WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.560 Something happens when you deny yourself and 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:04.480 you take up your cross and follow him. Follow 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:07.960 me. You know, the key of fasting is that you're 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:10.560 denying yourself. You're saying no to your flesh. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:13.580 And when you can say no to your flesh, it gives 00:00:13.580 --> 00:00:16.960 your spirit an opportunity to rule. Yeah, that's 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.899 good. And when your spirit is being ruled in 00:00:19.899 --> 00:00:23.859 coordination with the Holy Spirit, you become 00:00:23.859 --> 00:00:36.030 a contender in the spirit realm. God promises 00:00:36.030 --> 00:00:39.850 in Joel 2 .28 to pour out His Spirit on all humanity. 00:00:40.810 --> 00:00:43.369 Welcome to Global Outpouring, where we contend 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:46.310 for that promise outpouring, we equip for that 00:00:46.310 --> 00:00:49.390 outpouring so that we may engage in that very 00:00:49.390 --> 00:00:52.450 outpouring. I'm Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss. 00:00:52.469 --> 00:00:55.869 Welcome to the podcast today. We are going to 00:00:55.869 --> 00:01:00.030 talk about strategies, strategies for helping 00:01:00.030 --> 00:01:04.109 you to overcome, for helping us to overcome and 00:01:04.109 --> 00:01:08.920 defeat our enemies. We have... enemies, don't 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:11.359 we? We sure do. And sometimes it's our own flesh. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:13.780 But we're going to talk about some strategies, 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:15.739 and this is part one. I believe we're going to 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:19.379 dig deeply into this subject over the next few 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:23.060 podcasts and look forward to equipping you and 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:27.319 helping you to grow in the things of God and 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:29.879 to prepare you for the outpouring of the Holy 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:33.859 Spirit in your life as you encounter others who 00:01:33.859 --> 00:01:42.170 are ready to receive it. Thank you so much for 00:01:42.170 --> 00:01:44.310 joining us today. We want to encourage you if 00:01:44.310 --> 00:01:46.370 you haven't already done so to go to our website, 00:01:46.590 --> 00:01:49.750 globaloutpouring .net. Make sure that you have 00:01:49.750 --> 00:01:53.349 hit that teal subscribe button and subscribe 00:01:53.349 --> 00:01:56.170 to our email list so that we can stay in touch 00:01:56.170 --> 00:01:59.420 with you. And there's a feedback form there that 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:01.519 you can fill out. And I just want to give a shout 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:04.659 out to the people that have been sending us feedback. 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:08.879 We just really, really appreciate it. And I'm 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:10.939 going to read off a list of people that have 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:14.379 written to us in the last so many months. And 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:16.659 I just want to say thank you to each and every 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:19.219 one of you. And Camille, thank you for that gift 00:02:19.219 --> 00:02:22.560 that you sent to us. And in case you're interested, 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:25.180 I really don't like talking about money, but 00:02:25.180 --> 00:02:28.349 you can go to our website. There's also a button 00:02:28.349 --> 00:02:31.210 there to give, and you can set up a recurring 00:02:31.210 --> 00:02:33.669 gift if you feel led by the Holy Spirit. And 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:36.129 there's a place there that you can click on to 00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:39.169 designate it to support the podcast. And we would 00:02:39.169 --> 00:02:42.870 just be so grateful. But integrity is a big thing 00:02:42.870 --> 00:02:47.229 to us. And, you know, money is so often, how 00:02:47.229 --> 00:02:50.169 shall I say it? I don't think I even need to 00:02:50.169 --> 00:02:52.569 say it because I think you understand. I just 00:02:52.569 --> 00:02:54.669 hate talking about money because it's been so 00:02:54.669 --> 00:02:56.889 abused, you know, the way people can handle it. 00:02:56.949 --> 00:02:59.870 But we want to say thank you to Camille for the 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:02.650 gift that she sent and for all of the feedback 00:03:02.650 --> 00:03:05.490 that we've received from Von Seal and Rosalind 00:03:05.490 --> 00:03:07.789 and Veronica and Julie and Ellen and Cheryl, 00:03:07.969 --> 00:03:13.030 Tommy, Wes, Beverly, Raphael, Mindy, Anner, Llewellyn, 00:03:13.129 --> 00:03:19.599 Sarah. sandra carol jose esther arif janice joyce 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:23.610 samson daniel penny Barbara, Jenny, Katie, Hope, 00:03:23.789 --> 00:03:27.289 Lucas, Janet, Peter and Sandy, Annie, Cecile, 00:03:27.490 --> 00:03:30.189 David, Jesse. And if I didn't read off your name, 00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:33.009 I'm sorry. But I just want to say thank you. 00:03:33.050 --> 00:03:35.930 Thank you. It's so encouraging when we get some 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:38.569 kind of feedback from people letting us know 00:03:38.569 --> 00:03:42.129 that what we're doing is a value to you, that 00:03:42.129 --> 00:03:44.490 you're growing in God as a result of this podcast. 00:03:44.889 --> 00:03:50.930 So let's talk about defeating our enemy. That's 00:03:50.930 --> 00:03:53.870 vital in these days. Yes. These are difficult 00:03:53.870 --> 00:03:57.610 days. And it's not getting any easier as far 00:03:57.610 --> 00:03:59.949 as the pressure of the darkness coming down on 00:03:59.949 --> 00:04:03.530 us. But that is a result of the pressure that's 00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:07.099 coming down on darkness from the glory. Hallelujah. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:09.620 It's like the heavens are dropping. Right. The 00:04:09.620 --> 00:04:12.639 heavens are pressuring the darkness. And so the 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:14.900 darkness, it's kind of like they're screaming 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:18.740 and running and trying their very worst, shall 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:21.620 I say. It's like they're doing their Battle of 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:24.060 the Bulge. Yeah. That was Germany's last big 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:28.949 offensive against the Allied armies. And that's 00:04:28.949 --> 00:04:30.750 kind of what the kingdom of darkness is doing. 00:04:30.750 --> 00:04:33.069 Because they know their time is short. They are 00:04:33.069 --> 00:04:37.110 almost out of time and they're desperate. And 00:04:37.110 --> 00:04:40.509 they're wicked. And they rule with fear. So if 00:04:40.509 --> 00:04:43.810 you're finding yourself to have fear, now is 00:04:43.810 --> 00:04:45.829 the time. We're going to talk about overcoming 00:04:45.829 --> 00:04:49.189 these things. So the thing that I've been meditating 00:04:49.189 --> 00:04:53.839 on recently. is out of John chapter 20, where 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:58.300 Jesus has just resurrected and has appeared to 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:01.180 Mary Magdalene, and they've gone to run to the 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:04.279 tomb and found it empty. She thinks he's the 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:07.600 gardener and has this encounter with Jesus. And 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:12.060 then in the evening, the disciples are locked 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:17.439 in a room, and they are scared. And all of a 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:21.949 sudden, Jesus appears. And he says, shalom. Shalom. 