10/23/19 Miracle City Global
Kimble Love.
?When I hear that trumpet sound, I’m gonna rise up out of the ground. There ain’t no grave gonna hold my body down. If you walked out of the grave, I’m walking too.
Lane. The same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead is in us. Resurrection power and life abides in us.
Anna. I’ve got the Holy Ghost on the inside of me and there’s power power power on the inside of me.
Lane. What have I to lose if all I have is you? What I have to give that wasn’t given? I know you have set me free and freedom’s never free. King of Glory have your way in me.
Oh oh this is the sound of freedom calling. Release your sound Jesus. This is the sound. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.
Anna. We step into freedom here/now.
Betty. Freedom is a person. I want to just decree and declare this. Freedom is a person. It says for freedom Christ has set us free. Not only that, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And every born-again believer in this house and those watching, the Spirit of God, Holy Spirit, is living on the inside of you and me, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We just want to decree and declare, Hei Hei Hei, the Spirit of the Lord, He is Lord. He is the Lord. He is the Lord. Hei Hei Hei. Where the Spirit is Lord, there is freedom. The Spirit of Christ in us.
So Father right now we just want to acknowledge. We summon your power to the sanctuary, Yay God. That’s what the psalmist said. We will summon your power, oh God, to the sanctuary. So we summon His power, we call on the power of God that is stored within us, and we summon His power to this sanctuary.
Where two or more are gathered in the name of the Lord, He says, I am there in your midst. So we just want to acknowledge the power and the presence of the Lord because He is in this place. Because we have come together in His name.
So we honor you, Lord. We honor your presence. You said tonight, Lord, even as I began to come this way to Miracle City Global, Tonight my power and my presence will be in your midst. Hahaha. Hahaha.
?Anna. Your power and presence, you’re in our midst. We welcome you. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.
Lane. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in us.
Anna. His wonder working power is in us. All I am is yours.
Kevin. Jesus, lover of my soul. The one who’s in control. Jesus, the one who draws me near, whose voice I love to hear. The one who is in me. You who loves to speak to me. You’re all I want to hear, God.
Anna. I hear your move on the wind. Heaven. Deep is calling deep again. Heaven. You’re all we want, God.
Lane. I am listening. We are listening and we’re not going anywhere. We’re not afraid of what you say.
Anna. There is power power here in this hour, this hour. We’re all together together. We’re waiting here as one.
I wanna be baptized with your Spirit, with your power, with your presence afresh and anew. We welcome your power and your presence in our midst, God, right here tonight. So we lean in to hear what you would say, to move in a new way right here tonight. The power of Christ be lifted up coming to the forefront in every believer, bubbling up from the inside. We were made to function in so much more.
Betty Love. Praise you, Lord. Father, we praise you and we thank you for your goodness. Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness. We thank you for resilience. And Lord, that you have made us resilient through your Son, Father, and by the power of Holy Spirit. Father, I thank you for the worship that has released your power and your presence within us. I thank you for your now word that brings encouragement and strength to every hearer in this room and those watching, and those that will watch again.
I decree and declare that we have an ear to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is speaking to us, the Church, individually and corporately. Father, we thank you for the now of heaven. We thank you, Lord God, for the radical work of your Spirit that is going on within our lives, for the promise and the power of your Word. Jesus, you said, I and my Father are working. We are always working. So Lord, we thank you that you are working in us to will and to act for your good pleasure.
Jesus, when you told your disciples to get in the boat, we’re going to the other side, you meant it. And Lord, you took us there. Father, I thank you for every trial, every circumstance, every situation that we, your people, have faced. For every place that you have brought us through, that you have come through, that we have come back again, that we have bounced back again.
I thank you, Lord God, that even tonight we have demonstrated that we are flexible. Lord, we persevered to get here and we are here. And you’re here. So Father, I thank you. We consecrate and commit this time unto you, and your word is going to go forth, and it’s going to accomplish in us and through us tonight what you sent it to do.
I thank you for restoration and full recovery in every one of our lives. I thank you for a set time. Job cried out to you and said, Oh that you would set a time and remember me. Father, I thank you that you have remembered us. How can you forget us since you have engraved us on the palm of your hand? We give you all glory and all honor and all praise.
