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How To Act In The Place God Sets You Pt. 1 | Pastor Craig Field | Sun. Aug. 24, 2025
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How To Act In The Place God Sets You Pt. 1 | Past…
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Well, today I have a message entitled. I don't know what it's entitled. Can you put it up on the screen? How to act in the place God sets you. Now. Last night I had a different message ready, and the Lord overshadowed me, and he said, I want you to talk about something else this morning other than what you've planned. And I want you to talk about the place that I set people. I really want you to listen close to today. Okay? And. Because there's a little bit of volume to this, because for about four hours, I felt the presence of God with me, and he just started speaking to me. Boom, boom, boom. Sometimes it would be 10, 15 minutes before the next statement, and then boom. And by the time about four hours was done, I had 20 points written down, every single one of them. God spoke them to me, but it's not like it was stuff I've never heard of before. It was like, oh, yeah, Lord, I never thought of that. Oh, I forgot about that. Oh, Lord, yes. That's a better way to say it than I would have said it. And he listed 20 things to me. I'm calling it like, you want 20, 20 vision. You want to see clearly. Well, I'm going to help you see clearly on some things, and I'm not going to rush. I was going to take this week and next week, because to cover 20 things in 60 minutes, plus an introduction, I'd only have about 1 minute, 30 seconds per point or whatever it is. 2 minutes per point. Right. If I'm going to be doing. And I don't want to rush, and I don't want to take you past your time today, so we're just going to do part one today and part two next week. But I ask that you to really open your hearts, because I'm going to share some things. Some of the things I'm going to share I normally share with ministers, but I think it applies to everybody in the body of Christ, whether you're a minister or whether you're a congregation member. And some of what I'm going to share, I only really talk to a congregation. I wouldn't necessarily say to ministers, because it doesn't necessarily apply to ministers. But I've just got. I kind of put it all in one bag, and God listed out 20 things to me. But I want to read you a scripture to start. Is that okay? If you actually, I want to list you a quote to start. Is that okay? God said to me, all right, let me say it this way. With Pastor Nancy, we started to get Closer to her, back around. Well, for a number of years now, you know, even back in the 1415, just almost as soon as Dr. Died, I started traveling with her and different things, but. But she started bringing us a little closer than we expected, to be honest with you, around the COVID time. And it surprised me. And then I had this thought. And then I had this thought. This thought was not a good thought, but the thought was, lord, I don't want her to bring me close, because if she brings me close, I'm going to enjoy it. And then when she takes it away, then I'm going to get hurt. It's better you don't have something and lose it, then have a taste of something and then lose it. Do you understand? So I started. The devil was working on me. You know, Pastor is a very sweet, generous person, but I'm just saying, the devil's not sweet and he's not generous, and he will accuse people to you. And so he started saying to me, this is. Yeah, this might be genuine from her heart, but it ain't gonna last. Don't get too. Don't get too happy about the closeness, because it's gonna come. It's gonna be pulled away from you, and you're gonna get hurt. So just kind of be cagey about it. Just hold her at a distance. That thought would come to me all the time. And so I went to prayer. See, when thoughts are coming to you, let me help you. Just go to God. You don't need a counseling appointment. Go to God. Go and talk to God about it. Say, holy Spirit, I need your help. I need to know how to navigate these waters. I don't know really what to do. I know what I've been taught, but this seems to be a little bit outside the reservation. I'm in uncharted territory. Help me. If you can't hear, then come talk to your pastor. But God is your pastor first and foremost. He's the chief shepherd, and the Holy Ghost is your counselor. It's one of his names. It's not one of my names, but it's one of his names. And he will counsel you. So I went to the Lord, Jenny, and I said, lord, I know that these thoughts are not from you. And I know that Pastor Nancy is a sweet, kind person. And I know she's drawing us closer. I don't know if I'm worthy of that. But for whatever reason, she sees something in us, and I'm grateful for that. But I don't want to mess up. I want to do something wrong, or even if I don't do something wrong, I don't want to be hurt. Do you understand? And so I spent time praying about it and on. Not that it matters the date, but I'm just telling you. But on May 28th was just before campmeeting, that year of 2021. So we were still in Covid May 28th. God spoke to me, which seemed like an audible voice. I don't think it was, but it was very loud. And I could write it down exactly word for word, the way he said it. And this is private, but I'm sharing with this because I think it will. Will bear on what I'm preaching. Okay. He said, I set you in a place with Pastor Nancy because I was looking at it like, well, you know, she's brought me close, and I've proven myself, and maybe I've kind of I've done this. And the Lord correct this was a correction, because you're looking at it like it's her and she has a part, and you're looking at it like it's you and you have a part, but you're missing the whole thing because it's not primarily her or you, although both of you have a part. It was me. I set you in a place with Pastor Nancy. You do not need to be concerned. No one can take you out of that place because I said it. I have set you in it, so rest in it. Now watch this statement. Boy, this statement changed my life. Occupy it with honor, and it shall surely grow. I set you in a place with Pastor Nancy. You do not need to be concerned. No one can take you out of that place because I said it. I set you in it, so rest in it. He wants us to rest. See, I was in fear. Rest in it. Now watch the condition. Now, there's always a condition. Occupy that place. You know how pastor always talks about we're occupying places of the spirit, we're going further in the spirit. Well, to set you in a place with somebody is a spiritual thing. It has natural manifestations, but it's spiritual in origin. Occupy it with honor, and it shall surely grow. Okay, you with me? So I've meditated on that. I've quoted that. I've reminded God of that. And it has brought me great help over the years in my relationship with her. And it has always spurred me on to occupy with greater honor every year because I want it to grow. If you don't occupy with honor, it won't grow. Stay stagnant. Stagnant. Things die. That's why it's called the Dead Sea, because it's stagnant, there's no outflow. So you gotta have, you gotta occupy. You gotta have your honor that continues to keep pace with the relationship or the relationship will stagnate and then it will die. And so that's why he said, occupy it with honor. So I'd like to read you Revelations if you have your bibles. Revelations, chapter 1. Actually, chapter 2, revelations 2, 4. