1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,520 Praise the Lord. Would you lift up your hands one more time and just fill the sanctuary 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:13,360 with praises unto the Lord today. Father, we're so grateful for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:21,280 upon the body of Christ today. We thank you for the great works of the Spirit that are happening 4 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:28,320 in this congregation this morning. Would you just shout praise the Lord with me? Praise the Lord. 5 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:37,520 Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Praise God. Greetings, church family. What a joy it is to be 6 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:43,920 a worshiper of the Lord with you on this Sunday morning and every Sunday morning. I'm so grateful 7 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:51,040 for all of you. Violet and I love you, and we thank God for how you have received us into your 8 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:57,600 fellowship when we moved here three years ago. I tell people that we still have one foot in 9 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:05,840 Virginia and one foot in Tennessee. We travel back and forth a lot giving care for my 97-year-old 10 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:12,080 mother, but we're just delighted to be a part of this church family. Pastor Cliff is just a friend 11 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:18,640 of almost 20 years. Many years ago, we began to work together in the Pastoral Covenant Group 12 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:25,200 Ministry in our denomination, and it was in that experience that he and I, along with many other 13 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:32,400 pastors, entered into a covenant to pursue excellence in ministry, and that has just been 14 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:38,800 a wonderful, wonderful journey for which I'm so grateful. I'm so glad that he is my pastor today. 15 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:44,640 I explained to him when we moved here that we would be traveling some, and he was very understanding, 16 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:49,920 and he said, we understand that. Just make sure your tithe gets here when you're not here. So 17 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:55,920 what a wonderful pastor he is, and we thank the Lord for that. So grateful for all of our pastors, 18 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:02,400 pastors Brian and Erica. They're anointed servants of the Lord, doing a great job in so many areas of 19 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:10,720 ministry in the church. Pastors Terry and Mary Lou Bowden, our senior adult pastors, so grateful for 20 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:17,360 them and their wonderful work. Pastor Bowden is a distinguished pastor, a great preacher, teacher. 21 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:22,320 He's a wonderful golfer, and I've learned many things about him. I've learned that there is a 22 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:29,680 special prayer for golfers. He's taught me this. Whenever he takes his clubs out of the car and 23 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:39,280 walks to the first tee box, he prays, Lord, let my ball lie on green pastures and not in steel waters. 24 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:46,720 So I want to thank you for that today, Pastor Bowden. Violet and I love you, and we thank you 25 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:54,560 and we thank God for you and your ministry in the church. I'm reading this morning from the book 26 00:02:54,560 --> 00:03:02,240 of Lamentations. This is a parallel book to the prophecy of Jeremiah. I would encourage you to 27 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:12,320 spend some time reading Jeremiah's prophecy as he speaks to the condition of the nation of Judah 28 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:19,680 in his day. In the book of Lamentations, he's weeping and he's calling out to God for the 29 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:27,360 sins of the people that they might repent and experience restoration and healing from the Lord. 30 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:36,400 Praise God. In chapter three, three verses of scripture that are often quoted, at least part 31 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:44,080 of them as you look on your PDA or your phone or your Bible or on the screen today, Lamentations 32 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:53,120 chapter three, beginning in verse 22, the prophet says, through the Lord's mercy, some translations 33 00:03:53,120 --> 00:04:04,640 say great love, through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Can you say with me, thank you, Lord, 34 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:12,240 that I'm here today because of your mercy? If it were not for his mercy, as Jeremiah said, we would 35 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:25,600 have already perished. Oh, thank you, Lord. He said because his compassions fail not. God's 36 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:36,640 compassions are new every morning, verse 23 says, great is your faithfulness. Verse 24, the prophet 37 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:45,440 says, the Lord is my portion, says my soul. Would you think about that with me for a moment? 38 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:56,000 Jeremiah says, my soul is speaking out of truth that the Lord is my portion. Praise God. 39 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:07,920 And he goes on to say, because the Lord is my portion, therefore I hope in him. If you feel 40 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:14,400 comfortable doing so, would you take the person's hand beside of you and pray with me that miracles 41 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:21,040 of the Lord, I want to say that again, I want you to specifically ask our Father in heaven for 42 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:28,320 miracles and new blessings of the Lord to be poured out upon this congregation today. Be bold 43 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:33,520 and confident that he's going to do that for us. Father, we pray in agreement today for mighty 44 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:39,440 works of God in the congregation of the Lord. We pray that you would confirm your word today 45 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:46,320 with signs and wonders and miracles. We ask Father that whatever is needed in our lives and in this 46 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:53,840 great congregation that you would do that for us today. Bless Pastor Waters as he shares in