Open the Wells of Life -Apostle Mike Connell | Ascend Global Church

welcome your presence holy spirit thank you thank you for your love for us thank you for your love your affection for every person in this room this morning [Music] jesus thank you for your compassion you may wonder why this may be all new to you you may wonder why we're just so excited about jesus it's because of what he has done in our lives who he is and what he continues to do his presence is here his presence wants to touch you this morning [Music] just as um just as i was praying for you all this morning i felt the lord show me this picture the bible says that there was a man who came to jesus he was the bible describes that he was full of leprosy leprosy was a terrible disease it was something they brought great rejection or great shame cut people off from their families it was a skin disease just a horrendous thing the bible says this man that was full of leprosy he got no hope full of shame he tried to hide it the best that he could he couldn't hide it any longer it began to affect his life there was no hope for him he came to jesus came to jesus fell on his feet said lord if you're willing you can make me clean and this is the nature of jesus [Music] jesus reached out his hand and touched the man said i'm willing be cleansed the bible says immediately that leprosy left that man received his mana back he received wholeness shame left friend you may not have leprosy here this morning but there'll be are maybe other things there that brought shame or bringing shame into your life you've come to the right place [Music] jesus is still the same it doesn't matter what you are ashamed of doesn't matter what you're experiencing in your heart jesus is still the same he's here this morning his presence wants to come and make you clean while she clean this morning i don't know [Music] this would be the best analogy it's what i saw was i know if you know the movie shawshank redemption and the guy comes out he swims through a kilometer or so of a poo [Music] and he comes out the other side and he stands in the river there and then the rain comes down and washes him clean one of the things i felt this morning is there people here today and you know in your heart maybe there's something you've been involved in or something you've done these things maybe in your heart you may be good at hiding physically but you know what i felt this morning as the reign of heaven was to come over your life he wants to come and wash it away just like that man as he lifted up his hands and the rain came down just as jesus reached out his hand and touched that man and immediately he was made cold if you're here this morning you know that there's some things that you just need to get right with the lord things that may be ashamed of [Music] all you got to do this morning is just lift up your hands not to me to jesus [Music] a lot of us have got things that were ashamed of but jesus the bible say wasn't angry he was full of compassion and he reached out and touched today i see the lord just it's almost like he's holding a shower he's just wants to wash you wants to wash off the dirt wash the wash the muck off your life is small and if you are willing just to allow him to come and wash you and wash you clean [Music] reign of heaven come and fall on this place fall on your people this morning father the reign of heaven even right now just come to start to wash those that wash shame away today wash uncleanness wash to the holy spirit wash grief away wash hopelessness wash rejection away today holy spirit minister to your people today [Music] laurie i don't know if you're here this morning but you may be watching online you may be here [Music] laurie i just felt the lord place your heart this morning wants to i want you to once you know how much he loves you he loves you very very much he wants to do a healing work and a restoration work inside of your life one of the things i saw was this just as i was worshiping which was praying i had your my heart one of the things i saw was like a knot it's like a like a knot and a rope that knot was in your heart and one of the things i felt was this that the holy spirit's going to do a fresh work he's working your life right now and one of the things i saw him start to do is start to undo the knots in your heart and hanging on to a bunch of things for a long long time and lauren wants to wants to tell you how much he loves you and you you've got grandchildren and you know the love that you have here for your grandchildren and that's what i felt for you today and the same more than the love that you show your grandchildren that's how much the lord loves you he loves you wants to minister to he wants to bring restoration and healing into your life you're a good man you're a good man you're a good father you're a good granddad he wants to bring a healing and relieve you of some the anxieties from those knots in your heart i bless you i bless your family today jesus never bless your whole household today maybe experience peace come and just one more time just lift our hands we give you glory today fast this morning and i felt like there was someone either here or listening online and you you have a plan and it's not a good plan there's something that you've been thinking about in your heart and it's been going round and round and i felt the tenderness of god and the love of god for you and it's his kindness is saying stop [Music] reconsider and if you i just encourage you to reach out to one of the leaders here and we can help you we'll help you but this plan just to stop even right now in the presence of god and let his tenderness turn you let his tenderness touch that emptiness and that pain and know that there's hope [Music] my dad 75 years young [Applause] who would know that you are 75 you're like a legend like a living legend we've had a we've had a great um family celebration last night and uh there'll be another celebration tonight but we want to honor you both because both of you are in your 75th year and who would know you guys just have more energy than just about anyone i know you leave preachers in your wake uh with your energy and it's not just because it's not a natural energy it's an energy that comes from heaven because god is your source and i think for each one of us if we could be half of that the way you have through trials through ups and downs that people have no idea about you have stayed steadfast to god and the um the testimony of that is who you are today and the way you are running your race you ain't walking it you're not hobbling it you're not limping it you are running it and we are we are chasing you to catch up so we honor you today where's our why don't we stand up we want to give them a gift this morning from the church [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's remain standing apostle mike come and bring the word you ready to come bring the word on your birthday or valentine yes come on come on [Music] what a great god we have lord we are you we worship yours lord we give you all the honor all you've got all you're all you're about to do we thank you lord amen wow praise the lord please be seated thank you so