00:05:22.889 --> 00:05:28.490 Peace. Peace. Okay. Now, they are probably, well, 00:05:28.490 --> 00:05:30.750 just put yourself in that position. How would 00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:34.410 you feel if someone that you thought was dead 00:05:34.410 --> 00:05:37.850 suddenly appears in the room with you? What would 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:40.790 that do to you? Yeah, if you've never seen it 00:05:40.790 --> 00:05:42.970 before, never heard of it before. Right. See, 00:05:43.050 --> 00:05:45.170 we know through scriptures these things happen. 00:05:45.290 --> 00:05:50.319 But if somebody walks through a wall. I don't 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:51.800 think he even needed to walk through a wall. 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:55.000 I think he just materialized. He was there. That's 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.639 a good word, yeah. It's just, wow. But wouldn't 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.560 you be overwhelmingly shocked? Yeah, especially 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:05.600 if you don't know if it was really Jesus. Well, 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:08.560 who else would it be? And of course, then he 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.040 said, do you have anything to eat? Oh, that's 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:11.699 a different scripture. And they gave him a piece 00:06:11.699 --> 00:06:15.410 of bread and a piece of honeycomb. Yep. Because 00:06:15.410 --> 00:06:17.829 ghosts don't eat. So he sits in front and says, 00:06:18.029 --> 00:06:21.189 you know, a spirit can't do this. Right, right. 00:06:21.449 --> 00:06:24.389 So that's a parallel passage that's telling the 00:06:24.389 --> 00:06:28.769 same story. So he says shalom. That is the greeting 00:06:28.769 --> 00:06:35.790 that is peace. Peace. Peace to you. Like, stop 00:06:35.790 --> 00:06:40.490 shaking. Stop your trembling. Stop your fear. 00:06:40.689 --> 00:06:44.310 And then in this passage, he shows his hands 00:06:44.310 --> 00:06:47.730 and his side so that they can see that it's truly 00:06:47.730 --> 00:06:50.970 him. Of course, Thomas wasn't there, so that's 00:06:50.970 --> 00:06:54.689 another story. But in verse 21, he says to them 00:06:54.689 --> 00:07:01.129 again, shalom. So the first thing that we need 00:07:01.129 --> 00:07:06.410 when we are going to contend with our enemy, 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:09.279 The first thing we need is for Jesus to show 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:13.360 up. Yes. Because he said to them before he was 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.839 crucified, he talked to them about abiding in 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:19.800 him. He talked to them about the Holy Spirit 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.639 coming. He talked to them about, you know, lots 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:26.220 of things that were about to happen. But he said, 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:27.639 I can't tell you everything because you're not 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:32.420 ready for it. So now he's starting to download 00:07:32.420 --> 00:07:35.810 to them more. So the first thing that he says 00:07:35.810 --> 00:07:37.990 to them is peace. And then the second thing he 00:07:37.990 --> 00:07:39.709 says to them is peace. So the first thing that 00:07:39.709 --> 00:07:42.670 we need is for him to show up. Yes. And he said, 00:07:43.629 --> 00:07:47.370 without me, you can do nothing. Before he left. 00:07:47.889 --> 00:07:49.990 Without me, you can do nothing. And you've got 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:52.449 to abide in the vine. I'm the vine. You're the 00:07:52.449 --> 00:07:56.230 branches. You need me. Yeah. To keep your fruit 00:07:56.230 --> 00:07:59.490 growing, you have to be attached. So the first 00:07:59.490 --> 00:08:02.870 thing that we have to be aware of as we're... 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:06.500 about to address our enemy, the first thing we 00:08:06.500 --> 00:08:10.420 have to do is be rightly related to Jesus, that 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:14.339 he's showed up for us. And he has. I mean, come 00:08:14.339 --> 00:08:16.439 on, if you've asked him to live in your heart, 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:20.339 guess where he lives? He lives in your heart. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.339 He lives in you. And if his spirit has come in 00:08:24.339 --> 00:08:27.519 you, Paul talks about our spirit becoming one 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:30.970 with his spirit. And we'll go into that in another 00:08:30.970 --> 00:08:34.669 podcast. I'm feeling, I'm really meditating on 00:08:34.669 --> 00:08:39.230 that subject, that every part of you is touched 00:08:39.230 --> 00:08:41.970 by the Holy Spirit. We just have to let him have 00:08:41.970 --> 00:08:44.169 his way. It's kind of like a cow, you know, it's 00:08:44.169 --> 00:08:46.570 in your first stomach. You're just chewing on 00:08:46.570 --> 00:08:49.889 it. It's got to come back around again. Well, 00:08:49.889 --> 00:08:53.350 that's good, Philip. That's good. So the first 00:08:53.350 --> 00:08:55.450 thing is he's got to show up. And the second 00:08:55.450 --> 00:08:59.629 thing is you have to get his peace. He speaks 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:02.789 peace over you. And that is a constant. It is 00:09:02.789 --> 00:09:07.950 there for you 24 -7. The Aaronic blessing, Yehovah 00:09:07.950 --> 00:09:13.210 bless you and keep you. Yehovah make his face 00:09:13.210 --> 00:09:16.110 to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Yehovah 00:09:16.110 --> 00:09:19.210 lift up his countenance upon you and give you 00:09:19.210 --> 00:09:23.990 shalom. Okay. There's nothing broken, nothing 00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:28.419 missing, and everything is paid in full. That's 00:09:28.419 --> 00:09:31.080 what Jesus is saying to them when he says shalom. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:35.980 It's an all -encompassing thing to bring you 00:09:35.980 --> 00:09:39.759 into a bubble of peace. So before you go dealing 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:42.519 with your enemy, you can't be afraid of your 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:45.970 enemy. You cannot fear your enemy. If you have 00:09:45.970 --> 00:09:48.950 fear, just remember when the children of Israel 00:09:48.950 --> 00:09:51.110 were sent out to battle, right? They've gathered 00:09:51.110 --> 00:09:54.590 all of the soldiers together. Everybody, every 00:09:54.590 --> 00:09:57.110 able -bodied man is out there with whatever kind 00:09:57.110 --> 00:10:00.029 of weapon he has. And the first thing that they 00:10:00.029 --> 00:10:02.889 say to them when they gather them together is, 00:10:02.990 --> 00:10:05.450 okay, if you're afraid, go home. Go home, yeah. 00:10:05.669 --> 00:10:09.179 Get in. Yeah. And that's in the law. That's the 00:10:09.179 --> 00:10:11.259 first thing that they're supposed to do is send 00:10:11.259 --> 00:10:15.659 the fearful ones home because fear is contagious. 00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:21.340 Yeah. And so is faith. So when we're rightly 00:10:21.340 --> 00:10:26.460 relating to Jesus and we have his peace, we will 00:10:26.460 --> 00:10:29.960 have no fear. So we cannot be afraid of our enemy. 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:34.000 Absolutely must not be afraid of him. Whoever 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.120 that is, whatever that is. And sometimes it's 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:39.480 their own flesh. Sometimes the thing we're contending 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:41.080 with is their own flesh. We'll get into that 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:43.740 some more in a while. So the next thing that 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:48.220 he says to them is, as my father has sent me, 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:54.159 even so, send I you. Yeah. You know, just as 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.379 an aside, when I was a little girl, I think I 00:10:57.379 --> 00:11:01.159 was in third grade, our children's choir sang, 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:06.710 so send I you. And it got me. I was ready to 00:11:06.710 --> 00:11:09.809 follow Jesus from then on. You know, I was just 00:11:09.809 --> 00:11:14.269 out of a whim just a few nights ago looking through 00:11:14.269 --> 00:11:17.049 the yearbooks that was called the Aurora. It 00:11:17.049 --> 00:11:19.610 was from the Olivet Nazarene College when it 00:11:19.610 --> 00:11:21.889 was in Olivet, Illinois. That's a long time ago. 00:11:21.990 --> 00:11:26.250 A long time ago. And this is 1914. Whoa, 1914. 