The Promise in Process - Pastor Michael Phillips

[Music] and let's go to isaiah the 54th chapter isaiah 54 and for time's sake i want to read verses one through five and i'll skip down to verse 17. and i promise to put this text in context because i realize i'm dropping you into the middle of drama that's taken place in the lives of the children of israel without you having the proper understanding but for your understanding before we dive into the scriptures the children of israel are in a place that was prophesied and it is a painful place but it is also a place of promise what do you do when god speaks concerning your life and then shows you the painful parts the prophecy for them being there wasn't given to them but it was given to their forefathers namely abraham that they would be a great people in the great nation but there's some darkness and greatness you can never be great [Music] unless you're willing to endure the darkness that is a part of the journey for your greatness and so here they are now according to the word that god gave to abraham that they would be in a place of exile in a place of darkness and a place of uncertainty but that same place is filled with promise amen and so when we're reading this text we are picking it up in process prior to isaiah 54 isaiah is trying to [Music] encourage the children of israel by showing them what their future looks like and so in order for them to get to that destination that future they have to make a decision and this is where we find ourselves in the scripture and so the first verse is a decision sing o'barrett y'all don't want to have church tonight sing o'berry that's a decision amen i'm bearing [Music] but you're asking me to sing i'm hurting but you want me to sing are you serious right now oh hell's breaking loose but you talk about some saying saying what [Music] single barren thou that did not bear so now you want me to sing even though nothing has manifested oh lord have mercy [Music] you're going to describe my pain and then ask me to sing about it sing oberyn thou that did not bear then you're going to amp it up cry loud break forth into singing thou that did not travail with trial for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife can you see the parent the paradox in this and okay i can't i can't we'll get there a second so for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife okay come on y'all that's this wouldn't that bible study i'm sorry y'all just gonna have to work with me tonight for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the mary what in other words he's saying to them you have it it's just in process y'all gonna fight me tonight so since you have it here's what i want you to do enlarge your tent come on wednesday night bible study and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitation amen despair not amen lengthen thy cords strengthen thy stakes i could just preach right there but that's not my assignment tonight for thou shall break forth on the right hand and on the left come on get in the room with me tonight i'm gonna break forth not just on my dominant side but also on my non-dominant side i'm gonna break forth in what i'm good at and i'm gonna break forth at what i'm struggling at i'mma sit over here to this side to some people who want to have church i'm going to break forth in what i'm good at and then i'm going to break forth from what i'm struggling at for thou shall break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited fear not for thou shalt not be ashamed neither be thou confounded look at somebody say don't be confused don't be confused god is not the author of confusion he says neither be thou confounded for thou shalt not be put to shame this part i love for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth you mean to tell me that god could do something so powerful in my life that i will have to delete parts of my history for thou shalt forget the shame of thy you and shalt not remember the reproach of thy willhood anymore amen for thy maker is thy husband the lord of hosts is his name and thy redeemer the holy one of israel the god of the whole earth shall he be called now i want you to skip down to verse 17. no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise up against thee in judgment watch this now thou shalt come down lord have mercy thou shalt the i ain't even to say nothing this is god talk i'm not even going to say nothing you going to condemn it this is the heritage of the servants of the lord and their righteousnesses of me saith the lord for the next few moments we have together i want to talk to you about the promise in process the promise in process let's pray spirit of living god we thank you for another divine moment a strategic time that you have reserved for us to hear a word from you the word is the only thing that can separate so from spirit so father we ask that you speak such a word to us today that it changes our very nature that it causes us to be conformed to the image of your son jesus may we be transformed by the renewing of our minds touch our hearts so it's open to receive it and on our ears that we're able to hear it holy spirit have your way in this place do as you will all i ask is that none of us leave the way we came in jesus name somebody say amen you may be seated in the presence of the lord i want to talk to you tonight about a promise in process we often talk about the promises of god the promises of god are yes and they are amen meaning there is no ambiguity in between what god promised and what he does god is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent if he said it then you can count it as good when god says a thing that thing has to come to pass the reason is is because god is one with his word when the bible says that god is holy it is not saying that that god is is wearing clothes that covers all of his skin okay in other words in other words i grew up doing the holiness holiness pentecostal uh movement and in the holy pentecostal denomination you had to cover all of your skin because they made holiness a dogma rather than a disposition in other words they put holiness into their doctrine as something that ought to be did rather than something that ought to be lived the word holy means to be one with fully integrated with so when god says