God's provision that's where we get the compound name Jehovah Jireh today my prayer of my heart is that the Holy Spirit will bring a revelation to everybody watching and your heart will be filled with more faith more hope and more encouragement that you've ever had for God to provide because he's a good provider now it came to pass Genesis chapter 2 verse 1 after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him said to him Abraham God is a God that tests us Old Testament and New Testament in Jeremiah chapter 17 the Bible says God searches our heart he tries us he tests us the Bible tells us in one of the epistles to the Thessalonians the Apostle says we have been tested by God and approved to be entrusted with the gospel before God entrust us with much he always tests us first sometimes that person in your life that's challenging to love they are the doorway to a promotion in the spirit it's a test we have to pass his test to get promoted anyway God called Abraham Abraham said here am I then the Lord said take now your son your only son Isaac whom you love go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you God had already told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations Abraham waited for 25 years for that promise to come to pass many people have been waiting for years they'd away it said I've had a prophetic word I've had a promise Abraham waited 25 years and now his son is probably a teenager around I think around 13 years old now and so God said now take your son what was going on here I it's my belief that sometimes I don't know about Abraham sometimes we trust God we trust God and we trust God and then the promise comes and we stop trusting God because now our bank accounts full we went through the lean times we were seeking him where now we got the blessings now everything's going my way and we can without realizing it get our eyes back on our bank account back on our job back on what we have and our trust isn't in God and so God sometimes has to say we need to be tested again I know you waited 25 years for that blessing to come I want you to now take that blessing and put it on the altar I want to know if you really trust me abraham believed God if you read the book of James James tells us that when Abraham took his son and put him on the altar and raised his hand that at that point the Bible says Abraham's faith was perfected God is the author and finisher of our faith he's working in all of our lives in sovereign ways to build our faith to get us to trust him and so God had been building Abraham's faith before Isaac came God gave him the prophecy of the stars he gave him the prophecy of the sand he gave him the word he changed his name to Abram from Abram to Abraham he gave him these words to hold on to he said see those stars so she her seed be see the sand so she received me so every morning when he saw the sand it was prophesying to him every evening when he saw the stars they were prophesying we need the spirit of prophecy we should not despise prophecy because somebody missed it or we made a mistake or I made a mistake or you made a mistake we should learn from our mistakes and then keep going on let's learn to grow in the prophetic because God gave us prophecy to help build our faith amen so Abraham rose early in the morning he saddled his donkey took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and he split the wood for the burnt offering so he was supposed to kill his son and then burn him and he rose II went to the place of which God had told him then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off so he traveled for three days Abraham said to his young men stay here with the donkey the lad and I will go yonder and worship we will come back to you there's faith talking now we're told in the book of Romans that abraham believed that God would raise his son from the dead God had told Abraham that it's not going to be Ishmael but the promise is coming through Isaac Isaac was born now God told him many nations will come through him and Abram Abraham was now told to not only kill him but to burn him into a pile of ashes you talk about faith abraham believed god was so much he said well I'm gonna obey God and I guess God's gonna have to raised him from the dead he said he did a miracle for me before he gave me a son when I was about a hundred years old that was a miracle he said well he can do another one he can raise my son from a pile of ashes back and yeah cuz I know what God said God said through Isaac it is the promise my and so uh Abraham took the wood offering the word of burnt offering and he laid it on Isaac his son he took the fire in his hand and the knife and the two of them went together in that awesome he said the lad and I will go the lad and I will return as faith talking we need to learn to speak faith we need to learn to say God is my provider when a bank accounts empty we need to say the Lord will meet all my needs we need to talk like that Abraham's called the father of our faith he said uh he took the fire in his hand so he so Isaac had fire in his hand seems like he must have been carrying a torch a knife Isaac was carrying the wood the two of them went together but Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said My father he said Here I am my son look the fire in the wood but where is the lamb for the burnt offering what was going through his mind now listen Abraham talking Abraham's had said my son God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering so two of them went together now Abraham prophesied it how did he do that did he know did you know that as a believer the spirit of prophecy is inside you the spirit of prophecy is the Holy Spirit I'm sure you've had this experience if you've been a Christian very long there have been times in your life where things came out of your mouth and they bypassed your head you had no time to think of them they came right out from your spirit they missed your head from your spirit they came out your mouth I believe that's what Abraham did I've had those experiences where you just been in prayer you're full of the holy spirit you're worshiping God somebody says something to you and prophecy comes out your mouth your head didn't have time to think about it the first you heard or knew about it was when you heard it come out and listen to what you said how many have had those experiences that happens so I believe that's what happened Abraham said God will provide a lamb it