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Don't Be A Sleeping Chicken Pt. 1 Know God & Resist! | Pastor Craig Field | Sun. Aug. 3, 2025
01:14:59
Don't Be A Sleeping Chicken Pt. 1 Know God & Res…
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Well, today I don't have a sermon title because I don't really know what I'm talking about. This morning I'm in that African flow where he just gives me one thing and I'll figure the rest out as we go. But I heard the Holy Ghost say, repeat that story that you told them at Pastor Nancy's church. So can I tell you that story and then we'll just see where we go? Okay. I was actually. Is my friends here? Is your wife here? Stand up, Shawnee. Pastor Brent, turn around. Tell. People say, men of God. Men of God. These are my precious friends. Pastor Brent and Shawnee from Bible school. We went to the same Bible school all those years ago. Mid-90s. 30 years. Yeah. Yeah. Say hi. Just say something. We love this church. We're on our way down to a Canadian camp meeting with Ted Shuttlesworth. And so we're on our way by and we thought, let's get to Promise of Life. So there's an expectancy, there's like a bubble of the anointing here, not that it's contained, because it's going to spread out more and more. And partnering with you in Canada, being saved for the glory of God. And you travel all over the nation preaching true Canadian evangelists. Thank you, guys. Pastor Brent and Shawnee Sloss, who travel now, they used to be pastors. They travel. We went to the same Bible school together. And so this is a long time ago. I'm saying that because this story is about Bible school now. I don't think he didn't have the same job that I had. But you see my dad. Rich. He's rich. He was rich. He's not rich anymore, but he was rich. And he was the president of the New York Stock Exchange. And so he was a very wealthy man. And I went to Bible school. But he told me, he said, craig, there's no handouts for you. He said, I didn't get rich because everybody gave me something. I got rich because I worked hard. And he goes, I want to teach you the value of hard work. I said, I bind that. I said, help. Now, he did help me a little bit with rent. But basically I had to work a job to have food and to have. I didn't have a car. And my roommate, kind of mean spirited young man. But anyway, he had a car and he knew I didn't have a car. And so I had to walk from the apartment building to the Bible school in the snow, about an hour in the snow, in my dress shoes. And he would pull up beside me and he would wave at me, and then he would try to spray me with the car for the snow. And I thought, okay, well, I'll just bless those who despitefully use me. So I would pick up a snowball and try to hit him in the head. But anyway, no, that's not really what I did. But the point is, I didn't have the money, so I had to get a job. It's good to get a job. I've had so many jobs, I can't count them all. Okay, so I understand what you're going through, but I look for a job to sell sneakers. And they said, you don't look like a good salesman. So I didn't get that job. Then I looked at the job to take the garbage out. We don't want you to do that. And so I finally found one at Wendy's and I said, can I make the hamburgers? They said, oh, no, you need to have worked here at least two years before you make the hamburgers. That's the highest job here. You're the rookie. That's veteran quality job. I said, what do I do? They said, wash the toilets, wash the floor. So there I was, kneeling down and have you ever been to public toilets? Yeah, I have, because I've cleaned them and they're disgusting, and people are disgusting in general. And I would clean those toilets and I'd wash that floor and I'd make a minimum wage, just enough to have food and just barely get by. And thank God my dad helped me with the rent. That was his blessing to me. But I got tired of the Wendy's, and so I said, lord, I want a better job. And I didn't know anything about faith back then. Nobody had taught me faith like my wife knew. But I didn't know. We weren't married at that point. So I said, lord, I need a better job. And so I asked my good friend who was one of the pastors at the church there under Pastor Peter Younger, and I. His dad was one of the pastors. And so I said, you know, do you have a. Do you know anywhere I could get a job? I don't like Wendy's anymore. And so he said, oh, I've got a great job for you. The pastor's son. And so he says, come. He said, I do this. I do this a couple times a week. And I said, okay. And he goes, you know, it's whatever it was. 10, 12 bucks an hour, which, you know, was pretty good back then. And so I said, wow, that's more than I'm getting paid at Wendy's. So I said, I'll do it. What's the job? He says, you are about to become a pcc. I said, what's a pcc? A professional chicken catcher. I said, what? What's a chicken? I've never even heard of a chicken catcher. He says, you're about to be one. I said, okay. He said, training is five minutes long. He said, all you need is five minutes. He said, I don't have time to train you because we have to get all the chickens into the little containers. So I said, I'm starting to get nervous a little bit. And so he says, make sure you have boots, don't come in shoes because it's very dirty. And he says, if you need notice plugs. If you've got sensitive nasal passages, bring some plugs. Otherwise, I said, I'm not sensitive. So we go into this warehouse. I mean, this is huge. This is a 20,000 foot square foot warehouse, okay? It's massive, at least five or six times larger than the sanctuary. And it's dimly lit. And we have to go in at like 11 o' clock. And it's dimly lit and it reeks. Chickens are the most disgusting creatures. When you have chickens with Swiss chalet, just remember this story. They are nasty, but when they cook them, they're good. But before you cook them, they're nasty and they stink. So I thought, oh, my Lord, I should have got a nose plug. So we go in there and it's dimly lit and I'm looking all like I look, and there are thousands and thousands of chickens lying on the ground sleeping in this warehouse. I remember like it was yesterday because it so scarred me, okay? And I said, what do we do here? And he goes, you catch them. And he said, have you ever watched Rocky? I said, I've watched Rocky. He said, you remember how they used the chicken in his training? If you've ever watched Rocky, you know what I'm talking about. Because to get his reflexes revved up, he had to catch the chicken and he couldn't catch the chicken. One chicken is very hard to catch. Can you imagine 3,4000 of them? And so he said, now listen. We whisper when we go and we don't talk. I said, okay. So we're standing there and he says, listen, you see all the chickens? I said, I see them and they're all sleeping. And chickens make a noise when they sleep. So you can hear this. You can hear this like little, little. I don't Know what it's called? A cuckle. A chuckle. An oogle or something. Like a what? Like that. So you can. Very light. Very light. But it's like they're snoring. It's like they're snoring. By the way, did you know that snakes snore? Yeah. I learned that in Liberia because in the war, some of these pastors were sleeping in the forest because they were going to get decapitated by the rebels. And he said they'd be sleeping and they'd wake up and there'd be these poisonous snakes beside them that come up to them for body warmth. And he said, and the snakes snore. And they would wake. The snorings would wake them up. So, wives, if your husband snores, you can call him a snake. Amen. Anyway, let's. I don't know. Yes, a chicken. That's where I was going. The chicken is snoring. Not snoring, but clucking or whatever they call it, okay? So I'm looking around. I said, how are we supposed to get all these chickens? There's only four of us. Him, his dad, the pastor was doing it. And then another guy the pastor invited. I said, how was four of us supposed to catch, I don't know, seven, 8,000 chickens, whatever it is? I mean, it was thousands of chickens. He says, oh, that's why you've only got five minutes of training, because we got to start right now, and we got to go eight, nine hours straight. I said, I don't know if I want this job anymore. I want to go back to Wendy's. He goes, no, you're here, and this is a very good job. And a lot of people want this job. I gave it to you. And if you work hard tonight, you'll have a job catching chickens. The rest of Bible school. I don't know if I want that, but anyway, so he says, now listen. He said, we've got to be quiet. The light is dim. If you wake them up, one will wake up the next, and before you know it, there's 6,000 chickens that are going like rocky everywhere. And he said, you'll never catch anything. And we then have to wait till tomorrow night for them to all go back to sleep. So don't wake him up. I said, how do you catch the chicken without waking it up? He goes, this is your training. So he said, watch me. So he goes on his knees, and they're sitting. Their little nasty little claw feet are underneath them. And he says, he puts on this little glove. And he says, you can do it bare hand, but it's better because sometimes they scratch you by reflex. And then he