We rejoice. We rejoice in the set times and the seasons that we have entered into. We thank you that harvest is upon us. We thank you that promise is upon us. We thank you, Holy Spirit, that you have come upon us and clothed us tonight, in Jesus name. Amen and Amen. Praise God.
I want to release a prayer over Interstate 59 tonight at Ellisville Boulevard exit. I saw many things in a brief moment as I came through there. Obviously there was an accident in the southbound lane earlier this afternoon. When I passed there, there was an accident in the northbound lane. The South Mississippi fair is at Laurel fairgrounds, so people are lined on the interstate at the north and south exits, in the lane of traffic waiting to exit. And there was a wreck there. The airport is also there. That is a gateway.
Any accidents, any bloodshed, anything that would create a place where the enemy could come again again—an accident, a death, or destruction—we just break that now in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And we release the blood-covered light of Jesus Christ over that area, over the fair, over all those that are going to be there this week, even those that are showing. There are cattle being shown and different things, so we just plead the blood of Jesus Christ over that area, because the blood speaks a better word.
Any bloodshed that has happened, whether it has resulted in death—I have a vestment there—or whether it has been an accident, right now we release the blood of Jesus over that to purify that gate and those entrances and exits in Jesus name. We speak life. And we speak redemption. Father I just thank you.
I know that there are Gideons at the fair, and others that are giving out tracts. Lord, we pray for the salvation of souls in Jesus name. And Lord, we’re just going to cast that net big. Yay God. Father, we believe for a great harvest of souls. Lord, give us opportunity individually to encounter people who don’t know you, Jesus. Lord, I thank you that no one in this room or watching is going to have to worry about what they’re going to say or how they’re going to say it, because in that moment you’re going to fill our mouth. Because we’re just going to open our mouth wide and He’s going to fill it. Praise God.
I’m glad to be back in the house. I got up Sunday morning at 4:00 and sat in my spot. Anna was working on her word for the Core. I started working on my message and the Lord said very clearly, You don’t need to go today. It’s 4:30, so at 5:00 I need to rally Kimble and tell him to be prepared to give the word. Thank God for a house that is instant in season and out. Ever Ready.
I decree and declare it over every one of you. Ever Ready, in Jesus name. The Lord said, No, you ask Anna if she’s willing to bring both messages. She said, I’ve got it. She had it. He had already given it to her. It was a no-brainer. I believe, like Danette and I discussed, you don’t need me. (laughter) What I’m saying is that you can function strong, mighty, in the now of heaven. Danette said it. It’s the sign of good leadership if you can function and keep going and not miss a beat, even exceedingly abundantly above, regardless. It was awesome.
Every one of you that came, that released, from Nancy, and Kevin, and Lane, and different ones. It was awesome. The whole house. And that’s what it’s about. It’s about you functioning and bringing your portion. It’s about being resilient.
The Lord has a now word and it was not to hold until Sunday. It was for tonight. And the Lord said to me in this word—He was speaking to me personally this morning—He said, “You have your word for January because you need to know that the Forward is upon you.” The Lord is so bent on you and me getting there, that He released a jib sail word to carry us from the Head of the Year to the first of January. And He is so intent on us not letting go or quitting or holding back or giving up, and us continuing to be on the offensive, that He gave me the word Forward. Forward.
I looked up all the definitions and synonyms for Forward this morning and I marinated in them. Then this is what the Lord said to me next. I know this. To have the word Forward, as one of the set people, the apostle in the house, that means it’s for the entire house. It means that we, individually and corporately, are going to move forward. I want to say to you that your word is no less significant.
Your word is just as important as my word because our words join together and we become a formidable foe, an unstoppable force, moving and advancing the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. In this season where we are now, the power of the word, the power of the decree, you are going to become and manifest the decree, the word, that God has spoken over your life. I can guarantee it.
I will become the Launch, hahaha, and the Forward because God said so. He said it over me so I can’t do anything but move—if you believe God and you believe His word. Then the Lord said, “I created you. I know what you are capable of. I know you love me. I know you will go for me. I know you will run for me. I know you. I made you Resilient.” He said this to me personally but I believe He is saying this to us as a house. Take is personal from the Father.
