you to drive while you make the payments. If you think that car belongs to you, just miss a payment. Test it for yourself. I don’t recommend it; but you can test it for yourself, just miss a payment and see what happens. Pretty soon you’re going to get a phone call or an SMS or whatever, or a letter. Someone calls you; “Hello, I’m from West Bank or I’m from ABSA or I’m from whatever, and you were supposed to make a payment on your car. It was due on the 30th and now it’s the 14th and there is no payment. Please can you make your payment?”
Huh? Why are they making that call? Because you have a contract, you missed a payment according to the contract. So, now they are saying; “We want money.” I don’t recommend this, but you can test this if you like, miss three payments and see how much of this car belongs to you. After three or four payments that you might have missed, you’re not just going to get SMSs that are quite friendly, you are going to start having people coming to your house. They are going to start to come and look for the car and they are going to take the car back because you have not fulfilled the terms of your contract. Right?
You may do the same thing by renting a house, legally, signing a rental agreement in a house, a flat, whatever you live by and so, sometimes those contracts are in writing and sometimes those contracts are verbal contracts. Depending on where you stay and the nature of the agreement. I know that in South Africa, especially in the townships, there are contracts that are made that are verbal contracts. You can live in this shack on the part of the house for so many hundreds of rands per month and then you can live here, but they have a different way of enforcing the contract.
They don’t ask nicely, they bring three or four other guys with them and they say, “Hey, you can make the payment, hamba kahle.” Right? Either which way, there is a contract and you have to fulfil the terms of the contract. If you buy a house and you have a mortgage on the house, a bond, if you buy the house then you would buy it for a term limit. Once again, you might think the house is yours and the water and lights accounts and the rates and taxes and everything might be in your name, but the reality is that the house still belongs to the one that lent you the money to buy the house. If you just miss a couple of payments, the same process that happens with the car, they will start phoning, they’ll start phoning. Pretty soon, if you can’t make the payments, somebody knocks on the door and says, “We are going to ask you to move out the house because we have got to now sell this house because we have to make our money back that we lent you. By the way, if we sell the house for less than the money that you owe, you are still liable for the difference.”
Do you believe in those contracts? I mean, those contracts are real right? I mean they run our society, don’t they? They do. I mean, there are benefits and there are consequences. The benefit of signing a contract to ride a car is that you can ride to work and back and you can go to places in a car. Yes? You can use it to make things happen in your life; benefit. Consequence? No payment, no car. Then the other consequences nowadays, you get a bad credit rating and then you want to go and borrow more money to get a car and they say; “Uh uh, no, not so fast.” Right? We believe in the contract. In fact, the world’s system believes in the contract so much, they have so many rules to enforce the contract. Isn’t that right?
If you believe in this contract then you believe, for sure that in every contract there are benefits and there are consequences. Do you believe that? Right? I ask all of you here today; what do you think this is? I ask all of you here today, what do you think this is? [Pastor John holds up his Bible] Isn’t it a contract? Isn’t it a new, old contract, which is the Old Testament. The old will of God? The Old Testament, the old will of God, is like this… If you will do what I command you and if you obey all My words, and you do this, and you do this, then you will have life and you will have increase. You will have prosperity and you will have good things happen to you. If you obey My commands. That’s under the old contract right? If you do not obey My commands, then all these curses, the lack of benefits, the consequences will come into your life. Isn’t that what the old contract is all about? You say, in the old contract you say, “Well, I’ve got to obey all of these rules.” You can’t always obey all the rules and God said, even if you disobey one rule, all the consequences of one rule being broken, is equal to breaking all of the rules.
Same consequence, so you can’t actually dig yourself out of that hole, you can’t make up the payments, as it were, right? So someone is going to come and knock at your door to take back what the rules say must be given. What is it that must be taken back because you broke the rules? Life, that’s the consequence – life.
Jesus, God, the Father made a, He made a way out and He said instead of taking your life for breaking the contract, kill an animal and use the blood of an animal as a covering for your breaking the rules, breaking the contract, under the Old Testament. If you did wrong you got to go kill animals, take their blood, sprinkle their blood and have shed blood of an animal on your behalf, so that you make up the payment until you break the rule next time. So, you could never do enough to keep the rules, so year after year, you have to keep killing animals to pay for your broken rules.
