Miracle City Global – 10/27/2019 -Transcript

10/27/19 Miracle City Global

Anna Love. I’m excited for what the Lord has for us today. This week I was asking the Lord about overcoming and pressing through when we don’t feel so great or situations are going on; or we’re frustrated or tired. Lord, I know we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. That’s in scripture. I asked the Lord, Whenever we feel like we can’t overcome, or we have a bad attitude, or we’re struggling and don’t know how to overcome that thing, the Lord reminded me of James 4:7.

Submit yourself to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. So I start applying that in any situation. If you start feeling frustrated with a family member, before you say anything, before you react, before you think about anything else—God, I submit myself to you and I’m going to resist the devil. I’m going to resist whatever in me makes me want to react in a wrong, ungodly way. I’m going to resist it because continued resistance to whatever is trying to come against you, it  will get to the point where that thing doesn’t have any power. And whenever it wants to rise up, you resist it and it runs away from you. It’s of no effect.

James 4:7-10. So submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

I believe that, as the Body, we are coming out of the morning season, that the dawn has broken and as are stepping into a new day. Whenever I was reading this in James, what came up in my spirit was, Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours. So don’t let us become desensitized to your presence. Or desensitized to things in the world—I don’t agree with that, but that’s just the world. That’s just how things are.

But Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours. That way I can stand in a place, coming up under you, Jesus, in a place of intercession for our world, for the situations, for the things that are going on. It was really on my heart. Don’t let things of the world become normal; or situations that are ungodly become normal. You can not agree with something, but you’ve accepted it as the normal.

That’s not the standard to which we are called to live. We’re called to a standard of righteousness. Lord, raise your standard in us. Let us hold to that standard. I was reading in John 17 and it talks about whenever we are standing in the ways of the Lord and we’re pressing in, that the very truth of who God is becomes the truth in us. And standing in that and accepting the truth, we literally become the truth.

How is that possible? Through salvation in Jesus Christ, who is the Truth, is on the inside of us. And because we are blood-bought, and he is in us and we are in him, we become the truth.

He’s the light of the world, but we are supposed to be his light in the world, reflecting who he is. So whenever we’re standing up in our true identity in Christ, we can be the truth to the world. That’s really powerful. If we begin to think about that and how awesome that is, and how much authority the Lord has given us, it really brings our attitudes and actions in check.

Because if we start living and moving and breathing like the truth we are, knowing what power is on the inside of us, because Jesus is on the inside of us, then you’re going to want to use that in a righteous way. If the Lord says we can speak to the mountains and they’ll be cast into the sea, if we start operating in that, then we’ll see it.

It came up in me so strongly this week, how important it is to keep our actions, and our attitudes, and our emotions, etc. in check. The realness of all of this came up in me.

We talk about it and Wednesday night we were standing on the power of the blood and welcoming that into this place. I know we believe and I know we see it when we’re together, but I believe the Lord is saying it’s time to function in that in our everyday life. Because he is so real and what he is doing is so real, so it’s time for us to start living it out and walking it out. He says we can, so let’s do it. That should be encouraging to all of us.

It makes you want to lean into the Lord a little bit more. Like, If you’re saying we can really do this, what else are you saying? If you’re really saying I can expect to see signs, wonders, and miracles, let’s step into that and see what it really looks like. So, moving from an idea or knowing it’s possible to the present reality.

My prayer is that you would begin to think on those things and ask the Lord to begin to do it in all of us. And for us to function in a new, fresh way. We are going to step into worship. I can sense the rest and the peace of the Lord in this place this morning. There have been storms in the natural, but it’s a peace.

Lord, I thank you this morning for your peace and your rest in this place. I thank you that you’re clothing each one of us in your shalom. Lord, you say if we humble ourselves you will lift us up. So this morning I say, We bow down before you and we praise your name. I thank you that you open our eyes to see more and our ears to hear more. That we are hearing new frequencies. That you are taking us to higher heights and deeper depths.

Lord, I thank you that your revelation knowledge is in this place. That the truth of who you are is in this place. I thank you, Lord, that you are ministering this morning to your people, spirit, soul, and body. Lord, I thank you that you revive and energize us—spirit, soul, and body—not lacking anything, not lacking any good thing.

We welcome your presence. We welcome your power. And we welcome your glory in our midst, Lord. And I thank you that you are clothing us in new power, in new glory, and that you have crowned us in victory. We step into all you have for us. We step into all that you’ve done. And we step into all that you are going to do.

Lord, I thank you that you are pulling us up today to full functionality. I thank you that we are functioning on every level that you have called us to. Not lacking, not dragging behind. Lord, I thank you for your joy in this place. I thank you that you are lifting off heaviness and that your joy is exploding and invading in this place. We say Yes to it.

?We acknowledge and welcome you and all you want to do today. Do what only you can do. My soul sings, How I love you. I love you. I love you, God. Everything I ever wanted I found in you. Everything I ever needed I found in you. My soul sings, How I love you. You don’t give your heart in pieces. You don’t hide your love. How great is your love. Never have I ever known a love like yours.

Lane. I feel the Lord wants to remind us this morning that faith isn’t a feeling. That we don’t have to have the warm fuzzies or the tingly sensation of his glory to praise him. That’s just a response to who he is. Even when we don’t feel it, we press through. We give him what he’s worthy of. Just because he’s worthy. Just because we know he’s good and he’s faithful. Even if it doesn’t look like it around us. Right in front of our face we may see discouragement and despair, but God is good and his love endures forever. Lord, you are good and your love endures forever. Sometimes when all that stuff is right in front of your face, you just need to say, Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, just for who you are. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

?You are good and your love endures forever.

Lane. Thank you Jesus just for who you are.

Thank you Jesus. We say, Thank you Jesus. You are good and your love endures forever.

Kevin. Nothing else will satisfy. Nothing else will fill our need. You’re the real thing Jesus. You’re all I need. You’re more than enough for me.

Anna. Right now, Lord, we thank you that you are an on-time God, that you know what we need before we have need of it. Lord, I thank you that you’re never late, but you’re right on time. We welcome your timing this morning. In every situation and in every season, we welcome your timing. And we come into your timing this morning. Lord, I thank you that we’re not late, we’re not early, but we’re right on time.

?We thank you that you’re right on time this morning. We’re right on time. We thank you, Jesus; you’re the real thing.

Kevin. You made a way where there was no way because you love us.

Thank you Jesus.

Laurie Myrick. This morning when Anna first spoke about the morning has broken, she was speaking of the new morning, the new dawn, the new day. In my spirit I heard, mourning has broken. It says that joy comes in the morning. Again, I heard, Joy comes in the mourning. Once we mourn through it and push through it, then the joy comes.

Just as the sun, that’s not shining this morning that we can see it, it is shining. The Son is always shining on our face to warm us in a place where we’re cold or where we’re dry or thirsty. The Son has come up. And the sun comes up every morning.

It says in Lamentations in 3:23 his mercies are new every morning when we rise, when we open our eyes, and we fix our eyes on him. And the enemy wants to bring the mourning back into our lives when we wake up, but I decree and declare we will choose. The Son will shine on us in the morning of our life and we will give his love out just as they said. He doesn’t give his heart in pieces to us. But he wants us to bring our broken pieces of our heart to him so he can make it whole.

Everyone who is watching or listening may not be born-again and may not know Jesus. He is the only thing that can fill the missing piece in that broken heart. So if you put your heart back together yourself or you’re trying to put it back together and you do it without him, you are still going to have a hole in your heart. You can never be fully whole in the body and your mind until he fills that hole in your heart. Then the love of God can flow out of us to those around us.

?You made a way for us to enter your holy place. I am yours. You are mine. And we’ll be together forever.

Lane. It’s a personal thing. You gave me access anytime I please. You made a way for me to enter the holy place.

Anna. We enter into your holy place this morning just to be close to you, just to walk next to you. You are my one thing.

Anna. Lord, we thank you this morning that our hearts are turned fully to you. That we’ve come back to the heart of worship. That we’ve come back to our one thing. We set our thoughts, we set our eyes, we fix our hearts on one thing—that’s you, Jesus. Lord, bring us back to the one thing. Bring us back to the simple gospel. Bring us back to when it was all about you. Just as we started out, Break our hearts for what breaks yours. I thank you for your tender mercy. I thank you for your loving kindness.

Lord, I thank you that you are engulfing us and wrapping us in your love this morning. That love is your truth. We step into the way, the truth, and the life. And we say we step into your light this morning.

As we were singing, Just to be close to you. Just to walk next to you. This is my one thing. You’re my one thing. What began stirring in me is, we get so busy in our walk that our minds are about the Lord but our hearts aren’t about the Lord. I was sensing this morning that it’s a call. Don’t just know me with your mind, but know me with your heart.