“I created you. I know what you are capable of. I know you love me. I know you will go for me. I know you will run for me. I know you. I made you Resilient.”
Definitions of Resilient:
1) Springing back. Rebounding. I’m decreeing this over us. It’s called Bounce.
2) Returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed, or stretched. The Lord says to you and me, I have made you resilient. It doesn’t matter how far you’re stretched, you’re bent, or you’re compressed, you’re always going to go back to the original form and original intent, my plan, my purpose before the foundations of the earth. What is written in your book will stand because I have made you resilient.
3) Recovering readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like. Buoyant. Recovering readily. The Lord wants to upgrade your mindset. And He wants to upgrade the mindset of the Body of Christ. He wants us to know and understand that He is the God of covenant and that His promises are true. He wants us to take Him at His word. When something happens to you, are you leaning into it? Or are you leaning out of it?
I will tell you this. As a water skier, Kimble can tell you, it was my sport. I loved water skiing. I had a slalom ski and I loved it. I also could ski on a little trick ski. Thank God for a good boat driver. It matters. I didn’t waste my time on the choppy water. I waited for the good, smooth water, early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
A good driver is going to bring that rope over your shoulder for an easy grab. I’m on a slalom ski ready to come up and as he’s going, I’m coming up with him. I could lean back on it and let him pull me up, but I am already ready, sometimes just wanting to walk up the rope. Because it was a part of me. It was something I loved to do. I knew how to come out of the water. I was already ready to get up.
The Lord says we need to be ready to get up. We need to have a mindset, if there is a diagnosis in our life, it’s not the end of the end. If we are sick or have flu, it’s not going to last three weeks or a month; or it’s going to be forever for you to recover, because that’s what they said. Your mindset over whatever the situation is, is that you’re coming up out of it. That’s called being resilient. It is an attitude. It is a mindset. And the Lord wants to shift our mindset.
Not accepting the things that are in the natural doesn’t mean being in denial. It means that I am not going to be defined by this. I am not going to be stopped by this. There is a time where you rest your body. I’m not saying you don’t. But my mindset is, Jesus Christ is my healer and I might be down in the moment, but I’m not down for the count. I am getting up.
I had been in labor with Kimble III for three days. He had crowned. He was 10 lbs 4 oz. They did an emergency c-section. By the time he was born I had fever 102, a kidney infection, had a blood transfusion, etc. He was born at 5:07 and they did not bring him to me that first day. And I wanted to see my baby. I was different than I am now and I was pitching a fit. If you don’t bring him, I am going down there.
My mother, being the wise woman she was, said to Kimble, This is how this is going to work. We’re going to see if she can. We’re going to let her stand up, and just see. Because she knew I was not going to stop. I was going to at least try. They both got under an arm, brought me to the side of the bed. I put my feet on the floor—and sat back down, because I could not support myself. Later they got me in a wheelchair and took me down there. But I tried because I was leaning into going. Not quitting. Not giving up.
You might fail. But the thing is, will you get up again? It’s about the determination of your will. And it’s a heart issue. Some people, because of so much coming for so long and different circumstances and situations, get wounded in the determination of their will. You’ve heard me give the Hebrew definition for Heart out of Strong’s. It is your thinking, your reflection, the determination of your will, your seat of courage, your seat of appetites, etc.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick. So if hope deferred has made your heart sick then you can say the determination of my will is sick. My thinking is sick. My courage is sick. The list goes on. Many times, people have hope deferred and it affects their ability or the will to get up and go again, even the will to live.
4) Resilient: someone who is able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. He is wanting us to recover quickly. In death, in loss, there is a time and a period in the Word of God that is set to grieve. All of Israel stopped. Jacob stopped when Rachel passed away and they grieved. All of Israel grieved over Moses. Grieving is not wrong. But the Word of God says we are not like those who grieve who have no hope. As believers and as family members, people we’re in relationship with, when we know that a believer has passed, then we’re not grieving like those who have no hope.
We are grieving and have that period. But there is a time where that ends. All three of us are standing as living proof in the face of Kimble III passing. We have people say, January 1 will never be the same for you again. We were all three, I don’t think so. Come on. Do you want me to put on you a date and a time that every year it will never be the same; it’s going to be a day of mourning and grief? Why should that be for us when he’s not mourning or grieving. He’s a happy camper.
