Welcome to NECF. We're thrilled you're here.
Make sure to stay with us till the end, where
we'll share some great resources to deepen your
faith. Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.
Amen and amen. Well, welcome to the midweek service.
I know some of us is a new location. So my first,
we are like, well, it seems to be orange, but
now it's blue. Praise God. Praise the Lord. I'm
very, we're very happy that it doesn't, it doesn't
stop us from worshiping. You know, there's some
people that when you go to orange oil, you don't
see anybody. You say, ah, what happened? Have
we been raptured or something? But we are, we
persist, right? We, we, we, it doesn't, nothing
stops us from fellowshipping. Nothing should
stop you from fellowshipping. Even a change in
location should not stop you. Praise God. A change
in location should not stop you. And that's the
kind of believers that God is making us into.
That's the kind of believers that God is building
us into. And He will continue to build us even
better and better in the name of Jesus. So the
teaching continues, staying on fire for God.
Staying on fire for God. And on Sunday, we say
that we're staying on fire. You know, sometimes
you have to define what fire, because nowadays
there's a lot of fire, fire everywhere. You want
to be able to define what the fire is. And we
say that this fire is a passion, is a commitment,
and is a zeal for God. And it's not just for
God. It translates into a zeal and a passion
and a commitment for others, for the work he
has called us into. There's a passion for the
work he has called us into, and there's a commitment
for the work he has called us into. There's a
commitment for the people he has called us to.
and the ministry has called us to, the things,
the different things he has called us to, and
we need to be part of it. This commitment is
not half -hearted. This commitment is a wholehearted
commitment. Praise God. Let's not be distracted.
Let's not be distracted. Let's just pay attention.
So this commitment is a wholehearted commitment,
and it requires fervency. It's all about fervency.
Once you're fervent about something, it is evident.
I said that on Sunday. It is evident and it is
contagious. If you're doing something that you
want everybody to be part of, if you're not fervent,
if you're not zealous about it, you will not
have people come into it. You will not have people
even be trusting what you're talking about. So
we need to shift and up, up. our fervency and
our commitment and it's going to show in every
area of our lives. It's going to show in every
area of our lives. Nothing is going to be lacking
that because it's a muscle that we're going to
be building up in this season and God is going
to help us to be able to do that. And we say,
why is this important? I want us to echo it because
I taught this. I said, why is it? What's the
first reason I say it's important? Huh? So the
work requires it, right? The work itself requires
it because if we want to witness to the world,
the world will not hear you out if you're not
passionate about the things you're talking or
discussing about. The world can't, nobody, if
you, you do that a lot. When you, first minute
of a video, you don't, the person is not coming,
the way it does though, you skip. You find somebody
else that has something that has that, that marks
what exactly it is you're looking for. So there's
a fervency that the walk of ministry requires.
And if you don't have it, it's going to be hard
for you to make that impact, to be effective.
Praise God. And then we say for personal growth,
right? That was the second point. We say for
personal growth. And I repeat myself over and
over again. If you say you're fervent, it's not
going to be something we're struggling to find.
Praise God. We're not going to be struggling
to find it. It will show, and I said this in
closing last week, it will show in... How early
you show up for that thing. It will show in how
you take notes. Some of us, we come to church,
we say we love God, but we're not taking notes.
We say we want to grow, we're not taking notes.
There's no way you can make any effect if you're
going to be effective. So it means that we have
to, it's something that has to happen and know
that if you're not, if you're not, you know,
when you're not fervent, But it's just a matter
of time. Once something happens, we don't see
you again. Praise God. Because there was never
any form of variance. And that is the challenge
we have with most people. You just show up on
a Sunday. Your life is only on a Sunday. So it
means that you're on your way out. When Pastor
Victor was sharing one time about... the order,
the lists, you know, the way the disciples are
arranged. You know, sometimes we take for granted
that some people are behind not because of, there's
a reason why they are behind. Because when they
are looking for, they are the ones that easily
you will not see again because they are somewhat
outside. So you want to be ahead in your work.
You want to be ahead in your desire. You want
to be ahead in your passion. And you shouldn't
stay in one point. You know, there's something
about when you stay on a place for too long.
You become comfortable. You become comfortable
and from that comfort, you become cold. And from
that cold, we don't find you anymore. And that's
why in your work and in your fellowship, you
have to up it. If you're doing one, you want
to do two. You want to do three. That's why there's
a count. You want to up it and make it a bit
more challenging. Praise God. And you want to
seek to do the things you've never done before.
Praise God. You want to seek to do the things
that you've never done before. And our key text,
we said, is in Romans 12, right? Romans 12, verse
11. And I'll read from the New King James. I'll
read it again. It says, not lagging in diligence.
Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit.
How many of us have seen, how many of us, when
you're watching something and then the thing
is lagging? You're trying to watch something
and then the internet is poor. And then the thing
is just, it's buffering, right? There's a bit
of a lag. You know, Over time, you just want
to skip or restart. You want to find something
because it's frustrating. It's frustrating. You
are doing something that requires energy and
then somebody does skip. And then it's like,
even you yourself, you're like, what is going
on here? There's nothing good. You don't even
think of, you're just stuck. Praise God. You're
stuck. You are not moving. You're just there.
You're just looking. And it's just a matter of
time. People walk away. Praise God. So the NLT
says, never be lazy. Never be lazy. I say this
all the time. A lazy person is useless to God,
is useless to the devil. Like you are both ways.
The devil cannot use you because the devil needs
people to be active. The devil too thrives on
activity. Even in his kingdom, even in his work.
So when you are lazy, you're just there. Praise
God. And this is an instruction. Apostle Paul
is saying, never be lazy. Never be lazy. Anytime
you look at yourself, I think during the time
when we're praying, you know, as we're praying,
you just see somebody else come. You know, you
just come and you're just looking around. The
activity at this point in time is prayers. And
then you're just... And it's not like you're
watching... you're watching a child or you're
doing anything, you're just there and you spend
a lot of time looking around, not praying. You
know that is an indicator for something. That
should come for something, praise God. That should
mean that, that should communicate to you that
this activity is not, I don't, I'm just here
because I have to be here. I'm just here by,
I don't even know what brought me here. That's
almost like what you're communicating to us.
But we can tell that this person, or we can tell
that you already have, There's going to be a
problem. And it's just a matter of time, as I
said. You will have other things to be worried
about or you have other things to be concerned
about. Praise God. It says, never be lazy. It
says, but work hard. I'm reading now from the
NLT. But work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.