00:11:26.590 --> 00:11:30.519 1914. Up to 1921, I have some of the yearbooks. 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:34.240 And I'm looking at this one page, and it's a 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:37.539 memorial to one of their missionaries, Susan 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:39.740 of the 30s, that laid down her life in Africa. 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:44.080 Wow. And I looked in a few more pages, and here 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:47.279 were just pages of Bible groups. And like in 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.659 one picture, confirmed China, going to China. 00:11:50.779 --> 00:11:53.740 Wow. And others are training. And then on another 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:58.730 page, confirmed India. Wow. Big mission programs. 00:11:58.850 --> 00:12:02.049 And this was a liberal arts college, but it was 00:12:02.049 --> 00:12:04.730 also like a Bible school. Absolutely. And that's 00:12:04.730 --> 00:12:07.549 how the Nazarenes were over hundreds some years 00:12:07.549 --> 00:12:11.129 ago. Missions was one of their key things. Yeah. 00:12:11.230 --> 00:12:13.769 I remember that. And they caught a hold of it 00:12:13.769 --> 00:12:15.149 because they didn't have all the distractions. 00:12:15.629 --> 00:12:17.870 Right. They took the Word of God literally. Absolutely. 00:12:17.870 --> 00:12:21.190 So send I you. Yeah. But you also have to go 00:12:21.190 --> 00:12:24.669 prepared. Exactly. And this was the Nazarene 00:12:24.669 --> 00:12:27.289 Bible School, and I'm sure a lot of the other 00:12:27.289 --> 00:12:31.610 early colleges were the same way. They sent missionaries. 00:12:31.610 --> 00:12:34.429 Sent, sent. And the stories that people would 00:12:34.429 --> 00:12:37.129 give because of, I mean, missionaries coming 00:12:37.129 --> 00:12:40.389 from America. My parents got saved. My grandfather 00:12:40.389 --> 00:12:43.009 got saved. Yeah, and your grandfather taught 00:12:43.009 --> 00:12:47.230 there. Yes, yeah. So it's just amazing, you know, 00:12:47.230 --> 00:12:50.210 the seed planted, how it grows. Absolutely. Because 00:12:50.210 --> 00:12:53.029 the Holy Spirit waters it. Right. The idea is 00:12:53.029 --> 00:12:57.809 that Jesus was sent and he's sending us as well. 00:12:57.889 --> 00:13:01.210 Yes. Now, I find it very interesting that the 00:13:01.210 --> 00:13:05.070 Greek words for sent and sent are two different 00:13:05.070 --> 00:13:07.529 words, two different root words. Okay. Which 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:09.230 surprised me. I thought it would be the same 00:13:09.230 --> 00:13:12.250 word. But the one where it says, as my father 00:13:12.250 --> 00:13:17.620 has sent me. is the word apostello. So in other 00:13:17.620 --> 00:13:20.919 words, apostle. Apostle. Right? And it's interesting. 00:13:21.100 --> 00:13:25.860 It means to order to go to a place. To order 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:29.440 to. So Father sent Jesus. He ordered him to go. 00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:33.379 But it also means to send away, to dismiss. So 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:36.419 it's kind of like, could it be? Could it be? 00:13:37.179 --> 00:13:40.220 That just like Jesus is saying, Father, can I 00:13:40.220 --> 00:13:42.539 go get my bride? Father, can I go get my bride? 00:13:42.620 --> 00:13:45.320 And he's saying, well, she's not ready yet. Could 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:49.840 it be that he was also wanting to go the first 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:53.980 time and finally the father dismissed him and 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:56.899 sent him away? I don't know. It was just a thought. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:02.690 But the other word for even so send I you. is 00:14:02.690 --> 00:14:06.850 the word pempo, and it means to thrust or insert, 00:14:07.190 --> 00:14:11.870 dispatch, to transmit. So recently I was talking 00:14:11.870 --> 00:14:15.909 with someone who was referring to how God's people 00:14:15.909 --> 00:14:19.830 get inserted into circumstances, into certain 00:14:19.830 --> 00:14:22.970 positions, into certain things that are going 00:14:22.970 --> 00:14:27.340 on, and they get inserted into that. And I just 00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:29.259 thought that was really interesting that now 00:14:29.259 --> 00:14:32.740 I'm seeing this word, so send I you, is, okay, 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:35.299 I'm going to insert you into this place. And 00:14:35.299 --> 00:14:39.820 I'm going to use you in this place. So Jesus 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:43.139 is giving a commission here already. Even before 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:46.440 he gives the great commission, he is giving them 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:50.679 an idea that, okay, Father sent me, now it's 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:56.090 your turn. Coming up. But then he said, Receive 00:14:56.090 --> 00:14:59.230 the Holy Spirit. And he breathed on them. Yes. 00:14:59.250 --> 00:15:02.769 And this is before Book of Acts. Yes. So it doesn't 00:15:02.769 --> 00:15:05.389 say anything happened. Right. But he breathed 00:15:05.389 --> 00:15:07.990 on them. He breathed on them. And that's the 00:15:07.990 --> 00:15:12.070 critical part because the word breathe or breath, 00:15:12.149 --> 00:15:16.490 the word breath and the word spirit are the same 00:15:16.490 --> 00:15:21.080 word in Greek. It's pneuma. Wind and spirit and 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:24.639 breath are all the same word. So he breathed 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.159 on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. So 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.179 when we're about to contend, you know, here's 00:15:31.179 --> 00:15:34.659 these steps. You've got to have Jesus show up. 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:37.980 You've got to get peace from him. And you've 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:40.559 got to let him send you. Don't go without him 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.440 sending you. It's critical. It's critical. And 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:48.279 you've got to do it with him. It's a tandem thing. 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:50.940 It's a cooperating thing. It's a co -laboring 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:54.059 thing that we work with him. Can I interject 00:15:54.059 --> 00:15:56.820 something? Please do. Some years back, it was 00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:59.120 a missionary who went to India, and the Lord 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:01.460 spoke to him to go home. Oh, yes. I remember 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:03.860 that story. And he didn't go home like he was 00:16:03.860 --> 00:16:06.620 supposed to. And finally, when he did go home, 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.440 things were just going wrong. And someone had 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:12.639 taken a picture of him right when he got back. 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:16.269 And we saw the picture. And this is days before 00:16:16.269 --> 00:16:18.570 you can play around with stuff like on AI or 00:16:18.570 --> 00:16:21.210 anything like that. And it showed this demon 00:16:21.210 --> 00:16:24.389 right behind him that followed him back. You 00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:27.629 can go in God's timing, but you also have to 00:16:27.629 --> 00:16:30.590 go home in his timing. Absolutely. Because he 00:16:30.590 --> 00:16:34.470 was disobedient and gave a legal right for this 00:16:34.470 --> 00:16:36.809 thing to follow him. Exactly. And he was just 00:16:36.809 --> 00:16:39.389 having problems after that. True. It's one thing 00:16:39.389 --> 00:16:42.799 to go to, but you have to stay. Yes. Stay connected. 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:46.159 Stay connected, yeah. And stay obedient. So as 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:49.299 he sent you, he inserts you into this place, 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:51.200 and then he takes you back out when your work 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.360 is done. For any of you going on mission trips, 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.340 especially if it's like two weeks or more, a 00:16:56.340 --> 00:16:58.799 lot of times you're getting toward the end of 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:00.940 the trip, maybe like three days before you go 00:17:00.940 --> 00:17:03.519 home or something. Yeah. And your mind starts. 