But we are in the middle of a big shift, and we want to get on the same page so that this
thing happens the best it can.
So go to page two with me.
There's a few things I'm going to bounce through here this morning and just kind of lay some
principles out.
And then there's a specific thing I'm supposed to deal with at the end.
So we have to understand the basics of vision, or the principles of it, to be able
to hang the rest of the information on.
So that will start laying some of those principles this morning.
And since you can read, I'm not going to read this whole book to you.
You go ahead and do that at home.
I'm going to try to pick pieces here and there, but we'll read a few things from the beginning.
Right at the top.
The ultimate purpose for this book is to take a more focused look at the vision of
Word of Life.
The goal is to expand our understanding of Word of Life's vision.
The better we can understand it, the more easily we can engage with it.
The people being engaged with the vision is paramount to this church's success.
It's always about the body being involved.
Next paragraph, Word of Life's vision, this book is the second of two books, so it explains
what I just explained.
Go down to the fourth paragraph.
In a concise definition, vision means to see.
The vision or visions for our lives in this church become the most effective and powerful
when a person sees what God is trying to reveal to them.
That's the whole book in a nutshell right there.
That's what vision means.
For you to see what God has you here for and how to accomplish it.
Proverbs 29, where there is no vision, no redemptive revelation of God is how the amplified
says that.
The people perish.
Different versions say different things.
For a person to get saved or get redeemed, that one refers to the redemptive revelation,
vision.
You see the need to get saved.
For people to get saved, they have to receive some sight or some vision from God.
They have to see, I need a savior.
They get a vision right from the beginning, even though it's more of an understanding
and a knowledge for most of us.
We just know we can, you know, you can use the word, we can see, I need a savior.
Different translations, and we'll get into that as time goes on.
Where there is no vision, one of the translations says people throw off restraint.
In other words, we'll just do whatever we want.
We're not going to go with any kind of restraint because there's no vision of what we're supposed
to be seeing or headed for.
So once we see what we're supposed to run toward, then we discipline our life accordingly
so we get there.
Next paragraph in the middle, vision means to see.
The Holy Spirit must give us redemptive revelation or revelation before we can even be saved.
So what do you think the demonic realm is going to do?
Next verse.
The God of this age has blinded the mind of the unbelievers so they cannot see.
See there it is.
So they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who's the image
of God.
And if they can't see it, they won't see their need for a God, and they won't
get saved.
See, so the whole thing of vision goes right from the beginning of us getting saved.
Vision, or the overall thought of seeing, go to the bottom there.
Vision sees the purpose and the sub-purposes of our life.
And we'll touch those briefly this morning and more so not next Sunday
because next Sunday Igor is with us.
Igor and Tanya is back with us, so it'll be the following.
But we'll get to them.
The purpose and the sub-purpose, these are the what?
So during the service, I'm keep asking, Lord, am I supposed to...
I thought I heard you that I'm supposed to get into this.
Am I supposed to get into this?
Because the thing I'm looking at this morning is purpose.
And it came up a couple of times in the band.
It came up in prayer.
Mary brought it up.
That word, purpose.
When Heidi was praying, what did she pray?
The purpose.
And I thought, yep, we're going to go there.
The purpose is the what that we're supposed to be doing.
Page 3.
Vision also sees the process or the steps needed to do the what.
That we're going to refer to as the how.
Because we can say, well, I know what God wants me to do,
but I don't know how to do it.
Well, he'll help you see that too.
The two have to work together.
But you don't have to know how to do something
if you haven't seen what you're supposed to be doing.
The what has to come first.
Now this is a big principle right there.
God will show the end or the big picture to us.
When he shows you the what, he will reach out.
If this is where we are now,
and way over in the other side of the platform
is where he wants you to be
when you're really fulfilling the reason you're on this earth.
When he shows you the what, and it can be early in life,
it can be shortly after you're saved,
he will show the end to you.
The reason for that is now you have a long-term focus,
and it will keep you on track as long as you keep heading for that.
That's why he shows you.
This is what I'm supposed to be doing before I'm done.
Now keep it in that context,
because many times, all of us, we confuse that with now.
Oh, the Lord showed me I'm supposed to be...
So I'm believing it happens tomorrow.
It won't happen tomorrow.
And you'll get frustrated,
and you'll do things trying to force it to happen
that will be mistakes,
because this is a walk through lifetime thing.
Look at the Scripture there, Habakkuk 2, verse 3 specifically.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time.
He has a time designed for you to get here.
It's not random.
I'll give you an example of that in a bit.
But at the end, it will speak.
And it won't lie.
Though it tarries.
It's like, well, when has this ever...
I've been going after what I feel God is supposed to have me doing
for years, and it's just not happening.
Though it tarries,
wait for it, keep your focus.
Because it will surely come.
Now notice, there's one very important word here.
You're going to say Scripture contradicts itself.
He just said, though it tarries, wait for it.
Because it surely will come.
It will not tarry.
The appointed time for it will not tarry.
But from our perspective, it's like, oh my goodness,
are we ever going to get there?
And I'm going to use Moses as an example.
Moses, the people who brought him into this world and so forth
knew he was sent to deliver Israel.
Moses knew that.
Some place deep in his heart.
Now Scripture doesn't give us this history,
but secular history gives it.
Moses was raised as an equal son with Pharaoh's son.
So all the advantages of Egypt,
which at that point in time were huge.