happened to me you know it's thinking about this that happened to me my youngest daughter had her second child my granddaughter willow on I believe was a Friday night wasn't a Friday night John we had all I know is we had Church here and she was over at the hospital and they would she was about to to give birth so I was couldn't wait to the prayer meeting was over to run over and be with her at the hospital so Melinda and I and some of the family all got in the room and she just had the baby before we got there we walked in the room right after she had birth the nurse was in the room we're all sitting there and the nurse said I'm just sitting there but I was still full of the Holy Spirit you know my practice is I go off a couple hours and pray before I come to the prayer meeting so uh I'd I've been praying all afternoon I just in a worship for an hour prayed for an hour I'm sitting in the room just kind of blessed buzzing you know you know he just came from hours of church sitting in the room the nurse says well we're gonna weigh the baby I kid you not I it I didn't I don't know why I said this it came out of my mouth before my head had time to think I said it'll be seven pounds 13 ounces I don't know why I said that she waited she said it's seven pounds 13 ounces she said now we're gonna measure it I said again it'll be nineteen and a half inches she measured she said it's nineteen and a half inches I can't do that and I wish I could if I could do that I'd do it all the time but this Holy Spirit is in US and sometimes he just speaks out what he wants amen I believe that's I was reading this I said how did Abraham say that he said God will provide a lamb because the Spirit of God was in him some people say oh it couldn't have been in the Old Testament you couldn't have the Holy Spirit in you yes you could yes you could read the Epistle to Peter he said and the Holy Spirit who was in them gave them the scriptures look at John the Baptist born under the Old Covenant he was filled with the Holy Spirit from the mother's womb yes you could be said because people have taught you can't be filled with the Holy Spirit until after Jesus died on the cross but you have to read Revelation chapter 13 it says the lamb was slain before the foundation of the world that's how Enoch could walk with God back then because he was still under the blood of Jesus amen all right so he said it Abraham said my son God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering the two of them went together so God will provide in the King James is Jehovah Jireh that's one of God's names jehovah-jireh there's compound names of God throughout the scripture I'll touch on those but that's God is saying he's revealing in the scripture when he's called Jehovah Jireh and I believe Abraham was speaking by the spirit of prophecy God is revealing to him to us he God is our provider he's a good father now watch this then they came to the place of which God had told them and Abraham built an altar there he placed the wood in order and he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar upon the wood how in the world did that happen what was the Isaac thinking how did his father do that Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son but the ancient Lord called him from heaven and said Abraham Abraham he said Here I am and he said do not lay your hand on the ladder do anything to him for now I know that you fear God since you've not withheld your son your only son from me to fear God means to believe his word and to obey it that's the fear of the Lord to believe his word and obey it then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns so Abraham went and took the RAM and offered it for a burnt offering instead of his son and Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide Jehovah Jireh as it is said to this day in the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided then the angel the Lord called Abraham a second time out of heaven and said by myself I've sworn says the Lord because you've done this thing you've not withheld your son your only son blessing I will bless you multiplying I'll multiply you your descendants as it stars the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice so Abraham returned to his young men and they rose in when together tuber Seba Abraham dwelt at BER Sheba so this tells us a lot about God our provider before Abraham got to the altar to them to the place God specified to offer his son now that place let's call it the place of obedience God said go to the place I show you and their offer your son he obeyed when he got to the place of obedience the provision was waiting for him Jehovah Jireh somebody listening to me right now needs to hear this you're asking God where is my provision the provision that God has for you is waiting for you at the place of obedience when we obey what God told us to do the provisions already there God went ahead of Abraham God provided for Abraham God had his needs met it was already done that's why I says I love what it says in Revelation chapter 13 it says Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world God ordained Jesus to be the lamb slain now I don't know why it says that but he was slain before the foundation of the world there's something about eternity and about time that we don't understand but eternity is outside of time and so before time began the lamb was slain that means before Adam and Eve sinned God had already gone ahead God had already provided the answer to the need before Adam and Eve even knew there was a need before we knew there was a need God provided so when he said when he talks about God providing a lamb that's where we get Jehovah Jireh today we just talked about Jovic are my provider he's gonna pay my bills and God does pay our bills but if the real provision of God is to provide Christ that's the provision amen God ordained the provision before we knew we had a need say this with me God's supernatural provision for me is waiting for me it's already there waiting at the place of obedience what did God tell us now if we're in a place of need all we need to do is go to our knees get in our room open our Bibles spend time with the Lord and say Lord is there something you've told me that I haven't done he may be telling you about a relationship about something at work he may be who knows he could tell you anything maybe he's been telling you to pass out tracts maybe he's been telling you to witness maybe he's been telling