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:07.119 going on thinking about going home and you can 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:09.259 end up losing your focus fairly easy because 00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:12.680 now you're changing your focus for going home 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:16.299 and you still got work to do. It's true. So word 00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:19.619 to the wise. It's true. It's true. So the next 00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:24.460 thing that Jesus says is, whosoever sins you 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:28.259 forgive, they're forgiven. And whosoever sins 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:33.890 you hold on to, they are held on to. I think 00:17:33.890 --> 00:17:36.950 we talked about that recently. So I don't want 00:17:36.950 --> 00:17:39.390 to go into that too much. But these are steps 00:17:39.390 --> 00:17:43.450 that have to do with your preparation for contending, 00:17:43.509 --> 00:17:47.430 for overcoming, for destroying the power of the 00:17:47.430 --> 00:17:51.349 enemy over your life. So, like I said earlier, 00:17:51.650 --> 00:17:54.069 sometimes your enemy is your own flesh or is 00:17:54.069 --> 00:17:57.009 operating in your own flesh. And there are things 00:17:57.009 --> 00:18:01.009 that you can do to help to conquer your flesh. 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:04.900 Like fasting. Fasting is one, yeah. Yeah. Talk 00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:06.859 to us about fasting, Philip. Yeah. Because when 00:18:06.859 --> 00:18:09.500 you look at fasting through the Bible, you know, 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:13.019 even Moses fasted 40 days. He went up into the 00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:15.539 mount. Yes. So he's up into the glory. I mean, 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:17.940 he's on Mount Sinai. You know, it's when the 00:18:17.940 --> 00:18:19.779 giving of the law and there's thunder, there's 00:18:19.779 --> 00:18:23.000 lightning. Yeah. And there's smoke. Yeah. You 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:25.220 know, but do you know what happened? The people 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:28.329 got used to it. Well, where's this man Moses 00:18:28.329 --> 00:18:30.849 that didn't come down? And that's when that golden 00:18:30.849 --> 00:18:33.930 calf got created. While Moses is getting download 00:18:33.930 --> 00:18:37.049 for them, they start to party and they get into 00:18:37.049 --> 00:18:40.029 big trouble. So that's some of the first fasting 00:18:40.029 --> 00:18:43.769 we hear is Moses. Up in the mount, he's up in 00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:46.509 the glory of God. And of course, it's through 00:18:46.509 --> 00:18:49.789 the Old Testament. You can find your fasting 00:18:49.789 --> 00:18:52.839 there too. You know, fasting gives you authority. 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.619 And I'm going to jump to the New Testament real 00:18:55.619 --> 00:18:59.200 quick because I just found this. So Jesus takes 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.480 Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:06.559 somewhere, and he gets transfigured. We all know 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.519 this, you know, when Elijah and Moses show up, 00:19:09.579 --> 00:19:12.559 and of course the disciples are beside themselves. 00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:17.740 So they've just seen the glory of God, a taste 00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:21.910 of it. They've seen a taste of this. And so what's 00:19:21.910 --> 00:19:24.029 really interesting is, you know, we hear about 00:19:24.029 --> 00:19:26.690 this, the glory and all that. So they come down 00:19:26.690 --> 00:19:29.750 the mountain. And it's a very close window here 00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:31.490 because, you know, they come down the mountain. 00:19:31.809 --> 00:19:35.910 And then the next verse is the disciples are 00:19:35.910 --> 00:19:38.930 asking him, when was Elijah going to come back? 00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:41.670 And, you know, he says he's come already. It's 00:19:41.670 --> 00:19:43.750 John the Baptist. So he's sharing these things 00:19:43.750 --> 00:19:47.119 with the disciples. And so they understood, you 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:50.680 know, in verse 13 of Matthew 17, that he's talking 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:54.140 to them about John the Baptist. And then it goes 00:19:54.140 --> 00:19:56.220 right in, and then they come to the multitude. 00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.940 And there came a certain man kneeling down, Lord, 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.190 can you pray for my son? He's a lunatic. You 00:20:03.190 --> 00:20:05.009 know, I don't know the translation. That means 00:20:05.009 --> 00:20:07.349 that he's affected by the moon. Affected by the 00:20:07.349 --> 00:20:10.650 moon. Lunar. That's where, okay, I learned something, 00:20:10.730 --> 00:20:12.849 too, here. Probably would have figured that out. 00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:15.130 Yeah, it's true. It's true that there are people 00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:18.910 that they kind of go a little off when there's 00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:21.410 certain phases of the moon. You can even learn 00:20:21.410 --> 00:20:23.470 something during your own podcast. That's pretty 00:20:23.470 --> 00:20:27.289 good. So anyway, he brings them to the disciples, 00:20:27.470 --> 00:20:30.730 but they can't cast this thing out. You know, 00:20:30.730 --> 00:20:34.450 and then so Jesus, he rebukes the devil and parts 00:20:34.450 --> 00:20:37.529 out of him and the child was cured. And the disciples, 00:20:37.750 --> 00:20:40.150 after a while, they came up and says, well, why 00:20:40.150 --> 00:20:43.130 could we cast him out? Right. You know, and so 00:20:43.130 --> 00:20:45.849 now picture this. They just came down from the 00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:48.430 glory. I mean, like nobody's ever seen this. 00:20:48.569 --> 00:20:51.029 Right. So this is like a picture. How would you 00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:54.130 perceive this today? You can go to convention, 00:20:54.430 --> 00:20:57.250 you go to some convention somewhere, you know, 00:20:57.250 --> 00:20:59.990 get all. You can get spiritually hyped up, maybe. 00:21:00.170 --> 00:21:02.710 And there's those that they butterfly. They'll 00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:05.690 go to one convention after another. Not really 00:21:05.690 --> 00:21:09.250 always putting in practice. It's just like, I 00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:11.390 want to get more. I want to get more. But you 00:21:11.390 --> 00:21:14.700 have to chew and digest. what you have and you 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:17.259 have to apply it, but you have to apply it in 00:21:17.259 --> 00:21:20.579 relationship with Jesus, spending time with them. 00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:23.380 Absolutely. And when you spend time with them, 00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:25.500 you don't have to run to every convention under 00:21:25.500 --> 00:21:28.140 the sun. True. Because you can just hear his 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:31.279 presence on what to do. So a lot of people, they 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.680 can go to a convention and you get all this glory 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:36.440 in that, but you got none of it in yourself. 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:42.049 What happened? Yeah. So your soul got... touched, 00:21:42.049 --> 00:21:44.670 your spirit too. But if you're not walking in 00:21:44.670 --> 00:21:48.470 a place... Your spirit gets it, but it doesn't 00:21:48.470 --> 00:21:50.269 apply it to your soul. Your soul, because your 00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:53.630 soul is not prepared for what your spirit has, 00:21:53.710 --> 00:21:56.509 and your soul has dominion over your spirit. 00:21:56.869 --> 00:21:58.589 And it's supposed to be the other way around. 