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, revelations 2, 4, because thou hast left thy first love, verse 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works. That's love. First love is first works. Do them quickly or else I will come unto thee quickly and I will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent, basically. And you can read it in chapter one as well. God said, every church is a candlestick and there are stars which represent the pastor and the angel assigned to each church. And he said, I've set you as a candlestick. Now that means God set you in a place. But chapter two, verse five says if you don't do the right thing, if you do the wrong thing and you don't repent, notice that God is merciful. We can do wrong things, but we have to repent. Repent means true change, not just an excuse. And then do it again. If you do the wrong thing, you better repent. Because if you don't repent. Now pay attention. I'm going to come quickly. That means it's not a luxury of time. God said, I'll come quickly and remove your candlestick out of its place. Which means God had to set it a place in the spirit and he'll take it out of that place. Randy actually was talking this week and I've heard many other stories from dad Hagin and Pastor Nancy. I won't get into that because that's not my message, but many stories about how Pastors Randy was telling us one example of how half the church didn't want the Holy Ghost and the other half of the church did. And Randy came in there. It was hard going, no anointing. He prayed and fasted for three or four days, whatever it was, and on the last night, Jesus walked past him and Randy almost fell out. The pastors fell out. Everybody on the platform felt an entity come and stand on the stage with them. And holy fear fell on the congregation. And God said through the prophet's office, through brother Randy, that because this church has disobeyed me and disrespected me. When you don't want the Holy Ghost and when you don't want the flow of the Spirit and when you don't want strong preaching, you disrespect the Lord. And God said, this church has disobeyed and disrespected me and because of that I will shut its doors and it will cease to exist. I am removing the candlestick from its place. Then he said, except thou repent. The pastor stood up with tears streaming down his face, took the microphone and began to beg the congregation with blubbering tears, repent. And they sat there and glared at him. Half the church, the other half of the church didn't need to repent. And so Randy said, basically this church is closing. And the pastor said, this church is closing because half of you disrespect the Holy Ghost and you're hard hearted. Within 10 days they shut the doors and they sent, they emptied out their bank account, paid all their bills and had 5,000 left over and sent it to brother Randy as a parting gift. Serious, serious things. When God. Now that man's a cold man and he was trying to do the right thing and half that church want to do the right thing. I don't know what happened, but it would have made sense for the man to go and start a new church with the half that wanted God. I don't know what he did, but I just know that the ones that didn't want God and disrespected the Holy Ghost week after week after week and were belligerent and withstood the moving of the Spirit. God called them on it and because of their rebellion, he shut the whole thing down even with the people that wanted it. That tells me something. You better watch. You better watch yourself because your attitude can affect the whole thing. If it's individual people, we just ask them to leave. But when it's half the church, it's a little bit of a different scenario. So notice how God removed the candlestick. Now that's a church. Okay, the candlestick is a church. But the Lord said to me last night, he said, the principle of removing from a place I've set you applies both corporately, that's the church. And individually, God sets people in places. Now he sets a church, but that's corporate. But individually, he sets people in places. If you're married to somebody that God ordained you to marry and you did it by the Spirit, not just by your emotions, God has set you in a place of the spirit with that Mate, do you understand? Now, if you do the wrong thing and you don't repent and keep your heart right, you can be removed from that place. That relationship can end. You can be in a local church, God set you in a local church. If you do the wrong thing, you can be removed from that place. Do you understand? There's a lot of areas of relationships and covenants that we have on this earth where God sets us in certain places. It's not only corporately, as a church, individually, God can set you somewhere. Do you understand? And how you treat that place. That's why I'm saying, go back please, to the main screen. How you act in that place that God has set you. When God sets you somewhere, you have to be careful how you act. It's the same as a business, as a job. You get set in a position of authority, or really any position for that matter. How you act is going to affect if you stay there, if you steal, if you cuss off to the boss, if you show up late all the time, if you don't do your job, you might have been set in a place. Maybe God didn't set you, but. But that boss set you in a place, he can take you out of that place. You see, like this is not a foreign concept to us. Even in the natural, this applies. But how much more in the spiritual? So when God sets you now, the emphasis is what he's talking about right now, because he can set you in a number of different places in life, spiritually set you in a place, but the emphasis, what the spotlight that we're