shows me in hand, there's scratch marks over his hand. So he says, put the glove on. And he says, now reach under there. He said, do it without the glove first, because you need to know what you're looking for. So he says, reach your hand under there. So I reach my hand real slowly under the tummy, the belly of this thing. And he says, now feel for its ankle. Can you feel where those three nasty little pronged legs are? Feet go up a little bit and feel for the ankle. And you got to get both together. Not one, both ankles together, because they sleep with their feet like that. So he said, look for the ankle. So I said, I think I got it. I think I got it now. He says, now watch me. So he puts his hand under and he goes, are you ready? Now don't do it till I tell you. But are you ready? I said, yes, I'm ready. He goes, 1, 2, 3. And then he goes. And he does it so quick, but without jerking it. The chicken is upside down, fast asleep now. He says, if you wake them up because you don't do it properly, we're going to have outrage in this place. So we said, you got to be very skillful now, and you got to do it quick, but don't jerk them. It's a smooth scoop. That's what he would call it, a smooth scoop. So it goes, whoops. And so I'm nervous and I got my. And so I did it. And the chicken almost woke up the first time because he started doing this with his wings. And I'm just saying, oh, please, Jesus, I can't lose this job. And I said, go to sleep, go to sleep. He just puts his wings in. So I'm holding him and he's sleeping and he's upside down. I said, I did it. He said, amazing, you did it on your first time. Training is over. So he takes off and he just starts going to another part of the warehouse, and he's just, scoop, scoop, scoop. So I put the glove on and I would do it. And actually, I didn't wake any of them up. They were very impressed. I'm a true professional chicken catcher. And so I would scoop them and then you walk out there and then there's these, like, plastic things, and you put them in and you close the lid. And then eventually they put them on this big 18 wheeler and they take it to the slaughterhouse. Okay, that's where you get your chicken breast from. All right? It didn't grow in the earth. Somebody had to catch a chicken, skin the chicken, cook the chicken. And now you'll think that when you get grilled chicken sandwiches. So I started doing that. I started doing that, I started doing that. I'm telling you, I got so good at it that by the eighth hour, I put both hands under the chickens and I went whoop. Just like that. Greg just said, whoop. And I would walk by and he. Because he was doing two hands from the beginning, but it took me about eight hours and I finally got, I got the hang of it. I. I got so good. I got so bold. I took that glove off. I just walked. So proud. I just was so proud. And he's like, good, good. You know, he's giving me the thumbs up. And I was exhausted. My nasal passages were permanently scarred. I've got dirt, mud, and chicken dung all over my shoes. And then they give me 85, 87, whatever it was. It was like $11 an hour times eight. So what is that? $88 in cash, no tax. Because it's off the radar. They're illegal. It's an illegal chicken operation. And I put that 88, whatever it was dollars in my pocket. And I thought that was the hardest $88 I've ever worked for. So I went back to Wendy's the next day and I didn't take the job. They offered me a full time position as a professional chicken catcher. And I said, nuts, and I'm done. But when I was preparing for the message for World Harvest Church last Sunday morning, the Lord reminded me of that story. And I've never really preached that as a teaching point. I just said it as a complaint that I had bad jobs. But the Lord reminded me about that story and he took me back to that evening, that night. I only did it one night. And he said, do you remember that? I said, lord, I was a professional. I was just in a different industry. Chicken catcher. He said, do you remember that? And he said, my church are just like those chickens. That's what I heard him say to me. He said, my church are just like those chickens. They're sleeping, they're all cozy. And he said, the devil is just like you. Now, he didn't say I was the devil. He just said, the devil is just like you. And he said, he comes in there nice and quiet. He comes in there nice and sly, nice and cunning. And you're asleep. And he's very good. He don't want you to wake up what he wants to. I'm telling you. God spoke this to me last Sunday morning, early in the morning, I'm staying in Pastor Nancy's house, and I'm in the bedroom praying for that certain morning service. And the Lord said to me, my church is just like those chickens. And he said, the devil is just like you. Comes sly and he comes cunning, and he's so skillful. Listen to what he said. He will turn your life upside down while you're still sleeping. He'll put you in prison and he'll send you to the slaughterhouse. And he said, I don't want you sleeping anymore. He said, I want you to tell them no sleeping anymore. You know, symbolically, he's talking about being alert. Then he started dealing with me, and I preached kind of a different angle for her about my property and don't allow things on your property. But when he said to me earlier today on the plane, and he said, I want you to share that story with your congregation this morning, I said, go the same direction. And he said, no, I want you to focus on a different angle for your congregation. But he said, that principle remains true. Now, I tell stories. Jesus told parables. And a parable you will remember. A story you will remember because it is a picture in your mind, all right? Whereas words, you might forget them six minutes later or six weeks later or six years. You may not remember all the words, but a story you remember. I hope you remember your pastor. I was half the man I am today, going and catching chickens. Because that is a picture of the church. The devil doesn't want us to wake up because if we wake up, there will be chaos for him. But as long as we're all just feeling cozy, we have our nice little church. We have our nice little group of friends we have. And there's nothing wrong with that. We have our little job. Everything is secure, everything is good. And really, spiritually, many people, they're. And they're just. They're just enjoying life. And if you're not careful, the devil is. He's on the prowl. I'm not trying to glorify him or anything like that. I'm just stating a fact. He said, you are like the devil was like you. And he knows how to turn your life upside down in the moment of a moment while you stay sleeping. And before you know it, you're. Now, that's the first step. And then you're in a box. Now you're in some kind of a confinement. And now you're on your way to failure. Do you understand? What you want to do is you don't want to get in the box to begin with because once you're in the box, it's going to be much harder to escape. Once you get to this daughter house, what you need to do is awake and not. You know what I mean? I'm talking symbolically. We can get kind of so lethargic and so listen, I'm trying to help you. I'm not trying to hurt you. But we can get so lethargic about, yeah, I go to church. Yeah, I love Jesus. Yeah, I pray a little bit. Yeah, I know the word a little bit. And that's all good and well, but it can lull us into a false sense of, you know, life is just perfect. And even though I've got some problems, you know, that little thing, I don't really have to worry about that. And that little thing, I don't really have to worry about that. I'm just happy. I'm just happy. Before you know it, your life's upside down. And I see people that come to counseling with me, and many times, if I can just be. I can't give specifics because it's, you know, pastor, not client, lawyer client, but pastor, congregation member confidentiality. So I don't talk about private things. But I've watched people over the years and everything can be going well. And it seems like from one week to the next, all hell breaks loose. And it didn't have to. It didn't have to. If you're not sleeping now, have a look over there. You okay with me? I'm sorry, I'm a little bit tired. But I thank God for the anointing to help, and I hope that you're receiving it. I keep saying, oh, my God. 12, 18. I've got to. I'm over. I get to go to one o'. Clock. By the way, if anybody really loved the 11 o' clock start, then please let us know because there's been people petitioning this morning already to move church time officially to 11 o' clock because people like to sleep in on a Sunday morning. I can hear the dissension in the ranks. Immediately I felt like a dark force coming at me. And so I think we'll just keep it at 10. Honey, I know that you are a proponent for the 11 o'. Clock. Yeah. But I could just sense like a dark aura coming over the congregation and we don't want that. So maybe we'll move it to nine. No, Greg, we'll keep it at ten. Okay? Ten is early enough. All right, now have a look, please, with me, if you would, at the scripture here in First Peter, Chapter 5. Can you look there? First Peter, Chapter 5. Thank you for being so gracious and honoring me today and coming a little bit late. We really