Seeking and Finding the Lord Pt 2 - Joe Sweet

i last week i brought a message i called it seeking and finding the lord i want to call this seeking and finding the lord part two we're going to talk about how to seek the lord we're going to talk about how god responds to those who seek him we're going to talk about spiritual hunger which is the currency of heaven i mentioned that in prayer this morning it's awesome you're going to want to join me in seeking god in an extraordinary way right now that is the word of the lord for the season we're in to him has ears to hear hear what the spirit of god is saying now is the time to seek the lord and uh let me start by reading this scripture second chronicles 7 14. if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray seek my faith there's an order to these and turn from their ways that are not agreeable with me then so there's four things that god tells us to do humble ourself to number two pray three seek his face four turn from our ways that don't agree with him god says if we'll do that god said i'll do three things i'll hear from heaven i'll forgive your sins and i will heal your land and that is the word of the lord for the body of christ in the usa right now what needs to happen for our nation to be saved is for the body of christ to fulfill second chronicles 7 14. it's distressing to see what's happening in our government but if we were to get all the right people in all the right offices federal and state and we didn't have a great revival in america the nation is still lost we would just be lost and more blind because things were going our way so right now we have an opportunity to wake up and fulfill second chronicles 7 14 the body of christ in the usa is the answer for america as the church goes so goes the nation so god said he'll hear from heaven what does that mean first john 5 14. we know it says if we ask anything according to his will we know he hears us here's what it says if he hears us whatever we ask we know that we have the petition that we've asked of him so when god says i will hear you god said then i'm going to give you what you're seeking so so when god tells us humble yourself pray and seek my face the face of god god said if you'll do that i'm going to answer that which means he's going to make his face shine on you and on the body of christ in the nation now what does that look like when god says i will you're going to get an answer to seeking my face ezekiel 39 29 says i will not hide my face from them anymore for i shall have poured out my spirit on the house of israel so when god says hey church i know things aren't going your way get your eyes off of everything else get your eyes right now i'm not saying don't stop praying for the god to fix the government but don't make that your main gaze don't make that your highest prayer god's saying hey everybody seek my face and when i show my face to this nation everything else will be healed and it's a it's an error to not seek his face but seek for things to get better god says seek my face and i'll make things better i'll heal the land so that's what we have to focus on and god said when we seek his face the holy spirit will be poured out now i touched on this a little bit last sunday but not enough we're going to go over it a little bit more we're going to look at some scriptures in the book of acts and i honestly think if you'll open your heart and mind we myself you we don't really grasp what it means when god says he'll pour his spirit out i don't think we really get it i don't think we really see the impact and the changes that will happen when god's spirit is poured out maybe what i don't know what you think when we think of the of the phrase god poured his spirit out well we'll have better meetings there will be more healings and prophecy and we'll all feel his presence more that's for sure but god's idea of pouring his spirit out goes infinitely beyond the church having better meetings it's not what it's about here's so let's look at it what does it look like when god pours his spirit out we're going to begin looking in acts chapter 2 and i'm just going to read some of these verses if you want to read along i'm going to skip through it i'm not going to read the whole thing suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind this is where the 120 were in the upper room waiting on god in obedience a sound of a rushing mighty winner to fill the whole house where they were sitting then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire once sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the holy spirit so here's now we're going to see what it looks like when everybody gets filled with the holy spirit number one they begin speaking in tongues this speaks to the gifts of the holy spirit okay the bible says a great multitude of devout men had gathered from many nations and had come to jerusalem to pentecost it says when they begin speaking in tongues they were tongues that other men knew the one speaking didn't know the language but the one hearing knew the language there's different kinds of tongues if you read paul teaching in his letter to the corinthians he said there's a diversity of tongues there's one kind of a tongue where we speak mysteries to between us and god we sing in tongues we pray in tongues it's mysteries it's another kind of tongue that we speak out as a prophecy that needs to be interpreted then there's another kind of tongue where we speak in a known language and it's a sign to the unbeliever and they hear it in their own language i told you last week there was a in a conference we had here not too long ago there were people who come from many states parts of the country here for a conference during worship there was a woman from the middle east who spoke arabic and a lady in our church during worship was speaking in tongues and the lady that spoke arabic came up came and testified she said the woman next to me spoke in perfect arabic she said daughter there's persecution coming where you're where you where you're at fear not i'm with you be strong i'm with you perfect arabic see that's a sign so that's what happened when the holy spirit's poured out