Egypt was the prosperous land of the world.
All those were available to him.
So he had all the schooling.
He had all the insight that they were allowed to have
as they were growing up in the suns.
He was groomed to be a leader in the nation.
Now he wasn't the biological son,
so his brother was going to be Pharaoh.
But Moses was made the general of all the armies of Egypt.
Now this is secular history.
So he had huge, what you would say, clout in Egypt.
Everybody knew Moses.
And everybody knew the importance he carried.
Moses knew he was supposed to deliver his people.
At some point in the game,
he found out the Israelites, the slaves,
he was one of them.
And at some point that revelation came to him,
and when he was 40 years old,
he was seeing that I need to deliver these people.
And he tried to push it too quickly.
And it got him into a whole pile of trouble.
He ended up leaving the country
because he had to abide by the laws like everything else.
And he killed a man who did not deserve killing,
which means he's going to have to either get imprisoned
or killed himself.
So he ended up fleeing the country.
Well, you say, well, why would Moses get so...
how would you say passionate
that he'd actually kill a person?
Because he was seeing where he was supposed to go.
So then God had to retool him out of Egypt thinking.
He shoved him in the wilderness for 40 years.
And retooled him.
So that when the time came,
he wouldn't depend on his military training
or the strength of the arm of flesh,
but he would depend on God to get him out.
So when you and I see something
that God's asking us to do,
calm down.
There's going to be a process.
And depending upon what he really showed you,
this might be the culmination of your life,
your life's work that he showed you
to get you targeted so you're on the flow.
It's the bottom of page three.
These are the five things we're going to be covering in this book.
God-given Purpose, Core Values, Vision,
Assignments, and Mandates in Accomplishing the Vision.
So jump with me to page four.
We'll skip the top because it's...
I'm just explaining some things there
of why I wrote it the way I did.
You can read that yourself.
The God-given Purpose,
this is what we're supposed to focus a bit on this morning.
We have to...
The first thing that vision must see is purpose.
We must know our purpose,
or you can use that word destiny,
the reason for being on this earth.
If we don't see why we're here,
what we're supposed to accomplish,
we'll never see where we're supposed to be going.
What we're running toward or working toward.
So the last line in that paragraph,
what is our purpose?
What is your purpose as an individual?
What is our purpose as a church?
First comes the revelation of what and then the how.
The what is often seen more easily
and completely than the how.
It's going to be done.
We can say, oh, this is what I'm supposed to do.
But how do we get that to happen?
I have no idea.
And many times people will see the what
right from the beginning.
They'll see the entirety of it.
But the how plays out
in what we call the short and the intermediate term vision.
And we'll talk about these as we go on.
Every day, every month, every year,
we feel like we're just trying to get there.
But remember, a good man's steps are ordered by the Lord.
We're actually, as we're seeking him,
and okay, what do I do next?
He's taking us there.
I'll give you a living example of that.
When we were in Colorado,
okay, I'll jump around a little bit.
When we were in Colorado,
we were just trying to follow God
and do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis
what he wanted us to do.
Well, he undoubtedly, without any question,
led us into doing therapeutic foster care.
You've heard us talk about that.
And at one point, we had 12 children in our home
and all teenagers, mostly girls.
It was really exciting.
And I can honestly say that was never my dream of ministry.
And it felt like it went on a long time,
but in essence, it only went on about 7 or 8 years
of our life.
And here we are.
We're trying to go for what God wants done
and we're doing what?
But what we learned in that 7, 8 years
prepared me some, prepared Mary much more than I
because she's the one who's basically over it
for mission 61.
See, part of our vision has always been
to help people who are struggling,
getting out of addictive type of things
or trying to get plugged back in life.
They made a mistake and now they're caught in a bad spot
and how do they get plugged back in life.
And that's all been part of our vision.
So let's go do it.
And God's saying, you got no clue what you're doing.
You're going to face things there
that neither one of you have ever seen before.
So while we're going from point A to point B,
we're going to educate you.
And you get to do foster care.
That's not what I'm called to.
From God's side it is.
Because it's getting you ready for the purpose.
Now here's what's interesting.
And I don't know, I trust Calvin and Brian enough
in their accuracy to...
It's in the book.
I trust them enough, it's in the book.
And I don't know how this is going to look
or how this is going to work out.
But our focus has been ministry,
basically church ministry, church-based kind of ministry.
And he made the statement in one of his prophecies.
He said that she's been designed to be put over an orphanage.
So we've been trying to get to Africa to have an orphanage.
And it just, you kick on the door and it just don't open.
It just don't open.
And it's been in her heart since she was a little girl
which goes with purpose.
I'll get there in a second.
But it was put in her heart since she was a little girl
to take care of orphans.
So he made that prophecy.
He said, I hear God telling me orphans, orphanage.
This is going to be a huge part of the ministry.
In fact, he said this will become the crown jewel
of word of life in TBO.
Orphans and orphanage.
Well, how in the world are we going to get to Africa?
And because that's where most orphanages are.
Well, maybe it's a different part of the world.
I don't know.
And then one day just moving forward
and she takes a step and she goes,
who are the people that comprise the greatest bulk of Mission 61?
Orphans.
People without family, people without fathers,
people without mothers,
people who are struggling to stand up in society
because they've been kicked down so hard over and over.
So we don't have to go to Africa.
This is the orphanage.
So as you're going for the end,
there's all kinds of maneuvering God does with you.