doing right now is not about your marriage or about your job or whatever other places he may set you, but we're talking about where he sets you in the local church. More than even that, let me rephrase. It's not even the local church, because then it would only apply to Christians, regular congregation members. What I'm saying really is when God sets you in a place with a leader, when he sets you in a place with a pastor or a spiritual father or mother, somebody, anybody that has a voice in your life and that you have a divine connection to. Do you understand? So for me that my primary person is Pastor Nancy, God has set me in a place with her. Do you understand? Now my whole church is set because I am. But when he gave me that word, he didn't say, I've set promise of life with her. He said, I've set you with her, but promise of life benefits from my setting. Do you understand? If I don't treat it right, it gets removed. Now, the corporate church has been set by God and anointed to be in the he set us in a place of the Spirit. We we as a church, not just me as the pastor. Remember, that pastor did the right thing. God still removed the candlestick. We as a church have to do the right thing or God will remove that place of the Spirit for the whole corporate church, but individually is what I'm focusing on. God always sets people in places with somebody to speak into their life. And if you're a congregation member, that's a pastor. And if you're a pastor, then that's again your pastor or your spiritual parent. And how you act in that place that he set you really matters. Because, and I'm telling you, whether you realize it or not, I'm giving you life, helping, saving truth. Because some of these things a lot of people don't know, Christians don't know them, but also ministers don't always know them. And I've learned some things by being close to pastor Nancy and Dr. Dufresne, and I want to try to share some of those things that I've learned through my experience to help you. If you're a minister, take it as a minister. But if you're a minister and you're part of my church, you're still a congregation member. Do you understand? So it applies to absolutely all of us, not just to some of us. Now, First Corinthians. Go over there, please. First Corinthians, chapter 16. First Corinthians, chapter 16. So remember, what is Jesus really saying while you look that up in Revelations 2. 5? He's saying, When I set you in a place, you better guard it. You better guard your own heart and your actions, and you better do the right thing, because if you don't, you can be removed. Do you understand? Say Amen if you understand. Now. First Corinthians 16, verse 9. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. What's he saying? When he opens a door before you, when he sets you in a place of an open door, of an opportunity, a place to be effectual, Are you following there? In that place that he sets you, which has great possibilities, effectual, open doors, new things. What is always with that setting in that opportunity that you've got, what is always accompanying it? Many adversaries. So when he sets you in a place, it's time to rejoice, but it's also time to watch, because there are many adversaries when he sets you in an open door. Are you with me? I set you in a place. You better watch what you're doing, and you better repent if you're wrong. And you better do it quick. Because if you don't repent, I come quick and I'll take you out of that place. Do you understand? Now, this verse really blessed me. I never. I know this verse well, but haven't read it in a while and really preach it in a while. But have a look at Genesis chapter two, and then I'll start with my number one on the list. Genesis chapter two. Genesis chapter two. And you know, this is when he made Adam and eve. Genesis chapter two and verse 15. And the Lord God. Genesis chapter two and verse 15. And the Lord God took the man, put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Simple verse. People read over it and don't even notice it's there. There is so much power in that verse. The Lord God took man and put him. Now, if you study the Hebrew word, what it means is he placed him. Another translation says he set him. What did he do? He set him in a place. And this was a natural place. When you're dealing with your divine connection, your leader, you're in a spiritual place, but you're also in a natural place because you're sitting in a building. But the fact that you're set in a place of the spirit, you got to watch how you act. Now, this man was set by God in a place that God divinely put him called the garden. Now, listen to me, because God said this to me last night. I've never heard him say this to me before. Greg, this was great revelation. I've never heard anybody say this, actually, maybe they have, but I've never heard it. And he said to me, he said, when I set you in a place, I always give you two assignments. He said, I always tell you to dress that place, and I tell you to keep that place. Now, what does dress mean? Do you know what the word dress means? It's not a dress like a girl wears a dress. The word dress, it is a gardening term, and it means to work it or to tend it or to take care of it. It's a garden at this point. There's no weeds and thistles and thorns because he hadn't sinned yet. But there's still stuff you got to do in that garden. That garden also had animals, and he had to name all the animals. So dressing it means to work it, tend it or take care of it. Now, the word keep it. The word keep means in Hebrew to protect and guard and watch over it. Are you with me? So every time God sets you in a place, he gives you two assignments. One, work it. Two, protect it. Work the place he's given you. Protect the place he's given you. Are you with me? You have to work it, tend it, take care of it. You have to protect it, guard it, watch over it. Now, every place God gives you, you've got those two assignments, okay? And that means when you are in a place set in a church like this, God set you with me, with your pastor. God set me with Pastor Nancy. What does that mean for me? What does that mean for you? It means I need to. I'm telling you, whether you realize or not, God is speaking to you. This morning he said, you change your sermon, you preach this tomorrow. And he listed these things to me. When I'm set with Pastor Nancy, I have to work and tend that relationship. I have to expend effort, energy and expense despite inconvenience. And there's certain things I have to do in order to tend that relationship. When you're set in a local church, when you're set with me as your