Even if you are living right and you are living in the blessing and you’re actually doing everything you can to serve God, you’re still going to break the rules because you can’t be perfect enough. You still have to sacrifice even though you live in the blessing of God. There still has to be payment made, but of course that was not the intent of God for that to happen. Because in the Garden of Eden, it started where Adam and Eve said, “We want to make our own contract with God because we think we can do better than God in life. We are going to make our own choices to do things that God said we mustn’t do. We’re going to do those things so we are going to live our own lives by our own rules.” God said, “Oh you want to make your own rules and your own contract? Blood is the price.”
God said, “Okay, I am going to kill two cows or cattle and I’m going to take the skins of the animals and I am going to cover your nakedness.” He was doing two things at once, He was covering their nakedness and blood was shed for the price of their own rules.
From that day, to the time God led the children out of Egypt, where they had to kill a lamb and spread blood on the posts. Why? Because there were rules that were broken and God was going to come and enforce the rules, so if you were a child of Israel and you put the blood of the lamb on the posts of your house, then the payment for the contract was overlooked, because blood had been shed, but for other peoples, they had to pay the price.
When they’re led out of Egypt, and they are walking in the desert and God speaks to them from the mountain and there’s thunder and flashes of lightning and this booming voice of God, all the people got afraid of the voice of God. They said to Moses, “We don’t want to hear that kind of thing. It makes us afraid that this mighty God wants to speak to us. Why don’t you go and speak to God and tell us what He says.”
God says to Moses, “This is not the deal. This is not the contract. I want to have a personal relationship, but if they ask for it and they insist on it, come up here into a private place and I will write you a set of rules. Let’s make the contract, so that everybody can read the contract all the time. Ten commands are the minimum contract rules.”
If you can’t keep those rules, then you got to pay the price. Then God made it that there was an order, a whole tribe of people, that would have to keep killing and sacrificing animals on behalf of God. Then there would be one allocated every year, that would go into the very presence of God, to make intercession on behalf of all the people, because rules kept being broken.
God was not satisfied with that contract, that’s not what He wanted with man. He wanted a different contract with man. He wanted a relationship contract, one where you lived in His presence and He lived with you and the two of you were walking in life together like He originally intended with Adam and Eve. Right?
He designed a new contract, which is the New Testament, the new will. He said, “Because I can’t trust you with a contract, you always break the rules of the contract. I’m going to make a contract with Myself, His name is Jesus and Jesus is going to die and He is going to shed blood for you. What’s going to happen is that He’s going to take care of the contract, fully paid for, contract, forever. No more outstanding payments, on this contract. This contract fully paid for, it’s like taking a house that has no bond, no mortgage, no nothing. A car that’s paid for, there is no consequence to this, only benefit. But here’s what I expect from you, I expect you to believe that the contract is real. How do you do that? You believe in the Person, in the Lord, Jesus Christ, that He died for you and that the Blood that He shed for you paid for the contract.”
So, you know that there were a bunch of people that lived before you did. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here, quite a bunch, right? So, I ask you, did the Blood of Jesus pay for all of them? He did. All their sins were paid for. So, when they lived their whole lives and they got to the end of their lives was their sin all paid for by the Blood of Jesus? Come on now, if they got saved at the beginning of their lives and they lived their whole lives and they got to the end of their lives, was their whole life paid for by the Blood of Jesus?
Yes? So, if you’re living now, is your sin paid for by the Blood of Jesus? It is. So, if you have children, young children and your children are growing up, is their sin paid for? Jesus clearly said, “All sins have been paid for, past sins, present sins and future sins, both for your personal life and for humanity.” There is not a human being that has been born that God has not already taken care of all of their sins, if they believe in Jesus. The price was paid. All you have to do is believe that Jesus did it. Come on now. You can say amen to this, I’m not preaching any heresy here. This is all Bible stuff, this is not heavy doctrine here, this is very simple.