appreciate it. Amen. We got to the gate this morning in Washington and they said the plane is delayed due to maintenance issues. And I thought, oh my God, the one time I needed to be on time. And so I sent my big angels out and about 10 minutes later they said, issues have been resolved. Please start boarding. Praise God. And we actually made it earlier than they even said we would. So praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Praise God. I tried to meet with President Trump while I was in Washington, but he denied my call. Next time, next time. There's always a next time. Praise the Lord. There's always the next time. First Peter, chapter five. Are you there? Because I'm not. First Peter, chapter five and verse eight. And it says this. Be sober, be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, as he's not a roaring lion, but he wants you to think that he's intimidating. Walketh about seeking whom he may devour. He's looking. He wants to turn your life upside down. Whom resist steadfast. Resist steadfast. The word resist in Greek means to oppose, withstand and stand against whom resist steadfast, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. In other words, you're not a special case. The devil wants you to think you're a special case because if he can get you to think that you're the only one going through something, you'll start to have self pity. But if you realize I'm not the only one going through this. My brethren all over the world are going through the same kind of things. And I'm no different. And I can stand just like they can stand. Notice it says be sober. That word actually is talking about alcohol, if you want to be exact in it, it means to be sober. It means to abstain from wine in the original language. In other words, we don't drink. Okay, but I'm just saying that what this is talking about is don't have dulled senses. Anything that would dull your senses, alcohol or anything else. I don't want you dull. I want you sober. I want you alert. Are you understand? See the semen chicken is not alert and is not sober. They're sleeping. That's why the enemy can come in there and turn their life upside down. The devil is looking whom he can make mess with, who we can take advantage of, who we can put things on. And because they're sleeping, they're just going to ignore it. But I am told to be sober, and I'm told to be vigilant. And that word, vigilant, I mean, really, that's the perfect chicken word. The word vigilant in the Greek means to keep awake. It means to watch and to stay watchful and wakeful. In other words, don't be sleeping on the job in your life. I'm talking symbolically. We all physically sleep, but I'm talking spiritually. Don't get into a lulled state of dulled senses and sleeplessness and lethargy and just getting comfortable with everything. Because there is a fox in the hen house. There is a lion on the prowl. We are not afraid of him. He's a defeated foe. But if you're sleeping, he said, stay awake. What does that mean? If you're not awake, he can do something. But if you are awake, he can't turn your life upside down. Because you see him coming. You see him coming. And you have been taught, and you're continuing to be taught how to respond when you see these problems showing up. But notice, it says, if you're awake and that adversary is going to try to come and devour you, what do you do? You resist steadfastly. That means withstand him, push back on him. Do you understand? Steadfastly means to be. It means literally. It means to be stiff. It means to be solid. It means to be stout. It means you're not bendable. He can't bend you. He can't push you back. You are steadfast. You're like a stiff board that says, no, you don't. And God needs his church to be more alert. Listen, I had another sermon. I could have preached another sermon this morning, but I heard the Lord say, tell them the story. Tell them the story. I want them to think about that story. I want them to look at their own life. Because you're a chicken. Are you watching? Or are you just kind of spiritually asleep half the time? And you just kind of wake up to come to church. Then you go back to sleep. Because there is an adversary and he is on the prowl, and there is a fox, and he is sly and cunning, and he will grab you before you even know you've been grabbed. And you'll be fast asleep with your life turned upside down before you know it. You're in a spiritual, oppressive prison. And God wants to avoid that. So he tells us, stay awake. That's number one. Number two is you've got to resist. Resisting is a very important quality. And let me tell you, when you're kind of lazy, when you're kind of sleep oriented, you don't resist. Resisting takes effort. Resisting takes skills. Resisting takes words. Resisting takes faith. If you're not speaking on a regular basis, you're not resisting. Do you understand? Now have a look with me. Now that you're getting warmed up finally, dear God, thank you, Jesus. Have a look at Daniel, the book of Daniel, chapter 11. Daniel, chapter 11. And verse 32. Are you ready? Read. Okay. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries. Now watch this. But the people that do know their God, the people that do know their God shall be strong and shall do exploits. The people that do know their God. So everything ultimately right, comes down to knowing him. Can I tell you? The Lord said once to me, he said, do you want to know? I'm just telling me my conversation. You might have a different conversation with him. But he said something to me a while ago and he said, would you like to know what is one of the most important scriptures in my word? He didn't say the most, but in my heart it's the most important. But he said, one of the most important scriptures in my word. And I said, yes, I would like that. Please tell me. And he said, and I'd like you to turn there with me. Notice the people that do know their God, know their God, shall be strong and shall do exploits. Now he said, one of the most important scriptures in my word is a prayer that I prayed to my Father. Now if you read John 14, 15, 16, 17, there's a lot in there that Jesus prayed just before he went to the cross. And John thanked God for John. John had a little bit of a pride issue because he keeps telling everybody. He doesn't even say his name. He just says, the disciple who Jesus loved. And then when he's running, Peter and him had a race and he won. And he says the disciple who Jesus loved won something along those lines. So John was, and rightfully so. John should be very pleased with the fact that he was so close that he lay on Jesus breast. That's why John has such a revelation of love, such a revelation of fellowship and intimacy. That's why I love reading John especially. He's probably my Mark. And John, Mark tells a lot about what happened. But John is An intimate man. And I just love that. I just love that. Notice the intimate one was never killed. I'm not saying false doctrine. I'm just saying I think it's interesting that the one who knew the most, the one who was the closest, walked in a measure of protection that nobody else walked in. I'm not judging the others, I'm just saying pay attention. The Lord said to me, John, chapter 17 and verse three is one of the most important scriptures in the Bible. And watch this now. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now, this is part of Jesus prayer to the Father just before the cross. But I just absolutely have fallen in love with this verse because this, this verse is like, this is an umbrella verse. This is a big picture macrocosm verse. And this is life eternal. This is what it's all about. This is not just what it's about in your little life right now. This is what it's going to be about for eternity. All your existence, which our brains cannot fathom eternity, because everything in our life comes to an end. But in God's mind, He is and he was and he forever will be. And we're going to be with him forever. You can't even fathom forever. I can't fathom forever, but for all eternity. This is the purpose of your life. This is life eternal. That I may know him. Brother and sister, everything you do, everything that you do every day, you need to weigh it. Because there's lots of stuff we do. We do our laundry, we cook dinner, we work a job. We have so many things that we're doing, but everything has to be weighed against this is life eternal. That we may know him now, you have to do the natural things that you do. But I'll tell you something, if you start meditating on that, when you start spending the wasting time. Not that you can't do fun things. You have to have hobbies, you have to do your social media, all this stuff. I mean, there's a balance, there's moderation for everything. Okay, but I'm just saying when you start weighing these lesser things against this verse, you realize I'm starting to ask myself a lot more lately, is this activity assisting me knowing him? I'm telling you, there's a lot. Now listen, you've got to do your laundry. You can't come and stink and go, well, I just know God. But everybody wants to sit 17ft away from you because you're disgusting. We don't want you to know God that well, we want you to wash your clothes and have a shower and brush your teeth. So