you to be to get up a certain timer and get some discipline in your life and start seeking the Lord who knows whatever God's told you do your best to obey it that's where the provision is amen now Romans 8:32 says if God did not spare his own son it says he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things so we're gonna know God as our provider we need to know this Romans chapter 5 says that while we were still sinners God demonstrated his love for us by giving Christ to die for the ungodly he says scarcely would someone die for a good person maybe but God demonstrated his love for us and that Christ died for the ungodly and he goes on to say if God if if when we were enemies Romans 5:10 we were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life saved by the life of Christ so we weren't before we ever repented when we were in sin when we weren't thinking about God God was thinking about a he loved us and had already given Christ for us so now Paul's writing if God gave the greatest gift while we were still rebelling now that we've been reconciled how much more will he give us whatever we need he's a good god he's a good god so that means the greatest provision is Jesus coming and being our substitute on the cross rising from the dead and being our high priest who ever lives to make intercession receive him James 1:17 says every good and every perfect gift is from above comes down from the Father of lights first Timothy 6 verse 17 says command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty not to trust in uncertain riches but to trust in the Living God what's his who gives us richly all things to enjoy so God says if you're rich and on a global standard almost every single person in America is rich on a global standard the Bible says if we have food and clothes with this with these let's be content if we go after riches he said many pierce their self through with sorrows so God says if we're rich he said don't just trust in those riches he goes on in 1st Timothy 6 he says command them to be willing to give ready to share but also know this God gives us every good thing what's this who richly gives us all things to enjoy God gives us blessings to enjoy now this is the introduction stay with me praise the Lord God wants us to look to him as our provider when God brought the Jews out in the wilderness before they went into the Promised Land he did it because he wanted to teach them to live by faith in Him is so important if we're gonna know God is our provider because God wants to give us what he gave the Jews he said I'm gonna take you to a land flowing with milk and honey honey no there's no striving for possessions there he said I'm gonna give you a house as you didn't build vineyards it didn't plant and now the hills or dig precious metals and copper and so forth said I'm gonna give that to you that's the heart of God he wants to give us the blessings but before he gives that to us he wants to train us and teach us that he is our provider and we're not to put our trust in the blessings but in him that's the test that's the teaching that he want to teach us now all believers has been my observation who grow up in Christ at some season in their life go through these kinds of testings I've seen people that they start out their Christian walk going through the wilderness and tested and then they come into a season of of their milk and honey and then and so forth I seen other people just have a season of milk and honey all the time and later in their life they go through the will but at some point God wants to train us not because he's mad at us not because we're out of his will he wants to teach us to look to him if we can look to him and not idolize the blessings the and we understand the purpose for the blessings which is to establish his covenant to do his will - that doesn't mean we can't be blessed ourself and enjoy the blessings amen so let's take a look at it we're gonna look at two more passages Deuteronomy 8 then we're gonna go to second Corinthians Deuteronomy 8 chapter 8 verse 1 every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swear to your fathers you should remember that the Lord your God led you all these ways he's 40 years in the wilderness to Humble you to test you it didn't know what was in your heart stop for a moment before they got to the land of Elkin honey in abundance God wanted to humble them and to test them and he also want to teach them he's going to say what he taught him very important lessons whether you would keep his Commandments or not when they were in the desert they didn't know where their food was coming from God rained it down from heaven when they're in the desert they didn't know where they were gonna drink water God made it gush out of Iraq enough water to for a million people to drink when they're in the desert they didn't know how they were going to make it God kept a cloud over him to keep him from the Desert Sun at night he kept a pillar of fire to protect him from wild beasts and from their enemies right he humbled you allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know if he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone but by every man lives by every word the procedure of the mouth of the Lord a stop right there and look up for a minute God said when I brought you out into the desert he said I fed you with bread that you did not know that God did that on purpose many people right now are being shaken they don't know what their finances are going to be like next month they don't know where provisions coming from you might think that can't be God it can be God when God wants to teach us to look to him he'll allow us to get in a situation where we don't know how it's going to work he doesn't want our faith to be in I know he doesn't want our faith to be and I know how it's gonna work you know what I've learned in the last 42 years of being a Christian any time most of the time when I say I know how it's gonna work out that's not how it's gonna work out God has another way I've even caught myself thinking of a way and then say no don't think of it because if I do it won't happen you did not know so if you're in a place and you say I don't know how we're gonna make it don't be afraid God brought you there he'll bring you out but man will live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God that's what if we're going to know God as our provider we need to know this God wants us to live by faith in his word