00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:02.859 Right. So if you're not walking circumspectly 00:22:02.859 --> 00:22:05.240 like with the Lord, you're not going to have 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:08.000 authority over things. It's just like you don't 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.700 go with something that you don't outrank. And 00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:12.460 if you don't have the blood of Jesus and you 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:15.279 don't have faith operating in you and you haven't 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.240 been sent, you can get in trouble big time. So 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:23.200 anyway, so why couldn't we cast these out? And 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:27.289 he says, because of your unbelief. Wow. Unbelief. 00:22:27.289 --> 00:22:30.089 Didn't they just see the glory? How come they 00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:32.549 have unbelief? He says, if you have faith as 00:22:32.549 --> 00:22:35.490 a grain of a mustard seed, and we've seen mustard 00:22:35.490 --> 00:22:38.029 seeds in Israel. They're so tiny. Yeah, yeah. 00:22:38.029 --> 00:22:40.109 Not like the bigger ones we have here. They're 00:22:40.109 --> 00:22:43.470 so tiny, tiny little things. If you have faith 00:22:43.470 --> 00:22:45.910 like that, you can say to this mountain, be removed, 00:22:46.109 --> 00:22:49.589 or to the circumstance, and nothing shall be 00:22:49.589 --> 00:22:52.890 impossible. But this kind comes not out but by 00:22:52.890 --> 00:22:55.849 prayer and fasting. There you go. So this is 00:22:55.849 --> 00:22:57.769 one of your first scriptures that you will find 00:22:57.769 --> 00:23:01.630 dealing fasting as your authority as a believer. 00:23:01.990 --> 00:23:04.589 Because Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness. 00:23:04.990 --> 00:23:07.609 Right. And then Satan tempted him too. Yeah. 00:23:07.670 --> 00:23:10.289 But he knew who he was. Right. So we have to 00:23:10.289 --> 00:23:12.549 know who we are. Even in a fast, the devil can 00:23:12.549 --> 00:23:14.690 come to you. Yeah. And he's going to get you 00:23:14.690 --> 00:23:17.269 to try to break your fast early. Yeah. But you 00:23:17.269 --> 00:23:19.589 counter him with the word. Counter him with the 00:23:19.589 --> 00:23:22.869 word. And even you go back to the book of Esther. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:27.579 Chapter 4, 16, Israel was taken captive. Was 00:23:27.579 --> 00:23:31.920 this the first deportation? It would have been 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:35.880 after they'd all been deported. This is after 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:39.480 the Medes and Persians have overtaken Babylon. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:43.519 You can read about that where the king of Babylon 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:46.339 took the children of Israel there. So you have 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:49.519 the book of Esther. And you have Mordecai, it 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:52.240 sits in the gate. He had favor, you know, the 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:55.759 favor of the Lord was on him. And because it 00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:00.460 was Ahasuerus, his wife did not come. When she 00:24:00.460 --> 00:24:03.380 was bitten because he was a drunken feast, she 00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:06.259 didn't come to him. She was having her own party. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:08.380 Yeah, she had her own party, didn't want to come 00:24:08.380 --> 00:24:12.210 to his. So anyway. Because of what she did, she 00:24:12.210 --> 00:24:15.049 lost her position. Right. So they're going to 00:24:15.049 --> 00:24:17.950 look for a new bride. So here comes Hadassah, 00:24:17.950 --> 00:24:20.269 this little Jewish girl. Nobody knows is Jewish. 00:24:20.849 --> 00:24:23.730 And the favor of God was on her in the time of 00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:26.789 preparation. And she's chosen. She's the queen. 00:24:27.190 --> 00:24:31.410 Right. And then Haman, who was a Gagite, who 00:24:31.410 --> 00:24:35.549 was being promoted in the ranks under King Ahasuerus. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:38.799 and even had the king's signet ring, which he 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:42.400 has a lot of authority. And he didn't like Mordecai 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:44.619 because he wouldn't bow down to him because you 00:24:44.619 --> 00:24:47.200 don't bow down to anybody. You only bow down 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.920 to the Lord God, not to an idol or any other 00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:53.759 person. Especially not an Agagite. Especially 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:57.140 that one. So anyway, Haman builds the gallows 00:24:57.140 --> 00:25:01.700 for Mordecai because he was sworn. to get rid 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:04.440 of the Jewish race. Can you tell that story real 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:07.500 quick, the one that got away? Yeah. When Saul 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:10.940 was supposed to kill all the Amalekites, King 00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:16.140 Agag was brought back with them, and Samuel had 00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:19.440 to kill him, but apparently there was some of 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:23.440 the Amalekites that didn't get destroyed. And 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:26.000 one of the reasons why God said to destroy all 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:28.440 of the Amalekites and even all of their animals, 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:30.740 you know, they saved the best of the animals 00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:33.480 for sacrifice. That's what their excuse was. 00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:37.680 But God said, get rid of everything. And we've 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:41.160 heard that the Amalekites were into such witchcraft 00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:44.480 that they were shapeshifters and the people could 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.339 turn themselves into animals. So it was important 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:53.390 to... get rid of all of this people group that 00:25:53.390 --> 00:25:56.789 was into such dark arts. And that's probably 00:25:56.789 --> 00:26:00.890 the reason why Haman, the Agagite, would be so 00:26:00.890 --> 00:26:03.769 against the Jews, because they didn't finish 00:26:03.769 --> 00:26:07.670 the job. Yeah, he's the one that got away. And 00:26:07.670 --> 00:26:10.769 his goal is to destroy the Jewish race. Right. 00:26:11.009 --> 00:26:14.509 So here's the remnant of the Jewish race, as 00:26:14.509 --> 00:26:18.839 we know it, hanging by a thread. And, you know, 00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:21.660 this gallows is built and he's got favor with 00:26:21.660 --> 00:26:24.519 the king and the decree has gone forth. The king 00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:27.160 signed it. He got tricked that all the Jews to 00:26:27.160 --> 00:26:29.339 be destroyed throughout the whole kingdom. Right. 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:32.079 And that kingdom went all the way to India. Right. 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:36.140 It was took a large area. And that's when Queen 00:26:36.140 --> 00:26:39.200 Esther got with her because her uncle says, when 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.720 they find out you're Jewish, you're going to 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:43.259 die, too. It says your life's not going to be 00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:47.529 spared. And he says, fast for me. And my maidens 00:26:47.529 --> 00:26:50.789 will fast for me. And after three days, I will 00:26:50.789 --> 00:26:54.369 go into the king unannounced. Because you don't 00:26:54.369 --> 00:26:57.230 go to the king unless he bids you. Otherwise, 00:26:57.309 --> 00:27:00.450 you can be executed. And I will present my case 00:27:00.450 --> 00:27:02.930 to the king. Right. And she did an ester fast. 00:27:03.390 --> 00:27:05.509 That's what we call an ester fast. Three days, 00:27:05.710 --> 00:27:08.710 no food, no water. You don't even swallow water. 