If you know me with your mind, you know who I am. But if you know me with your heart, you know what I’m about; you know the details; you know the deep places. So Lord, I thank you that you are ministering to our hearts this morning. That our hearts are open wide to you. That we come back to the heart of the matter. That we come back to the heart of the matter. That we come back to the heart of the matter.

Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours. I thank you that you remove the heart of stone and you’ve given us a heart of flesh. Remove the heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. Knock off the hard places. Lord, let us be soft. Let us be moldable. Let us be pliable in your hands. Let us be those called out ones. Let us be the church that you desire. Let us be the bride that you desire.

So we’re singing those words, just to be close to you, just to walk next to you. I want to read this song: Your voice ever close, you call me. You never give up pursuing. I fell in love and you stole my heart. Your hand ever near I hold to. I long for your heart, to know you, just to live in your fellowship.

I believe this morning those words, that call, it’s how Jesus has called each one of us that said Yes. We released Hosea 2 Friday night and on Saturday, and I’m reminded of: Remember when you were young. Remember when I first told you I love you. Remember when we first had those moments together. These lyrics are so much about that to me. Your voice ever close you call me. Just the first time you heard the voice of the Lord, how it made you feel.

Like Lane said, it’s so powerful because it’s not always about feeling good. We have to remember the worth of the Lord, because even when we don’t feel it, he never stops being worthy. A lot of times if we’re not feeling it, or we don’t feel like praising, things don’t feel good, or Lord I can’t feel you—if we’ll press through because he’s worthy, then he’s so good to show up with his presence.

So Lord, I thank you that your voice is calling out to us like the first time, this morning. I thank you that you will put such a strong, passionate love in our hearts for you, that we will respond like we did at first. Lord, I thank you that when we feel like we don’t have a leg to stand on or a hand to pull us up, we remember that your hand never lets go of us.

Father, I thank you that no matter how busy we are, no matter the situations in life, that your fellowship and our relationship with you is always there. That you are right beside us. That you are with us every step of the way. Lord, we thank you for what you’ve done in this time of worship. We thank you for the songs and the sounds, the prayers and the words and scripture that have gone forward. We say, Here we are, in Jesus name. Amen.

Brenda Eason. I saw heavy white clouds pressing down and coming down like there was pressure behind it, pushing it down. I asked God, What is it?  And he said, My glory. And the glory of the Lord filled the temple. I said, We welcome your glory, Lord. We want your glory, Lord. Then I was reminded of the scripture that says the glory of the Lord is our strength.

So Lord, we thank you that where we’ve been weak and we thank you that where we have been beat down and torn down that you are our strength. We thank you that your glory is our strength, Father, and I ask you to come in your glory today and fill this temple with your glory. Renew your children. Renew us, Lord, that we can go forth with strength, in Jesus name.

Anna Love. As Lane shared, too, this morning, it’s been in me the last few days how the Lord is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our worship no matter what we feel like. He is looking for his faithful ones. Whenever we worship him, even if we’re not feeling it, or when things weren’t going our way, if we are faithful because of his worth, then he blesses us in that.

Kevin and I talk about this. It’s really a sacrifice of praise when you don’t feel it and things aren’t going good. When it doesn’t sound so good. When it’s one thing after another. Just say No, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to worship anyway. There is a blessing in that.

So many times when we’re not feeling it, or we’re in a dry place, if we just step out because he’s worthy, then he is so good to come with his presence and clothe us in that presence.

Prophets, Pitfall, and Principles.

M’s for maturing and maintaining ministry and discerning true and false ministries. It helps you distinguish the truth from a lie. It’s holding yourself accountable to the Word of God and walking in the truth. It’s also letting you know when you hear a message come out in this house, or in another ministry, or someone is talking about the Lord, it’s a good tool to say, Is this the truth? Is this is apart from the truth? It’s a good way we can keep ourselves in check and we can make sure what we’re listening to is the truth.

1) Manhood/Womanhood

With Jesus in mind as the pattern, God had to make Adam and Eve first in His own image and likeness before they could perform their “ministry” in the garden of Eden.

It’s interesting. The Lord had a plan for all of us, but he had a plan for Adam and Eve in the Garden.

You may not be a five-fold minister, but whatever mountain of society you’re in, that’s your ministry. If you’re a stay at home mom, then your ministry is your family. I don’t always think about this, but when God created Adam and Eve in the Garden, their ministry was to tend the Garden. Their ministry was the plants, the animals, all of it. That was their ministry. You see the first signs of fellowship and what it is to give unto the Lord, even at the beginning.

This is true for us: God wants to make us like Jesus before we can minister like Jesus did. God must make a man or woman before He manifests through him or her in a mighty ministry.

The Church Race

We aren’t destined to become God, as new age teaching would have it. But we are predestined to the image of Christ Jesus. Romans 8:29. God created the man Adam to be the father of the whole human race. Abraham was called to be the father of the Hebrew race. But Jesus came to be the spiritual father of a new race of humankind called the “Church race.”

It says in Genesis that we are made in the image of God. Think about the way we look. We have ten fingers, ten toes, how our bodies function. God could have made us any kind of way, but he chose to make us in his image. It’s for two reasons. First of all, He wanted family. To be family, you have to be of the same kind. He also made us in His image because he knew that some 4,000 years from the creation of Adam and Eve, He was sending his one and only Son into the world. He had to have the right vessel. If he was sending his son into the world, he had to have a vessel that was like him.

I thought that was so interesting, how the Lord doesn’t forget a detail, and that every part and piece has a reason and a purpose. Whenever we come into the kingdom of God we’re co-heirs with Christ. So that’s why we’re made in his likeness. Because we have an inheritance and our inheritance is the kingdom. That was awesome and powerful to me.

God made humanity in the Garden of Eden the way he wanted the race throughout eternity: with a spirit, soul, and body conformed to God’s own image and likeness. God never intended for humankind to evolve into angels, cherubim, seraphim or even God Himself.

We will never become angels or God Himself, but we are called to become like the perfect man, Jesus Christ. Blood-washed, redeemed humankind is destined to be joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8:17. There is no higher calling in all the universe than to be a new-creation member of the eternal Church race.

Make Christ-like character your aim.

For us to be godly—that is, like God—means for us to be like Jesus, who is our perfect pattern as believers and as ministers. That means we must be fully human as well. What does that mean? It means knowing how to walk in a natural way on the earth while walking in a supernatural way in the Spirit. Our flesh and bones, when cleansed by the blood of Jesus, move from being ‘sinful’ to ‘sanctified’ and become a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

I Corinthians 14:1 “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit…”

“Make love your aim.” We must make Christ’s character our primary aim, our ultimate goal as we minister.

When Paul was telling the Romans about God’s ultimate intention for us, he didn’t talk about our position, our message, or our ministry. He spoke instead of our character.

Character is very important. We can have a mighty ministry, churches with thousands of people, put on the face and everything look picture perfect. But if we don’t have godly character, then we’re just a whole bunch of show. I don’t want to be empty. I don’t want to give forth a nice package, but it’s empty on the inside. It’s a lot of fluff and it’s not real.

I loved what Kevin was singing about. Jesus is the real thing. We serve a real God. It’s not hype. He’s so real. That’s what pulls us, and that pulling, that nudging we feel from the Lord, from the Holy Spirit is because he is so real that he invades our space in a real way. It’s not a high and lofty, far away thing but it’s right here within us.

Romans 8:29 “For whom He did foreknow, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be a firstborn among many brethren.”

Our transformation into Christ’s image is what God is primarily after, so whatever happens to us, it is working together for our good toward that goal. Romans 8:28. We talked about Joseph last week. When he was thrown in prison; when he faced all the different trials; or when he started and was thrown in the pit; then in Egypt; then in prison; all these things one after another, he counted everything for good.

His intentions, his heart was bent toward God and his ultimate plan for him. He always knew in himself that God was going to work it for his good. How powerful is it when he faced his brothers and had the conversation, and he said, No, you sent me to Egypt for evil, but God sent me to Egypt for good. Even in those moments there was full forgiveness there. He didn’t see it as something done against him. He saw it as a provision of God done for him.

In thinking about Joseph, God is right on time. Joseph waited fourteen years in a place to fulfill his destiny. If he hadn’t gone through the trials he did. You think, his intentions were set on the Lord; he wanted what the Lord wanted; he wanted the dream God had given him, etc. So why would God allow these things to happen to him? It was for the testing of his faith. It develops perseverance.

So whenever there’s a famine in all the land, and he’s in a position in Egypt, he’s really the one having to deal with all of this. Would you think the testing of his faith and the perseverance prepared him for that place? Furthermore, if he had not gone through all the trials, if he had not been in prison for so long, how do you know he would have ended up in the right place at the right time? God is so intentional. Don’t look at the hell you’re living in now as, Oh I’m stuck; but as, God, where are you taking me?

