Good Morning Beloved,
Oh what a blessing from God, that we have the privilege of coming together, and worship the presence of the Almighty God, the Creator of the entire Universe. How absolutely awesome is that?
Heavenly Father,
We wait to hear from You,
through Your Word, Your Holy Spirit
A message for Your church today..
Thank You for the breath of life,
for life flowing in and out each one of us.
It is such a wonderful blessing to be alive.
for life flowing in and out each one of us.
It is such a wonderful blessing to be alive.
We often wait on a Word from You
to hear Your still small voice
Yet You consistently hear our prayers,
our cries, our complaints
and our praise.
You are the one who hears our first breath and our last
Thank you for the precious gift of life!
One we so often take for granted..
Teach us to breathe..
Teach us to exhale hatred, and inhale Your love.
Teach us to exhale despair, and inhale Your hope.
Teach us to exhale despair, and inhale Your hope.
Forgive us O Lord,
when we are not outraged by injustice,
hatred, war and violence
In Jesus' name we ask and pray
Amen
"Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:7-9
How many of you want to have success in life and in your relationship with God?
It takes meditating on the word of God!
I thought about that, and you
know that is what we preachers do...How many of you want to have success in life and in your relationship with God?
It takes meditating on the word of God!
we meditate on the word of God!
We are trying to do what is written, and we are also trying to find a good way to teach what is written.
A good preacher can and will find sermon material everywhere...believe it or not, I found some good sermon material in a random book I was reading!
God can use anything to inspire His message..
I want to share with you five keys to having power with God!
However, if I am not connected to the power source, or if the power source is not connected to me....I can have no power!
It sounds overly simple...but it is true!
If we desire power in our walk with God we must be connected to the power source! I can't help but think of the story of Jacob wrestling with God.... They wrestled all night long with the battle going back and forth...
"Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."
Genesis 32:26-28
This what Jacob had been looking for all of his life....power with God!
In another scripture it says that Jacob....
"In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
And in his maturity he contended with God.
Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and sought His favor."
Hosea 12:3-4
What impressed God was the way that Jacob gripped! It was with everything that he had!
If you want to have power with God, you have to hold onto Him with all that you have! Don't ever let Him go!
Jacob stayed connected to the power source!
So how do we do that today?
We do it through prayer!
Not by the words we say, but by the heart with which we pray..
What impresses God about our prayer is the way in which we pray! That is what makes the difference!
The Bible says that "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much!"
"and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place"
2 Chronicles 7:14-15
And there it is!
When must humble ourselves, seek Him and pray with all that we have...
God is going to hear our prayers!
The Bible says to "pray without ceasing"....you can't ever stop.
Pray, pray, pray...and then pray again....don't ever give up....prayer is the single most important thing that you can do to ensure that God's power and anointing is upon your life!
The position of our heart is so important in our walk with God!
This is our foundation!
This is a vital key to having power with God.
If we do not have the right heart, the proper foundation, nothing else in our walk with God will function as God designed it to.
He knows when we are sincere and when we are just muttering words, hoping to get our way. God knows all.
We can fool people in this life, but we can NOT fool God!
"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone."
Ephesians 2:19-20
We have to stand upon the foundation of the Apostles and the prophets....and our cornerstone is Jesus Christ!
That means we stand upon the truth of the word of God!
Nothing else can move us....
If the teachings of this world are pulling on you.....you need to stand on God's Word.
When the winds of false doctrine come blowing your way...you need to stand on God's Word.
When the shifting sands of ecumenicalism start pressuring...they ought to have no affect on you!
...because your foundation is secure...you are standing upon the Word of God!
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."
1 Corinthians 15:58
When we have established our foundation on the Word of God, power is transferred into our lives!
Beloved, if you are not pointed in the right direction you are going to mess up big time!
We must make sure to keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ...
David said, I will lift up my eyes to the hills where my help comes from!
David knew where his power was coming from!
If we can align our lives towards Jesus Christ with the expectancy and faith that David had...His power is going to come our way!
In order to go forward with any power, you have to first go backwards!