There is a place God wants you to come out of grief, and if you don’t, it’s going to create death in your life. There is a place where you give up unforgiveness. See to it that no one lets the sun go down on their anger and gives the devil a foothold. God has set a time to deal with certain issues and if you and I don’t deal with them, we are opening a door.
5) Resilient: capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture. Think about that. Shock. I have experienced shock before. I’m being really transparent here. My spirit stood up and took hold of my soul and even my physical body. At the news of Kimble’s death, everything that was in me went out of me within 30 minutes after everyone left. Why? Because, regardless, there was a shock to my system. It just went. My system got a shock. But I came out of that. Spouse, child, parents, close friends are some of the greatest losses. But God.
6) Resilient: tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. If you have been someone who as said out of your mouth continually—and I understand there are different makeups or different processes in how we view our world—but if your declaration has been, I don’t do change well; I don’t like change, you need to quit confessing it. You are setting yourself up to not do well with it. Anna said you are binding yourself to it.
Anna. If that’s your continued confession then you bind yourself to that; so even if you’re trying to accept change and come out of it, and you can’t understand why you can’t overcome it, it’s because you’ve bound yourself by those words.
Yeah, you’re chained to it.
Betty. The proverb says we are snared by the words of our mouth. So we are in a season where our words are very important.
Again, the Lord said, “I created you. I know what you are capable of. I know you love me. I know you will go for me. I know you will run for me. I know you. I made you resilient.”
I don’t believe you would be physically in this room tonight or watching if God was not speaking this word to you. Then the Lord said, “Rest in me little one, for I am I AM. You are tailor-made for my glory.” I want you to know that God has tailor-made you. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows everything you and I will be faced with or deal with in life. The Lord is in us and He is in us to take us there.
He told His disciples. I prayed it. Get in the boat. We’re going to the other side. God had already made the declaration. Jesus had already told them where they were going. Regardless of the storm, regardless of the wind and the waves, God said it and it happened.
We know that at one place in the Word of God, Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat. That word roots to stake, cross. He was resting in His purpose. He was resting in His purpose. In the midst of Him resting and sleeping, the storm comes up and then the disciples say, Lord, don’t you care about us? He said, Oh you of little faith. And He spoke to the wind and the waves and they ceased.
Then there’s the place where He told them after the multiplying and feeding the 5,000 or 4,000, Get in the boat. They head to the other side. Jesus went into the mountain to pray. They are crossing the Sea of Galilee. I think it’s seven miles wide and they are half way there. They were three and a half miles out in the water when the storm came up. Then Jesus comes (walking on the water). It was wind they were dealing with. It was so bad that when they first saw Jesus they thought it was a ghost. I laugh when I read that scripture.
Then Peter says, If it’s you, Lord, bid me, command me to come to you. You want to talk about resilient? And He says, Come. So what does Peter do? He goes for Him. I thought about that. The Lord told me just this week, “It’s water walking time.” Are you not water walkers? It’s water walking time. Get out of the boat. We know the story of what happened. When Peter looked down he sunk because he was afraid.
Nancy. He sank. He didn’t just drop in.
Betty. No, he sank—because the Lord had him. He had him to begin with. Then it says when they were willing to take Jesus into the boat with them, immediately they were at the other side. It was a miracle. There was an immediate. We go from three and a half miles immediately. God has our immediate, our suddenly.
Synonyms for Resilient: bouncy, flexible, buoyant, strong, supple, tough, volatile, airy, elastic. You’re able to stretch. Expansive, hardy, irrepressible, pliable, quick to recover, rebounding, rolling with the punches, snapping back, springy, stretchy, etc.
PowerPoint.
When we talk about comeback and we look in the Word of God at people who made comebacks, I think the first and foremost we need to look at is Jesus. Ain’t no grave gonna hold Him. Not only did Jesus come into the earth as a man, but He lived a life sinless. He was tempted in every way but He never gave in. He became the prototype of who you and I are called to be in Him. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
These are scenes from The Passion movie. When that raindrop came out of heaven before the storm at the Crucifixion, my first thought was a teardrop falling out of heaven. Even after everything he had been through, resiliently, He did not give it up until it was time. HE gave it up. Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit. He gave up His life so that you and I could live.