i am holy therefore be holy he's saying i am one with my word i cannot separate myself from my word so much so that when my thought took on flesh i had to forsake the flesh of the thought of the incarnation of my own son because i'm that integrated to my word and when his flesh took on sin i had to disconnect because i'm too integrated with my word god is one with his word and because he is one with his word then his word has to stand the psalmist says that god will not alter the words that comes out of his lips which is why god is careful about speaking we can see this in scripture that he had a period of 400 years between the old testament and the new testament when he ain't saying nothing to nobody between your bible when you turn your bible over from malachi all right or as my grandmother used to say malachy when you turn your bible over from there and you flip over into matthew it's 400 years of a lapse of time where god is not speaking to nobody because his word is too powerful and so because he is one with his word when he says he's going to do a thing he's going to do a thing if the promises of god are yes and amen it means that god has already said yes but the amen is on us meaning that i have to get into agreement and in alignment with what god said yes to lord have mercy if god said he's about to open a door for you then i wouldn't be stuck in the house right now if if god said he's about to make a way out of no way i would be standing over the horizon with my with my eyes like that looking for the way that he is about to make if god has has spoken to you like i was saying when we got up here and almost just prophetically i felt that option to lift your hands because god said it's it's it's on the way and you have and you're about to receive it and and and some of y'all were looking at me like i had five heads standing up here you you have to understand you gotta participate with what god has promised in your life and if you do not participate then the promises lie dormant but still have their power to be picked back up because there is no expiration date on the promises of god they're just waiting for your participation peter says that that that that that we have that this this this this promise this this incorruptible thing that that cannot rust the word of god is incorruptible and it cannot rust and it is reserved in heaven for you wow and so and so when we talk about promises we we're really talking about seeds [Music] the reason i say that is because everything begins with a seed a seed is a promise so when god says i when god says i'll make you the head and not the tail that is a seed which is a promise because right now you might be the tail and not the head yet but he says i'll make you come on wednesday bible study he said don't worry about it if you're not there i'll make you you just missed it he didn't say i'll send you to the head he says i'll make you the head while you are the tail you didn't hear what i just said so while you're lagging behind i'm making you the head while you are where you are doing what you're doing struggling how you're struggling i'm making you the head right where you are and because you don't feel like you're the head because you don't feel like you're more than a conqueror you think the promise is not in process the moment he said it it started come on come on come on the moment he said it it started [Applause] i don't have to i don't have time to go there i don't have time to go there but i was going to show you that this in genesis 1. but i don't have time to go there you know in genesis 1 and when doctors upon the face of the deep and the spirit of god hovered over the waters and god said let there be light the promise was in process so the moment god says it yeah it starts okay so everything starts with a seed everything in your life begins with a seed a flower it's a seed an avocado started with a seed your belief system whether open or closed rigid or flexible began with a seed of somebody telling you something that formed the the the strands of the thoughts that you started to have consistently which created your system and that's why you believe the way that you believe a flourishing business began with the seed of an idea and a concept life starts with a seed whatever you see manifested in the world in your life began as a seed which through time and reinforcement from internal and external sources begin to germinate take root and grow everything starts with a seed stay with me i'm going somewhere with this do you recall jesus said in matthew's gospel the 13th chapter he he said these words the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed he said he said which a person took and sold in a field and it's the smallest of all seeds but when it has grown it is the biggest of shrubs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air can come and shelter in its branches think about that for a second jesus is trying to describe the kingdom of god which was a promise and he says i want you to see it as a seed but i don't want you to see it as any old kind of seed i want you to see it as a mustard seed because i want you to see it as the smallest thing possible all right lord have mercy the reason i want you to see it as the smallest thing possible is because i need you to understand the ability of god to take something this big and create something that gigantic and what you have to understand about it is that the tree was in the sea come on come on come on come on come on come on come on you look at the tree how big it is but it's beginning was this big and so the manifestation of of what was here is now that gigantic that the birds of the air can come and you know how hot it is to the birds of the air can come and nest in it but but but but we're so fixated and we're so focused on this part a seed a mustard seed stay with me a mustard seed is a very small and insignificant thing and he says the kingdom of god is like that it was plenty the elder who who said he was a contemporary of jesus christ and he wrote in an encyclopedia book called natural history in which he describes all plants that were known in the mediterranean world during that time and he says two main things about the mustard plant that we have to understand number one it's medicinal and number two it's a weed that cannot