Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
The Living Bread 3
What if your spiritual growth could be as invigorating as nurturing your favorite hobby? In our latest episode, we unravel the teachings of John chapter 6, where Jesus offers Himself as the living bread, challenging us to enrich our souls by meditating on His Word. Experience how modern technology can be a powerful ally in this journey, providing access to spiritual teachings that keep your momentum alive, even in the busiest of times.
Let's lift our Bibles up, wave them around, make Jesus glad and the devil mad. Let's say this together Say Heavenly Father, I'm so glad to be here. This is Family Sunday, but it's the family of God, and I'm so glad to hear the Word of God this morning. I came hungry and thirsty for more and I shall be filled. My cup runneth over in Jesus name, amen. All right, let's look at John, chapter six, please, and we'll start reading with verse 47. John 6, 47.
Speaker 1:Jesus is speaking to the Jews and, of course, to His disciples that were included. It's a pretty big group of people in the synagogue in Capernaum In verse 47. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread. Everybody shout living bread. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them Verily, verily, I say unto you Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day, for my flesh is meat, indeed, and my blood is drink, indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him, as the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father. So he that eateth me, even he, shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven, not, as your fathers did, eat manna and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. And so we're teaching a series and this is the last of a series of three messages on the living bread. The living bread. And of course we've discussed a number of things over the last two weeks and I don't want to spend a lot of time this morning going over what I've already preached on the subject.
Speaker 1:So make sure you get the podcast, get the media. If you don't understand that. You can stop by our media center and they can help you find it in your smartphone or talk to you about how you can access the messages. You know we used to have CDs. Cds are gone. You don't have any CDs players anymore, so we've got to get on down. You know let's update and upgrade folks. I mean, come on, we can learn new things, no matter. You know how old we are. Praise the Lord, let's get out of our set ways and let's adopt that. We're in the 21st century. It's amazing what we're able to put out on the internet. I mean this these messages are going all over the world. And if CDs were limited, so um, but in any case um.
Speaker 1:In John chapter one, it says in the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And then in verse 14, it says the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. So Jesus is the Word. And when I found that out it revolutionized my life. I mean I never knew that. I was raised in Catholic church, went to Catholic school eight years. Nuns never taught me that Jesus is the word. I mean I had been born again for a week in my very first Bible study. I mean, that was a subject of the Bible study. These people went to Lakewood Church and were influential in my getting saved and all of that kind of introduced me to Lakewood the first time I ever went there. They took us and all of that.
Speaker 1:You know, it's amazing and the subject of the first Bible study who is Jesus? Well, I thought I knew who he was. No, he's the word. And now here he's saying I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Notice, he keeps stressing something. First of all, he said verily, verily, twice, and if you go back to the beginning of the chapter, he says verily, verily, three times in one chapter, in this same group of people. He said to them verily, verily, see, verily, verily is a double enunciation of God. When you see, verily, verily, it is a truth that cannot be disputed or denied. It's from heaven. He kept saying I've come down from heaven. And see, every time he said it there was a percentage of the people in the audience that didn't like it. They differed. If you keep reading to the end of the chapter and that's my homework for you if you haven't done it by now, be sure and read the whole chapter John 6, so you can understand the context of this message.
Speaker 1:This message is so vital for us right now. It's vital in this year of momentum. Momentum is gaining, momentum is building, and in order for us to keep it up, we're going to have to feed on the living bread. So in week one we talked about meditating in the living bread. Meditating in the word. That's how you really break it down. You're able to eat it by meditating. Meditating means to mutter, to turn it about, to think about it, to cogitate. You have to do it with your mouth and your mind.
Speaker 1:And meditating in the Word is the most amazing thing because it does three things all at one time. See, because it's kind of like chewing food. I mean, you know, do you gulp your food or do you chew it? See, I mean you're not going to digest it very well if you just gulp it down. There are animals out there that don't chew. They just gulp their you know their prey all at one time right down the gullet, and they don't need to chew it. But we do. God made us to where we have to choose. So chewing is part of digestion and digestion is where something becomes part of you. Digestion is where you get the nutrients out of it and you get the benefit out of it and you get the energy out of it. If you don't have a good chewing mechanism and you don't then your digestive tract is not going to assimilate all the benefits of the food that you're eating.
Speaker 1:So, meditating the word does three things all at one time. First of all, it develops and matures your spirit Isn't that amazing. And then, secondly, it begins to renew your mind, your mind. You start to realize God's thoughts. When you meditate on the Word, you're meditating on God's thoughts. And so now you're thinking like God, not all at once, it takes time. And then the third thing, you're doing all simultaneously. You're thinking like God, not all at once, it takes time. And then the third thing you're doing all simultaneously, you're building your faith. So one act of meditating in the word does a whole lot of things all at once that are all beneficial to the Christian life and makes all the difference in the world, in your life, amen. And so then we talked about you know, you know this this whole idea of, of, of taking and eating the living bread. You know, then you've got to put it first place, you've got to give it priority. It's number one on the list of things that you do. That means you have to put some other things aside and maybe even eliminate or at least delay and give yourself time to meditate and read your Bible.
Speaker 1:A lot of people have a. You know, I mentioned this last couple of weeks ago but I said well, you know, when I first got saved, I picked this word up, this Bible up. It's pretty intimidating to think I'm going to read this Bible. I'd tried before and failed. I mean, I got to the book of Leviticus and that's when I said, okay, this is just too complicated for me and I'm a guy that went to college and I got a degree in mechanical engineering, if you can believe that. And I had some thick books. I had one I mentioned about mechanical vibrations. What an exciting book. A book this thick, all about mechanical vibrations. You know, exciting book, a book this thick, all about mechanical vibrations. You know well what in the world is that. It was chock full of mathematics, chock full of science and all of that. And I took a class one semester. I mean, I just went one semester with a textbook like I, still in my garage with dust all over. With a textbook like that, I still in my garage with dust all over. My Bible is not in my garage with dust all over.