pastor, you have to work at this thing. This is not a free ride for lazy people. If you do, you'll never get anything from my office. You'll never benefit. You've got to work and tend and take care of this place that God has set you in this local church. That means you have to expend effort, energy and expense despite inconvenience, because you are working the garden. Are you with me? All right. Number two, you have to protect. Why? Because there is a real devil and he is out to abort and to remove you from the place God set you. The devil hates people finding their place. When you find your place and you fit and you click, do you understand? Where every joint supplies we are, come together as one body. We are all different. We all have different measures of supply. We. But we fit. When you find your fit, Sandy, there's nothing better in the world. Most ministers, and I'm telling you the truth, most ministers, more than 50% of the ones I talk to, they're looking for a fit. They go conference to conference, this to that, this to that. They're looking to find their place. They're looking for somebody to call dad or Mom. They're looking for somewhere to make their home as a minister. When God has set you with somebody, half the battle is over. Be with her the rest of your life. You stay with her till she dies. Okay? It's covenant. I don't look around. I don't hop around conference to conference. I know where I'm set and what a peace and what a freedom that brings. And I feel like I fit. I feel like I'm part of a family. And now God can bless that relationship and increase that relationship, which, if you've noticed, he's doing, because God set the fit. A congregation member that doesn't know they're fit becomes what Dr. Dufresne called a church tramp. And you hop from church to church like a stupid kangaroo, a fleshly kangaroo, because you're trying to find your fit. You're trying to find your place because you haven't learned where God set you. Nobody trusts you and nobody will ever give you leadership and nobody will trust you with responsibilities because you're a roving marauder. You're dangerous. You haven't humbled yourself. You haven't submitted yourself to authority. You have not been faithful. And if you have not been faithful in other mans and faithful in little, you don't qualify for anything. Roving marauder Christians, church tramps. And the body of Christ is brimming with them. When Dr. Roberts had his last partner conference. I'm not speaking anything. He's my elder. I love him. I'm just saying. I noticed when I stood in that room, there was an atmosphere in that room, and it very highly concerned me. I felt devils everywhere. And I said, lord, what am I feeling? And the Lord said, the. This room is filled with church tramps. Now, there were some people from our church and other churches that were there supporting the meeting. But the average person that was a partner, I knew it by the Holy Ghost, by the word of knowledge. There's no way I didn't go and do a test and ask everybody, but I knew it by the word of knowledge. And I could sense the disorder in the atmosphere because they are not submitted humbled. And. And a part of a local church and a local vision under an office. They are roving marauders, and God is displeased with that nonsense. And I could feel the darkness in that room. I could. It was astonishing. Jenny felt it as well. We turned to each other and we said, my God, do you feel the devil's in here? Do you feel the flesh and the carnality in here? And I've noticed something. A lot of people that partner up with evangelists, they do that because they don't have a Pastor. Now, that doesn't mean across the board. You can have many people partner with evangelists and they're solid Christians with a pastor. But I'm saying some people that don't want to submit to anybody, they don't want to go to church, they don't want to humble themselves, they don't want to serve, they don't want to sit there week after week. They love that evangelist office because they can just tramp around and go to all their meetings. That doesn't mean every person that supports you understand what I'm saying? I'm just talking in general. And the amazing thing is it didn't bother Brother Roberts at all. And I said, lord, why is he not bothered? And he spoke to me. He said, because the evangelist office can handle this. The evangelist office's call is to gather sinners, heal them, put them in the church. So if there's a bunch of church tramps that have gathered instead of sinners, that office can handle that kind of disorder. There's a grace on him to ignore all of that. But I'm an apostle. An apostle is all about divine order. So you put me in that and I'm a cat on a hot tin roof. I can't take it. I'm about to slap somebody and punch somebody else because I can sense the divine displeasure of God. Because these marauding Christians and their nonsense thought life. But an evangelist just floats over the top of them. Probably don't even know what's even happening because they're graced for that. An apostle is not graced for that. That's why an apostle brings doctrine and foundation laying and tells people how to think right. Do you understand? Are you with me? So there are a lot of people that don't think right. And I said all that because I started this statement. People are miserable if they don't know their place. Christians that are wandering around hopeless, helpless and aimless, they don't have stability in their life. The Bible says they are weak and scattered as sheep, having no shepherd. That means the pastor's office. If you're under a pastor's office, your life is going to just give it some time. Your life is going to become stronger and become more organized and gathered by the Holy Ghost. I don't just mean a to do list organized. I mean your marriage organized, your health organized, your finances organized. Everything is organized because of that office. People are miserable that don't know where they're set. Believe me, they are. And they're helpless and aimless. So when you find your Fit. Oh, Lord Jesus, help them get it. When you find where God set you, oh, it is so precious. It is so holy. It is so wonderful. It is so freeing. It is so safe. You feel like you are part of something bigger than yourself. You know you have a place. You know God set you there. You know your pastor loves you and sees you. Now act right in that place or you can be removed. Now, you listen to me because I'm going to say something that I wasn't planning on saying it, but I just feel the Holy Ghost telling me to say. And I hope you're watching on livestream