He was resilient in the Garden. For the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. By this point, I believe the enemy was so oppressing Him to cave, to not go there, to not go for the Father. The Word of God says that literally He sweat great drops of blood. Scientists have proven that you can be under such pressure that literally you sweat blood. And He was there.
So anything that you or I, mankind, could ever endure assaulting our souls, Jesus took it there at the Garden. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission, there is no forgiveness of sin. I believe spirit, soul, and body, Jesus is about the total person, the total package. It says in Thessalonians, He is able to keep our entire spirit, soul, and body blameless against that day. So we see Him in the Garden, Resilient.
Then we see Him arrested and at the whipping post. I believe The Passion movie was a pale depiction of what Jesus truly looked like. Isaiah 53 says He was disfigured beyond. By His stripes we have been healed. It’s called covenant. He took blows in His body, from the beating of His face, the bruising, the plucking of His beard, the crushing of His brow with the crown of thorns; every blow, every stripe that He took, He took for you and me. And it did something in the spirit realm for us. And made a way for healing and deliverance to come to you and me, because He was resilient.
At any time He could have called. When they came to arrest Him, He told them, I have angels at my disposal that I could call now. I believe He could have said, Now. I’ve had enough. But He didn’t.
I looked at all the clips from The Passion movie, and I thought, We haven’t been through anything. Nothing, really. When Jesus drank the cup of the sins of the entire sins of the world, He became sin for us. Every abomination known to mankind came upon Him. I believe the Word of God. That’s what it says. No temptation has seized us but what is common to man. And our God is faithful. He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. But He will enable us to stand up under it. Sometimes it’s an immediate out of it. The other side, Yay! Other times, we’re going through it.
The upgrade in our mindset has to be, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me because I’m going through. He knows my capabilities. He knows my frame. He knows my breaking point, and yours, too.
We know after Jesus was beaten, then He has to pick up and carry His cross. Thank God for Simon, who came in to help Him shoulder it. But He still carried it with him. He couldn’t just put it down. He had to walk to Golgotha. That’s called resilience.
Why can we do all things through Christ who gives us strength? Because He’s been there, done that. And He has the ability to look inside you and me. He knows us. He knows how we were created. He knows our personality and our thinking structures. He knows us. I know those of you in here love God. You love the Lord. But more than that, He knows you love Him. It’s not even about you being the initiator. He says, we love Him because He loved us first. He’s the initiator.
I could say at every point, Resilient. When they came through they did not break His legs. Crucifixion was one of the most horrible deaths the Romans were practicing. Many were crucified. But Jesus gave up His spirit. Unto you, Father, I commend my spirit. To breathe, they would have to push up and the skin would tear. It was horrible. But when they came to Jesus He had already commended His spirit. So not one of His bones was broken. But they did pierce His side. That was for you and me.
Resilience in the midst of the storm. Mississippi knows a little bit about resilience. There were people who came out of Hurricane Katrina that know about resilience. There are people who have been through physical storms. How many of you have felt like you’re in a hurricane and it’s not physical, but it’s a spiritual or a soul hurricane, a storm?
Praise God, those light houses were meant to be resilient. There is a light that never goes out on the inside of you and me. I don’t care how dark it gets. It says in Isaiah 50, Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust and rely on the name of the Lord our God. He has put His name within us. He is in us. Never will He leave us. Never will He forsake us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. There is no shadow of turning in Him. Yay God. Resilience, even after the storm.
Resilience. The capacity to prepare for disruptions, recover from shocks and stresses, and adapt and grow from a disruptive experience. It’s recovery. Anna shared with me Monday about being here Sunday. Kevin had said something about the ability to just keep on going, about setting up. Anna and I are used to traveling on the road. You get there, set up, and step in. I don’t have the option to quit.
Over years of ministry, my mindset is, We are going. We’re not going for Betty or Kimble. We’re not going for you. We’re going for Him, and because we’re going for Him, we’re going for Betty and Kimble and the entire house. Because the Lord has made us resilient, no matter what is going on, my mindset is, I’m not going to quit.