Speaker 1:So you give yourself to something, you pay attention to something, and then you gain an affinity, you gain a desire for it, and so you know you might be intimidated, but start, start reading your Bible, start meditating, start where you are. I mean, we have a Bible reading plan that includes 10 chapters of a day, two in the old, two in the new, five Psalms and one proverb. And if you do that Bible reading plan, you'll read through the New Testament three times in a year, through the Old Testament one time in a year, all the Proverbs once a month, all the Psalms once a month, or 10 chapters a day. Lord pastor, we'll start with one chapter. Quit putting it off, because this is living bread. How many of you believe Jesus knows what he's talking about? This is how we abide in him and he abides in us. There's no other way, folks, there's no other way. He's the living bread, it's a, it's, it's alive, it's powerful, amen.
Speaker 1:So we talked about that, and then, and then, of course, you put it first place, then you, then you, uh, you know you be a doer of the word. You act on the word, you don't just read it and store it up, you act on it, you obey it. And then, at the last part on week one was now you're building your spirit. Now your spirit can be an influence. You start listening to your spirit and your own spirit can become a guide, much like the Holy Ghost is a guide, because you've strengthened your spirit. That's the way every believer is supposed to be. Your spirit is supposed. You're not supposed to stay a baby. You're supposed to begin to grow up and your spirit will know things. Because you've fed on the living bread. Your spirit will know what to do. Because, why? Because your spirit has fed upon the living bread and, yes, the Holy Ghost lives inside of you, right alongside your spirit. So you're going to know some things because he knows them, and there's going to be things that are communicated, just kind of like you know, all by themselves. You know it's amazing. You know somebody had some pictures that they wanted to show me and so they just laid their thing next to my iPhone and, man, the pictures just went pew. I mean, it's just amazing. What can transfer electronically now? And so that's kind of what happens on the inside.
Speaker 1:Then, week two, we talked about how that. You know, one of the reasons that you want to feed on the living bread is to gain strength. He said you know, your father's fed on the manna in the wilderness and are dead. See, they were glorifying manna, they were glorifying Moses. They didn't like Jesus. They were trying to depreciate Jesus.
Speaker 1:Who does he think he is? He's talking about coming down from heaven. We know him. He was born right over there in Nazareth. I mean, he's grown up. We know who he is. He didn't come from heaven. We know his family. You know they doubted him. They didn't take him at face value. They rejected him. But that's who he was sent to preach to. That's who he was sent to be a witness. So they can never deny that they didn't know him. Because they knew him, they just rejected him. You see, you know not everybody. We sit in the witness chair and tell our testimony to is going to be changed. Some people are just going to reject you. They're testimony to is going to be changed. Some people are just going to reject you. They're going to reject what you're saying. Well, just keep on going to the right part, because there's right. Somebody down the line is going to need what you've got.
Speaker 1:So, uh, they had to eat the manna in order to have the strength to follow the cloud by day in the pillar of fire by night. You know if, periodically, the cloud would move and then they would have to break camp, well, that's a lot of work. They have to break the tent down, fold it up, put it on the back of some cart something. You know they had a few animals and they'd go down the road. They walked there, you know. They walked across the wilderness to the promised land, but it took them 40 years because of their disobedience. And so, you know, they had to have. They had to have manna, which was the word manna means. What is it? And it was. It satisfied their all of their nutritional needs and and for the energy that it took for them to follow the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
Speaker 1:Well, that is a type and shadow of the Holy ghost. If you want to follow the Holy ghost, you're going to have to feed upon the living bread. It's the only thing that will give you the strength to follow the Holy Ghost. Why is that? Because the Holy Ghost leads you in your spirit. And if your spirit's a little tiny baby, if your spirit is the same spirit that when you got born again with and you haven't fed it anything, it's kind of emaciated. It's not going to pick up the guidance from the Holy Ghost. He's all the time leading, but we're not picking up his leading. So if you want to follow the Holy Ghost into the perfect will of God, you're going to have to feed that. Feed on the living bread. Amen, pray, come on, lift your hands right now. Thank God, god has given us the living bread and it's right here on our, in our pages of our Bible. Think about how many people died to bring you this book. And people want to argue about the book. They want to argue it's the Bible. Amen, all right. So today, now we're going to move on.
Speaker 1:But as you pay attention to anything, you, you, you increase in desire for it, and I've told that story before. I mean, I started paying attention to Corvettes and I got really desirous of one, really desirous of one, but I didn't ask God for one. And then, finally, after several, about three years of really liking them and studying them, and I'd get online, I'd build them, you know, online and price them and I'd go ooh, that's a lot of money. And you know, I did that for about three years and finally, one day, god said oh, by the way, that Corvette, you can have that Corvette if you want. So I got to buy one.
Speaker 1:So whatever you pay attention to, you'll develop an affinity for, you'll develop a desire for. So begin reading your Bible. In the face of the fact that it's hard to do sometimes and you don't feel like you're getting much done. You know, if you'll just stay at it, just stay at it, just stay at it, just stay at it, you're going to find that you're going to desire to read it more and more until you're going to really be feeding. Everybody has to start in the same place, all right. So today, feeding on the living bread will bring us success in this life.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, he's one of those success preachers. Well, you believe in failure? Yeah, he's one of those prosperity preachers. Yeah, oh well, are you a poverty preacher? I had a guy that I was buying some stuff from, you know, and he says I see there, I looked you up on the internet, you're a pastor. I said that's right. Wow, are you one of those prosperity preachers? And he said it in kind of a negative tone. I thought you know you're an idiot. I'm buying something from you and you're criticizing what I'm doing. You don't know squat. You don't know you're on the bubble buddy, there's plenty of people I can buy this product from, besides you. So I just flashed back at him. I said well, what do you believe in poverty? I thought you were in business to sell products. Are you doing it to fail? And he shut up real quick. Anyway, all right, feeding on the living bread will bring us success. God's very, very interested in your success. How do you know that? Well, the living bread says it. I fed on the living bread.