here's what God did your garments did not wear out on you nor did your foot swell for 40 years that's supernatural their clothes didn't wear out 40 years how many have a favorite shirt you know I hate to get rid of my favorite shirt I bought a shirt up in Mammoth about 10 years ago at the summertime at the well I forget what store where there some store discount I bought it for 10 buys my favorite shirt and and you know it starts getting holes in it after a while and I thought nobody can see the holes up there I just didn't want to get rid of it but I finally had to it just got too holy but they that was only after about five six seven years my shirt was falling apart they went 40 years and their clothes didn't wear out come on somebody he said your feet did not swell that means they had supernatural divine health they walked on a hot desert sand and their feet were perfect you should know in your heart that as a man chases his son now the word chasing me is to correct and to train so the Lord corrects and trains you therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God I'm on verse 6 to walk in his ways and to fear him for the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land land of Brooks a water fountains and springs at Florida valleys and Hills a land of wheat and barley of vines and fig trees and pomegranates a land of olive oil and honey and then went landed which will eat bread without scarcity and which you'll lack nothing a land whose stones are iron out of whose hills you'll dig copper when you've eaten in full then you shall bless the Lord your for the good land which is given to you beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments his judgments and his statutes which I commanded you today lest when you've eaten are full and a built beautiful house and the dwell in them and when you're heard your flocks multiply and your silver and your gold are multiplied and all you have is multiplied when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage who led you through the great and terrible wilderness in which there were fiery serpents and scorpions thirsty land where there's no water who brought water for you out of the flinty rock who fed you in the wilderness with manna what your father did not know that he might Humble you that he might test you to do you good in the end you may say in your heart my power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth so if we're gonna know God is our provider that's a lesson he wants us to learn I remember years ago one of my best friends Dan probably Oh 30 plus years ago and he was an entrepreneur a businessman always a good hard worker smart always always doing jobs buying and selling going to auctions making money he'd never had a hard time in his life financially he's a hard worker he's diligent he worked at it but he was blessed then I watched him as he went through a season where it wasn't like that anymore he was still working as hard as he could being as diligent as he he loved God he was a tiler giver generous person man he went through a lean season he went through Deuteronomy chapter 8 God provided all his needs God met his needs supernaturally many times but he went through a lean season I remember him talking to me when he things started to turn around he came out of it he said man have I learned a lesson he said was I ever arrogant he said I used to look at people it didn't have a job and think to myself what's wrong with him why don't they open the paper and get a job he said god I see how see until we've gone through our own wilderness there's a financial wilderness there can be other wildernesses that's where we God humbles us sometimes where we're making a lot of money and we got everything we got our heads become fat we think the reason we're so blessed is because we're smarter than other people but the Bible doesn't teach that read the book of Ecclesiastes the race is not to the Swift and the battles not to the strong timing and circumstances happen and God is the Lord over all if God has blessed us we should acknowledge the blessings or from him if you're going through a lean time trust the Lord he'll provide for you if you're going through a wilderness I believe many in America are about to go through a financial wilderness that does not mean your needs won't be met it means you won't know where it's coming from there's a difference I didn't say you're gonna starve I didn't say you're gonna lack a wilderness is where God starts toppling the things that you're looking at he starts toppling to things that you're trusting and and teaches it to learn to live by faith in God and when we come out of a wilderness we're humbled and now we're not thinking what's wrong with the other guy now when we come out and we're back into the place of land flowing with milk and honey we're thinking of ways to encourage people that are going through the desert to strengthen people to bless people and to share not to say what's wrong with them come on somebody see this is what God wants to done us to understand he is our provider God can make food rain from the sky God can feed a million people from a rock Oh a water make I mean give him water to drink amen he said remember the Lord your God verse eighteen it's he who gives you the power to get wealth now we're gonna know him as our provider he wants us to be number one listen to this he wants us to be humble when he blesses us don't fall into the delusion that it's because you're so smart because you've made all the right choices because you've walked so close to God because you've done everything right no it's the grace of God God said I am the one that gives you power to get wealth the Lord delights in the prosperity of his servants he wants us the church to be blessed I believe with all my heart the greatest prosperity is coming to the body of Christ when the greatest wilderness is coming to the akan economic systems come on God said when the nations shake glory will be in my house when the nations shake the silver and gold is mine I believe God's preparing a people to enter into the greatest prosperity but it's not for our fat egos is not to indulge overindulge God wants us to enjoy his blessings there's nothing wrong with having a nice home or a nice car God wants us to have our needs met and an abundance to help other people now watch you shall remember the Lord your God it is he who gives you power to get wealth before they could go into the prosperity God had to teach