"You're More Prepared Than You Think" - Stephanie Ike

I like this you know um for a lot of you that have seen me maybe I've set you down or something so I either I'm always serving and it's nice if you served up some tea and all that stuff so today first of all it's amazing the type of leaders that we have and so I honor you Petey and Sarah and it's an honor to serve under your leadership very quick you know I grew up in I was raised in Nigeria and I grew up in the Nigerian church and so we like to engage with you know the people I don't want you guys to be quiet if you want to run you can do that you know whatever y'all want to do that's fine with me so very quick turn to your neighbor and say I am moving forward all right my brother is here and he knows that I've always wanted to do that because in my country you know we say turn to your neighbor and say neighbor don't your other neighbor and say neighbor turn to your neighbor at the back and say neighbor so we do that all the time so I'm always in it to do that but yeah let us pray father God we thank you for this day Lord we thank you that this day was ordained even before it came we thank you Lord that everyone here is not in here by accident but Lord that this word is for each and every one in this house Lord God and we think you that this word would move in the spirit that you have called it - and we think that every heart would be blessed and it will not just be a word to make people feel good but will be a word to change lives amen even before we get into it I have my notes but who knows how we're going to do it just to hold on the spirit of the house right now when we were praying you know when Kevin prayed when harmony was speaking there were certain words that we use and we talked about surrender and we talked about you know God used me in whatever capacity you want to use me in harmony mentioned specifically that there are opportunities that God wants to give us but you know he can't really release those things and it's so amazing that those things were mentioned because they tie into today's word you know when we say when we come into the house of God first of all and we say all these things you know I really want us to be aware of what we're saying when we say God use me you're saying and when you say God I surrender you're surrendering everything that defines you and say God you can redefine me when you say God use me you're opening yourself up to opportunities that will make you uncomfortable and that's what you're saying and so when we go into this word it's going to really trigger why do we say these things but we don't follow through and so like Peter said I recently wrote a book moving forward and it's going to be outside for sale yeah all right now but you know it's so funny and the title of this message is called you are more prepared than you think and you know when and quick story you know very quick yesterday actually for I've known I've loved I've been intrigued by the Bible from the early age of 9 I would walk around my room and act like I'm preaching actually my very first sermon was to my dog and now she's sorry and this is what the sermon was so I had my dog that Chester I was in Nigeria and I said Chester you know white dog is man's best friend because God is dog backwards and God created man first and I said you know you know what about the devil that if you turn the devil if you flip his name to the other side it's lived and that's past tense and that means anything with the enemies in the past and so that was my first sermon you know but today we're going to talk about something a bit more in depth in serious so so this message is actually from my book and you know God has put some tweaks and turns into it and so I'm going to start by actually sharing my story um like I said I've always loved to I've always pretended like I was a preacher and I just loved the Bible I love teaching the word and so recently Petey and Sarah have been promoting megafest you know they're like megafest megafest yes I have my ticket you know we're all doing that and so the day I was actually the first time I was gonna buy my ticket and he hit me I said wait you know I'm like God had told me that you know this is the house in which he would raise my gift and I said God you know megafest is coming up that means there will be no leadership here you know I think this is the time you can raise me and so I'm supporting everyone who wants to go to megafest I'm like you need to go like there has to be no option of leadership in this house so that you know I could just announce myself like hey I'll be here on Wednesday y'all you know and on Thursday I'll leave and so this whole time true story you know I'm praying with two of my friends even at this time and I said you know what I really believe God is going to use me on the 19th of August and you know somehow PJ and Sarge is going to reach out to me and I'm going to preach on the 19th I'm going to teach and this whole time I'm in preparation for the 19th and so yesterday when they reached out to me I was like wait God we're two weeks ahead of schedule what is going on here and in that moment I prayed and I said what am I supposed to talk about and he told me teacher number 14 and I opened my book and it was you're more prepared than you think so this is not just a message for you it's a message for me so that's why we have to engage as we talk and so I'm going to start with the first passage that is coming up and so really quick I'm going to be talking about the Israelites and so we all know the story about when the Israelites you know the journey the wilderness and all that stuff and when God spoke to them and said hey I'm taking you out of here you know through Moses and we're going to go to the promised land and so that's we're going to be talking about now in this passage you know I can't really but I have mine here and so it's Genesis 1315 like you can see and it says for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your posterity or forever now in this passage God is talking to Abraham and he's telling Abraham the promise and so it's important to note the use of the word I will give and so he's telling Abraham about what he's about to do to the descendants of Abraham so now when we go to the next verse next boom so now this is numbers 13 - and in this verse this is the time of the manifestation of what God spoke to Abraham so we're here in the generation of Moses and God is telling Moses send men to explore and scout out for yourselves the land of Canaan which I give to the Israelites and everything else is cool but I want us to pay attention to the word I give so in the beginning God says