Speaker 1:So let's look here in Psalm chapter 1. If you read my Bible reading plan, you've read that yesterday or Friday, rather, psalm 1, the first of the month, psalm 1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. See, three don't dos you want to be blessed. There's three don't dos that the Word leads with. You know you feed on this and it'll kind of help you stay away from. You know curses. Oh pastor, would you pray for me? I've got curses. Well then, you've been hanging around the wrong people. The Bible tells you exactly how to be blessed. Don't do these three things Don't walk in the counsel of the godly, don't stand in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Speaker 1:Years ago, I was meditating on this See, meditate, eating and when I was eating it, I thought, well, this is a progression. Eating it, I thought, well, this is a progression. This is a progression. You know, they, they. It says don't, it says don't, uh, walk and don't. And don't stand and don't sit, don't sit. Walking, standing and sitting.
Speaker 1:I just pictured a group of people that are talking about a bunch of ungodly things, giving a bunch of ungodly uh opinions about everything under the sun that they don't know anything about. And you're walking by and you hear that, well then, you stand there. You should have kept on walking, but no, now you're standing there and pretty soon, if you stand there long enough, you're going to go find a place to sit down. And when you sit down, man, they've got you. Now.
Speaker 1:You spent entirely too long listening to the wrong things, and what is it going to do? This is knowledge. That's against God's knowledge. But instead of that, his delight is in the law or in the word of the Lord, or we could say, in the living bread. His delight is in the living bread that came down from heaven. He's not interested in everybody's opinion on CNN or any place else for that matter, he's. He's interested in what does the word say. His delight is in the living bread. So you can get to the place where you delight.
Speaker 1:And I speak that, see, every, every day, before I read my word. Lord, I just delight in your word. Your word is a lamp unto my feet. It's a light unto my path. Forever, o Lord, is thy word settled in heaven. The interest of thy word giveth light. I esteem all the words of thy mouth more than my necessary food. I say that every day before I start reading my Bible. And guess what I mean? It starts to turn my heart toward the word and make me delight in it. It starts with your mouth and then your feelings will follow. Your feelings really don't have much to do about it, but it does help to enjoy something, doesn't it? And if you don't enjoy reading your Bible, if you dread it, well then you're not going to do it like you should. But you can change it with your mouth. But his delight is in the living bread. And in his living bread does he meditate, day and night meditate. There's a word again.
Speaker 1:And he who, the guy that refused to walk, stand and sit with a bunch of goofballs? Quit hanging around goofballs. You have to work with them. Sometimes you have to live next door to them, but you don't have to hang out with them, you don't have to fellowship with them, you don't have to go to dinner with them. Amen, you don't have to do all that. Don't do it. Sure, don't marry one of them Too late. Okay, well, we'll pray for you.
Speaker 1:That guy, that person, shall be like a tree, or shall become, shall become. See, it's not what you, you know. Start off doing, you become, you grow into it. You become like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf. What is the leaf? It's the part of the tree that translates light into food. His leaf also shall not wither. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. And when I was first saved, I got a hold of whatsoever he doeth shall prosper and I forgot about all the other conditions and I just got the idea that anything I did would prosper. I had to learn the hard way. That ain't how it works. It's all the other conditions that have to be met before you.
Speaker 1:Everything you do will prosper because you're going to start doing every little thing that other people say you ought to do. You start going to Barnes and Noble and buying a book on how to prosper about something, how to make money doing something. I'm not saying the natural world doesn't have any benefit. I'm just saying you've got to go to living bread first. Measure everything against the living bread. Are y'all getting it? Get anything out of this now. Everybody say prosper. Whatever you do shall prosper. Once you, once you quit listening to the world's way of doing things, you start. You start finding out what God's Word says about it, feeding on it and delighting in it Day and night. You meditate on it. You're constantly eating the living bread and it's building you and you're going to have success. Whatever you do shall prosper. You'll have fruit. What kind of fruit is he talking about? Well, it includes success, being successful, being prosperous. All right, let's go to 3 John 2.
Speaker 1:I could hear some of you saying well, that's Old Testament, pastor. How about the New Testament? Tython's Old Testament, Pastor? We'll get to that in a minute. Third john, chapter two. Third epistle of john written to christians.
Speaker 1:John says beloved he's not talking to the world, they're not beloved. Beloved I wish or I pray, say king j. Sometimes you wonder why in the world did they put wish in there? You know so it's not a the King James translation is not perfect, it's got flaws, but at least in the margin it says pray, he pray, I pray, above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, priority. Well, yeah, pastor, but that's John, I know.
Speaker 1:But John was inspired by the Holy ghost to write that. So if he wrote that and it wasn't the Holy ghost and he violated the whole, what the Bible says happened. The Bible says he was anointed by by God to write these words. So it's God's priority that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. It gets back to the soul, it gets back to the thinking. You've got to have the proper mindset and then you go back to Psalm one. That's why you don't walk, stand and sit with evil people, because it will affect your thinking. Are y'all getting this now? Now the word prosper in Psalm 1 means in the Hebrew to rush forward, to advance, to succeed. See, I mean it's in there and he wants you. You meditate on the, in delight in the word, and meditate in the word day and night. You're going to advance, you're going to rush forward, you're going to succeed. And then the word prosper in third John two in the, in the Greek means it means help along life's journey. It means help along life's journey.
Speaker 1:I mean, you know I spend some time looking back on my life. It's like I've lived a number of lives. It's amazing my life, you know, after you get to a certain age, my age you wake up one day and all of a sudden, you know you can't say I'm a young man anymore, you hesitate to say elderly. But that's what everybody calls you Old man. I guess is what some people call me. I don't know, I don't feel old, but I mean I realize you know my age, you know, puts you in a category. But I look back on my life and just amazing all the ways that God has helped me, even before I ever knew him, even before I ever was born again. I go back in my life, all the ways that God has helped me, even before I ever knew him, even before I ever was born again. I go back in my life all the way to childhood and I can see all the times that God helped me along the life's journey. Well, if he did it when I wasn't even saved, how much more would he do it when you love him and you serve him and you meditate on the living bread? How much more? How much more Everybody shout? How much more? How much more Everybody shout, how much more Help on the road or help in life's journey?