be stopped come on stay with me come on stay with me i'm gonna bless you tonight just stay with me he says number one it's medicinal and number two it's a weed that cannot be stopped so when jesus says the kingdom of god is like a like a mustard seed he was saying there's healing in it but there's also a contradiction in it at the same time because it's a weed that cannot be stopped so once it starts you cannot stop it from growing because it's not a normal plant the reason it is not a normal plant is because it can live in all environments it's hard to take out just look at somebody say he ain't talking about trees he's talking about you if you are part of the kingdom i just told you that you are hard to take out and that when you get injured you already have the medicinal power on the inside of you to take a licking and keep on ticking me i feel this thing coming on in the room come on let's teach let's teach let's teach let's teach so so so so that's powerful that god would liken his kingdom to to a weed [Music] i can't go there i can't go there i can't go there and so i got to stay on task i got this this thing is speaking to me is just speaking to me and so and so and so he he said plenty said this he said listen it's medicinal and it's a weed that cannot be stopped it's mustard is a pungent taste and the fiery effect but it's extremely beneficial for your health it grows entirely wild though it is improved by being transplanted so every time the mustard seed is transplanted it grows stronger so every time something moves you it doesn't weaken you it strengthens you that's why everybody around you is confused because they know how much you've been moved back and forth to and fro and yet you still got your praise and yet you still got your ability to thank god and yet come on i gotta teach i gotta teach i'm gonna keep this ipad in my hand so i don't go crazy so so so so that's powerful he says but on on the other hand when it has once been sown watch me now it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it because the moment a mustard seed falls it germinates at once unless a seed falls into the ground and dies it abides alone but if it dies it germinates at once meaning you cannot stop it from coming up from under the ground and bursting out through the dirt and growing to the height it's supposed to grow that's why when jesus was crucified lord have mercy and his body came off the cross the whole earth shook because the sea was going into the ground and once that happened it could not be stopped just look at three or four people and say you can't be stopped you can't be stopped when you got a promise from god you cannot be stopped i dare you to find somebody who halfway look like they want to be in a wednesday night bible study and say because you got a promise from god can't nothing stop you [Applause] can't nobody take what god has for you your destiny cannot be retrofitted into somebody else's life in other words what god has for you [Music] so so so with that understanding then why then do we pray for the end result of what god promised but have no conversation or want for the process of what he promised yeah buddy we pray for the end result of what god promises but the problem with that is is that god then answers you with a seed so so so you you pray for the job or you pray for the relationship or you pray for the healing but then god answers with a seed and he answers with a seed that is born out of our petition so in other words we ask god for the oak tree and then god makes acorn show up around your feet you're looking at the acorn talk about i ask for the oak tree and god is going that the oak tree is in the acorn how many promises then have you probably stepped over because they showed up in the embryonic stage of a seed [Applause] how many opportunities have you missed how many relationships have you had not had that you did not have because you was looking for the oak tree and god sent the acorn come on baby come on come on i got it for you we all do it we we we all do it peter was in the boat with jesus and and and jesus uh said uh put put your nets out on the right side plural nets and and he couldn't do it because he he's a professional this is what i do for a living and you're not going to come up here and tell me i've been out here all night long i didn't catch nothing and and furthermore it's just me and you and i don't have my crew and we need more bodies to handle the weight of the nets because if i throw this net out there and i just washed and cleaned it's going to be expensive if i lose it if something does get caught in there and you don't have the strength and power to pull this thing in and jesus is looking at him like boy if you don't throw them nets out there i don't know and so what peter said was nevertheless at thy word right so so so at thy word i'll throw out my net but jesus said nets so he didn't trust that the promise was in process he still caught something but what he caught he couldn't handle stay with me i'm going somewhere with this thing so so i i said all of that to get you to the place of understanding because when we enter into this text it requires some discernment on how god does what he does and all thy getting get understanding wisdom is the principle thing and so as as we understand this concept of discernment i want us to realize that discernment is not the same as decision making stay with me because as we enter into this text we're entering into this text having to make a decision but that decision is going to be based on our discernment stay with me so so so so discernment is not the same as decision making reaching a decision can be straightforward it can be quick you you make tens of thousands of them every day that you wake up you consider your goals you consider your options and you list your pros and cons and you look at what's possible with each one so forth and so on but discernment doesn't work like that discernment on the other hand is about listening and responding to that place within us where our deepest desires align with god's desire in other words we we sift through our impulses and our motives and options to discover which ones lead us closer to him or further away from him which ones lead us closer to his love or further into our anger see discernment reveals new