I don’t wake up on Sunday morning with symptoms and automatically know that I’m not going. I’m going to ask Him if I’m going, because I’ve seen Him heal me and deliver me and stand me up in the house to minister the Word of God, and it wasn’t based on how I felt.
I’ve had tornadoes going off all around where I was headed on a ministry trip. It doesn’t matter that it’s storming. I’m going. I even had my Mother and Dad call, Surely you’re going to cancel this ministry trip. Weather here, tornadoes there. But they knew me by then. I’m going to enquire of the Lord. If the Lord says, Cancel, we’re canceling. But if the Lord says, Go, I’m going. We’re going.
We were in Lake Village, Arkansas, doing a ministry in Greenville that morning. I had Chris and Laura Hollis traveling with me doing worship then. Deanie Luke was with us. We had just gotten in the vehicle. The Armada was brand new. Chris is driving and we are backing out of the driveway of the house where we are staying. It was raining so hard you couldn’t see through it.
A tree had a knot on it grown out into the driveway, and as he is backing out you hear this screeching. He was devastated. I think he died on the spot. He pulls forward and starts to get out. I said, Do not get out of this vehicle. We are going. We are not stopping. We are going. We have an appointment. Oh but I…! I don’t care; it’s okay. You are forgiven. We’re going. So it became a saying, We’re going!
Those of you that have been with me, when you hear me say, We’re going, that means we’re going to the other side. It doesn’t matter what is in between. We’re going. Did I cry about the vehicle later? No! Kimble did. (laughter)
Kimble. It didn’t get fixed and I’m still in it today. It never made it to the body shop because it never sat still long enough to go. Like she said, We’re going! 350,000 miles later and we’re going, thank you, Jesus.
Resilience. The ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens. I want to talk about Comeback. Jesus had the greatest Comeback. He brought Captivity out of hell. He led Captivity captive. Now He has made the way for you and me to be born-again and have eternal life and to have relationship, and we now have resurrection power and life living in us. That’s a comeback, now.
He defeated death, hell, and the grave. He disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them. He took the written code which is the law and nailed it to the cross with His body. He destroyed the one who had held people in slavery through their fear of death; that is the devil. It says that Jesus Christ destroyed the devil. The Word of God says the reason He appeared was to not only destroy the devil, but to destroy the works of the devil.
That word destroy means to undo, outdo, and overdo. You want a comeback? Jesus has taken care of it. And He’s made a way. Moses is an example of a comeback. Do not let the enemy tell you that you will never recover. Do not let the enemy tell you that because of an action of you or a family member or whoever, or an action in your life, that you can’t recover.
Moses had an idea and a destiny begin to stir in him, a realization that he was a deliverer for Israel, a deliverer for the Jewish people. What does he do? What is his first act of help and deliverance for his people? He sees an Egyptian mistreating a fellow Jew, and what does he do? He killed him, then buried him. And then ran away.
Most people who say then and there, Well Betty, are you condoning murder? No, I’m not. But there are people that have murdered people and God had a comeback plan for their life. You need to look at the Word of God and we need to be careful what we say about people. Moses, forty years later. 80 year olds, do not think age is going to be a factor in whether you serve God or not. You may say, Well, he had more life in him than we do today. Really? I don’t think so. I think the life of Jesus Christ is enough to cause you to be resilient in any situation.
I believe Moses was in the wilderness forty years, learning to live on the backside of the wilderness, until it was time. There is an appointed time for your destiny and it is a time for your moment. God is saying to you and me, I’ve made you resilient. Don’t miss your moment.
Eighty year olds have an impact. So Moses comes back at 80 years of age and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh. Daniel was 80 when he saw the handwriting on the wall in Daniel 5. Caleb was 85 when he took his mountain. Joshua was 80 when be took the children of Israel across the Jordan. All of these were 80 year olds. We have no excuse.
God made them resilient. God put something in them different. He knew their capability. He knew their time, their season, their moment, and He did not forget them.
Resilience is the courage to come back. We need to talk to David about the ability to come back. His own son sat in the gate and stole the heart of his people. I read yesterday how barefooted they left the palace and were going up the Mount of Olives. All of David’s people were going with him, weeping as they went. Can you imagine?