Speaker 1:It means to succeed in reaching your destination. He's wanting you to reach certain goals. He's wanting you to reach certain earmarks. You know if you work in a company, they're going to give you goals. They're going to give you places that you need to reach. If you don't reach them, you know you're putting your job at risk. You sit there with your boss and he said well, you know you had this to do and that to do and you didn't get this, you didn't make this, and then pretty soon they got no place for him. You get a pink slip and you're gone. There are things that God wants to accomplish in your life and he. It's priority with him that you do them, that you reach them. Amen To succeed in business affairs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, when I found out God was interested in my business, it just completely, I mean, I was absolutely stunned, because as a Catholic, you know, grown up Catholic, you know all of the people that I considered spiritual were. You know the nuns and the priests, and they swore a vow of poverty, even though they lived in a two-story mansion. Monsignor Oberstdorf drove a Cadillac, 57 Cadillac. I'm a car guy so I knew immediately when I saw that white 57, you know the 57 Cadillac with the big fins and had the two taillights down below at the top model Iconic car. I mean, elvis had one. Elvis had an every year Cadillac, but anyway, in 57 was Elvis, you know 57, elvis is a big star, you know. So here's Monsignor who vowed poverty and Elvis, and they both drive 57 Cadillacs. That gave me pause. But I vowed poverty. They dressed poverty, I mean black, you know, gown white thing around their face, little nuns and so.
Speaker 1:But that, you know, holiness, poverty is kind of like you're, that's ingrained in you as a Catholic and somehow, you know that doesn't really line up, and and so when I, when I, when I was an adult, I mean I was having all kinds of trouble in my business, I I never, ever, not once, prayed God help my business, god help me sell that house. Once. Prayed God help my business, god help me sell that house. I had a house one time. It was a good floor plan, it had sold before, it was on a really pretty lot, it had trees in the front and it was just a. It wouldn't sell. It was sitting there. And you know, when you build a spec house and it doesn't sell, you're paying interest every month. You're paying interest every month on the full loan amount and so that knocks a big hole in your cash flow because you've got all that money going out and nothing's coming in. And thank God, I had other houses, but that house is sitting there and sitting there and it sat there six months, six months.
Speaker 1:And my painter came by he says oh, you know, sell your house. He's a Mexican immigrant, he came here for $25 and now he's rich, he's got a big old office park over here off of Theol with his name on it. I mean you talk about a success. Yes, with his name on it, I mean you talk about a success. So, anyway, pedro. So, pedro, he said you know, I, I sell for you. He said, well, I said what you got somebody. He said, no, I repainted this. Wrong color, wrong color. Yeah, white, no good, right, no, blanco, too too bright. Oh, crema, I paint crema itself. I said, oh, come on, give me a. He said I paint crema itself. How, how much? $800. Nice, I gave him the $800. He painted it cream. It sold the next day.
Speaker 1:But I never prayed, Never prayed I never.
Speaker 1:Maybe he prayed, I don't know. Never prayed I never. Maybe he prayed, I don't know. And when I got a hold of this, when I realized that, god, it was an absolute top priority for God to prosper my business, I mean I just wept and, man, I learned, I learned how to start praying. Then Are y'all with me now To succeed in business affairs, to be successful? See, not the world's way, not the world's way, but God's way. God's way, the Word's way. See, you become like a tree. You bring forth fruit. What is the fruit? It's success. It's a priority, top priority, above all things. You prosper being held. But you've got to change your way of thinking. Romans, chapter 12. Let's turn over there quickly Talking about the living bread. It's so vital for us.
Speaker 1:Verse 1. Written to Christians I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you, you've got to do something. What are the things you've got to do? Well, you have to present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Another version says your reasonable service and your spiritual worship. It's spiritual to present your body as a sacrifice.
Speaker 1:You don't let your body do everything it wants to do. You rule your body, you as your spirit. That's why your spirit has to develop. It has to get more authoritative, it has to have be more influential and you have to rule your body. You have to say no to your body when it wants to obey its carnal desires, if it wants to get offended. If it wants to.
Speaker 1:You know, get angry, be angry and sin not. You can get angry, but you can sin with your anger. So you better take authority over your anger and stop it Before the sun goes down. The Bible said people that just let you know, have a little difference with their wife or husband and just pout and and keep that for days at a time, punish each other with withholding. You know, come conversation and all that. That's. That's a sin that'll hurt you. No, so so you, you, you present your body a living sacrifice. And then verse 2 be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. Be not conformed to this world's way of thinking, do not be conformed to this world's way of thinking, but be transformed, conformed, transformed, transformed, conformed, transformed, conformed means that it's like filling a cavity.
Speaker 1:You know, I have a cousin that makes sculpture by the lost wax method. He carves a sculpture out of wax and puts sand all around it and heats it up. In the wax melts and inside this box of sand is a void. That is the shape of the wax carving that he carved. He's got a carving of jesus coming back on his horse. He's got all these different carvings. To max grinder junior in curville, texas, you might have. You know, it's got the beautiful garden theres. To Max Greiner Jr in Kerrville, texas, you might have. You know, it's got the beautiful garden there on the side of I-10, the big cross there. That's my cousin, my second cousin, and so it's the lost wax.
Speaker 1:So what happens is when he pours that molten bronze into that form. It conforms itself to every little undulation, every little carving of his knife in that wax that he had done. And then he lets it dry and he breaks it all apart and lifts it up and there's a perfect sculpture. That sculpture was conformed to that image that he carved. See, that's what the devil wants to do. He wants to conform you to that image that he carved. See, that's what the devil wants to do. He wants to conform you to the image of this world. That's why you don't walk, stand and sit around people that are wrong. Are y'all with me now? But you be transformed.