You can't skip that to go there.
Because if you skip that,
you'll drop the ball when you get there
because you're not ready for it.
Just remember that.
That's a huge point right there.
We have to remember that.
We have to know that.
So here's another huge point.
Go to page 5.
Let her see.
Vision will first of all help us see a need.
Those needs that stand out to us
are likely part of the purpose we're on the earth to fulfill.
It's the what that we're supposed to address.
The need.
Moses saw the need of the children of Israel being set free.
And he thought in his training and his genius he could do that.
And he was taken the wrong approach, number one.
And he was too early, number two.
Now here's a huge principle with you going toward
and this church going toward what God wants us to accomplish.
The average person, and I think it's because we don't know this principle.
We either get ahead of God, like Moses.
Or we get frustrated because we're not getting there fast enough and we just quit.
And then we get behind God.
Okay, so now this is how God works.
The children of Israel were brought out of Egypt.
The scripture says,
to the day that it was prophesied they'd come out.
And the prophecy was 430 years earlier.
So that one's kind of hard to arrange on your own.
So 430 years earlier God said,
well I see where my people are going and I'm going to deliver them and bring them out.
And the scripture says, to the exact day that it was prophesied they came out.
So how in the world does God work that?
This is how he works that.
God works on the basis, we're all here to fulfill a need.
To be the answer to a need.
That's why you're alive.
You know, if sin hadn't entered the world we'd have different purposes.
But sin came and this world needs us.
People around us need us.
God needed to get the children of Israel out.
On that day.
So about five days ahead he started scratching his head and going, how am I going to do that?
No, God works with eternal purpose.
He said, okay, if that's the day we got to bring them out.
I'm going to design someone.
Psalms 139.
When you and I were in our mother's womb,
God designed us for the reason we're here.
He gave us the gifts we need.
He gave us the personality traits we need.
You know, the Lord just told me when I was studying it this week and some things, you know,
the flesh and the demonic always are sitting there trying to talk to you.
And they jumped up and they started telling me some things about my personality.
And the thought starts going, well, yeah, why can't I be more like so-and-so?
And the Holy Spirit stopped me right in the middle of it.
And he said, be quiet in your thinking.
I wasn't saying this out loud, I was thinking this.
He said, be quiet.
He said, the traits you have, I gave to you.
That doesn't mean you can't file them and brush them up a bit, you know.
No matter who we are.
He said, but the traits you have, I gave to you
because those are the traits that are needed to do what I've asked you to do.
If you were like so-and-so, they couldn't do it.
So when we were in our mother's womb, he was,
if you read the Amplified or some different versions and study the original words,
it's like he wove us together in a tapestry.
And a tapestry, boy, how do you describe a tapestry?
It's many, many different colors of like in, if you're a knitter,
you bring many, many different colors and put the patterns together
and it makes a tapestry.
Some of you are wearing clothes that look like a tapestry.
They're all different colors, all woven together and put together that way.
That's how you and I are created. Why?
Because there's a need out here someplace that God's making us to fulfill.
That's our purpose. That's why we're here.
In Moses' case, it was to get the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land.
So God said, I am going to create one who's going to do that.
Now he never creates just one. He doesn't put all his marbles in one basket.
And that's just not good business. God doesn't do that.
But let's just stick with Moses for the moment.
I'm going to create one and he decided to go with this one, Moses.
So he looked at his traits and his life
and then God and his wisdom and ability for knowledge
looked at the fact that, you know, sometimes I think the devil knows the Scripture better than us
because he's had thousands of years to look at it and he's trying to see what's coming to.
Well, he knew the prophecy that these people have to be delivered.
And he knows how God works.
God sees the need, backs up in time to the point, the running start he needs
so that this person will be ready for that.
Well, apparently the devil figured that one out.
That's why the children were being killed.
That was the demonic trying to head off the deliverance of Israel.
That's why we had to put Moses in the basket
and get rid of him, so to speak, so he wouldn't die.
And he ended up, Pharaoh's daughter found him in the river, floating down the river
and took him in and you know the story.
So God sees all this and he sees there's going to be a tent made on Moses' life and everything else.
So he backs up. How many years will it take with the traits I'm putting in this guy
because he's living in a fallen world and he's going to have wonderful traits by me
but he's going to do all kinds of stuff wrong until he figures it out.
And he has obviously got to be a very strong leader
because he's going to lead well over a million people.
So he can't be a soft touch here.
So we're going to make a really strong leading man
and then he's going to have an attempt on his life
and he's going to end up not actually living with Israelites.
He's going to end up living with Egyptians in the world system
which is going to really mess with his thinking
because now he's going to be coming not from an angle of faith and believing in God.
He's going to be coming from an angle of, I can do this.
So he's going to mess things up.
So then we're going to have to have some time to get that out of him.
Reteach him.
And since he is being made such a strong leader, it's going to take a while.
We're going to have to beat on him for a while.
But we need him by this season
and it's got to be ready to go on this day.
How long is it going to take?
He backed up 80 years.
He said, here's the guy I'm creating to do that.
Here's his purpose.
So we're going to stick him in the earth here
and we're going to let it play out,
but it's going to take me 80 years to get him ready.
Moses was created to deliver the children of Israel.
God sees the need and he backs up
and creates the person to fulfill that need.
That is true for every one of us.
Paul says in Ephesians 1,
you were chosen from the foundation
or the recreation of the world.
