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
Persevering Through Life's Storms
Have you ever felt like you're in the middle of a storm with no clear path forward? This powerful message reveals how to navigate life's fiercest tempests while staying on course to reach your divine appointments.
Drawing from the Apostle Paul's harrowing shipwreck experience in Acts 27, we discover that 2025 is prophetically marked as "the year of milestones" - but reaching those milestones requires perseverance through inevitable storms. The enemy is determined to prevent you from reaching your God-ordained destinations, but you've been equipped with everything needed to weather any storm.
Just pause a moment and let's just give the Lord a word of thanks for tonight's, for the word tonight, father. Thank you, father, first of all for who you are, lord, and not just who you are, but who we are in you, in Christ. Father, thank you for your goodness, your kindness, your grace, your mercy. Thank you, lord, that you so loved us, that you gave Lord heaven's most prized possession. Lord, we didn't earn your love, we didn't earn redemption. You gave Lord heaven's most prized possession. Lord, we didn't earn your love, we didn't earn redemption. You gave it because you loved us. And so, Father, tonight, as we come to partake of the word, as we come to receive Father, let I just get out of the way, I just remove myself from the equation and I say Holy Spirit, have your way tonight, speak to us, speak through us. Father, let not one word and the intention of the word, lord, let it not fall on deaf ears or let it not be missed tonight. Father, thank you for this divine appointment and we give you the praise in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Am I the only one that's just out of my mind excited about this particular time that we're in? Anybody else excited about this? Amen, I was thinking about that earlier today. You know we could have lived in any other time in history, but God reserved us for this time, for this time. Paul had his day, john had his day, all of the others that have gone before us had their day. But now it's our time. And I don't know about you, but I smell a setup. Can I just say that You've been called into the kingdom for such a time as this, and God didn't just call you in just to have you be a part of what he's doing. He didn't just call you in just to be a part of the kingdom. He called you in just to have you be a part of what he's doing. He didn't just call you in just to be a part of the kingdom. He called you in to help impact, make an impact to do something. Amen. He's called you to this local church. I don't know about you, but I'm glad to be part of a church that's doing something. Amen. I'm glad to be a part of a church and to have a pastor that loves you enough to tell you the truth. He's not going to sugarcoat the word, he's not willing to compromise the word, but he's going to tell you the truth. He's going to look over, look after us as the shepherd should, and he's going to tell you the word. I love that. I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful to be a part of a team and a staff. You know, what you see on Sunday is what we get during the week. Amen, amen. And so I'm excited to be a part of the move of God, a part to be a part of God's family, excited to be a part of Glorious Way Church, and I'm excited about tonight.
Speaker 1:A series of things have occurred in the last few days of months that have just, I believe, got us here to tonight, and actually even just this morning. You know, the first January 5th pastor shared a word that the Lord gave him concerning 2025. And he said that 2025 was going to be the year of milestones. How many of you grabbed that for yourself? It wasn't just a word for the corporate body, but it was also, I believe, for for for us individually, and I said I'll take that. I received that in jesus name, amen. And then, not only did he say that, but he also said in that same prophetic word, that this was going to be a year of grace upon grace, that we were going to have an abundance of god's grace. How many of you need an abundance of God's grace? Amen.
Speaker 1:And so not only did he say that, but then he began to teach along the same lines and talking about milestones. And I tell you, I've just been thinking about milestones. My wife bless her heart. I walked into our kitchen one morning shortly after that message and we have this little chef that stands on the on this, on the counter, with a little whiteboard, and usually what she puts there is what's for dinner. Well, that has been vacated. And now, on the little chef in the kitchen, it has 2025, the year of milestones, amen, amen. So even the chef in my kitchen believes that 2025 is going to be a year of milestones, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:And so, as I begin to just meditate on that and just begin to receive all of the teaching, I tell you what if you've missed one message that has been taught since the beginning of the year, I want to encourage you to go back and listen. Go back, you can access it via podcast, you can access it via the site, because I tell you what pastor has been putting the meat on the table. Pastor, the pastoral team, they've been bringing it, they've been putting the meat on the table. So I want to encourage you to go back and to listen to the messages. Recently, pastor's been teaching on the anointing within, the anointing upon. And then this morning, pastor Jay taught on fulfilling God's plan for your life, in other words, following the path of God's plan for your life. In other words, walking down the path following the path of God's plan for your life.