Enthusiasm. You want to put in that fire, that
passion. Praise God. And the TPT says, be enthusiastic.
to serve the Lord. Keep your passion towards
him boiling hot. Keep your passion towards him
boiling hot with the glow of the Holy Spirit
and let him fill you with excitement as you serve
him. Let him fill you with excitement as you
serve him. Praise God. Then we talked about why
do we lose our fire? We talked about why we lose
our fire. What was the first thing I... I'm just
doing a quick recap before we... Why do we lose
the fire was the first thing. So, exposure, I'm
assuming that we are saying exposure to honor
and keeping... I'm assuming it goes... It can
be a way to just say, yeah, that thing did what
we all said together. But it's good. So, exposure
to dishonor and keeping the wrong association,
right? Exposure to dishonor and keeping the wrong...
And how many of you have started to watch that?
How many of you have started to watch it? How
many of you have started to watch, like look
at the people you're subscribed to, the people
that you listen to very often. Are there people
that drop a hint of here and there? You watch
them. Over time, you will not realize that you're
entering a place where you just find it natural
to just say certain words to people and you don't
feel anything. You don't feel anything. And you
have just made yourself. made it normal to you
to just hear people, criticize people, and then
you don't just go ahead. You're not even giving
constructive criticism. You're just destroying
them. Praise God. You're just destroying them.
And there was a second one that we discussed.
So we said they're distracted by your past and
then there's over -familiarity with what you're
experiencing presently. And that one is a key
thing and we looked at a couple of scripts and
we said, That in itself is characterized by some
form of, I guess, you're now going back. You
know, when we're praying, I think we're praying,
there's a renewing of the mind that happens.
And that, if you're not renewing your mind, you
have a tendency to go back to a mind you had
before, which is a carnal mind. You go back to
carnality. Praise God. So there's that sense
of, if you're not making, because you know, if
you're not renewing your mind this way, things
don't stay like that. There will be an exposure
to the... or the things that, because you can
imagine the children of Israel. I don't know
whether you imagine or you think or put yourself
in that situation because sometimes you can see
all those children of Israel, they are just unbelievers,
you know, just throw things, just criticize them
and then you don't know that even in your own
life, there's a subtle, there are subtle things
that you do that even brings you, you might even
be worse than them. Even your situation, praise
God, it will be worse than them because you can
imagine this when we say that there's a mix,
because of when you mix things up, If you're
not very careful, you'll find yourself preferring
to go back to what you had. You had fought to
get out of. Praise God. You had fought to get
out of. So we said, I think Romans, I want us
to just look at Romans. Romans 6, Romans 8, sorry.
Romans 8, 6 -2. Now, those of us that used to
look for scriptures, so we say, never be lazy,
right? Open your Bible and read it. Open your
Bible and read Romans 8. Romans 8, 6. So it says,
so let me read it from the New King James. So
it's 6 to 8. It says, For to be carnally minded
is death, but to be spiritually minded is life
and peace. Because the carnally mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law
of God, nor indeed can be. It now says, so then,
those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
So you want to ensure that you are fervent in
spirit and your desire and your passion is for
God. So hence, certain things are not introduced
into your walk. And then things like we saw the
children of Israel complaining. We saw them complaining.
We saw them murmuring. We saw them doing all
those things that will not even allow for, because
all those things are things that you do when
you are carnally minded. Praise God. You can
be spiritually minded and then you take time
and you're complaining and there's no part of
you says, let's look at the best. Let's look
out for the best in the situation. Let's look
out for how. And that's the key thing that we
talked about when we talked about making excuses.
You know, most of the times when people complain
or people, they are always wanting to make an
excuse for something. You always want to make
an excuse. Oh, the reason why I wasn't able to
do this is because of this and that and that.
And then you start complaining, you start adding
other things to the equation and you don't make
any progress. And excuse, excuse is one of the
things that extinguishes fire. Look at the person
that makes excuses a lot. If you find the person
that makes excuses, they never grow. And the
thing is that this person makes excuses for the
things that they want to. Some people are smiling.
They're smiling at me. If you're smiling at me,
you know what I'm talking about. It hits home.
Praise God. It hits home. You make excuses for
almost everything. Why did you come? I was down.
I was down. You don't even know how my day went.
But if that same person, the same thing was making
excuses for not showing up. If we switch it up
a bit, spice it up, say, okay, they're going
to donate. There's money for everybody that comes.
They'll be the first. And that speaks about what
you prioritize. Praise God. You don't prioritize.
You prioritize some things over the things of
God. Praise God. And as we say, excuses will
extinguish a fire. You don't want to make excuses.
So the third point now, which you'll be adding
to the list already. So let's see how we can
work from there is, Offenses and broken relationships.
Offense and broken relationships. Offense and
broken relationship. And I want you to, because
this is one thing that will extinguish your fire.
Because whether you like it or not, you need
people. And when you are burning bridges instead
of making bridges, you will end up losing the
path to persons or the things that will help
you to grow. Pastor Victor had, in his teaching
and in several of the pastors, we echoed that.
That God uses people. God's method, God's strategy,
I think Pastor Koston included, method, strategy,
the means by which God will use to help you is
through people. And not that, going to the points
I raised earlier, the means by which the devil
will help to destroy you is through people. So
it means that the devil's strategy is still using
human beings. That's why we say you have to watch
your relationships, right? You have to watch
your relationships. The relationships you should
break. Remember on Sunday I was saying block
them, right? I gave us the analogy of who? What
is it? Apostle who? The analogy of Apostle Paul,
right? I said if Apostle Paul decided after his
Damascus encounter and then Assyria connect with
brother Ananias and then he says no. The people
I will connect with are my people from my viewers,
you know, the people that he goes together to
persecute. You know, when they call him up and
say, ah, brother, we need to go to, you know,
Damascus did not go down. Let's go to another
city. Let's go and kill. Then you, you now, you
now be telling them, you say, okay, when are
we going to meet? Or you now start, you want
to just, so that you don't have to explain to
them, you know, they might not understand what
you experienced. You just don't talk too much.