I will give and he's talking to it and he's talking to Abraham and in this verse is talking to Moses and he said I give so we have to pay attention to that so first God is telling us what he will do and now he's told he's telling us what he's already done so the land was in his control and he's now telling him like Authority this is yours I give it to you so why is it and you know we're not going to go too much in detail about what happened but when God told Moses you know he made it clear to him that you know this land they're going to it's occupied you know it has the Canaanites and has all these Knights people in there so both God and the people of Israel were aware that land was occupied so now when we go into the next one so now here okay so basically so the people have gone and all that stuff they've scouted the land you know it's what everything God told them about but now they panic and so they're telling they're saying that the people who dwell there are strong and the cities are fortified and very large moreover they they're saw the sons of anak of great of great stature and courage now the sons of anak were basically a giant race and so the issue here is not that the people were not ready to fight the issue was what they thought about what a soldier looked like was messed up so now they're looking at the sons of anak as you know what this is how soldiers look like so you know when we go back to the title of this message you have more paper than you think it has to do with your thoughts so they are looking there whatever the sons of and I can go to the next one and so they say they're there we saw the Nephilim or Giants the sons of anak who come from the Giants and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers and so we were in their sight who told them that and so we see this issue that we all face you see what certain opportunities come our way we have this perception of ourselves that well I don't think I'm prepared for that you know I don't think I look like the part I don't think you know I don't look like how other people look like but the problem with this is you're the destiny on your life is not like anyone elses when we say God there is no one like you you see when you talk about God you're talking about yourself because you are created in His image so it's not just about you know this is who God is you're talking also about yourself and what I love is that the one scripture where God announces who he is not just about what he's done for people when he tells Moses when who did the people say I am and he said you know oh no actually that's Jesus hold up when Moses was asking him who are you or whatever you know and God says tell the you know tell the people I am I am that I am and I will be who I will be this is a reflection of us we will be whatever we need to be to get the job done we are whatever we are to get the job done when we talk about God use me you're telling God your folk your your mind is not about who you are you're focused on the vessel you're saying that god I am your vessel and use me however you see they I wore my gatekeeper shirt you know first of all is the easiest thing for me to throw on but secondly if I was serving this morning I mean this evening even before before this and so can I be both a gatekeeper and a teacher but it's not the problem that we have is that we focus on the titles that we are attached to because the truth of the matter is that it's not about me being a gatekeeper or a teacher it's about me being a vessel and as a vessel God can use me in whatever capacity you know next week he might want to use me in the worship team and I believe that you know something I believe it if you don't you know I believe God is a God of possibilities and so you have to but if the thing is that we have to open our minds to that God when we say God you know everything revolves around you there is nobody like you we're also saying that God your ways are like no one else's so why do we tell ourselves that you know can I be this and that as well the problem is you're trying to define yourself based on your job your relationship whatever it is that we attach ourselves to that's where the problem lies you see on the back of this shirt it says that I am here to serve I am here to serve I am here to serve I'm here to serve in any capacity God seeks to use me on this earth and the truth of the matter is that however God seeks to use you is actually something that he's already deposited within you and we're going to look you know to confirm what I'm saying here we're going to look at another passage and we're going to turn to Isaiah 45 we're going to look through 1 to 6 okay so the first verse it says that says the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus right there anointed is past tense so before anything he's saying that I've anointed you even before I'm speaking to you and right where we have Cyrus I would love for us to say our name in my Bible I changed it I put Stephanie so if I'm really let us all say this verse together and just announce your name so are you ready alright thus says the Lord to his anointed - Stephanie ain't mad hey come on people because you see we have to understand that God anointed us even before he's speaking to us even before we were aware of who God was he already anointed us for anything that he's asking us to do and so we go on and it says whose right hand I have grasped you see the right hand has to do with Authority when you say someone is your right hand man that person has authority to do things on your behalf so he's telling us that he has grasped you know Stephanie's right hand and so through his Authority through us this is all the things that we were able to do to subdue nations before him to lose the belt of kings to open doors before him that gates may not be closed so all these things God is telling us I am the one that is doing it through you it's not about who you are it's not about what you identify yourself to be it's about who I am you see the problem that we face is that we think that preparation being prepared has to do with you know what we think about the things that we are you know we've done all the things that we think we have not done but ultimately preparation has nothing to do with external features preparation has to do with your heart it has to do with what God has put within you and what God has done ahead of you and so let's go to the next verse and that's verse 2 I will go before you so God is going ahead of you it has nothing to do with Cyrus it has everything to do with God and level the exalted places you know and you know another translation yeah make the crooked places straight and