worship 47 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:59,920 with the congregation today where he's at and we thank you for what you're going to do in Jesus' 48 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:07,280 name. Several months ago in this congregation, Violet and I were in the middle section of the 49 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:13,200 sanctuary as we were worshiping the Lord with the praise team and the praise team on that particular 50 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:21,120 Sunday morning began to lead us in worship by singing the song, Made Me Glad, which was written 51 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:30,400 back in 2002 by Marian Webster. It became a very popular praise and worship song. You will remember 52 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:37,680 that song and we have sung it since then I believe. It's really based on the words of David found in 53 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:49,360 2 Samuel chapter 22 when David said, the Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. My God is my 54 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:58,240 rock. I love his declaration. In whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. 55 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:05,680 David goes on to say that the Lord is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior from violent 56 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:14,560 people. You will save me. As we began to sing that song on that Sunday morning, there are seven 57 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:23,120 declarations in that course, seven acknowledgments of the Lord, seven confessions in that song. The 58 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:29,120 first one says, you are my shield. Can you praise God that he's your shield this morning? Come on, 59 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:36,000 would you just say thank you Lord that you are my shield? Praise God. Obviously we know that 60 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:42,160 that means that God is our protector. I thank God today that he's got it. He's got the whole world 61 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:48,880 in his hands. He's protecting us from the devil. He's protecting us from the evil that's in society. 62 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:56,320 He's protecting us from a culture that's gone crazy. He's protecting us from impure thoughts. 63 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:04,320 Thank God he is our shield. Oh, I think we need to praise him for that today. 64 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:15,760 Based on that verse of scripture, the songwriter included the word strength. We know what that 65 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:25,760 means. The Lord is my strength. That means that God is the source of everything I need for power. 66 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:34,560 He constantly empowers me. He strengthens me. Hallelujah. Our strength comes from the Lord day 67 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:44,560 and night for everything we need. God is our strength. I feel the Lord in this house this 68 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:52,000 morning. The fourth declaration of that song based on that verse in 2nd Samuel says the Lord 69 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:58,400 is our deliverer. Hallelujah. Deliverance means that he has delivered us from the kingdom of Satan. 70 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:04,400 He has delivered us from sin. We've been delivered from the kingdom of darkness. Hallelujah. 71 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:12,800 We've been set free by the powerful name of Jesus. Thank God for salvation today. He lifts us up out 72 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:21,920 of the mire of clay. Thank God. He establishes our life upon the rock. Hallelujah. Of our faith in 73 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:30,080 God. Hallelujah. He's our deliverer. We know that he's our shelter. Hallelujah. We think of the word 74 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:36,400 shelter. We think of a covering over our lives. Again, it's a source of protection. As I think 75 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:42,640 about God being a shelter for me this morning, I think about those times in life when anxiety, 76 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:48,640 might be there, when worry might be just arms length away, when there's a temptation to fear. 77 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:54,000 I thank God today that when the bad news comes, when there's a problem that arises, 78 00:09:54,000 --> 00:10:01,840 when challenges step in front of us, thank God we are covered by the grace and the mercy 79 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:10,640 and the power of our great God. Oh, hallelujah. I want to tell you today, don't fret, don't worry, 80 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:17,520 you're covered. You're covered by the power of the Lord. The songwriter included in that song 81 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:24,960 based on that scripture that the Lord is our strong tower. Hallelujah. That's the image of 82 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:31,520 metaphor of a fortress. That's a place where we run to a source of great strength. We know that we 83 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:37,920 can go and hide behind the walls of Jesus Christ and we're protected against the fiery tarts of 84 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:46,960 the enemy. We know that inside the fort, inside that strong tower, God is watching over our lives. 85 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:54,800 Hallelujah. His eyes are over the righteous, Peter said. He knows what's going on and inside that 86 00:10:54,800 --> 00:11:01,760 fort there is an unlimited supply of food. There's an unlimited supply of refreshment. When I get 87 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:11,360 tired, when I get weary, I run to the strong tower and I find that fresh touch from the Lord. 88 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:21,680 Hallelujah. Praise God. And we all know what that last phrase means. He's my very, very present help 89 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:28,960 in time of need. Have you ever been, or recently have you been in a time of need and that word 90 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:36,800 was confirmed when God revealed at the very moment, at the very second when we need a word 91 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:43,760 from the Lord, at the very moment when we need a refreshing touch of the Holy Spirit, at the very 92 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:51,120 moment when we need a word of encouragement, our God is always going to be a present help 93 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:59,040 and time of trouble and time of need. Hallelujah. Oh, praise God. He is that for all of us today. 