I'm not talking taking it weird. I'm talking in general. In general, there are important things that we do. Small things, big things, and then there's a lot of things in between that are not that important, but they fill our day dramatically. And if you can just start without legalism and without condemnation, just let the Holy Ghost be your guide. If you can just start weighing some of these activities against the eternal purpose of your life is to know him and ask, is this assisting my knowing him or not? You'll find a lot of stuff to that you do. I don't mean basic necessities. I mean extracurricular stuff that you don't need to do, but you want to do. You will find a lot of it is not assisting you. And one day you're gonna have to just make a decision. Well, Lord, I'm gonna have to listen a little bit of some stuff because I really do want to know you. Because this is really what my whole life is about now. And this is what my whole life is going to be about for eternity. There's always going to be assignments on that side and this side, but at the end of the day, we want to know Him. Now, what does Daniel 11:32 say? Those that do know their God, know their God. Now, that word know in the Hebrew means to ascertain or to learn by observation, by seeing. In other words, what it means in the Greek is this word know. There's different words. A husband knows his wife. It's talking about a sexual knowing. There's different words for know that English, the word know in the Hebrew language or in the Greek language, this word particularly means you don't know. If you say I know you, you can't use this word and say you know Donald Trump because you've never spent time with him in the same room. You can see him on television, but that doesn't mean anything. It's talking about spending time and learning their nature and their behavior by watching them in person. So if you don't know somebody personally, you can't. If you don't have time with somebody, you can't really say that you know them. If you're using this definition of the word know. Now, this is those that know their God know by personal in the same room, observation. That doesn't mean Jesus has to appear to you because he is the Word. So if you have the Word, you have him and the Holy Ghost can help teach you that word where it jumps off the page and where now that word has become alive unto you. That is a form of knowing God because he told you the way he thought in that word. And when the Holy Ghost reveals that word, you have become to know. You're starting to know him by observation. Do you understand? By his presence, Understanding being in church, understanding his flow, understanding his move, talking to him about things in your life, not in a religious way. O God, do you talk to your friend? Oh, Rosita. O, why do people get so weird? It's a religious devil. Do you just need to learn to just talk to him? Not disrespectfully, like, yo, what's up? No, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, what's up? No, J.C. is in the house. I don't like that. I don't like that. I know people do it at concerts and all that nonsense, but it shows a lack of reverence and spiritual maturity. He's not J.C. okay, J.C. jenny Craig. I mean, he's not J.C. he's the Lord God, but he's also my best friend. But he's also the creator of the universe, so he's a friend to me, but I always have a holy reverence for him. Just talking to him and getting to know Him. I often say he doesn't always answer me right away, but over time, he always does. Lord, what do you think about this, Lord? How could I have handled this situation better? What could I have done to not punch Happy in the face? What could I have done better in that situation? I'm kidding. I'm trying to make you smile. Okay? How could I have treated my wife better in this scenario? How could she have treated me better in that scenario? How do I kill my dog without anybody finding out? No, I'm just kidding. I'm trying to make you laugh. But I'm also trying to let you see a spiritual truth here. I actually talk to the Lord, and he doesn't always answer me right away, but I do talk to him and say, lord, I want to understand this. Maybe something happened with the staff or something happened with another pastor. For me, that's a lot, because I know a lot of pastors, a lot of pastors call me that are under me as well as that are peers with me. Tell me problems in their church. Tell me issues that they're having. And sometimes I look, and if you knew what I knew, half of you would backslide because there is so much filth out there in the ministry. And what pastors do is Just unconscionable. And I hear some of these things, and sometimes I talk to the Lord about it. I say, lord, how do you explain that to me? What happened in that situation? Why did that happen? And see, this is part of getting to know him. Because I'm observing him. I'm talking to him through His Word and by His Spirit and by his presence. He will start to reveal things and communicate to you in a way that you only get by your personal communion with him, not just by listening to somebody preach. Do you understand? You can learn a lot by somebody preaching, but you can learn even more by you having that communion, that intimate fellowship with him. Cole is my son. That is my relationship with him. He'll always be my son. That doesn't mean I have fellowship with Him. That doesn't mean I enjoy his company. That doesn't mean he knows me or I know him just because he's related to me. All of us are children of God. That does not mean you know God. That does not mean that you have any kind of intimacy and really knowing Him. Because that comes with fellowship. That comes with time. That comes with intimacy. If you want to date a girl, date a boy. You go out and you spend time and you spend money, because where your heart is, your money is. You want to know God? Spend money on him. Sow into what he thinks is important. Spend time with him. Wake up in the morning a little early and say, lord, I'm tired. Sometimes I say, I don't want to pray. I want to sleep. But, Lord, this is life eternal that I may know Thee. I just want to know you a little bit better today. I'm sorry for being a bit grouchy, and I'm sorry for being a bit tired. But I just want to tell you I love you and I'm going to spend this time with you because you're worthy of it. And I just start to talk to him, and it's amazing how he starts to communicate back to you. And sometimes it's not always words, but it's just knowings on the inside. Sometimes it's his presence. Sometimes scripture jumps off or he'll just prompt you. Sometimes I just worship, and that presence starts coming up. This is not just me knowing God through Pastor Nancy. This is me knowing God with personal observation. Them that know their God will be strong and do exploits. Now, because I'm a good pastor, I've written, looked this up in a bunch of different translations, and you see the phrase exploits, though, they will be strong, okay? And that word Strong is the same word that he said to Joshua. Be strong and courageous. It's hazak. In the Hebrew, courageous is amatz. So when he said strong and courageous, it's hazat de amatz, which is the Hebrew phrase of be strong, be fearless, be bold. Now that same spirit of that strength and that boldness is here. Those that intimately have fellowship will be bold and strong. And what will they do? I'm trying to get to a point. What will they do? They will do exploits. We know what an exploit is, but what does really that mean? It's surprising. A lot of translations translate that word in Hebrew as resist. They will resist. An exploit is a master resister. What does he say? Be awake. Don't be dulled in your senses. Your enemy is looking for an opportunity. Now resist him, withstand him. Push back on him steadfastly. This is saying, those that really know their God, there's going to be a strength inside of them that rises up and they're going to push back. That's really what it means to do. An exploit means to push back against the enemy. Are you hearing what your pastor is saying? Because the Lord said, preach this to them this morning, so somebody or all of you need to hear this now. It also means that this is a new living translation. Those that do know their God will be strong and will resist him. New living. The NCV translation says they will fight back. The NET says they will act valiantly. The CEV says they will do everything to oppose the enemy. The GNV says they will prevail against the enemy and prosper while they do it. Wow, I like that. They will prevail and prosper in your resisting prosperity comes. The Darby simply says they'll act. The young literal says they will work the works. Jesus said, I work the works of my father. The H. The Holman's study Bible says they will take action. Those that do know their God will be strong and take action. The Amplified, just the normal, not the classic. The Amplified says they will take action to resist. The NIV says they will firmly resist. The message says they will take a strong stand. The Tree of life. Excuse me, says they will stand strong and prevail against their adversary. And the TLB says they will do great things for God. Those that know. All of this comes out of knowing. See congregation. I