God is about a God who said, “I want a contract with people and it’s something that’s not going to be written on stone, it says in the book of Hebrews, “I’m not going to write this on the stone anymore, it will be a contract that is written, My laws, I will write upon their hearts and they shall be My people.” The contract is written, when you believe in Jesus, and the Blood of Jesus. He takes the blood and He writes the contract in your heart and the contact is, I want to love Him, I want to serve Him, I want to give my life to Him and I want to walk with Him. He wants to walk with you and He wants to have this daily love walk with you. As you are walking through your life, you’re doing things that lean on your own understanding that you think is best, what you think are your own ways, and when you do that you go back to the old contract.
Jesus is saying, “I’m giving you the Holy Spirit to actually help you walk in the new contract because the new contract has lots of benefits, no consequences.” But every time you go back to the old contract which is, “Uhm, I don’t think I’m going to live by… hold on a minute let me see here… I’m going to lean on, trust in and be confident in my own ways, with my own heart and my own mind and I am going to rely on my own insight and my own understanding for the decisions I make in my life.
The Bible says here, you should not do that, 7Be wise in your own eyes. You should reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn [entirely] away from evil. (Proverbs 3:7 AMPC) What’s that evil? That evil is, I go back to the old contract and I keep wanting to live according to my ways and what I think is best for me. Isn’t that what Adam and Eve did? We think we know what’s best for us. You may shout me down because I’m preaching good. The Bible says, 5Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. (Proverbs 3:5 AMPC)
Jesus was the smartest man that ever lived because He did that completely. He did nothing of Himself, He only turned to God and lived in His insight, His wisdom and His understanding. if He did it, do you think that we should? No brainer, the best kind of life that you can live is by leaning, everything that you are, on Him. All your understanding, know Him.
In the book of Proverbs it says, “In getting wisdom, in getting understanding, you will get wisdom.” You must get it. How do you do that? You just keep walking with Him. God connected these things in Scripture. I’m not, I’m not trying to point this out particularly to you today, but God does connect this, in this Scripture. He says, “When you live like this, where you fear God, and you worship the Lord, and you look for His ways, and you have understanding of what He wants you to do.” It says, 8It shall be health to your nerves and sinews, and marrow and moistening to your bones. (Proverbs 3:8 AMPC) In other words, whatever sickness comes from the spirit realm into the natural earth, the Word of God, the life of God that you live with Him, will shield you from that sickness.
That’s why the Bible says that you, as you live with Him, with long life will He satisfy you, and show you salvation. Why? Because you find yourself in Him, protected under Him. Psalm 91. Hallelujah. Because long life is in the contract, its benefit, not just long life, healthy life. Your whole life becomes healthy, physically, emotionally, spiritually, you become healthy. Because he’s leading you. If you want health in your life, you need to be living with Him. I’m preaching well today, right? Yeah.
Once again, I’m not the one who’s doing the connecting here, God is doing the connecting here. He says the next thing, 9Honor the Lord with your capital, with all of what you own, your capital, and sufficiency, with more than what you earn and you own, [from righteous labors] and with the firstfruits of all your income; well, 10So shall your storage places be filled with plenty, and your vats shall be overflowing with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10 AMPC)
The new wine is an indication of new season stuff all the time. So in other words, what He’s saying is, when you’re living this life, where you’re not leaning on your own understanding, where you’re not living by your own wisdom and your own insight, you’re living in the fear of the Lord, you’re worshipping Him with your life, He will guide you and lead you.
Do you understand this? Come on now, I don’t want to lose you. I want you to be with me now. Do you understand that He’s, He’s speaking words to you. He’s directing you and guiding you. In this direction, and in this guidance, He’s going to say, He’s going to cause blessing to come to your life. In modern day terms, He’s going to cause people to come, that are going to do deals with you. There’s going to be income that’s going to come to you, that are unexpected sources or channels of income. There’s going to be different things that are going to be happening in your life, because blessing is upon you. Right?