those lessons you've got to be humble you've got to know that it comes from God and you got to know that we have to live by faith in God's Word and he said why why did I give you the power to get wealth that God may establish his covenant God wants us to have all our needs met and enough to help preach the gospel around the world amen enough to buy gospel tracts to feed the poor to give to missions God wants us to be blessed so that we can have all our needs met in his covenant jesus is the new covenant can be established in all the nations then it shall be if any of you by means forgets the Lord your God and you follow other gods and you serve them and worship them I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish as the nation in which the Lord God destroyed before you so you shall perish because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God there's a word of wisdom from Deuteronomy chapter 8 the Lord is our provider now hang with me this may be the best part of the message that was this introductory number to here's a real mate praise the Lord second greens in chapter 9 verse 6 we're gonna read this now I detest and if you know me in this church I detest people trying to use scriptures to manipulate people to coerce them to try to give I don't do that it's not I don't I believe it's wrong but that doesn't mean throw the baby out with the bathwater because the fact is the Bible says he that sow sparingly reap sparingly he that sews bountifully reached bountifully I'm telling you this because it's the Word of God it's for our own good now I'm gonna tell you this we're gonna let's look at some of these things I had an experience back in 1986 I'd had a visitation for the Lord March 10th 1986 it was just life-changing and I'd been on a 21-day water fast I thought of it I thought of writing a book after that fast how to lose 30 pounds in 21 days it'd be two pages long and I could sell it for $10 I never did it but you can lose weight fast I went from 190 pounds 262 I look like Bruce Lee after you know I shut myself away I didn't come out in public for three weeks when I went back into the office what where I worked I had two offices a ministry office a next door a real estate office and my walked in a real estate offering my sister where she screamed she screamed she thought she goes oh I won't tell you the words that she said but after she said those words she said what do you have AIDS or what because I was so skinny but man I was full of the Holy Spirit and I learned something during anyway during that time that fasting time I was uh I had never done a 21-day water-only fast and it so changed my life that I didn't want to eat again I mean I did I ate but it seemed like during those next few months I was always going on a one or two or three day fast I would eat for a few days I said oh man I like the feeling I got when I was fasting so I just kept fasting and eating and then fasting and eating and uh I was just in a great place that I felt with the Lord and then I had a prophetic word I won't tell all the details God spoke to me one day he told me to go to a large Church in Orange County I told all this to Melinda he told me what service to go to this church would was a big church they booked their guest speakers a year in advance but the Lord told me go there and you're gonna speak there this Sunday morning and I said how will I do that he said I'll speak to the pastor I'll tell him that I sent you I only had about a two-minute word and he gave me a prophetic word for that church so I told Melinda I'm going to this church and I said well here's what's gonna happen I'm gonna sit down the pastor will see me God will speak to him the Lord had told me all this he'll call me up give me the mic I'm gonna prophesy to him to the church and then the Lord also told me if you'll obey me I'll tell him to give you an offering I had a two minute prophecy to give to the church so I did it it all happened exactly like I said and uh but before I could sit down he said let's get our prophetic team he said God wants to encourage you and give you a prophetic word and the pastor began to prophesy to me and here's a word that he gave me he said God says I'm going to begin to take everything out of your life that you can trust in I'm gonna strip everything away from you and then I'm gonna build in you a supernatural faith but the Lord said you're not gonna crumble under these trials but you're gonna go from face to face and glory tits I thought I I kind of heard that word I thought what does that mean you know and uh whatever they gave me some other words that were I thought were good words but uh sure enough about 90 days later everything in my life started falling apart I was seeking God I was as sold out as I know single still I was as committed as I knew how to be my finances my life everything I I mean just it started happening and I went through about a ten-year season the next year I got married my wife and I went through about a tenure we call it our wilderness journey and it was all ordained by God we never lacked but we did never had a savings I I mean we learned God literally took us through a wilderness where we learned to live by faith and to give by faith and we saw so many supernatural miracles of provision and guidance it was an awesome time and then God brought us out of that where but listen I'm still living by faith I'm still giving by faith my heart is not in I have a regular paycheck now there was a long time where I didn't know how I was going to eat tomorrow but we always did we never lacked not only that we were able to give and bless people so I'm telling you that this whole concept of going through a wilderness we should not be afraid of it it's where God trains us and qualifies us to come into the next stage where there's an overabundance and we have all our needs met we can give somebody say Amen so I'm going to just share with you in these next few verses some of the things we learned from the Bible that we practice of walking through the wilderness when the economies of the world are shaking the more our life is built on the principles of the economy the kingdom we won't shake only the things that are not built in the kingdom of God shake read Hebrews 12 we have an unshakable Kingdom were receiving so if our world is shaking because the economy that means something in our hearts not lined up with the kingdom all right thank you Queenie chapter 9 verse 6 this I say he was so sparingly