much you know for your wonderful words of honor and appreciation and uh thank you for carrying the baton and building on what we've done it's just such a joy to be in a church that's full of people and vibrant and alive and uh full of the holy ghost amen it's wonderful thank you worship team what a great job you've done come on let's give them a clap and appreciate them man oh man and thank you jim for coming great to have you here with us jim was uh one of two people that really helped impart faith to me they're the only people that'll believe in us and walk with us and say come on go harder go higher and jim was one of those and uh so he he encouraged us that's why we have the facility there's not a corner he hasn't been in he did it pretty well he'd we didn't pay people to do it we had german just a few others just helped on the journey and then we came down this used to be just a big open area and we had a we actually set it up as a uh as a skate rink so we had all the skateboarders come in and we did uh a barn dance in here there was nothing here it was just nothing it was so big i remember looking at it thinking that's too big well really the problem was i was too small in my thinking and jim said no no we can do this we can do this we can put this here and there and so i was able to we just sat down and worked out the floor plan which you see and then i left it to him and he did it all and he was able to pace the building with the income flow that god gave us so we never had to borrow in the in the two years he was building then just the last part we bought a bit of money just to get the roof up we're tired of being not here we don't need to be here so we just want to thank you jim love you and appreciate you so glad to have you here and your beautiful sister and anton we appreciate you amen well we just want to open for the spirit of god to touch our lives today and i believe god wants to touch people he's always wanting to touch people and whenever we worship and honor jesus god's spirit is here to help you believe that i don't believe that i mean it's peter hillman here peter hellman i thought i saw you greeting me somewhere there he is there pete come on over here i want to pray for you while i was worshiping i felt the lord just speak to me pray for peter peter came and volunteered his time here and he just took on a task that's so difficult for any pastor which is maintaining and looking after everything and we just love you and appreciate it just give me a hand just one hand like that that's right i want you to close your eyes father i just pray for peter now pray lord for your spirit and power to touch his life now peter god sees the purity of heart that you have he sees the way you honor him and love him and how you have given and served and sown your life without ever asking for recognition ever asking for payment ever asking for anything in return and the lord is showing me that you're entering now a new season where god is putting a new manner on you a new courage on you a new boldness on you i see you emerging and gaining stature you've known what that's like you've taken teams out and they've looked to you as the leader and then it was almost like you went through a wilderness period but that's god's period of shaping you and he's preparing you for enlargement and leadership and enlargement and influence his hand is on your life and he's going to just pour his spirit on you can feel the presence of god on you right now touch him right now lord power go where's henrietta are you here henrietta you need to come too you're part of this we just love you really appreciate god has added you into the house what a blessing you are we love you amen we love you amen how how great it is to see you leading us in worship and there's great days ahead great days ahead father i just pray for henrietta i pray for your spirit and power to touch your life today i thank you for her will you've walked through many valleys many disappointments and many questions why why i see you trying to figure things out and then in the in the end you just decided instead of trying to figure it out you would just trust god and then god has moved you in this last six to nine months has been a dramatic shift spiritually in your stature and your positioning i want you to know his favor is upon you his favors upon your marriage upon finances and upon your family and i see you emerging with a stronger voice you've been carrying a fresh confidence and boldness and worship that god is enlarging in your life a whole mantle of leadership to be a voice for women in this generation you're not just going to lean in worship you're going to speak god's word and bring hope to broken people and particularly broken people from your culture there's been a fire burning in that area and we're coming in a season in our nation when god is moving upon maori people and god is going to raise you up you're going to find in this next month god speak to your heart and you will weep and weep and weep with a burden for people who are abused and broken and traumatized and dispossessed and i see god raising you up and putting strength into your life holy spirit come upon her anoint her for this work that your power and presence just come over her lord spirit of god touch him now thank you lord the presence of god is all over you where's feku one god wants to touch you too he's fikku feko i think i've got to say it right there you go come on mate there we go come on over amen i just while i was worshiping i i thought i saw your face then i'd lost the name because i'm thinking about jesus but but i just then felt god put in my heart just some things for you and it's like you know sometimes people stand in the shadows when they're in the shadows they're not noticed and it's like all your life you've been in a shadow the shadow of others and there's been a grief you've carried in your heart because of that because you know there's something much greater you're called to and god has done a work in your heart he's bringing you out of the shadow bring out of the shadow of others establishing your identity as a man of god as a leader as a person of prayer as a man of integrity and god is raising you up to give you a voice and i just see the spirit of god coming on you and breaking something that's been part of the culture you've raised in where you felt like you can't come out and speak to people and i just see the spirit of god coming on you to deliver you from that and to bring you into a boldness in your life in this next six months we're going to see you shine forth in a whole different way thank you lord just let the lord touch you right now father in jesus name i just stand against every root of shame be boost in jesus name rhino touch him touch him right now in jesus name thank you lord amen god is here god is here today thank you i want pray for two other people just at this point because i had a vision while i was worshiping there of a uh a person who'd been on a ladder and fell off the ladder let it collapse you fell off you've injured your back and you're in pain you've been in pain for some time now who's that person i want to pray for you it was recently kind of maybe six