because the Lord said to me yesterday, I'm going to have you kick some people out of your church. I'm displeased with their rebellious and their rebellious proud behavior. Yeah, you better be watching and listening. You know who you are. Maybe they don't. They're so ignorant. They don't know who they are. But they need to listen. Look to their hearts. God said, you're coming into another era. You're coming into another place. I'm putting generals around you. You're stepping into a higher office. I'm about to bless this church and grow this church, and I'm not going to have rebels in this church. He said it to me, not me. Because whether you. I'm under the anointing right now and there's an aggressive boldness, but when I'm not under the anointing, I'm a soft, mushy marshmallow. I sit with people, I talk to people. I love people, and I give them chance after chance after chance. Greg knows it. After chance. My wife knows it. And my wife half the time says, enough, Craig. And I'm like, no, give them one more chance. No, give them one more chance. I see good in them, Craig. Can't you see they're rebels? Just give them one more chance, Jenny. Lord, give him one more chance. That is my heart. But when God says to me, I'm going to have you kick some people out of your church, son, because of their rebellious, proud behavior, I hope you're listening and I hope you're not one of them. And I'm not saying that to make you afraid, but there is a holy fear that needs to be found in the church of God. And the Bible says rebuke publicly and openly in front of all so that everyone may fear holy fear, reverential fear. Not fear fear, but reverential fear. Do you understand? I'm not rebuking anybody publicly or openly, but I'm Telling you, you better watch it. Because when you have been set, when you have found your place, when you know by the bearing of witness, this is home. I have found my fit. I'm a puzzle piece in this grand design. You, you better guard what you do because it is not an automatic thing that you get to stay. And the gifts of the spirit are operating more in my life than ever before. And sometimes I stand up here preaching and by the word of knowledge, I'll see people and I'll see things that they're doing. I'll know by the word of knowledge, sin that they're committing, things that they're saying about me, the hard proud heart that they have. And I don't say nothing even most of the time, even to my wife. But I know by the word of knowledge certain things. And I'm praying for those people, Lord, I'm praying for them, help them, Jesus, see it. Because if they don't, God will remove them from that place because they are a contamination to the rest of the place. I'm telling you, the church is not the Qantas Club. We are not the ymca. We're not. We're not the tennis center, we're not bingo club. Anybody can come to those places. Well, anybody can come. Listen to my statement. Anybody can come here, but not everybody can stay here. You can come, but it doesn't mean you can stay. This is not an open forum and we don't go on a voting system. I am not an elected official. I'm an appointed official. Elected officials get unelected. The next vote. Appointed officials are not voted. Nobody elected me. We do not follow the paoc, Pentecostal Baptist nonsense where you vote people in. That is unscriptural. God appoints officers. That's it. God appointed me and he's the only one that can remove me. You don't have a vote. Did you notice we don't have annual meetings where you can vote whether I stay the pastor? Because I don't care about your voice from that perspective. I care about your voice in prayer, I care about your voice in leadership. But you don't have a voice to vote me in or out. We're not a deacon or demon possessed church, however you want to call it, and a lot of churches are. God appoints it and only he appoints it. And whether you like this, people say, you know, you shouldn't be so hard. But most people, I say, they say, pastor, we feel safe, we. When you're strong, because I'm going to keep out wolves, snakes and Rats. I don't want a bunch of rats that are going to jump ship when the wind changes. Do you understand? And I've been asking God, I don't want to kick him out. Don't let me kick him out. I don't want to kick him out. And he said, I'm giving him space. But I said, I'll come quickly and remove them. I'll take them out of the place I put them and they will listen to me. I'm telling you, this is a heavy message today, but this is what he told me to do, he said, and they will wander the rest of their days without a fit. When you lose your place, you never get another one. Do you understand that? Dr. Sumrall said to Dr. Dufresne, if you leave the Torrance Church and you leave your place of authority in the Spirit, your seat, you cannot get it back. He said, now make sure, Ed, when you leave to go to Tulsa, and Pastor God told you to go because you cannot come back. You can come back and start another church, but you don't have that place of the Spirit. You lose that seat. And Dr. Prayed and God told him, go. And Dr. Sumrall said, it bears witness, but you're going to lose that place. But that's okay. God will give you one a Tulsa. And God did. Then God gave him one to Murietta. God can give you places, but you have to know it's God. Because if you lose that place because you're in the flesh, you will never, ever get it back. It is just the way God works. And it's not a lack of mercy, it's the way he works. That's how serious he takes the local church when he places you here. If God removes you, whether I kick you out or whether you get offended and leave, either way, you're removed. And some people come to me and they look at and this happened so many times, I've lost count. And they say, well, you know, God has told me to leave. And I smile on the inside and I say, okay, thank you. God bless you, goodbye. But what they don't know is God only told them to leave. Because God already told me, if they don't leave, kick them out. So God is telling them so that it's not as contentious for me. And they think that they're right because they got a smirk on their face like, I'll show you. And I just smile and I'm thinking, you lost your place. You're never going to get it back. You can go to another Church, you'll never find you're fit again. Not the same way. Jimmy Swaggart, I love him. He's an elder. Not speaking against him, but when he lost his place, he never got the same place back. Jim Baker, when he lost his place, he had a measure. He never got the same place back. Any minister that falls in sin, God will forgive you. You'll get a measure of