94 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:06,880 In that song and in that verse is the word portion. On that Sunday morning, as we were singing, 95 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:12,480 I said to myself, I know what it means for God to be my shield, my strength, my shelter, 96 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:20,800 my covering, my strong tower, my present help. But as we began to sing that song, he's my portion. 97 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:27,440 The Holy Spirit began to speak to me right back there and reminded me that I needed to learn more 98 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:34,000 what the word portion really means. I confess to you that on that Sunday morning, I was singing 99 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:39,840 that song and I had an idea of what the word portion means. But it's as if the Holy Spirit 100 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:45,680 was saying, you need to go home and you need to dig into the scriptures and you need to investigate 101 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:53,200 what the word of the Lord says about him being my portion. And in doing so, I have found out, 102 00:12:53,200 --> 00:13:01,440 I've discovered that the word portion occurs 97 times in the English Bible, depending on which 103 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:09,520 translation you read. If something is mentioned 97 times in the word of God, it must be important. 104 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:16,720 And as I began to look at the word portion, I found that it's such an enlivening words, a faith 105 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:25,840 building word. The Lord is my portion. Would you just say that with me? The Lord is my portion. 106 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:33,840 Hallelujah. The very first time that word, I began to look at that word, I began to discover some 107 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:40,160 rich meanings of that word. And it's as if the Holy Spirit said to me, Milton, you really need to say 108 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:48,400 every day in your life, the Lord is my portion. I've become so fixated on the phrase, the Lord is my 109 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:54,640 portion that I'm asking the Holy Spirit to help me remind me to say that several times a day. 110 00:13:54,640 --> 00:14:01,600 I've actually felt the Holy Spirit saying, you need to declare the Lord is your portion over our 111 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:08,800 marriage, over our home, over our grandchildren, our children and grandchildren. The Holy Spirit 112 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:15,440 spoke to me and said, preface your prayers. When you pray for your church, pray that the Lord 113 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:23,440 will be the portion for the Hope Well Church of God. Pray that he will be our portion for wherever 114 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:31,280 we go and whatever we do. Hallelujah. I've started prefacing my prayers before I ask God 115 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:38,240 to do anything. I just spend a few moments just enjoying what it means that I'm in the presence 116 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:44,240 of one who the Bible says is my portion. Hallelujah. It's a wonderful thing to believe that. What does 117 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:52,240 the word portion mean? As you know, it literally means part of a whole. In everyday usage, it means 118 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:59,040 something that's a part of something that's been shared. Growing up in a family of five children, 119 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:05,680 before I could even spell the word Bible or the word portion, I had an understanding of what portion 120 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:13,280 means. As I would sit around the table with my four other siblings and mom at least two times a 121 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:19,680 week would make a pan of cornbread. Pastor mentioned cornbread last Sunday, so I figure that must be 122 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:26,960 inspired, so I'm going to use it again today. As the pan or the plate of cornbread would be passed 123 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:34,560 around to my parents and the five children of our home, my mother would always slice the whole into 124 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:42,320 seven to ten slices. I usually sat next to my older brother and he and I would kind of vie for who was 125 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:50,640 going to get the biggest portion. I didn't want the whole pan of cornbread, but I did want my 126 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:59,760 portion. I wanted that piece that my mother and father had planned for me to have. I can look back 127 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:07,600 now and say that my father and mother loved their children so much they made sure there was a 128 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:15,600 portion of food for every child around their table. And I'm here this morning to remind you that your 129 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:26,160 father in heaven loves you so much. He cares about you so much. His compassion is real for you. He's 130 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:36,240 ordained a portion of his grace for your life. Could I tell you this morning that on this very day 131 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:44,640 God has set in motion a plan that you and I receive a fresh portion of Holy Ghost anointing 132 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:53,600 and power. Hallelujah! When Jesus died on the cross, I'm glad today that I received my portion 133 00:16:53,600 --> 00:17:01,120 of salvation. How about you? It's mine, it's mine, it's mine. There's a portion of salvation for me, 134 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:06,880 for you. Would you just praise God today that you're saved and you know that you are? 135 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:16,960 Hallelujah! Praise God! When Jesus died on the cross by his stripes, the Bible says we are healed. 136 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:23,280 I believe this morning there's a portion of healing that still flows from the veins of 137 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:29,760 Calvary today. There's healing. The gift of healing is still in operation in the church. 