months or something you come off a ladder and there was a pain that's that you've struggled with pain who's that person you just come right now i will pray for you god wants to touch you and heal you who's that person you're involved you're on a ladder fell and your back is injured there you go thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord holy spirit come on stretch your hands out to him let's believe for god to touch him right now father we just thank you father we thank you lord you're the god who heals the father right now we thank you there's nothing impossible to you so father right now in jesus name we just pray i just pray for healing to flow into your spine and your back right now i command every part of your spine to be restored to be made whole in the name of the lord jesus christ they command all pain to go or stiffness and to go in jesus name i command release into your spine in jesus name touch him holy spirit thank you lord for your presence that's right release them right now release them right now command that spine to be healed in jesus name thank you lord thank you lord there you go there you go good on you there's one other person i wanted to pray for and uh there's a woman here and you're struggling with fear immense fear came around your life about the age of seven there was an incident happened in your life and as a result of that you've lived in fear and every now and it'll come over you and you withdraw who's that woman who's struggling with that i don't want to give any more information around it just want to pray for you for god to set you free who's that woman he's struggling throughout the age of seven and then fear come around you here we are thank you lord again stretch your hands out to her thank you lord just close your eyes what's your name dear jacinta what a beautiful name father i just thank you lord time is irrelevant to you because you dwell in eternity and say lord we ask that you would invade that moment at seven years of age when lord she experienced something that caused a spirit of fear to enter her life in the name of the lord jesus christ i break every soul attachment to that trauma i break it now in jesus name i speak into every cell in your body and i command healing from the impact of what you experience i command every cell to release the memories of trauma the pain of it the shame of it now in the name of the lord jesus christ is take authority over fear spirit of fear looser now looser releaser release her right now let it go right now in jesus name thank you lord thank you i see the presence of god is really all over you right now lord just let your healing work go deep into a life deep into a heart just speak into your nervous system i command peace to come into your nervous system i command sleep patterns to be restored thank you father we pray you rest into a night's sleep no longer waking up troubled thank you lord thank you lord amen god bless you amen well wonderful come on let's just open our heart and open ourselves to the lord today i want to share something with you then stir you all up to get engaged again amen so why don't we just uh if you have a bible with you could like to look up in genesis chapter 26 i've had this burning in my heart probably for a couple of weeks now and david's been mentioning it and i thought well one of us gonna get to speak on it i'm first up so i get the chance he'll do it differently and that's okay so in genesis chapter 26 i want to speak a message called open the wells of life open the wells of life and uh we're going to read from genesis 26 and verse 15. i encourage you to read the story yourself and uh those are watching online we welcome you to come god wants to touch you where you are and i pray that the spirit of god will move and minister to you online wherever you're sitting right now especially our special friends in australia america god bless you and thank you for your birthday greetings and uh genesis 26 15 now the philistines had stopped up all the wells which uh isaac's father servants had dug in the days of abraham his father and filled them up with earth and uh emily that's the philistine leader said to isaac go away from us you're much mightier than we and isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the valley of gayrar and dwelt there and isaac dug again the wells of water they had dug in the days of abraham's father for the philistines had stopped them up after the death of abraham and he called them by the names his father had called them and also isaac's servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there but the herdsmen of gayra quarreled with the herds isaac's herdsmen saying the water's ours and so they called the name of that well they called it isek because they qualisek means quarrel fighting now there's a lot of people of that situation right now so then he moved on they dug another well and there was a quarrel over that one also and he called its name citna meaning hatred there was somebody it wasn't just quarreling they actually hated him and then he moved from there and notice he's not contending with people he did exactly what abraham did when their strife said it's okay and then you'd fight over this i got another source that's a real message just right in there about that and he moved from there dug another well and they didn't quarrel over it and he called the name rehoboth because he said now the lord has made room for us we will be fruitful in the land and he went up from there to beersheba and the lord appeared that night he had a experience and encounter with god when he dealt with these worlds properly and it says the lord said i'm the god of your father abraham do not fear i am with you i'll bless you or multiply your descendants for my servant abraham's sake so he built an altar there called upon the name of the law there and pitched his tent there and would you believe it dug another well and so you find i thought there were only three wells there then i found the release five that are named and there's others that he dug so you find then there's a whole story of a man of god moving forward digging wells and so i want to just uh talk about the wells now uh remember we're looking in the bible that the bible uses natural things to give you a picture to help you and understand a spiritual thing so we live in a physical world but there's a spiritual world and so the bible's full of stories in the old testament that give natural pictures that are prophetic of something else and you have to realize that all of these people in the bible they have their story but they're part of a much bigger story and you have your story but you're part of a bigger story and when all you're thinking about is your story you're not caught up in the bigger purpose god has for your life and uh so we're going to look into the story here and talk a little bit about the issue of wells and so you find in the bible there's many mention of wells in the middle east if you haven't got a well you die you needed a well a well source of water because here we live we can just turn the tap on take it all for granted you go to pakistan and the water kills you or poisons you or cause you you'd have the trots