Instead of using this problem to identify my whole life, we’re going to use this problem as a launching pad for me to jump into whatever God has for me. That’s changing our mindset from a victim mentality to an overcomer, to a victor mentality.

Judging Ministers.

You don’t judge the person, but you judge the spirit of the matter.

In judging true and false ministers, the quality of manhood or womanhood must be judged. We must evaluate ministers apart from their ministry, position, title, or gifting. I really like how Bill Hamon words this and what he says. In such evaluations, we should ask ourselves, Is this the kind of person I would want to be my friend, neighbor, or co-laborer in God’s kingdom throughout eternity?

Even as a minister it’s important that we don’t get so wrapped up in what’s going on in the spirit realm that we don’t demonstrate God’s love to one another. One of the most important things to God is family. If we can’t love one another, if we love God and hate people, we’ve got some things messed up.

People can have mighty ministries, yet operate in unChristlike attributes that would very much make you not want to be around them.

Character—Christlike Character is key! We are transformed by the “renewing of our minds” which brings the continual change into His image—taking us from glory to glory.

We renew our minds by spending time in the Word, in worship, and in his fellowship. If you don’t spend time with the Lord, then you won’t know him. I’ve talked with different people. People love worship. They love the presence. But they forsake the Word. So it’s all about feeling versus knowing. And it’s really that the two become one. You have to have both. You can’t have the presence without the Word. Spirit and Truth.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

II Corinthians 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

What did Brenda share? What did Lane share? We operated in that scripture today.

2) Ministry.

The second area to which we must give attention if we are to mature in ministry is the fruits of that ministry. You judge a ministry by its fruit—if it produces good fruit.

Jesus pointed to this area as He warned the disciples about false prophets who would come to them as ferocious wolves in sheep’s clothing. He said of true ministers that “by their fruit you will recognize them.”

Excerpt from book: How long does the positive effect of our ministry last? Is it all froth or is there abiding fruit? After all the excitement, shouting, singing, and dancing is over, what remains that is of value? Does our ministry manifest the anointing of God, that is, the divine enablement of grace to accomplish God’s intended result? Or is there more talk than power?

The Apostle Paul insisted, My message and preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on man’s wisdom, but on God’s power. The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but a matter of power.

We have no excuse for not demonstrating the supernatural dimension of spiritual gifts in our ministry. Is our preaching or prophesying productive? Those are all real questions we have to ask. Is the word we speak positive, pure, and proven? Have we been accurate and as a ministry produced the fruit of the Spirit in those to whom we minister?

Though we are no longer under the Mosaic law, we should keep in mind the seriousness in God’s eyes of ministering in his name. He told the ancient Israelites that a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say must be put to death. How do we know whether our words have been truly of God in the same Biblical passage? God told people how to judge.

If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously.

That’s why in this house we talk about not ministering out of the soul. If we minister out of the soul, or out of our intentions, then those are not the divine words that the Lord has truly spoken. It has the ability instead of producing life to someone, it can produce death.

In addition, we should consider whether our preaching or prophesying has caused people to stumble or to be discredited in ministry in any way. Paul was able to declare, We have put no stumbling block in anyone’s path so that our ministry may not be discredited. He went on to report how he and those who ministered with him had endured hardship, opposition, hard words, slander, and deprivation. Yet through it all they had given no one genuine cause to be condemned for their work.

This is not to say, of course, that our ministry should never stir controversy or criticism. Even Paul had those problems in abundance. But it is to say that we should suffer for the sake of truth and righteousness in our ministry. Not for the sake of unnecessary stumbling blocks that we have erected in causing offense.

It’s not a good idea to be offensive just to be offensive. It’s not a good idea to stir up controversy just to have controversy. If you face offending someone because you stood on the truth, well the truth defends itself, and God in you will defend you. So as long as you hold to this truth, you don’t have to get into the back and forth deal. But if you seek to offend someone that you know doesn’t believe the same way as you, and you just want to stir it up, that is every evil work.

Where there is strife and division, there is every evil work. Instead of standing and operating in the truth and the ministry God has called you to, you’re playing for the other team. You are operating in every evil work. That roots back to the devil. It’s a good idea to think about things a little deeper or in a new way than we have in the past. We’ve seen it down here and the Lord is saying to come up higher and see the full picture.

Matthew 7:15-20 True and False Prophets

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

We had a great picture of that as we were going to our Columbus portal. We got there and a tree had fallen over in the driveway. A huge tree. Like it was pulled up from its roots and laid over. It’s more than just a cutting down and cut away. It’s a bad root system being dug up.

My prayer is, Lord, if I have any roots in my life that are not of you, I thank you that you dig those up, that you prune the good roots so they can grow. It says in scripture we’re to be rooted and grounded in his love. His love is his truth, his person. It’s who he is.

Function in Full Authority.

As New Testament ministers, it is time for us to function in the full authority given to us in Christ Jesus.

II Corinthians 3:6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit: for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Is the way you are operating in the ministry God has put you in producing life or death? Whatever situation you are facing, even if you come up to a situation or a spirit that needs to die, you always put life on it. The life of God takes care of the things that need to fall away and makes the good come to life even more and flourish.

All that the Holy Spirit has been commissioned to be and do for the Church, the New Testament minister can minister to God’s people.

Whenever you read New Testament scripture, look at the way it described the Holy Spirit, how he works, and how he moves. In our ministry we can function in the same way, holding to the truth. Stirring in me this morning so much is that we need to step into the fullness and functionality as the ministry gift God has called us to be, and begin to function. Not just function here in the earthly realm, but up here in the heavenly realm.

It’s not being so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good. I saw that the Lord is calling us to function so highly in our seated place in heaven that we are excelling in the earth. The Church should be the best at everything. As Christians, we should be the best in everything. We should be excelling in the seven mountains of society. We should be excelling in everything. We should be healthy and fit in our bodies. I don’t say that to bring condemnation. But we really should.

If you think about who we are and who we are supposed to be, we’re supposed to be a reflection of God. If we’re supposed to make people want to be like us, then we should give them something to want. If we are worn out and complain about everything, if we are sick in our bodies all the time and not healthy, if we can barely get by in our finances and we’re not producing anything, and we’re barely making ends meet—who wants to be like that? Who wants to have that? Why do I need to be like you?

Why do I need to want to have Jesus like you have if it’s not doing you a whole lot of good? It’s time to position ourselves and start looking from a new perspective. It’s not a striving, but I want to do better; I want to do my best; not for me so I can have the best; but to honor Him. Our lives and everything we do should point back to Him.

If you come in and you’re tired and everything is a mess—I know how it is being busy. But I’ve been putting my stuff up. I’ve been keeping my space in order, and I can feel it producing life in me. I know that sounds minor, but it’s the little foxes that spoil the vine. If we start living in a way to honor the Lord, it starts changing everything.

Instead of wanting or trying or striving to be or feel, just by doing the little things, it starts becoming a part of you. Then you start having this joy and this drive. It’s the Lord working in you because you’re becoming the kind of person in the earth that he’s called you to be. He has intentions for us. Every part and piece of our lives matter to God. If you enjoy gardening or painting or sports, etc., it matters to God because it matters to you. He is about joy and having fun. He is multifaceted.

The Lord is saying, Stop compartmentalizing me. Stop trying to keep me out of certain areas of your life. It’s not to be super spiritual. The Lord just wants to live your life with you. It’s awesome that the God of the universe, the God of heaven who made it all, just wants to be with you as you drive to work or sit with your family or listen to music or go to the movies or a restaurant. He wants to be with you in every part and piece.

Instead of thinking you have to get spiritual, just be who he’s called you to be. Just be the light. Just BE. I think it’s awesome that we stepped into that rest, that being with the Lord this morning.

Betty. You don’t have to try to be spiritual. You already are.

3) Message

The Bible says we should be “speaking the truth in love.” Ephesians 4:15. Paul tells us here that the message of a mature minister should first of all be life-giving present truth.

It should present the Word of God in a way that is thoroughly scriptural, doctrinally sound, and well-balanced in the light of the full testimony of the Bible.

Second, Paul says, the message should be spoken in love. Not just the content but also the spirit of the message should be right. It is possible to be doctrinally right, but spiritually wrong.

If you are speaking forth the message or you’re on the receiving end of the message, it’s important that it’s rooted and grounded in love even if it’s a hard message. Even if it’s a corrective message. Even if it’s a message clearly depicting rights and wrongs. If we’re doing it in a spirit of anger, then we are just reenforcing what we are trying to come against. But if we’re doing it in a spirit of love, we are sending it out in the truth so it can be received. Our motives are always important.

For example, the Pharisees had the right doctrine, but their spirit, their attitude, and their relationship with God were all wrong. They were full of pride, narrow-mindedness, and self-righteousness.