so basically God is telling us that he will prepare the way for us he is going before us to prepare the way for us and I will break the pieces the doors you know what we can go you know continue that part is good but let's continue okay and so you know the next verse we hear like I will give you the treasures of darkness and and you know all this good stuff let's continue okay and then let's actually let's continue to the fit first okay and right here he says I am the Lord and there is no other this is what we were just thinking about there is no one like the Lord besides me there is no God I equip you though you do not know me now we're going to sit on that because God is saying that I equip you I have made you who you are they are even though you do not know me and like I said earlier to know God is to know yourself so we have to realize that there are things that we do not know about ourselves that we already prepared to do you see I have never you know spoken in front of people like this before but the moment that you give me this mic I recognize that this is who I am so we you see that we can't be always we can't stay praying God prepare me you know God use me Oh Lord you know I just want to be used by you by the Lord preparing me you need to do because in the doing you come to the realization of what you already are so when when I'm saying that you're more prepared than you think the fact of the matter is that God has already done everything and you just need to step into the doing you see come on now you know if if you want to run you can run you know we Africans in this building you see that what we we know PT sera even a benissa we've been all talking about you know a spirit of revival you see revival when revival hits you however it comes if you fall into it accidentally if you fall into it with the knowing however it comes revival is not a time where you're still preparing revival is the time where you step in and you start doing things you see this is a season where a lot of us either you are or you're about to come into something but a lot of us God is going to call us into things that is uncomfortable for us to do God is going to call us to do things that we've never done before I've never done this before I have ain't I right daily devotionals but that's not the same you know I'm behind the computer I'm not painting in front of all y'all so we have to understand that whatever it is that God is calling us to do whatever it is that we are so hesitant about we have to recognize this very fact that before you know yourself before you even come to the realization of what is within you God has already equipped you with who you are and so we can't keep praying God you know use me and you know send me whatever whatever whatever but then our minds is focused on how God should use us you see we're in the Book of Isaiah and this very man you know Petey talked about it when he said you know when God was like you know who shall I send and he said send me and Petey said God never told him where he was going he just said God sent me and so we have to be willing to say God whatever you want to do with me I am here to serve your will on earth and ultimately trust me family whatever God calls you to do is never just about okay God said you know I should do this it's you have a lot to play in it there's a blessing in it for you when I started writing daily devotionals I need my daily devotionals the reason I wrote this book wasn't just to write a book for the people I needed this book I was in the place where I felt stagnant and I felt like you know what God I don't know what's going on with my life and when the message for me to write this book came I thought it was a joke I'm like okay I can't teach people what I don't know but the problem I was focusing on me I was not focusing on God and so the moment I submitted myself and really entered what the word surrender meant God used me to write this book and it speaks to me till now I mean it before this message I had to read I was like what did I ever write for that you know so um let's actually go to verse the next verse and so right here and it says that people may know from the rising of the Sun and from the West that there is none besides me I am the Lord and there is no other again it is not about you it is all about God when we say that God you are my strength in my weakness we have to understand what we're saying we can't just come in the house of the Lord and say these things for no reason if there's a passage that talks about the kingdom of God is not in words it is in power it is in power people we are not supposed to come into the house of the Lord and just feel good you know we're not just supposed to jump and you know holler and you know turn up in Jesus and do nothing about it see when PT talks about there is a grace in this house he's talking about the power in the kingdom because it's not just about hearing a word it's about actually receiving the grace receiving the enablement to do that word because we are going to a counter and I know a lot of you in here and a lot of you the rest of you that is not in that first category whatever you know everyone in here is going to encounter something that they're not comfortable with but you have to trust that you are already prepared for that thing we have to stop praying you know God just prepare me Lord I'm just trying to go on a retreat to be prepared what stop it really like you know for real stop you know and and the thing is that there was another man who faced the same problem the band by the name Jeremiah you know PJ always talks about you know the things that God spoke of at Jeremiah but when God spoke to Jeremiah and said hey you know this is all things I want to do with you you know I'm calling you as a prophet and all these great things that Jeremiah comes and he's like you know I'm only your youth and God is like do not say you're only a youth because it's not about what you are or what you are not it's about God and that is the message that I want to press on today you see family a lot of times we don't step into things because we're afraid but I have learned because I'm someone who you know when the more I understand what it means to be vulnerable I understand that the lack of vulnerability is because of fear you see being vulnerable is about your ability to release control it's about your ability to say you know what I'm opening myself up to whatever happens and we have to be willing to be vulnerable if we were willing if we want to be willing to become who God says we are and so we have to take off the the whole like you know I just want to protect myself and say God I want you to protect