00:27:09.540 --> 00:27:13.500 That's an extreme fast. But as a result of that, 00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:17.079 that fasting, God just orchestrated everything 00:27:17.079 --> 00:27:20.420 that happened. And in an instant, Haman got hung 00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:23.460 on his own gallows because the king saw who he 00:27:23.460 --> 00:27:27.500 really was. And that came through fasting. And 00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:32.140 even Hezekiah, in Isaiah 37, you can read the 00:27:32.140 --> 00:27:35.000 story there, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. 00:27:35.609 --> 00:27:38.230 They're going to come and they're going to, you 00:27:38.230 --> 00:27:40.630 know, they want to take everybody captive. And 00:27:40.630 --> 00:27:43.130 he spreads a letter out before the Lord and they're 00:27:43.130 --> 00:27:46.109 pleading with God. You know, the Lord, you have 00:27:46.109 --> 00:27:49.420 made all these promises. This is that. And two 00:27:49.420 --> 00:27:52.900 times that happened in Hezekiah's time. One, 00:27:53.380 --> 00:27:56.859 and they fasted, and they prayed, and God brought 00:27:56.859 --> 00:28:00.740 miracles through fasting. It's a powerful tool. 00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:03.859 And when Sennacherib gives them the terms of 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:07.460 surrender, you can go, we'll take care of you. 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:10.359 We'll bring you to a nice place of milk and honey. 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:14.099 And sure, you're going to be in chains on the 00:28:14.099 --> 00:28:16.859 way with a hook in your jaw, probably, because 00:28:16.859 --> 00:28:19.230 that's what they did back then. when they take 00:28:19.230 --> 00:28:22.630 somebody captive. But through fasting, God turned 00:28:22.630 --> 00:28:25.109 that whole thing around, fasting and prayer. 00:28:25.349 --> 00:28:27.930 Yes. That's the power and the authority that 00:28:27.930 --> 00:28:31.569 we have. And there's fasting in the New Testament, 00:28:31.609 --> 00:28:35.890 too, because even Paul says in 1 Corinthians 00:28:35.890 --> 00:28:39.509 7 -5 that you give yourself to fasting and prayer. 00:28:40.190 --> 00:28:43.730 And even in the book of Acts, here's a heathen, 00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:47.319 here's Cornelius. He's a centurion, so he's got 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:50.880 rank. This guy's got rank. He's fasting and praying 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:54.440 for God. And so what does God do? Gives him a 00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:57.720 dream of Peter coming to him and telling him 00:28:57.720 --> 00:29:02.200 what he needs to know. So here's a centurion. 00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:06.240 He's not Jewish. So anyway, he calls Peter, and 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:10.190 Peter, you know, he battles with this. But he 00:29:10.190 --> 00:29:12.849 goes and others with him. And when he's talking 00:29:12.849 --> 00:29:15.509 to him about, you know, the resurrection and 00:29:15.509 --> 00:29:17.309 all of a sudden the Holy Ghost falls on all of 00:29:17.309 --> 00:29:20.029 them, they start speaking in tongues. Amen. But 00:29:20.029 --> 00:29:23.970 he was fasting and praying before the Lord, you 00:29:23.970 --> 00:29:27.769 know, a rank heathen. Yes. And another one in 00:29:27.769 --> 00:29:30.789 times of desperation, you know, just like Hezekiah 00:29:30.789 --> 00:29:35.849 in New Testament in Acts chapter 27, 33. Yeah. 00:29:36.009 --> 00:29:40.039 Talks about Paul. He is on his way to Rome. He's 00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:42.920 on a boat, and they're in a storm. They're on 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:46.660 the 14th day of the storm. Fourteen days. Fourteen 00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:50.359 days they've been fasting. And he says, you know, 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:53.240 you've been fasting all this time, eating nothing. 00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:55.680 And he says, the Lord spoke to me, you know, 00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:58.700 that we are all going to arrive unhurt. Yeah. 00:29:58.759 --> 00:30:01.799 So here you're in a storm. You're getting tossed. 00:30:02.339 --> 00:30:06.140 Can you imagine 14 days in a storm? No. All I 00:30:06.140 --> 00:30:09.660 can figure, the storm is going with them. Yeah. 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:12.339 It's just one of these, not only, you know, like 00:30:12.339 --> 00:30:15.240 a hurricane comes and blows through so many miles 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:17.619 an hour, but if you're caught in a storm and 00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:21.140 the wind is taking you, but 14 days in a storm, 00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:23.799 you think they're all going to die. I'm thinking 00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:27.000 it was a supernatural storm. Yeah, it could be 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.140 too, because, you know, and God used Paul. The 00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:32.359 ship did get wrecked. They threw out all the 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:35.619 tackling, everything, ran it ashore, and they 00:30:35.619 --> 00:30:37.779 came down. The boat's breaking apart. They got 00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:40.380 on shore and boards and all that, and they were 00:30:40.380 --> 00:30:43.859 all safe. And there was a gathering there. The 00:30:43.859 --> 00:30:47.200 cannibals, want to call them, or the... The natives, 00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:48.839 anyway. The natives, you know. Don't know that 00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:49.819 they were cannibals. They were cannibals. They 00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:52.880 would have ate them, yeah. So they had a fire 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:55.079 and everything for them. But they were fasting 00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:58.000 out of desperation. Right. And many times we 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:00.339 go on a mission trip, we will fast before that 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:04.200 mission trip for God's protection, his timing, 00:31:04.259 --> 00:31:07.069 and all things. There's a lot of fasting. You 00:31:07.069 --> 00:31:10.289 can just look at fasting in the Bible. And we 00:31:10.289 --> 00:31:13.309 have this excellent book that our founder, Sister 00:31:13.309 --> 00:31:17.369 Gwen, wrote back in 1977, I believe, called Your 00:31:17.369 --> 00:31:20.329 Appointment with God. And it is a book on fasting. 00:31:20.730 --> 00:31:22.930 It's one of the first books that was written 00:31:22.930 --> 00:31:26.109 on this subject. There's people out there that 00:31:26.109 --> 00:31:29.950 write books on fasting, but Sister Gwen lived. 00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:33.019 She sure did. Because she was out there. And 00:31:33.019 --> 00:31:35.259 she taught us. And she was out there where the 00:31:35.259 --> 00:31:38.240 rubber hits the road. She's out where it's dangerous, 00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:42.259 not in the safe confines of the USA or other 00:31:42.259 --> 00:31:45.039 nations. She's out there in Pakistan, India. 00:31:45.980 --> 00:31:48.880 you know, Russia, places that you can get thrown 00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:52.140 in jail, you can get executed. And she has one 00:31:52.140 --> 00:31:54.680 of the most well -balanced books on fasting that 00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:56.799 you will find because it comes out. It's a Bible 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:59.400 study. It's a Bible study. After each chapter, 00:31:59.559 --> 00:32:02.619 it asks you questions. And there's nothing like 00:32:02.619 --> 00:32:05.059 a book that comes out of somebody with the experience 00:32:05.059 --> 00:32:08.160 that has put it to the test, not writing on somebody 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:10.400 else's experiences. Yeah. And you can get it 00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:13.130 on our website. Yes. Globaloutpouring .net or 00:32:13.130 --> 00:32:16.170 ORG. It's there in our store. Yeah. Your appointment 00:32:16.170 --> 00:32:19.299 with God. Yes. Very powerful. And we have it 00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:22.319 as a PDF download, especially if you're listening 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:25.220 from someplace overseas and you don't want to 00:32:25.220 --> 00:32:27.920 pay the expense of having the book shipped to 00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:30.299 you all the way there. You can download it immediately 00:32:30.299 --> 00:32:33.220 when you order it from the website. Because our 00:32:33.220 --> 00:32:36.539 founder, Sister Gwen, was a forerunner. Absolutely. 