whatever well you know you're understanding how precious water is being to india and you've had to pour the water out with a piece of cup over yourself then you appreciate running water and so we just take it all for granted but in this culture water was essential for life no water no life you died and so wells then are a picture for us of a source of water a source of life and i'm going to open up some things about it so when the bible's talking about a well it's referring to two things we could refer to many things but i'll give you two of them and one of them the primary uh meaning of a well of the significance of a well it pictures a source of water it's a picture of the holy spirit it's a picture of the work and the ministry of the holy spirit who is pictured like water that flows out and brings life but you have to draw on that water and we'll touch a little bit about that so the holy see jesus spoke in john 14 there was a woman had come to him the woman was broken she'd been abandoned in five marriage relationships she's now living with a man she's carrying shame her heart is broken there's no hope for her future she's living in an insecure situation she comes to a well and has an encounter with jesus christ look what jesus says to her jesus asked her to give a drink get him some water and he said if you knew the gift of god and who it is john 14 10 14 give me a drink you would have asked him and he would give you living water so he's meeting a woman by a well who's broken and in shame and she's drawing water out naturally and he then starts to explain the significance and this is jacob's well this is a well dug by jacob in the old testament and and so he says if you knew what water i could give you you would come to me notice what he says he said uh she said you would have asked him he'd give you living water water that brings life and the woman said well you've got nothing to draw from the well is deep where do you get the living water are you greater than our father jacob who gave us this well and he said whoever drinks this water going to get thirsty again but whoever drinks the water i give him will never thirst the water that jesus will give will become in him a well or a fountain springing up notice the language he's using to everlasting life and notice what she says i want that water give me some of that water give me this woman who's at the end of herself she's carrying all this pain and brokenness of being abandoned rejected and abused in relationships cast off of no value whatsoever and he says you know you keep coming to this water you're going to thirst again but he said i got a water to give you if you drink this water it'll be inside you it'll be a well you'll never thirst again you'll never long for love again you'll never long for a purpose again you'll never long for the things you're longing for i can bring it to you give it to me give it to me give me the water give me this what i want this water and so he he makes it clear that the natural things cannot fur cannot quench the thirst we have inside us god has designed us for connection with himself you're a spirit being living in a body designed for connection with god religion is not a connection with god religion's just a lot of things we do to try and please someone but but you see he's talking about a relationship where you're joined spiritual spirit the spirit of god enters your life and now you have access to the life-giving spirit of god wherever you go you are a well and you've just got to learn how to draw on the water of the holy ghost a draw on the life that god gives you know people are looking for all kinds of things people are looking for significance looking for purpose wondering about why their life is here and the only way you can find the answer to that is to find it in a relationship with jesus christ there is a well that he gives us sadly for many christians i notice their well has been filled in we'll get back to that a little bit later because you need to understand what you need to do so the flow of life of water comes from within us most people when they are thinking about god they're thinking of someone up there god wants a relationship with you where his presence your conscience of his presence within you you are able to draw on him draw on his strength and adversity draw on him for encouragement draw on him for love and affirmation draw on him to be filled with his spirit okay that's how we're designed to live live from a well within say so jesus describes the spirit of god like this in john 7 38 whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart or inner being will flow rivers of living water and he spoke this concerning the spirit that those believing in him would receive so notice he's saying that he says if you believe on me not only will i put my spirit in you and your thirst will be satisfied he said is more than just a being about you he said out of your innermost being out of from within you will flow rivers of life that will impact and bless people see the blessing of god is never just to be kept it's always for others god said to abraham i will bless you and i will make you a blessing so most people live out of like a poor mentality i i need i need i need god say no i want you to become filled with me and overflow and gift to others pour out from the well of joy and the well of peace and the well of forgiveness and the well of deliverance and the well of healing whatever it is that god has put in your life pour it out the bible tells us not only does the the the well speak of the holy spirit it's also described directly as a picture of salvation isaiah says therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation so salvation comes to us when we trust in jesus christ without christ we're separated from god we're trying to live not from our spirit we're trying to live out of our soul and we look to the things outside us to satisfy they can never satisfy you can never have enough money to satisfy you but when you're poor you think if you had it it would it doesn't we think relationships will satisfy so people go into a marriage hoping that person will meet their needs and then it falls apart because they're drawing on them for something they can't give we're not meant to live that way we're making to live out of an overflow of a personal life with god and that overflow flows out to others what an amazing thing god has got that's why god wants you connected to him and in a vibrant relationship so you've got life to give that life should be tangible visible should be attractive that's true otherwise your well has been stopped wells can't be stopped as we see here and there's a reason why they get stopped we'll open that up in just a moment so there so so the holy spirit's like a river of water that's why i love coming here it's like a river it's a river to you've got to draw on that river we have to draw on that river so what is the significance of wells now i'll leave it to you to look i could give more but i'll just open up a few things in the bible that so in the bible when they're trying to make something known see jesus in the new testament explains what it was all leading to he's a fulfillment of what