As your life is blessed, now you want to honor Him for blessing, your life. He says, “So now when you honor Me, you must honor Me with everything that I give you. From the houses that I give you, from the cars that I give you, from the everything that I give you that are capital, honor Me with that. The increase, the abundance of what you get after you’ve paid for those things, honor Me with that. All the sources of income that you get, that cause your storage places to be full, honor Me with your first fruit.” Right?
I’m not telling you anything that the Bible is not saying and I’m not reading to you the famous Malachi chapter three. This is all about how you live your life, the new contract.
In the Old Testament, people would have a set of rituals and ceremonies by which they would adhere to. David really indicates it so well in the Psalms, and in the Psalms he talks about, “I acknowledge you and I live with You. And I love Your presence so much that when I wake up in the morning, I speak Your words. And when I’m in my midday, at lunchtime, in the noon day, I will speak Your words and I will worship You. And when I go to bed at night and I lay my head down, I will worship You. And then he says even in the midnight hours when I’m on my bed I will worship You and I will acknowledge You.”
What is he speaking about? He’s saying there are a set of ceremonies, but then there’s a condition of my heart and in my heart I love You. In my heart I live with You. He was indicating the conditions of a new contract. It’s a contract of faith. It’s not a contract of rules.
Under the old contract, God could bless you because of your heart, but you could still mess up with the rules, and you would have to pay the price with blood. That’s why I say to you, and I will preach more on this as time goes by, that living as a Christian, is both messy and marvelous. Right? Because sometimes you want to live in the new contract and you want to love God and you love God and you’re there. Then you find yourself going back to the performance contract, of the old contract of rules and regulations. Oh, I messed up, beat yourself up, can’t talk to God because whatever, you’re not worthy enough, old contract stuff.
It’s all messy to get your mind straight, get your emotion straight, so you can come back to God. Because you don’t want to live in a performance, old contract, because the consequences are blood, you don’t have enough blood to give. There’s no more price to be paid, for that.
Hebrews, there’s no more price to be paid for any sin that you commit. The price has already been paid. If you stop believing in that price, there’s no price that you can pay anymore. Don’t try and live in the old contract, you got to live in the new contract. He’s saying, “In this contract, just don’t look at money as what belongs to you, everything I’ve given you; I’ve blessed you with. Blessed you with health, I’ve blessed you with the ability to earn income. Honor Me, because as your honor Me, you also show Me that we are living this together and that you trust Me to bring more blessing to you. If you don’t honor Me, and you just hoard all your money, it’s not about…” I mean, God, listen, God doesn’t need your money. He doesn’t need your money.
I mean, He made everything in the beginning. So, why do you think He needs something back from you? It’s not about that it’s about He wants to see that your heart honors Him for everything that you get. It’s not about a law of tithing. It’s about an honor of giving and the more honor you have in your heart, the more you want to give. Just like that.
I’m going to go to Matthew chapter seven, verse seven to 11. It reads like this in the Passion Translation. 7“Ask, and the gift is yours. Seek, and you’ll discover. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8For every persistent one will get what he asks for. Every persistent seeker will discover what he longs for. And everyone who knocks persistently will one day find an open door. We live in a season of a New open Door 9“Do you know of any parent who would give his hungry child, who asked for food, a plate of rocks instead? (Matthew 7:7-9 TPT)
Hey, Loutjie, I know you love your kids. You’re a good dad. I know you’re a good Dad. So, if Yateer came and said, “Dad, I’m hungry.” I know you kids are hungry all the time, but if Yateer came to you and said, “Dad, ek soek kos” You’re going to say to him, “Here’s a plate of rocks, eet maar.” You know? “No.” I mean, because you’re a good dad. So you’re not going to say to him when he comes for food, “eat rocks.” He won’t live very long if he tries to eat that. He dropped. you know, he’ll lose his teeth, he’ll lose his nourishment and before long is going to go. Right? So, you’re a good dad. And so you look after Yateer. Yeah?
If there is a parent here who doesn’t wish well for their kids and beats their kids and does harm to their kids. Come talk to me. I have a bat. It’s a baseball bat. It’s in my study. We’ll talk, and we’ll let you feel what you do to your kids with my baseball bat. Then you can contemplate what that feels like while you’re sitting in a hospital with a broken kneecap.