The Pharisees had all the information and knew all the information to see Jesus. But because they were so wrapped up in bad attitudes and rooted in being religious, they missed it. They missed everything they had set their life and intention to know and all this in the letter of the law. They completely missed it. I don’t want to miss it.

4) Maturity

The Bible warns us not to place new Christians in places of leadership, but to wait until they have a chance to be proven and to mature. I Timothy 3:6. Even so, maturity does not come automatic with time. Wisdom does come with age and we should honor and respect our elders. But maturity does not always come with time. You can be 102 years old and be the most immature person in the room.

Traits of maturity in the Christian life are listed by Paul when he recites for the Galatians the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23. In addition, we can add to this list the fruit of godly wisdom mentioned in James.

Sadly when it comes to maturity, too many of us have missed the mark by not letting God change our hearts or learning from past trials and circumstances.

James 3:13-17 NIV. Two Kinds of Wisdom

Who is wise and understand among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:13-18 TPT. Wisdom from Above

If you consider yourself to be wise and one who understands the ways of God, advertise it with a beautiful, fruitful life guided by wisdom’s gentleness. Never brag or boast about what you’ve done and you’ll prove that you’re truly wise. But if there is bitter jealousy or competition hiding in your heart, then don’t deny it and try to compensate for it by boasting and being phony.

For that has nothing to do with God’s heavenly wisdom but can best be described as the wisdom of this world, both selfish and devilish. So wherever jealousy and selfishness are uncovered, you will also find many troubles and every kind of meanness.

But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form and it always bears the beautiful harvest of righteousness! Good seeds of wisdom’s fruit will be planted with peaceful acts by those who cherish making peace.

Truly Mature

The truly mature person manifests the characteristics of the agape love of Christ, the love Paul described to the Corinthians: patient, kind, not envious, not boasting, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered; not keeping a record of wrongs; not delighting in evil but rejoicing with the truth; always protecting, always trusting, always hoping, persevering; never failing. I Corinthians 13:4-8.

This is talking about love. But you should put your name in this. If you are rooted and grounded in the love of God and you are leaning in to have Christ establish his likeness in you, and you want godly character, then you should start applying the fruits of the Spirit to your life. You should start applying this passage to your life.

A good grid is when you’re looking at a situation. It’s not bad to have self-reflection. It’s not bad to look at a situation and think, Did I act righteously or unrighteously here? Did I have a good attitude? Did I lose my temper here? And to reflect on that. If you’re having a hard time, one easy way is to go down the list of the fruits of the Spirit. Did I demonstrate this in my actions? It’s a really good way to hold ourselves accountable.

Does that mean we’ll be perfect and not lose our temper again and get it right every time? No, it doesn’t. It’s whenever we walk through situations and we can pull ourselves out of it, and take a really hard look at ourselves. Not hard in an ungodly way but to look at ourselves and ask, If I face something like this again, can I act better. Can I act more like Christ?

If you’re in a situation and you’ve been done wrong, it is my hope that if I had been done wrong, in that situation the Lord would so take hold of me that I could act righteously and that person could walk away and think, They didn’t act xyz; they were so at peace. Maybe that will start working on that person. It’s so important we reflect God’s character because even in a situation where it seems like we’re being attacked, maybe we could shine the light on something for someone and bring deliverance to their life.

It’s taking it to where even when we are hurt, that we don’t focus on our hurt. We release it and then think, How can I bring light to this situation? That doesn’t mean you’re a doormat or let people abuse you. Not at all. It means you pull away and keep standing on your firm foundation.

Kevin Long. Me personally, I found that if I wait until that situation happens and I get that split second of whether I’m going to fall for this or not, it’s too late for me. If I don’t spend my quiet time in the morning and get with the Lord, and I’m already prepared ahead of time, I fail a lot of times in that split second. You know we always get that split second, but I fail more times than not if I don’t prepare ahead of time.

Anna. That’s good. That’s why it’s so important that we stay in the Word. That we renew our minds daily. It’s like putting on the armor. We correlate it to getting dressed in the morning. You’re going to get dressed, brush your teeth, etc. If you leave your house and haven’t had that time or anything with the Lord, then you’re pretty much walking out of the house with a big target on you for conflict.

Betty. All the things being released that Anna is saying and even what Kevin brought are tools and a kingdom checkup to look, because the Lord is plumb lining the people, a righteous remnant in righteousness and truth. The key to live this out, to maintain it, is what you do first thing. It’s where you put your first fruits. It is a lifestyle of John 15. It is the lifestyle of abiding in the true source, being rooted and grounded.

Echoing what she said, it’s that you are always present in his presence wherever you go. You can function and walk in it. So that he is real and alive and is resident and relational and present with you as Anna is right here standing in front of us. It really is John 15; so the source and everything that you need to overcome in every situation is available on demand right then and there, and if you are abiding in a depth, Holy Spirit is going to be real loud in you. And really grab you.

It’s like Kevin said, you always get that moment. The deeper you abide, the more the stuff gets culled out so it’s not even a temptation. It becomes a lifestyle. The fruit of the Spirit becomes a lifestyle.

Anna. It’s being ever ready for whatever you’ll face. Whether you go about your day and face no conflict or trial and everything’s wonderful; or you come up against the hardest thing you could face. We never know. It’s to be ever ready.

God is looking for faithful servants. Faithfulness is also an important quality of maturity. It’s being faithful even if it hurts. You make a commitment, keep your commitments.

Theological Maturity.

Emotional and social maturity are only part of the picture. We have to grow in maturity in our theology and in our understanding of the scripture. You have to ask yourself: Are we still “infants, tossed back and forth by waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming?” Ephesians 4:14.

Hebrews says that we must go beyond feeding on the “milk” of elementary teachings to the teaching of righteousness that is “solid food” for the mature, “who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:12-14.

We don’t let go of elementary truths. Those are in our foundation. But how do you become mature? What is it saying here? You spend time in the Word. You know the Word. You can’t stand solely on the truth of Jesus if you don’t know the truth of Jesus. How do we accept Christ into our heart? It’s because we know he came into the world and died for our sins; that he was in the grave for three days and rose again. If you didn’t know that but you wanted to believe, then what are you believing in, because you have no basis to understand. We have to know the Word. We have to know the scripture. We have to know what it says.

Loving Jesus is the Key.

What is a mature person? Mature people are those who have overcome their character flaws. They have been delivered from their weed-seed attitudes and they are no longer subject to the ‘prophet syndromes.’

We will never reach our full potential unless we allow God to bring our manhood or womanhood to maturity.

The Bible reminds us of the necessity of continually growing until we reach full maturity. The Bible makes it clear that the key to maturity is loving Jesus Christ with our whole being and allowing Him to be the Lord of every area of our lives.

It’s letting Him into every detail, not just trying to keep Him in our quiet time or in the church house, but it’s letting Him in and having all access.

5) Marriage. I know not all of you are married but this applies to family as well. When I read this it was very powerful with some key truths. If you are married or will one day be married, if you currently have children or you’ll one day have children, the truth of this never changes. And it’s a good checkup for us. It’s also a good way to set out godly ways for your life.

Another critical area that deserves our attention as ministers is our marriage and family life. God’s Word is clear: Our marriage is to reflect the kind of loving relationship we find between Christ and the Church. Ephesians 5:22-33.

Wives must respect and submit to their husbands even as husbands respect and live considerately with their wives. I Peter 3:1-7. And husbands must love their wives with Christ’s kind of love—not lording it over them, but treating them as fellow heirs of the grace of God. Otherwise, our prayers—and our ministry in general—will be hindered.

I Peter 3:7.

Our spouses should be our best friends. If we find that someone else is growing closer to us than our spouse, then we are in danger of an “emotional adultery” that could lead to worse things.

Our home must be in Biblical order. Our children must be well-disciplined and well-cared for. I Timothy 3:2-5. But at the same time, we must not take our concern about our children’s behavior to the kind of extreme that demands they provide perfect models all the time “for the sake of the ministry.” This kind of unrealistic expectation can lead to our children resenting and rebelling against the local church, especially if they are also expected to make continual sacrifices “for the sake of the ministry.” This is part of what Paul meant when he said: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children.” Ephesians 6:4.

With our children, it’s not saying that have to be perfect, they can’t come into the church and make any noise, they can’t cry, because of the ministry, because that doesn’t look right, etc. That’s not what God means at all. It’s living a life of godly character, showing your children who God is so they will know, and when they are old they will not depart from it but they will walk in the ways of the Lord.

It’s important for the parents with your children to hold to the truth of who God is, to what He says in His Word. And that you don’t misrepresent Him to your children. This is a good example. Let’s say you hate the color blue. Don’t teach your children God hates the color blue because you do. It’s important to hold to the truth because there will come a day when your child knows that God doesn’t hate blue, and it will produce strife and contention, because you misrepresented God to them. I know you and I don’t want to do that.