For what?
To be saved.
Well, yeah, that's part of it.
He needs to get in your life if he's going to lead you
and guide you and help you.
But he didn't send us to this earth
so that the ultimate end is we get saved.
He sent you and I to this earth to do something.
There's a need, there's a whole
that you're perfectly designed to plug and fix.
Which drives the devil nuts
because he's trying to stop all these.
From happening.
And he's not God.
You think, you know, Scripture says
confusion doesn't come from God.
Well, that's one confused puppy.
Because he's trying to, he's chasing his tail
trying to shut down what God's doing.
And God says, well, you know,
I needed someone there to do that.
So let's back up and here's the amount of time we need
and they'll be ready by then.
That's how we have to view our life.
Your purpose is to meet a need.
It's why you're alive.
Might be more than one need,
but it's why you're alive.
And as we go through life,
we're getting closer and closer to that ultimate purpose.
And for different people,
it happens at different points in their life.
For Joseph, it happened at age 30.
For Moses, it happened at age 80.
For Abraham, it happened at about 100.
See, so it happens at different places,
but God has that all figured out.
Vision will help us to see the need we're created for
and then as we start walking toward what we're supposed to do,
we will see how we're supposed to meet that need.
So now let's go to the main thing the Lord wanted to
to have emphasized here this morning.
Scriptures on purpose will take us there.
So let me make the statement before we read some of these Scriptures.
If we will find what we're here for and attach to it,
all kinds of wonderful promises kick in to get us there
and all kinds of hell breaks loose against us
because it sees us going there.
So we immediately are on the receiving end
of all kinds of covenant promises
because God says they see it.
Now we're going there. We're going to make it happen.
And the devil says, oh no, they see it.
Put a target on their back.
We got to take them down before they get there.
So the two kingdoms kick into gear.
If we are in God's purpose and stay walking,
nothing will stop it. Nothing will stop it.
Nothing.
If we are not in God's purpose trying to do a good idea
we have or a good thing we have in mind,
God himself will fight against us
because he doesn't want us doing that.
He wants us doing what we're here for.
So follow, let me just point out
and you only have to read the underlined parts.
You can read the whole thing and study them out
when you get home.
But first one there,
I have raised you up for this very purpose.
He thwarts the purposes.
We'll start at the beginning.
The Lord foils the plans of the nation.
He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
Why? Because they're not in agreement with his purpose.
Third one, I cry out to the most high to God
who fulfills his purpose for me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.
In his heart a man plans his course.
But the Lord determines his steps.
You say, well, what if the man's not walking with the Lord?
Then the Lord will fight against him.
To get him back so he can get into his heart
and get him walking the steps of the Lord
because that man or that woman was designed for
to meet a need and as long as they're doing their own thing
they'll never get there and then the earth will suffer because of it.
So you can have all the plans you want
but the Lord's going to determine it.
Now the next verse says it even better.
Many are the plans in a man's heart
but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails.
This goes along with what Jesus told Paul
when he blew him off his horse in the road.
He said, why are you kicking against the pricks?
Which means he was literally pushing against,
kicking against stuff that was hurting him.
It was damaging him but he kept doing it.
Well, Paul had plans according to what he had been taught.
But the Lord's purpose is going to prevail.
So we're going to get your attention, blow you off your horse
and we're going to talk to you about this.
There's a time to every purpose.
Remember, we can't just make something happen
because we want to make it happen.
There's a timing here that God has
because he sees what we're here for
and he backed up to get us ready when we get there.
So there's a timing. Remember that.
There's a time for every purpose, the bottom one.
Now go to the next page.
The Lord of hosts, this is Jehovah Sabaoth,
half sworn saying,
as I have purposed, so shall it stand,
this is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth.
So in context, he's revealing part of the reason
he calls himself Jehovah Sabaoth,
the Lord of War, service and the appointed time.
That's what that name means.
Is because he will go to war for you
to get you in your purpose.
Read that again.
He half sworn.
Now when God swears, that means it's done.
He gave his word on it.
As I have purposed, so shall it stand.
Now in context, he's talking different situation,
but that's how he works.
He backs up, I got a purpose for you,
gets us going,
and then he will go to war
on our behalf or against us.
Remember, we just read those verses.
Yeah, you go ahead and make whatever plans you want.
I'm going to squash them like a bug.
Until you start doing what I want you to do,
you're going to struggle.
And I've heard people say,
why do I struggle so much in life?
Someone else does the same thing I was planning to do.
It just works for me.
And me, it's like beating my head against a wall.
You're not in your purpose.
You've got a great idea.
But God's going, shut that down on him.
Shut that down on her.
That's not what they're supposed to be doing.
Well, if we'll back up and go,
okay, this isn't working.
And actually get in step with God and say,
okay, God, what am I here for?
All of a sudden, things can change
because he goes to war on our behalf.
The Lord of Horses has purposed
who shall disannull it.
The next verse, underline,
my purpose will stand.
And I will do all that I please.
What I have said, that will I bring about.
What I have planned, that I will do.
Oh, jump down a little further.
It's Acts 5, 38, and 39.
Gamaliel understood this.
And he was a Sanhedrin in with the Jews.
But he understood this.
And when it came to the, we talked about this,
I think last week, when it came to the Christians
and the Christian church,
the, you know, the religious leaders,
the Jewish leaders wanted to kill them all
and stop the church.
