11/11/07 - God Has and Exit Strategy

"God Has and Exit Strategy"


Ex 8:1-10
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD. 9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? 10 And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

He will not get you into anything that he cannot get you out of
- "Always keep your fare back home" - think about how you're getting back, before you go
- Most people get in trouble and then they pray - emergency prayers
- God has already determined the end from the beginning

Exodus- how God brings his people out
- Gen 15 showed us that he allowed them to go in, "afterward they will come out with great substance"
- Abraham did not live long enough to see the fulfillment of the promise - he died
- But God is not a man that he should lie, or the son of man that he should repent
- God kept his word to a dead man, how much more would God keep his word to the living
- Used the famine to drive the people strategically to the place he wanted them to be
- God had orchestrated the rejection of Joseph by his brothers so that he would be in place when the brothers needed to come to Egypt
- God uses adversity to maneuver you to be in the right place for his later blessing

"God has a strategy"
- he often does not clue us in on the details
- Today, we believe that you can believe in God and reap the blessing, but you aren't taught about the peril in between
- The peril is part of the process that is going to lead you to the promise
- "There's going to be somebody there to bless you"
- You might be the one put in position to bless someone else
- Egypt was the only country with the economic structure to support the famine - all because God had given the plan to Joseph
- When God gives his people a plan - it will work regardless: it will defy the famine
- 70 members of a family, a pharaoh comes into a power who does not recognize the people of power and began to oppress them. 430 years in Egypt- 400 of them as slaves
- Every now and then, God will put a person in authority who hates the church
- Rejoice when you're falsely accused for great is your reward in heaven
- The people's tradition of worshipping God is getting weaker and weaker because when you're surrounded by heathens, you forget
- But God has not forgotten them

Ex chapter 1: a strange thing began to happen
- The harder the Pharaoh got on them, the more they multiplied
- Believers flourish in affliction - when God wants to bless you, he sends trouble
- When you see the enemy coming, start rejoicing because the increase is coming
- "I'm growing under pressure"
- The more the pharaoh took away the bricks and straw- the more children the Israelites had
- the more affliction, the deeper into relationship they go
- the values change and they start appreciating their relationships more
- God takes away one thing, the other things began to increase in importance
- The victory is not in the straw (you pray for the straw, you are just praying to be a better slave when he's trying to bring you out of the whole situation)
- poor people have the most kids
- It is good that you have been afflicted
- If there is not a great pressing, there will not be a great deliverance
- Jesus went to Gethsemane- the olive goes through a pressing

To the person that is connected, the pain tells them it's time to deliver
- When God gets ready to deliver them, it is because he has used the pressure to get them in the position for delivery
- The trouble will stop when you are in position
- He sends trouble to bless you: you can't win the battle if you don't go into it
- God brought them out, so that they could worship him - you cannot keep a worshipper down

That enemy that you see today- you shall see no more

11-04-07: Good Word Good Ground

Good Word; Good Ground
Bishop Jakes
Nov 4, 2007

Mark 4: 1-9
1 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, 3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. 9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Jesus chose to teach primarily through parables; understand the dimensions of the truth through symbolism
- use metaphors that we can relate to, to explain revelations that we cannot relate to
- parable requires that the reader have some degree of relevatory knowledge so that the hearer can understand the truth of the story
- to others it is just a story, but to the child of God, there is glory in the story

This is one of the few times that he follows the parable with an explanation
- he wanted to be sure that we get an understanding of the truth

Agricultural parable: power of his word
- God's seed is his word
- When he goes to create- he uses the word
- out of the invisible comes the visible, out of theintangible comes the tangible
- You cannot be a bonafied legitimate Christian and not love his word
- Christ himself is a derivative of the word
- Whenever the Word speaks - things are going to move
- If God's word is strong enough to hold up the sun, it's strong enough to hold me up

Most of us are good ground. What is growing in us is what was planted in us
- You have to be careful
- You can't sow negative words and reap positive children
- Faith cometh by teaching, and teaching by the word of God
- Just because you don't believe doesn't mean that it's lost its power
- Wether shall I go, oh Lord, for thy words are everywhere
- Jesus had to stop speaking because when he was speaking life, nothing could kill him
- What kind of ground are you?

The kingdom of God requires that you have the ear to hear and the eye to see
- How a woman can give up the man she can see for a man you can't see

The sower soweth the word
- When you get good word, you go home pregnant
- pregnant with hope and encouragement
- Some of you are one step away from the blessing that is coming into your life

15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
- The enemy comes to steal the word out of your heart
- There is nothing wrong with the word, but it fell in a shallow place. Shallow people who live on the edge
-- the highway side, and the birds ate it
- You flunk on Monday when you were trained on Sunday because you did not determine the word precious enough to preseve it

16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
- I used to be so impressed with outward expressions
- Sometimes the people who shout the loudest are the ones who live the lowest
- it's a dangerous thing to have more show than you have substance
- receive the word with gladness but have no root
- talking so loud that they can't hear
- You gotta have some roots, because life will try you by the roots
-- the trunk will bend but the roots will stand in the storm
- plant trees to tap into the spring, because it stops the ground from slipping when the roots get entangled in the dirt
-- one tree was twice as tall as the others: it was planted by the water
-- out growing your situation because you were planted by the living water
- When you get in a place where you are growing and have root, stay put- you are in good ground

17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
- if you get offended - check your roots. The roots of your soul, your spirit
-- knocked to your knees and you're still standing

18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, 19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
- You walk away with the blessing but leave the blessor
- Never allow your stuff to take you away from your God
- God doesn't mind you having things, he minds things having you
- The bible talks about the deceitfulness of riches- you start going after money instead of going after the kingdom
-- if you seek the kingdom, the money seeketh you
-- if you give it up, I'll give it to you, but if you try to hold onto it, I'll take it away
- It's a whole new level of test when God starts to bless you. You have to be careful not to worship what he gave you instead of worshiping him
- To him whom much is given, much is required
- The things God gave them, outgrew them-- the cares of the world distracted them from seeking God
- I don't care.
-- Cast all your cares on him, for he cares for you.
- One of the most horrific ways to die is to choke to death.
-- You are dying from the lack of something you are exposed to, but can't get to it, because something is in the way. Choking to death, and prospering- but choking on your own prosperity.
-- No one ministers to people who have too much: too much too fast
- Where God is taking you, you cannot afford to allow another thing to get in your windpipe and get in the way
-- I'm turning it over to God.
- If the enemy can't choke you with poverty - he'll choke you with too much success

20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
- The enemy wouldn't be trying to choke you if God wasn't getting ready to bless you
- If you hear the word of God, and receive the word of God, than all that's left is to bring forth
- The least you will bring forth is 30-fold

According to the almanac, there were certain seasons that were better for planting seed - this is your time. Do not count on tomorrow.