will also reap sparingly he sews bountifully will also reap bountifully now in context he's talking about material financial slow so let each one give as he purposes in his heart not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful Giver now whether we like it or not maybe someone's used this first in the past to manipulate we're not doing that I'm telling you we have to learn to live by this principle this is the Word of God that we live by now I can look back in my life and I can see times where I was about to come into a real time of need I didn't see it I didn't know it was coming and the Lord would instruct me to give sacrificially I would obey Him and then while all of a sudden a huge need would be in front of me and God would pour down all the provision because he saw it coming and CAD me give before I got to the place of need I'll give you a couple examples of that when I was back in 1993 we were pastoring two churches by the word of the Lord we were pastoring a church in Canyon Country and this church at the same time it was a blessing because the Lord had first told me to plant this church in Lancaster but it was growing very slowly it was still small wasn't big enough to support me I was doing all kinds of work on the side plus pastoring for a couple years and then the Lord spoke to me one day to go Pastor a church in Canyon Country so we did we started a home group it soon just blossomed it grew much faster than this church we had a building we had a great worship team and that grew so fast they were able to support me but God had originally called me this was my main work Lancaster that was like a side thing after a couple of years of pastoring there I didn't know that God was gonna tell me to leave that now and give myself full time to this I didn't know that one day I'm praying in my office I heard the Holy Spirit's speak to my heart he said are you willing to sell all you have and give I was reading the scripture he said if anyone wants to be perfect let him sell everything give to the poor follow me I'd read it many times but this day God spoke to me said he willing to do that I said yes I am he said all right I want you to sell everything you have I said everything Lord I said yeah he said everything you can sell everything you can get by without sell it I said what about ok I'll sell my bed bar furniture my cars my copy machine my camera equipment I said Lord can my kids keep their bed I felt the Holy Spirit said yeah but you and Melinda sell everything you can so I came home I told Melinda I said the Lord told me today I said I want to ask you he said well we be willing to sell all that we have take the money and give it to the poor she said without even hesitating that's one of the things I love about my wife she said sure she said I feel the Lord ah now let's do that so we sought I had a real nice honda car we sold that we had an old old it's embarrassing to say this we drove a Rambler in a so we kept the Rambler and sold the nice car he sold out we just gotten some nice French oak furniture so we sold that we sold other stuff we sold put all the money together we had it where's praying about where to give it after we had done all that one Sunday morning I'm getting red eyes to wear ties when the Kim Church I remember in the bathroom was put my tie on in the mirror on a Sunday morning earth all the spirits say now I want you to let the church go in Canaan country and give yourself entirely to this church here in Lancaster I'm like oh it's not enough to support me here but I knew it was the word of the Lord and I never made the connection I said okay and I did it I went and told the church and and I now looking back what I saw was God had me and by the way I I had all that money was thousands of dollars it was going to be the biggest offering we ever gave and we hadn't given to you because I was praying where should we give it after he told me that then I felt him say now take half of that money and use it for your needs for right now give the other half to world missions to the poor overseas and that still the other half was the biggest offering we'd ever given and so when I did I I looked back later we started having one miracle after another after another of supernatural provision as we transition just to this church and I look back and I realized now why the Lord said sell all that you can and give it because he wanted to plant big so he could pour out a big harvest on us come on somebody I seen him do it over and over before we moved into this building same thing the Lord said to take this building they wanted they wanted fifty five hundred dollars they actually wanted to double that to move in to this building they might have so they won eleven thousand dollars he might have well asked me for 11 million I had we had three hundred dollars in our church account the Lord said I'm giving you that building take it by faith so I said how do I do it here's what the Lord said he said take the biggest offering you can and give it to the poor in India so this this principle of sowing and reaping the Lord taught us all during the those years to live by this somebody's going to get ahold of this and and live by it and the economy will never affect you whatever sheiks will never affect you you just going to obey God so he said anyway we did this over and over and over I could tell story after story then he says God loves it cheerful giver here's the verse I want us to look at God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you always having all sufficiency man these are superlatives watch this God is able to make all grace that's everything abound toward you that you always it's not sometimes always have all sufficiency in all things you may have an abundance for every good work that covers it all God said I can get I have the ability to give you all the grace all sufficiency to give you everything you need for every good work I can get it to you that's a god say then it talks about the righteous how he has dispersed abroad he's given to the poor his righteousness endures forever so in the beginning is the sowing then God gives it to us and then we're able to disperse it abroad now watch may you heal supplies seed to the sower and bread for food supply and multiply the seed you've saw and increased the fruits of your righteousness my wife and I learned this years ago in the beginning of our wilderness season we would pray for seed and we every time we would get an agreement say God