And this was his advice.
He said, leave them alone, let them go
for if their purpose, there it is again.
If their purpose or activity is of human origin,
it will fail.
Why?
Because God will stop it.
And there's people that live their whole lifetime frustrated.
They never get, let's use the word ahead.
They never get ahead in what it just like they're,
they're living, they're succeeding as far as
surviving is concerned.
But they just never get there.
It never just kicks in gear and just flows for them.
Well, you're into something that's human origin.
It's not the reason you were created.
And it just keeps failing over and over.
But back to the verse, if it is from God,
if the purpose or activity is from God,
you're not going to be able to stop this.
See, so if we will link in with what God's
asking us to do, we are guaranteed success.
Because God will go to war for us to make it happen.
1336 there in Acts when David had served
God's purpose in his own generation.
There was a reason David was created.
You know, anybody who knows the story of David
knows the general reason David was created
to get Israel set up and take the enemies down
so that they could be a world power
under Solomon and build the temple
and get everything going the way it was supposed to go.
But there were too many enemies
that were continually trying to squash Israel.
And God said, we're going to put a stop to that
so he created David.
I mean what teenager in his right mind
goes down into a pit bare handed to kill a lion?
What is wrong with you boy? Go get some help.
I mean, but see that was in him, that warrior of
oh look at there's an opportunity.
Let's go kill that sucker.
Oh I guess I'm alone. Well I'll do it alone then.
That's why they think he was around age 17 or 18
when he did the giant thing, Goliath.
So now put yourself in Saul's place.
See now Saul had the spirit of God on him.
He lost that later when David became a threat.
Saul became jealous and was afraid
David was going to take the throne
and he started doing dumb stuff
because he was motivated by the wrong motivation.
But when they were facing the Philistines
Saul had the spirit of God on him.
He could recognize things.
So now put yourself in Saul's position.
You have an entire army of men here
who have been camped across the valley
from another entire army
and this giant comes out and taunts you every day.
Everybody here in your group is scared spitless
including yourself.
I ain't going out there. See how big he is?
So he's trying to get someone to take up this challenge.
Long story short
this 17-18 year old kid
fresh off of watching sheep
shows up
and says, I can do it.
What king in his right mind would even consider that?
You have no military training.
Who are you again?
If you think I'm going to turn the future
of the entire kingdom over to you
you're cuckoo.
That would be the average person's thinking.
Saul saw something in him
and had to be by the spirit of God
because nothing else makes sense.
Saul saw something in him
and said, yep,
we're going to put the entire future
of the entire nation of Israel
in a 17 year old kid's hands
who doesn't have any military training.
Dress him up in my armor.
Saul was a big man.
David wasn't that big.
This didn't work. David said, get this off of me.
I'll be dead if I stay in this.
What are you going to go after him with?
I got a slingshot.
Oh yeah, you're just inspiring confidence here.
It's like, slingshot, eh?
What are you going to use for ammunition?
Well, I'm going to go to the river
and I'm going to grab a few rocks.
What king in his right mind would say,
yep, we're buying into that plan.
This really sounds like from God.
He bought into it.
And David took another step forward
for the reason he was on this earth.
To kill Goliath was the reason.
One of the reasons he was here.
Overall, he was here to be a warrior.
Why are you here?
Bottom of page six.
And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God,
to them that are called according to his.
I hear that verse quoted.
Rarely the last part gets quoted.
All things work together for good to them
that love God and we love God.
So we're believing.
Finish the verse.
You can love God
and not be walking in his purpose.
The guarantee of things turning out well
are not the fact you love God.
That's part of it.
You got to hook up with God.
You've got to get saved.
You've got to tie in to God.
But it's also tied to
are you and step with me
going where I want you to go
to do what I want you to do.
Because if you are,
I will fight for you.
And there goes Gamaliel's statement.
Hey, if this thing's of God,
just back up and let it happen
because you're fighting God.
Gamaliel knew this principle.
God wants everything to work out good
for his children.
I mean that you see in Scripture
over and over and over.
One of the big reasons it doesn't
is because we're not in his purpose for us.
We're doing our own thing.
I don't see Jeff here.
He was sitting on the drums this morning.
That's all right. We don't need him.
I don't want him to play drums right now.
I just want to refer to something.
The reason this young man is alive
is not because Mary and I had such great faith.
We were scared spitless
when he got spinal meningitis as a baby.
And as a good,
logical man
who at that time we couldn't afford health insurance
and the doctor said,
if you don't have him back to the clinic
so we can air-flight him down
to Children's Hospital in Denver
within an hour,
it was by four o'clock he wanted him there.
He said, by 4.30 there will be a sheriff
on your doorstep
and we will take him from you.
Because I had asked,
I want to go back and pray over him.
Because he wanted to immediately send him off.
He said, this kid's got spinal meningitis.
If you don't get him to Children's Hospital,
he'll be a vegetable or dead.
I'm going to send him now.
I said, well,
I don't know if I want to agree with your prognosis here.
I said, I got some people.
I want to take back to my wife
and we want to pray together.
And there was another couple who prayed with us.
He was a total unbeliever.
He thought I was nuts.
He said, okay, I'll give you one hour.
If he's not back here in one hour,
I'll send the sheriff.
He'll come get him.
Long story short,
he was healed.
And he never went to Children's Hospital.
Because by the time we got back there at 4 o'clock,
he was whole.