00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:39.559 The Lord would give her something and she'd write 00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:41.359 a book on it. And all of a sudden, a couple of 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.380 years later... It's the big thing going on now, 00:32:44.420 --> 00:32:46.839 and people are starting to write books about 00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:49.980 it. Yeah, it's true. And so she was a general 00:32:49.980 --> 00:32:51.880 in her own right. Absolutely. She wouldn't call 00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:55.180 herself that. No. We didn't call her that, but 00:32:55.180 --> 00:32:57.839 she really was. She certainly was. She's just 00:32:57.839 --> 00:33:00.220 one of these generals that you didn't, name wasn't 00:33:00.220 --> 00:33:03.460 always up in lights. Yeah. What does the book 00:33:03.460 --> 00:33:06.119 of Isaiah say about fasting? Yeah, actually, 00:33:06.220 --> 00:33:08.960 the first part of this chapter in Isaiah 58, 00:33:09.880 --> 00:33:11.519 You know, it's talking about those that were 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:16.000 fasting just out of habit by rote. And this is 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.319 what, you know, God was dealing with. And it 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.220 starts out, and I still remember my grandma. 00:33:21.930 --> 00:33:24.930 My Nazarene grandma in the nursing home, she 00:33:24.930 --> 00:33:27.990 would quote the Psalms, Isaiah and all that. 00:33:28.089 --> 00:33:31.450 She was 92 years old and she had the word in 00:33:31.450 --> 00:33:34.369 her. And I remember, cry aloud, spare not, lift 00:33:34.369 --> 00:33:37.170 up your voice like a trumpet, show my people 00:33:37.170 --> 00:33:39.490 their transgression and the house of Jacob their 00:33:39.490 --> 00:33:42.470 sins. Because it says here, they seek me daily 00:33:42.470 --> 00:33:45.690 to like to know my ways as a nation that did 00:33:45.690 --> 00:33:48.109 righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of 00:33:48.109 --> 00:33:51.210 the Lord. They take delight in approaching to 00:33:51.210 --> 00:33:55.150 God, but then wherefore have we fasted? You see 00:33:55.150 --> 00:33:58.309 not, we have afflicted our soul, and you're not 00:33:58.309 --> 00:34:00.789 taking knowledge of this. So they're fasting 00:34:00.789 --> 00:34:03.690 and all that, but the Lord answers, you fast 00:34:03.690 --> 00:34:06.630 for strife and debate, and you smite with the 00:34:06.630 --> 00:34:10.030 fist of wickedness. This is fasting for the wrong 00:34:10.030 --> 00:34:12.889 reason. You don't do it out of habit, which is 00:34:12.889 --> 00:34:15.590 kind of like going to church, but you don't get 00:34:15.590 --> 00:34:18.590 anything out of it. Or anything else we do. Or 00:34:18.590 --> 00:34:20.050 to make your voice to be heard on high. Make 00:34:20.050 --> 00:34:22.750 your voice to be heard on high, yeah. And so 00:34:22.750 --> 00:34:26.969 anyway, in verse 5, Is this not the fast I've 00:34:26.969 --> 00:34:30.070 chosen for a man to afflict his soul, to spread 00:34:30.070 --> 00:34:33.150 sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call 00:34:33.150 --> 00:34:36.360 this a fast and acceptable way to the Lord? Verse 00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:39.780 6, this is King James. Is not this the fast that 00:34:39.780 --> 00:34:42.360 I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, 00:34:42.420 --> 00:34:44.840 undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed 00:34:44.840 --> 00:34:49.559 go free, and that ye, you, break every yoke? 00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:52.119 Yes. You know, so there's power. That's what 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:54.880 God will do. Break every chain. This is what 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:58.420 happens in fasting. In verse 8, then shall your 00:34:58.420 --> 00:35:00.780 light break forth as the morning, your health 00:35:00.780 --> 00:35:03.480 shall spring forth speedily. And righteousness 00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:05.960 shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall 00:35:05.960 --> 00:35:09.739 be your reward. You can just read this chapter. 00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:12.440 And it's just amazing, you know, the power of 00:35:12.440 --> 00:35:16.559 fasting. But it's not like when Jesus is given 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:19.619 that parable, when you have the righteous Pharisee 00:35:19.619 --> 00:35:22.980 standing at the wall praying, Lord, I've done 00:35:22.980 --> 00:35:25.719 this, I've done that, all that thing. I do my 00:35:25.719 --> 00:35:28.019 fasting. Yeah, and I'm not like that publican 00:35:28.019 --> 00:35:30.300 over there. And the publican is just repenting 00:35:30.300 --> 00:35:33.210 before God. And he's saying, who is more righteous? 00:35:33.510 --> 00:35:36.429 You know, so it's not fasting. People will use 00:35:36.429 --> 00:35:39.690 fasting to make you to feel righteous. In fact, 00:35:39.710 --> 00:35:41.989 we have a book and I'll just mention it, you 00:35:41.989 --> 00:35:44.250 know, because Sister Gwen has written a book 00:35:44.250 --> 00:35:47.329 on fasting and she's seen. All kinds of fasting, 00:35:47.510 --> 00:35:50.050 and we have to, and a lot of it was out of the 00:35:50.050 --> 00:35:53.289 flesh. And she wrote a book called The False 00:35:53.289 --> 00:35:56.670 Fast. Right. And on the cover, it has this lady 00:35:56.670 --> 00:35:59.030 kind of with a grin holding a steak, and then 00:35:59.030 --> 00:36:01.610 the next, it's in a blender. Yeah, about to put 00:36:01.610 --> 00:36:02.949 it in a blender. About to put it in a blender, 00:36:03.050 --> 00:36:05.469 you know, and drink it as a smoothie. You know, 00:36:05.489 --> 00:36:08.710 that's not, you don't put ice cream in a blender. 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.840 Things like that. But it gives you a balance 00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:16.079 on fasting. Yes. And the book will do that, too. 00:36:16.119 --> 00:36:18.860 The book will give you a balance on fasting. 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:21.840 You have to have the right motive for it. Exactly. 00:36:21.980 --> 00:36:24.239 It fits with what we were talking about before, 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:30.119 about Jesus entering the picture. Yes. And sometimes 00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:34.449 he will lead us to fast like he did. I mean, 00:36:34.469 --> 00:36:38.250 maybe not 40 days, but in order to prepare us 00:36:38.250 --> 00:36:41.469 for the thing that's coming next. Right. Jesus 00:36:41.469 --> 00:36:44.429 fasted 40 days to prepare himself for the ministry. 00:36:44.630 --> 00:36:48.090 He had just been anointed with the Holy Spirit 00:36:48.090 --> 00:36:52.469 when he was baptized, and the Spirit drove him 00:36:52.469 --> 00:36:55.769 to fast. So that's the thing. It's not about 00:36:55.769 --> 00:36:57.849 getting on the bandwagon to fast because other 00:36:57.849 --> 00:37:00.909 people are fasting. It's about being driven by 00:37:00.909 --> 00:37:03.489 the Holy Spirit, being guided by the Holy Spirit. 