god was doing so he says to the woman at the well if you knew who it is if you had revelation of who i am you would ask me i'll give you the water you need and you'll never be thirsty again and so every well in the bible has got some things surrounding it that that tell us about the importance of the well and keeping the water going okay not about coming to services it's about keeping the well alive and flowing it's meant to flow not just in a service on sunday with you raising your hands and singing it's meant to flow everywhere you go god wants that river he saw it in ezekiel he prophesied it'll flow out of the house and everywhere it goes it'll bring life and healing to people god's design it's not for you to be preoccupied with yourself but to be an overflow a blessing for others they like to be around you because of what you carry they like what they see they see that can't put words to it it's the holy ghost it's the life of god flowing from within so i'll just give you a a couple of examples of uh of of uh the significance of wells in the bibles then i want to really get to the point of just re-digging the world so here's the first thing in the bible was that a well was absolutely essential for survival and so having access to a well was life or death if you had no water you died it's as simple as that so so so we see in the bible the struggle around the world okay so only only the the life of god can satisfy what you need if you don't draw on his life for your love for your peace for the things that you need you're going to look elsewhere and die you say i hadn't died oh now listen it's a slow death you don't see that's the deception of sin people look into pornography thinking it'll give them life it gives them a buzz but they don't see it's damaged their brain it's damaged their heart it's damaged their spirit people look into alcohol thinking alcohol make them feel better it does for a while but what they don't see is how they're abusing and breaking up all the relations the things that are of value are being destroyed by their search to meet a thirst so wells are absolutely essential for life there are real needs that we have there are real needs we have and they can only really be met in god personally with them so david cried out like this in psalm 63 when he was in the wilderness he said god you're my god only will i seek you he said my soul thirsts for you i long to encounter you so see david when he's in his deepest trouble knew that the real issue is not what's happening around him it's his need for the touch of god in his life my soul first for you my heart longs for you see to see and behold your power and glory see what he's hungry for he's hungry for god now when you're when you're thirsting in your heart thirsting for love thirsting for encouragement you'll you'll go somewhere to meet the need you've got to make a decision in your heart i will turn to the lord for my need i'm not going to tune to people i'm going to turn to the lord he can fill me up and overflow me see so so that's the first thing we see it was an absolutely essential resource for survival telling us without the life of the holy ghost you become dry spiritually dead very religious he says what happened the second thing is that the the wells were a communal place or a meeting place in uh genesis 24 13 and there's a number of stories like this this is abraham's servant looking for a a spouse for isaac the son of promise a picture of god the father looking to find a bride suitable for his son jesus christ that's the picture there and so where does he find the bride by the well see these pictures these stories are not sort of like random stories about people every story is not just about the person it pictures something much bigger in god's purpose that's why they're gonna look into the story see and so harry's standing said well how am i gonna find this girl and he said now let it be that the young woman who comes up to me and says please let down your picture that i may drink and she says drink and i'll give you camels as well now camels are thirsty he had 10 camels that's a lot of water and she's got to put down the well and pull it all up and uh he said i'll know then that that's the one you've appointed for your servant isaac and this is i'll know you've shown kindness to my master and so it happened before he finished speaking behold rebecca he was born of bethel son of milker the wife of neha abraham's brother came out with a picture on her shoulder and she said this to him do you want some water and i'll give you water for your camels as well and he goes my how did that just happen there so you have to see there's a lot and i won't explain why i'll just give you enough to it that wells were placed where the community gathered because of the common source of water and you find there's a there's at least two maybe three references in the bible to a key figure in the bible finding his bride by the well and she's not just standing around gossiping she's drawing from the well not just for her own needs but she's got the heart of a servant that will give out to others god is looking for a people that will love him without asking something he's looking for a people that will serve that will open up their heart and use the gifts they have for others so it's not just about the holy spirit coming in and meeting your need it's about he wants to position you in a community called the church where you can learn and receive from the water of others and you can overflow what you have to them as everyone has received a gift minister to others so every person in the church is called to be a minister of god you were called to be a minister of god you were called to carry the anointing of the holy spirit now what religion does he say oh we leave that up to a special person i'm just me don't expect anything of me that is so wrong and it violates god's purpose god's purpose is every believer be filled with the spirit and overflow with that life and serve others minister to others and when he saw that she had a servant heart and gave water to meet his needs he said that's the one that's the chosen bride for isaac the son of promise so what's god looking for he's looking for you to become like that person to develop a servant heart and overflow with the gifts of god to others here's a here's a third thing the a well was often a symbol of covenant intimacy let me show you a verse on this proverbs 9 verse 15 it's using picture language again drink water from your own system and running water from your own well now i'm going to get a lot on that let me just say this he's talking to a young man and basically he's saying stay faithful to your covenantal wife and have sexual intimacy with her only and don't go running around having lost of sexual relationships so he's basically giving wisdom to a young man how to live a life that will be blessed and he said delight in your wife so notice here the picture language that's used is of the wife being like a well that he can draw love from in a covenant relationship and the bible uses that in a number of pictures it says that the beloved of jesus is like a well so here's here's the story here's the symbol this is what it's