gifts now watch this they were all amazing they marveled saying to one another look are not all these galileans how is it that we hear each of them speaking in our own language in which we were born so they were all amazed and perplexed saying to one another whatever could this mean now when they heard this i'm skipping down after they they said that peter stood up and he preached peter preached under an anointing that was filled with the conviction of the holy spirit so the first thing we notice when the holy spirit's poured out a fire rests on everybody how many want the fire god to come rest on you how many know we need the fire of god see god doesn't have fire he is fire hebrews 12 god is a consuming fire and god when god fills us with the holy spirit we're burning fire speaks of purity it speaks of passion you cannot be full of the holy spirit and not be passionate fire is heat you can't be you can't be full of the holy spirit not be hot and passionate and holy because he's a consuming fire he burns up and purges and devours what's not of him and what's not of him is love it's purity it's truth it's goodness and holiness when fire is resting on you he's consuming what's not that what's not pure and lovely and holy and right he's consuming we need fresh baptisms of fire in the church where god brings us into a deeper holiness and so they're they're filled with the holy spirit they're speaking in tongues which is supernatural it's miraculous it's signs to the unbelievers there's fire on the people peter stands up to preach and when he preached there's there's an anointing on his words and it here's what it says when he preached it says when they heard him they were all cut to the heart that's supernatural that's what we need when we're witnessing to people when we start to share with people in their cut because we're full of the holy spirit because he spent time with jesus charles finney tells about the revivals of his day and he's he would fast and pray and get full of the holy spirit he said whenever i would go and talk to someone he said god would inspire me to just say a word a certain word he said i would see that word would fasten like a hook to their heart i'd walk away and they'd be under conviction he said it was the anointing of the holy spirit when i would speak he said uh it would be like an arrow would go right in their heart it wasn't his soul it wasn't his mind trying to talk him into it it was a fire of the holy spirit cutting their heart and then charles finney said i would notice that sometimes i would start to lose this power he said whenever i did i would set aside a day for prayer and fasting and he said every time i did that it would come back that's what we need so they were cut to the heart and then peter preached he said repent every one of you and be baptized in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins you shall receive the gift of the holy spirit for this promise of the holy spirit is to you and your children and all who are far off as means the lord of god will call now watch what happens here's what's happening when the holy spirit's poured out with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying be saved from this perverse generation then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3 000 souls were added to them when the holy spirit's poured out fire gets on the believers gifts flow conviction when when you have fire conviction flows conviction brings conversion thousands started coming to the lord so they come now all who believed uh oh i'm sorry about three thousand they were con they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine fellowship breaking bread and in prayers then fear came on every soul and many wonders and signs were done so when the holy spirit is poured out he brings the fear of god when the fear of god is lacking in the body of christ it's because we're lacking an outpouring of the holy spirit we need the fear of god now everywhere the fear of god is you can see it through the bible when the fear of god is present the fullness of god comes when the fear of god is lacking we may have his presence but not his fullness so you can see when the fear fear was on every soul it says the next phrase many signs and wonders were done this is our inheritance we should not ever be content to live without this we should not be content to go one more week without this in and among us it's wrong this is our inheritance this is what christ paid for for us to walk in let's go on and so now the three thousand that were added says they continued daily with one accord in the temple breaking bread from house house they ate their bread their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising god now here it is having favor with all the people when the holy spirit is poured out and the fear of god is on the church when the church fears god the world fears the church when the church fears god the church has favor with everybody right now the church is laughed at mocked and thought of as the reason that our country's not doing well the other side the those in our nation who don't know the lord and they're under the spirit of this age they think the church is the problem if they just want to get rid of the conservatives and the christians that's the present that's going to change when the church humbles himself prays gets a fresh filling of the holy spirit it's going to turn the tables they're going to realize the salt and the light of the earth has emerged see they had favor with all the people and the next verse says the lord added to the church daily so when there's an outpouring of the holy spirit the church is on fire flowing in the gifts walking in the fear of god multitudes are coming to christ and the church has favor with everybody and what does god do he says he added daily that means a church should grow by a minimum of 365 people a year because god's adding daily if he's not adding daily then we're not in good shape we're out of shape i was at my son's house he had us the scales now a bathroom scale i you know the only scale i've ever known all this modern tech stuff now you just step on it tells your weight but on his you can step on it