me it's not about me protecting me anymore God I want you to protect me you see there's a story we talked about and it's about lot and you know a lot and his wife and this is what happens when we hold on to the things that make us comfortable this is what happens when we hold on to the things that we define ourselves to you know even very quick think of who would you be if you didn't define yourself to your job to the relationships that make you feel valuable or to the places that you feel like you know what can whatever you want to do here especially in this culture we we run around by who we know you know I know this person hey you know who are you stop talking about who you know focus about who you are and that is the realization that we need to grow into who am i and who do I serve and how is the reflection of who I serve living in me am I truly a reflection of Christ and so I want to talk about lot and his wife you know we always say that you know a lot when he turned around the wife turned into salt and all that stuff and when I read that passage I was like God because I'm someone I asked a lot of questions and I'm like why did she turn into salt like what what happened there and I understood that in biblically salt carries two connotations salt can either represent something good or bad and in this situation it's something bad and there is a passage in the Book of Ezekiel and God was talking about how he will give a land over to salt and by him doing that the land will become barren and so I studied what does salt do to grass and so when you pour salt on the grass that exfoli kills the grass and eventually it becomes a desolate place you see when we hold onto the things that make us comfortable we're actually killing who we are when Lot's wife looked back she was like you know you see when when she looked back she was holding on to what she was defined by she was holding on to what made her comfortable see God doesn't do things randomly he didn't turn her to Saul just to turn her to salt he turned her to salt to teach us the consequences of holding on to the things that make us comfortable and so family you know this is the time where you soothe your spirit with music but I can't play the instruments but there is Petey says it's a lot but it is true there is a grace in this house the kingdom of God is not in words it is in power and so if you are tired of living in a way that you are afraid or you're not willing to be vulnerable or whatever the case is if you're ready to truly say God I surrender to everything that you want to do and I surrender to everything that you are then come down to this altar hmm come on family you see it's not it's not just about when we walk when we walk down here it's not just about you know I'm just walking up you see sometimes when I go back to the feeling of we like to look at ourselves and feel a straightaway we are so with such a cultural eyes based on perception we're so focused on how things look and all that so if you're sitting down and the only reason you're not standing up is because you don't want to look a certain way then break that off and come down to this altar come on you see there is so much God wants to do with us and through us there's so much that like harmony mentioned there are opportunities that God is ready to give us but the problem is what we how we view those opportunities to be how we view the manner in which they should come you see you might be you know just throwing it out there you might be a model and God is calling you to be a rapper you know that doesn't flow the point is you know I don't know who that's for I don't think it's for anybody but the point is that God is trying to get you out of your comfort zone there are things that God is going to call us to do and it's not going to be comfortable and there is a power and there's a grace in this house the kingdom of God is not in words it is in power so if you're ready and if you are willing to walk in that power you see when you receive a word from God it's not just to walk out you see the problem is when Jesus was you know when he first message and all that stuff he talked about repentance which is renew your mind there's a difference between renewing your mind and receiving information in your mind you can receive new information and that does nothing to you so don't sit down and say you know I get the message that's cool no we need our minds to be renewed because the product of a renewed mind has changed habits the product of renewed mind is a changed walk so if you're sitting or if you're sitting whatever you need and you know that you need to renew your mind you know that today it's not just about God I get this new information and I got it boom what what next if you know that you need to walk out of here and not forget how you look and not forget what this word meant to you then come down to this altar amen come on down we see y'all amen and lastly well maybe this is not lastly but i'ma play a PT role and lastly if you need to give your life to Christ come on down you see Jesus is fun you know forget what the people say Jesus is a fun guy you know I could listen to trap music and step into worship and it does not know um you know thank you lord look if you have not given your life to Christ if you want to rededicate your life to Christ just come on down we got time come on come on thank you Lord we see you oh I feel the pootie amen and thank you Lord let us pray father God we thank you for your children we thank you for the obedience in this house Lord we thank you that we are moving in your power and not inwards for the God we thank you that we will not walk out of here forgetting Lord God that we will walk out of here in your power Lord God we thank you for what is taking place in and within your children we thank you Lord God that indeed we are in a revival for the God we thank you that we would not be the same that we walked in here that we will walk out Lord God stepping into all that you have called us to be Lord God may we remember for the God that you have prepared us for every and anything you call us to do so whether we are unaware or it's something unfamiliar to us Lord God that we will step into it with boldness because the spirit of god is a spirit of boldness we cannot move in the spirit and be timid we cannot move in the spirit and be fearful there is no results that come as a result of fear so we thank you Lord God for all that you're doing in this house in Jesus name

Channel: ONE | A Potter's House Church

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Id: Z4JPAvAmgog

Length: 30min 48sec (1848 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 06 2015