priorities whenever you have discernment you're going to have a different set of priorities something is about to change in your life something is going to be more essential some things are going to be less essential you have new directions you no longer want to go the old way you no longer want to do the old things you no longer want to have the old habits because whatever you do habitually will always have the power to defeat what happens occasionally in your life i'm gonna say that one more time because that one is free whatever you do habitually will have the power to defeat what happens occasionally in your life if you work out habitually four or five days a week the occasional piece of cheesecake ain't gonna get you conversely on the other hand if you eat cheesecake four or five times a week and then work out one time your habit is going to defeat your occasion the sermon reveals new priorities directions and the sermon reveals the promises of god when you come to realize that what previously seemed so important like your problem compared to what god promised when you come to realize that what god promised it's way more important than the situation and the circumstance that you're in the middle of right now i hear you lord i hear your lord and and the situation and the circumstance to you seems like it has so much power but you have to discern you have the ability to discern what you're going to decide to do and believe because you have a promise because i have a promise i get to decide whether or not this problem or this predicament is going to stop me from being in pursuit of what god promised and typically and usually what halts me from making the right choice and decision is the process sometimes is terrible can i talk to somebody in here it is terrible yes you're going to get free from the egyptians but you're going to be in the desert for a while yes they gonna give you the gold and change your economic situation in 24 hours but in a little while you're going to find yourself with your back on the corner having to trust god again the promise stay with me does not alleviate trust regardless if it manifests or not i'm still going to have to trust in the lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding and in all my ways acknowledge him and he will make my next path straight [Applause] in other words it doesn't stop there is no such thing as i have arrived to the promises of god the promises of god is not a destination they are a process y'all don't want to talk back to me y'all want to talk because you think the moment you get that promise that there ain't gonna be no more process [Music] my my my daughter uh had an unusual birth and by unusual i mean we didn't make it to the hospital my wife calls me out at work and she says i'm going into labor so i leave work and i'm you know all the husbands know what i'm talking about and i'm flying and i get to the house and my wife is in labor so i call the midwife and uh the midwife is assuring me that i have all this time i'm describing to her what's happening the minutes of the contractions what's going on and she goes oh you got hours i said i don't think so i i said my wife looks completely uncomfortable she she she looks like she is about to go really into labor she's grunting she's pushing and the midwife goes that's normal it's fine you got hours take your time i said all right and i hung up the phone my wife wanted to get in the bath i got in the bath and once i got her into the water something happened her stomach went from here to here it dropped which means that the baby dropped when she got out of the bath she starts bearing down and pushing in the bathroom and i'm going stop as if she got some control and i'm like stop what you doing hold on don't push and she stopped pushing i run back on the in the room i grabbed the phone i called a midwife back and i said hey she is pushing this baby is coming i don't know she said that's not possible and she said that's not possible i said i'm telling you that she is in the middle of the hallway and the baby is coming she is pushing she is running and the midwife going that's not possible and i said you know what you're not here you don't see what i see you're not experiencing what i'm experiencing and i'm telling you it's coming so i said i tell you what i'm gonna hang up this phone i'm gonna call 9-1-1 because this baby is on the way and the midwife said mr phillips you don't have to do that i am a professional and i have been doing this for over 30 years and i can tell you that she is not about to give birth i said well you can take all of your expertise and it's going to be trump by my experience at this moment god bless you goodbye and i got and i got on the phone and i called 9-1-1 and my daughter starts coming out so here i am on the phone looking at my wife having this baby and then realize that she can't sit there and do it by herself so i run over there of course i would like to act like i was as cool as i'm talking to you right now but what i really was doing was oh jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus lord jesus jesus [Applause] i don't know if it was tongues i don't know what it was but and and my my daughter my daughter is delivered in my hands she's delivered in my hands and and when she came out she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her head and she wasn't breathing i don't know what prompted me to do what i did but i just did it i took the cord off i flipped her over and i started patting her back and i got all of that stuff out of her her mouth and my baby girl started you know yeah yeah like that and we all said well thank you jesus but to this day she has a little indentation on her head and every time i see her i am reminded of the promises of god in my life because my baby girl who came out not breathing is is breathing i wish i had somebody why did i tell you that story because i believe tonight there are some people in this room who have not held their baby yet and you are fearful that it's not going to come out but guess what there's a push happening right now in the spirit and your baby your promise whatever it is it's on the way and so while my wife was pushing and i was going jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus oh he said stop doing jesus jesus and so i