Just block, disconnect. Those are the relationships
that you want to because they are not going to
help you to make progress in the areas you want
to now make progress in your life because there's
a new season. Praise God. The people that knew
him before cannot recognize him now because things
have changed. So if things have changed, it means
that the relationships that you now prioritize
has to change as well. So you can't be expected
to make progress this way and then you're keeping
those relationships. And some of us, we're very,
you're like me. When you have had a friend, you
don't know how to. Well, really, you have to
be radical about it because if you don't do it,
you're not going to make progress yourself. Praise
God. So just think about it and I hope that will
help some of us. And I hope some of us have acted
on it from Sunday. You know, when you're struggling
to take an action, you've already decided what
you're going to do. And many a times you will
not act on it. So there are certain relationships
that you don't want to. In fact, some people,
because you're doing that so that you're not
even seeing their status, because some people,
seeing their status doesn't even help you to
grow spiritually. Praise God. Some of us, we
just feel like this. And then when you have like
10, 20, 50 of those kind of friends, and then
you like going through status, when you do that,
you would not understand what is happening. You
open your Bible and then, you know, because you
have seen certain things that you're trying to
filter. Praise God. So you want to... And I say
this to say that relationships that you should
prioritize are godly relationships, right? Relationships
you should prioritize are godly relationships.
And you want to ensure that you don't use your
hand to destroy those relationships because you
can be offended over a brother that is, remember
I told us of the prophet Eli, right? Where Anna
was now, he misjudged the situation. And then
if she was like, All these rubbish men of God,
they're not sensitive. They're not sensitive
to how we feel. Can you imagine I'm crying and
then I'm trying to pour my heart out to God and
he's saying I'm drunk. If he's a man of God,
wouldn't he have known what I'm missing? How
would he not know that I'm going through? But
not that she did not use it as an opportunity
to dishonor the man and she received it. That
passage that we read, we say 18, she went home
not sad again or happy. And then she got the
result and she brought it back to the same, you
know, see the relationship just kept going on
and on. This was the same person that trained
Samuel. Praise God. So you don't want to destroy
a relationship because you don't know where they
lead. Praise God. You don't know where they lead.
And I think Joseph is an example that we're going
to spend time to look at in this study because
it's very important that we notice that Joseph's
own, you know, some of us, when we have friends
that you can, you know, sometimes when family
are the ones that offend you, it's harder. How
many of you have noticed that it's harder to
let go of family, parents, people that you love,
you trust them. And then you're like, no, how
can they do this to me? You're now become, it's
the impact. You know, I was sharing with my wife
in a WhatsApp group. I'm in a WhatsApp group,
our secondary school WhatsApp group. And there
was a misunderstanding. When you read the chat,
you know there was clearly a misunderstanding.
And then the funny thing is that the WhatsApp
group is a combination of believers and non -believers.
And the people that you expect more from are
who? Believers. Believers. So this misunderstanding
is amongst believers in the WhatsApp group. And
then your boss, he always says, in fact, I'm
not going to. He says, if in heaven, our houses,
your house should be far away from Lusaka to
Moscow. My concern was not about the fact that
they had a misunderstanding. My concern was,
what are you, like the people that are watching,
tomorrow if you come and you're trying to, they'll
be like, you that can't even control your, like
what are you talking about? You have just put
God's name to this. And the funny thing is that
the next year, someone had organized, he's an
unbeliever. that said, let's organize a meeting
so we can trash. I was in a meeting. I was hearing
this guy talk. I was like, hello, this is what
a believer should be doing, not the other way.
And sometimes it's because we're not fervent.
We are not discerning. We put ourselves in a
situation where tomorrow now when you have gotten
yourself and then you come back, that thing you
have done is now haunting you. It's not allowing
the person to see past the wonderful, the good
news that you're giving to them. Because what
they had seen was bad news the day before. So
I'm just giving us reasons why you should be
fervent. You should not allow a season of your
life because you say, I was going through, there
should be some form of restraint that the Holy
Spirit is able to provide when you want to explode.
Because you are fervent. You're sensitive, praise
God. You're discerning, praise God. So dealing
with offense, I think my pastor, if I had taught,
I think last year, I think around May of last
year, if you want to go back, you can go back
and listen to the message. He has taught on dealing
with offenses. He was beautiful. He explained
to us dealing with offenses. And it's something
that we should pay attention to because offense
can really extinguish a fire. If you have, and
some of us, we have a lot of people in our hearts.
I don't know how you do it, but there's this
person. And the capacity of it, you want to add
more people. Like this is what I say, say you
too. And you're adding and you're adding. And
you're not allowing. And Joseph, I would love
us to just look a bit. I don't want us to draw
so much because we have to go to how to. Not
in Genesis 37. Verse 23 to 28. Let me see whether
we can do that one quickly. Genesis. Let's go
to Genesis very quickly. Genesis 37. So it came
to pass when Joseph had come with his brothers
that they stripped Joseph of his tunic and the
tunic of many colors that was on him. 24. That's
37 versus 24 now. He says, then they took him
and cast him into a pit. Note that this thing,
his brothers are the ones that are doing this
to him. He says, then they took him and cast
him into a pit and the pit was empty and there
was no water in it. 25 now says, and they sat
down to eat a meal. Then they left, they lifted
their eyes and looked and there was a company
of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their
camels, bearing spices, balm, myrrh. on their
way to carry them down to Egypt. So Judah said
to his brothers, what profit is there if we kill
our brother and conceal his blood? 27, come and
let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not
our hand be upon him. For he is our brother,
our flesh, and his brothers listened. 28 now,
which is the last. Then the Midianites, the Midian
traders passed by. So the brothers pulled Joseph
up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him
to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver.
And they took Joseph to Egypt. Praise God. And
you'll be wondering to yourself, like these brothers
are very, like it's bad enough that they put
him in, they put him in the pit, allowed him
for dinner. Somebody now said, and you'll be
thinking, I think what Pastor Emma taught us,
you'll be thinking that that was just mere coincidence.
But all of that was part of the plan. And that's
what when Joseph was speaking to them in Genesis
15, verse 19 to 21, where he says, you planned
it out for evil, but God turned it for good.
Because you can see that they had a plan. They
would say, okay, let's, then let's, you know,
somebody does come, you think it's a brilliant
idea. Say, let's just sell him so that we can
make money off him. But all of that was building
up to the plan that God had for him. Praise God.
And what I want you to see is that he was sold
into slavery. He was in Egypt. You know, it would
be a good thing for him to come and start explaining,
like complaining about how his brothers were
wicked, how they just, how can I have this hapless?
Imagine they wanted to, and then when I thought
they were bringing me out, they changed their
mind and they now sold me. And then he spent
time, you know, some of us can be going, we can
be going through stuff and we spend time sulking,
crying, complaining. Rather than keep our eyes,
Joseph was faithful even in Potiphar's house.