it back. You'll never get the fullness. It's not possible with God because once you've failed that grace, you don't ever get the fullness back. You'll get a measure. People that leave a church, that leave where God planted them, divinely planted them they'll never find the same measure of a fit anywhere else. They'll wander the rest of their days fitless, placeless, setless. They'll have a measure if they get into another church, but it will never be the same. Because what God sets you, he sets you with one wife. If you're wrong now, if the wife's wrong, God will set you with another one. But if you're wrong, you never get that same fit. Do you understand what I'm saying? I know this is heavy, but I'm not here just to play popcorn with you. What I'm saying all of that to say. And he keeps speaking to me, so I know I haven't got to my notes, but just relax. Because it's so precious to find your fit. It's so precious to know where God set you, where he placed you. Treat it with great reverence. Treat the one that is over you with great respect. Because it is not a foregone conclusion that you have a right to stay. You do the right thing or I will come and remove you. Are you listening? Then the Lord said something to me that I've never heard of before. And it blessed me so much. And he said these words. He said, son, notice the human condition. With Adam, I never noticed this before. He did real good at dressing the garden and he did real bad at keeping it. He named the animals, took care of the flowers, did everything he was supposed to do. He's a good worker, but he never guarded it. Don't matter how good worker you are, you have to guard. Because a snake is around the corner coming to remove you from that place. And what you need to do is cut its head off. Not talk to it. You talk to it in terms of answering it. But you don't engage the devil like Eve did. You take a rock to its head. Do you understand? I've never Heard anyone say that. He did real good addressing it. He was a good worker, but he was not a good protector. And the Lord said to me, most Christians are good workers in the body of Christ, but they are awful at keeping it. Which is why. Can I tell you, Sandy, why this is a true statement? Because if people were good at keeping it, our church would be over a thousand people right now. Because there is over 700 people that have come and gone now. Not people just showing up that I don't. I'm talking about people that joined that I knew God set them here. I knew they were right to be here. And they were a part of our church. And they. Many of them worked. Some of them were lazy and they didn't. But most of them worked. They tended this place. They helped, but they failed in keeping it, guarding it, watching it. And that snake showed up very sly, very cunning and started putting thoughts. He doesn't love you. He's hard. You could use your tithe for something else. He walked past you at the barbecue and didn't hug you. This is what the devil. This is how he works. And he starts to attack the thought life. And if it's not through the pastor, it's through another congregation member. They don't like the color of your skin. They snubbed you because they're richer than you. There's no love and equality in this place. You see, he will. He's very cunning. And people are good at ministry of helps, good at working, good at praying, good at showing up, good at all that stuff, but they're not good at protecting. If they were, would be over a thousand people. If everybody that was set here protected at Jenny, we would be in a new building by now. But because they're good at working, but they're not good at protecting, they get aborted, get removed from that place. I was just talking to somebody a while ago. I don't want to. About a month ago, I don't want to because some of you are very good at connecting dots. So I won't say much, but about a month ago I met. I met somebody in passing in the grocery store who used to come to our church and they were involved in our church and they were a blessing. But I corrected them in one small area and they had a hissy fit. And they left dishonorably, without even saying goodbye after serving being here for years. And I said to them, I like to follow up. I was very kind, very gracious, hugged them, kissed them. I'm very nice. I forgive. I have Nothing in my heart. But I said, how you doing? Where you at? And they told me, well, our life, you know, started to go down. I didn't say anything. I could have said, told you we couldn't afford this and we lost this and we had to move and we couldn't afford that. And I said, well, where are you? In what church? We're in a very tiny church and we don't like it. Well, what are you doing? It's not a good place. And I said, huh? I want it so bad to say, why are you so stupid? You had a place. You've been looking for almost 20 years. They were here at the very beginning. 17 years you've been looking for a place and you can't find it, can you? And you never will because you left the place. You let the devil take you out because you were full of pride and you could not humble yourself, receive correction. And I looked and I could see the sadness in their eyes. And part of me felt sorry for them and part of me didn't because I've been preaching from day one. Guard your relationship. Guard where God sets you. This is one. I can't tell you the number of people that we have followed up with. I have not found one. Out of almost 700 people, not one case where their life has soared, where they have got better, where they have increased, where they are happier, where they have found a place where they are more settled and more fitted and more set by God than they were here. Why? Because God assigned them to this vision. And because they didn't guard it, they let the devil abort it and uproot them from it. And now they're Marauder Rovers. Do you understand this is a very serious thing. I'm not saying this to manipulate you. I'm trying to help you. I've also seen it in ministry. I've watched people I know, people that were angels, appeared to them. Stay with the difference. Why do you think God sent an angel? Why so dramatic? Because God knew that a big snake was on the way. And he wanted that dramatic supernatural experience to hold them as an anchor at the moment of offense. And the moment of events came, and I remember one of them sat in a car with me and started to rip into Dr. Dufresne and his character. And I looked at him and I said, stop. I will not listen to your words. Let me out. Of course, because he had got offended, even though an angel appeared to him and told him, stay with him. He got offended because Dr. Corrected him about tithing he didn't believe in tithing as a church and he lost his place. I'm telling you, I've seen minister after minister after minister. They don't like the way Pastor Nancy dresses. They don't like what she said. They don't like this. They don't like this other minister. They don't like this. They're opinionated. And instead of recognizing, God sent me here and I better act right or I'm going to get removed because the devil is going to remove me. Or if I don't act right, God could even remove me. Let me protect this place. Let me not just work at it. Let me protect this place. I've seen so many ministers lose their place with their spiritual parent. I've seen other ministers lose their church corporately. I've seen congregation members lose their place. And this is a very serious thing. And I'm telling you, we're coming into another phase very soon. And I believe the reason why God is having me teach this strong and this direct is because where we're going, I'm telling you, everything is going to ramp up. Power is going to ramp up. Attack is going to ramp up. Everything is going to ramp up. And he wants you forearmed so that when these things come, you can say, I protect that place. Devil, you. I know God put the church is not perfect because people are not perfect. And no pastor is perfect. It's not a perfect church, but it's the perfect place for me, even though it is an imperfect church with imperfect people and leadership, but it's the perfect place for me because God said, this is your home. And when you're with a mama and a daddy, you don't mouth off to mama and daddy or you get whipped. By the way, our government has. I don't know how recent it is, but somebody just told me, any child 10 and under, you can spank them. Now, as long as you don't use your hand. Or is it the other way? As long as you don't. As long as you use your hand, you don't use a whip or a piece of wood or a plank or a pipe or something. But if you love your kids, you wouldn't be using a pipe anyway. You've got devils if you're using a pipe to hit your kid. But I think the government is slowly wising up to the fact that we're raising a generation of reprobates that tell their teachers to beepity beep, beep. And they realizing even the secular government is realizing the formation of their Mental thinking, the way they process is in the early childhood in the single digits. And a timeout is not enough. And sometimes you got to take your hand. Now, I can say, say it, because you couldn't before, but you can take your hand. Don't abuse, but you can take your hand. Let me demonstrate on Pastor Happy. And you can. You can let the fivefold ministry minister to them, but you never do it in anger. You never do it in an abusive way. And you warn them. You don't just clip them on the side of the head when they don't know it's coming like the Jamaican do. No, no, no. Jamaica don't do that. You say, honey, come over here, sugar, you're about to get it. You don't clip them when they don't see it coming. And you don't do it in anger, and you don't do it in an abusive way, but you do it to say, I'm teaching you how to think. I'm teaching you how to speak. I'm teaching you how to act. Because Otherwise, when you're 11, 12 and you get into those teenager years, you're going to become a devil on legs. Serious. The reason they have these rules is because so many people are abusers. And then everybody that is not an abuser gets punished with the very few bad apples that are abusers. But children need discipline. Hallelujah. If you're set, guard the setting, guard the place he put you, because the devil is after that place. He wants you out of that place. If he can get you out, he knows you'll never ever sit back in the same place again. Not. Not. You can't reproduce that setting in another environment. It's one place. Just like it's a covenant, it's one place. I know people don't always like this preaching. Oh, my God, it can't be 12 o'. Clock. Well, it's not 12 o'. Clock. I. No, that is 11:49. I did the entire sermon on the introduction. I heard him say, a lot of people are good at working it. They're not good at protecting it. Now, listen, you can come to our church and you can just sit back with your feet in the hammock. And so I just love Jesus and bluebirds and everybody else. And you come here and you lift your hands. Hallelujah. And you open your Bible. Oh, that's good. And you say amen. And you put in your tithes and you go home and you don't tend or work at all. Tending or working means you come On Wednesday nights. It means you come in prayer meetings. It means you pray at home. It means you serve in the ministry of help. It means you evangelize, means you take care of this congregation. It also tending also includes tithing because you're taking care of the work. But some people don't do anything. Other people just do financial, but nothing else. Everybody should do their part when it comes to tending and working in this church because we're a team. We're not some of us lazy and others of us hard working. All of us have to tend. But let me tell you this. It is more. There's something more important than ministry of helps. There's something more important than tending by tending this church, by your attendance or by your giving or by your praying. There's something more important than all of that, and that is guarding and protecting from the snake. Because his one job, he wants to get you out of your place. He knows you'll never get another one. And he wants you to get away from the word. He wants you to get away from the revelation of the word. And he will do anything he can to get you out of that place. And I'm going to give you different things that trip people up. And if you. If you yield to those things, if you don't guard against those things, you'll find things don't go right for you. And I'm not just talking about you, I'm talking about me. Because every one of these things apply to me with Pastor Nancy. And as I was going through the list, I was thinking about every single one and applying it to my life with her. And I thought, yeah, I've been tested on that. Yep, I've been tested on that. Yep, the devil spoke to me about that. But I handled that right. That's why I'm still with her. Every one of them. I've gone through every single one of these 20 things with my leader. I also went with every single one of them with my previous pastor that I worked for. And if you're a congregation member, you're going to go through every single one of these things with me. And if you're a minister, you're going to go through. If I'm your spiritual father, you're also going to go through me. There is no way around this. Everybody goes through these things because everybody is tempted and tested the same way. Nobody is a special case. Hallelujah. So there's no point me even starting number one, because it's 12:04 and I can see people, they're licking Their lips because they're thinking about their rotisserie chicken that gave its life for the gospel. We call it the gospel bird. Just take one thing away from this morning. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take that long. But actually, I'm not sorry because I heard the Holy Ghost say, say this, say this, say this, say this, say this. I just wanted to get into that list. So next week we'll just get right into the list, and we might even get it done in one service, okay? Because some of it doesn't take very long and other points take longer, but some are very short. But anyway, I'm just telling you, everybody has to dress it and everybody has to keep it with your marriage. Tend to your marriage. Work on your marriage. That means time together. Dates, walks, prayer times, cooking. Find out her love language. Does she like quality time? Does she like words of affirmation? Does she like gifts? Does she like touch? Does she like acts of service? Because whatever Jennifer likes, which is always the opposite of what I like, it's the truth. If I don't do those things for her, she don't feel loved. So she's added a third one to her list recently. And I'm not very impressed with this because I had it down for 20, almost five years now. And she was acts of service and then quality time. And then she switched it. Quality time, acts of service. Now she's arbitrarily, just out of the blue, recently told me, now you can add gifts to the list because of the big gift I gave her for her 50th birthday. And I started something bad that I shouldn't have started. She got a taste for it. So now I've got to do laundry and spend time with her instead of being on TikTok and give her gifts. I mean, what is the world coming to? I'm very simple. Just tell me. I'm great. Words of affirmation, baby. What I like is when she stands there and all the children are lined up when I get in from church, and they've got their little suits on and they all have trumpets, and I walk in the door and it's. And then she says, the king has returned. That's what I like. That is what I like. And every week I say, throw in a different adjective. So one week it's, the emperor has come back, another one, the king has returned. And then I quote her my favorite scripture, which is New Testament doctrine. And Abraham called. Sarah called Abraham Lord. So I say, jennifer, say the lord has entered the manor. Yeah. That fill up that love tank real good. And then after that, touch, baby, touch me. Touch me, baby, hold my hand. Kissy kissy. I could care about quality time, acts of service, gifts. Who cares? Touch me and talk to me. The king has returned. Amen. And the dogs even do their downward dog. And they. And they bow before me. They do their downward dog. They're into yoga. These dogs have devils. They're into yoga. And they do their downward dog. And I walk through. Now while I eat my lunch. Massage time, Jennifer. Words touch. I'm loved. But now I'm going to add gifts to hers. This is called tending the marriage. Tend the marriage, but guard that marriage. If you don't guard it, the eye starts to wander, the devil starts to tempt, or you get offended with each other, or you use sex as a weapon, or you take advantage financially when you shouldn't, or you disrespect. Try to control each other and treat them like they're a child. There's so many areas you have to tend and guard when it comes to marriage. And you'll have a good, sweet marriage the rest of your life. It's not hard, it's not impossible. You can do it, but both people have to do it, not just one. Same with the church. You got to tend that church. You got to guard that place that God's given you with that person God put over. You got to tend that relationship, and you got to guard that relationship with your relationship with God Almighty, which is the most important relationship. You've got to tend that relationship, spend time with him, learn God's love languages. His are all five. Learn that, tend that and guard it. Because the devil's always looking to pull you away from him. Amen. Don't just be a good worker, be a good guarder. Hallelujah. And you'll find you'll sail through life in your place, in your fitness, with joy. And you have rewards on the other side. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the anointing this morning. It certainly did not go the way I planned, but I'm grateful that I know the spirit of God was pleased with what was said. Lord, I got strong a little bit under the anointing there briefly. I'm not trying to hurt anybody, Father, but you told me you're giving people a season of mercy, some of them. And they better guard and watch what they're doing because if they don't humble themselves and protect this place, they keep acting irreverently and full of pride and rebellion. You're going to Remove some folk because you don't want them contaminating the rest of the place. Maybe if that pastor. I don't know. I'm not judging. But, Lord, maybe if that pastor removed some of the rebellious ones before it grew to half his congregation, he would have kept his church. I don't know. All I know is that you told me you're not going to allow people with the wrong spirit in this church, and you're giving them a season of mercy to get it right. This message and other messages like this, like next week, is giving them the weapons of how to fight this battle and win. It's giving them tools of how to fix this problem and keep their hearts guard. Their hearts so that they can maintain their place. Now, Father, I'm dealing with this publicly because that's how you told me to do it. And that's always the way you do it. You never embarrass people first. You always do it publicly so that the Holy Spirit can deal with them privately. I say it publicly so God can deal with them privately. But if they won't listen privately, then I'll have to deal with them directly. So let every person listen to what the Spirit of God is saying over these couple weeks and make the adjustments needed to protect and keep themselves in that holy, precious place that you've set them in. The Spirit, in this congregation and with this vision and of this church. And I thank you for it, and I praise you that they'll come back next week and we'll get into the meat of this. In Jesus precious name, everybody said amen.