Then Absalom slept with all of his concubines out in the open. He disgraced his father publicly, beyond. David said, Let God judge between us.
Coming back: David after numbering Israel’s fighting men—75,000 died. He came back from that. He came back from Bathsheba. He came back from some big mistakes. If people today made these mistakes, if you look at it in the natural apart from God, there is no way to come back from that. Yet David did because he had a heart for God. A man willing to do God’s will. The Lord says, If you are willing. If you are willing.
Nature always finds a way to survive. Never give up. She shows a picture of a large tree growing on top of narrow rock in the middle of a body of water. It’s beautiful to me. When I read, Nature always find a way to survive, I’m not talking about evolution.
I’m saying that right now you have a divine nature in you. He has given you His divine nature, His divine power. Our spirit man has been recreated in Christ Jesus like Him. His power is in us. The ability to come back, to survive, and to overcome and be restored is built in. It’s in the package.
That’s what I heard Him saying today. It’s in the package. You are capable of overcoming. I have made you more than conquerors. Don’t quit now. Even if it looks like you are knocked out and down for the count, I have the ability.
Let’s talk about Lazarus. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been dead for four days. You might stink, and those rags they take off of you might still have the stench. Some of you would take them as trophies! But the ability to raise the dead. It’s never over. It’s never over.
Resilience. “The strongest oak in the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.” (Napoleon Hill)
Are we not oaks of righteousness? Let’s make the exchange. Let’s receive what He has provided for those that grieve in Zion. The crown of beauty instead of ashes. The oil of gladness instead of mourning. The garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.
So what is it? He said when you feel worthless, when you feel like your life has gone to ashes, let me crown you with the crown of beauty. He said those that have endured trials have now in store the crown of life. James 1:12. So we make the exchange. I can choose to wallow in the ashes and let the enemy scream at me that I am worthless, I don’t deserve to live, I might as well just be out, down. Or I can receive the crown.
I can go into that place of mourning and I can stay in mourning, or I can choose to receive the provision that He’s made for mourning, the oil of gladness. He says weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the mourning.
James 1:12. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
So if your life comes up ashes, just keep on persevering because He’s got a crown for you. He wants to make an exchange.
Resilience definitions: the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change, so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks. There is a kingdom structure and dynamic that is alive in you and me. It is stored in our very DNA, in our spirit. There is an identity that we have in Christ Jesus, in the Father.
Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change. I know this from experience, from doing ministry, from being involved in events. When we did General Nation, I’ve seen what happens to leaders and people under pressure. Some people are able to rise up in the Lord and keep on going. I had a new appreciation for the Worship Team. At the tent on Friday night I was behind a monitor and I heard all of their voices. I felt bombarded with all of their voices coming at one time.
The ability of a worship leader to have all the musicians, all the voices, with an apostle prophet standing on the side, in an apostolic prophetic house, never knowing when we’re going to interrupt or step over or when we’re going to do this or that, you better be flexible. You better be pliable. You better be alright in this kind of house if today you have a message, and God says, No, Kimble’s bringing the word today. No, Kevin’s got the word. And I might have spent a whole day on the word and don’t get to give it because God says we’re doing something else—without being offended or having my feelings hurt or any of that. Those are things I’ve come through over the years.
So, the ability of the worship leader to stand and keep going. What if Kevin or one of the others drop out? Anna can’t drop out. If a musician drops out the leader cannot stop. If you are going to minister in this house and you call me that morning and say, I can’t do it, I know that God in me can do it. I believe that is what the Lord is wanting to bring up in you and me, that regardless of what’s going on around us, we can still function. And I don’t mean just getting by.
I mean the breath of God and the Spirit of God has come up in you and filled you and clothed you, and hey, we’re going. Because it doesn’t matter about anything else. Well, I just blew it so bad with my family before I got here, etc. I don’t care what’s going on, we’re going to cut that thing off and keep going.
You mean you’re going to stand up with sin in your life? No, I’m not. I’m going to repent. I’m going to ask the Lord to prepare me. I’m going to step in and apply the blood of Jesus knowing that He has cleansed me and He’s going to do what He said He would do. If you’ll confess your sins He will remove them as far as the east is from the west. We need to get over ourselves and let God be God in us and keep moving, saying, Forget those things which are behind and press on towards the mark of the high calling in God. You can’t change it. You can redeem the time. But don’t live in the past. Be present in His presence.