tells your body mass index uh how much muscle mass you have what your fat percentage is that amazing when what i'm seeing here is an outpouring of the spirit when that's not present in the church it means we're stepping on the scale and it's saying your body max mass index is not good you you don't have very much muscle mass at all your fat percentage is too high it's telling me that what was it doesn't tell me to condemn it means i need to get the jump rope out i need to renew my gym membership that's what it means watch this now let's go this is what an outpouring of the holy spirit looks like peter and john then they went up to together the temple to pray on their way to a prayer meeting a certain layman lame from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful to ask alms from those who entered the temple seeing peter and john about to go into the temple he asked for alms fixing his eyes on him with john peter said look at us so he gave him his attention expecting to receive something from them then peter said silver and gold i do not have what i do have i give you in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk when the church is full of the holy spirit we're full of authority and power and by the way let me just keep reminding us that being full of the holy spirit means being full of divine love it's not power separate from love healings and miracles happen because god puts his love in our heart and when the compassion of jesus christ not our human compassion but when he imparts his compassion it is flowing from our heart miracles happen he said rise up and walk and then he took him by the right hand and lifted him up now there's a teaching in here on the working of miracles miracles have to be worked it's called the working of miracles he didn't just say stand up and walk peter then took an action he took him by the hand and lifted him up but that's for another teaching if we're going to see miracles we have to have the gift of supernatural faith that comes from being filled with the holy spirit he took him up by the right hand lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength now that amazing he's over 40 years old never walked a day in his life he was daily laid at the temple carried there and laid there to beg and uh because the church was full of the holy spirit his life changed in a great crowd he was he stood up he was leaping all the people saw him they saw him walking and praising and leaping and praising god and they knew it was him who sat begging alms for the gate beautiful and they were watch as they were all filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened the people when the church is filled with the holy spirit will be filled with wonder and amazement at the acts of god now a great crowd gathered and peter preached and it says in acts chapter 4 many of those who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to be about 5 000. this is what happens when there's an outpouring of the holy spirit no wonder god is saying seek my faith until i pour my spirit jesus see it's not it's not about us personally god wants to go beyond us we're supposed to be the vehicles through which god flows and touches the city we cannot do that i cannot unless we get a fresh filling of the holy spirit now after the five thousand came to the lord peter and john were arrested and they were threatened they said tell us by whose name or what authority did you do this they said it's the name of jesus they said don't preach in that name anymore so they said well is it better obey you or god you know anyway they went back to their own acts chapter four they went back to their own and they had a prayer meeting and they said here's their prayer said lord you're the god who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that's in them who by the mouth of your servant david have said why did the nations rage he's quoting psalm 2 and the people plot vain things and the kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the lord and against his christ that's going on in america right now it's going on the globalists are taking their stand they're plotting against the church they're plotting against conservatives that's going on right now the kings of the earth the rulers are plotting there's rulers plotting in this nation and god if you read the rest of psalm 2 it says he who sits in the heavens shall laugh he will hold them in duration because god has a plan anyway he said for truly against your holy servant jesus whom you anointed both herod and pontius pilate with the gentiles and the people of israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done so now lord look on their threats grant your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant jesus so that's their prayer i've said this before i'm not against praying for the government my prayers for those are in the white house right now have changed my prayer now is god forgive their sins and let them get saved forgive them lord the bible says to love your enemies pray for them or to pray for them god don't let them die without knowing you forgive them bind the evil spirits off of them pray for conviction pray for the grace to repent that's how i'm praying for those that are in the white house but he said after they prayed verse 31 when they prayed the place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the holy spirit and they spoke the word of god with boldness so these people were filled but now when they prayed again and that's the other thing we see in the book of acts they had an ongoing prayer life it says they met daily and continued in prayer daily if you read luke 24 they were in the temple continually praising god daily praying daily in the word of god the apostles doctrine daily in the word daily in prayer daily in praise said ongoing prayer life they prayed again in one accord and they were all filled with the holy spirit again so a church that's filled with the holy spirit has to maintain ongoing prayer to keep getting filled and keep getting filled and keep getting filled and here's what happened when they got filled again they were all filled it says they spoke the word of god with boldness that's