Ministry must not compete with family. We must not allow the ministry to deny us adequate time and energy to build healthy relationships with our children, as is all too often the case with ministries. If that happens, then we’re likely to learn the truth of a common formula for family disaster: Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.

If you put all your time into ministry and spend zero time with your family, zero time with your spouse, and it’s only about the ministry, then your household is not in Biblical order. What’s important to God? Family. Why did He create us in the first place? Because He desired a family. We can’t neglect our family, because then we’re really neglecting the first thing God called us to.

This takes us to the matter of priorities. The proper order of priorities in our lives is God first, spouse and children second, and ministry third. To keep this order intact, many times we must simply draw a line and decide that on a particular occasion, when ministry to others threatens to encroach on our ministry to our family, we must choose to favor our family.

This is true even in seemingly small matters. Take the telephone, for example. When we’re in the middle of dinner, a serious conversation with our spouse, or some other important family time, if the phone rings do we automatically jump up to answer it? If we do, then we may be saying to our family that the phone—and the people we minister to on the other end of the line—are more important to us than they are.

I know many times with ministry lines cross. I’m not talking about ungodly lines but things get woven together differently. There’s not a clear cut line all the time. It’s important to set your intentions out. If you’ve been gone every night of the week and there’s coming a time to gather with your family, put your phone up for an hour or two. There will always be problems and situations. There will always be facebook and social media. You’re not missing anything.

The Lord was reminding me that every day we have so many minutes, so many hours, so many moments. You never know what moments are going to be your last moments. So whenever you’re spending time with your family it’s important to be present in the moment. Even if you have so many more times coming in the future with your family, you’ll never get that specific moment back.

It’s important that we are present in our lives. We don’t want to miss it. You don’t want to miss the time with your spouse, or times with your children or grandchildren. You’ll never get yesterday back. The Lord can redeem time but it’s important that we are growing our relationships in our families and cultivating them as the Lord sees fit.

There may be times when we must simply choose to let the phone ring. Otherwise, we may end up spending more time fathering others than being a true husband and father to our wife and children—a true wife to our husband and mother to our children.

So if you’re all about ministry and ministering to the fatherless, ministering to the lost, but you can’t be a father or mother to your own children, then there’s a problem.

This is an example Bill Hamon gave about ministry and family. He says, I once counseled a man whose marriage was in trouble and who came to me saying he believed his wife was hindering his ministry. He wanted a divorce. In his estimation, his wife didn’t share the same zeal and burden for the ministry. He lamented long and loud the great needs of the church which he declared to be the beloved Bride of Christ. He emphasized the blessing he could be to the church if he just didn’t have the problem of his wife being such a weight of resistance, which was causing him to sin against the church by not fulfilling preaching and working in his ministry in the church.

He even felt the Holy Spirit had given him scripture to justify his plans for the divorce of his wife. He said and quoted to me Hebrews 12:1 that says, Lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles you. I told him clearly that I believed such a divorce would be contrary to God’s will and that his marriage needed to take priority over his ministry.

I urged him to go home and love his wife the way Christ loved the church. But he didn’t seem convinced by what I said, and he was apparently disappointed that I didn’t jump on and agree with him. But some time later I saw him again and he told me he was working out his relationship with his wife.

When I asked him what had changed his mind, he told me that one day in prayer he was crying out to the Lord, God, your bride is in such bad shape. She needs help. I have to be free from my wife so that I can take care of your church. Then God surprised him with His simple reply. He said, Do you really think I’m going to entrust my Bride to you, when you can’t even take care of your own bride?

As the apostle Paul posed the question to Timothy, If we can’t care for our own household, then how can we expect to take care of the household of God?

That really resonated in me. If we can’t take care of our own stuff. It goes back to that old saying, Sweep around your own front door. If you can’t deal with your own problems and situations, your own ministry, your own sin and your own junk; then how can you expect to deal with it and shed light on it in the church? It’s like a light bulb moment. If I can’t get my stuff in order, how can I expect to be used in ministry to the church?

None of us are perfect and we’re not going to get it perfect every time. I’m not saying your family will always be perfect or that you have to be perfect to minister, but your intentions should be set on what God has laid out for us to be the standard.

Father, we thank you for this word that’s gone forth. I thank you that you are giving us a checkup this morning, that we are getting things in order; that you are bringing us up to the higher calling; that we are set apart for the work of the ministry.

Father, we submit ourselves unto you this morning and I thank you that you are setting things in order. We yield to it and we submit to you. Have your way this morning. We give you full authority, full reign to come into every part and piece. We thank you and we love you in Jesus name. Amen.

Mid-Morning Service

?I sing because you are good. I dance because you are good. I shout because you are good. My heart will proclaim, You are good to me.

Betty Love. Praise you, Jesus. The Lord is so good. Father, we give you praise and glory and honor. We thank you, Lord, that you are the Life-giver. Even this morning, prior to stepping into worship, we want to declare as Miracle City Global/Love Ministries families, Lord God, that we honor you and we honor life.

We acknowledge, Lord, that before we were in our mother’s womb you knew us and you appointed us. Lord we acknowledge that we are fearfully and wonderfully made according to Psalm 139, for you knew us and you created us and you fashioned and formed us in the secret place. All the days for us were written in your book before one came to pass. We believe in the sanctity of life. We believe as a house that life begins at conception. We honor life this morning in Jesus name.

We have an incredible opportunity this morning. The Lord said this morning this was a day of doors being opened. This morning we have with us Karen Sims, Executive Director of Hope Clinic in Hattiesburg. Michelle Chandler is aligned and a part of this ministry, as well as Heather and Hugh Gatwood. As a house and as a ministry family we have a priority for life. We are onboard with this ministry and we recognize it as a viable ministry in this city.

I have asked Nita Maselle to share. She is an apostolic elder, part of the leadership at Miracle City and Love Ministries. She’s very key and I respect and honor her. As the Lord moved us out of Ellisville and into the Hub City in 2016, we had not been long entered into the land that the Lord revealed something to Nita about life. I want you to know where we stand and how we view as a house and as a ministry, not just on a local level but on a national, international and global level, standing for sanctity of life.

Nita Maselle. I would drive into the city for church every Sunday and saw a deplorable billboard saying this pregnancy was a mistake. So you have a mistake, and they would help with the mistake. I was praying about that billboard every time I drove past it, and then I would forget about it. One Sunday morning when we were meeting at the Ardor Building but had this building, I saw on the side of this building a flaming billboard.

I knew God was showing me something and He said, You’re going to change the message over this city. I knew it had to do with that billboard and I needed to change it. Then Love Ministries partnered with me to change it. The billboard said: The Spirit of Adoption is The Father’s Heart. Love Ministries. 1-800-Bethany. And the other one has never gone back up.

Betty. As an apostolic house and ministry we are aligned with many ministries throughout the city, this state, this nation, and even in the nations. At this point Bethany is up there, but we are also about moving in the direction that the Lord has ordained for us. Thus the connection with Hope Clinic.

From ministry we know the family on the billboard. It’s a mother and father, their adopted daughter and her husband, and the small children they adopted. The young lady they adopted was in their youth ministry for two or three years and the cry of her heart was to one day have a family. At 17 that finally happened for her.

The twins were an intervention. The mother was going to abort and the family said they wanted to adopt, knowing one was special needs. Adoption is the heart of the Father. We went from having a billboard on Hwy 42 visible from Interstate 49, for abortion to having a life billboard. I believe it changed our city.

When we first moved into this area it was so overgrown and depressed. We’ve been here since April 2016 and now we’re beginning to see the land cleared and cleaned up and new growth. There is a flourishing taking place. It’s because of the presence of the Lord and because we have chosen life. Not just the life of God but life for the human race. It made the difference.

Finally, Love Ministries partnered financially, but Nita felt this was so important for this city, for our state, and for our nation. She had received an inheritance from her mother and she took a portion of that inheritance money to invest in life. It’s personal. It’s corporate. It’s territorial. It’s generational.

Satan wants to take and kill the seed of woman because of who we are and who we have the potential to be. Our Father in heaven has ordained life before the foundations of the earth.

Karen, we are so honored for you to be here. We are partnering with Hope Clinic and we believe in what you are doing.

Karen Sims. Executive Director. Hope Clinic. Pregnancy Choices.

Video of Kiana who was considering abortion and after seeing an ultrasound of her baby at Hope Clinic decided to keep the baby. The father is involved and they are so happy as a family.

Karen. There are many stories but Kiana is one of our very first stories. She would just how up. The Lord would bring her. I remember that day specifically. She was so precious and so open to listening. When Heather and Sarah come to pray, we pray for open hearts for those who come to us because we are planting the seed of God’s love and truth. We expose that to every young girl that comes to see us.