Yeah, because fathers should be taking care of their kids and husbands should be loving towards their wives and no beatings should be taking place. I don’t care what any culture says or what any society says what you can legally do or not do. So, don’t misquote me now. I’m not taking you to my room to beat you. Okay. This is hypothetical.
But I will tell you this, if it’s not in my scope, and it’s not in my scope to beat you, I will if I find that you treat your children like that, I will charge you and I will take you to the police. I will have the police open up a case against anybody who abuses their kids or their wife. That be that, a woman or a man. I will do that. Because that’s not lawful. That’s not legal. It’s not good. It’s not healthy. If I look at everything that speaks of the Word of God, God expects us to live in Him, and live a good healthy relationship with our children, and the way we live with Him.
Now, it’s possible that you might be here today, and you have had an experience, perhaps where a father or a mother beat you badly, and maybe or left you, rejected you, or walked away from you. So, maybe your views on having a parent in the house and sometimes abuse is verbal and emotional. Maybe you might have had a bad experience, so you can’t relate to God the Father, as a good loving Father. Well, then you need to actually begin to tell God, the Father, that you want Him to reveal Himself to you in the loving way that He is; not the way that your parents treated you. He will do that to you. He will show you how good He is. He will show you how kind He is. He will show you how much He loves you. He will heal the heart, your heart that has been broken in that area, He will do that.
That’s what He sent Jesus to do. That’s the price that He paid, as part of a new contract. 10Or when asked for a piece of fish, what parent would offer his child a snake instead? Something to do him harm? 11If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask him?” (Matthew 7:10-11TPT)
So, Loutjie, I know you’re a good dad, but I’ve got news for you. You are not perfect. I’m sure your wife tells you that, no, no. No, she thinks you’re marvelous and wonderful. Now, I know that, but I’m not perfect as a father. I’ve got two grown up sons, and I’ve got nearly five grandchildren. I’ve got to realize that I’m not perfect either, but imperfect as I am, I still know what’s good for my kids.
At least, I know to feed them properly, at least I know to protect them and give them shelter. Right? At least there’s some basic things that I know as a father, imperfect as I am, I’ve got to guide them and lead them and protect them and make sure that they grow up with nourishment and good things in their lives. Not bad things and so this scripture says, if we imperfect people, as we all know how to give good things to our kids, how much more does our Heavenly Father who is perfect, know how to give gifts to us?
This is amazing. This is amazing. Let me let me just reiterate. He says here, 11If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask him?” (Matthew 7:10-11TPT)
Which contract do you believe more? Do you believe in an earthly contract that says, “I can go and buy a car and go and make the payments?” Or do you believe in this contract more? Let me make it clear to you. I know you have a strong belief system in the earthly contract. Otherwise you wouldn’t be using the earthly system, the way you do. You believe that the earthly system has both benefits and consequences. You do?
You should at least have that much belief in this contract. [Pastor John gestures to the Bible] To the extent that you don’t believe in this contract, you need to start putting the words of the contract into your heart, so that your heart can believe what this contract says, more than what the worldly contract says.
Because actually God has got more authority in this earth than these people that make and enforce earthly contracts. He not only has more authority, but He has more love, He has more kindness because He’s paid for it in blood. He gave His whole life, that you could live in the rules of this contract. Hallelujah.
Do you believe that actually God’s got better things for you than you even know how to get for yourself? He does. I’m participating with the leading of the Holy Spirit and with Pastor Sharon, in talking about I will take the children because this scripture says, if we lean on our own understanding, in our wisdom, in our own ways then we must turn away from those evil ways. We grow up raising our children, doing good things for our children, which is what God wants us to do, but then we also teach our children that they have the right to pursue their own life and make their own choices and do whatever they like. Sometimes we want to tell them what they should do in their future life. Yes? Meanwhile, God’s saying, “The kids that you have, are not your children. I only gave them to you to take care of until they get to an age where they can follow Me.”