138 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:37,840 If you need a touch of healing today, there's a portion of healing grace that's ordained for 139 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:44,160 you on this Sunday morning. Even if you have asked him multiple times, I believe there's an 140 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:51,040 anointing of the Lord right now being poured out upon us to receive healing. Would you just gently 141 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:57,760 lay your hand if you feel comfortable doing so on someone beside of you and just pray for a release 142 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:05,280 of the healing power of God in this congregation today? Father, we believe you're releasing the 143 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:11,360 healing power of the Lord in the body at the Hopewell Church of God today. We receive it. 144 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:19,520 It's ordained. We believe the Spirit is moving now to bring forth healing in our lives. Hallelujah! 145 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:29,200 Praise God! In the Bible, the word portion in the Hebrew, the Old Testament text is very rich. 146 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:37,520 It comes from a word pronounced calic and it means five different things. First of all, it means 147 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:42,480 there's an allotment. That means that God in heaven, I get so excited to think about this, 148 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:48,880 the word portion means that God has allotted certain things for us to have. We ought to be 149 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:56,400 shouting happy today because God in his wisdom does not look past, look over, look by anyone. 150 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:03,360 He's no respecter of person and he's allotted for our lives certain blessings. Hallelujah! 151 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:10,880 And it doesn't matter how much the devil fights that, it's still ordained and appointed by the 152 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:19,280 hand of God. Secondly, the word portion means an inheritance, something shared from one of the 153 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:27,840 tribes in Israel, one of the families, perhaps a portion of land. Hallelujah! I'm glad today that I 154 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:36,000 am a joint heir with Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! There's an inheritance, praise God! Hallelujah! 155 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:42,080 That we have because of our faith in Jesus. Thirdly, the word portion has the connotation 156 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:52,000 of one's future. If you have a portion, if the Lord is your portion, the Bible writers meant that 157 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:58,080 you have a future. Praise God! I'm glad today that I don't have to worry about where the world is 158 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:03,040 headed. I don't have to be too concerned about who's going to be elected or not be elected. 159 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:09,040 I do pray for all of that. I don't have to be afraid of wars now or future wars or all of that 160 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:16,160 because this is not my home. Hallelujah! Praise God! I don't plan on staying here too much longer. 161 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:22,960 Praise God! I believe we're on the very edge of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can shout 162 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:34,160 with all praise this morning, God is my portion. He is my future. Hallelujah! Praise God! Fourthly, 163 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:40,880 it means something shared. Praise God! Now, I know we know what that means this morning. You might 164 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:46,960 share something with a friend or a family member or a neighbor, etc. Thank God for all of that. 165 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:53,280 But the greatest sharing that takes place in our life is when our heavenly father begins to share 166 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:59,840 his love with us. When he begins to share his riches with us, I share in the joy of the Lord 167 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:06,240 this morning. Praise God! I share in the strength of God, in the victory of the Lord. I share in the 168 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:17,680 strength of God, in the victory of the Lord. Part of that belongs to us as his portion is ours today. 169 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:28,960 And lastly, the word portion means a promise. Praise God! Portion and promise. If God says 170 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:36,960 there's something that's portion to you, it is a promise. The very first time the word portion 171 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:43,520 has significance in the Old Testament is found in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 1 and 2. 172 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:50,560 This is when the children of Israel were inhabiting the land of Cana, the promised land. 173 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:57,920 And you will remember the story of how God instructed Noah, or Moses rather, that when 174 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:04,720 the tribes enter into the promised land. Oh, could you just thank God for his fulfilling 175 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:14,480 of promises today? God said, Moses, you instruct the leaders of the tribes this way, that two and 176 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:21,280 a half of the tribes are going to be on the east side of the Jordan, and the other tribes are going 177 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:28,080 to be on the west side. Everybody's going to get a portion. Every tribe, from the smallest to the 178 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:34,640 greatest. It doesn't matter that Benjamin is the smallest tribe, or this tribe is the largest tribe. 