Everywhere you placed him, that man was still
faithful. You didn't meet him and then he was
like, you know, some of us, there are things
happening in our countries and we spend time
complaining about those things. Instead of us
to find how we'll be solutions, we'll just spend
time complaining. Instead of us to work on ourselves
and see how God will help us. to meet the needs
of our countries, we spend time complaining.
Nobody builds, you know, when you have a mindset
of complaining, you can never build it, you cannot
be productive. You cannot make anything, you
cannot make progress in any area at all because
you're complaining. It's not like you're, you
know, going back to the WhatsApp group. When
we had that meeting, the amazing thing about
that meeting, because we're trying to resolve
a problem, and then somebody comes and he's still
complaining about, so the chairman of the meeting
had to stop him and say, Please, what is the
way forward? How can we resolve this issue? And
then I was in that meeting. I was listening.
I was like, that is the mindset most of us have.
We come to God for solution or we come to God
to help us resolve. And then we're still complaining
about the things that we're experiencing. And
this is God wanting to change the situation.
But we spend more time not understanding that
if we don't let go of the thing and move past
it, we will not see the solution. Praise God.
And as a believer, you want to be aware. You
want to, because it will start over. You're just
trying to state the facts. Praise God. And that's
where it starts from. We're stating the facts.
This thing is not working. That thing is not
working. Over time, you just find yourself on,
you're going on and on. Meaning of course, we're
victims. It's when somebody calls us to order,
you see, and sorry, it looks like you're complaining
about this thing and then we stop in our tracks.
But if you, and when somebody tells you that
you want to be able to say, oh, it's true. I've
spent like 10, 20 minutes. Some people even one
hour. not even saying, this is the way forward,
this is the best thing we can do. And that is
how you catch yourself doing things that will
not help you grow. Because after, and it's not
like you spend that one hour praying. You may
say, let's pray for one hour now. You can't,
you will be, praise God. So you want to have
that consciousness of the fact that you can be
bitter about something because it doesn't allow
you to make it, and it introduces some level
of coldness. I don't know if you have noticed
that when you complain for a long time, after
you just be quiet. Praise God. You just be quiet.
And that introduces coldness and it doesn't allow
you to be off. Because if Joseph had been in
it, okay, now, let's move it a notch further.
It's bad enough that he was sold to slavery.
Then next minute, he's all by himself. Then Potiphar's
wife now came into the picture. And then you'll
be thinking to yourself, like, what did he even
do wrong? And then he was imprisoned. He should
be in that prison and say, Lord, why me? All
this while I've been very faithful to you. I
have take dinner. And then why did I now, you
know, some of us were, we're in this and we're
like, God, what did I do wrong? I've been faithful.
And then all of a sudden, I don't have school
fees. I've been faithful. And all of a sudden,
I'm struggling to pay my, like, like how, oh
God, please. I thought you see, you know, you
now go all, but you don't understand that all
of this had something that it was worth. There
was the end goal. If, if you were to see, The
whole, like if Joseph was to have been shown
how everything was going to pan out to be, and
Joseph was just strictly doing one thing, which
is staying faithful. Praise God. We're just staying
faithful and we're called to do the same. And
the way we can be is when we understand that
God wants us to be fervent in and out of season.
God doesn't want our situations and circumstances
to be what would determine our response to the
things that we're experiencing, our response
to all of that. Praise God. So very key thing,
let's not destroy relationships. Even when people
hurt us, offend us, it should not stop us from
staying on course, doing what Christ instruct
us to do in God's word. Praise God. Then the
fourth point there is neglect and complacency.
Neglect and complacency. Neglect and complacency.
And know that You don't lose fire just by itself.
And I want us to look at Acts 28. I want us to
do something very practical. Acts 28 verse 2.
I don't know whether I read this on Sunday, but
I think I did, or I alluded to it when I was
speaking. Acts 28 verse 2 says, And the natives
showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled
a fire and made us all welcome. Because of the
rain that was falling and because of the cold.
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks
to lay them on the fire, a viper came out because
of the heat and fastened on his hand. Praise
God. I want you to notice something. Notice something.
That the fire was kindled for that fire to continue
to burn. What do we see Apostle Paul do? He had
to put wood. Not that for a fire to keep burning,
you have to, there are things you have to, anytime
you neglect to put wood into the fire, will you
be surprised that the fire goes out? Will you
be surprised that the fire goes out? No, you
shouldn't be surprised because once, in fact,
when you want to put it, I think those of us
that are in training center, that time we were
using Well, listen, notice that we have to be
adding wood to the fire. Anytime you just leave
it, before you know it, there's no fire again.
And in our spiritual, there are certain things
you have to add when we come to how to maintain
the fire. There are certain things you have to
add. I'll just give you. Note that if you are
not adding consistent prayers, you are not delighting
in God's word. You're not engaging in disciplines.
Those are the things that are the wood that you
put into a fire to maintain the fire. Praise
God. The moment you cannot, you know, some of
us think some of our spiritual addition is just
automatic. You just sit down and the Lord is
doing it. You know, everything is just working
out. You know, I just sleep, wake up, and then
all of a sudden, I just see that there's this
unusual zeal. See, the Holy Spirit put it in
there. Sorry, that's not how it works. Come back
to reality. There are certain things that you
have to do to be able to ensure that you... Guard
the things that God is doing in you, God is doing
through you. Because know that it will be...
Let's just leave it for later. Know that it's
very important that you notice what is happening
here. And I love this passage because you see
that the fire or the heat exposed this viper
that was lurking in there. Because if there was
no heat... And if there was no heat, you wouldn't
have seen, the snake wouldn't have come out.
Certain creatures, you know, even us, we don't
like places that, you know, when we came to this
place, this place was a bit cold. You know, we
don't have a problem. But if it's hot, you will
notice, you know, there was a time during the
believers conference where the place was hot.
You know, you could see people trying to keep
themselves as warm as they could be. Praise God.
Know that heat makes certain things uncomfortable.
We understand that. Everyone, every normal person,
Once the place is hot, yes, you can, you know,
a couple of us, we can withstand a bit of heat.
Some of us, in the heat, we can be normal. I
think when my university days, we used to, there
are times where they would tell us to do long
walks. We would do, in fact, we used to do, there
are exercises they used to force us to come and
do. Most people hated it, but some of us, we
had no choice but to love it and enjoy it as
it goes. And sometimes it will require you to
walk for long distances in the heat. So we, I
think I had two, three of my friends, we said,
you know, we cannot say we're not going to do
it. So let's just make it as good as it can be.