saying there that the holy ghost wants to bring you into intimacy a relationship that's deep and committed not casual so the work of the holy spirit will be to teach you that you need to be committed to your walk with christ not just i'll come and get what i can and then go and do what i want he's looking for a covenantal commitment so the well the place here's the thing if you want to stay in the flow of the spirit of god your relationship with jesus must be covenantal that means i'm committed no matter what that makes sense to you so he sang from that picture there in that story very very clearly stay in a covenantal relationship don't go looking here and there to have your needs met stay focused and keep jesus central to your life here's the third thing the fourth thing fourth thing is that the wells replace where god reveal things we find that in the story of of one of the ladies in the in the old testament hagar and in genesis 21 18 arise lift up the lad and hold him with your hand on making him a great nation then god opened her eyes and she saw a well of water now notice this she is at the point of death in fact she's so thirsty she knows she's not going to live she's going to die in the desert and her child ishmael is going to die with her and she can't bear the thought of it so she puts the child away she's not going to see him die first and as she's there there is a well that she can't see and that's so true that jesus christ is a well that people don't see and when she cried out to god god opened her eyes to see what was there that was available all that time and she couldn't see it she's on the verge of dying because she can't see what god has made available and when so one of the works of the holy spirit is to open your eyes it says express in one corinthians 2 the work of the holy spirit is to reveal to you what god freely has given you if you don't know what god's given you how can you believe for it if you don't know what god's given you in terms of prosperity how will you believe for it if you don't know what god's promised you in terms of health and deliverance and freedom how will you believe god for it you'll have problems and not see that god has provided a solution for you but it's when she cried it was god opened her eyes and saw the well the well of salvation that she could draw the life of god from there's another here's another couple and these are quite important ones a well one of the significance of a well as a well was always a landmark you know a landmark's a prominent feature we've got tomato peak is a landmark everyone knows tomato pea bluff hill a landmark everyone knows bluff hill now in numbers 21 verse 16 they went from there to beer yeah there's beer in the bible how about that which is the well so beer and well beer means well they're amazing eh so when you say have a beer you say i want to drink from the well huh don't drink too deep i can tell you now not that well gonna be a problem for you some of you already need to come up and sort that one out so so here's the thing that that the name of the place and the well were the same well in other words that the wells formed a landmark so what's a landmark a landmark is a a site where something historical took place you're trying to remember so a landmark marked out a boundary of ownership of property so when people dug wells they claimed ownership to the area around it because the well provided them life so a well indicated and now you're going to see why the philistines filled in the well a land indicate the the well indicated there was a territory that belonged to abraham and it was to be passed on as an inheritance to isaac now you start to see why they got closed up and why it is there was a contention around it in just a moment so a well then is a it defines a boundary or property ownership here's this that the well of god inside you defines that you belong to god see if you don't have the spirit of god in you you don't belong to him now it doesn't matter if you come to church and may do good works or anything like that if you don't have the spirit of god in you you don't belong to him if the spirit of god has come to live in you through faith in christ then now you belong to god you belong to someone someone loves you someone paid a price for you someone cares about you you are marked in a way you can't see it physically but the spirit will recognize it god recognizes it you belong to him how does he know you belong to him he sees the well he sees the well he sees his spirit is in you he knows you belong to him now here's the importance of the well you notice that there was a contention over the wells so abraham was blessed by god and god gave him wells but notice there there was a contention over the wells and so every time isaac dug people contended with him now i want to explain to you then that the movement of the holy spirit will always be the center of contention see the devil doesn't mind if you go to church it's if you come to christ get filled with the spirit and live a spiritual life you don't like that the devil doesn't mind you having meetings so long as you don't have move of god because a move of god will disrupt him and his kingdom it's the move of the spirit that makes the difference and so there's always contention so wells were a place of contention they were a place of fighting now you get this jesus came and he says if you come to me he said if you come to me then i'll put something in you that'll quench you first so people came to him what did he do he healed their broken hearts he delivered them he healed their bodies he spoke words that brought life to them and what happened there was massive contention who was the contention with religious people they hated him they plotted against him they tried to uh humiliate him there was a war what was the war over the war was over the anointing and flow and river of the spirit of god that he carried when people see you carry the anointing of god some will be attracted because you offer life to them others will be hostile to you without any cause whatsoever you might say what have i done wrong you haven't done anything wrong it's just who you are you are a living well and the more and brighter you shine the more you upset people so many times christians then for the sake of just being at peace with everyone shut down their christian witness stop carrying that life of the holy ghost they'd rather have everyone like them than live a life that's distinctive and separate when you stop doing the things others do they say what's wrong with you you're weird or something you've got religion no i got something else i got a well i don't need to drink from your one i drink from your one end up with a headache and look and and full of shame see so so it's a source of contention so so the philistines so think of this god prospered isaac god prospered him he he went from one level of prosperity so what did the philistines do this is what it did it says they envied him and they hated him they hated the blessing of god in his life so what is the significance of this word philistines if you track the origin of the philistines they are the descendants that came from the founder of the city of babylon