don't know if I'm saying it right. Because you're not Africans. I'm used to talking to Africans now. So now I've got to get back to Canada. Okay. It is. It's a different flow. But I'm trying to get back to you. But listen, a lot of people come to church. That does not mean that they know God. A lot of people come to church because it's a religious duty. It does not. Now, I'm going to say something that's going to sting a little bit, but I'm not the kind of person that's just going to stroke you. I'm going to stroke you most of the time. But I have to sometimes say something, especially if God is prompting me to say it, and he is. This might sting a little bit, but I'm going to say it anyway. And just trust that your heart will receive it with the spirit in which I say it, because I'm not saying it to condemn you. I'm saying it to try to get you to think clearly. A lot of people come to church because it's a religious duty and they've done it all their life. But that doesn't mean that they really know Him. And a lot of people come to church on Sunday morning only because that's their religious duty. But if. Don't throw stones. Happy? Get ready with my shield that I gave you. Be careful because I don't want to get hurt. But a lot of people, if they really wanted to know God and if they were in the process of true growth and knowing him, they would be at church, which is a location and an environment to help you know Him. Everything I'm doing my whole life in Africa, in here and around the world is to get you to know him better. Everything is about that. And if you really wanted that, if that was really your goal, you would be here. And I'm not saying this manipulatively. I'm telling you the truth. If you really wanted to know him, you'd be here every time the door was open. Because you would recognize this is life eternal to know Him. And I know that I'm learning Him directly, but God gave me a gift. Ephesians 4:11. One of those gifts is a pastor's office. And that pastor knows God a little bit better than me. And God's put an anointing and put him in an office to help teach me. And if he teaches me, I'll know Him better. I'm not doing this to please Pastor Craig. I'm doing this because I want to know him better. So when the doors are open, I'm coming. It makes me wonder if all the people that don't come Wednesday night, do they really want to know God? Because don't tell me that all of you were, because I know it's not true. I said that it will sting a little bit. I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to provoke you to love and good works. We've got to get to the place in this church where people are so hungry for God that they don't just show up Sunday morning, which seems at times like it's a duty, but they show up Wednesday night in the same strength. That would show me it's not a duty. That would show me you're hungry to know him, because it's a more inconvenient time. And when we have guest speakers, the church would be full every service, because that anointing on a different office and a different man is going to help you know him. But if you're just kind of a bit religious, you'll just show up for your duty. This is what Dr. Dufresne was trying to get over to the body of Christ for years, and they don't get it. Now, listen, I'm in good company because Dr. Sumrall, one of the greatest ministers that has ever lived, who had a church in South Bend, Indiana, he was an apostle. God permitted him to Pastor, and Dr. Sumrall would lose his cool with his people. And you don't want. I lose my. You don't want Dr. Sumral. My God, if Dr. Sumral loses cool and you feel like you want to crawl under the chair. But Dr. Sumner would yell at the people because he would invite some of the biggest ministers, like William Branham and other massive Kenneth Hagin, the top echelons of the body of Christ. He'd give them months notice and he'd challenge them. Come on, guys, let's be hungry for God. And Dr. Sumrall said when guest ministers would come, no matter what the title was, only 50% would show up. 50%. But when he's preaching Sunday morning, 100%. What does that tell me? There's a lot of religious people, they want to do their duty and they do love God, but they don't really want to know him. Boy, I'm messing with you. Now. I know some of you are going to take an offering to send me back to Africa and keep me there. I'm just being honest. A lot of people, they do a duty. Check your heart, because you can have a relationship and do a duty because you're a child of God, but you can actually in your heart, not have a fire burning to really know him. If you had a fire to Know him. It would show up in your actions. You would make the effort to come at inopportune, inconvenient times because you would realize when I'm in church, if I'm paying attention, something is going to help me. This is life eternal to know him. Now, see, the emphasis before was on last Sunday. He said, now talk about this, about the Devil getting his foot on your property, on your children and your health or whatever. But this morning, the Lord said, that's not the emphasis I want you to focus on. He said, I want you. The focus this morning is I want you to tell them not to sleep. I want you to tell. Which is the same thing last week. I want you to tell them to resist. But the emphasis here is not about the Devil getting his foot on your property, which would be very true. And if you want to hear that, listen to last Sunday's at her church. But for this morning, he said, tell him to resist and not sleep. About this is now different for this Sunday about the sleepiness quality of knowing me. See, we got to be awake to resist. When the devil starts playing games with our health and our children, we've got to say, no, you don't. And that's true. But there's actually something even greater than that. When we start becoming dull and sleepy about our intensity to know him, about our love for fellowship with him and a wall of what that means. When that starts happening and we start going and we're getting very sleepy and dull about our intimacy with God, there's got to be something that we become awake and alert and we recognize that in ourselves and say, I'm turning into somebody that just does something because I have to do it. I don't. I've lost something. When I was first saved, I was so hungry, I prayed every day. Now I'll pray if I have time. When I was younger in the Lord, I witnessed to people all the time. Now I'm lucky if I witness to somebody once a year. I'm just too busy. Pastor Craig, I already know a lot about God. I don't really need to come every Sunday. I don't need to come every day, every midweek. I know a lot about God. What you're really saying is your desire, the fire inside of you to know him, to fight to know him. Because there is a pressure on you to not know him. And you have to resist that. You have to resist that religiosity. You have to resist that thing that says, just come when you want, come when you feel like it. Come when you're in the mood, don't come. When you're busy, don't come. When it's a sacrifice, don't come because it's going to cost you more gas. When that kind of pressure comes on you, you can't go to sleep and go, oh, well, okay. Everything will be fine. Cl. Cl. Cl. Click, click. You've got to wake up and say, let me look at my life. Let me look at my life. Do I really, really love him? And do I really want to know him? Because if I do, I should be praying. Not just a little prayer. I should be spending time. If I really love him, I should be spending time with him. And I know that a lot of people don't. If I really love him, I would want to be in his house where his word that feeds me and helps me know him is delivered under an anointing through an office. I would be there more. Now. This is not. I'm not trying to manipulate you. I'm trying to tell you what I heard God say. He said, some of them are sleeping, not last Sunday, about how the devil is encroaching on their health and their kids and all this stuff, their money. But some of them are sleeping about their intimacy with me. They're getting lulled into this false sense of cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, and they just. It becomes religious. I go to church. But do you really want to know him? Because if you do, it's not only going to show up on a midweek service and a guest speaker and all that stuff that's the overflow. What it's really going to show up first is what do you do in the mornings? You really want to know? I'm messing with you. If you really want to know if you love God the way you should, and if you want to know him intimately with fellowship the way you should, it will show up. What you do in the mornings. That's your litmus test. Now, you may be tired, you may be busy, you may see through your alarm. I understand every day is a little different, but on a general scale, I'm not being legalistic, but on a general scale, if you really want to know him, you will wake up. You won't turn the television on. You won't check your Instagram, you won't do all that stuff. You'll sit there and you'll open the Bible and you'll put some worship music on, and you'll say, I worship you. I love you. I've got another chance today to love you. To know you, to serve you. Show