We know the Spirit has to soften that heart. And praying before she enters that room, allowing her the opportunity to really see God’s hope in her life. Kiana knew the Lord so that was a blessing for us being able to share how He wants to feed into her and how she has a hope and a future for her even in the midst of this unplanned pregnancy.

All life is God creation. All life is in His image. It does not matter how that life has been conceived. In 1965 I was an unplanned pregnancy with a 17 year old birth mother and father. I was unplanned. I am so thankful that abortion was not legal at that time. So I was give the opportunity to be able to stand here today. Because God planned all those days ahead of me. I know we have to open our heart up and walk those steps out, but He uses us even in the beginning of our creation.

I do currently know my birth parents. God has blessed me to have parents from birth for however long that will be. My adoptive parents are deceased. They were older in years and has health issues, so I am blessed to know my birth parents. They actually got married. I was in their wedding. They have come to know the Lord through my time with them and the Lord has blessed my children to have grandparents as well.

I’m thankful God has given me a story. He’s given everyone of us a story. He uses the bad stuff as well as the good stuff, and he turns that bad into good. We know that what satan intends for evil, God will intend for good.

This reminds me of a board member who had a couple of abortions. She told satan one day, You know what? I’m going to make you regret it because now more lives are going to be saved through me and my testimony and my time in this ministry. That meant a lot to me.

It’s hard to be able to forgive ourselves. We know the Lord has forgiven us for our past mistakes, but he wants to use those things. He doesn’t want us to go through it, but if we do, then he wants to walk with us through that and use us to minister to other people. That’s what He does at Hope Clinic. He can use you in many many different ways at Hope Clinic.

I’ll give you a little knowledge about Hope Clinic so you’ll know how to pray for us. We offer free pregnancy testing, free ultrasound, and free faith-based counseling and education to every young girl that comes to us—every person, whether it be the boyfriend or the father or the mother or the aunt or the best friend. We are there for everybody that walks through that door with her. Because she has a support system that needs to be listened to and ministered to as well.

Through these services we offer to her, we are exposing Christ to her each time she comes to us. We want her to know this is a safe place, that she can sit down with us and take a breath and pause and think through what we’re going through. Many times our emotions are in control. We’ve all experienced that in our lives where emotions are navigating the decision. They’re making that decision for us. We need someone that can sit down and listen to what we’re going through.

One particular client called on the phone and was very precise. She was very well informed already, but she said, I know what I think I should do and what my heart is telling me, but I have people pulling me on both sides. She has family members that believe in life and we’re glad that they spoke to her that truth. But she also had those on the other side that were pro-choice and they were pushing her to consider abortion.

She said, I just need someone that can sit down, someone not emotionally invested at this point. We were, but it was a place for her to be heard. She was able to come to that decision and we believe the Spirit to minister to her, because she believed in life but she was very confused.

They get out of the home and into the world and they become confused. She made a decision toward life. The sad thing about her is that three or four weeks later she had a miscarriage. 2545 But she was then able to call us back because she knew how much we cared for her and that we could help her through that time. She made a decision to carry this life within her. But we are praising God that he did heal her and heal her emotions, so that she did not have to go through that.

The difficult situation that we sometimes tell girls is that when you go to an abortion clinic you don’t know unless you’ve had a sonogram if that baby is actually a confirmed pregnancy, and the viability of that pregnancy. Only an ultrasound can do that. We don’t know if the abortionist will go ahead and perform the abortion if they’re going to have a miscarriage because it’s ultimate bottom line is to make money. And that’s the truth.

We have these discussions with them in ways that don’t make us seem too radical where they cut off and don’t listen to anything we have to say. We have to earn their trust, the conversations and the listening of her concerns and her problems. Because if we don’t and just say this is a life and you’re killing it, she’s just going to walk out that door. It’s not the easiest conversation to have. It’s one that by the time she leaves our doors, she has been exposed to the truth in a way that gives her love. Love and truth together. It has to be that way.

We love them so much, if we don’t tell them the truth, then they don’t have the resources to make a wise decision. We’re not going to be the ones making the decision, because she is going to leave and we don’t know what she’s going to do sometimes.

We have one young girl that came in from one of our local universities. She wore her hood the whole time she was there. We never really saw what she looked like. If I had seen her in the street I would have never known it was her. About four weeks later I came into work and a girl standing there turned and looked at me like I’m supposed to know who she is, and we found out it was her.

She had gone all the way to the abortion clinic and she couldn’t open the door, and she came back. Her hair, her makeup—her hood was no longer there. We asked her the reason she came to us and she said, Because I knew that you would help me. She has life. Her life is not the same but it doesn’t mean that just because it’s an unplanned pregnancy that it’s going to be a bad situation.

We do have to get over those situations in our lives and allow God to continue to work in us and realize he’s still going to give us hope in the things that were unplanned.

We had one mother that came with her daughter and she was emotionally forcing her to have an abortion, not physically, but emotionally through guilt.

The young lady was a minor and she and I spoke for about an hour and a half. We decided it was time for her to talk with her mom. I told her I could share with her mom what she shared or she could. She said, I think I can do this. I asked her, So you want me to be in here with you or do you want to be alone? And she said, I would like you to be here.

I brought the mom in and you could cut the tension with a knife. We sat down and I said, Your daughter would like to share some things with you that we were discussing. She said, Mom, if I were to have an abortion it would only be because you wanted me to. And the room was silent. That’s not anything I would have thought of to say. The Lord gave her the strength to be able to say that to her in a loving way, in a very respectful way. The mother really had no words to say. She left that day after the ultrasound. She was not a very happy person.

I would call her periodically throughout the weeks and ask her how she was doing. She would say, We’re okay, but when I tell her I don’t feel good or like I’m going to throw up, she says, Well you know how we can take care of that. She said, I’m still moving on. We’re going to have this baby. I said, I’m praying for the two of you. I know she is going through a difficult time as well. Because we ministered to her as well. She’s a single mom, and now she’s a single mom again.

Believe it or not, she had the baby, and six to nine months later that grandmother walked in that room with her niece. She needed our services and she told us, You know what? I have the best and the biggest blessing in my life with that grandchild of mine. My life is not the same. And I thank you for what you’ve done for me. She came and spoke at one of our volunteer meetings and shared the blessing in her life with this baby.

Those are a few of the many many stories of Hope Clinic. Each week we see young girls who are at risk for abortion. And each week we see girls that choose life. We wish they all would choose life. But we’re still there none the less for all of them, knowing that we care for them, that we are God’s women serving these women, and that it’s a place they can always come, even if they have to come again. We hope we don’t have to see them again, but we have seen girls who chose abortion, came back, chose life. And chose Jesus. We expose them and share love and the gospel of Jesus Christ with each and every one of them.

I want you to know that you can be a part of all these things whether you are actually in the clinic or through prayer. Being our ambassador is so important. Look at all these people in this room, just sharing with other people about Hope Clinic. I kind of laugh about my medical director, Dr. Bailey, who is an OB, says, If I can just tell everybody about Hope Clinic even when I’m delivering a baby I would do it right when they’re coming out. She takes every opportunity to share about Hope Clinic. It means that much to her.

So I ask you to be our ambassador, to think more about how you can be involved, to look at our website at hcfriends.com. You’ll see lots of videos and different ways to be involved and all the information about us so you can know how to pray for us. I believe God wants us to pray, but he wants us to know who we’re praying for. He wants us to know how specifically to pray for our clients and our volunteers and our staff and our board members. And our neighbor, because we’re right beside Planned Parenthood, which is the only Planned Parenthood in Mississippi, by the way. So praying for them is most important.

I thank you for your partnership. God puts it all in place and he does it in his timing. It’s not always what we think and sometimes we look behind us and say, Oh, He did that. He brought Michelle to us. He brought Heather and Sarah who come and pray with us once a month. So we thank Him for the partnership and for what they’ve done, because they’ve actually brought people to us in prayer.

The first time they prayed for us they were praying outside, and I had to run an errand. They said, Come here. I have to tell you something. We were just praying for that girl to come over here instead of going to Planned Parenthood, because she parked over there, and she did. She came over. And they were just standing there talking. Like you wouldn’t even know. So the Lord has blessed us. That life was impacted by Hope Clinic, by the prayers of those in your church.

I thank you. I thank you for your support and what you plan to do with us in the future, and the partnership that’s very much needed. Thank you so much.

Betty. Praise God. Thank you, Karen. We are going to be sowing seed into this ministry so you can look to receive that. There are some other opportunities to invest with them. We are going to be doing the baby bottle initiative after the first of the year. We’ll be giving you more information. Aren’t you thankful for Hope Clinic? And that it is in our city? And strategically located by Planned Parenthood?