Not because we had such great faith.
When we were praying with the other couple,
the Holy Spirit dropped it in my heart.
And I didn't even know what I was doing.
I was just trying to follow the spirit.
I'm way back over there going,
we're supposed to be doing this stuff over here,
this ministry stuff.
And we're about to go bankrupt because
we can't even afford the helicopter ride down there.
Much less.
He's probably going to be there.
And if he lives,
then he's going to be a vegetable.
I mean, this is a nightmare.
So we're back here.
While we're praying over him,
they came out to the car
and he's in the car seat
doing his spinal meningitis thing,
flailing and eyes rolled back and
that whole thing.
This is life or death for us.
This is life or death for you
in your life and in different areas you're facing.
Holy Spirit dropped it in my heart.
He asked me a question while we're praying.
He said,
Have you given me everything?
Think I was able to say
God to my knowledge.
I'm sure there's areas that are
not there yet.
But to my knowledge,
our whole lives
have been built around one thing.
What you've asked us to do.
And the thought that went through me at that point,
I'll just be honest,
because we're all human.
And the thought when after I said that,
and I prayed that,
the thought that went through my mind was,
and boy, to this point,
it's been kind of shitty at times.
We're all human.
And there were parts of my life
I was not impressed with.
This is God.
Holy Moly.
This is nasty.
But it was God.
Because he's trying to get us ready
for where we're going.
Which by the way,
end of the long story,
the whole previous of our life
where we're going is right here.
And what he's trying to accomplish
is right here in Minnesota.
Anyway, so that thought went through my mind.
And now it's hard to stay in the spirit
because, you know,
bad attitude wants to come up.
Well, if this was God,
why is it...
Take those thoughts captive.
Shut them down.
I said, yes,
to my knowledge,
we have done everything.
And I'm asking on the basis,
I knew covenant by that point.
I'm asking on the basis of covenant exchange.
We've given you our life.
Now I'm asking,
you give us his.
Give us a miracle.
It was about five minutes
from there back to the clinic.
On the way back,
God gave us a miracle.
Based on one thing.
One thing.
Had we been off doing our own thing
saying, yeah, I know I'm supposed to be doing this
or that.
I know I'm supposed to be doing something in ministry,
but you know what?
That whole thing,
I'm not interested in that.
I'm going to go do my own thing.
That boy would either be dead
or a vegetable.
Because we read the scriptures.
When you're in God's purpose,
he won't let you be stopped.
It must take place.
That's why
when she was laying in the hospital,
there's one reason why she's alive
and doing well.
One reason.
Of course, she knew this principle.
And she's running all the questions through her mind
why she should stay on earth.
Because she's got to make a choice here.
Doctor gave her six months
if she does chemo and radiation.
Maybe a few years.
Other than that, six months.
So I asked the doctor.
You know, I'm a dumb farmer at heart.
So I asked the doctor.
I said radiation.
Where you point that?
That kills everything, right?
Yep, kills it all.
We'll kill the cancer.
I said, what about everything around there?
Like, isn't there some important stuff
in there that should live?
Like maybe the liver and intestines?
You know, there's some stuff there we don't want dead.
Well, the only reason we would do that
is for her quality of life.
It'll buy her more time.
So you're going to give her more time to suffer
because you killed her intestines
or whatever else is there.
You know, just...
It doesn't always take a brain surgeon to think it through.
So she's laying in the hospital, asking the questions.
Or being asked the questions, running the questions
to remind, why do you want to stay here?
She had all kinds of answers.
Of course, to a mother and a grandmother, it'd be the children.
That answer is not good enough.
There's a lot of mothers who have died
because their goal was to stay for their children.
You will not find...
No, we're told to be fruitful and multiply and reproduce.
But the thing that God wants us in is our purpose
while we're doing the children thing
and the family thing and the grandchildren thing.
They are not the purpose.
They're part of it.
But they're not the purpose.
Or a woman who cannot have children has no purpose on earth.
If children are the purpose, women are here.
Then women who can't get married, don't get married,
don't have children, whatever, well, they're worthless.
We might as well go with what the Democrats want to do
and assist them in suicide.
That's coming up in this next round.
They're already talking about Minnesota becoming
an assistant suicide state.
In case you're wondering, well, why did he bring that up?
Because that's where they want to go with it, this next term.
Well, if a woman has no purpose, let's help her out.
She's miserable, just kill her.
See, the purpose for a woman or for a man
who never got married, never had children, whatever,
the purpose is not built around the children
or they have no purpose.
God has a different purpose for them.
And children can be part of it
or they don't have to be part of it.
But God has a purpose for them to walk out.
And she finally landed on
you, you promised us revival.
You say, what's revival? People getting saved,
people getting healed, people getting delivered
and on and on and on, people's lives
turning around, not only on earth but forever.
You promised that to me.
And I haven't seen what I want to see there yet.
That's why I want to stay.
Bangal, right answer.
Because that's what you're here for.
And if you will do what you're here for,
there's nothing that will get in your way
that can stop you.
Period.
This is huge, this purpose thing.
This is huge.
So let me wrap this up.
I'm gonna wrap it up with some scriptures.
This one I quoted to you, I'll read it
to Ephesians chapter one verse four.
Just as he has chose us in him
before the foundation of the world
and he goes on and explains that,
salvation and so forth, that's all part of it.
We gotta get saved to walk in this.