179 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:41,360 Everybody is going to get a piece of the promised land. You know what one of our biggest problems 180 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:46,480 is today in the church? We're still trying to figure out if grace really includes me, 181 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:52,080 if salvation really includes me, if God really wants to do something for me. I'm telling you 182 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:59,120 on this Sunday morning, God loves you, cares for you, and he wants you to inherit, he wants you to 183 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:08,000 receive what he has, a portion for your life. Hallelujah. But as we read in Deuteronomy chapter 184 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:15,280 18, something very unique happens when Moses began to speak the final word of how the land 185 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:21,760 would be portioned. He came to the tribe of Levi, and the Bible says that the whole 186 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:30,960 tribe of Levi, it sounds a little off when you first read it, the whole tribe of Levi, 187 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:40,880 you are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. God said through Moses that you're going 188 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:46,800 to live through the food offerings that are brought to the tabernacle that are presented 189 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:54,800 to the Lord. That's going to be your inheritance. You shall have no inheritance like your fellow 190 00:23:54,800 --> 00:24:02,880 Israelites. And if you read verse two of Deuteronomy chapter 18, God says, Levi, I don't want you to 191 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:10,240 feel bad. I don't want you to feel less than. I don't want you to feel pushed out. I don't want 192 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:19,120 you to feel left out because the Lord is going to be your portion. Praise God. Praise God. 193 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:27,760 Hallelujah. The very first thing that we learn about the word portion is this, that God is a 194 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:36,720 promise giver and God is a promise keeper. Hallelujah. God was saying, Levi, you don't need 195 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:44,240 land because I'm going to provide everything that you have need of. You don't need land to grow a 196 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:51,840 garden because I'm going to be your portion. I'm going to bring the food to your very front door. 197 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:59,040 God was saying, Levi, I don't want you to worry about land for sheep or cattle. You don't need 198 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:06,000 any of that because I'm going to bring the very fruit food that you need to the front flap of your 199 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:13,840 tent. Hallelujah. Can I tell you this morning that God is your portion? And when we trust him first, 200 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:20,960 he will deliver it to our lives. He will bring it to us. He will deliver his grace, his gifts, 201 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:30,080 his answers on time when we need his touch. Hallelujah. Praise God. Levi, just serve me. 202 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:37,280 Just give yourself over to serving me and I will be your portion. The second thing we learn about 203 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:46,880 portion is that we belong to God and God promises as our portion to take care of our every need. 204 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:55,280 Hallelujah. Like Levi, we can trust God every day to take care of us and provide for our needs. 205 00:25:55,280 --> 00:26:01,440 That sounds almost too good to be true. It sounds like a fairy tale, but I'm telling you, 206 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:09,440 this is the word of God in action. This is the word of God every day that we would trust him first. 207 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:17,680 Hallelujah. That we would call upon him first and believe him first that he would provide for our 208 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:23,440 needs. Hallelujah. Oh, would you just lift up your hands and give him a wave offering of praise 209 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:31,760 this morning. He wants to do that for us. He wants us to trust him first like Levi and hold on to the 210 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:40,240 promise that he will provide. Hallelujah. Praise God. I call them the big five. When I think about 211 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:45,600 being a follower of Jesus Christ, he has promised to give me an abundant life. You know what my 212 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:52,080 portion is, I believe. Part of my portion is that Jesus came to give me life and give me life more 213 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:57,360 abundantly. That's my portion. It's going to be there every day. What does that mean? I'm going to 214 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:04,560 have an abundant supply of love, an abundant supply of peace, and an abundant supply of joy. 215 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:12,320 Hallelujah. I believe there will be an abundant supply of the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God. 216 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:21,440 It'll never run out. Praise God. He is our giver of abundant life. That's our portion. Secondly, 217 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:27,200 he's promised to answer my prayers. Hallelujah. Praise God. I said he's promised to answer our 218 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:34,560 prayers. I said he's promised to answer your prayers. I said the Lord is your portion and God 219 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:41,600 says over and over, ask and I'm going to just give to you. Seek me and you shall find. Knock on the 220 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:50,560 door of heaven because I'm your portion. I'm going to open up the door for you. Hallelujah. Peter said 221 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:56,320 the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers. Hallelujah. 222 00:27:56,320 --> 00:28:02,000 I'm glad I can say, Father, you are my portion on this Sunday morning. You'll be my portion on 223 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:08,880 Monday morning, on Tuesday morning, and if I call upon your name, you will open the windows of heaven 224 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:15,520 and pour out your blessings upon me. Praise God. Thirdly, he's promised to give me a fruitful life. 225 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:21,600 Hallelujah. Our life is going to produce something that will bring him glory. I bump into a lot of 226 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:29,440 people, especially in pastoral ministry, who just were called to a life of misery. I met one lady, 227 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:34,880 she was actually a member of the church in one place where we pastored and I think she thought 228 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:42,720 worry was a gift, a spiritual gift. She worried constantly and everything was anxiety to her. 229 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:49,280 And I remember the day that she began to realize that God could take care of all of her cares 230 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:56,320 because he cares for us. Hallelujah. He is our portion. He promises to give us an overcoming 231 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:04,240 life. Hallelujah. Oh, praise God. We are more than overcomers. We are more than overcomers. 