Speaker 1:Greek word metamorpho, which where we get metamorphosis from, which is how the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, how a tadpole becomes a frog. I mean they change complete substance. They change, and so that's what happens when you renew your mind to God's thinking. That's what happens when you renew your mind to God's thinking, when you begin to reprogram your thinking and you begin to think the thoughts of God by feeding on the living word. It transforms you, it changes you, and that's why Jesus said you eat this living bread, you'll abide in me and I'll abide in you. I mean you can't tell who where we end and he begins and vice versa. We just become one with him. Oh, come on, lift your hand right now. These songs that we sang this morning are so powerful. This is what I'm talking about. Right now we're going to have communion together, and this is why we're having communion together. It's real folks, it's real Hallelujah. It's real folks, it's real Hallelujah. So your success in this life, then, is linked to your soul prosperity. If your thinking isn't prosperous, if you're thinking, if you're still thinking like the world thinks, or you think like religious people think, or you take religious theories and give them more weight than God's Word, it's going to affect you.
Speaker 1:Let's look at Joshua, chapter 1. You get anything out of this today? All right, we're coming around for a landing here pretty soon. Don't leave yet. Joshua, chapter 1.
Speaker 1:One you know, jesus, or rather Joshua, was second in command to Moses all the years in the wilderness. He and Caleb were the two spies that brought the good report, but Joshua over Caleb, joshua was more his assistant and more, you know, in charge of the army. Remember, and you know, and Joshua held his hand up and the moon stood still for a whole day so they could kill the Amalekites. So he's not a novice. I don't know anybody that's held up time for a day and a half. But it came time for Moses to leave.
Speaker 1:Moses had sinned, he had struck the rock twice because of what Anger. He never got a hold of his temper. You know, you got a temper. You get. You know, get it under the blood. I'm giving it into the flesh. The temper is a flesh. And Moses just became uncontrolled and got mad and struck the rock on the second time.
Speaker 1:When God told him to speak to the rock the second time, to get the water to come out. The water came out, all right, but Moses, he said Moses, because you disobeyed me, you're not going to go in, you're going to see the promised land, you're not going in. And it came time for Moses to die at 120, which really, by Bible standards, is kind of early. And he came time for Moses to die at 120, which really, by Bible standards, kind of early. And uh, he said, go over to Mount Pisgah and you can look over the Mount and you can see it over there, but you're not going in. And he died.
Speaker 1:He walked out of the camp, but before he walked out of the camp to go, die and go. Well, go see the promised land and then die. Before he did that, he called Joshua beside him and and, and he spoke to the children of Israel that he's going to lead you into the promised land. And he took, and he laid his hands and put some. The Bible says, put some of his honor on Joshua. And he spoke over him. Be strong and very courageous. God's going to be with you, just the same way he was with me, and you're going to cause this people to inherit their promises In front of everybody. He spoke over Joshua.
Speaker 1:So then he walks out of the camp and nobody knew exactly when he died. Why did he die in private? Well, god hid his body because he knew Israel would probably use the science they learned in Egypt to embalm his body and turn it into an idol and worship it. That's how revered Moses was. Moses, greatest prophet in the Old Testament. I mean, you know he was revered, still revered, okay, but he's a man, can't worship men. So God took that off, he hid the body. And so then Joshua, chapter one did you find it Now?
Speaker 1:After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, moses' minister, saying Moses, my servant is dead. See, nobody knew. They knew where he was headed, but they didn't know when it happened. So God appears to Joshua and says Moses, my servant is dead. Now, therefore, arise, and he begins to tell Joshua everything Moses just told him. Identical. Read it for yourself in Deuteronomy. Identical words God spoke to Joshua, the same words that Moses spoke over him when he laid hands on him. Boy, the laying on of hands is powerful. Moses, my servant is dead Now, therefore, because of hands is powerful. Moses, my servant is dead now.
Speaker 1:Therefore, because of that, arise, go over this Jordan Now, just a minute, let me just do. You know that Joshua is just like you and me. You know he had to have apprehension. This is the greatest prophet. This man was so powerful, he stretched out his rod and the Red Sea parted. This man is revered, and now he's gone and I am going to take his place. My feet are going to come into his shoes. I've got to do what he couldn't do. He couldn't get them in there and you're expecting me to do what he couldn't do. I mean, you can see how that would intimidate anybody. So God comes and says now, moses, my servant is dead.
Speaker 1:Now, therefore, rise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, under the land which I do give them, even to the children of Israel. Every place the soul of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given you, as I said unto Moses. He said that to Moses, he didn't say it to Joshua, but now he is, everywhere the sole of your foot shall tread. And then he describes where all of it is. Skip all that.
Speaker 1:Verse 5, there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so shall I also be with thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. See, you're not in this by yourself. Joshua, be strong and very courageous. Be strong and of a good courage, for under this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. And my margin says because you shall cause this people to inherit the land.
Speaker 1:That's my job. My job is to cause you to walk in your inheritances, which is why I'm preaching the word to you this morning about the living bread, because the living bread is absolutely. It's not optional. You must receive it. You must eat it. You must eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood or not. You're not going to have everything Jesus bought and paid for, even though it's got your name on it. You're going to leave it on the table unclaimed. I'm trying to remember which preacher had a vision of this huge room and, uh, and it just had stuff stacked up all over this huge, like a warehouse, a huge, massive warehouse, and over the doorway into this place. It's called Unclaimed Blessings. Unclaimed Blessings. It's got a warehouse full. I don't want any of my stuff in that building. I want every bit of stuff that has my name. I don't want it in the unclaimed blessing building.
Speaker 1:Amen, my job is to make sure that you are equipped, and that's what his job was. God told him what his job was. You're going to cause this people to inherit their land and only be strong and very courageous. Second time he told him, and he said only be strong and very courageous. Second time he told him that he and he said only be strong and very courageous. That you may observe to do all according to this law, according to the living bread. You got to be a doer of the living bread Eating means you do it, you don't just know it, you do it. That you may observe, to do all that Moses, my servant, commanded they turn not from the right hand to the left. That you may what Prosper whithersoever thou goest, that you'll advance, that you'll succeed.
Speaker 1:This book verse 8, this book of the law, this living bread, the law, is the first five books of the Bible. Just think, just think they didn't have the whole Bible, they had the first five books. We've got the whole thing. We've got the new Testament and the old. We've got the whole Bible. We can take and eat, especially the epistles, because those are written directly to us.
Speaker 1:This book of the law, or this living bread, shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate therein when you feel like it, occasionally, day and night, consistently, that you may observe to do there's that word do so. You can't get away from doing the word, you can know it, but you have to do it. That you may observe, to do according to all that is written therein. For then, and only then he didn't say that, but I'm saying it Then, and only then, thou shalt make thy way prosperous. Didn't even say I'm going to make your way. It says. You shall make your way prosperous. Then you shall have good success.
Speaker 1:Verse 9. Have not I commanded thee. Number three be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever. So, wherever you go, this is the time where we can't be afraid. We can't be afraid of what's going on in this world. We can't be afraid of what's going on. You know, in our government we can't be afraid of what's going on. You know, in our government we can't be afraid of what might happen or might not happen. I mean I see kind of disaster on both sides. I mean, if we get Trump elected, there could be major problems.
Speaker 1:We're going to have prayer Tuesday night instead of Thursday night. I move prayer from Thursday night to Tuesday night election night and we're going to meet at 730 down here and have a prayer meeting Now. I'll be here to lead it because we're not going to take anything for granted. We may not even know, we really don't know who's going to win the election right away but we need prayer. We're going to pray, we've been praying, but we're going to pray that night. We're going to pray that night. We're not afraid why I'm going to pray that night. We're not afraid why? Because we fed on the living bread.
Speaker 1:I read the end of the book. I know what comes at the end of the book. I'm not a bit afraid of anything that's going to happen. But we're here to influence, we're here to hinder the spirit of Antichrist. So all right.
Speaker 1:So he had conditions of his prosperity. Number one he had to be strong and very courageous. Every leader, and that includes you you're in a church of leadership. This church is an apostolic vine with a prophetic flow. This church is a forerunner. This church is a supply, it's a distributor. It is a trailblazing kind of a work.
Speaker 1:You're all leaders, and leaders get criticized. We had death threats when we stayed open during COVID. People were so offended on Facebook and social media they threatened us with death. Our phones rang, threatened us, cursing us, filled with rage that we would presume to stay open and not wear our masks and not maintain social distancing. And we all know that was a crock. It's all, and I knew it at the time. Anybody with a brain would know that's all baloney. Yeah, well, every bit of it is baloney. I'm not going to obey baloney. I don't care who says it all right.
Speaker 1:So the condition, see, be strong and very courageous. I mean that the leaders always can is the first one to get criticized and blamed. Look at at Moses. They blamed him daily. It's all your fault. We're out here without any water. It's all your fault. We don't have any cucumbers. We want cucumbers. We want cucumbers. We want how stupid is that? I don't.
Speaker 1:And then you have to feed on the living bread constantly. Then your way will be prosperous, you'll have good success. So feed on the living bread constantly, then your way will be prosperous, you'll have good success. So feeding on the living bread brings success if you will act on it. Remember that when you, as soon as you act on the Word, see, think about what believing means.
Speaker 1:Believing is an action verb. Believing is not mental assent. You don't believe just because you agree with it in your brain tissue. You believe it when you act on it, when you act on the word. That's the definition of faith. When you act like the Bible is true. That's the definition of faith. And as soon as you do, then God takes responsibility for performing it. That's it. All you've got to do is act like it's true and God does. The rest Isn't that powerful.
Speaker 1:That's gotten me through a lot of tough issues, you know, because I'm acting like the Bible is true in the face of something that looks impossible. Well, with man it would be impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible. But then, on the other hand, then all things are possible to him that believe it. All things are possible to him that acteth on the word. All things are possible to him. Amen. That acts like the Bible is true. So it doesn't matter how intimidating this report looks, it doesn't matter how my flesh feels, it doesn't even matter how my carnal mind thinks about this situation. I've just acted like the Bible is true. I just acted on a part of the living bread he gave me, and now God's going to perform it. All I got to do now is praise him, oh hallelujah. So three things now about the doing and the acting.
Speaker 1:Number one operate financially according to God's principles. That means tithe. First of all. Number one tithe. Don't allow yourself not to be a tither. You are a tither. Don't allow yourself not to be a tither, you are a tither. I said you are a tither Because you're not a tither, you're a thief. Read Malachi, chapter 3. If you're not a tither, then what are you? Then? You're a thief because you're stealing the tithe. The tithe is the Lord's. The first tenth is it's His, by definition. You can't change it. It doesn't matter whether you say it's Old Testament. I've had people argue well, it's Old Testament, well, that's the law. Well, that's it's Bible. It was in the garden. If it's in the garden, you can't categorize tithing like that. It's a truth. The first tenth belongs to God. And if you are not a tither, then what are you? Then? You're a thief. There's only two things to do. Now. Sometimes in situations I'm a tither. But I don't have a tithe Because I am broke.
Speaker 1:I've been broke. I had no money and I had no house. I had to live with my sister. I've said this over and over, but we have new people all the time. I know what it's like to be homeless, except homeless on my side.
Speaker 1:Now, I had a home, while my sister provided one for me. We moved in with it for a while and those days I had zero tithe. Because I had what? Zero income. So what did we do? Well, we, you know whenever something I remember a friend of mine came to town and he knew I was out of work and struggling and everything. He used to be my boss in Corpus, successful businessman, used to be an executive at the Woodlands and Bud Reeve, bud and Marilyn came by to see us when we were at my sister's house and visited with us for about an hour, hour and a half, you know, and just kind of encouraged me and all of that.