I just decree and declare, Lord, let the day come when Planned Parenthood gets shut down in Jesus name. We say we have changed the name over this city. This is a Life City. We know that our prayers are hitting the mark because we’ve gotten words about the state of Mississippi that the abortion clinic would be shut down in this state, so we’ll just shut down that Planned Parenthood. I don’t mean that in an ungodly way. I mean that through prayer and agreeing with God. Thank the Lord for Hope Clinic.

So Father, we just want to bless Karen and all those in connection with her. We thank you that you have strategically raised this ministry up in our city. Lord, we thank you for divine intervention. We pray even now for those that are appointed, that are going to go into Hope Clinic, Father, that you would give them an ear to hear, a heart to receive the counsel that is going forth, and that lives would continually be saved.

We thank you for releasing provision and support in every way needed for Hope Clinic. We bless them and we thank you, Lord, that you have established them in the city, in Jesus name. Amen.

Kimble Love. Okay guys, you’ve got some more prayer initiatives to add to your list. Pray for this clinic; pray for life. Pray for those people at Planned Parenthood that when it closes down and they lose their jobs, they will cross over to life and help these guys. And even some of that governmental funding will flow that way in Jesus name. We want all things to be redeemed by God to produce life. Glory to God.

How is everybody doing today? Are you ready to worship? God wants to move and minister to you mightily today. I know that, because we’re all here gathered together with an expectancy to seek His face, to hear His voice, and be touched by His Spirit today.

A lot of things were said today about experiencing God, that faith is not a feeling, and not being led by your emotions, etc. That’s all true and I don’t contradict that, but when the presence of God comes on the scene and He touches you, you’re going to feel it. You’re going to feel it. So feelings aren’t always a bad thing. When God shows up you’re going to know He’s in the room. He’s already here because I can feel Him right now. No pun intended.

So let’s stand to our feet. We’re going to enter in. We thank the Lord for this day, and that He’s brought his cool temperatures into the land. I’m glad the rain has stopped. We needed the rain but I’m glad it’s not raining. I thank the Lord that He is in control of all things. He gives us what we need when we need it and when we’re in lack He’s just molding and shaping us to trust Him.

Not to lean on our own understanding but to trust Him, to allow Him to mold and shape, to mature, to bring forth wisdom, to build our character, so we can be ready to move into the next. We’re not stuck in a rut but we are moving and transitioning, and He is building us up along the journey.

So Father, we declare today that you are the author and perfecter of our faith, that you work through all things to mold us and shape us into that which you desire us to be. I pray that as we worship today that we would receive revelation, instruction, plan, purpose, and strategy that you have for us individually and collectively.

Father, pour out your Spirit in a fresh and new and mighty way, and may we be open to receive from you and go forth in the fullness of purpose. We bless you, Lord, and we thank you, in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen and Amen.

Shofar

?Lane. My fear doesn’t stand a chance when I stand in your love. I won’t be shaken. There’s power in your name. We’re standing in your love. Love Love Love

Anna. We thank you that we’re standing in your love this morning, Lord. And that your perfect love casts out all fear. We decree and declare right now that perfect love casts out all fear. Just as Lane said, You are our light. You are our firm foundation.

?We thank you for your love.

Lane. You are our strength, our Rock. We find our strength in your love.

Kevin. Let all heaven and earth praise your name, Lord Jesus. Let your kingdom come and your glory dwell here. All my love and affection belongs to you. Let your glory dwell here….

Betty Love. I want to make it known in this place today and to those that are watching. We’re going to stand in the river this morning and we’re going to speak from the river. One of the first things the Lord said to me was that this is a Dalet Day. Dalet is the fourth letter of the Hebraic alphabet and it means Door. When the Lord wants to make a point He might say something a little bit unusual because He wants to grab hold of your heart and get your attention.

He said, Today is a Dalet Day, Betty. I knew it was the number 4 and a Door. It wasn’t preplanned on my part but it was definitely on the Lord’s heart that Karen would be here today about Hope Clinic. I’m telling you this prior to Pastor Kimble coming and giving us an opportunity to come to the table of the Lord and make an exchange in covenant this morning, and to worship the Lord in our giving.

I want to tell you beforehand what your expectation can be. The Lord said to me Friday morning, Carmen. Betty, I want you to look up the name Carmen. It means Vineyard. Garden. The Lord spoke very loud and clear, I am restoring your vineyards. I want to restore your vineyards. In Hosea 2:14-15 the Lord talks about drawing Israel, drawing the bride, to himself. He says, I will allure her. I’m going to speak tenderly to her.

I’ll give you some backdrop. I want you to get a picture. God had required the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute, a harlot. She wasn’t content to be married to Hosea. She still went out and prostituted herself. It was a picture of Israel running after the Baals and prostituting themselves from the Lord. Not on Israel’s part, but because of the goodness of God, the Lord made a decision. I’m going to get her back.

The Word of God says to enter through the narrow gate, the narrow door. Many times we use it as a salvation call but it’s really not, because those letters in Revelation are addressing the church, where Jesus said, Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. Whoever will open the door to me, I will come in and we will sup together. He wants to bring you into a place of intimacy with Him today.

He wants to bring restoration. He has opened a door to you in this house this morning. If you are here he is going to cause your valley of trouble, your valley of affliction, your valley of oppression, to become a Door of Hope. That’s what he says in Hosea 2:14-15. If you are here and this is new for you, the words that come out of our mouths and the songs we sing are real time with God.

So if I say to you the Lord has opened a door for you, it is now. It’s not tomorrow. It’s not next week. He is opening a door that you can enter in. John was in the spirit on the Lord’s day and he saw a door open in heaven in Revelation 4. And the same voice that had been speaking to him, that would be of the Lord, like a trumpet, like a war cry, said, Come up here and I will show you. I believe that the Lord has opened the door and I know that he has made the way through the body and the blood of Christ, and he says, Come boldly unto the throne room of grace and receive mercy and find grace to help in your time of need.

Today he has opened an effective door before you. Some of you are going to enter into the place with the Lord, and you’re going to move on out and go through the effective door of ministry that he has opened for you. He says, Ask and it will be given. Seek and you’ll find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. He said, I will place upon your shoulders the key of David. Whatsoever doors you open will be opened and whatsoever doors you shut will be shut. You have authority. You have the anointing and the ability of the Lord Jesus Christ living in you as a believer.

Return to your fortress, oh prisoners of hope. Zechariah 9. Because of the blood of the covenant, Return to your fortress, oh prisoners of hope. For even now I announce I will restore twice as much to you. I will bend Judah, your praise, as I bend my battle bow and fill it with Ephraim. He wants to bring double fruit into your life. Double for your trouble.

So the Lord has opened up a door for you. I would say in the worship there is a door that has been opened for us since before the foundations of the earth and His name is Jesus, because the Lamb was slain. And we can come boldly and present ourselves unto Him.

Some of you have been seeking direction. You’ve been at that place of Jeremiah 6:16 and you’ve said, Behold, I stand at the crossroads. The Word of God says, Look. Stand and look. Ask where the good way is that you might walk in it and find rest for your soul. Ask for the ancient paths. Don’t let me miss that. Stand. Look. Ask for the ancient paths. The word, ancient paths, is God’s ways. God’s ways.

His ways are higher than our ways. So He says, Come up here and I’m going to show you what’s going to take place next. You’ve got an onstar, Navigator, living on the inside of you in the person of Holy Spirit. And according to the book of John, He says, I’m going to show you what is and what is yet to come. I see Isaiah 61 for today.

Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us because he has anointed us to preach good news to the poor. To open blind eyes. To bind up the brokenhearted. To proclaim for those that grieve in Zion. To bestow a crown of beauty instead of ashes. The oil of gladness instead of mourning. And a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

The Lord goes on in Isaiah 61 and says, Instead of their shame, they’re going to inherit a double portion in their land. I believe there is an exchange in the house of God today. I believe He wants to clothe you with himself. I believe that if you have been dealing with hopelessness or you know you’ve been in that valley, He is causing that very valley, whether it’s been a longtime issue or a short window, he has opened to you the Door of Hope. And He is saying, Come on through.

He says, I have opened for you a door of hope and even now I will restore to you your vineyards. And put a new song. And you will sing as when you came up out of Egypt. Some of you are going to have an encounter with the risen Lord this morning that is going to cause you to come again again to your first love.

Where you’ve been dry or in a drought, or confounded or confused, He is going to rise up in you this morning, the hope of glory. This is the message. Pastor is going to come in a moment and bring his ministry portion, and then we’re going to go back into worship, and I want your mindset to be that God is standing before you and He is the Door. He says, Come to me you who are weary and heavy-laden. I’m going to give you rest. And I’m going to restore your joy. And I’m going to restore your hope. And I’m going to restore your song. And I’m going to give you back what you lost. It’s called recovery.