started singing i can't even sing for real i ain't going to offend you but you know i can't blow nothing and i started singing and and everything started getting peaceful and so the text says to a people who feel barren and feel lost because what god promised has not materialized yet and the first thing the prophet said to them was sing o baron look at your name and say baby i gotta get this tuned out i got a hallelujah down in my spirit that i've been holding back because of my predicament and my circumstance and my problem but i gotta go ahead and take a couple of minutes and just say hallelujah and give god praise for what he is about to do single bearing thou that did not bear cry loud break forth into singing thou that did not travail what because many are the children of the desolate than other children the merry husband and so israel is being depicted here as a woman who cannot have children the entire nation of israel as a metaphor is being shown here as as a woman who cannot have children and of course in that patriarchal system that that that was a point of shame so she's barren she's isolated she's divorced she's wounded and nothing is happening and the prophet comes and says to them sing the reason he comes and says to for them to sing was because prior to isaiah 54 he began to describe the seed god i wish i had somebody in here he begins to describe the seed he he begins to tell them that a stem is going to grow out of the root of jesse and he shall have no commonness no form amongst him and and he will be led to his shears and will be dumb he's telling them about the seed he's telling them that he's going to be wounded for your transgressions and bruised for your iniquities and the chastisement of his peace is going to be placed upon you and with every strike that goes on his back you're going to be healed just like the mustard seed i wish i had somebody in here he's trying to explain to them the reason why you can sing right now is because your promise is in process because the seed is on the way [Applause] no they trying to sleep on me tonight come on here come home do you hear what i'm saying so he tells them about the seed before he describes the promise and he's saying to them that the reason why you ought to sing so you're in exile so things were destroyed so everything in your life that you knew was deconstructed these are people who were taken out of their homes who lost everything who saw jerusalem burned down to the ground and was now taken into captivity by the babylonians and now the prophet is saying to them i want you to sing right where you are because the seed that was promised to your forefather abraham is already on the way the seed that was promised to the woman that would crush the head of the serpent is already on the way and if the seed is on the way then that means the promise is on the way your promise is in process [Applause] so there is some decisions i have to make while my promise is in process the first thing i have to do is break out of my emotional state lean into it because my emotions are real acknowledge them but break out of my funk because of all of the flux and uncertainty around me and one of the fastest ways to break out of that is to sing literally to open your mouth and to start singing when you start singing it breaks the emotional strand that has a hold of you so when you feel down you can actually start singing and it will lift your emotions to the point that what you are feeling you don't even feel no more that's why music sues the savage beast now if a song can do that what could a praise do if just any song could lift your spirit what could a praise do because my bible says god inhabits the praises of his people he starts looking around for where the noise is coming from and then sits down and take resident on whoever's giving him glory i don't even know how you can sit there right now and act like you don't understand that the words are coming out of my mouth the moment you start praising the moment he shows up [Applause] i just said i think the moment you start praising it's the moment he shows up i hear you holy ghost let me tell you why your praise is so important and this is not even my message this is free but i want to tell you right now why your praise is so important you see you have to understand that our adversary he's the prince of the power of the air and so when you're praying about your promise your prayers can be captured in the atmosphere daniel was seeking god for an answer and the angel was on his way with the answer but he was held up by the prince of persia and he was fighting but he had the answer the moment daniel prayed it god sent the answer but the answer was held up because it was a petition a prayer request the devil cannot stop praise it is the only thing that can jump over the firmament and go right to the heaven's gate my god i wish i had somebody in here he cannot stop god from getting to you the moment you start praying lord have mercy i dare you to take 20 seconds and give him glory right there you got a decision to make and your decision is real simple i'm gonna bless the lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth i ain't there yet but i'm gonna bless them anyway ah the deal ain't done yet but i'ma bless him like it's done i'm gonna praise him on credit like i know he's already good that his word is sure [Applause] so he says the first thing you have to decide to do is are you going to focus on your praise or are you going to focus on your predicament and so i'm going to use praise as a weapon to loose me from the pressure of my predicament so that i am not distracted so i'm clear when i have to make the next decision somebody shout the next decision the next decision i have to make then is to start making room for what god promised [Music] so it is a radical idea to start enlarging your tents when you don't see nothing coming [Music] so now i have to move from praise to faith come on stay with me because the reason i have to do that now is because i praise god not for what he's going to do i just praised him for who he is that that was the prescription of my praise i didn't praise god because he was about to give me something i praised him because he is something he is the i am that i am he is alpha and omega he is jehovah jireh he is jehovah's