Beloved, our walk with God is going to be like that....
Three steps forward.....four steps back.
Two steps forward...one step back.
But every time you go back, remember, you're not failing, because you're gaining more experience, and whether you realize it or not....God is building your spiritual muscle memory!
God is building your faith!
Every time you get knocked back a few steps, you are able to come forward with more faith and more power that you ever had before!
This is just simple physics.
So don't give up!
Some of the greatest examples we have in the Scriptures got knocked backwards..
Paul had zero power until he got knocked down by God on the Damascus road.
Peter's greatest works were accomplished after He messed up and came back to Christ.
Moses was the Crown Prince of Egypt...but he had no power with God until he became a shepherd in the deserts of Midian.
Jacob had no power with God until God knocked him flat on his back in that wrestling match.
When you find yourself backed into the corner...when you have been backed up as far as you can go and then some....get ready, because God is getting ready to reveal His power through you!
In your walk with God, this is where you trust God and do what you can...God will take care of the rest!
You have prayed, you have fasted, you have believed and you have made a stand upon the word of God!
Now God is going to do His work in you and through you!
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father."
John 14:12
Beloved, these are not just words here, Christ wasn't just wasting His breath. These are profound Words from Our Lord Jesus!
You talk about power...you shall do greater works than Christ.
Remember in Exodus chapter 14? Moses and Israel backed into a corner with the mountains on one side, the Red Sea on the other, and the mighty Egyptian army closing in....
"But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land."
Exodus 14:13-16
God put them in a place where they had no choice but to trust in Him!
There are some of you, where The Lord may have backed you all the way up into a place, where there seems to be no way out!
He is the only way! He is the only One who can deliver you!
This is where your spiritual downswing starts...this is when the enemy gets nervous...this is the fun part of serving God!
All you have to do is trust God and start marching forward!
Now it is time to keep your eye on the goal.
Don't rush it.
Don't try to make it happen.
Keep in mind that you do have to do the marching!
God will part the sea...but He won't march for you!
You have to be willing to step out on new ground!
God will use His power through you...but you must do everything that you can!
Then We Must Follow Through
Sometimes that is what we do right after God performs a miracle in us!
We think that receiving the miracle is what it is all about.
Some people get the Holy Spirit...and that's it...they stop.
They think the Holy Spirit is all that this is about.
The Holy Spirit is just the beginning... there is a whole lot more to this than that!
God gives us miracles for a reason...to Glorify Him and to give witness of that miracle.
God gives us the Holy Spirit for a reason....to have power to become a witness!
This should be the most exciting time where you are just ready to do anything for God!
You should be in the third heaven on cloud number ninety nine!
Israel had just witnessed the almighty power of God in crossing the Red Sea...the cloud was leading them by day, and a pillar of fire by night.....they should have been ready to take on the world.
And they were for about three days.... ...then they got thirsty....
Exodus 15:23-24
"When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?"
Let me tell you something...the moment that God brings victory into your life...Satan is going to come in and try and steal that victory!
The moment that God fills you...Satan is going to say, "no, that wasn't God." But, it is up to you to finish strong! You finish strong by following through!
Israel had a great miracle....in fact, many miracles....but then they stopped.
Moses had a message for them....
Exodus 15:26
"And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer."
Moses said you follow through by obeying God's commandments!
God brought them through the Red Sea for a reason.
God led them with a pillar of fire for a reason.
They were to possess the land!
But they didn't finish....six weeks later, we find them turning their backs on Moses and on God.
An entire generation of Israel never claimed their promise...because they did not finish!
You have to follow through.
You have to finish strong.
You finish strong by obeying God's word!
You will receive all of God's power if you continue in God's Word!
1 Timothy 4:16
"Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you."
In Closing...
Do you want God's power in your life?
God is working in your life for a higher purpose than you might be able to see today!
You may be backed up into one of the worst places in your life.
God wants to reveal His power through you.
Keep praying.
Keep trusting.
Keep standing.
Never give up...always finish strong!
You Do Your Part And God Will Do His!!
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries