Don't Be A Sleeping Chicken Pt. 2 Faith & Motives! | Pastor Craig Field | Sun. Aug. 17, 2025

Summary

Promise of Life Church Podcast: "Don't Be A Sleeping Chicken Pt. 2: Faith & Motives!"

Host: Promise of Life Church
Speaker: Pastor Craig Field
Date: August 17, 2025

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Main Theme

Pastor Craig Field, drawing on vivid personal stories and practical scriptural insight, urges believers not to fall into spiritual slumber ("sleeping chickens") but instead to stay awake and alert in faith. Through humor, analogies, and teaching, he exhorts the church to resist the enemy by knowing God deeply, maintain right motives, guard against religious complacency, and live with a vibrant, active faith.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Watchfulness and Resistance (1 Pet. 5:8)

• Vigilance Explained: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil... walks about seeking whom he may devour." (00:11)
  • Sober = alert and focused, not simply avoiding alcohol but also distractions like social media.
  • Vigilant = “to not sleep, to be awake.” (01:32)
• Chicken Catching Analogy: Pastor Craig humorously recounts his brief career as a chicken catcher to illustrate the danger of spiritual sleepiness.
  • When chickens were picked up in their sleep, they didn’t resist, paralleling how believers can be "scooped up" by the devil if not awake. (02:30–05:36)
  • "Don't let [the devil] catch you sleeping because he's much better at me at the scoop." (07:10)

Memorable Quote

• “If somebody's going to move, it's going to be you. It's not going to be me.” (01:09)

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2. Knowing God Brings Strength to Resist (Daniel 11:32)

• Scriptural Emphasis: Those who know their God will be strong and do exploits/resist. Multiple translations reinforce the focus on resisting evil (08:00–09:40).
• Awareness and Action: “Your alertness will cause you to resist.” (10:22)
• The Spirit of Faith: True spiritual strength rises from a personal knowledge of God, fueling a fighting spirit instead of passivity. (11:42)
  • “Those that know their God will be strong and resist.” (11:58)
• Relevant Reference: Compares this attitude to the viral Sweet Brown video – “Ain't nobody got time for that.” (12:01–13:28)

Notable Quotes

• “When you know God, something rises up inside of you. And it's like, I ain't putting up with that.” (12:01)
• “Spirit of faith doesn't lie back. Quiet. Spirit of faith doesn't sleep.” (11:35)

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3. Resisting the Enemy Starts With Hunger for God, Not Religious Complacency

• Danger of Religious Spirit: The devil doesn’t just use calamity, but also makes people religious (a facade of spirituality without true spiritual life). (17:03–19:31)
• “Religious complacency robs you of a fire to know him.” (19:31)
• New Believers vs. Veterans: New believers have hunger; veterans risk becoming “religiously complacent.”
• Citing Jerry Savelle’s advice: “Don’t get complacent... the true mark of a spiritual man is one who presses when they've been blessed.” (20:53–21:12)

Memorable Quote

• “The true mark of a spiritual man is one who presses when they've been blessed. One that doesn't get tired, one that doesn't get complacent, one that doesn't become religious, one that is pressing for God even when God has blessed them.” (21:12)

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4. First Love: The Lifeblood of True Spirituality

• Jesus' Warning in Revelation: Doing all the right outward things but losing “first love” – the passionate desire to know Him (24:23–25:13).
  • “You lost your first love. You can do all this stuff... But if you lost your first love, Jesus counts all of that for nothing.” (24:21)
• Practical Encouragement: If desire is lacking, start by confessing it by faith – “Lead with your mouth.” (21:45; 24:10)

Highlighted Segment

• [24:10] "Put a desire in me to know you... Give me a strength to resist."

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5. True Spirituality is Balanced, Not “Super-Religious”

• Balance in Life: True spirituality doesn’t mean constant religiosity but combining natural and spiritual life in a healthy way. (35:03–37:02)
  • “Spiritual people have balance... they are primarily spiritual, but they are not only spiritual… we might as well just go to heaven [if we were].” (36:02)
  • Anecdotes about Dad Hagin enjoying football and spending time with people not always focused on spiritual talk.
• Warning: Too much focus on solely spiritual things leads to burnout or deception.

Notable Exchange

• “[B:] He was not a substitute tight religious person that only wanted to talk about God and spiritual things. [A:] We love God. I love God more than most of you. But I don't only talk about spiritual things because I have a life...” (35:59–36:05)

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6. Motives: The Acid Test of Blessing

• Personal Testimony: Pastor Craig shares his willingness to serve God even if there was no material reward, emphasizing pure motives. (39:20–44:30)
  • “If I give you nothing, will you preach?” – God asking Pastor Craig to test his heart (41:56)
• Motives vs. Faith & Obedience:
  • “Motives do not cause me to bless you. Only faith and obedience causes me to bless you. Motives keep you safe when I bless you.” (45:47)
  • If motives are wrong, even blessing can lead someone away from God’s plan.
• Faith and Obedience Get Blessing; Motives Protect in Blessing: (47:39)
  • “Motives keep you safe when I bless you, but they don’t cause you to be blessed.” (45:47)

Quote

• “What God wants is he wants this coming together. He wants you to have the right motive, but he wants you in faith and obedience so he can bless you, but the motive keeps you safe when he blesses you.” (47:39)

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7. Faith: Its Operation, Evidence, and Inner Certainty

• How Faith Functions: Outlined the difference between building faith (by the Word), operating faith (by speaking), and the strength that comes via the Spirit. (58:25–1:00:00)
• Inner Vision vs. Outer Circumstances:
  • “If you truly believe, you see it in here more than you see it out here... Faith is the evidence of things not seen.” (58:23)
• Reference to Hebrews 4: “I have labored to enter into rest.” Real faith means peace, not stress or striving (1:00:43).

Insightful Quote

• “True faith is being undisturbed no matter what you see.” (59:00)

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Notable Quotes and Moments (With Timestamps)

• On Alertness:
  • “Steadfast in the original language means to be stiff, like a board of wood. Unbendable... Devil, if somebody’s going to move, it’s going to be you.” (01:02)
• On Resisting Evil:
  • “Say, get your filthy claws off my ankles. You're not taking me.” (11:09)
• On Religious Complacency:
  • “Religious complacency robs you of a fire to know him.” (19:31)
• On Knowing God:
  • “This is life eternal: that they would know the one true God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ ... I have my whole eternity is going to be knowing Him. You might as well start now.” (16:10)
• On Motives:
  • “Motives do not cause me to bless you. Only faith and obedience cause me to bless you. Motives keep you safe when I bless you.” (45:47)
• On True Faith:
  • “True faith is being undisturbed no matter what you see.” (59:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------|-------------------| | Call to vigilant faith (1 Peter 5) | 00:00–05:36 | | Chicken story and spiritual application | 02:30–07:10 | | Daniel 11:32 – Knowing God = Strength to Resist | 08:00–09:40 | | Manifesting spirit of faith (Sweet Brown reference) | 12:01–13:28 | | On religious complacency and first love | 17:03–25:13 | | The importance of balanced, authentic spirituality | 35:03–37:02 | | Testing of motives (personal testimony) | 39:20–44:30 | | Motives vs. faith and obedience explained | 45:47–47:39 | | Mechanics of faith and being undisturbed | 58:23–1:01:00 |

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Summary Takeaways

• Don't be found sleeping spiritually; stay alert, awake, and ready to resist the enemy by being anchored in faith.
• Spiritual vigilance is rooted in truly knowing God—intimacy with Him stirs alertness, resistance, and a fighting spirit.
• The greatest danger isn’t just obvious sin or hardship, but religious complacency that dulls hunger for God.
• Your motives matter: they don’t bring blessing, but they safeguard you when blessings come.
• Faith must be alive on the inside; true faith produces undisturbed peace regardless of external circumstances.
• Balance is essential: genuine spirituality not only pursues God but allows healthy natural living.
• Stay motivated by love for God, not duty. Cultivate your "first love" and let relationship, not religion, define your Christian walk.

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Recommendation:
Listen to this episode for a blend of scriptural teaching, practical illustrations, humor, and heartfelt exhortation—especially if you sense the need to rekindle your spiritual passion, reexamine your motives, or deepen your walk of faith.

Transcript

[A]

First Peter, chapter five. Could you turn there, please? And I'm doing Sleeping Chickens part two. Okay? Don't be a sleeping chicken. You see that? That's the devil. He's the fox. And there's a fox in the henhouse. Oh, Lord, help us, Jesus. First Peter, chapter five and verse eight. Are you there? Ready? Read. Be sober, be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion, what does he do? Walks about seeking. Seeking. That doesn't mean he can find. We're playing hide and seek. Right? But he's only seeking. That doesn't mean he can find you because you're hidden in Christ. But he's seeking whom he may devour. Whom? Resist steadfast in the face, in the faith. So how do you resist? You resist in faith. Okay? You don't resist by going to a self help seminar. You resist in faith. Do you understand? But notice it says steadfast. Who resist? Steadfast. The faith. I think that's important. Why does it say steadfast? It says steadfast because it's going to be very easy to not be steadfast. Now, the word steadfast in the original language, the Greek language, means to be stiff. It means to be like a board of wood. It means to be unbendable. What is he saying? Resist in a way that is. You're unbending, you're not moving, you're not changing. Devil. If somebody's going to move, it's going to be you. It's not going to be me. There's a resistance that is steadfast. And you do it in faith. Because. What does it say now? The first thing there, be sober and be vigilant. That sober simply means to abstain from alcohol. It means to be alert. Okay, Alert. You don't have to just be drinking to not be alert. You can just be distracted with TikTok. Be alert. And then this other word. What's this other word here? So sober and vigilant. That word, vigilant means to not sleep, to be awake. So one is to be alert, the other is to be awake. Vigilance and diligence creates a new word in the English language called dijilance. I've submitted it to Merriam Webster. They're going to get back to me. We need to be diligent. Diligent, that means I don't quit. And vigilant, that means I'm awake, I'm sober. I'm watching. I'm watching. So I told you the story. I'm a professional chicken catcher. Bonafide had one night on the job. Went from 11pm to 8 in the morning. It's the worst job I've ever had. Never had it again. Large warehouse. They stink. They're filthy creatures. Just remember that when you're eating your chicken sandwich and there's thousands of them and somebody has to do this all the time. I just did it one time. The Lord brought it back to me and he said, do you remember those chickens? Do you remember that? I said, yeah. And he said, you remember how they were sleeping? And I said, yeah. And he said, do you remember how they were told you now don't wake them up because if they start waking up, man, the whole thing goes crazy and you can't catch them. You've seen Rocky in the movie when he's trying to do his boxing training. He can't catch no chickens and neither can you. They're too fast. Think about 10,000 of them all waking up. So everybody, dim lights, no music, everyone's whispering. And so he said, now put your hand under that belly. I put my hand. He says, now feel for their ankles. I'm feeling their nasty little three pronged claws. And I'm trying to feel around in there. And I said, I got one. He said, no, you can't do one. They'll wake up. You got to get both. Because they put their legs underneath them like this. And when they sleep, they make. Some of them don't, but most of them, they make like a little gurgling sound or whatever. It's like a cat. Like a cat, you know, purring. This is chicken. And so, you know, there's that all over that. That's just a low rumble of gurgles. And so you put it under there. And he says, now watch me. And I said, okay. And he says, now you got to do it quick and you got to do it fast and you got to do it in a smooth motion because they'll wake up and then they'll start flapping and then you're in trouble. So he said, and he goes just like this. And he grabs the chicken by the ankles, holds it, the chicken's upside down, fast asleep, goes and puts it in the crate. Once we filled the crate, thousand chickens per thing. They move the crate into the semi, tractor trailer, and another semi pulls up. So he says, now if you're a professional chicken catcher, and he said, I don't think you can become a professional in one night. And I said, in my heart, I'm going to do it in Jesus name. He says, now watch. And he put both hands and he went, whoop. Like this. And he carried two of them. He said, if you want to get this done, we can't leave till this warehouse is empty. We have 10,000 chickens, us and three, four other guys. He said, you got to be doing this fast, brother Craig. I wasn't a pastor then. You got to be doing this fast, brother Craig. So I went and I got. And I did the first one, and I got him. He kind of started waking up. I said, shut up, in Jesus name. And his little head went. And I had him up like this. And I was so proud of myself. I went and put him in. Whoop. Did. And I got. I got kind of cocky. I just started strutting around, just strutting around.

[B]

Whoop, whoop.

[A]

And then I said, I'll try, too. By the end, I was almost doing four chickens at once. But I. But I couldn't fit my hand. I tried, but you can't fit your hand under more than one belly. So I'm just doing two like that. And he said, you are a now bonafide professional chicken catcher, PCC now my name is Pastor Craig, PC But I've changed from professional chicken catcher to Pastor Craig. And the Lord said to me, he reminded me that about three weeks ago, he said, you remember that? He said, a lot of my church is sleeping and there's a fox in the hen house, and he'll turn your life upside down so fast you don't even know it. Before you know it, he's turned your life upside down and he's put you in the crate and you're on your way to slaughter. The Lord said that to me. I'm so grateful that I finally have something from that awful experience that I can pull from, because $12 an hour wasn't worth it. Do you understand? But I got something more now to talk about, because there's a spiritual parallel to this. No matter what bad experience you go through, it's fine if you can learn something spiritually from it. And so anyway, he said, a lot of people are. They're just clocking away, and they're just sleeping, and they're just. And the devil is that fox. And he's walking around. He wants to. He wants to upside your life. And I'm telling you, things can go wrong very quickly. A lot of people tell me, pastor, everything was going good. And within a couple weeks, everything was good. Everything was good. Everything. The job changed, marriage changed, health changed, peace changed. This happened. This happened. This happened. All these things happened. And I'm telling you there's got to be a Be sober and be alert and be awake. Be awake and be alert because your adversary is looking. He's looking to turn your life upside down. And don't let him catch you sleeping because he's much better at me at the scoop. He knows how to scoop you. He knows how to scoop you. And you don't even know. You don't even wake up till they're about to chop your neck. Are you listening to me? And then your future destiny is Wendy's and McDonald's chicken dinners. We don't want that for our future destiny. Trying to make you laugh. Some of you seem depressed today. What's wrong with you? I'm going to have to baptize all of you again. He said. Now resist. You got to learn to resist. You got to learn to resist. You got to learn to be awake first. So I shared this a couple weeks ago because I was in Regina last week, but I shared this a couple weeks ago and it kind of came out without as much polish. And so I want to just reemphasize and then move on to something else. But. Daniel 11:32. Can you just have a quick peek at Daniel 11:32? You know it, but just let your eyes look upon it. Can you do that for me? You're okay? You're not tired. You can open your Bibles. I'm saying I'm sure it will be okay. Daniel 11:32 and the Bible says those if I can find it. Daniel 11:32 and such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be corrupt by flatteries. But the people that do know their God shall be strong and shall do exploits. And remember I told you that that word exploits. Can I read that again to you? That word exploits is from many different translations. Many times refers to resisting. It says in the in the new in the NLT it says those that know him will be strong and will resist him. NCV those that know him will be strong and fight back. Net will act valiantly. CEV will do everything possible to oppose him. Notice there's a sense of resisting here. GNV they will prevail against him and prosper. Those that do know their God shall be strong and shall prevail and prosper. The Homans those that know him and will be strong and take action the amplified those that know him shall be strong and take action to resist the NIV those that know him will be strong and firmly resist the message. Those that know him will Be strong and will take a strong stand. And the tlb, the living Bible, those that know him will do great things. Be strong and do great things. But there is a sense in the Hebrew that when you know him, strength comes into you and you start to resist. So what really is the answer we're talking about? You got to be sober and vigilant. You got to be alert and awake so that you can not let him take your life upside down. So that why he's wandering around. What does it tell you? Be sober. Be vigilant. For he's there. Be alert. Be awake. Watch. Don't be sleeping.

[B]

Watch.

[A]

Why, then it says, resist steadfastly in the faith so your alertness will cause you to resist. And when you feel I'm preaching better than you're saying Amen, feel that nasty hand come under your belly and wrap his claws around your ankles. If you're awake, you will say, no, you don't.

[B]

No, you don't.

[A]

And wake up everybody else.

[B]

Cause a riot. Cause the fox to run away.

[A]

Go from two. Because the doesn't get the job done. You've got to start squawking, flapping your wings.

[B]

Say, get your filthy claws off my ankles. You're not taking me.

[A]

You're not putting that sickness on me.

[B]

You're not. I don't care what the boss says. I don't care that he reduced my salary.

[A]

You're not touching my finances.

[B]

God has another way. I'm a tither. Get your hands off me. Get them off me. I'm talking about a fighting spirit. Talking about the spirit of faith. Fights.

[A]

Spirit of faith doesn't lie back. Quiet. Spirit of faith doesn't sleep.

[B]

Now, how do you get this way?

[A]

You got to know him. So I was trying to get over to you. I don't know if I did a very good job. But you got to know him. Those that know their God will be strong and resist. What does he say? Be alert. Resist. Be alert. He's walking around. Resist. Steadfast. But how do you resist? You got to know him.

[B]

Those that know their God will resist.

[A]

When you know God, something rises up inside of you. And it's like, I ain't putting up with that. Like, Sweet Brown. Have you ever seen Sweet Brown? She was walking to get a cold pop and she saw a fire. I should play the video so you know what I'm talking about. Some of you, too. Holy. You've never seen it. And they were interviewing her and she got the flu or something. Bronchitis. I got bronchitis she makes me laugh. And anyway, and then she says. And she says to the lady who's interviewing her, she goes, and I got bronchitis.

[B]

Ain't nobody got time for that?

[A]

Ain't nobody got time for that. And then they made a whole song. Ain't nobody got time for that? Ain't nobody got time for that. I was watching that again and I thought, my God, Sweet Brown, she said, help us, Jesus.

[B]

Ain't nobody got time for that.

[A]

And I thought, she's onto something, that lady. So sweet, so simple. Everyone laughs. But she got something. She decided, I ain't got time for that. I ain't got time for bronchitis. I ain't got time for the flu. I ain't got time to be broke.

[B]

I ain't got time to be rear.

[A]

Ended by somebody else.

[B]

I ain't got time for my house to be vandalized. I ain't got time for that.

[A]

Now that's called resisting. Whether you like it or not, whether you think I'm funny or not, that's called resisting. Now listen to me. When you know God, something comes up within you. When you know God, the spirit of.

[B]

Faith, the attitude of faith, the attitude of aggression. It rises within you and it produces strength in you.

[A]

Those that know their God shall be strong and it causes you to do.

[B]

Exploits, which really is resist.

[A]

So when I know him, I'm trying to connect dots for you, Daniel. Let me do When I know him, I'm going to be 1 Peter 5:8 awake alert. I'm going to feel that. That nasty hand coming to my belly. When it's got. When it starts to wrap its hands around my ankles, trying to turn my life upside down, I'm going to resist steadfast. Because I know him and I'm alert. And there's a strength in me to.

[B]

Say, no, you don't.

[A]

That's called the fighting spirit. That's called the spirit of faith. That's what I was trying to get over to you. People don't resist anymore. They put up with stuff. You know why? Because you can go to the clinic and get a pill. I'm not saying pills are wrong. But I am saying Jesus paid a heavy price for you not to have the pill. He wants you to believe him for his health. He wants you to believe him for your prosperity. He wants to take care of you. But the devil is scooping people up left, right and center. And they're Christians and they're sleeping. Before you know it, things are changing in a bad way. And Your life is not going the way it should. But if you will just spend the time to know him, the strength of God will come upon you and rise up within you with a desire, with an alertness, with an awareness to resist. A strength will come. A lot of people say, pastor, I'm too tired. That's because you don't know him. If you know Him, a strength will come to resist. Well, I don't want to make the confession. That's because you don't know him.

[B]

You, you're just parroting a confession. I know him. Out of the knowing comes the confession. Out of the knowing comes the strength to resist. Out of the knowing.

[A]

I answer it like the book Pasadensi wrote, but it comes out of knowing. It doesn't come out of parroting. Are you with me?

[B]

I know him.

[A]

I'm not where I want to be. It's an eternal thing. I'm never going to know him on this earth as much as I want. But I'm going to get closer every day and I'm going to get to heaven and. And I'm going to keep knowing him. For it boggles the human brain for eternity. Because God can never be fathomed. That's why the angels surround him and they keep seeing a different side of Him.

[B]

They say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory.

[A]

And they do another loop and they see another side of him and for eternity.

[B]

Because God, you can't process him.

[A]

He's eternal.

[B]

John 17:3. This is life eternal.

[A]

The that they would know the one true God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll add to word to Jesus, not that he didn't do a good job, but. And the Holy Ghost, the person of the Holy Ghost, I have my whole eternity is going to be knowing Him. You might as well start now. Now, if you start, everything will come out of that. Well, I don't. That's because you don't know Him. Instead of focusing on the problem, focusing on the knowing him. The knowing him will cause the strength to rise up and you'll become alert and you'll become sensitive and you'll become aware and you'll feel that rotten hand.

[B]

And then there'll be a power to say no.

[A]

And when you say no, he'll obey you. Because when the Bible says if you believe what you say, you'll have anything you say, he'll obey you and you'll.

[B]

Take that rotten hand out and you'll be. You'll be up and about having victory.

[A]

Instead of being asleep on the way to slaughter. Are you listening? But a strength has to come up by the knowing of God. You've got to know God, and everything comes out of that knowing. You still with me? Hallelujah. So let me get back to my notes. Is that okay? Let me get back. They're all in different files. Okay. That strength comes from knowing. Now, the devil's strategies. We often talk about finances and health, protection, other things. But one of the devil's strategies, if you're listening to me, it's not just health, finances, protection, the obvious. One of that fox's specialties is for you to become religious. He loves religious people. The most spiritual people I know don't have an ounce of religion in them. Dad Hagin didn't have any religion, but he was very spiritual. When I say that, I'm not just playing semantics. I'm talking a religious spirit is a certain thing. It makes you act spiritual, but you're not spiritual. It makes you sound spiritual, but you're not spiritual. Do you understand? Brother Randy said it's the hardest devil to cast out because half the time people don't even know they got it. Now, one of his strategies isn't just sickness and poverty and danger and all these things. One of his strategies is to make you become complacent and religious. Now, listen to me. I'm trying to help you. I tried to say last week, but I've got it more polished this week. When that attack, that hand underneath your belly very quickly, without you realizing you can become religious, what that means is you become complacent. What that means is church becomes a duty. Church becomes something I do. Church ceases to be. I'm here to know him. Religious complacency robs you of a fire to know him. Do you understand? That's why you always see new believers and they have a fire to know him. Because they haven't turned religious. But you just give them a few years and they become religious. Then they just. Church is church and God is God and Bible is Bible and prayer is prayer, and it's nice and everything, and I do it. But their passion is really other things, but really to know him. To keep the hunger, to keep the simplicity, the childlike fire in you without becoming religiously complacent longer in life. That's the true status of a spiritual person. I remember driving in the car with Jerry Savelle once, and he said to me. He said. I said, tell me. Just talk to me. Tell me, what are the most Important things I need to know. There are so many things he could have said. You know what he said to me? He said, don't get complacent. He said, I love to read the Word, I love to pray. I want to know God more now after. And at that point it was 52 years of preaching. He said, I want to know him more today than I did when I locked myself for three months before I ever preached my first sermon. 53 years, 52 years ago. He said, I long to know him more now. And he said, here's the deal, Craig. He said, when you're poor and broke like I was, it's easy to get excited, it's easy to rant and rave and come on, let's believe God. And he said, but I'm a multimillionaire. He said, God has blessed my socks off. He said, I never have to preach again. I can lie on the beach till I'm 100 years old and still have plenty for my third generation family. Are you listening to me? He's not being proud. He's trying to tell me I'm blessed. I don't need to do this no more. I don't need to serve God and preach. He said, but the problem is when you don't got nothing, you're hungry.

[B]

But when you get all fat on.

[A]

The hog, you get tired and you get lazy and you get complacent and you sit back and say, look what God did.

[B]

And you lose the fire to push, you lose the press, you lose the desire to know him and to keep pressing with your faith. And he said, the true mark of.

[A]

A spiritual man is one who presses when they've been blessed. One that doesn't get tired, one that doesn't get complacent, one that doesn't become religious, one that is pressing for God even when God has blessed them. I never forget that I thought, my God, what wisdom. What wisdom. I thought he was going to say about my confession or about resting. Those are very important things. But he talked about the religious complacency and the press of faith and you got to maintain that fire. How do you do that? By knowing him. So you know, part of the devil's strategies is to get you complacent and religious. So that church and your prayer time and your time with God at home, your time with God corporately, it just becomes a duty. It becomes dry, it becomes, it becomes old hat, it becomes boring, it becomes something you have to do, but the fire is gone. Do you understand? But I don't want that to happen to me and it hasn't happened to me and it's never going to happen to me because I've made a decision that I want to know Him. It is life eternal to know Him. Now the more I have the I say now, if you don't feel this, don't be discouraged. Lead with your mouth, start to say, lord, I thank you for the desire to know you. Lord, I thank you. I call those things that be not as though they already are. I long to know you. I long to know you. Start there and something will start to change on the inside of you. You'll wake up in the morning and there'll be a desire to pray when you didn't have it before. Now if you ignore that, you'll cut out that ember. The ember of the Holy Ghost was lit. But you've got to fan that now by spending the time praying, spending the time reading, coming to church more than just a Sunday only bunch once a week. Are you listening to me? Don't become religious.

[B]

Don't become complacent, become spiritual.

[A]

That's different to religious. The religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus, but the spiritual men followed him. One of the devil's chief strategies is to take you from the fire of the new experience of believership where you want to know him, you're hungry for him, you love him, you think about him into now it is just duty and I have to and this is just my life and all that is gone. And what happens is you become, you don't know him, so you become religiously complacent. Now what happens? Now the devil's got you because you're sleeping. You're sleeping. See, knowing him makes you awake. Knowing him gives you strength to resist. But religious, you fall asleep. And the devil is looking for religious complacent people so he can go turn their life upside down in a minute because they don't have the fire which comes by a longing to know him. You should wake up tomorrow with a desire to know him. And if you don't be honest with yourself, don't act like a hypocrite and say you do and you don't. But start to lead with your mouth and say, father, I don't have a desire. I'm just being frank with you, but I want the desire. And so I lead with my words and I start to say, I thank you, I have a desire to know you. I have a desire to pray. I have a desire for your house.

[B]

Put a desire in me for Wednesday.

[A]

Night for Sunday morning. Put a desire in me to pray.

[B]

Put a desire in me. I'll do it because I have to, but I want to want it.

[A]

Put a desire in me to know you.

[B]

Give me a strength to resist.

[A]

I don't want to become a religious person. Are you listening to me? Because if you're a new believer, if you're a regular believer, you're not sorry. If you're a new believer, this is not a problem for you. But if you've been in this any length of time, it's very easy, very easy to let the dullness start to creep over you. And now, because now you're losing that fire, Jesus said, I love you. I won't have time to read it, but it's in Revelation, you've done all these great things, and you listed all of them. The one thing I have against you, you lost your first love. You lost your first love. You can do all this stuff in ministry of Helps, and you can tithe and you can do all these things. But if you lost your first love, Jesus counts all of that for nothing. Because your first love, that's the desire to know him. That's the passion to seek Him. That's the fire to love him and be intimate with Him. That's the love of the local church, that's the love of his presence in your prayer closet, that thing is the fire. It's called the first love. If you lose that, all the other stuff doesn't really matter anymore. And that's what happens. People lose it. And then they put their big thing. What? I'm faithful and I do this. And what the Lord is saying is, thank you for doing all the things you're doing and thank you for being faithful. But it's become dead to you. You don't have the life of me and you anymore. I don't know why the Lord told me to preach this, because I don't think most people in here are like this. But obviously I also thought most people were tithing. So maybe there's a lot more religion in this church than I think. If you truly love God, you will have a prayer life. If you truly love God, you will not just show up once to his house. You will want to know him through the teaching of His Word. And you will watch or be here every time the doors are open if you truly want to know Him. And if you're not, I'm not making a guilt trip on you. I'm saying just have something to shoot for, have a goal, an ideal to say, this is not really the highest what I'm living, but there's another and a better way. And I'm going to start to lead with my mouth and I'm going to start believing God. I'm going to start doing little baby steps, but I'm going to get there. Hallelujah. You can live life like you're a brand new Christian, even though you're a veteran. My God. Hallelujah. So it's a little bit of a double hit. Knowing him keeps you awake and gives you strength to resist. And what are we resisting? The worst demonic strategy of all is not health or wealth or protection. The worst demonic strategy of all is to become complacent. And if you're complacent, you don't know Him. So let me make a little simple statement. Knowing him helps you resist not knowing Him. I know it sounds oxymoronic, but I didn't call him a moron. I just said oxymoronic. Knowing him helps gives you strength to resist the tendency to not know him through religiosity. You have to know him in order to have strength to resist being lulled to sleep by religious complacent devils and ceasing to press intimately into the knowledge. Paul said, everything's done. My education. He had, like in today's equivalent, 10 PhDs from Harvard. Today's equivalent. He sat at the feet of Galileo. He said, I count everything. Dung, feces, refuse education. I'm not against education, but compared to what I'm talking about, money, wealth, all of this, nothing, it's nothing. It's nothing. For the surpassing knowledge. For the surpassing knowledge to know him, that I may know Him. He cries in Philippians three, that I may know Him. And the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death. I'm not going to physically die, but I've got to crucify my flesh. I've got to put my carnal nature under. I've got to step on the neck of that thing. I've got to take up my cross every day and follow Him. That means put what I want under and do what he wants. What he wants is to know me. I knock at the door.

[B]

I'm asking, come in.

[A]

Let me fellowship with you.

[B]

Fellowship with you. Fellowship.

[A]

That's knowing Him.

[B]

Let me eat with you. Let us talk together.

[A]

Let us reason together.

[B]

This is God's heart to know us. He wants us to have a heart to know Him. And if you think anything else matters.

[A]

Paul is your Example.

[B]

Everything else is nothing. All I want is to know Him.

[A]

Find me that scripture, Pastor Happy, do your job. Find it. To me. It's in the Philippians. You find it. Everything. Doesn't matter what it is. I long to know him. I long to know Him. This is life eternal to know Him. I know this is maybe high in the pie, in the sky, in the clouds or something for you. And it seems ethereal, and it seems like, you know, wow, this is so wonderful. And I'm supposed to know him. But then you're going to wake up in a minute and you're going to go out there and you're going to go, what are you talking about, knowing I can't know him? I'm busy. I got to pay my mortgage. But this is real life. What is it? 310, brother, you're doing your job. Hallelujah. Philippians, chapter three, verse ten. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death. Where is it? The dung scripture? I counted all dung. Find that for me. Believe me, Google knows the Bible better than even the devil, so just find it in Google. All these things I count as done for the surpassing excellency of knowing him. 3, 8. Yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge that means to know Christ Jesus, my Lord, of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. I'm not saying God doesn't want you to have stuff or money or education. What I'm saying is keep it in the right place. It's not as important as the world makes you think it is. It is to get a job. It is. I understand for that, but I'm talking about when you get to heaven. Nobody cares what you did on the earth as a job. When you get to heaven, everything is about how did you treat the local church. Are you listening to me? For all eternity, what you do here is going to be a reward and a record for you. Everything is going to be how you treated Jesus. Everything is going to be about your prayer life. Everything is going to be about what you did in the ministry of helps. Everything is going to be about if you tithed or not. Everything reward is connected to these acts of obedience. Everything is going to be about did you witness? Did you win souls? Did you tell people about Jesus? Did you lay hands on the sick and heal them? Did you cast out devils? The spiritual actions you do is the Only things that will echo for eternity. Not the money you make and not the house you live in, and not the great education or the great job. Thank God for those things, because God wants to bless you abundantly. But they're not going to last beyond this earth. What you do for God is the only thing that lasts. And listen, what you do for him is not as important as knowing him. He wants you to do things, but he wants you to know him.

[B]

Because out of the knowing, it's fresh.

[A]

Pastor Nancy had dogs. She would put them outside. They were outdoor dogs. And she would give water at night, and she'd come in the morning because the water was under a light outside. All the flies would be in the light. They drop some of them and the water would be full of flies. Did Pastor Nancy pick the flies out one by one? She said, I don't want to touch them. They're gross. What she does is she puts the hose in the. In the thing. She lets the fresh water push out the dirt. She lets the fresh water move out the flies. You don't have to worry about all the little mistakes and the little syncrasies and the little addictions and the little this and my failures and my little secret sins.

[B]

That is not the issue. Pour the water of the life of knowing him into you. And it will push out the addiction. It will push out the lying. It will push out the deception. It will push out everything that robs you.

[A]

It will push out the unforgiveness. It will push out the cancer.

[B]

It will push out the poverty. It will push out the joblessness. I'm not touching flies. I'm focusing on the life of the water, of the Word and the Spirit. And it comes in and it feels me. I want to know him out of that. Everything gets fixed.

[A]

Are you listening to me?

[B]

That's why we don't believe in AA courses here.

[A]

Not that there's anything wrong. That's the sinners. Hi, my name's Craig and I'm an alcoholic. It's been 17 years since I fell off the wagon. I might fall off this week. Please help me pray. The Serenity prayer. Lord, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change.

[B]

That's a bunch of baloney. I can change anything according to the Word.

[A]

You see that? That's religion. Are you hearing me? That's the spirit of religion right there. And sinners love religion because it sounds religious, it sounds spiritual, but it's not. The Bible says they had all this stuff, a form, a mask of godliness. But they denied the power thereof. It's listen to me the way you know if it's religion or not, is there power attached? If there's no power, it's religious.

[B]

If it's just some nice sweet sounding.

[A]

But there's no power. That's why you go to churches and it's kneeled up, down, down, down, down, up, do ding ding, ding, ding ding, ding.

[B]

I'm not trying to insult, but I'm telling you it's a bunch of religion. It's religion and there's no power. They go in with devils, they come out with more devils. The devils of their parishioners jump on them. The devils have a party at church. These religious churches, there's no teaching, there's no preaching. There's just a bunch of do's and don'ts and religions and religious rites and ceremonies and smoke and you get high.

[A]

When you go there.

[B]

God. The last time I went years ago to honor my father, I came out with a headache.

[A]

All they had was smoke everywhere. Incense.

[B]

I don't want to smell that sticks to your clothes. Had to go get them dry cleaned.

[A]

Not against anybody. I'm grateful they're at least trying to do something. But that's not what we're talking about. There's no life there.

[B]

The flies gather to that. They love that. The life of God drives out darkness. The life of God drives out sickness. It drives out religion.

[A]

If you can only talk about spiritual things, you're religious. Are you listening to me? Dad Hagin would tell people, don't have them around me. All they want to talk about is the Bible. And I know that some people go, but we shouldn't read it. No, because Jesus had some fishing trips. Jesus was a friend of sinners. If he was only ever doing everything spiritual, the sinners would have never wanted to be around him. I think he played dominoes from time to time. I don't know what he did, but I'm telling you sinners were drawn to him.

[B]

He was not a substitute tight religious.

[A]

Person that only wanted to talk about God and spiritual things.

[B]

We love God. I love God more than most of you.

[A]

But I don't only talk about spiritual.

[B]

Things because I have a life. I have children, I have a family, I have hobbies, I have other things that are outside because I'm a natural man, but I'm a spiritual man first. So that's why I love hanging out with Greg, for example, because Greg can talk to me about natural things.

[A]

But at the moment's notice our conversation turns to Jesus. But I don't feel pressured to always talk about Jesus because we know where we're at in God. And Dad Hagin would say. He would tell, I'm telling you, people that knew him close. He told me this personally.

[B]

He would say, nobody comes to the.

[A]

House today except those that like football.

[B]

I don't talk about the Bible and faith and spiritual stuff.

[A]

No, we've just done that for a whole camp meeting.

[B]

I want to talk about that quarterback.

[A]

And people would come and they'd sit and talk. Hey, dad. Hank, what do you think about that guy? He's the one. You know that throw. They don't. You don't do the throne. Oh, look at that linebacker.

[B]

My God, look at that.

[A]

See, there's a natural part of life. Do you understand? We can be consumed by God, but God also put us in an earth suit. And you have to treat the earth suit and those around you. There's got to be a balance. That's what I'm trying to say. Spiritual people have balanced. They're not. If you can get religious, if everything all the time is spiritual because you can't survive, that's not sustainable. It isn't. And the most spiritual people I've ever met have a balance, but they are primarily spiritual. But they are not only spiritual, because if we were, then we might as well just go to heaven. We have an earth suit. We live in an earth body. And Jesus expects us to have a normal life. You yet be highly hungry for him, highly seeking him, highly spiritual, highly knowing him. But that don't mean I can't talk about cricket, which I don't like, but he likes. So I have to talk about it for him, pray for him that he'd get saved. Are you still with me or are you offended now? I'm trying to help you. I don't want religion. I want hungry people. But you got to have a balance. And I understand some people, they're. They're so hungry, they don't have a balance because they haven't learned the balance. But if they don't learn the balance, they'll burn out or they'll get deceived. One of the two. Because there has to be a balance between natural and spiritual. Do you understand? But your spiritual life, your hunger to know God has to be supremely reigning. Hallelujah. Oh, I can feel the. Some people don't like it, Jenny, but I'm trying my best. Trying my best. Most important thing, knowing him helps you resist the religious complacency that robs you of Knowing him, I think I'm done on that. Let me move on. A couple more minutes, then we'll close. I told you about India and the attic. I started talking last Sunday. Not last Sunday, but you know, the last time I preached about motives, remember, I switched over into that. God said to me, this is before I knew anything about prosperity. My dad loved my dad. I love him with all my heart. So I'm not saying it against him. I'm just saying he didn't understand. He's a sinner. He's gonna be broke. He said, you're never gonna have a nice suit. I've got 15 of them. He said, you're never gonna drive a nice car. He said, you're never gonna own a house. He said, that stuff's gonna break you, boy. He said, go to Harvard, all expenses paid. Come work with me in the finance industry. I'll make you rich. I said, daddy, thank you. Your heart is so big toward me. You want me to have a good life. I can tell. But I have another daddy that you don't know about. My daddy's asked me to work for him. I can't work for you. And my daddy may never pay me what you're going to pay me. That's what I truly thought. But I'm going to work for him because it's more important. He just could not understand it. He persecuted me for years. Lovingly. You know, people can love you and persecute you. The sad thing is he made some bad decisions. Markets turned. He lost everything. He's now completely, utterly broke. And guess who supports him every month financially? The son who he said would be broke. I just do a little bit. It's nothing big, but I just do something to help because God told me. He said, honor takes care. Takes care. Your dad's struggling. Take care of. Make sure you take care of your mom. Honor takes care of people. Doesn't judge them because they lost things. Honor takes care. But I just think it is very hilariously ironic that the one he said would have nothing is now supporting him. And he can't deny the blessing of the Lord. Makes rich and adds no sorrow. He can't deny I give you power to get wealth. He just can't deny it. He talked to me about the little business that I have on the side. And he said to me his words. He said, I have never, ever heard in all my years. He used to be the president of the Toronto Stock Exchange. He knows business and finance. He said, I've never heard of people having success like you. He's talking about my secular business. Not even the church. He said, I've never heard of that before. How did you do that? He asked me, how did you do that? He said, you didn't even go to. You just went to high school. How did you do that? I said, the Holy Spirit taught me. No, seriously, how did you do that? No, seriously. The Holy Spirit taught me because I know him and he's smarter than the university professor. And you don't need education for God to teach you how to have a successful business. Education can help, but I'm saying you don't need it unless he tells you to get it. You just need to trust him, my God. So he persecuted me lovingly, and I was there believing I would never have anything. And I'm there in the attic and I've got that bad sunburn, and I'm just waiting on God while I'm healing. The Lord asked me, he said, why are you doing this? Why are you preaching? I said, I'm preaching for you. He said, if I give you nothing now, you see, he knows. I don't know. So it's a true motive issue. Because if I knew about prosperity, in the back of my mind, I'd be thinking, well, of course, Lord, I'll do it for nothing. But I know you're gonna give me a whole lot. It was like, I don't think you're gonna give me anything. And he said, if I give you nothing, will you preach? And I remember lying on that bed. I remember exactly. I remember it like it was yesterday. I said, I'll sleep in the grass for the rest of my life. But I have to know you, and I have to preach for you. And I said, the only problem I have is not money, cars, houses or clothes. My problem is I want a wife. I don't want to be a monk. I don't want to be a priest. And by the way, it's not biblical. You can't find one verse. And that's why they molest people, because they have normal, manly urges and they are restrained. That's what religion does. Follow the Bible. An elder should be the husband of one wife, just one. Though he don't give us more than one. He knows we can't handle it. We're gonna get killed. So I said, I want to be. I want a wife. I don't want to be a nun. I mean, not a monk, a priest. I don't want that. I said, it ain't right. I said, david had a whole bunch just Give me one. I probably only can handle one. And my God, I can barely handle the one I got. And that day, that week, that same week, looking back at the journal, she was there at the Bible school that same week, first week of September, with nothing went by. Faith, sitting on the bench, say, lord, I'm going to sleep here in the grass tonight because I'm willing to do anything to know you and to follow your plan. Same words I said halfway around the world in India, same week, lady drives up, takes care of her for the whole year. You know the story, but I'm saying the motives. I'm talking about motives. Are you listening to me? So God knew the blessing was coming. Then when I got older, I realized. And I got around people like Dr. Coulter, Kenneth Hagin, dad Dufresne. Then I realized, oh, my Lord, what was I thinking? God does want to bless me, but how come he. Listen, now, I'm trying to help you. How come he asked me if I give you nothing? When he knew he was going to give me? Then it dawned on me. He's trying the reins of my heart. He's testing my motives. And I want to talk about this for a second because motives are very, very, very important to God. And very few people talk about God. Can I tell that for just a second? So let me say this to you. Why are motives so important? Now listen. What is your motive, first of all, to come to church? Is it a duty or is it to know him? Motives, motives. Why do you give? Yeah, we give to receive a harvest. But. But what's the true motive? It's because we want to honor him, not we want to get something. You see how perverted this can get very quick? Now, God wants to bless us, but the motive has to be pure. Now let me say this to you. Why are motives so important? I'm going to make a statement that is very important, that God taught me personally. I've never heard anybody preach this, but I know it's correct because God said it to me. He said, motives, son, do not cause me to bless you. Only faith and obedience causes me to bless you. Motives keep you safe when I bless you. Are you listening? Motives keep you safe when I bless you, but they don't cause you to be blessed. All right. I know lots of people with good motives, and they're broke. Their motive is right, but they don't got nothing. Then I also know other people that God has blessed them, but their motives are wrong. They're in this for the wrong reason. Why? How does that Work because faith and obedience produces the blessing. But you can have faith and obedience and have the wrong motive, it will still work for you. And you can have the right motive, but not faith and obedience and stay poor, but you have the right motive. So what God wants is he wants this coming together. He wants you to have the right motive, but he wants you in faith and obedience so he can bless you, but the motive keeps you safe when he blesses you. Okay, I thought there'd be a lot, like shouting and screaming, like, you know, when other ministers come, it's like, oh, that's amazing. But with Pastor Craig, it's just like, I'm not that insecure. But still. Now listen to me. If you don't have the right motives and you get blessed, listen to me, I'm helping you because you can get it by faith and not have the right motives. So if you don't have the right motives, but you got faith and you get blessed, if there's a lot, a lot of blessing, it can pull you in a different direction, away from the plan of God. And then you quit the ministry. You quit the local church so that you can live recreationally. How many people they get rich, they never show back up. They live permanent vacation. Well, I'm going around the world on my yacht. No, you're just stupid is what you are. No, you take a little break if you want, but where's God in all of this? Where's the church in all of this? Where's your witness in all of this? You see, God bless by faith. No, wrong motive, not safe. Pulls them out of the plan of God. Now, what about the other way? There is if there's. Now if you got the. You got it by. Your faith is still developing. You're kind of weak in faith, but you don't have the right motives. So now you're in real trouble. So you don't really get a lot, but you got the wrong motives. What's that going to do? Same thing as the excess. It's going to pull you in the wrong direction. Now you're going to leave the plan of God to go and work a better job. You're going to leave your church to take that job offer because you don't have a lot. But your motive is wrong. What you want is money, not God. So when God says, be here. This is my plan, you say, but that doesn't pay me enough. I'm going to go over here. Do you see how that works? And if you get abundance but your motives wrong, you can now say, well, I don't want the plan of God, because now I can just do whatever I want to do. I'm financially free. But you're never supposed to be financially free in that way because it came from God. That's why he said, when I bless you, don't forget who blessed you. Don't forget that you did not do this on your own strength. It is me who gives you power to get wealth. You see, they're talking about the motive here. So my motive is to protect me when I'm blessed. But it doesn't get the blessing. And I got to guard that very, very carefully. Keep first things first, his plan first. When blessings come, I don't let them distract me. I don't let them pull me away from knowing him, and I don't let them pull me away from his plan. So I'm safe. My motives keep me safe even when blessing comes. Are you listening to me? I'm telling you from experience, I've talked to so many pastors. I've seen so many things, more than you would imagine, more than you even want to know. I'm telling you, one of the greatest things that pulls people away from God is money. That's why Jesus said, well, your treasure is your heart is your heart. Money displays your heart. That's why tithing is so important, because it shows God your heart. Do you understand husbands that are not generous with their wives? Can I tell you, because I use my faith for this. I didn't take this from the church. I didn't take this really, even from our budget. I used my faith for this. My faith. F A I T H. I used my faith. So don't get offended with me. I'm allowed to use my faith. I didn't take your money to do it. I believe you used God with my money and my business. But when she turned 50 last year, I said, lord, it ain't right that she's turning 50 and she isn't blessed beyond belief. I said, I'm believing you for $50,000 to give to my wife on her 50th birthday. And it took me a long time, but I got it. And on her birthday, I handed it to her. And somebody would say, I don't know. You shouldn't be so generous. And I said, no, you're wrong. Because out of the abundance of the heart, show me your heart. Show me your money. My heart is with her. If your heart's with somebody, your money's with them. There's no way around it. Now listen I know the men are glaring at me. I can feel the glares of daggers coming out of their eyes. I'm not trying to say, ladies, that you need to berate your husband for not believing that every birthday, because that's the only time I've ever done that. And she turned 51, and I didn't give her 51,000 this year. But I'm saying, don't compare. We all have different measures. I'm talking about a principle. A principle. If your heart's right, you're generous. If your heart's right. If anybody that's stingy, their heart's not right. Some people can be really stingy. Lord Jesus, help us. So I don't let blessings distract me or pull me away from the plan of God. My motive is clean because I was willing to do it for nothing. And God saw that, even though I didn't have the knowledge at the moment. And he said, no, I'm going to bless you, son. I said, you are, because you know I'll do it for nothing. I know, which is why I'm going to bless you. Because you're safe. Because your motive was clean. You're not preaching for offerings. I went preaching for years. Never received an offering. Didn't even know you were supposed to, honestly. And I went to the little native Indian reserve in Fort Albany, northern Ontario. It's like a little island in the Hudson's Bay. And I went on a little putt putt thing with my little suit. Pastor Anthony was preaching at the big church. We were doing a youth mission trip up there in 1996. And I went up there. No, no, no, sorry, 1997. And I went up there, put, put, put, put, put, put. And the water is flashing in my face and getting my tie wet. I remember I was upset. Native Indians, first nations, indigenous folk. There's only maybe 20 people there. But I preached like a house on fire, man. And they loved it. And they were doing their worship. You know, they do their worship, you know, it's just beautiful. I love it with their feathers and everything. And I'm preaching my message. Didn't understand faith, but I was preaching something because they liked it. They handed me some money and I looked at the pastor and I said, what are you doing? I mean, I got angry. I said, what are you doing? He said, this is to thank you for coming to preach. And I looked it and it was $500. And I put it back and I said, how dare you pay me for the gospel? I mean, I was angry. And I put it back in his hand. I said, I do this for Jesus. I don't do this for money. And he looked at me and he said, but we're supposed to pay you. I'm the preacher. And he shows me the scripture.

[B]

Do not muzzle the ox while it plows out the corn, for they are worthy of double honor that have labored in the word and doctrine. And I said, I never knew that was in there.

[A]

And so I reached out and I.

[B]

Grabbed it and I took it back. I was flying high on the hog. I went back there, it was in my pocket. I said, how did you do? Pastor Anthony, what's going on?

[A]

He said, I did pretty. I did good. We had a good service. He said, did they give you an offering?

[B]

I said, they sure did. And he said, how much did you get? I. I said, 500. He goes, I only got 250. He said, Give me yours. I'm the pastor.

[A]

I said, no, use your own faith. The first time I ever got an offering, I threw it back in disgust. How dare you pay me for the Gospel. This is a heart motive for me. See, my heart was clean. Now I take as much as you want to give.

[B]

Praise God, because I'll do it for nothing.

[A]

I'm not in it for the money. Are you with me? You sure you're with me? 11:49, I got to shut her down. That's why it's like it's over. Like, you can't. You can't tell me about that. I'm not supposed to be blessed because I was gonna do it for nothing. And I know God better than most people. I'm telling you, he wants you blessed. He just wants you right in your heart about it. He wants you to be willing to do it without being blessed. But he'll always bless you because that's his nature. Now, very quickly, because you're very slow at looking at scriptures, so I might just have to read it before you get there. Now, Hebrews, chapter 11. Are you with me now? Hebrews, chapter 11. We're almost done. The presentation for Susan is about to begin. Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 6. And it says, watch now. But without faith is it impossible to please him? For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder. So faith will produce blessings. Are you with me? Now have a look over first. Look at the. Look at Deuteronomy, chapter 28, verse 1. That's in the Old Testament, Greg. Deuteronomy, chapter 28 and verse 1. And it shall Come to pass if you diligent, hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, that means the word, and observe to do all his commandments, which I command this. And then Jesus obeyed the word that the Lord thy God watch will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth. That's blessing. Why didn't say anything about faith? It said obedience. Are you listening? So I'm driving up from Tulsa and Jennifer's X5. I'm testing all the buttons. I'm testing the sport mode just to see if the 550 horsepower does its job, and trying to ask the angels to clear the state troopers out of my way. And as I'm going up there, doing the speed limit, I might add, I was doing it just 90% of the time. Now as I'm going up there, I said to the Lord, listen to me. I said, lord, why did you do this? I didn't believe for this. And you can get. You only get stuff when you believe. And the Lord answered me. He said, oh, really? You can only get stuff when you believe. I said, lord, the Word says that you're a rewarder of those that diligently seek him, but you've got to have faith that pleases you. He said, but my word also says that if you obey me, I'll bless you. He said, you didn't believe in faith for this, but you obeyed me in the house. I'm giving you revelation. He said, I'm giving this to you not because of your faith, because of your obedience. You can get blessed simply because you obey. That's why you see a lot of people outside the faith message getting blessed because they're obedient. But faith will also produce blessings. But what about blessings and then being safe in the blessings? Because I want to be safe. Let me just say this before I close. Praying in tongues talks to God first. Corinthians 14, 2. Now, praying in tongues, talking to God does not release your faith. Praying in tongues Strengthens Jude, verse 20. It builds you up in your faith. But faith comes by hearing and. And hearing by the word. So faith comes by hearing, but it does not operate by hearing. Faith comes by hearing, and it operates by speaking. Everything is about speaking in the New Testament. That's how you release your faith. Now, when I'm speaking in other tongues, I'm strengthening and building up myself on the faith I already have. But tongues does not produce faith. Are you with me? Because a lot of people think because you pray in tongues a lot that you have a Lot of faith and you don't. You have more sensitivity. You get into the realm of the spirit more. You can lay hold of things more. It does a host of benefits and it strengthens the faith you do have, but it does not produce any new faith. That only comes by hearing the Word and then releasing that faith comes by speaking. Are you with me? So what I'm talking about is if you want blessings. And I'm ending with this statement because I talked at the beginning about this year of increase. God wants to bless us. If you want that. I'm addressing the motives, because motives don't get you blessing. They keep you safe in the blessing. What gets you the blessing is faith and obedience. Obey God and He'll bless you, but also release your faith and he'll bless you. And so how do we build our faith? You start to know Him. And out of that desire to know him comes a love for His Word. The revelation of his word starts to dawn on you. You come to church, you start seeing things you haven't seen. You sit at home and you study, you see things you haven't seen. And all of a sudden, now the word becomes rhema. It becomes alive, it becomes poured, it becomes uttered, it becomes sparked, it becomes. It becomes alive unto you. And that living word, the rhema word, logos is written. Rhema is alive.

[B]

That alive word.

[A]

This is what produces faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the rhema word. As that word becomes so real to you. Why? Because you want to know him, because you love Him. That word will be the overflow of that desire to longing to know Him. As that word becomes strong now faith becomes strong. Tongues does a different function. Faith now can be released for those blessings. But keep the motive right when the blessings come. Because you didn't do this for the blessing, you did this for him and he's now blessing you. But your motives keep you safe so that you don't get off the plan of God. And let me tell you this, if you're truly in faith, things won't bother you. I walk out of that door every single service. Do the same route here, do the same route here, do the same route here. And every single time I look and I see there's not this place not full. And I'm believing for it to be full. And I'll feel that twang. I'll feel that. I'll feel that, that bother. I'm bothered. And every day, every week, I have to get through that. And I try to not look at people and I'm Walking to the front after years of this, Greg, the Lord spoke to me about a month ago, and he said, why are you bothered? I said, I'm bothered because it's not full and my faith is to get it full. And he said, and that proves you're not in faith. He said it to me when I was standing there during the worship. He said, why are you bothered? I said, I'm bothered because it's not full and I'm using my faith for it to be full. And he said, and that's exactly why your faith doesn't work. Now let me explain that. If you truly believe, Jesse, you see it in here more than you see it out here. In fact, you can see nothing, but you know it in here. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. I've got evidence. I know that. I know that. I know it's more real to me here. And the Lord dealt with me sitting on that front row. And he said, if you were truly in faith, it wouldn't bother you at all, because you know it here, son. It doesn't matter what your eyes see. Matters what your spirit eyes see. You know it. Hold on to what you see and don't let. Don't let it bother you, because who cares what you see with these eyes? It matters what you see with these eyes. You're believing for something in your life. A family member, a breakthrough, whatever. Don't worry about what you look at. Don't worry what it looks like. There is something on the inside. There is something on the inside. In Jesus name, there's something on the inside that's shaking with nuclear power. I don't care what I see with my son, Quinn. I don't care what I see. I'm unmoved by what I see. I laugh in the face of what I see because I know something and it's more real here than it is here. Which is why when I see it here, I laugh and I go, it shall be according to my word. That's faith. So when I'm not bothered, he said, you don't in faith, because if you're not. If you were in faith, you wouldn't be bothered. So why don't you go to the doctor? A lot of people say I can't go to the doctor. What if he says something? You're not in faith. If you're in faith, you can go to the doctor 25 times. If you're faith. Doesn't matter what the MRI results are, what the blood tests are. You laugh at them. I know doesn't matter what you tell me, document. Thank you for trying to help me. I know true faith is being undisturbed no matter what. You see, Pastor Nancy has been preaching this for a long time. But you know, I can listen to it and I'm getting bits of revelation, but God can show you things in a moment of time that no preacher can show you. Because I'm just. He's giving me a practical example. He said, what are you doing? Why are you disturbed? Because of my faith. That's why it's not working, because you're disturbed. Stop looking. Know it in here, son. Forget about what looks out there. Just know it in here. And when you know it in here, that will show up. That's what she's talking about. Living the undisturbed, not undisquietened. There's a quietness on the inside because, you know, hallelujah. I kind of jumped a little bit about your chicken and about resisting and about knowing God. And then I jumped into motives, then I jumped into faith. So you've got a triple barrel. I expect you all to do it. You're not here for playing games. This is school because the test is coming. This is university. Exams are coming. The exams are in real life. This is classroom. I hope you. Hope you're taking notes, hope you're paying attention, hope you're hungry, because I'm telling you, this will work for you. Tongues does not bring faith. It builds faith, it strengthens faith. What brings faith is the word praise God. And the trueness of the word means you're not bothered about nothing. So that means true faith people are true peace people. That's why it says, I have labored to enter into rest. Hebrews 4. And he says, and those that did not labor into enter into rest is because of their unbelief. Why when you don't have faith, you're always stressed because you're seeing and you're believing. When you have faith, you rest because you're seeing and you're believing. Everybody put your hands here and go. That's your eyes. Greg, look at me in the eyes. You're looking in the wrong place, buddy. Right here, right here. That's my eyes. My eyes of my spirit. The Bible says, your spirit is in your belly, not in your arm, not in your forehead, not in your big toe. Your spirit, the spirit of man is in the belly. This is my eyes. I don't care what these eyes see. I care what these I see. Hallelujah. Praise God.