what we need that's what i need that's what you need they would go out and preach knowing they could be thrown in prison and we have a hard time giving someone at the store a tract what i'm not criticizing anybody that has that i'm just saying that's a sure sign we need to pray and get full of the holy spirit we need to get full of the holy spirit when we're full of the holy spirit romans 5 5 says the love of god is poured into our heart by the holy spirit and when the love increases it drives out fear so he said they all spoke the word of god with boldness now the multitude of those who believed were one heart and one soul there it is again when the holy spirit's poured out they had boldness but guess what else romans 5 5 the love of god is poured out i want that the love of god is poured out what effect did it have on the believers they all were of one heart and one soul there was no lack among them if anyone had need they sold it and they shared nobody told him to do that it was the love of god filling to overflowing you know what that's like that's like deuteronomy chapter 11. it says then there will be the days of heaven on earth when a a community of believers are under an outpouring of the holy spirit it's like the days of heaven on earth everyone's full of the love of god the gifts are flowing power's flowing conviction is flowing multitudes are coming in the love of god is overwhelming our hearts and so we become of one accord and we share and care for each other and there's no lack among us that's what the outpouring of the holy spirit produces anybody getting hungry yet they were one heart one soul and then it says and with great power with now it was not just power now it says great power so they're growing they're growing in grace they're growing in power great power the apostles gave witness and there was no one among them who lacked let me think that's awesome how many think we ought to obey god and seek his face amen let's go to acts chapter 5. now you've got ananias and sapphira coming in the church is full of glory full of power you can't walk into the glory with certain sins now i could divert for a moment here when god says seek my face he said he'll pour his spirit out now if you you go to malachi 3 it says now the lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple and when he comes who can stand his appearing he's like a refiner's fire purifying the sons of levi so he comes and he's a fire of holiness is purifying and then he goes on to say in malachi 3 he will be a swift witness against liars against adulterers and he lists certain sins so when the holy spirit is poured out and the fear of god is on the people and the holiness of god is among a people god said i will be a swift witness against liars and adulterers and he names the sins so here now the holy spirit's poured out they're all full of the holy spirit the fire of holiness is in the church in in walk ananias and sapphira here's what they saw they saw other people were selling property and laying at the apostles feet so they said let's sell a piece of property and then they decide well let's not give all the money let's give this percentage now how many know they could do that they didn't even have to sell their property in the first place but they they wanted to so that their motive was we want everyone in church to think that we're just selling everything but we're not really so it says they sold it and they kept back part then they laid it down at the apostles feet as if it was all you don't do that to a man of god that's full of the holy spirit peter being full of the holy spirit said did you sell the property for such and such they lied now listen because peter was full of the holy spirit here's what he said you haven't lied to man you've lied to god now he lied to peter but peter was full of the holy spirit and the holy spirit spoke through peter to ask him a question so it's the holy spirit talking to the man and when the man lied peter said you haven't lied to man you've lied to god now they're going to bind you up and carry you out here he dropped dead and they carried him out his wife was at home still doing her hair and her makeup how do you know that it's in the scripture the very next verse says three hours later his wife came in that's what it says it says three hours later his wife came in not knowing what happened one she was in cahoots with him to lie she didn't know that her husband was dead she had no idea what she was walking into she walked in he asked her the same thing she lied just like her husband he said why did you lie the same people that carried your husband out are going to carry you out she dropped dead now watch what happened when that happened she said the young men came in and found her dead and carrying her out buried her by her husband here's a here's here's a result of a church that's full of the holy spirit great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things now again i maybe someday i'll get to this but i want to show us sometime not today's not the day that when we have the fear of god we have the fullness of the holy spirit so we can deduct from that that when we're not seeing the fullness of the holy spirit in the church we can say we don't really have the fear of god to the measure that we should which tells us that all of us should seek the lord and say god teach me the fear of god but anyway i said they a great fear came on everyone now what happened again if you do a study through the book of acts everywhere you see the fear of god the very next phrase or sentence is the power of god the life of god the miracles of god and the increase of god so where the fear of god is the fullness of god comes we should be praying earnestly every one of us god teach me the fear of the lord the fear of the lord is not a servile fear a cowering fear is to love righteousness and hate evil the fear of god means that you know that god says what he means and he means what he says the fear of god says there are consequences for not paying attention to what god says that's the fear of the lord so uh now after great fear came on it says through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done