232 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,320 I think I'm going to say that a third time just to make sure we know what we're talking about here 233 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:15,920 this morning. We are more than conquerors, more than overcomers is what the connotation is. 234 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:23,760 We can conquer, overcome everything that comes in our lives. There are times when it seems like 235 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:31,200 the problems of life become insurmountable. I can recall chapters in my life when it seemed like 236 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:37,440 there was just one problem after another. I remember on one day going into the sanctuary 237 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:43,840 of the Lord and just wanting to be in a place of talking to the Lord. That was back in the day 238 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:48,720 when we had hymnals. Do you remember what hymnals are? They were those little book-like things that 239 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:55,920 we used to sing out of. I went around the church and gathered some hymnals and I began to stack 240 00:29:55,920 --> 00:30:01,600 them up right in the middle of the altar. I said, Lord, this hymnal represents this problem 241 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:07,760 and this hymnal represents this situation and this hymnal represents this family and this hymnal 242 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:14,000 represents what's going on over here. It was becoming a pretty large stack. I just stood there 243 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:20,400 and I said, God, you're either going to help me to step over all of these problems. You're either 244 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:26,240 going to help me to go around all of these problems or you're supernaturally going to remove 245 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:33,840 these problems from my life. Praise God. But God, whatever you do, I'm standing here today strong 246 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:41,680 in the Lord and in the power of your might. Praise God. Because your grace is sufficient, 247 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:50,480 the power of God will strengthen me to be a conqueror. Oh, praise God. Oh, Holy Spirit, 248 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:56,880 help someone to conquer right now. In the name of Jesus, I pray that the Holy Spirit 249 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:03,360 would release some overcoming anointing in this congregation. Come on, saints, begin to intercede 250 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,600 with me. Somebody here today, you've been struggling with something. There's been a 251 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:12,640 problem there. You've been wondering when is it going to go away. I'm telling you this morning 252 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:20,560 that God will help you to overcome that problem today. Oh, let's lift up both hands and thank God 253 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:26,640 for a release of his anointing in this sanctuary this morning. Somebody, you're being liberated 254 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:33,360 right now. Just begin to praise God out loud, church. Somebody's finding new victory here this 255 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:40,560 morning. Oh, I feel it, Holy Spirit, that you're doing something great for us. Praise God. 256 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:50,640 Hallelujah. Praise God. Several years ago, many years ago now, Violet and I and our family, 257 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:56,400 we were in a seven-year church plant situation outside of Richmond, Virginia. We'd been asked 258 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:02,800 to go to this fast-growing suburb and plant a new church. It was a challenging situation 259 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:08,160 for many reasons. I'll not go into all those details, but there was a mission to go to this 260 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:12,880 place. I'll not go into all those details, but there was a missionary couple, Sam and Lydia Selick, 261 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:20,560 who lived about 75 miles. Sam Selick had been Violet's former pastor, and they said 262 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:26,480 to us, we're going to join your church. We'll only be able to come once a month, 263 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,760 but we want to join. We want to put our tie there. We want to help you plant this church. 264 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:37,520 So once a month, Brother Sam Selick, an 80-year-old former missionary, he would come, 265 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:42,720 and the first thing he would say to me is, are you in the Mollegrubs? That was his catch phrase. 266 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:47,760 He would say, I don't want you to be down or discouraged, and he would pray. And I thank God 267 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:52,880 that there are people around us that can help us to stay strong in our faith. Hallelujah. 268 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:58,800 Such a blessed couple they were to us. One day, Sister Selick sent me a personal letter. 269 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:04,960 She had typed it out on an old Royal or an Underwood typewriter. I mean, it was fresh 270 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:14,080 off of an old typewriter, and she was just so generous in her spirit to me. And she called me 271 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:20,240 by name, and she said, the Lord brought you to my mind today. And she typed out on that piece of 272 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:28,000 paper several verses of scripture. She said, Milton, every morning when you wake up, I want 273 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:35,600 you to declare these verses of scripture. And I started doing it. I followed her advice. She said, 274 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:45,040 every day that you wake up, confess openly, declare Psalm 118 verse 24. You know this verse. 