00:37:03.550 --> 00:37:07.150 The Holy Spirit is leading us. Without Him, we 00:37:07.150 --> 00:37:12.469 can do nothing. But in fasting, we are loosing 00:37:12.469 --> 00:37:15.929 the bands of wickedness if we're doing it for 00:37:15.929 --> 00:37:18.269 the right reasons and with the right motive and 00:37:18.269 --> 00:37:20.170 with the right guidance. Yeah, and it starts 00:37:20.170 --> 00:37:22.789 with us. And then with that, things that are 00:37:22.789 --> 00:37:27.289 around us. Yes, yes. And it helps to let the 00:37:27.289 --> 00:37:29.050 oppressed go free. Well, maybe you're the one 00:37:29.050 --> 00:37:32.690 that's oppressed. Yeah. Maybe you're dealing 00:37:32.690 --> 00:37:34.670 with your flesh and you're just trying to get 00:37:34.670 --> 00:37:37.809 your flesh under control. And sometimes the Lord 00:37:37.809 --> 00:37:39.550 will put you on a fast and you don't know why. 00:37:39.809 --> 00:37:42.809 I remember a couple of years ago, I just felt 00:37:42.809 --> 00:37:45.530 to do a seven -day water fast. Yeah. And that 00:37:45.530 --> 00:37:50.369 meant no coffee. I mean, that, you know. Yes, 00:37:50.369 --> 00:37:53.429 that was a challenge. And I did this fast, and 00:37:53.429 --> 00:37:56.369 I breezed through it. It was amazing to fast 00:37:56.369 --> 00:38:00.070 on water and breeze through it like I did. It 00:38:00.070 --> 00:38:02.909 was amazing. I don't know what it was for. Still 00:38:02.909 --> 00:38:05.829 not. I still don't know, but it was for somebody 00:38:05.829 --> 00:38:08.110 or something else. Yeah, but you were led by 00:38:08.110 --> 00:38:09.730 the Spirit. But I was led by the Spirit to do 00:38:09.730 --> 00:38:12.469 it. And remember a few weeks ago, you were led 00:38:12.469 --> 00:38:15.300 by the Spirit to fast. Yeah, and the second day 00:38:15.300 --> 00:38:18.860 is when my brother passed away on it. Yeah. And 00:38:18.860 --> 00:38:21.260 it was just a few days more, and then I got attacked 00:38:21.260 --> 00:38:26.579 with something in my, it was just, you know, 00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:29.539 but it's something I had to do my own health, 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:32.440 but I persevered. Yeah. Yeah, and we did the 00:38:32.440 --> 00:38:34.960 four days. And it was kind of like direction 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:38.619 for the new year is what I felt, but it may have 00:38:38.619 --> 00:38:41.159 been for something else. Well, I think it helped 00:38:41.159 --> 00:38:46.239 with your brother and with dealing with the grief, 00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:48.780 really, that comes with it because that was pretty 00:38:48.780 --> 00:38:54.500 huge. Yeah. Yeah. So fasting will help you. Fasting 00:38:54.500 --> 00:38:59.559 is a key. It's a tool that will make a difference 00:38:59.559 --> 00:39:02.869 in your life. When the Holy Spirit leads you 00:39:02.869 --> 00:39:05.809 to do it, don't try and do it without his help. 00:39:05.929 --> 00:39:09.150 Let's interject one more story. One of our members 00:39:09.150 --> 00:39:12.550 was flying back to London after our convention 00:39:12.550 --> 00:39:16.409 and was sitting next to a person. And when they 00:39:16.409 --> 00:39:19.409 served the meal, the person wasn't eating. And 00:39:19.409 --> 00:39:22.530 so she said to her, so you're not eating? She 00:39:22.530 --> 00:39:25.469 says, I'm fasting. And just says, but not for 00:39:25.469 --> 00:39:28.409 the reason you think. And she must have known 00:39:28.409 --> 00:39:31.309 she was a believer. Right. Uh -huh. You know, 00:39:31.329 --> 00:39:32.969 otherwise I don't think she would have said it 00:39:32.969 --> 00:39:35.469 that way. And he says, we're fasting. I don't 00:39:35.469 --> 00:39:38.110 know how long their fast was. It was long. Long. 00:39:38.130 --> 00:39:39.969 It was like 40 days or 60 days or something. 00:39:39.969 --> 00:39:42.190 And we're meeting in England and we're praying 00:39:42.190 --> 00:39:44.849 for Satan to break up marriages. Yeah. Christian 00:39:44.849 --> 00:39:47.670 marriages. Mm -hmm. And I think it was attacking 00:39:47.670 --> 00:39:49.309 pastors too, wasn't it? And attacking pastors. 00:39:49.469 --> 00:39:52.130 Yeah. And you look at how many pastors get attacked. 00:39:52.570 --> 00:39:54.989 Yeah. And families getting attacked. Mm -hmm. 00:39:55.050 --> 00:39:57.530 And so there's people out there, Satanists out 00:39:57.530 --> 00:40:00.139 there, people fasting. Because there's power 00:40:00.139 --> 00:40:03.360 in fasting. That's right. And they know it. But 00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:05.699 why, you know, many of the Christians don't know 00:40:05.699 --> 00:40:08.840 this. Right. But something happens when you deny 00:40:08.840 --> 00:40:11.420 yourself and you take up your cross and follow 00:40:11.420 --> 00:40:15.199 him. Follow me. The key of fasting is that you're 00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:17.780 denying yourself. You're saying no to your flesh. 00:40:17.980 --> 00:40:20.820 And when you can say no to your flesh, it gives 00:40:20.820 --> 00:40:24.780 your spirit an opportunity to rule. And when 00:40:24.780 --> 00:40:28.280 your spirit is being ruled in coordination with 00:40:28.280 --> 00:40:33.699 the Holy Spirit, you become a contender in the 00:40:33.699 --> 00:40:36.920 spirit realm. And during your fast, you have 00:40:36.920 --> 00:40:39.639 to spend more time in the Word and with the Lord. 00:40:39.699 --> 00:40:43.079 That's very important. Very, very true. Just 00:40:43.079 --> 00:40:46.059 don't fast because, you know, I got to do this, 00:40:46.059 --> 00:40:48.699 but fast and seek the Lord while you're doing 00:40:48.699 --> 00:40:51.340 it. Right. Seek the Lord. Very important. While 00:40:51.340 --> 00:40:55.659 he may be found. One of the promises in Isaiah 00:40:55.659 --> 00:41:00.760 58, just to wrap this up, it says, verse 8, Then 00:41:00.760 --> 00:41:02.860 shall your light break forth as the morning, 00:41:03.019 --> 00:41:05.880 and your health shall spring forth speedily, 00:41:05.960 --> 00:41:09.420 and your righteousness shall go before you. and 00:41:09.420 --> 00:41:11.940 the glory of the Lord shall be your rearward. 00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:14.639 In other words, he'll be in front of you and 00:41:14.639 --> 00:41:17.380 he'll be behind you. And then you shall call 00:41:17.380 --> 00:41:21.760 and the Lord, Yehovah, shall answer. See, lots 00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.320 of times we're talking to the Lord, but we're 00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:27.340 not getting an answer. But fasting can help you 00:41:27.340 --> 00:41:30.179 get a breakthrough. You shall cry and he shall 00:41:30.179 --> 00:41:34.559 say, Hineni, here I am. If you take away from 00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:36.519 the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth 00:41:36.519 --> 00:41:39.440 of the finger, and the speaking of vanity, If 00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:41.699 you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy 00:41:41.699 --> 00:41:44.119 the afflicted soul, then shall your light rise 00:41:44.119 --> 00:41:47.420 in obscurity and your darkness be as the noonday. 00:41:47.420 --> 00:41:49.679 And the Lord shall guide you continually and 00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:52.360 satisfy your soul in drought and make your bones 00:41:52.360 --> 00:41:55.320 fat. And you shall be like a watered garden and 00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:57.539 like a spring of water whose waters fail not. 00:41:57.820 --> 00:42:02.079 And they of you shall build the old waste places. 00:42:02.280 --> 00:42:05.019 You shall raise up the foundations of many generations. 00:42:05.219 --> 00:42:07.159 You shall be called the repairer of the breach 00:42:07.159 --> 00:42:10.159 and the restorer of paths to dwell in. God wants 00:42:10.159 --> 00:42:14.539 to use you to restore things that have been broken. 00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:18.239 Yes, amen. And fasting will help to do that, 00:42:18.260 --> 00:42:21.820 the kind of fast that God has directed. So we 00:42:21.820 --> 00:42:25.659 just want to encourage you to look into this 00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:29.739 as a possibility of one of the tools that you 00:42:29.739 --> 00:42:32.980 might need, whether it's a 40 -day fast or a 00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:36.730 21 -day fast. seven -day fast or three -day fast 00:42:36.730 --> 00:42:39.489 or just don't eat that piece of chocolate cake. 00:42:41.130 --> 00:42:44.250 Stop yourself from eating that one thing. If 00:42:44.250 --> 00:42:47.750 Adam and Eve had paid attention to what God said, 00:42:47.809 --> 00:42:50.929 don't eat that, we wouldn't be in the pickle 00:42:50.929 --> 00:42:56.389 that we're in now. So learn to say no to your 00:42:56.389 --> 00:42:59.769 flesh and learn to say yes to the Holy Spirit 00:42:59.769 --> 00:43:03.849 and let Jesus walk in on you and say, Shalom. 00:43:03.989 --> 00:43:28.480 Shalom. Check out our website at globaloutpouring 00:43:28.480 --> 00:43:31.780 .org to find out more information, read our blogs, 00:43:31.900 --> 00:43:34.760 connect with us, and donate. You can also browse 00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:37.320 our web store for life -changing anointed books. 00:43:37.739 --> 00:43:41.159 Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm 00:43:41.159 --> 00:43:43.860 Philip Buss. God bless you with His overwhelming, 00:43:44.059 --> 00:43:45.059 loving presence.