and then the believers continue to watch this with one accord there's the love of god come on some somebody help me does anybody want to have church restored to what we're supposed to be he said they were with one accord that means do you know what it's like you you have to know it you have to have times in your prayer closet or at church or sometime when you're full of the holy spirit and the love of god is overflowing yes yes amen that's what happens when god pours his love out there one accord you're just not grouchy like you used to be your heart becomes tender you become compassionate you're not so hard-nosed or critical or judgmental the love of god softens us that's what we need they're one accord but the people it says none of the rest meaning the unbelievers dared join the church but they esteemed them highly and the believers were increasingly added to the lord multitudes of both men and women so again the fear of god comes great signs and wonders and by the way that when they got filled with the holy spirit in acts chapter 4 the second time it says great grace was on them all it would be awesome to have god say my grace is on everyone but it's even more awesome when he says my great grace is on everyone see now signs and wonders believers now are increasingly added now multitudes we saw three thousand five thousand and now multitudes are being added both men and women and so much so it says that they brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of peter passing by might fall on some of them also here's a word again a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to jerusalem bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits and they were all healed that's what happens when the holy spirit's poured out anybody hungry yet see to live below this is to be contented to be contented with less than what jesus paid for us to walk in is wrong to say yeah i know they had it we don't but that's just the way it is that's wrong then you go to acts chapter eight philip this persecution rises against the church the believers were scattered they went everywhere preaching the gospel philip was a deacon you can read about him in acts chapter six he was had he was involved in the food ministry to the widows when the persecution came all the believers left jerusalem the apostles stayed in jerusalem they were scattered everywhere and it says all the believers went preaching all of them and and philip went to samaria and preached the gospel and when he did the people great gave heed because of the miracles and demons coming out many paralyzed people were healed and then it says and there was great joy in that city that's what happens when the holy spirit's poured out people that work in the food ministry will get so full of the holy spirit they can go to another town and have a revival are you in unbelief or belief see the we need the lord to come the lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple even the messenger of the covenant i'm reading from malachi 3 and who be delight now what the lord does when he comes he's the refiner that purifies and he's a swift witness against the unrepentant now please hear me if someone's lied or they fell into sexual sin if you repent there's mercy but if you stay in that sin you're in danger don't stay in it god is not willing that any should perish he doesn't want to have to judge people but know this if we seek god's face and he begins to come in fullness if you don't have any intention of repenting get out save your life and get out of town now because when god comes in glory he said i'll be a swift witness against the blatant it's not talking about weakness god has compassion and patience for weaknesses if if we're struggling in a sin even if we stumble uh oh and we but if we keep getting up and saying god i repent i hate this there's a there's grace there's grace upon grace but if someone hardens their heart you're in danger you're in danger and uh we have to know that we have to know that about god read romans 11 22 behold the goodness and severity of god he's both he's not just love love love grace grace grace he's holy and he's a righteous judge and and that even springs from his love because he loves his church and he needs to keep his church pure he's going to judge because a little leaven leavens the whole loaf and when god has a an outpouring flowing and the church is in one accord and they're there most all the people are under the fire of holiness and they're preaching and doing the will of god if god allows a leaven to come in of unrepentant sin and leaven the whole loaf it'll ruin the revival so god will judge it because of his love so god says now watch this i want malachi 3 to happen here's what says the lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight behold he's coming who can endure the day of his coming who can stand when he appears he's like a refiner's fire and like launderers soap he'll sit as a refiner and purifier of silver he'll purify the sons of levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer to the lord in offering in righteousness so when the lord comes he comes with an acceleration of holiness there's a grace when the fire of the holy spirit comes to rest on us there's an acceleration of maturity an acceleration of god burning up bondages burning up chains that bind us breaking habits if we're willing how many want that see and that enables us to carry his presence amen but if we want the refi i want the refiner to come you know it's my prayer i don't know if you know this i've been praying it i've been praying for a long time i'm praying that god's refining holy awesome presence will roll in like a fog in here amen and i'm and i if it brings tears and repentance then please lord let it come because all it'll do is when you get off the floor you'll be carrying more of god but i've looked at this verse and he's not going to just come like that it says the lord whom you seek shall suddenly come like a refiner's fire so we have to have the refiners fire if we're going to carry the glory that's what happened to heidi baker she spent 17 years as a missionary worked with the poorest of the poor in china in