me yourself. Reveal yourself to me. I love you more than anything else. I love you more than anything else in my life. I want to know you now. If that is your heart. And you hear your pastor tell you, you'll hear the Holy Ghost if you listen. Most people don't listen. But if you hear your pastor and the Holy Ghost say, if you really want to know me, you got to sit under the anointing and under the word. You need to start coming to church more. Then you won't be skipping. You won't be playing hooky. I'm serious. Am I going to have better success rate than Dr. Sumrall in the natural? No. Have we always had the same success rate as Dr. Sumrall? Yes. But if I would teach you, and if your hearts are hungry for it, we'll see change. And I'm not talking only about Wednesday night and when there's special speakers or Sunday night. I'm talking about a lifestyle. If you can do this in the morning, Wednesday night will automatically take care of itself because the Holy Ghost will be dealing with you all day long and say, I know you're tired. I know you've got stuff to do, lunches to make, dishes to do. But you know what? All of that stuff, it is brass. It is wood, hay and stubble. There's gold. There's gold being offered. There's gold being offered. Go, go, go. Lord, I'm tired. I'm busy. I'll strengthen you. Put me first. I want you to know me. There's going to be a little something you learn tonight on a Wednesday night that's going to help you know me better. And then tomorrow morning, Thursday morning, when you spend your time with me, I'm going to talk to you about what I revealed to you Wednesday night. Because we're on a journey to know him, my friends. We're on a journey to know him. What is your motive? And I'm ending with this. What is your motive? What is your motive in life? A lot of people, especially in Africa, they look at you, if you've got any kind of prosperity, and then they think you stole money from the church. And if they don't think you stole money, then they're wondering why you're not giving them the money. And I had some of the pastors in the conference come up to the leaders after my first meeting, first service, saying, because I made the mistake and I shouldn't have done it because I know better, but it just slipped out. I was telling them what we're believing for, because I gave them the story how I started at $500 a week at the church, and over 17 years, now we're believing for 42,000 a week. And I taught them how to stretch your faith. I taught them how. Romans 15:13, your believing is by joy and peace. And how the spirit of God will never break you. He'll never expect you to believe more than your measure because he knows your measure of faith, but he wants your measure to grow all the time. And I was explaining, but I said the word 42,000, and I shouldn't have said that because you can't tell Africans that because they can't fathom that. So some of them came up to the leadership afterward and goes, 42,000 a week. It would take us 20 years to get that. It would take them more than 20 years to get that. Okay? The average person makes $2 an hour for a regular job. Okay? So. And so the DoC, the minister said to me, pastor, please don't say specific numbers because it makes people stumble. But you know what else they said? They said, you make 42. They believe the church is leaving 42,000 a week. And what was their. Now, now, what was their next statement? This shows the heart. Why doesn't he give us some of it? Doesn't he know we're poor? And then on top of that, I'm about to tell him, what I have been giving you is over. Can you understand why? I was nervous? So I stood up and I got nice, sweet sermon. But the Holy Ghost is not always nice and sweet, Although he's always nice and sweet. Even in his correction, he's nice and sweet. But he said, say that. And I knew the leader's gonna stone me if I say it. And so I just. The anointing came. I just got real bold. I said, some of you out there commented about my 42,000 a week. And your next statement was, why don't he give me some? And I said, that just shows your impure heart and your immature mind. My Dr. Dufresne, my dad never gave me a penny all his life. Dad Hagin never gave him a penny all his life. I'm not your natural father, and I'm not here to give you money. I'm your spiritual father, and I'm here to give you spiritual weapons so that you can have what I had. And I said, when Pastor Nancy taught me and she went from a few hundred a week to thousands per week, my answer was not, why don't you give some to me, my answer was, I went with tears and I grabbed her hand and I said, thank you. Thank you for teaching me. Now I can get it. Because he don't love you more than he loved me. Now I can get it and I have. I said, your heart needs to be. Thank you for teaching me, not give me more. Do you understand? So you understand, like I have an uphill battle with the Africans because they don't think the way we think. Well, some of us think that way. But I'm saying it's an epidemic over there. So I spent time talking to them about their motives. Their motives about money. When you're very poor, you often have false motives just out of sheer poverty, desperation. But you still got to guard your motives. I'm saying to you this morning, I'm not talking about money, but I'm saying to you, you need to really look at your motives. I hope you come back next week. Oh, God. Maybe I should be nicer, Lord, but I think they're used to me by now. I don't want you to quit on God. I'm not trying to hurt you. But I'm telling you, some of you, you're just religious. You're here this morning not because you really want to know him, but because you always went to church Sunday morning and you're doing your duty. Now, if that's the only reason, then keep doing your duty. But I'm just saying there's something higher than doing a duty. You can actually start to know the Creator of the universe. And when you start to know him, you'll become so hungry, you won't have. You'll be up before the alarm wakes you up, because you'll long to talk to Him. You'll come every service because of the honor and the privilege of learning about him and getting to know him more. Do you see what I'm saying? What is your motive? Does your motive really want to know Him? Or do you just want to do a little. A little Christian jig and I'll end with this. But what God dealt with me, and it was about money. But it applies principally here. And I shared this with the Africans when I had that major problem in India. I was living there for three months. I was 20 years old, 1996. And I had that. Remember, they fed me a crow instead of a chicken. And my body was full of parasites. I almost died. I was in the hospital. And then I got out. And then I go up to Delhi to preach at a Bible school from Mumbai. And I'd been sick for weeks. And I was kind of weak, and I wanted to go outside because I hadn't been outside hardly at all. And there was a swimming pool there. And so I went out for the swimming pool, and I fell asleep. And I woke up. And then I found out later that over Delhi, specifically, there's no ozone layer. Can you believe that? All the pollution killed the ozone above Delhi, so you got to be really careful. And I fell asleep with no suntan lotion on. And I got up after hours. I went in the thing, and I was the color. Stand up, Cole. Quickly, quickly. Turn around. Show them your shirt. I was that color. I mean, I was in. Like. I was in agony. I've never had a burn that bad in my life. I mean, it went layers down. I couldn't walk, actually, almost. I had to walk like this. I couldn't move. And I've just come out of the hospital. Sometimes I hate missions, honestly. But it was my stupid fault. But nobody told me. Anyway, anyway, so the pastor says, well, you can't. I couldn't preach at the Bible school. I couldn't preach at a church. I can't move. So he takes me up to his attic. He says, you just lie here. My wife will come with a lot of calamine lotion, all this stuff, and we'll just help you. So every day she came. She's so sweet. I had little shorts on and a little shirt, and I didn't have a shirt. And I had to lie on my stomach for three days because I couldn't lie on my back. And she would put this stuff, and I would pray, and I would listen to worship music. But during that very difficult moment of a lot of pain and being in a strange country, strange food, strange everything, I'm in the attic, and I'm healing. Took about a week for me to be able to walk again. And then I went and preached. I remember the T shirt was sticking to my back because I started to sweat. And the chicken walked right past me as I was preaching. And then a pig walked right past me as I was preaching. And it's 110 degrees, and I'm sweating, and my back is just on fire. But I still preach, because I was there to preach. But in that attic. I'm saying this for a reason. God started talking to me. And this is before. Very important. You hear this. This is before I ever heard about the prosperity message. Okay? I'd never heard that God wanted you to prosper. I didn't even know that that existed. My dad, who's the rich one who was offering me a very, very. Half a million dollars to start, then up to a million dollars a year, paid for Harvard, offered me the world. And he said, come