I know many young women, when they enter into Hope Clinic, they’re thinking there is no hope. That this is the end of the line. Their dreams and their visions are gone. There is no way out. But yet there is a way. Hope. When it’s all been said and done, Faith, Hope and Love are going to remain. Faith. Now Faith. Our faith is in God, in Jesus Christ and His Word. And that He is who He says He is. And He will do what He says He will do.

But no matter how many promises God has made, they’re not yes and no. But they are Yes in Christ and through Him we say Amen. Why? Because He anointed us. He set His seal of ownership on us and He’s given us His Spirit as a guarantee of what is to come. Faith, when you read His Word, when He speaks to your heart, it causes the faith of the Son of God to rise up and believe it.

Then, you know what hope is? Hope is the segue. Hope is the transition that’s going to get you to the end of the promise. You receive the word. Faith puts you there, because God speaks the word and faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word. When you hear it, you see the endgame. You see the end from the beginning. And you’re there.

How many of you have gotten awesome words or promises or visions from God and it’s like, Wow? And you want it. Then it’s the BCDEF, that between A and Z that sometimes can be a haul, you know what I’m saying? What keeps you in? Faith puts you at the end of it. Hope transitions, because who hopes for what they already have? And Love, perfect love casts out all fear. Love keeps you there.

So Faith puts you at the end of the promise. Hope transitions you there. But Love keeps you there. Love will keep them there. And I hear the Lord saying, You haven’t seen anything yet, Karen. Your heart’s cry, the things you’ve done in the secret place, the things you’ve cried out to the Father, it’s like He has opened the windows of heaven, and now the fruit is coming. The fruit is coming. The fruit is coming. It’s no longer pie in the sky. It’s no longer just something out there. The Lord says now it’s manifesting before your very eyes. Before your very eyes. And the day will come when you say, This place is too small for us. And He will expand you. It’s a city, a region, that is going to get on board because God has gotten on board.

So what is the takeaway in this moment? The takeaway in this moment and the word of the Lord to you and me is, I am restoring. It’s recovery time—of relationship, intimacy with the Lord, of your vineyard, your sphere of influence, your field, your territory, your tents, your treasuries. Behold, I have opened an effective door for you in this city. Behold, I have opened an effective door for you in this state. Behold, I have opened an effective door for you in the nation.

Behold, I have opened an effective door for you in the nations. Ask of me and I will give the nations as an inheritance. Behold, I have opened a door for you, (Kimberley Davis), on the mountain of education and arts and entertainment. What mountain of society are you on? What is your heart’s desire? Where do you ache for God and the kingdom to see come in the earth?

What mountain of society has God placed you on? I have good news today. He has opened himself to you. He has opened the door of heaven. He is ready to revision you, renew you, refresh you, give you a new view. In the midst of worship today, heavenly downloads. So make a decision right now because He’s knocking on the door of our hearts. Will you just give Him the tablets of your hearts and minds and say, Okay here I am. Do your new covenant work.

Holy Spirit, search out the deep things of God and make them known to me. Cause my thoughts to become agreeable with your will so that your plans may be established and have good success in my life. He has set before you an open door that no man can shut. And what doors he has shut, no man can open.

So Father, I just consecrate and commit all of us in this room to the now of heaven—this now faith, now worship, now word, and Lord I will just say, now works. Seed, supply your people today. Send us forth in full recovery, restoration, and renewal. We give you all the glory and the honor and the praise, in Jesus mighty name. So what’s left, Betty? Oh we’ve just begun now. We just got up front what He’s going to do.

When you come to the table of the Lord today, as Pastor shares, Jesus is about the total person—spirit, soul, and body. There is an exchange for you there. It’s a door of salvation. His door open to you. As we enter back into worship, be ready for the river of life to be released in you and in this place, because He is going to presence himself to you and open your eyes to see, your ears to hear, and your heart to receive.

Kimble Love. Wow! I feel like I’ve been to church. That’s good stuff. Hallelujah. God is good all the time. And all the time, He is always good. He’s a good good Father. He always shows up. He always shows out. He always comes through. Because that’s just the way He is.

We have an opportunity now to come and sow into the kingdom with our tithes, our offerings, our first fruits, that which the Lord has so blessed us with. I’m excited. I’m about to recover my vineyards. Hallelujah. That should charge your batteries. I believe that we, as obedient servants of the Lord, if we’ll just obey His word, then we are going to supernaturally step into mighty breakthrough. Taste and see that the Lord is good, and if he will not do what He said He was going to do. Go forth by faith. It’s time for our faith to be kicked up a notch, kicked up a level.

As we come today we sow into the work of the ministry. I just declare that by faithful giving that you’re going to see supernatural multiplication, return, upon your investment, better than any banking system will ever put in your account. Just believe me in that. You’re going to see it. It’s time for supernatural works to take place. Glory to God.

If he can turn bread and fishes, so multiplied to feed thousands, there’s nothing He can’t do. As you come today ask the Lord what He wants you to sow. Hear His voice and do it. You’re going to see mighty provision come upon you.

As we come today we’re also going to come to the table of the Lord and we’re going to take of Communion. We’re going to celebrate the work of Jesus. The Word of God tells us that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, He met with His disciples and they shared a meal, the last supper. After the meal He took bread, he broke it and said, This is my body which is broken for you. Whenever you eat of it, do it in remembrance of me. Then He took the cup and blessed it and said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood that will be offered for those who believe. Whenever you drink of it, do this in remembrance of me.

We have the opportunity to come to His table, and eat of the bread of His body, and drink of the cup which is His blood, a sign of the new covenant that He gave us. I believe as we come and take these elements into our natural bodies that spiritually we are taking the very DNA of the Lord Jesus into our spirit man to empower us, and recognize the price that He paid, to celebrate the redemption, Him coming and giving His life and bringing us back into right standing with God by His work on the cross. We say Yes to the fullness of His life, His death, and His resurrection.

He ever lives at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. So we say Yes to the fullness of the new covenant that He has established for us in Jesus name.

?I wanna know you Lord, like I know a friend. I’m laying down all my religion. I wanna know you, Lord. I will rejoice in the simple gospel. I will rejoice in you, Lord.

Anna. It will be my joy to sing. Your will, Your way. Always. I’m laying down all my religion. I wanna know you, Lord. Let your Spirit overwhelm me. Let your presence overtake my heart.

Betty. So we lift up our gates. Be lifted up you ancient doors that the King of Glory may come in. And just as Jesus is the gate, the door, the veil, the three entrances into the Almighty, the way, the truth, the life, He is our door that we enter in through. But we’re also His door, His gateway into the earth, because He lives in us.

The Lord said this morning that He had set before you an open door, an effective door. It’s your choice whether you want to move through that door. We’re laying down our religion. See, religion is your attempt to get to God. It’s manmade and self-propelled. But truth, the simple gospel, is not religion. It’s relationship with Jesus. So He’s coming again again. ?He’s knocking on our hearts. He’s knocking on our hearts. He’s knocking on our hearts. Drawing with cords of loving kindness.

?He’s knocking on our hearts. I will let you in. I will let you in. I will let you in….

Betty. Our posture right now is to present our members unto Him. He wants to not only come into your heart, He wants to fill your entire being—spirit, soul, and body. He wants the whole house. We will let you in.

?Kevin. Swing wide the door to my soul. Open up the door to my heart. Have your way in me, Jesus.

Betty. Come on. Swing wide the door to my soul.

Open up the door to my heart. Have your way in me, Jesus.

Anna. Come and consume, God, all we are. We love you and will never stop. Can’t live without you, Jesus. We love you and can’t get enough. All this is for you, Jesus. I will rejoice in the simple gospel. I will rejoice in you, Lord.

Betty. We’re just going to wait right here just a moment before we close. I said, Now what, Lord? And He said, Just wait a moment in my presence, because I want to settle some things. That might be you in this room and He just wants to settle some things. Come and settle some things today, Jesus.

?Anna. Jesus, Jesus, only you can settle my heart. You settle my heart, Jesus.

Betty. Christ in us, the hope of glory, the hope of good things here and now. And the good things to come. Father, I thank you that you have opened a door of hope and you are bringing us through that door. And in this place you are restoring our vineyards and our song, as when you brought us up out of Egypt, out of captivity. For it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

?Freedom. Hope restored. Double for your trouble. Hope restored….

Betty. Step into the Hope Clinic.

?Hope restored….

Betty. Praise God. The last thing I saw when we were singing, Hope restored, I saw lifelines coming out of heaven, connected to every believer in this room and those that are watching. You have a lifeline. You have a lifeline. His name is Jesus. You have a lifeline and you have life living on the inside of you in the person of Holy Spirit. No empty places. No lost places. But restoration, resurrection power and life to you today. And hope restored, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen and Amen. Every person in this room—Restoration.

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