So a friend of mine said, let me tell you something
to do to ensure that you don't feel the heat
much. He said, when you're paying attention to
the heat, that's when you feel a lot of the heat.
But when you decide to focus on something else,
so he said, let's just look at the ground. Let's
just pay attention to the ground. Let's look
at the ground. Just admire the ground. All of
a sudden, we were paying attention to the ground.
we were lost in another world. We started feeling
cool breeze. I was like, this is a good, this
is a good, this is a good, good, this is a good
trick. It's just, you're now not distracted by
the heat that is around, but you're paying attention
to something else and then you're, it's almost
like the cool breeze appeared. I was like, is
this witchcraft or something? Because I can't
explain how I'm feeling the cool breeze after
that one. So, and that is a very important lesson
to think about. when you're complaining about
the heat in the environment, it doesn't change
anything. Because you're not enjoying it anyways.
Praise God. You're not enjoying it anyways. But
you want to focus on the things that will help
you get better. You want to focus on the things
that will help you get better. And we see that
Apostle Paul here wants to keep warm. The goal
is to keep warm. At least the people in the place
welcome them by setting a kindling fire for them
to keep warm. Even though at least they went
into some form of, you're like, ah, this by what,
this snake by it. And know that because of all
of this drama, I want you to see what happens
in verse 6, I think. 6, yeah. I want you to see
the things that happen in verse 6. So it says,
let's look at 7. Let's look at 7. We'll see seven,
eight, and nine. Let me read six. However, they
were expecting that he would swell up and suddenly
fall down dead. But after they looked for a long
time and saw no harm came to him, they changed
their minds and said that he was a god. It says
in the region, there was a estate of the leading
citizen of the island whose name was Poblos.
who received us and entertained us cautiously
for three days. And it happened that the father
of Phoblos made sick of a fever and dysentery.
Paul went into him and prayed and laid hands
on him. We talked about laying of hands, laid
hands on him and healed him. Nine now says, so
when this was done, the rest of those in the
island who had diseases came, also came and were
healed. Praise God. It says, and they also honored
us in many ways and we departed and they were
provided usual things, provided such things as
were necessary. Praise God. I want us to see
something. Note that this was, it was never in
the plan for them to arrive at Malta. They experienced
a shipwreck and they found themselves in Malta.
But regardless of that situation, God still used
it to do the things that he did. where the leading
citizen of that place had a sick father that
ended up being healed. Because know that it built
up from something. Them welcoming them and then
allowing for all of those things that happened
leading to the healing of the person that was
sick and many others afterwards. Meaning that
everything that's happened in your life, going
back to the Joseph situation, you want to always
be ready for an opportunity. And ready for an
opportunity means that you... You have positioned
yourself for what God is going to do in and through
you. You don't want to be that person that, oh,
they say, okay, we want you to do this, we want
you to do that. You say, ah, no, I'm not on fire.
You know, I need to take like one week. I need
to take like two weeks to sharpen and to ensure
that things are put together before that happens.
You want to be that believer that is always ready.
Praise God. And you want to be that believer
that knows that regardless of the situation they
find themselves, God is able to walk in and through
them. Because if someone is sick, it's through
you that that healing will come through. Remember
we said you are God's method, right? So you want
to always make yourself available as God's method.
Praise God. You want to always make yourself
available as God's method. So you don't want
to be complacent. Remember we said there's a
neglect, there's a complacency. Let's look at
Leviticus. Leviticus 6. Leviticus 6, verse 12.
Let's look at Leviticus 6, verse 12 and 13. It
says, of the peace offerings. Praise God. Know
that even the priests themselves have to put
wood, have to ensure that they keep that fire
burning and this wood that they used to keep
the fire, just to reiterate the point I made
earlier. If you neglect it, you will not see
any fire. If you neglect putting the wood, you
will not see any fire. Remember we said, just
imagine it as the things that you do on a daily
and they see it every morning. So it means that
your work or your spiritual, when we say you
don't want to be that believer that will spend
two days. In fact, even one day, you should be
able to know that something, it should not be
normal for you to spend a day or two, in fact,
a day is a problem, two, without having that
fellowship. Praise God. You don't wait and then
yours is once in a week. When we come, midweek
service, when they say pray for, then that's
when, and then we will know because there's not
something you're familiar with. You don't know
this road. Praise God. So it's something that
you don't want to neglect it. You don't want
to be complacent about it. You're not a believer.
The first thing that goes off the list is fellowship.
When they say, okay, maybe I'm busy. Let's remove
fellowship. Or let's remove... You have to have
a... This is what I want us to understand. You
have to have a routine that certain things are
stamped. They are solid on it. You don't want
to have... You don't want to be allowing things
hit you from left, right, and center. And the
earlier you start to do it, the better for you.
Praise God. We used to say it in this church.
You will... you will keep getting busier and
busier if you don't have a structure that ensures
that you pray, you study God's word, you do disciplines.
It's amazing that you have believers that can
go for a whole year and they don't even engage.
I would say a whole month. You don't have times
where you fast. And remember, we just told you
this. You're not fasting to be able to see heavens
or see heavens open. That would be beautiful,
but you want to ensure that you have a discipline.
You want to ensure that you engage spiritual
discipline, and it's very important for you to
grow, for you to be fervent, for you to be zealous.
Those things have a way of setting you up for
the things that God, and by the way, know that
you don't come accidentally into this. There's
always that training. Notice that all of these
individuals, they are trained, and then the occasion
presents itself, and then there's a manifestation.
Praise God. And many of you, NECF is where the
training is happening. When you show up in a
particular place, you will not be surprised at
the things that you are going to be seeing. Even
here, we're not surprised at the things we're
seeing because you have stayed under teaching
for a long period of time. So there are certain
things we expect of you. And for some of you,
you're just complacent about it. You're not even
trying to act or engage what you have been receiving.
Praise God. And it doesn't help you. And for
some of us, When we say don't neglect, during
the Believers Conference, some of you had given
word for the first time and it was exciting.
But it should not stop there, praise God. It
shouldn't stop there because the moment you neglect
it, you'll lose the fire in that particular department.