will you give us seed to sow we had needs somebody please hear this don't pray for your needs to be met pray for seed to give let me explain if you're a farmer and you used to have 40 acres of rice and it's all gone now don't pray God give me rice for my family then it's gone say God give me seed to plant the field so we would pray for seed we would say God we know somebody please hear this God will you give me seed I've lived this and God's given us art our church has been able to give hundreds of thousands beyond the millions to missions because we've asked the Lord for seed to soul he provides so you asked the Lord it says God will give seed to the sower so our mentality is meet my need go beyond your need and ask for seed and then when you get the seed plant it and you'll get a harvest bigger than your needs all your needs will be met and then you can have more seed to give when my wife was praying for a house we rented for years we're first married pastoring the church we never had enough money to save a down payment she said I'm praying she had more faith than I did for a house she said I'm praying for a house I'm praying for a house I said okay you pray I just thought no you know I don't have the down payment to buy a house but I was in agreement but she was doing all the praying for Hel's here's how she prayed lord give me seed she said lord I pray you'll give me seed and I'm gonna sew it and as I saw that then we're gonna have the money to buy a house so she's just now some of you may be in a pinch financially pray for seed then sometimes when we prayed receive God would give us a creative idea we would go and have a garage sale or sell something and that would be our seed you had always have a bigger harvest so she prayed and prayed for months one day we were gonna go visit my parents when they were both still alive in the Palm Springs area someone came up to me in the church - Belinda and I together they said I just had a vision they said sorry joy I don't want to make you feel bad but I saw a woman's hand writing out a check it was a big check to give not to you but to give it specifically to Belinda so Amanda said God give me feet I'm gonna sow seed so we went to visit my parents we're about driving home at night and all of a sudden his thought flashed into my mind I told M'Lynn let's go visit our friend Paula we used to have Bible study at her house years ago when we lived in the area this is before cellphones you don't call people and say you're coming we just stopped in one knocked on the door she opened the door she's ready for us she said praise God I've been waiting for you guys I said you have she said yeah God spoke to me and told me to write out a check for you then she said sorry Joey I don't want you to feel bad but God specifically told me to write it out to Melinda not amazing and gave her a check for $7000 and she said Melinda took the check she said there's my seed money God will give you seed someone said if he can get it through you he'll get it to you well now we had a hospital bill from heaven our kids the hospital we still had a hospital bill of like $3500 we had to have that paid off before we could buy a house so she paid off the hospital bill $3500 and the other $3500 she gave away to everybody in the church she went to different single moms different poor people she bought people clothes bottom diapers gave him gas money she gave up all the three thousand five now she could have bought herself all kinds of stuff she gave up all the seed money away and then God did another miracle and gave us a house so these principles these are real we're not saying this to manipulate anybody this is how we as believers should be living may God who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food supply and multiply the seed you've sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness while you're enriched in everything for all liberality which causes Thanksgiving through God Thanksgiving to God so God will multiply the seeds you sow and he'll increase the fruits of your righteousness let me I'm gonna try to close it a minute with four principles that will help us to see God is our provider and to cooperate with him as our provider I wish I had more time I could I could tell you story after story after story of provision where God would give a seed we'd sow the seed and then we'd be blessed I think I've told this one before one time I came home one of my favorite meals to eat in the wintertime is chili homemade chili lots of fresh cut onions and sharp cheddar cheese so I remember walking to the door one evening about five o'clock and there was a big Potter actually I came in earlier in the day I saw a big pot of chili cooking on the stove I said oh good tell the kids mom's making chili then I went back out I had to do something else I came back a couple hours later was just about dinnertime I looked in the pot and half it was gone it's like there's only enough for each of us to get like one medium sized bowl and I go I said the kids what happened to chili what happened to our chili they said mom took it I said where did she take it she said she saw a lady and her daughter sitting by the bus stop it was cold out so she said she took him dinner and what she did they said and she also took our coats what yeah she took our coats because they didn't have any coats they were cold now this shouldn't be extraordinary John the Baptist said to he that has two coats give to him and has done well thing is this is my kids only coat but what she said was listen kids we have a warm house they don't they're out in the cold number two we have faith in God he always meets our needs and sure enough no I did that figured out the timing when she took my kids coats and gave him away about the same time my sister lives in another city 145 miles away hadn't talked to her quite a maybe I hadn't recently talked she had no idea what we were doing God had all all sudden drop something on her heart and she has five kids like we do but they're all older than mine and so she she said she was sitting in her chair let me let me go forward about three days later a big box big box arrived at our front door we opened up and there was coats for all my kids and I and I called my sister what's this about she said I don't know she said I'm sitting in the house all of a sudden something comes over me and says go through your closet and get all the coats for your kids at her closet and mail them to your brother Joe