africa and she was burned out back in 1994 she and her husband roland had just given themselves on the mission field helping heroin addicts and poor people orphans by her own testimony she said i was dry i was empty she said roland and i we both loved god but we didn't hardly even like each other we had a hard time getting along we were just in a dry hard place but we both love god with all of our heart and she said now at the same time she was sick i think she had pneumonia and something else she was in the hospital sick she heard there was an outpouring of the holy spirit in toronto in 1994. she said i have to go the doctor said i'm not discharging you you're too sick you cannot get out of the hospital she pulled the iv tubes out and left got on a plane as sick as a dog against the doctor's orders flew to toronto hungry now please hear this hunger is our spiritual currency if you don't have hunger you're not going to get any more than you have now we won't no one none of us will we only get increase according to our hunger she was so hungry she was willing to risk dying they she got to the meeting as soon as she did the power god hit her completely healed her and she was under the power of the holy spirit on the floor for seven days she got what she was asking for blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for they shall be filled seven days on the floor she said god took her up to heaven jesus appeared to her she saw angels and visions she couldn't lift her head her husband had to lift her head up to pour water in her mouth for seven days he had to carry her to the bathroom and set her on the toilet she's so under the influence of the holy spirit she couldn't walk or talk i mean she barely talked she was just only laid out under the power of god and jesus appeared to her imparted his love to her at one point he told heidi here's what the help what i'm describing is the outpouring of the holy spirit when god fills a person that's hungry that's what i'm after that's what we're after i'm not saying the holy spirit's not in us he's in me he's in you we're after fullness she said they already took care of a couple hundred orphans and it stretched them to the limit she said jesus stood before her in an open vision he said heidi look and she said she saw thousands of orphans running to her he said feed them she said i began weeping and sobbing and feeling overwhelmed she said jesus we can hardly take care of 200 it stretches to the end he said how can we ever take care of thousands of orphans she said jesus reached his hand into his side and ripped out a piece of flesh it's a bloody flesh and it turned into a hot loaf of bread and where it was bleeding he held a cup and it filled up with blood then he held out the cup and the bread he said heidi because i died there will always be enough then he told her heidi look into my eyes and she looked and when he did she said he imparted love and the love of god filled her and transformed her she said when i got off the floor she was a completely different person completely different that's what happens you read first samuel 10 6. he said the spirit of god came on saul and he was turned into another man that's what the outpouring of the holy spirit does saul who was ungodly began to prophesy she went back to africa she said the first person when she got back they brought her a very small old blind man she said mama heidi will you pray for her and she said normally i would have just laid my hands on him and prayed and hoped that god would do something but god had so filled me and changed me i was so full of his love now and by the way the man not only blind he didn't even have eyeballs there were no eyeballs in his socket they were empty she said when she saw him the love of christ welled up in her she began to sob she she pulled the little bitty old man she pulled him close to her and just held him and it wept she i just wept she and i just felt waves of god's love going into him she said when i pulled him away he had two new eyeballs and that's how the revival broke out started across africa listen she and her husband planted 6 000 churches in six years more can be done in a month full of the holy spirit than in 20 years not full how would they do it they go to a village heidi is anointed by god she said when i'm in africa it's because they're called as apostles to mozambique so she says not the same everywhere but when i'm in mozambique i have 100 success rate in praying for the deaf and about 70 success rate in praying for the blind if you line up blind 10 blind people in front of heidi when she's in mozambique seven of mulsi if you line up ten deaf people all ten will hear every time how many know we need the power of the holy spirit how do they plant six thousand churches in six years she said they go to a village with a a christian movie and they set a projector and a screen and people come and then they show the it's a lie on the life of christ and then they say will you please bring us anybody who's deaf or blind in any village if you've been to india or these poor countries is always deaf people so three or four or five deaf people who come she'll lay hands on them they'll all hear and instantly the whole crowd marvels a blind person sees and then they all turn to christ they plant a church and they go to the next village and plant another one how many know we need the power of the holy spirit what god called us to do to reach our city we can't do without the power of the holy spirit we can't reach the high school we can't reach the college without the power of god we can't talk him into it and if you could talk him into it the devil will talk him out of it the next day we need the bra power and the love of god i want to share a dream that someone had in our body is it okay if i say who had it maybe not anyway uh someone in our body that that we all love had a prophetic dream look up here i said this is going to bless you they shared it with me and i said will you please write that dream down it's about the refiner listen to it i said pastor the dream i had on february 5th about being refined into silver coins of great value by the way silver in the bible speaks