Verse nine, having made known to us
the mystery of his will.
According to his pleasure, I think I'm in the NIV here.
According to his good pleasure,
which he purposed in himself.
Verse 11, in him also, we have obtained an inheritance
being predestined or being picked
according to his purpose.
Who works everything out,
who works all things.
If you want all things to work,
you gotta get in a position where God can work all things.
Who works all things according to
the counsel of his will, his purpose.
Jeremiah, no, this is Psalms 139.
Before I formed you,
before you were formed,
my mind's elsewhere, back up.
For you formed my inward parts,
you covered me in my mother's womb,
I will praise you for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made, and it goes on to describe
how in the secret place of the mother's womb
God puts the tapestry together.
He's creating a person
to meet a need.
And he's giving them everything they need
to do that.
Jeremiah 1, verse 5,
before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you.
So he knew what he wanted us to be
way before we ever got conceived.
Before you were born,
I set you apart.
And then he gave Jeremiah his purpose.
That principle, since we're chosen
from the foundation of the world,
which is probably before we were conceived.
That was a joke.
In case you didn't catch it.
Since we were chosen early
when we were formed in the womb,
he knew us already
and what we needed to become
to meet that need.
God has a purpose for every person
sitting here.
Every one of us were created
to meet a need.
And he worked it all together
to make you capable
of meeting that need.
Well, I couldn't do it.
God's purpose you can do.
You're designed specifically to do it.
God's purpose for this church
we can do.
Because we're designed specifically for it
and he's gathering the people to make that happen.
His purpose for this church we can do.
Now if we get out of that
and start going a different direction,
we may struggle.
But if we can stay in that vein,
bring it on.
We're ready.
And it will keep doing what it's supposed to do
which we'll get into that week's coming.
Right now the question he wanted me to ask you
now that you have that basic understanding
of a few principles there
what's your purpose and are you in it?
Why are you on this earth?
What's the reason?
And don't go religious on me like
well, I didn't want to be a pastor.
We don't need some of you as a pastor.
You're living nightmare as a pastor.
There's more reasons to be on earth
than well, I'm not an apostle
or a prophet or a pastor.
That's religious thinking.
Some of you were designed and created
it always goes back to kingdom.
Always with God.
It's not about our pleasure on this earth.
Always goes back to kingdom.
Some of you were designed and created
to be successful businessmen
so you can fund a purpose.
But there's a key with that.
You can't keep most of it for yourself
and be pleasing to God.
Why tithe? Good.
That's not a bad thing. It's a good thing.
But if God really prospers some of us
we have way more than we know what to do with.
Why do you think he gave you that?
To give it to your kids?
I doubt it.
Because they will find a way to spend it.
And I'm pretty sure most of it won't go for the kingdom.
Some of you are designed to be a plumber.
You say, why would God want my purpose to be a plumber?
Well, we all have the basic design of our job
is to get people saved and to pray over and get them healed.
I mean that goes for everybody.
Whether you're a plumber or businessman or whatever.
Our underlying reason, we haven't gotten to that yet
but our underlying purpose is to promote
and push the kingdom of heaven forward.
Kingdom of God forward. That's for all of us.
But while we're doing that we have sub-purposes.
Your sub-purpose might be a plumber.
While you're doing what God's asking you to do
and witnessing to people and helping people, you're a plumber.
Well, why would God make me a plumber?
I don't know, ask him. It might be to help that person
who can't afford it to get their house fixed.
Because they're pipe broke and it got cold
and we're a grandma and we're alone
and we can't afford to fix this.
That might be your purpose.
You say, I can't give my labor away free.
You can't or you won't.
Because if you were in your purpose
helping people along, maybe that's your purpose
to help people all along the way.
And God will give opportunities and He will test you
and He'll throw spots you into spots where it's like
if I'm going to take this job on
I could even lose money over this
and He's going, yep, you could.
Let's see what you do with it.
Is this all about money or is this about that person?
See, and that's how our sub-purposes break out
and you know what?
If you will take care of the reason you're here
money will never be a problem.
You might go through dry seasons
but I mean in the end
you're not going to have a money problem
because God is going to make sure you fulfill your purpose
and the laborer is the first one to eat of the harvest.
Right? Now what Jesus said?
What are you here for?
Do you know in your heart what you're here for?
And are you doing it?
You say, well how will I know?
Let me give you the answer to that really quick.
Here's the condensed version.
If you remove finances
the desire for more or the lack of
either way you can serve money.
Poor people serve money, you know that?
Well I know this is a valid need
but we don't have enough to give to it.
Well so you're serving money, not God
because God asked you to give to it.
Well we don't have enough so now who are you serving?
And people who want to get a lot of it
you know that's who we usually say
oh they're just doing that to serve money.
Well they might be.
So remove finances
remove your mother and father's
goals for you
and with that
remove the relatives plans
for your life
and try to deal with any
pride shame or fear
first three things that enter the human race
even get rid of those three as a motivation.
Pride shame or fear.
Remove all those
try to separate yourself from them
and say God what comes up
in my heart that I really
this is a need
that needs to be taken care of
in the human race, in our community
wherever
this is something that I would
love to do.
But there's no money in it
so I can't know remove finances
and then about finances this is about
your purpose you do your purpose
finances take care of itself.
Well what would mom and dad say
mom and dad need to get their nose out of your business
once you're an adult.