sick canoe my banner he is jehovah shalom my peace he is he is el elyon he is el shaddai he is so i praise him for who he is but i start making room by faith because of what he can do if i know who he is then why wouldn't i move toward what he can do so enlarge your tents i got to start making room for what god can do because i have limited him to my predicament and made him small because of my problem it was a.w tozer who said the solution to ten thousand problems is your view of god if you can change your view of god you can change all the problems you have right now because my god is a big god now i take him up god i feel the power of the holy ghost now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think according to the power that works in you so i will not limit god to a bad year that i had i will not limit god to a bad day i will not look at god and say a bad day or a bad year equates to a bad life the devil is a liar it was just a bad moment and it was one small blip as it relates to the entirety of what god is going to do in my life so i have to enlarge my tents i have to lengthen my cords i have to strengthen my stakes it is a radical idea to do such a thing to enlarge your tent lengthen your cords and strengthen your state when everybody know around you you ain't got nothing coming it's the equivalent of noah building the ark when it ain't never rained before [Applause] so you have a precedent of god asking somebody to do something that has never happened and i hear the lord say he's about to do something in your life that has never happened before i wish i had 10 people who believed the words that were coming out of my mouth my god i thank you holy ghost god is about to do something that has never happened before in your life [Music] [Applause] come on i'm almost there i'm almost there and so it's a radical idea to strengthen your to enlarge your tents lengthen your cores and strengthen your stakes it's it's it's radical because it it relates to the fundamental nature of something that god will come and ask you to do something that is really uh uh an oxymoron that is a paradox that is contradictory to your plight i'm barren i'm tired i'm frustrated you want me to sing and you want me to start getting ready for something i don't have yes the reason i want you to start getting ready is because you're going to break forth on the right and you're going to break forth on the left so so i'm going to take what you're good at if you're right-handed and it's your dominant hand or if you're left-handed it's your dominant hand either or i'm going to take what you're good at left or right and i'm going to bless that but then the most powerful thing i'm going to do is i'm going to bless you in the areas that you struggle in the most so that you have balance in your life and oh lord have mercy and you're not worried about the next process [Applause] wow wow and so he says to them sing i'm just teaching the text i'm not even i'm just teaching the text sing o'barren strengthen your chords lengthen your stakes you're going to break four from the left you're going to break four from the right watch you now and your seed shall inherit the gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited now the reason he said this to him was because they didn't want to make a life where they were in other words uh jeremiah had to come along and tell him seek the blessing of the city because if the city prospers you'll prosper they didn't think they were going to be there that long but they were so the lord had to come and tell him your seed is going to inherit all of these desolate cities so they were praying for deliverance but god was working on delivery they wanted out god wanted in they wanted the pushing the birthing to stop like i did don't do that because this is not the place you give birth [Music] so god is giving birth in a place that's not suitable for birth i'm preaching better y'all shall and so and so watch this and so watch this he says to them your seed is going to inherit all of this it's no need for you to pray to get out the reason they wanted out was because it was a protracted season of difficulty it was long 70 years i got to be here for 70 years you promised me amen and god is saying to them no no no this is generational [Applause] children are going to be blessed from this [Applause] he he he says to them while you're worrying about all of that i'm working on your history while i birth your destiny because when i get done you're not going to remember the shame of your history what you feel right now this anxiety that you feel this pressure that you feel about where you are you ain't even going to remember that when i birth your destiny and so i need you to praise me i need you to make room i need you to start preparing i need you to start getting ready i need you to make some decisions what you cannot do is sit there and do nothing because you cannot afford to do nothing you cannot sit here right now at this time in society and wait to see how things gonna turn out you cannot sit here and be talking about something i can't wait to get back to normal no more ain't coming back [Applause] so you're praying to get back to a place that don't exist it's it's almost like lot's wife turning around [Music] lot's wife turned around and turned into a pill of salt not because god wanted to punish her was because she was trying to go back to something that wasn't there but y'all want to talk back to me y'all want to talk back to me yeah it was already gone and she turned into what was not there which means she was not there [Music] you see lot ain't turn around [Music] because when god says move you got to move and i can only imagine like did one of these numbers [Applause] [Applause] you got to move right now you can't be sitting on your hands and talking about god when it's going to happen it's going to happen now start lifting your core start strengthening your stakes start enlarging your tents start preparing start getting ready sit down write the business plan write the vision make it plain so that when men are running they can read it i wish i had somebody in here you got to start getting ready to do whatever it is you're going to do next now and sing while you're doing it and realize that what god has for you to do has the power to affect