of redemption silver coins speak of redemption coin also speaks of john wimber said this he said we are like coins in the pocket of the lord chains he said and he can spend us any way he wants there were many people from the body of christ some i recognized from our own church gathered together in a large sanctuary that had no pews some of us were worshiping the lord and somewhere in fellowship it was like the end of a sunday service suddenly the lord appeared with a hot refiner's furnace at the altar of the sanctuary did it say in malachi the lord whom you seek will suddenly appear he had a hot refiner's first furnace in a very gentle soothing and reassuring voice the lord called out that he came and he said he came to make us vessels of silver coins that are of great value and he beckoned to come some ignored they were indifferent as if they did not even see or hear him in the sanctuary some declined saying that they were fine and they did not see the need to be refined many were very fearful and they recoiled at the thought of being put into the hot furnace and they also refused but there were some of us maybe a third of the people who were willing we were excited and we jumped at the opportunity to be put into the fire to be made into silver coins of great value there was there was this great assurance in the lord's gentle voice that gave us an unimaginable courage trust and belief that we would come out just as he promised the process of going into the fire being refined happened instantly like in the blink of an eye let me just tell you this god said in romans i'll do a quick work and cut it short in righteousness what god did in seven days in heidi's life hasn't been accomplished in 20 30 40 years in a life without the outpouring of the holy spirit god did it in a quick uh you'd say almost in seven days complete transformation she said the process of going in the fire and being refined happened instantly like in the blink of an eye the lord did not throw us into the fire our faith and our trust in him gave us the courage to enter into the furnace with our eyes fixed on him it's difficult to describe the vessels that we were refined into although we were turned into silver coins we were still full bodied and faceted unlike a flat two-sided coin we shined brightly like a newly minted silver coin and we were also able to fly that speaks of going in the spirit we had great abilities and we had all the characteristics of the lord we had his compassion his love and his discernment i recalled how delighted the lord was at our reactions after becoming these refined vessels we were so elated and we were thankful to him and then the worship we offered him was like nothing any of us had ever experienced before as we were being refined one by one those who rejected the lord's offer took notice of what we had become and some were still indifferent and they were afraid to allow the lord to refine them my heart broke for them i recall asking someone who is reluctant to be refined why they continue to be reluctant after seeing what the lord had done for us and she just hung her head and shrugged her shoulders without a reply and then i woke up let the i'm telling you what an awesome dream let the lord whom we seek suddenly come to his temple i mean if we had to seek god for i don't care how long to have this let it be now i wonder if i should keep going or not well madeline you don't count because you always want me to go i'm wondering if i should stop for now only because i have more to go i want to talk to us about how to seek god but i'm not going to do all that right i'm going to save that i'm going to save that for next time but i do want to say this i mention it in prayer this morning let me let me skip to the back of the message i'm going to read to you what i read this morning we have to understand that when we seek god the number one thing that we need is spiritual hunger spiritual hunger if you don't have spiritual hunger you can go to the lord and ask him for it and i'll tell you how to there's ways we can do that but one of the ways to check and see where we're really at with the lord when we when i'm bringing a message like i have the last couple weeks it's time to fast it's time to seek god in an extraordinary way it's time to deny your flesh what kind of reaction are we having when we hear that is there a resistance in us that tells us if our flesh man is stronger than our spirit man see and if if you're feeling uh the reason it means and i've had that reaction back in the in october the holy spirit spoke to me very clearly and told me to do a 40-day fast i i got to be honest my first reaction was like my flesh didn't want to do it but i did it of course i'm going to obey the lord but there's a part of us that says resist this the part of us that resists this message is our flesh we have to understand that and now if there's something that's leaping inside you said yes i know this is the message i'm going to start seeking that means your spirit man is strong okay and if we're somewhere in between we have to understand as we see god the first thing we have to get is spiritual hunger now spirit the the let me back up when god looks at us one of the indications of whether we are rich or poor in his eyes is the amount of spiritual hunger we have and i know what it's like because i've done it many times and been rebuked and corrected by the lord and whom he loves he rebukes and corrects i know what it's like to be doing pretty good like i got my daily prayer i can feel the presence of the lord i'm doing good he's talking to me when i read the bible and i can kind of cruise at that place and god wants to say hey come higher it's like oh that's a little uncomfortable so here's here's the deal when god came to the laodicean church they said because they were blessed they're blessed materially and financially and probably lots of ways maybe their health was good they jesus said to them you say i'm rich and have need of nothing but i say you're poor you're naked you're miserable you're wretched and you're blind now i pondered that why were they poor why were they poor in god's eyes matthew 5 6 