Speaker 1:And then, right after that, this morning, sister Catherine gave a word and, my goodness, I was sitting there and what you don't know is yesterday I was sitting at home on the sofa and was just kind of had the Bible open and was reading and was thinking about okay, you know, here's a topic. And I think, okay, holy Ghost, I'm going to go along this line. And so I'm preparing for tomorrow, for this evening, and all of a sudden I hear something that totally changes the direction that I was planning to go. How many of you love it when the Holy Spirit hijacks your situation or your day? And so the Holy Spirit totally hijacked my plans for tonight.
Speaker 1:But I want to first go back and share that prophetic. How many of you were not here this morning? Maybe? How many was everybody? Ok, we got a couple that was not here. Pastor James is not here. We know where you were, brother, you were taking care of kingdom business. But I want to go back and reread that word, because there was so much to that. And I sit there just in awe Now.
Speaker 1:This was on the heels of a message that Pastor Jay had preached, and then, all of a sudden, sister Catherine gets up and gives this word and I'm like OK, lord, now I understand why you changed what you wanted me to say. And so this is the word that she gave. She said do not fear. Do not fear, says the Lord, for there is turbulence ahead, the storms that you will see. I am in the midst and I will give you peace and I will give you rest. It takes prayer to walk the rest of the way, says God. Be diligent in this area, for I am answering the prayers of my people. And just because it looks like turbulence doesn't mean that I'm not right there in the midst of the storm and I will give you peace and I will give you rest. And she goes on to finish it up by saying do, but do not be deceived, because I am with you, no matter what it looks like. No matter what it will, no matter what takes place, I will always give you the victory, says the Lord, amen, amen. I will always give you the victory, says the Lord, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:And so I just grabbed a hold of that and I thought you know, this is the year 2025, the year of milestones, and I'm expecting some great milestones. I'm expecting to advance for the kingdom of God and to see an advancement in my own life and in my walk with God, the body of Christ. I'm expecting to see advancements like I've not ever seen before. But we also have an enemy, and, just as I believe God is bound and determined for us to reach the milestones, not millstones Come on now. God's not about to put a millstone on us. He said not a millstone, he said a milestone. And so, just as I believe our heavenly father is determined for us to reach those milestones, we have an enemy that's determined for us to not reach the milestones. The word tells us that we are not to that. We are to be sober and vigilant concerning the enemy. One translation says concerning that, in the devil, that enemy of yours who walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And so if God wants us to advance and wants us to reach milestones, then we understand the devil's job. And he's just doing his job, he's just being who he is right Now. Look, I'm not giving him credit, I'm just telling you who I'm just talking about, who he is. Ok, his job is to make sure that we don't reach the milestones, and so this morning, as Sister Catherine gave that word, it just totally set us up for where we are tonight. And so tonight I want to talk to you about persevering through the storms of life and avoiding shipwreck. Let me say that again Persevering through the storms of life and avoiding shipwreck.