generations i'm almost there i'm almost there i'm almost there i'm almost there i'm i'm about done and so he says to them for thou maker is thy husband the lord of hosts is his name and thy redeemer the holy one of israel the god of the whole earth shall he be called he's letting them know no ordinary person told you what's about to happen i can see if chauncey and them came down to your house you're like who trusting them i don't know i just made up the name i i can see if ray and them and chanting them or cheryl or whoever lucy came down to your house and was like girl let me tell you something god's about to do this in your life and you're sitting there with purse lips like that's right or some person that you relied on who told you they were going to do a thing never did it and and therefore you are equating god's word to their word god is not a man i can flat out stop right there and not have to preach no more tonight that's where he is not a man so whoever let you down it wasn't god [Applause] my lord hammer whoever disappointed you it wasn't him [Applause] so so here's how here's how he caps the whole thing his eye caps the whole promise that's in process a process is simply stages and steps that get you to the next desired point until the manifestation of what was promised is seen some say it again it is stages and steps okay over a desired set of time okay that gets you to the next point until the manifestation of what was promised is seen okay so since he has their promise in process because the seed that he's talking about is not going to come for another 750 years oh lord jesus it got real quiet yeah like thank you pastor ain't nobody actually all that information so so while he has their promise in process he's telling them to make room for what is coming and for the life they're going to have and that and that their predicament is not so bad because there's purpose inside of the place that they're in and that when it's all said and done there's going to be such a generational blessing that their seed their children will be able to inherit all of this space meaning that god sent them to a place lord have mercy as captives but they left as conquerors oh lord have mercy so now because of the process that's taking place with the promise it every miracle you've ever seen manifested is a process miracles are processes that's been sped up [Music] amen [Music] when jesus did the first miracle the first miracle by the first miracle i mean it is the precedent of all miracles it is when jesus did the first miracle as he turned water into wine are you with me so far it it it was a process that he did that was sped up and and and what you have to understand is that a part of part of wine making in and of itself is going to include water at some point y'all done here with me and so what what he did was he sped the process up he he just he just took some steps out of it and said go ahead let me just speed that up and go ahead and turn the water into wine and so the power of that miracle is not the water turning into wine the power of any miracle is that once it's turned it can't go back to what it normally was [Applause] so when god does something in your life lord have mercy that is miraculous there is no going back so i'll close this i'll close it like this so now these people are worried about their future and they're worried about setting down roots in the place that's not even fit for giving birth and the lord i left parts out of it because i thought it would i thought it would mess us up so bad that i couldn't get to this last part but i feel the lord saying go and share this part with you because watch this he says to them in verse lord have mercy he says in a little wrath i hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will i have mercy on thee saith the lord thy redeemer for this is as the waters of noah unto me for i have sworn that the waters of noah should no more go over the earth so i have sworn that i would not be wrath with thee nor rebuke thee for the mountain shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed saith the lord that has mercy on thee oh thou afflicted tossed with tempest and not comforted behold i will lay thy stones with fair colors and lay thy foundations with sapphires i will make the windows of a gates man i wish i could preach this and the gates of carbuncles and all thy borders are pleasant stones and all thy children shall be taught of the lord and great shall be the peace of thy children if you're worried about your child great shall be the peace of your child if you're worrying about your baby boy great shall be the peace of your baby boy if you're worried about your little girl great shall be the peace of your little girl and righteousness shalt thou be established thou shalt be far from oppression for thou shalt not fear from and and from terror and for it shall not come near thee now watch this here's the end of it all while he asked their promise in he says behold they shall surely gather together but not by me he said he said behold oh you're going to have some issues they coming but that didn't come by me whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake come on here we go he says he says here's why i know behold i have created the smith that bloweth the coals and the fire and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work and i have created the wasted to destroy so in other words god is telling israel there's no need for you to worry about whatever's coming at you as a problem or predicament nor people who are trying to gather themselves in array against you because i have created something that could be so devastating that there is nothing that anybody can bring to you that will have the power over what i have already created because whatever is coming at you i created it you're not in here with i didn't cause it i didn't do it but i created it because everything in the world was created by the seed of his word i wish i had somebody in here therefore since i created it i got the power over it and it does not have the power over me so no weapon formed against you shall be able to prosper [Applause] so what i just told you is that the promise is going to happen but the weapon is not going to prosper slap somebody at high five and say the promise is going to happen but the weapon