275 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:54,080 This is the day that the Lord hath made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. I have decided 276 00:33:54,080 --> 00:34:01,200 that because the Lord is my portion, I can wake up every day and say, today is going to be a blessed 277 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:07,360 day. Today is going to be a day of favor. Today is going to be another day of the Lord. I don't 278 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:14,080 have to be pushed down or pushed back. The Lord is my strength. The Lord is before me, behind me, 279 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:22,000 and all around me. This is the day the Lord hath made, and I will rejoice. We will rejoice and be 280 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:28,320 glad in it. Could I tell you this morning, before you even opened your eyes this morning, before you 281 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:35,920 even had any thoughts of today, God had already put in motion a plan to take care of you and a 282 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:44,160 plan to bless you and a plan to help you in whatever you face. The Lord is our portion. 283 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:51,120 Praise God, and I'm going to rejoice in that. Sister Selig said, Milton, I want you to pray. 284 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:56,800 I want you to declare. I want you to acknowledge. I want you to confess the words of Deuteronomy 285 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:07,840 chapter 33, 25, as my days are so shall my strength be. Hallelujah. She said, every day, wake up and 286 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:16,080 declare that as my day is, God is going to be my strength. I believe it would revolutionize this 287 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:22,880 church, this community, this nation, if we would begin to look to the Lord as the strength of our 288 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:32,640 lives every day. Hallelujah. She said, Milton, declare every day, Psalm 27, the Lord is the 289 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:41,520 strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? She's been gone for over 35 years. I preached her 290 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:47,200 funeral a number of years ago. There are some days when I can get up and I can see little old frail 291 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:53,760 Sister Selig walking with her cane pointing her little finger at me and saying, Milton Carter, 292 00:35:53,760 --> 00:36:00,080 don't you forget what I told you. Don't you be afraid of anything today. Don't you fear 293 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:09,520 don't you walk in fear. Don't you feel intimidated. Don't you feel pushed back because God is your 294 00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:21,120 strength. I declare today that that's my portion. Oh, praise God. She said, declare every day the 295 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:27,760 words of Psalm 91 verse 10, and I've been doing it for many years. No evil shall befall me. 296 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:40,400 Neither shall any plague come near my dwelling. Praise God. Father, I just pray for a hedge of 297 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:46,480 protection. Come on church. I pray for a hedge of protection around this body this morning, 298 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:54,000 over your life, over your marriage, over your children, over your grandchildren. I pray for a 299 00:36:54,000 --> 00:37:01,040 hedge of a Holy Ghost protection round about you this morning. Would you give him a clap 300 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:12,560 offering this morning? Praise God. Hallelujah. I won't give you every declaration that Sister 301 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:22,560 Selig gave me, but she said every day, quote, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 14, for he always 302 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:30,160 makes me to triumph. Hallelujah. Oh, praise God. I may not look like much to you. It doesn't matter 303 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:36,480 to me about those kinds of things, but I do know what God thinks about me this morning. God is in 304 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:44,000 me. God dwells in me. God lives in me. Praise God. God has given me promises after promise. Praise 305 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:50,320 God. He anoints us with the Holy Spirit that we would not be weak, but we would be strong and that 306 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:57,200 we would triumph over every trial, that we would make it through every temptation. He causes us to 307 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:10,720 triumph. Praise God. Oh, hallelujah. Praise God. She quoted in that letter, 2 Timothy chapter 4, 308 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:16,800 for he hath delivered me. I love this one. She said Milton every day, confess this, 309 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:27,840 for he hath delivered me and yet shall he deliver me and preserve me unto his eternal heavenly home. 310 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:34,480 Hallelujah. That is a futuristic verse. Not only has he delivered me in the past, 311 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:42,000 but he yet will deliver me. Thank God. Oh, I want to tell every demon of hell that's camped around 312 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:49,040 us this morning that you are defeated. You are no more powerful in our lives. I want to tell you 313 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:56,240 that before you even knock on my mind, before you even knock on my door, God says I've already been 314 00:38:56,240 --> 00:39:04,400 delivered from you. If I would trust in the person of Jesus Christ, he will, he will deliver me. 315 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:16,560 Hallelujah. Oh, praise God. Lastly, this morning, the Lord is our portion and God will always be 316 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:30,800 enough. Praise God. I want you to praise God for that this morning. Praise God. God said, Levi, 317 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:42,560 I am your portion and I will always be enough. There will not be any shortages. The shelves are 318 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:52,080 not going to run bare because I am your portion. Praise God. Our God is more than enough this 319 00:39:52,080 --> 00:40:01,120 morning. He is our comforter. He is our healer, our provider, our redeemer. He's more than enough. 320 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:08,400 Praise God. He is our heavenly father, our friend. He is our advocate. He comes alongside of us in 321 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:15,920 the person of the Holy Spirit. Oh, praise God. He's always at our side. He's always in our heart. 