which is the center of the occult and world religions all religions originate all occult activity originates out of babylon and this man is a descendant of the founder of babylon not only that the name philistine means to roll in the dust a reference then to when god cursed the devil and said you'll eat of the dust or roll in the dust so the philistines in the story they represent demonic spirits evil spirit beings which contend with you and hate you accessing the wells of god so what did they do they filled in the wells that abraham had dug why did they fill in the wells abraham a doug because they wanted to destroy they wanted to stop the flow of water they wanted to destroy any remembrance that he had been in that land and that he now was an owner of that land they wanted to destroy the legacy or in other words if the devil can't stop you walking with god you try and make sure he steals your family from you by you not passing on a legacy the legacy that needed to be passed on were the wealth the well symbolized god moving and meeting his needs they were encounters with god and the devil came in to destroy the wells so in the history of our church god has opened up wells when we came here it was a very very distressing thousands and thousands of dollars of debt a handful of people it was incredibly sad the well had been filled in the life flow had stopped and so when we came it's not about having a meeting or trying to run a church there was nothing there much to run a handful of people that remained faithful to god and so through prayer we had to dig a well i walked around that city center every day for months we prayed we fasted god started to add people i activated the well we started to get the worship flowing we started to get prayer strong prayer going we start to get the gifts of god flowing and then suddenly the well opened up and god came and there was a move of the spirit started now when a move of the spirit starts unusual things happen and people either love it or they hate it whatever way there's always going to be a contention around it and so we become called the wildlife center it was a new life center called the wildlife center because every meeting we would hold every gospel meeting we would hold at night it didn't matter what we preached on you could preach on the love of god but the moment you touched anyone any demon inside them began to scream and yell and manifest people came from all around the area to watch what god was doing they wanted to draw off that well some of them would stand down the back they'd go through the meeting be an ordinary meeting get to the end of the meeting as soon as the older call they'd run to the back stand back their look and see what god's they were going to happen they were they were both attracted and afraid but a well had opened up and people came they came not just from the area here i had them ringing up i had them coming from outside our city and i think how do you know i don't know how they know when water is flowing people find out and come people draw people are attracted how can we know that when that well was preserved that well of deliverance opened up that that well that i carry that that well that god opened up in our life and opened up in the church that well that people hated and argued did all kinds of things against i had people shout at me pastors i was friends with shouted at me and hated me for the well i said no this is god touching people i'm holding on to this well and so that will open the way for me to go into all corners of the world thousands upon thousands of people impacted because i can draw on a well god opened when you have an experience with god when god blesses you and brings revelation to your heart and you become activated in your spirit then you have a well wherever you go you carry that you can draw on that you can draw on the gift of prophecy draw on love if you're gifted in finance then that well opens up suddenly you begin to prosper no people get angry people get jealous but you know it's god it's not your cleverness it's not your work it's not you were smart in 1993 i felt there was a desperate need for a new move of god i heard in christchurch is what i heard you know what i heard in christchurch i didn't hear about a move of god i heard about the contention that all the pentecostal pastors in christchurch had gathered up against one person i said no one could unite them like that except it's a move of god and they're against it so religious and so i was i i was inquiring about it wasn't and i rang up a friend peter kirsten i said peter was god there in those meetings and he said oh it was powerful i said i gotta have her come here and open a well in this place we came she came and there was contention around it contention of the local pastors i bought her to meet them because god moved we had an open heaven there were angelic manifestations there were healings there were deliverances there were all kinds of things happening and i thought the local pastors will love to meet her i bought them and arranged a special meeting and they were hostile and angry and i had to shut down the meeting and take her out says there's a reality of it not everyone who says they love god love the freedom the holy spirit brings they often look at it through the filter of their own understanding or or history or tradition and then resist it i remember one of the pastors saying to me you've seen your past around here he said i just see muddy water and i said well i see water and i know about muddy water if it keeps flying it'll clear i'm so thirsty i want that water that was the difference see and so god opened up something that spread from here we had a conference here the anointing that was in this place the well that opened up here ran around the world see there are wells opened up in this place here i said we need to do overseas missions and so our first one jim lead led it to tonga i think they did building just started simple like building put up a building helped the pastor out sang songs witness did a bit of preaching came back another year then some cook islanders were added in and so a team went out to the cook island joy took a team at the cook islands and then something started over there and then god started opening up doors and gradually the nations opened up we we touch now millions of people around the world this is the well god opened up wells of missions wells of deliverance wells of healing wells of revelation wells of the prophetic but i said notice in the story the philistines filled in the well they wanted to take the source of life they want to take life from you they wanted to destroy legacy for the next generation [Music] i am so proud of my son [Music] for his heart to carry these things and dig those wells again not just a natural sound also a spiritual son [Applause] together they paid a price to dig wells this is what happened the devil came to feel in the well he wanted to take away the future i see that happening with so many people they get a touch of god but they never value what they got and hold on to it and develop it and build it and build a lifetime where they remain an open well the devil comes fills them with fear