ain't going to prosper baby i wish i had a church in here what god told me what he promised me i'm about to walk into it and the weapons that's been trying to form against me they don't have any power to stop what god has already started i want you to do me a favor tonight and i want you to stand up for a moment because it is important to know that this is the time of year where the seasons are changing and priorities are changing and energy shifts coming out of winter into spring spring into summer but yet and still i feel that some of you are still in the darkness of winter when your season has shifted you have to stop mislabeling your seasons if you've gone through a dark period where you feel barren isolated wounded it's just a season it is not a life sentence and like seasons change it will change god's promise is already in process i didn't need to give you no points that is the point so don't miss the point what i like what did you learn today what's that bible study my promise is in process what i learned i learned in my promises and process and once god started it it cannot be stopped [Applause] so i'm going home and starting to get ready for what he promised the promises of god are yes and they are amen the yes is on him but the amen is on us and i just feel just in this moment that there are some people in this room who have been out of alignment with what god promised because what he said is too big for you to even fathom and it's hard for you to believe it it's not that you don't trust god or that you don't have faith it's just that you're like are you serious god you're going to do that for me and god says yeah i'm going to do that for you because i can trust you i can trust to grow you from here to here so that the birds of the air come and take nests and what i produced in your life so that people can be blessed so that they can be shelter and cover for somebody else because that's how god wants to bless you amen but the promise has a process and part of that process is you making a decision a choice to start preparing and getting ready for what god promised a choice to move forward and let go a choice to be at peace with the paradoxes in your life the contradictions yes you're confident but you got anxiety too but somebody tricked you in believing that your confidence can't live with your anxiety confidence and anxiety can coexist how do i know the bible says you need scripture okay the bible says when i'm weak i'm strong so so i can have peace lord have mercy i can have peace that surpass of all understanding and it guards my heart it guards my heart and my mind why because at the same time i got peace i got fear so peace is guarding my heart and my mind from the other stuff i it's a got so you have to learn to be at peace with a paradox paul said it this way we have this treasure in an earthen vessel that the excellency of the power may be of god and not of us but we are troubled on every side perplexed but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed do you see the paradox so i got the treasure but i also got the trouble i appreciate that another time but but it's okay i got this promise i got this treasure and i got this trouble but no weapon formed against me going to be able to prosper every tongue that rises up and gets me in judgment i got the i have the power to condemn it for this is the heritage of the children this is yours this belongs to you this is what god promised for you and so while you have your issues and why you have your troubles and why you have all of that i just want to pray for you and you don't even have to come to this altar i just want to pray for you because i don't want you to get distracted by all the little insignificant things that's been coming up is anybody in this room been dealing with just little nagging stuff that's just been coming up at you out of nowhere and you're like if i could just your promise is in process [Applause] and i don't want you to get distracted by all of that start making rum keep making rum keep planning keep moving your vision forward keep moving your vision forward come on lift those hands right here in this room father i thank you i thank you god with what they don't know lord have mercy what they don't know is that you prescribe this word for them with precision tonight somebody needed to hear this you've been waiting on the lord and i came to say wait on the lord and be of good courage [Music] because they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength you have mounting up to do oh god and when you do it you're gonna do it with eagle wings you got running to do and when you do it you ain't gonna faint you got walking to do when you do it you're not gonna get weary father i thank you that our promise is in process and while we wait on you we will choose to give you praise we will choose to prepare for what is coming and when the weapons form against us we know they will not prosper and when people rise up in judgment against what you're doing in our life father we'll just condemn it with a word we won't receive nor accept into our hearts our spirits our minds the toxic negativity of other people's opinions we're going to stay focused and we're going to move forward with what you called us to do in jesus name somebody say amen i dare you to give god a shout of praise for the word of god tonight come on bless them right where you are come on bless them right where you are bless them right way y'all bless them right where y'all hallelujah i want to bless you tonight as you leave this place because i believe your promise is in process come on lift those hands right here may god bless you and keep you may his face shine upon you may god be gracious unto you and give you peace may he surround you with his favor like a shield may his angels encamp themself round about you and may his precious blood cover you from now until eternity in jesus name somebody say amen god bless you we love you we'll see you on sunday morning [Music] you

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 74,432

Keywords: td jakes, faith, wtal, woman thou are loosed, megafest, potters house, bishop jakes, pastors and leadership, pastors, leaders, instinctbishops, village

Id: Pa-0vfteVvM

Length: 78min 13sec (4693 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 07 2022