says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness they shall be filled here's why they were poor they didn't have spiritual hunger they were blessed materially and it made them go to sleep they said i can camp right here i can just kind of cruise in my walk with god and stay right here they weren't hungry to keep going to keep searching for god to know him better to get another filling we were filled in acts chapter 2. god says i'm going to squeeze you again he used persecution to squeeze him until they prayed and got another filling in acts chapter 4. so when we're sort of doing good and and everything's okay that we've lost our spiritual hunger that's what it is in god's side to be wretched and poor but it doesn't mean he doesn't love us he absolutely loves the lukewarm church he gave the lukewarm church the greatest promise he said if you'll overcome lukewarmness read it in revelation 3 he said you can sit with me on my throne and he counseled him how to overcome he said i'm at the door knocking open the door and spend time fellowshipping with me that's how you'll overcome read it it's in revelation 3. so our spiritual if we want to know am i a rich person in the kingdom it's how hungry are you because none of us please hear this none of us not me not you nobody is going to get anything from god that you're not hungry for if you're not hungry for a closer walk and that hunger doesn't translate into action you won't go any higher than you are now neither will i so what makes a person rich is hunger what makes a person poor is not being hungry now in the natural when we eat we lose our hunger right but in the spirit it's opposite when you don't eat you lose your hunger when you don't spend time in godly fellowship worship the word in prayer and feed your spirit when you don't do that you lose your hunger and in the in the spirit when you do that you get hungrier and hungrier and hungrier so if we're going to seek god we're not going to be able to seek him unless we're hungry hunger is spiritual currency when jesus spoke to the laodicean church here's what he said you're wretched poor miserable naked and blind but i'm going to counsel you buy from me gold refined in the fire buy from me a robe white so how do we buy it with hunger the robe speaks of righteousness he's not our legal righteousness the righteous we're walking in the robe is the righteous deeds of the saints we're told revelation 19 verse 7 and 8. so when he says buy from me it's it's here's our currency matthew 5 6. blessed are those who hunger they shall be filled so for us to receive the riches of god the currency we use is hunger so the worst most dangerous place for any believer to be is to be contented where i'm at it's a snare it's a trap it's blindness from the enemy the best place i could be is oh god oh god i need more of you in my life god i need another filling god i'm thank you i thank you that i can sense your presence every day i thank you that i have a buoyancy but god i don't have what peter and paul had i'm not walking in what height he's walking in god i'm hungry god i'm never ever going to be able to to fulfill the great commission and see this city shaken by the power of god unless i get a fresh filling there's no program no strategy you can't spend enough money advertising there's nothing man can do to bring it to pass only the fire of the holy spirit and only spiritual hunger can buy it so as we begin to seek god our number one thing is all of us go before the lord and start asking him i'll give you two scriptures to pray song of solomon chapter one it says verse four i believe draw me and we will run so start praying no matter what your hunger level is right now if you want to find god jesus said everyone that seeks finds if you want to find the lord start here and stay on it say god draw me god will you draw me god draw me lord i'm distracted lord my heart's divided i admit it draw me lord i want to love you with all my heart draw me the lord has to be the one that draws us here's the other verse psalm 65 blessed is the man or the woman whom the lord causes to come to him so so as we seek god i'm telling you this from experience because i've tried so innumerable times to seek god on my own strength and i've failed every time but when you get to the place and you realize i can't even seek god unless he draws me now you're in a place of humility and god gives grace to the humble and if you'll if you'll say god if you want me to fast please give me the grace help me not be a coward lord help me to take up my cross and follow you and if you'll you'll say god i i might know be honest with the lord if your heart is distracted tell him god my heart's distracted lord my affections are divided i don't want to be this way lord draw me lord draw me lord make my heart red hot for you that's how we have to start as we do that god will answer that as god starts answering that you're going to start seeking him and everyone that seeks finds and don't stop asking him until you're seeking with all your heart because jeremiah 29 11 12 and 13. almost everybody knows verse 11. and i'll close with this it says god says i know the plans and the thoughts i have for you i have a future and a hope for you plans of good and not of evil but the next two verses tell how to get that plan god said then you will go and you will pray to me so you can't just have that plan by having that on your refrigerator and claiming it he said then you will go and you will pray to me and you will seek me and you will find me with all and you will find me when you seek for me with all of your heart so right now we're in a place where what we're doing is we're saying god i'm asking you to draw me until i'm seeking you with all my heart and when your heart gets to that place where you're going god i can't live without more of you amen the outpouring will come amen that's enough for today come on let's give god praise holy holy holy

Channel: ShekinahWorshipTV

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Keywords: Joe Sweet, Shekinah Worship Center

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Length: 62min 57sec (3777 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 07 2021