and the wealth shuts down they get offended the world shuts down the devil will always want to feel you well he filled the well and with dirt the devil will try to fill your well in with dirt fill it in with the media fill it in with pornography fill it with fear fill it with a fence fill it with grief fill it with disappointment fill it with discouragement that's what he does you got to see what it is you're called to something bigger you're called to bring help to our nation help to this area if you're a young person god calls you to reach young people but you've got to open their well up you something got in there in the dirt this is what isaac did he dug the well again he worked he labored he prayed and fostered and worshiped and the well began to flow again sometimes repentance is needed to get the well flowing again because you've compromised because you've been caught up with the cares alive caught up with the worries about what's going on in the world listen they're all going to go on anyway get your mind on what god is doing open the well again open the well of god in your life prayer seeking hell thirsting for him fasting crying out god i want a fresh encounter god i need a breakthrough in my life listen the bible says when you get a breakthrough when you overcome something you become a well that brings hope to others we we bring hope to people out of the wells we opened up through the pain and difficulties we went through that's what will happen to you too no one can take you well it's up to you this is what i love isaac didn't just dig the old wells raise up the landmarks of what god had done he dug new wells he dug new wells this is what i'm believing for dave and kate to do to dig new wells new worlds new experiences with god new rivers of god moving touching the community in ways we've not seen before there is such a need if you read the news you see how the devil is filling in the wells removing the landmarks shutting down conservative viewpoints it's happening all through the western world soon it'll be here you need the word of god to know what god says or you won't see the well of provision we need to be searching the word of god for what he promises for our life our finances our future our marriage our relationships discover what god says and then pray and pursue it until it stomps to reality then you have a river flowing they never just turn up they happen quickly but it took a long time of digging before you struck the water i want this church to open up fully again the wells that we once dug i want you to be part of that and then to go further than we do open up things we've never done before you have a great destiny a great legacy but the devil will take it from you if you can't see what you have listen god is wanting to activate your well again maybe some of you here it's filled in and you need to realize that there's no joy there's heck until it's filled in no joy there's no peace the world's filled in see there's evidence of well is going there's joy there's peace there's life i'm not interested in what caused it i just want to know you'll say i'm going to dig again that way repentance confession of sin will open the well see turning away from bringing your disappointments and headaches to god that'll open the well again letting god into your heart to heal you that'll open the well again will you let god open your well will you pursue him david slam in the wilderness god i thirst for you i long for you to see your power and your glory that's what we're hoping for i want you to close your eyes for a moment maybe there's people here today and you've come and there's no connection with god you have no well of life so you're drinking from other worlds they can't satisfy and you know it doesn't satisfy jesus said come to me if any man thirst let him come to me so i'm not calling you to religion i'm calling you to a person jesus christ who loves you and died on the cross for you so your sins could be forgiven the blocks to the life of god removed and the well of god opened up in your heart what a gift of god if you knew who it was that was speaking to you you would have asked him for water living water how can you provide that water you have got nothing to draw from he said the water i give will be in him a well that springs up if you're here today you're at that place in your life there's an emptiness that you know of you know you're disconnected from god there's a searching going on in your heart maybe this is the time right now to say i want to respond to jesus christ i want to open my heart and life for jesus to come in when our eyes are closed and heads about would you raise your hand if that's you you say i want to become a christian i want to become a follower of jesus would you raise your hand just wherever you are god bless and see a hand there god bless you over there another hand over there over there another one over there jacob is down there as well anyone else anyone i see hand over there god bless you many hands going on people responding is there anyone else wanting to receive jesus first time praise the lord that's what we're going to do i'd like everyone just to stand and in a moment going to invite those who put their hands up or even didn't put their hands up to come forward and make a row facing me i want to lead you in a simple prayer to invite jesus into your life it'll take about a minute a minute and a half two minutes i want you to just make your way to the front right there church let's give them a clap as people can't come right now one coming god bless come on church keep clapping people are coming you're going to come here those who put your hands up would you come would you come would you come each person who put their hand up saying i want to receive jesus would you make your way to the front right now just come come back there god bless god bless anyone else several hands went up someone over the back over there make your way to the front do i can't come just come that's right just make your way to the front a couple of hands over there over there would you come right now important decision for you to make she said if we would if we confess him openly he'll confess us openly too [Music] close your eyes would you turn around just face me what's josh that's a great name one of the most famous men in the bible great man god loves you very much i'd like you just to pray a prayer with me i'll lead you and give you the words and everyone in the churches help us pray together help josh pray this prayer you ready now jesus i open my heart to you i ask you to forgive my sin i receive you as my savior i receive you into my heart today and i give you my life thank you for forgiving me and opening a well of life in my heart amen father i just thank you for joshua pray for him right now for your spiritual touch father i ask you would heal the pain of being so severely rejected [Music] touch him let him know how deeply you love him in jesus name [Music] always give a clap shall we [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Ascend Global Church

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Length: 67min 17sec (4037 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 13 2021