Praise God. So you want to engage it. And by
the way, nothing stops you from speaking to a
person and then having something. And don't make
it spooky. Because for some of us, as I was just
talking now, The Holy Spirit just spoke to me
on my left ear, right ear, and then you just,
all of a sudden, all of a sudden, hey, what's
this? Oh, it's going crazy. And then you make
it spooky. You can just, you can see it as though
a thought came to your mind, like what about
this and what about that? You don't have to make
the person now, creep the person out. Praise
God. You want to be able to, you want to be able
to engage. And the moment you say those things
and the person confirms, ah, just not long ago,
I was on the call with my mom. and this and that
and that and that. That in itself even makes
you like, yeah, just keep at it. And then you
engage and engage and doing times of evangelism.
Those are the things that makes it beautiful.
Praise God. Those are the things that make it
beautiful. So you want to be able to engage that
and prayerfully believe God too. One very key
thing I want to pay attention to is the fact
that God disciplines, right? Disciplines are
what helps us to keep the fire burning. Discipline.
Discipline. is what helps us to keep the fire
burning. If you're not a disciplined person,
and I was sharing with some people, I say, it's
very easy to spot a person that is not disciplined.
They are all over the place. They can't put,
they are all over the place. And a couple of
people, if you don't train yourself to be disciplined,
you will not be. And how you train yourself to
be disciplined is by doing, by trying to have
a structure. And we're not saying that you should
now... your life should not be revolved around
structures. We're saying that you want to have,
at least have a structure because if God wants
to interrupt the structure, he has something
to interrupt. Praise God. But some people, they
are just, everything is just scattered. And not
only with that discipline, that discipline now
brings about consistency. That discipline now
brings about consistency because without discipline,
you will struggle to be consistent. And for many
of us, we don't. have consistency and many of
us struggle with consistency because it's not
something that comes on you by the Spirit of
God. Praise God. And that's why if you notice,
the things that we're doing in church is to build
that consistency so that you have a consistent
prayer life. You have a consistent study, all
the different things, the canonicals, all of
those things we're doing so that you have something
you do this year, you do next year, before you
know it. We get used to the rhythm. For some
of us, it's a struggle, but let it not stop you.
Keep at it. I say many of us, I think it was
2019, I think when I reached, when it was, I
think it was COVID. God sent COVID to help some
people's spiritual life. Praise God. Because
some people, they have spiritual life because
now you don't have anywhere to go to. You don't
have anywhere to go to. Some people with these
movies are now took the opportunity. God presented
the opportunity. They now say, no, we don't want
to take it. And then that was the first, I think
that was the time that we, you're able to be
consistent. I'm speaking for myself, able to
successfully do it. And then it now kept up.
You want to be able to put that in and continue
at it. Because you will not, you might not necessarily
see the effect in that first year. You will not
see effect in the second year. But you want to
keep at it so that you have something that you
are doing on a regular. Praise God. Because it's
very hard. Nobody will tell you that it's easy
to be, discipline doesn't come by accident. It's
conscious. Praise God. I know that consistency
is something that is not fueled by your feeling.
You don't fall consistency by your feeling. What
falls consistency is your desire to be consistent.
Some people will say, I feel like I'm not just
consistent and it stays the same way. But once
you have desire, you say, no matter what happens,
I'm mostly consistent. Praise God. You will find
yourself wanting to do the things that will ensure
that you are. And when you are failing on it,
you don't wait for it to be one whole year before
you put yourself back there. You want to ensure
that any small, you see yourself drift away,
you bring yourself back in line. Praise God.
And that is how you stay consistent. That is
how you burn. The moment you just notice that,
ah, when they say let's pray, it looks like it
takes me like 20 minutes to calibrate. And then
the whole prayer is 50 minutes. And then all
of a sudden, it's only 30 minutes I was able
to go up. You should already know that there's
a problem. And then you say, ah, God, let's work
on this thing. But for some people, it will be
like that until something will hit you. Then
you now come and there is prayer team that is
going to be busy because now you know that there
is nothing in the tank. But that is not, that
shouldn't be what, that shouldn't be how you
run your life where it's like this. You're just
going like this. Let it be like this. Praise
God and stay there. So now very quickly, let's
do how to maintain the fire. How to maintain
the fire. How to maintain the fire. So Paul's
instruction is that we are to be fervent. It's
like he said, never be lazy. Never be lazy. So
to maintain it. So the command is not just this.
The command is for us to be fervent, right? The
command is for us to be fervent. And when God
instructs us, he gives us the ability to do so.
Praise God. Any instruction God gives us, there's
the ability to do it. But you have to desire
to do it. Praise God. You have to desire to do
it. If not, you're not going to see it. So first,
the first point there is to stay active in spiritual
disciplines. I've been talking about it. Stay
active in spiritual disciplines in all seasons.
It means that you have to have a routine. Stay
active in spiritual disciplines. Stay active
in spiritual disciplines. The first is praying
without season or pray without season. From 1
Thessalonians, I think. Pastor Kostian had taught,
I think I listened to that day. I think it's
not the longest, just 30 minutes. He taught that
in, I think that was 2022. That was, I think
it was 2022. Fervency in prayers. He taught us
on the subject. How many of us remember that?
Those of us that are around 2022. Fervency in
prayers. It's a very good shot, but there was
a lot of things that were very impactful. Something
that you should go and do. Praying without ceasing.
But fervency in prayers, the point there is praying.
without ceasing, praying without ceasing. First
Thessalonians, we're going to read, we're going
to spend a lot of time in 1 Thessalonians. 1
Thessalonians 5, verse 17. 1 Thessalonians 5,
verse 17, that's praying without ceasing, fervency
in prayers. And then I think Pastor Ephraim also
taught us on why do we pray. It's very important
that we know why we pray so that we can be able
to stay in the place of prayer. Because most
of us, if we don't know the why, we don't know
the how, we don't even, in fact, there's no desire
to do, we don't even go out. go about it. So
you want to know why you're praying. You want
to understand why prayer is important and then
you engage it. Praise God. You're engaged. So
I gave us those teachings so that we can go and
just refresh ourselves and sing on it. And then
the second is have a routine of reading God's
word. Have a daily routine of reading God's word.
Some of us, we read it anytime. They say we are
the spiritual. Your father, your mother calls
you. Then they now say, have you read your Bible?
Then it becomes important to you. You want to
have a daily routine. of reading God's word is
a discipline, daily routine of reading God's
word. And you want to, let me read, let me just
quickly read for us Matthew 4, verse 4. It says,
but he answered and said, man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of the Lord. It means that you
want to prioritize the word of God or God's instructions
to you over. your food, over the foods that you
eat, over the, you want to discipline yourself.