Can I put it this way? My dad went on to be with the Lord, but actually, I stopped being my father’s son in terms of his management of my life when I left home and I went to the military for two years. When I was standing in front of a training Sergeant, who was shouting in my face, kicking my shins and doing all manner of abuse, to conform me to the image of the army. You understand? I couldn’t say, “But my daddy says…” I was no longer my daddy’s son. I was in blood, but I now had a contract that I had to fulfill with the government and with the army, and they had the right to rule my life for two years. You understand what I’m saying. There was no point in me trying to turn to daddy for help. Are you all with me?
In other words, from that point onwards, I was no longer living my life according to my dad’s rules, I was now living my life between me and God. When I went into the army, I made a contract with God in my heart and I said, “Lord, I’ve been worshipping You, I’ve been serving You, I’ve been in the church all my life, now I’m going into a situation where I can’t go to anybody that I’m familiar with that can help me. I now have to stand on my own two feet before You and in my heart I want to reveal to You, that You own my heart and that my life is yours. As much as I’m in the army, You are my first priority still.”
When the guys all took a smoke break, I took a Bible break. Literally, when they lit up a cigarette, I took the Bible out of my pocket, reading my Bible, drinking my water. While they smoked, I read the Bible. When we came to evenings and we were all going to bed I would kneel at my bed and I would pray. Sometimes I would lie on my bed and pray. I became known amongst those in the dormitory, people that I was working with, I became known as one of those weird guys that prays all the time.
There was nothing about my father’s future that he thought I should have that was now relevant to me. I had to live between me and God. I’ve got news for you, even though your child can get to the point where they can leave home and go and work in a factory, work to get a skill in terms of apprenticeship or go to university. Even though they can do that, it doesn’t mean they should do that. They should follow God and you should help them to follow God. If you help them in your own way to make decisions for their lives then you’re saying, “We know what’s best for our lives. We’ve always known what’s best for our lives, now we’re telling you what’s best for your life and you must work with us to make a decision that we think is best for your life.” If you don’t include God in that, you’re going back to an old contract that says, “We do what we do and we’ll just let God bless it.”
Do you want that kind of contract for your life or do you want a contract with your family that says, “When they get to an age where they are no longer in my house, I hand them to the authority of God. I will pray with them and I will walk with them and whatever God has for their lives, let them walk fully in it because all these things apply. Whenever he asks for bread, I’m going to give it. Whenever he asks for fishs, I’m going to give it. Whenever he asks for anything, I’m going to give it. Whatever he desires; because he’s going to live in Me, she’s going to live in Me and together we are going to do great and extraordinary things in their lives.”
When the society that you grow up in and the social circles that you grow up in, want to know what your kids are doing and you don’t have an answer for them that says, “ They are going to do a B degree or they’re going to do an… Everybody else is doing B degrees or everybody else is doing this and everybody else.” They look down at you, “Oh your kid is not doing that. Your kid…” Who cares. They don’t know Jesus like you know Jesus. Anyway, who says they’re going to make success out of that?
Just because they’re getting information doesn’t mean that they’re going to use it. Just because they’re getting knowledge doesn’t mean anything, on the contrary when they go and hang out with all of those people that are getting liberal ideas about all kinds of sex practises and all kinds of dishonor of authority and government and all of those ideas start to get placed in their heads, all of a sudden they find themselves ribellious. Maybe not against you as a parent, but certainly against God and they find themselves with all kinds of questions and confusions and issues. Now God has to start unraveling and unfixing things and restoring things in their lives that they didn’t have to go through in the first place because they decided to follow Him.
So, lean not on your own understanding. Do not be wise in your own eyes. If you start to have this whole approach in your own life, in front of your kids that your kids begin to learn that you turn to God for everything and as your kids watch you as a parent turn to God for everything, they learn that they must turn to God for everything. I know that all of us came into walking this way with God at different places in our lives, at different stages in our lives. There is no judgement here, there’s no accusations here, there’s no condemnation here, but when you get this revelation you must start to live it. I understand that also and God understands that this is a messy process because you’ve got this old contract that you’re used to living. Now God wants you to live in the new contract and sometimes you find yourself in the old way and then you find yourself in the new way and it’s a bit messy, but don’t worry God’s got you covered by the Holy Spirit because it’s going to all turn out marvelous as long as your hearts for Him.