that amazing Melinda just gave the kids kids away coats away they all got better ones in the mail about three days later I could tell you story after story after story this is God our provider this is God our provider all right are you ready we're gonna close if we're gonna if we're gonna see the Lord is our provider and walk in that supernatural stream of provision we have to do four things number one always seek God's will first Matthew 6:33 seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness everything else will be added to you so when you wake up in the morning the first chunk of time should be for the Lord as you go through your life the highest priority in your heart should be to do God's will seek God's kingdom first psalm 34 says even the young lions suffer hunger and they lack but whoever seeks the Lord will not lack any good thing so number one no matter what's going on an economy if we seek the Lord if he becomes our first love we're always trying to do his will he will provide our needs number two always honor God with the first fruits of your increase and be generous when you give to God no no we've lived this I don't care what your bills look like you may only have four hundred dollars and you have a thousand and bills don't use that an excuse to say I'm not gonna honor God with my firstfruits God will understand because I can't afford it no you can't afford not to because when you honor him with your firstfruits heaven opens up and your provision comes so we live I'm not telling anybody to do what we haven't done this works God honors his word so no matter how tight no matter what it looks like always honor God with your firstfruits amen number three speak faith in God's promises death and life are in the power of the tongue so you seek God first you honor your first fruits but your words have to agree with God's Word don't ever say we aren't we have lack or poor we can't make it don't talk like that always say God will meet our needs Gazza good god I prayed for seed it's coming in I'm gonna so I'm a happy Giver Gazza good God speak faith if you don't you'll curse yourself all right and number four always pray that God will guide you to be a good steward with the blessings especially when God starts blessing with increase always pray God helped me to be a good steward guide me guide me in my giving my tithing benevolence alms guide me Lord so there's our four things if we walk these are all biblical principles I could take weeks to cover them all I'm not today's just one day looking at God our provider I wish we had more time we could go deeper into it but listen God can meet it doesn't matter what you're going through God can meet your needs abundantly he has sources you and I don't know anything about and if he wants to he can just create it God will meet your needs I remember dgs tenneco didn't saying one time he'd been serving God so much it was Easter Sunday he's working all the time laboring fasting praying serving God comes home late at night it's a Saturday night and his wife says honey tomorrow more may I'm sorry it was a Friday night Friday night she said honey this Sunday is Easter Sunday and our kids don't have any clothes to wear for Easter Sunday Church some of their clothes are a little bit a little bit ragged they need new clothes she said I don't have any money to get him new clothes he said I don't either she said he knelt down and he prayed he said Lord you know I've been seeking your kingdom first and all I've done with my whole life is sought to do your will I don't know how you're gonna do it Lord but God we need money to get our kids new clothes because the day after tomorrow's Easter Sunday so you said he went to sleep and that night he had a dream or a word I can't remember woke him up and said go look at the chest in your living room he said they had a chest in one of their rooms and they would keep clothes in it different like a family closet you know one clothes or towels or something in there they had some kind of something sheets clothes towels he said the Holy Spirit woke him up and said go look through there so what he opened it up started looking through there he said there was a big wad of cash he said nobody knew how it got yes his wife said if you've been hiding money she said no have you he said no nobody knew how it got there I believe God can create it and they went out and bought the kids nice clothes listen God has a million ways to meet our needs all right let's close with this always seek God's kingdom first amen number two always honor God with your firstfruits be generous when you plant seeds number three speak God's provision speak like Abraham did dad where's the provision from say to your kids God will provide a man and number four always pray God guide me in my finance make me a good steward make me a good steward let my the way I handle what you give me let it be pleasing to you because if we please him he'll give us more amen Joe over Jireh our provider the God who made the Sun Moon and stars he's rich he's rich and he's our father he'll meet our needs and we go through a wilderness he'll still meet all your needs even through the wilderness she'll still be able to give having all your needs met and I'll bring it out on wilderness into the land that flows with milk and honey in Jesus name thank you Lord for being our our provider and lord I pray for those that are watching right now that God every person that will honor you with their firstfruits and seek you first god I know that you'll meet their needs and lord I pray there's people watching you have a desire in your heart and you say God I want to be a giver more than I am and listen I want to pray with you now ask the Lord for seed Lord you said that you would give seed to the sower my wife and I used to say God were sewers if you'll bless it we'll give it and Lord we pray right now that whoever's watching if they're asking for seed to sow he'll supernaturally bless them with provision and when you bless him Lord let him be Oh beat it and sew it and then Lord give him a harvest and I pray that cycle will continue and that God you'll not only meet all our needs but will have an abundance to meet needs of others in Jesus name [Music] [Music]

Channel: ShekinahWorshipTV

Views: 4,739

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Keywords: Joe Sweet, Shekinah Worship Center

Id: EOsrDTyf2eg

Length: 75min 0sec (4500 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 05 2020