And sometimes you want to make these things a
challenge. I was telling, I was sharing with
some people, I said, you know, some of us spend
time on social media. We spend a lot of time
on social media. And those times that we spend
on social media, it doesn't amount to anything
productive. Like you can say, I spent one hour
on social media and then I was able to get this.
Something that you can hold on to. And you visit
social media almost all of us. Is there anybody
that doesn't visit social media like any day?
You don't visit so many, right? Okay. Very few.
They're not even here. Like I said, I'm going
to visit social media. You know WhatsApp too
is social media. Yeah, it's all right. It's all
right. It's all right. It's all right. I don't
do Facebook. I don't do the... It's all right.
I'm fully holier than thou. It's all right. So...
So not that you spend time in that, you want
to also prioritize ensuring that, because if
you can do that, it means that you can also be
in a Bible app for every day. Praise God. And
some of you are doing, yeah, yeah, yeah. It means
that you can actually enter the app and be there
at least. So let the competition, and I say this
because I do this. In a week, you know, some
of us, our phones will tell us your screen time,
right? It will tell you which app takes more
time. That's how I used to check my own. If I
spend a whole week, I check it and then my Bible
app is not competing with my social media, I
know there's a problem. Praise God. I'm telling
you what it is like because you want to be conscious.
You want to evaluate yourself. You don't have
to wait till when something happens before somebody
will now be communicating it to you. Praise God.
You want to be real to that level that you check
and say, If in a week, my app says I spent 12
hours on WhatsApp and then like three hours on
my Bible app, you already know that there is
a struggle. Praise God. And for me, I said, the
first three apps that is the topmost app, if
the Bible app is missing there, there's a problem.
And that is practical. And this is something
that you should do for yourself. I'm saying it
to tell you that this is what I do. And it's
a good thing. And I know it's a good thing. You
should adopt it. Praise God. You should tell
yourself, I will be conscious about it. In a
week, I want to... And some of us, we don't even
know the amount of time we spend on certain things
until the app shows you. You know, you want to
have something that tells you what exactly it
is. The way you cannot scale how your fire is,
but you can see indicators, you want to have
certain things that will help you to check that.
Praise God. So reading God's word is important.
You want to spend as much time there. And notice
that when you fail, you don't stay there. You
want to get back. And the earlier you do so,
the better. Praise God. Then three is rejoicing
always. Praise God. Rejoicing always. Philippians
4 verse 4. Philippians 4 verse 4. Philippians
4 verse 4. It says, rejoice in the Lord always.
Again, I say rejoice. What you want to do also
is to check your rejoicing. Some of us, we spend
more time, remember, complaining, lamenting,
and those things don't help you. And the church
will say rejoice. Rejoice. I think as Pastor
Koston led us in the song, we rejoice, we rejoice
for the thing that you have done. He has healed
us. He has restored us for the thing that you...
Thank you so much, sir. There are songs that
you... There are things that you do to help yourself
rejoice. Because you're not looking at your situation
to rejoice. You're looking at what God has done,
what God is going to do to rejoice. Praise God.
You want to check that. That's how... You stay
active. That's how you stay on fire. Then you
want to give thanks in all things. You want to
give thanks in all things. Remember, we say that
scripture doesn't say give thanks for all things.
You're saying give thanks in all things. And
that's the agency by which you do that is rejoice
in spite of what exactly it is you're going through.
In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 18, right? 1 Thessalonians
5 verse 18, it says, in everything give thanks.
For this is the will of God in Christ for you.
This is the will of God in Christ for you. Know
that you can't thank God and complain at the
same time. I'm yet to see a person that's able
to do that. It's either you're thanking God or
you're complaining. And murmuring or complaining
is one enemy of fervency. It's one very great
enemy of fervency. You complain, complain, complain,
and there are people that are complaining, like
every time we cut, it's almost like you can predict.
That the thing that will come over their mouth
is one complaint or the other. You want to be
very careful about it. You want to even check
it. You want to check it because it's a sign
of something. So all of those points are under
staying active. Remember we say stay active in
the things. So the B part now is seek continuous
godly influences. Seek continuous godly influences.
That's the B part. The first part is stay active
in spiritual disciplines in all seasons. Then
the second part is be continuous, seek continuous
godly influences. That's because you can't do
it alone. That's because you can't, this work,
you are never designed in the work of God to
do things alone. You're never meant to survive
by yourself. You're not a self -made Christian.
There was somebody that preached God's word to
you to get you saved. And then the same way to
maintain your spiritual life, there are people
that God has placed around. There's a church
family, there's God family that helps you to
do that. So you always will need help from others.
Praise God. You will always need help from others
and you should be humble enough to receive that
help from others. Praise God. So the point under
that is value godly relationships. Value godly
relationships. The scripture for that, because
the reason why we value godly relationships is
because we sharpen one another. We sharpen one
another. That is in Proverbs 27 verse 17. Say,
I unsharpened iron. Proverbs 27 verse 17. So
we sharpen one another. You want to also spend
time to cultivate relationships. Cultivate relationships.
Proverbs 27, 17. You want to spend time to cultivate
relationships because it's in those relationships
that you are stirred up. Right? You want to cultivate
relationships that will build your faith, not
drain your faith. Praise God. You want to spend
time with people that will build your faith.
You speak with your brother and then you're just
greatly encouraged. You can't explain it. You
don't want to speak with someone and all of a
sudden you're like, I like you. You just, you're
drained out. Praise God. And I want us to see
2 Timothy. 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy
1 verse 16. Verse 6, sorry. 2 Timothy 1 verse
6. 2 Timothy 1 verse 6. It says, therefore, I
remind you to stir up the gift. of God, which
is in you, through the laying on of my hands.
That's Apostle Paul speaking to Timothy. Timothy,
the gift was Apostle Paul laying his hands, was
stirred up by the laying on of Apostle Paul's
hands. The encouragement is to stir up. Sometimes
it's a fan to flame. And that word there translates
to rekindle. So it means that you want to, that
stir up there translates to rekindle. It means
that you want to always, And the opportunities,
you know, because of the believer comfort, I'll
make reference to that because this was still,
it's not far away where it does. We're weak now
and thereabouts. So note that for many of us,
what happened in that meeting is that you saw
hands were laid on you and you saw certain things,
right? And for you to keep those things, you
want to hang around people that will spoil you
to do even more. Praise God. You want to have
relationships that will build you. You know,
if you have five friends and all of you are reading
the Bible and you are the sixth friend, you end
up reading the Bible. You'll be consistent with
that because those people will stay up to do
the things that will keep you in the faith. Praise
God. Very, very important. So, and then you want
to honor leadership. You want to honor leadership.