Hallelujah. There is no downside to this story. There’s only a good side to the story. And so that’s why when we talk about money in the church. Sharon and I have really felt just so marvelous before God, because we haven’t taken up one offering in seven months and yet God is taking care of all of the ministries needs.
We have always said this, that our ministry is not dependent on your tithes. Our ministry is dependent on our giving, our faith. We’ve had, we’ve had money coming to our ministry from channels that are not even related to the church. Organizations that are not even related to this church, companies that are not companies that are owned by people in this church, just organizations that have got nothing to do with this church, have given us money. Plenty, plenty. Where did that come from? The wisdom of God, faith, understanding knowledge, living in His ways.
God has taken care of us. We understand this concept of honor. If we give honor to God with our capital, with our sufficiency, with all of our income, then He just keeps pouring blessing upon us. Some people may look at ministries that are doing well in a time when others, when lots of things are going wrong and say, “Oh, that’s because people give you money.” Hey, let me tell you, there are people whose money has diminished. There are some people who have lost their companies in this time. Not many in our church but there have been some and so, if you think our ministry depends on people’s tithes, then by natural default as your tithes, your income diminish, so should ours. Come on now.
Our income has increased and it hasn’t diminished. We haven’t done a financial year end because it’s only next year, but the way things look, now we’re going to do better than last year. Hallelujah.
Well, I’ve been living with God my whole life. Since I’ve been five years old, I’ve been living with God, my whole life knowing this. I don’t go back to the old contract anymore. On this matter, I don’t live in the old contract. I have no confusion with the old contract, I don’t really go back there. I know that finances is all about honor. I know finances are all about the way Him and I live. I just ask Him for something and He gives it to me. There are times when I actually just have a request in my heart, a desire in my heart, and He comes through and He delivers it to me, and I haven’t even asked him with my mouth.
Just in my prayer time, I get a desire. I don’t even I don’t say it to anybody. I don’t say to Him, I just get a desire. A couple of days later, or whatever, suddenly this thing appears. I just marvel and I say, “Wow God, You actually heard my heart even though I didn’t speak it out of words?” Because I’m in tune with Him, my heart is with Him.
Wow. Isn’t that awesome? It’s awesome. That’s how He wants us to live. He wants us to live in a union with Him. He’s just, you know, let me say this; even when you’re in that union with Him, don’t think trouble is not going to come. You know, trouble is going to try and come upon you. Because the enemy of God has got to try and stop the flow of the way that you walk with Him. Because your way, you walk with Him brings glory to God and he’s got to try and stop the glory flow channel. Yes? It’s the same in my marriage. I’ve been living with my beautiful wife. Next year will be 40 years, we’ve been married. I know her. I mean, I know everything about her.
Well, I mean, I have to say that she’s changing, I’m changing in God, we’re changing and the things that as we have changed, I have to adapt to the new person she becomes, but I know her in her person. You know, and if she just keeps her shoulder the wrong way, or she squints one eye or she frowns in a certain way. Or you get the dun lippie or something like that, you know, I mean, you know what it means?
Right? Because, you know, so you flow because you know, and so some things you don’t, you know, I’ve learned this, sometimes I see her, she comes in the house, she’s been out, she comes in the house, and she’s had a hot day, or a rough day, or whatever the case might be. She comes in the house, and she’s focused and, and, like, maybe I’ve been at home, and I’ve been thinking about her, and I want to just go, I’m full of joy. I’ve been spending time with the Lord and I’m bouncy and happy. She’s like, all hot and bothered, and, you know, driving around, and, and she comes into the door and I check her and I see, hier’s moeilikheid.
It’s not, because she’s not spiritual, just in her natural man, she’s just fussing with herself. I know, stay away, because when she comes in, and she gets her stuff sorted out and things, then it will all settle down and then we can flow. Right? Sometimes when she comes into the house, I will see and I will know she’s been shopping, there’s a lot of stuff that’s in the bags.“ Hey, babes can I help you?” “Yes, I bought lots of shopping” and I go grab bags and carry them in and then there’s the flow, right?