Speaker 1:And then they left and I went to the powder room, the half bath, to go to the bathroom, and I looked over there and I saw this bill sticking out from underneath one of the decorations, a candle or something, sitting on the on the lavatory and it was a twenty dollar bill all folded up and sitting there. I pull that twenty dollar bill out. I started laughing. They had hid twenty dollars in there. And we went through the house and they, they had hid $300 all over. I don't know how they did it. I don't know when were we when they were going around the house stuffing money everywhere and I said, man, we better find all the money. It was like hunting Easter eggs.
Speaker 1:Gladys and I were laughing. We were so excited, I mean humbled at one. You know, yeah, humbled, but yet you know, you just don't have anything. And they have $300. Hey, I got a $30. I got to give $30 in the next offering. Plus, I got to give an offering over and above. That's the first one I'd been able to do in quite a while. Oh, the joy of being able to give again quite a while. Oh the joy of being able to give again.
Speaker 1:I never stopped being a tither. I just didn't have a tithe to give. So I called him on the phone right away as soon as I could. That's back before we had cell phones, and so it took a while. But I said well, you, rascal, you went and hid a bunch of money all over my house. I want you to know what a blessing it was. We just wept and cried and laughed the whole morning, thank you.
Speaker 1:He said well, how much did you find? I said I found $300. He said, okay, well, you found it all. So be a tither and give over and above the tithe. You know, stretch your faith. Don't get. Don't get in a comfort zone. Don't get in a deal where you're, where you're just budgeting money and you budget tithes and offerings like you do gasoline or electricity or your house payment or your rent or a car payment or something you know. Look this, look, this is serious business. This is the engine by which your success runs is your tithe and your giving. And so you should never get in a comfort zone where you're just kind of, because when you get where you just know that's no big deal, I can give that well, then you're not really generous, then You're not really given by faith, you're just given because you're just kind of on automatic pilot.
Speaker 1:I was in a church one time years ago. We went out to see our family lived out in the hill country and they had visited this church in Kerrville. So we all decided on a Sunday morning to go to that church in Kerrville and it wasn't Lakewood, I can tell you that, but anyway it was tolerable. We went through the service and the service ended and the preacher I don't even know if he was the pastor, I think they had a plurality of elders. I mean, that's a weird, that's not in the Bible, it's pastors. Okay, elder plurality. So in other words, they didn't have a head. You know, anything without a head is a monster. A two-headed, three-headed, four-headed thing is a monster. You know, you have one head and that's the pastor of a church and so anyway, I was way before I knew all these things. It's just something about the church I didn't care that much for. But we went because my family was there. It wasn't their church, it was one they had visited occasionally.
Speaker 1:And so the guy gets up there and he's all over with. He says, oh, but on your way out you might want to just stop by. If you want to give an offering you can throw it in the bucket on your way out. The door Didn't receive an offering in it. It hit me. He didn't receive an offering. He didn't even talk about the tithes and offer. He didn't teach on it. He didn't talk about it. He didn't quote Luke 638. Brother Osteen always quote Luke 638. We all quote Luke 638 every Sunday. You know we're taught about tithing and giving. It's a part of the service and it's just a side issue. And God began to speak to me. He said, yeah, he's cheating his people. He's not teaching them how to maneuver in my kingdom. No wonder the church looked like a dump. Nobody's given into it to take care of the carpet, take care of the seats, take care of the paint. Are you with me now? Jesus is Lord over your finances, so act like he is and let's treat it with the right reverence.
Speaker 1:Number two make decisions, especially with your finances and also your health. You know those are two priorities with God that you prosper and what be in health. I mean, you know navigating right now, as I am in the health care system and all, and I get exposed to all kinds of incompetence and all kinds of I can just tell you it's gone downhill, bad. You better pray If you have to interface at all with the hospital emergency room. I'm not saying that don't to stay away. I'm saying I'm saying you need to pray and get the living word in you.
Speaker 1:Make decisions based on the living word, on the word and the spirit. You know the millionaire I've said this before the millionaire, they've got all this money. People said how did you, how did you amass such wealth? How did you become a millionaire? He said, well, good decisions. Well, how did you learn how to make good decisions? He said, bad decisions. So learn from your mistakes. I mean, if that's not the best way to learn, the best way to learn is just to be a doer of the word. But sometimes we do miss God, sometimes we miss a signal, sometimes we God is leading us in a direction and we and we don't go that direction and we wind up either sick or broke or hurt or whatever financially. Don't be condemned, just you know. Go to the Word.
Speaker 1:Debt can be dangerous. I stay away from people that are dogmatic about not borrowing money. There are preachers like that. I won't mention names, but one that I really love and appreciate a lot, but he has just always been very, very difficult about that and I don't agree with him and I'm not going to mention a name, but I mean I just don't agree. I'm sorry when he starts talking that way, I just tune it out because I can't listen to stuff. It's off in a ditch. When he starts talking that way, I just tune it out because I can't listen to stuff. It's off in a ditch. It's not a sin to borrow money. That's stupid. That's not what the Bible oh, no man, anything except to love him. That's not what that scripture means at all. You're taking that scripture out of its setting. That's not what that means.
Speaker 1:First of all, I like Brother Hagin's idea about debt and Brother Hagin taught, and I listen to Brother Hagin more than this other person and other people. There's others, you know, like people like Dave Ramsey. I like Dave on some things, but he's kind of cuckoo when it comes to borrowing money. He just thinks that nobody should ever borrow money. Well, you're a goofball. I don't believe that and I'm not going to go along with that. And we use him as a resource on certain things, but other things you just have to spit the sticks out. To me this is natural. I want to go with this book.
Speaker 1:So Brother Hagin taught about debt. He said you know, the Jewish idea of debt was that when you owed money, if you were current with your payments, you weren't in debt. You owed nothing. Why? Because you were current, so you're not in debt. So if you have credit card that you're paying on and you pay that credit card payment, then you're really not in debt.