Resilience is about neither persistence nor change but about balancing and integrating both in an adaptive cycle. Understand, it’s not about giving up persistence; it’s not not being willing to change; it’s about both of those things, being flexible. It’s really called transformation. It’s not that your circumstances are transforming you, it’s that He is transforming and conforming you. But no matter what, if you need to walk through a wall, you’ll walk through a wall.
Resilience is very different than being numb. Resilience means you experience, you feel, you fail, you hurt. You might fall. You don’t have to do all these things, but probably all of us have been there, done that in the past in some capacity in our lifetimes. But, you keep going. Resilience: Never Give Up.
I want you to let Holy Spirit upgrade your mindset. Years ago we took our college and youth to Tennessee, white water rafting in the spring. Brad was on the trip. There was an outdoor climbing wall, very tall. When you got to the top, you had a bell to ring. Jason Kimes got to the top and rang the bell. I knew there were mindsets, there were people who had already predetermined they weren’t doing it, or they weren’t going all the way to the top, etc. I’m saying in our life our mindset needs to be, I’m ringing the bell. I’m going to the top. That’s resilient. I’m going to at least try. I’m not going to predispose that I can’t or you can’t.
Resilient. Job 14:7-9. At least there is hope for a tree. If it is cut down it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
Just give me a little bit of water, Holy Spirit. I know me. I might be down. I might be dealing with whatever. But just a little bit of Presence and I come alive and I can’t quit. For you too, just a little bit of His Presence, just a scent of water, and those roots are going out. Because He’s the Life-Giver.
Weeping may last for the night, but rejoicing, joy, comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5.
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. Psalm 30:11. That’s a promise.
Resilience vs Adversity. This, too, shall pass. That was Wanda’s favorite phrase years ago. This, too, shall pass. This, too, shall pass. This, too, shall pass. Put up that shield of faith.
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. That’s a promise. Those that wait upon the Lord. Those that hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31. That’s His promise.
If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down. And you might need to develop a right mindset. Many of you know the story about the turkey and the eagle. Don’t let somebody tell you that you’re a turkey when you’re really an eagle. We were never made to stay on the ground. We were made to soar in the high places with Him.
Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1. Throw off every weight, anything that would hinder. Just come on out of it. Kimble would wrestle the children. Anna and I tried our best to hold Kimble III down. Sooner or later we were getting toppled. Run with perseverance. Get rid of the weights. Don’t let any weight hold you down. Jesus didn’t let them hold Him. We need to come out from the destiny thieves and devourers and the places of death, and throw it off and run. Because it’s a marked out race. He’s already got the markers out there. You’re not just going anywhere. He’s already got it marked out.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13. That is a promise for you resilient ones. It’s about Him. It’s about His power in us, enabling us to do what we can’t do in our own strength. It’s called Grace.
Father, I thank you for stand up men and women and boys and girls in a bow down world. I thank you that you cause all grace to abound to us so that in all things at all times having all that we need, we may abound. Lord, I thank you for the word that you have given us. Resilient.
Father, I thank you that you, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, are our Resiliency. Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us before the Father. Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask for, hope, think or imagine beyond our wildest dreams, by His power that is at work within us Now. So Father, any place where the enemy has brought temptation for us to quit, to give up, to hold back, Lord, I thank you for a new view.
Let this same attitude be in us that was in Christ Jesus. Lord, we rise up in you. We come up in you to abide, to remain, to stay in our place. Let the function, our spirit man, come into perfect alignment with the assignments that you have ordained for us. Bring us into a place of wholeness now, Lord, spirit, soul, and body. Let us come alive in you, Jesus. Let resurrection power and life fill each one of us in this place.
Lord, I decree again what you said to us. I created you. I know what you are capable of. I know you love me. I know you will go for me. I know you will run for me. I know you. I made you Resilient. I decree it and declare it, Father, in the name of Jesus. Be it unto us according to your word, your will, and your way, in Jesus name. Amen and Amen. Praise God.