Speaker 1:Now, in the book of Acts, in chapter 27, some of you, or most of you, may even know the story there's an account of the apostle Paul, and he gives an account of an incident that occurred on a ship. As he was prepared, he was on the ship, he had a destination. Actually, I like to look at it this way Paul had an appointment with a milestone. He had an appointment to see Caesar. He had an appointment to go before Caesar, and I believe not only was it an important appointment to plead his case, now he'd been through two years of being in prison. They'd been trying to kill him. The Jews didn't like the message that he was preaching, some of the Gentiles didn't like it, and so they wanted to just shut Paul up. And so Paul had been in prison and so he was being handed off and handed off, and handed off, and finally he said I'm going to appeal to Caesar. And so he's ready to go see Caesar. He's on this ship. The first boat he got on didn't get very far. So they bring him, they put him on another boat, and so he's on this boat. And it doesn't take long that the minute Paul gets on that boat, he begins to realize that some things are not there, it's not going to be, it's not going to be smooth sailing. Anybody ever been on the road down the way headed towards something God's called you to do, only to realize it's not always smooth sailing? Amen.
Speaker 1:And so we pick up in Acts, chapter, chapter 27. And I'm going to start at verse 10. And I just want to go through this scripture. There is so much here for us to glean from, as Paul shares with us all of the things that I believe, not only just the revelation, but the things that occurred and how those things. So much can parallel with our lives today and our walk today. How many of you been in a storm, how many of you have experienced storms? And they've all been different levels. Amen, not just a rainstorm, but the storms of life come and you know, if you live long enough, we're all going to have them.
Speaker 1:Jesus said in this life you will have tribulations. One translation says in this life you will have tests or trials. I like to look at it this way in this life you will have tested trials. I like to look at it this way In this life you'll have opportunities. But what you do with the opportunity determines the outcome. You know, just like Joseph, when he went to prison, joseph had two options he could either praise and be raised, or complain and remain. And so you affect or you impact your outcome.
Speaker 1:And so we see that that Paul gets on this ship and, picking up at verse let's see where I'm at verse 10. Let's look at verse 10. Tells about how he'd been on the ship. He gets on the boat, talks about all the things that occurred. And so most of what I'm going to be reading from tonight is from the New Living Translation and I'll kind of go back and forth between the New Living Translation or the New King James and you'll know the difference between the translations.
Speaker 1:But over in verse 10 of chapter 27,. Paul's on the ship and he immediately says something. And I'm reading from the Kings, the New King James. He says after he hears about the situation and they've decided that they're going to go ahead and set sail, paul in verse 10 says to them and he says, sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only to the lading but also to our will be with hurt and much damage not only to the lading and ship but also with our lives. In other words, paul is saying I believe that there is trouble ahead if we go on. I see shipwreck, I see lost Chicago and I see danger to our lives.
Speaker 1:Now, one of the things that I saw immediately there with the apostle Paul, as he was speaking to those people on the ship, was this Paul recognized, he perceived something. You know, if we're going to reach the milestones that God has for us and avoid those and persevere in the storms of life and the shipwreck and avoid the shipwreck, we're going to have to perceive some things. We're going to have to allow the Holy Spirit. Paul had a holy helper. He had a holy helper, and a holy helper in him said Paul, this ain't good, this is not going to be good, this is not going to be smooth sailing, this is not going to be a good, a good, a good, a good ride. And he even told the people on the ship I perceive that there's going to be a harm, great harm. That's going to be damage to the ship. There's going to be. It may be even loss of life. He perceived Paul had a holy helper, you have a holy helper. Thank God for the holy helper. Thank God for the Holy Ghost. Listen, the Holy Ghost. You know what was that commercial? Don't leave home without it. Was it American Express? Okay, the Holy Ghost, don't leave home without it.
Speaker 1:You know, I remember years ago when Flora and I lived in North Texas and she worked for this organization and she came home a series of days just so frustrated about work. And you know, I'm one of those guys. Now, when you tell me something, I'm going to ask a question. You want me to fix it or do you want me to listen? I had to learn to do that, husbands. It helps if you learn to communicate, learn the art of communicating. Do you want me to fix the problem or do you want me to just listen? Okay, and so you know, I'm one of those guys. Look, if you tell me something, I'm going to fix it. Now I'm going to go cut somebody. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding, I'm saved, but don't try me. But I'm going to try to do something, okay, because I don't want to see my wife frustrated.