Speaker 1:Now, having said, credit card credit cards are dangerous. So I don't. I don't like credit card debt, and if you've got a big credit card debt, you need to get with with your faith and let's start getting rid of that. Because this interest rate is outrageous. You can get in trouble with certain kinds of debt. We all know that interest rates have climbed. So when you're going to go buy anything, that's major if somebody tells you you can't go into debt, it's a sin to go into debt. So I've heard somebody say no, don't ever just rent, all you have to do is rent. Well, let me ask you something doofus. Did you sign a lease agreement? That's a legal contract that if you don't perform on they can come back on you, just like if you borrowed the money they can come back on you. It's no difference. What's the difference? See, they really don't have a leg to stand on when they start talking about these things. They're just.
Speaker 1:They take a little bit of the Bible and they go beyond what it says. Debt was common in the Bible. So let's go back to the woman whose husband was a prophet, sons of the prophet, and he died and the creditors were come to take her two sons and she said came to Elijah, elisha, elisha, what do I do? Well, what do you want me to do? What have you got in the house? Well, I just got a little pot of oil, but what is that? I mean, they're going to come so. So here's what happened. He was behind, he was in debt, he didn't make his payments.
Speaker 1:It's common in the Bible to have to borrow money. I mean, I don't know. Anybody can go buy a car for $40,000 cash and yet we live in a city that doesn't have a subway. Have you tried going to work on the bus? You're not going to get there. And, and oh well you know, dave says well, buy a beater. Well, a beater breaks down on the side of the freeway and you can die. Dave, are you going to help anybody that dies on the side of the freeway at night when their beater died? I'm sorry, I get aggravated at people that pass themselves off as these experts and they put this teaching out there and they get lots of money. I mean he makes lots of and they get lots of money. I mean he makes lots of money. He makes lots of money and I don't begrudge him, but I mean a lot of.
Speaker 1:It is baloney feathers. I'm here to get you back. Let's get back in the middle of the road. Let's watch how we borrow money. Let's borrow at the best rate we can. Let's not overbuy the car. Let's make sure the car is something that we really can afford. And if you can't afford them or listen, if you can't afford a fixer Mercedes, don't you dare buy a Mercedes, because fixing one is a lot different than buying one.
Speaker 1:It's you, as Donald J Trump says it's huge, huge, kamala, you're fired. That's what I want to hear. You're fired, anyway, kamala, you're fired. Kamala, anyway, what was I saying? Okay, there's good debt and bad debt.
Speaker 1:I made my living on debt. I leveraged other people's money, I borrowed money at one rate and got a higher return and made a profit on the borrowed funds. So when you tell me I'm a sinner, well, I'm sorry. God helped me to borrow the money. I can't even tell the time that God gave me favor to do things, lay out things. I still do it. I refinanced my house a few years ago two and three quarter percent and I borrowed money from my equity at two and three quarter percent and invested it and make an eight and ten percent. One investment made 51 percent annual return that I made on two and three.
Speaker 1:I'm not telling you to do that. Don't do it. If you don't know how, don't do it. But I'm just telling you. That's one example of my life. I talk about a lot of my failures, but you know what? I was a success more than I was a failure. I made a living borrowing money. So when you tell me it's a sin. Well, you really don't know the Bible. The Bible, that's not what the Bible says it can be when you borrow money to fulfill lust. You didn't go to prayer, you didn't feed on the living word and you presumed to buy something that you really can't afford because you could just get into it.
Speaker 1:You know they're making 96 month car loans. Now how would you like a new car with an eight year car loan? See, that's what happens when cars jump way up in value. Cars went way up and interest went way up. So what do they do to sell them? Well, they've got to finance them. What if you do? If you buy a car with an eight year financing, you're going to be upside down the whole time in the loan. You're going to owe more on the car than it's worth. So what's going to happen when it flies apart at six years? What's going to happen? Well, you're going to roll that shortage into the next purchase.
Speaker 1:I know people that are still paying on cars that they were upside down on five, six, seven years ago and they keep rolling the deficit over on top of the next purchase. You know they'll do it for you, but they jack the interest rate up. They get their money. That's why all of them have marble lobbies and big old skyscrapers. They know how to suck all your money out of your account. Are y'all with me? There's good debt and there's bad debt. How do you find that?
Speaker 1:Listen, go to the word and the spirit. Let the Holy ghost guide you. Get your flesh under. Don't just buy every little thing. You're beady eyes, see Amen. Are y'all with me? Now? Same with health. I mean, listen, don't wait till you've got very serious complications affecting your life or you've got to go to bed and can't even get out of bed. Before you go to the doctor, when you've got symptoms that are raging, that interrupt your schedule, it's time to go find out what's wrong. Well, I'm just trusting God. Well, yeah, but you know, faith works with time and sometimes there are things going on in our bodies that need to be addressed today or you're going to have something worse down the road. I'm speaking by experience, personal experience, when you ignore symptoms in your body. So let's let the Holy Ghost govern when we go to the doctor and what we hear when we go to the doctor. We can still believe the Word, all right.
Speaker 1:Finally, number three, be kingdom-minded. With your success, you're going to have success. You're going to have success. You're going to have success in business dealings. You're going to have success in your health and be kingdom minded in that way. In other words, when God heals, you get yourself available to go to work in the kingdom and quit. Quit sitting around on the sidelines. Get involved in something. Get involved in this church. Help us do what we do. I mean, every single thing that we have to do is important.
Speaker 1:Boy, last Sunday we had a great, great time. We had Hallelujah Day. There was all kind of stuff going on. Man, I mean, it took a lot of people to put that on. So if you saw that, know that these kind of things need lots and lots of people to get involved and help us put them on, because it's hard for the staff to do all of the work it takes to put one of those on. So keep thinking about be kingdom minded with your success as far as your health is concerned, as far as your money is concerned, see yourself as a distributor, see yourself as a supply to the harvest needs and, as you feed consistently on the living bread, it will make you a vessel of honor fit for the master's use. Come on, lift your hands and receive today, glory to God, the living bread. Did you get anything out of this series today? Praise God, hallelujah.