322 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:22,720 He's more than enough. Oh, come on, church. I said God is more than enough. He's more than enough. 323 00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:30,160 I don't have to look to any other source because the Lord is my portion. He's always going to be 324 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:36,080 my helper. He's always going to be my counselor. He's always going to be my guide, my teacher. 325 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:46,160 He's more than enough. Hallelujah. Oh, praise God. Praise God. Would you stand with me this morning? 326 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:55,760 Praise God. The Lord is your portion today. I'm asking the Holy Spirit. I've been asking him for 327 00:40:55,760 --> 00:41:04,560 a few days now. Holy Spirit, touch the congregation on Sunday morning and let 50, 60, 70 people 328 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:09,680 walk out of that sanctuary saying the Lord is my portion. Will you do that this morning? 329 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:16,720 Would you just begin to let the Holy Spirit seal in your spirit to declare that the Lord 330 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:26,480 is your portion? Oh, praise God. Praise God. About 25 years ago, I was pastoring out in 331 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:31,680 Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I have firsthand knowledge of what I'm going to tell you. 332 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:37,680 In not too far, about five hours north of Albuquerque in Colorado Springs, there was a great 333 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:46,000 prayer meeting. It was called a prayer summit. Worldwide Pentecostal Charismatic Leaders 334 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:52,400 converged together at Life Church in Colorado Springs. They didn't have an agenda. They did 335 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:59,840 not have special speakers or breakout sessions. The invitation was, if you want to be a part of 336 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:06,160 the church, the invitation was, if you want to come and pray for the future of the church 337 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:11,120 around the world, that's what this prayer meeting is all about. It was such a glorious thing 338 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:19,360 for people to come together for the single-minded purpose of praying for a great outpouring of the 339 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:26,720 Holy Spirit in the last days. They were literally praying as we came up on the anniversary of the 340 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:35,680 Pentecostal outpouring. They were literally praying that God would pour out another Pentecostal revival 341 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:44,240 upon the church in America and on the continents of the world. In that prayer gathering, there was a 342 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:54,400 word of prophecy spoken. I'm so encouraged by this. The word was, God said, I am 343 00:42:54,400 --> 00:43:00,960 going to send a revival in the last days. Can anybody praise God for that? Hear me again. God 344 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:10,400 said, I am going to send a revival. I am going to send a revival in the last days. There's going to 345 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:17,520 be a renewing of the body of Christ. But the prophecy said it will not come as previous 346 00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:25,120 revivals. It will not be as you've known before. God was saying, I'm going to raise up 347 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:32,640 regional churches all over the land. And regional churches are going to be a place that are going to 348 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:40,800 preach the gospel and worship me. And I'm going to use those churches to be places of revival that 349 00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:46,800 will spread throughout their communities. It was just a short time after that when the great 350 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:53,680 Pensacola, Florida revival broke out at the Assemblies of God. Thousands and thousands of 351 00:43:53,680 --> 00:44:00,160 people, I believe it was a confirmation over that word of prophecy. It was not long after that in 352 00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:05,120 Columbia, Missouri. There was a way out in the sticks. There was a revival that broke out that 353 00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:11,840 went on for a year and other places like after other places. When I heard that, I began to say, 354 00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:17,920 God, I want one of those churches to be the church that I'm a member of. I've pastored two 355 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:24,320 churches since I heard that prophecy. And I went to both churches with the vision, God, I want this 356 00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:31,360 place to be a place of spiritual renewal, a spiritual revival. God, I want you to do what you 357 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:37,920 said you were going to do right here because you're my portion. Praise God. I tell you this morning, 358 00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:43,920 church, I come before you with this on my heart. I really want the Hopewell Church of God. I said, 359 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:51,360 I want the Hopewell Church of God. I pray that the Hopewell Church of God, I pray that the Holy 360 00:44:51,360 --> 00:45:00,160 Spirit would begin to stir us and speak to us this morning and say, we want this church 361 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:07,760 to be a part of the end time revival before the rapture of the church. I believe we've been on the 362 00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:14,560 verge of it time after time, Sunday after Sunday. Praise God. If you believe he can do that for us, 363 00:45:14,560 --> 00:45:19,040 would you lift up both hands as if you were going to touch the clouds? Would you begin to pray, 364 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:24,640 God, you're my portion? And I believe that you can start a revival right here with me. I believe 365 00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:30,960 this congregation could be one of your revival churches in the last days. Father, we believe it. 366 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:38,400 We accept it, Lord, as a divine plan that you want to do in our lives. We thank you for doing 367 00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:55,200 that today. Praise God. Give him a clap offering this morning. Praise God.