Sorry mom and dad
but
once they're an adult you need to let them be an adult
before God
because when they're a judgment
he's not going to say where's the mom
I'd like to talk about
what he did I'd like to talk to the mom
he can talk
to him about what he did
so let him make his choices
you can try to guide him
but let him make his choices
and our lives
are never supposed to be a family
discussion or decision
let's get the relatives together
and decide what would be best
you will miss God by a thousand miles
because now you're coming
totally from a human perspective
and get pride, shame
and fear out of there and say God
show me
what I
would love to do this is
what I gravitate towards
now anybody with any spiritual insight
if they know you well at all
they already see it in you because remember
it was put into you as a baby
in the womb
and as you walked out life
this particular thing keeps
surfacing in you
even as a little kid
why is it some little girls
run
to someone who's been injured
Because they love to care-take them. And others throw up at the sight of blood.
Why is that? Purpose. They already have something built into them. They just need to focus it down
and find it. And the biggest trick in this society is you're taught to choose your life's work
on the basis of finances. What money are you going to make doing that?
And we have so many Christians who've missed God because we've been taught
to decide on the wrong basis. You can find your purpose really quick. I've always wanted to be.
It's like a homing beacon in you. It's like a bird in migration.
You have this longing and desire to go there. It's in you. God put it in you when He put you
together so you wouldn't miss what the need is here that you're going to meet and fulfill
and take care of. There's no rocket science to this. It's like a bug door light.
You will just go there if you get out of the man-made decision-making process.
What would cause someone to want to be a police officer in this culture?
And from a little kid on up, that's what they want to do. It's what they want to be.
When I grow up, I'm going to be a policeman. And they grow up and become one. You know why?
That's their purpose. Sub-purpose. Their real purpose is to minister the kingdom of God.
But while they're doing that, they need to plug a hole. What's yours? Are you in it?
I don't care how old we are. We can be five years left in life. You got five years left.
Don't look at it like, well, I only got five years. No, I have five years left.
Let's see God do something. That's the question that we're supposed to take home and think about.
What's my purpose? And am I doing it? And that's how you find it.
Remove everything that society tells us how to make that decision.
Because remember, we're living in a society that is largely under the rule of evil.
Do you think the demonic realm in their wisdom would give you the keys to finding
how to serve God? Of course not. They're going to give you the instruction on how to get you
as far away from God as possible. So most everything you hear from your high school
counselor and from the college people and so forth is a bunch of Bahu'i on how you find
your purpose on this earth. Because they are following the teachings of men who without
the Holy Spirit scripture says it's foolishness and even demonic in its core.
I'm not against education. You know, if you're going to be a police officer,
I sure hope you get an education and know how to shoot a gun. It's helpful, man.
You're pointing in my direction. I got to have the confidence you're not going to hit me.
You know, so I'm not against education. If I need a doctor, I'd prefer to have someone who has some
kind of education. You know, it doesn't inspire confidence in me if I ask that,
have you ever done this before? No, I don't even know what I'm looking for,
but we're going to go in there and figure it out. It's like, maybe I'll find a different doctor.
But find your purpose first, then let God educate you. Some of us are very frustrated in life.
You need to step back and say, am I doing what God asked me to do? What I'm designed and built for,
am I actually doing it? And some of you are really, you're flying, you're sailing.
So you need to take a step back and say, okay, God's prospering this in me in every way,
including my own peace. I feel really good with what I'm doing. I'm accomplishing something.
You need to step back and ask, okay, so why am I, why am I really in this? What am I supposed
to do with this? You're in the vein, but now we've got to navigate that vein.
This church, every church, has to step back at times and say, are we still doing what God asked us to do?
Because sometimes it goes really easily. And then other times, since we got a big target painted
on our back, it's like all we see is enemy. And we got to break through the line to keep
going because we know we're supposed to go that way. So it's not, you can't measure it by
how easy things go. I mean, if Paul would have measured whether he's doing the right thing by
how easy it went, he would have quit early on. I mean, how often do you have to get beaten with
rods and whipped and stoned and left for dead before you get the message? Well, he never
got the message because he knew his purpose. So Lord, that's the question I felt you asked
me to leave with us. What's our purpose? Well, we know our general purpose to promote
the kingdom and advance the kingdom of God. What's our sub-purposes? Why are we in this church?
What are we supposed to be contributing to this church? Is it just money? Is that it?
Not belittling money. It takes money to do things. But is that it? Is it more? Why am I here?
What is my purpose of being here? What is the purpose we're headed for? Lord, we're in a mighty
shift of your spirit. This church will not look the same a year from now. And it's time right
now for us. It's time right now for us to step back and go, how do I plug into this? What am I
supposed to do? Maybe your purpose is to get on the cat team and the faith and freedom march
and change this state for God's glory. Maybe that's your purpose for being here.
Then do it with all your heart, all your might. Be willing to pay the price of sacrificing
something so you can do it. But do it. Whatever it is, there's a purpose for you. Not only in
open our eyes and our hearts to see it, to know it. And Lord, there's been so many attacks
on people from abuse to neglect. I mean, there's been so many attacks on children that
when they become adults, they're just struggling to live, much less figure out what am I here
for God for. In the name of Jesus, I call all that junk to go silent in them and allow them to
find who they are. Not who the abusers said they were, not who the rejecters said they were,
not all that junk. Find who they are and what the craving of their heart is in Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. Amen.