Because the more you know about a person, the easier you can flow with the person, then you don’t have to be asking too many questions you just know. That’s how it works with God. The more you live in faith, the more you live in the results of your faith. As your faith begins to materialize, and all of the stuff that you know, is happening in your life, you know who God is and then when God speaks something to your heart, you don’t have to pray about it. You already know His voice, and He speaks to you and you just act.
There’s things that you say, “Lord, I want to do this,” and then in your heart, you just know I can do this because we’re flowing. His desire for me is my desire that’s already there and so we flow in this desire. I don’t have to go and spend time in prayer and fasting.
We flow because we know. Yes? Oh, then there’s other things that maybe have greater consequences attached to what actions you take. You go and press in a bit and that’s part of His plan anyway. If you don’t have the know of the flow, then you must press. So that as you press, you can have less stress. Because you’re pressing is what He’s calling for. Come press with Me. I want you aside, I want you to press with Me. There’s some things I want to communicate with you, that in your business of flowing and knowing, that you can’t get when you’re not pressing. When you press, you remove the stress and so when you remove the stress and you’re in the press, you then end up having the know, so you can flow.
Hallelujah. Then the messy, becomes so less, and you get into the marvelous things of God. God has designed our relationship that sometimes we got to move away from the stress, so we can press. So, that you can get a clear voice and a clear answer, and that as you hear from Him, you know, then you flow because you know. Then you have less messy and more marvelous, in the way that you walk in life.
Did you get something out of this today? If you didn’t get something out of this then your heart is not here. En dan, ek weet nie, dan weet ek nie. I don’t know. Anyway, I know you got something out of this today. I know because God was all over this message for you today. Amen. Praise the Lord.
So first of all, we got to know that we are God’s kids, and he wants to take care of us through relationship not through contract, but the contract was established so we can have a relationship. So that all good things can come to us and then so we must have that relationship with our kids. That we can release them into the hands of God. Praise the Lord, won’t you stand with me please?
Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. I am a son of God. And I thank You, Lord, that I live by faith. I thank You, Lord, that where I’m weak, You are strong. And every day, I am becoming a greater Son of God. In Jesus name. Hallelujah.
I just want to pray for you. You know, I wake up every day and I put my hand down and I say, “I’m the son of God.” Because it is, it tells God that I understand the new contract. You understand it makes a declaration to the spirit realm, I mean, I’m in a new contract place.
That’s why I remind you every Sunday, it also does two things, that if you are here, and you’ve never given your life to Jesus, and you do this with us, and you say, “I am a son of God,” immediately you believe and you speak and you get saved through one simple sentence. I am a son of God, you recognize Jesus as your Savior. Hallelujah. Because what you believe in your heart and you speak with your mouth, then you get born again. If you believe that in your heart, you have no problem doing this. Hallelujah. Amen.
So, just do it with me one more time. Just say, “I’m a son of God, Jesus is my Lord. Hallelujah.” It’s cool. That’s very cool. Hallelujah.
I just want to pray for you. I pray that your week ahead will be full of the blessing of God. I pray that His blessing rests upon you. That whatever you put your hands to prosper, wherever your feet go. there God is going to guide you and lead you in everything that you should do. No weapon formed against you will prosper. The Word and the blood of Jesus surrounds you, protects you and covers you. No harm shall come near you or your dwelling place, He will cause your foot to not be caught in a hidden snare. The Word of God will be a light unto to your path and the lamp unto your feet. And I pray in the name of Jesus that He will lead you beside still waters, and He will give you green pastures to eat. He will be your good Shepherd. And even though you may feel like you’re going through the valleys of shadows of death in any area of your life, income, finances, any kind of sickness and disease, He will be with you. He will be with you. He will guide you and lead you and He will take you through that and He will bring you before tables that He sets before you in the very presence of those same enemies. And He will show you that He’s your good shepherd, in Jesus name. That His staff may comfort you in every area of your life as you go forward in this week, in Jesus name.
Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Thank you for coming to church. God bless y’all.
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