work for me, son. I'll give you the best life. And he would pressure me and I would say to him, daddy, I have another daddy that you don't know about. And my daddy has offered me something that's far, far more valuable than your million dollars a year. He's offered me the anointing. He's offered me a call. And he would get so angry with. He's a great man, I love him, but he just doesn't know God. And he's trying to help his son. And he would yell at me and say, if you be a stupid preacher, you'll be broke the rest of your life. You'll never have owned a house, you'll never own a car, you'll never even be able to buy a suit. I'm offering you the world and you're turning it down to preach and be broke. Remember that. What says the foolish things, he'll confound with foolish, because to them it's foolish. Why wouldn't you go to Harvard? Why wouldn't you work down Wall Street? Wall Street? You know, Bay street, where. That's where he worked. Big office building, huge office, makes millions. He wanted his son to go in his footsteps. And here his son says, I'm going to preach. He could not fathom it. And he would tell me all the time, you're going to be broke forever trying to turn me. And so all I know is I'm going to be broke. Because that's all he's told me. And I actually believed it. And nobody had told me about prosperity. I'm in that attic, lying on my stomach, trying to read and listen to the Word. And God speaks to me. I'm talking about motives now. He says to me this just audibly. I mean, it sounded audible to me. I don't know if it was, but it was loud. And he said, will you preach for me if you have nothing? Remember? I don't know. I can't counter and say, but, Lord, we know you will bless us. Because I actually didn't understand that. So I actually really thought he meant what he said, that I would have nothing. And he said, will you preach for me if you sleep in the grass? Will you preach if you never own a home? He was saying all the things my dad said, will you preach if you're broke? Will you preach if you can never have a Car. Now, remember, I don't know. Prosperity. I actually believe what my dad has told me. He brainwashed me, but I still said yes to God to preach. And in that attic, I looked at God with tears coming down my eyes. I'll never forget it to this day. And I said, lord, I will serve you and preach for you if I never have anything. And I know I probably. I remember saying, jenny, I know I probably won't. My dad has told me I won't, but he's a sinner. But still you're asking me, so maybe that means I'm actually not going to have anything. And I remember saying, I'm crying. And I said, this was a motive moment. And every preacher has to have a motive moment. Every Christian has to have a motive moment. And not just about money, but about everything. But he said, I said with tears, I will serve you and preach if you never ever, I know you love me, but if you never choose to bless me because I didn't know doctrine, I will do it with joy. Because nothing is more valuable to me than preaching the gospel. And you see what I turned down. Nothing's more valuable to me than preaching the gospel. That's all he said. He didn't say, I'm going to bless you. He didn't teach me prosperity. It was years later then I started to learn, oh, God actually wants us blessed. And then I started releasing my faith for that. And God has blessed me. But God wanted to know, without knowing about prosperity, if my motive was clean. Kenneth Hagin. Before he knew about faith and healing, God said to Matthew 6:33, before he got to Mark 11:24, don't ever worry again. And he didn't even know he could be healed. And he had to choose not to worry about the incurable blood and the deformed heart and the paralysis and the deathbed. And nobody ever lived past 16 years old in the history of medical science. And he was 16. And he had to say, I won't worry. And he didn't even know if he could be healed. God was asking me, are you going to be willing to do it if you have nothing? And I don't even know that I could have something. And I said with tears in my eyes, yes, Lord, I will. I'm saying that for a reason. I said, now, Lord, there's one problem with this. If I say yes to you, I like girls a lot. I want to get married. No one will ever marry me if I sleep in the grass. And then I said, lord, if you're asking Me, because I really felt like I was going to have nothing. I thought he was warning me that you're going to be broke, but you're going to preach. So I said, lord, I want to get married, so please send me a woman who will be willing to sleep in the grass with me, because I don't want to sleep alone in the grass. I remember saying that we looked at our calendars, our journals years later, the same week, first week of September, 1996, that I was in that attic saying those words the same exact week, almost to the day. Jenny had gone to Bible school, where Pastor Brenton Shawnee went. She arrived. She went by faith. She didn't have any money, and she was sitting in a park. The sun was going down. She was sitting on the bench. She said, lord, I have enough for tuition. I have no money for anything else. But you told me to come, and I am here and listen. And she said, the same week, almost the same day, we've never met. And she says, I am coming to Bible school and I will serve you even if I have to sleep in the grass. And she planned on sleeping in the grass that night because the sun was going down, she had no money and nowhere to go. But she had just arrived in St. Catharines. And here I am saying, give me a woman that will sleep in the grass. And here's Jenny saying to God, lord, I'm going to sleep in the grass tonight unless you provide. But I will not quit. I will never quit. You told me to come, and I'm here. And 10 minutes later, a woman pulls up in a car and says, are you Jennifer? Yeah. God told me that you're in the park. I am to come and get you. I'm going to give you free of rent. I've got a room ready for you. I've got in my apartment, and I'm going to help you, and I'm going to drive you and I'm going to take care of you. Get in the car. God has sent me to help you. And you never had to sleep in the grass, but you were willing. And I have never had to sleep in the grass. Well, I did a couple times on that same trip. We literally slept in the grass. But okay, but that was an exception because I was in the jungles and I was the first Caucasian to ever go there in the history of India. So there was nowhere to sleep. That's fine. But I've never since then slept in the grass. Why? My mo. God had to check my motives. God wants to bless Me. That's why. And I told the Africans, I've got no problem telling you that God has blessed me and that this faith thing really works. I am not embarrassed about it. I'm not proud. I'm not trying to flaunt anything or make anybody feel less. But I don't have a problem talking because I had nothing. I know what it feels like to have nothing. And I thought with all my heart I would always have nothing. And I still picked it. And I turned a million dollars a year down and I turned Harvard down. So it's too late for you to talk to me about prosperity. Don't mess with me. I was willing to do it, and I did do it with nothing. And that's why, when I preach, God will bless my socks off. Because he knows even today, if he said, I'll take it away. Will you preach? The answer is yes, sir. I'm not in this for money. I'm not in this for offerings. I'm not in this for. I'm in this to help the body of Christ and to preach under the anointing. That is my motive. And God sees my pure heart, and he is blessed. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed. And then he says, I want you to buy a house by Pastor Nancy. I can't afford a second house. I know. I'll pay for it for you. You sit beside her, you eat beside her, you travel beside her. And I live beside her. Took every bit of money and every bit of faith I had. But as you heard a couple weeks ago, we got it. We pick up the keys in a couple weeks. And I was so stressed, I said, I'm walking away. I can't handle this anymore. Pastor Jay, he's rich man. Pastor Jay pay for this cash. Let me let him do it. I can't take this anymore, Lord. Everything. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. And he said, I do not permit you to walk away. If you do, you'll lose a place in the spirit. And I kept fighting. The pressure was immense. I kept fighting. We got it. Then he speaks to a man. Give him your BMW X5M M means mighty power 550 glorious horses under that hood. I'm driving it up from the US To Canada. I said, why did you give me this? I don't deserve it. And I never even released my faith. Why did you do this? This is Jenny's car now. And he said, because you didn't quit on me house. I haven't told you this one yet because I figured you all get offended with me. But Then somebody called me and said, the Lord said, would you like anything else? I said, I've always wanted a Jeep since I was a kid. I just think Jeeps are cool. And Mr. Zita said, Amen. You know what? Somebody called me from the United States and said, God told me to give you my Jeep. I've got big fat tires on it. He said, you're from Africa, right? I said, yeah. He said, I've got lizards drawn on it just for you. And then the Lord said, would you like anything else? I said, are you serious? These are rewards because I didn't quit on for the house. The house itself is a reward. Lord, this is how good he is. He said, you want anything else? I said, I've always wanted a Jet Ski. I've always wanted a Jet Ski. Not for these nasty lakes here that are gross, but you go out in the ocean on a Jet Ski and you jump those waves. It's as close to heaven as you can get. I did it once 15 years ago and I've longed for it ever since. Somebody called me and said, I want to give you a Jet Ski. It's brand new, never been used. Come pick it up. I said, amen. I think that's God. Then I have to bring these cars into the States, into Canada, thanks to our tariffs. Costs a lot of money. A different person spoke to me and said, God told me to pay for everything. Pay. No money. I pay every dime. I don't want you paying a dime to bring that across the border. And I'm just looking at God and I'm saying, why, Lord? Why? Why? He reminded me of the attic. You were willing to do it, son, for nothing. Now it's my pleasure to bless you. Now, that's money. But hear my point. What is your motive in life? I'm talking about preaching the gospel. But what about you? The ultimate motive is, yes, preaching, but it's to know him. If your motive is pure and clean, and you will show God that He's first, that you're in love with him, that you want to know him. If you show him that, which includes everything I'm talking about, yes, it includes money, but it includes faithfulness. It includes waking up in the morning. I'm talking about the whole picture. You watch what he does for you. When he knows that your motive is right, he'll add to you and add to you. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things. Things will be added. The things is not what I'm interested in. I want to seek him first. I'm not just saying that to be a religious preacher. I'm being honest with you. What is your motive? What is your motive about money? What is your motive about church? What is your motive about God? What is your motive about knowing Him? You've got to check every now and then. You've got to have a motive moment. You've got to check. Why am I really doing this? Am I just religious? Or do I really want to know him? I really want to know him. So I've kind of taken a bit of a side trail about knowing him that went longer than I thought. But the point of all of that was to say this. If you'll really know him, if you'll really know him, really know him, out of you will rise a strength you've never felt. And it will cause you to resist. It will cause you to know him and resist, do exploits, is resisting. And you'll never be caught sleeping again. That thing that lulls you into this religiosity, you resist it. Things that try to get in your body and your system, in your mind, that are not the covenant, sickness, torment, poverty. You resist it because out of knowing him comes the strength to resist. Resist religion, resist sickness, resist poverty, resist all these things. But you got to know him and you got to look at your motives. Do you really want to know Him? Is he the most important thing? Or are other things really more important, but you're too chicken to admit it to yourself? Part of that is, what are you doing every day? Do you pray every day? Because if you don't, you don't want to know Him. I'm just being honest. And if you can't even come to church when God is going to teach you how to know him, that says a lot about you. Now, don't get offended and go, oh, there's no love in this place. I'm leaving. Don't be a fool. I'm trying to help stretch your faith. I'm trying to help check your motives. I'm trying to get you to love God more. I'm not trying to hurt you or offend you. I'm not watching if you come on Wednesday, Believe it or not, I'm not watching. I don't really care from one perspective. I don't care if there's three people. I'll preach like there's 3,000. I don't really care whether you come or not from that place. Nobody's judging you. Nobody's writing your name, nobody's gonna call you. I don't play those games. I'm talking about your heart. You know, if you're not coming, check why. If it's truly legitimate and you can't because of work, then use your faith to get favor with your boss. Use your faith to get a different shift. Because nothing should come before the house of God. No amount of tiredness should come before waking up to spend time with him. If you really want to know him, what is your motive? Do you love him more? If you do, it will show up in your actions. It will show up the way you give. It will show up the way you think. It will show up the way you tell other people about Jesus. Because if you really want to know him, there will be a burning desire to tell others about him so that they can know Him. Everything. This is life eternal that we may know Him. This is it, Jenny. The whole point of everything is to know him. And Jesse, when he was in heaven, he said, I saw people getting off those contraptions when they arrived, and they saw that throne in the distance. And the angels would say, you can't go there yet. You're not ready. You're not ready for the manifested presence of God. You've got to come and learn. And they would go into classes, they would teach them about a lot of different things, including knowing Him. He said, then one man got out of that contraption and he is running full steam toward that throne. Jesse saw him running, and no angel stopped him because he had learned on the earth what was important. And he knew God here. And when he got there, there was no hindrance. He could go right to the throne and see the majesty on high. There is rules in heaven. You don't get to go certain places just because you think that you should. What you do here determines what you have there. So I've decided. Money, no money. Cars, no cars. I don't care about any of that. God blesses me. Great. I want to know Him. That means I want to be in the church. I want to be close to Him. I want to pray. Pray. I want to worship. I want to know Him. That's everything for me. I want to know. I want you to have that same passion. Heavenly Father, I love these people so much. Lord, even though it may be a little bold and sometimes even a little stingy, I pray that you'd help them see my heart through the words. Thank you for that anointing that helps it land right on the inside of them, that they won't be up in arms and they won't be offended and Prickly, but they'll see. What I'm trying to say in my heart is, guys, this can't just be a religious thing. This has got to be a living thing. We've got to want to know him and we've got to resist the tendency to become complacent and to fall asleep in our knowing Him. Because if we become religious and we are not alert at all, the stuff the Devil's going to try to do to flip our life upside down. He doesn't want us to know Him. He doesn't want us to seek Him. He wants us to stay in this little religious sleep. And if we don't guard against that, things won't always go right in our life. Because knowing him produces the strength to resist. And we've got to resist because there is a real enemy that's trying and we've got to resist. But we've got to know him first. We can't fall asleep. We've got to know Him. The disciples fell asleep and he said, could you not wake and tarry what hour? Yes, he meant physically sleeping, but also he's talking about the heart. Lord, I don't want you to look at me and say, could you not tarry one hour with me? I want to wait on you. I want to know you. I want to love you. I want to know you so that I can resist anything that is against you, including religiosity and a Sunday morning only mentality, which is actually a religious thought. I've got to love you enough that I long for you every day of my life. And church is the only overflow of that. I give you praise for it. I thank you for this precious congregation. I thank you for your anointing. I can feel it on me. I sense, even though it was a bit hard hitting at times, that that anointing helped it land right in their hearts that nobody leaves here offended, but they leave here challenged and stirred to know you better. Because that's what it's all about is knowing you so we can resist what would try to hinder us from knowing you. We give you praise and glory in the name of Jesus. Let them have a hunger for you this week that they maybe haven't felt in a long time. Just lift your hands, Father. Every person with a lifted hand. That is their acknowledgement that they want this aid and this anointing and this impartation. Father, let that anointing right now in Jesus name, let that anointing right now. Let that anointing right now. Let it go Let it rest upon them. Let it help them. Let it strengthen them. Lord, ignite those embers that are in their heart. If they've grown a little cold and a little religious, light those embers again. Let fire rage again. Let them have a love and a hunger to know you like they did when they were first saved. Let them not become religious over time. Let them resist that. Let them love you and fall in love with you again. Because knowing you is everything. It is life eternal. I give you praise and I give you glory. In Jesus precious name. And everybody said amen.