You want to honor leadership because if you're
around people that dishonor leadership, it will
be the same situation for you. You want to honor
leadership. In that 1 Thessalonians 5, Verse
12, it says, And we urge you, brethren, to recognize
those who labor among you and over you in the
Lord and admonish. The word there for admonish
is instruct you to esteem them very highly in
love for their work's sake. Be at peace amongst
yourselves. Be at peace amongst yourselves. So
that's 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 12. 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 12. So you want to be able to honor
leadership. You want to be able to honor. And
then you can also add 1 Timothy 5 verse 17. I
would have loved for you to just read it and
amplify it. Read it. And then also stay in fellowship
and service. That's the other point. Stay in
fellowship and service. We said you need people
to be able to grow. You need, you can't do it
all by yourself. So you want to be able to do
that. And the scripture for that is Acts 2 verse
42. Acts 2 verse 42. Acts 2. I'll read it to
us, to our hearing. Acts 2, verse 42. Acts 2,
verse 42. And they continue to state, firstly,
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and
in the breaking of bread and in prayer. So they
do all of those things. You want to be able to
stay in the fellowship and stay, and you don't
want to neglect gathering with God's people.
It's very important. Then let's do this. I will
skip some of it. Okay. So let's just do the,
The C part. The C part, which is the third part,
which is obey biblical instructions. Obey biblical
instruction. It's very key for you to... And
some of us have gotten words of prophecy and
we're not even living up to it. We've not even
studied anything on the things that we've been
given. It's very dangerous because the moment
you keep things aside, it ends up staying that
way. You want to ensure that you don't. You don't
keep the things, just put them at the side. Because
those instructions or those things, they protect
and keep you and guide you and ensure that you
do the work and do it effectively. Praise God.
One on the point is, it's one thing that I think
Pastor Emmanuel will say, which is what we'll
repeat over and over again, which is quench not
the spirit. And we say that that quench not the
spirit is not because you can't quench the spirit.
It's actually quench not the fire of the spirit.
Quench not the fire of the Spirit. That's in
1 Thessalonians 5. Please, let's go to 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 19. Pastor Emmanuel had taught us a
five, I think it was five, it was a five -part
series. That's last year. All of those teachings
are from last year. And then even the course
of the Believers Conference, Pastor Kostin has
told us that, look, when you pray in the Spirit,
when you do all of those, that's an elevated
discussion with God, and you want to ensure that
nothing stops that. You want to ensure that nothing
stops that. Nothing stops that. But now he says,
do not quench the spirit. Remember we said in
the course of that teaching, we said you cannot,
remember we said it has to do with fire, right?
It means that you have to put wood to the fire
to ensure that it keeps burning. You want to
ensure that you do that. And in 20, 20 says,
despise not. That is the second point. Despise
not. It means that even in the course of meetings,
you want to engage. You want to be active. You
want to treat. Prophecy, you don't want to treat
it casually. You don't want to take it and say,
oh, you don't want to receive it. You want to
receive it with respect. You want to honor it.
You want to desire it. You don't want to despise
it. Praise God. And then you want to covet earnestly
the things of God. You don't want to neglect
it. So remember we said, even Timothy was instructed
not to neglect. You don't want to make little
of the things that God is presenting to you or
has presented to you. And we say that. You want
to boil, right? You want to boil. You want to
have a continual earnest desires and passion
for that. Remember we said, for you to be able
to act on these things, you want to be cautious.
You want to write them down. Praise God. You
want to be able to note them down. You don't
want to forget because you prioritize it because
it's important to you so you note them down.
And when you note them down, you want to be able
to take strategic step on how you're going to
see them happen. And for many of us, that's the...
point where it ends for us. We don't take strategic
steps on how we want to see that happen. We just
allow it and then over time, that's what happens.
Then you now come back to the Holy Spirit. And
a couple of us, I think one or two persons shared
with me that they think that the word that they
got from last cataclysm is the same word they
got back again. And that's how you know that
God has not forgotten the plants yet. That's
how you know. You be like this. You haven't done
anything. Because how do you know that you have
done something? The person says, you have done
it and then you admit to add two or three or
four. But the same exact, and the point is, it's
a different person that is telling you the same
thing. And then even that itself does not give
you, does not shock you, does not even bring
you to a place of like, oh Lord, I'm sorry. And
then you now make amends. But some of us, the
way we are going, we are going to the next level,
we are going to the same level. Praise God. I
think there are some people that this thing is
real to them. Because this laugh, I know that
this laugh is real. So please, I beg of you.
I beg of you. The word of the Lord is coming
to you the second time. Some people it's the
third time. Some people it's the fourth time.
Please, it doesn't have to come to you plenty
of times for you to respond. Praise God. It doesn't
have to come to you many times. So you want to,
and the way you can get at something is to start
today. I don't want you to leave this place without
something that you're going to do to start acting
on it. And I bet you, the moment you take that
initiative, that I'm going to do something, you
will see things that will make you stay on course.
Praise God. You will see things. I'm telling
you this by the Spirit of God that you will see
things that will make you stay on course. The
moment you just say this thing, Holy Spirit,
help me to act on this and this and this. This
is the first step. And please, don't overwhelm
yourself. You know, some of you, because the
thing overwhelms you, you have seen pictures,
you've seen all of that, you now want to do everything
one day. That is the recipe for, you never get
back to it. Because you will scare yourself out
of the things that God is wanting you to do.
So you want to say, okay, I'll do this, I'll
do this, I'll do this, and get on with it. Would
you like us to rise up to our feet? Would you
like us to rise up to our feet? And I want you
to make an audit. Look at the areas of your life.
Look at the things that need to make adjustment.
And have a daily check. Remember, I told you
that a daily check would mean that you have to
ask yourself, am I rejoicing? Am I finding myself
complaining? Am I praying? Am I grateful to God?
Am I murmuring? Some of us, the stand -up is
now hard. Praise God. The stand -up is hard.
Say, am I praying? Am I doing things differently?
What are the things that need to change? And
what the Holy Spirit is going to be doing is
that He's going to be setting people. He's going
to make people remind you of some of these things.
He's going to make people ask you questions.
He's going to make people seek to tell you to
get things done and put things together. You
want to be consistent. You want to be regular.
You want to be consistent. You want to be someone
that is always on fire. I want you to pray and
just open your mouth and say, Father, there's
fresh hunger. We're thankful you joined us today.
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God bless.