Speaker 1:And so she came home a couple of days and just frustrated, just frustrated, just frustrated. And finally I said, lord, what is this? How can I help in this situation? And, lord, I had a dream that night. And in the dream the next morning, flora, her usual routine.
Speaker 1:She walks out to the car, she gets in the car and I noticed that there was a being, someone standing on the passenger side of the front side of the car with his briefcase. Flora gets in the car, she starts to carve, she backs off, she drives away. He's still standing there. Series of days, day, same thing. She gets in the car, he's standing there with his briefcase. He's wanting to go to work with her. She gets in the car, he doesn't get in the car, she leaves.
Speaker 1:And finally, I said lord, where does this hit the holy ghost? She needs to invite the holy spirit to go to work with her. He'll show her how to deal with it. He'll show her how to resolve. He'll show he'll. The holy Spirit will show you. And if we are going to persevere during the storms of life, you have got to rely on your holy helper. You've got to rely on him. He's there, he's waiting for you. He's not going to force himself on you. But the minute you say holy, go sick him, he's all over it. He's all over it. Paul had a holy helper. You have a holy helper. Listen to the holy spirit. He wants to warn you of things to come. Just like he warned paul, he'll warn you. Amen.
Speaker 1:Verse 11. In verse 11, we see that not only did paul warn them, but the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship's captains and the owner than he did Paul, in other words, the centurion, the guy that the officer didn't pay Paul much mind. You know it didn't matter that Paul said listen, danger, danger, danger, danger, danger. No, he was more interested in following the edict and the directions of the ship owners and the people that own the ship. Nevertheless verse 12, it goes on to say and because that the haven was not the area that they wanted to stay in, was not set for the season, they wanted to go ahead. And so it goes on to say that in verse 12, in the more let's see that it couldn't accommodate them, and then that they were going to go to another place. And because that was more accommodating. In other words, they allowed the majority to speak louder than reason. They allowed others to speak over what Paul was trying to say. The majority advised the ship captains. The majority advised them well, we should go ahead and go. We think you should go ahead and do this. And so they went ahead and went. And.
Speaker 1:And so we need to make sure that if we're going to walk through and persevere in the storms of life, we, first of all, we need to make sure that we're not persuaded or influenced by those to make wrong decisions. In other words, don't buy the lie. If it's bad, it's bad. If you get a check in your spirit, you know there's a reason the check engine light is on your car. Anybody know what I'm talking about. There's a reason that check engine light is there. When that check engine light comes on it says something is wrong. Now you can do like my daughter does. She keeps driving and then she calls and says Dad, dad, dad, and I go, what, what, what? My check engine light's on. Well, how long has it been on, rachel? Oh, about a week A week. Well, I don't know anything about cars, okay, but you know enough, sweetheart, that if the check engine light comes on, you need to check it. In other words, don't be persuaded or influenced to make wrong decisions.
Speaker 1:Don't listen to the majority. Everyone else will stand. Everyone else is standing there. Everyone else says I should do this. No, listen to the Holy Ghost. Listen to the Holy Ghost. Listen to the Holy Ghost. Listen to your holy helper.
Speaker 1:Verse 13. When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it, so they pulled up anchor and sailed close to Crete. Now listen, here's something that we need to be wise about, and that's this the devil's always going to paint a picture that it's not as bad. It's really not as bad as it seems. Now, that's this the devil's always gonna paint a picture that it's not as bad. It's really not as bad as the same. Now, that's our faith declaration, but that's the devil's job to make you think it's not as bad. Actually, he doesn't even want you to make that declaration. He wants you to think, he wants you to let your guard down. He wants you to be so enamored and so confident in your own ability, in your own might, that you just gonna do what you want to do. And so don't allow the. Let's see.
Speaker 1:We read you guys are looking at the new King James. Put the New Living translation up, if you would. So the wind blew, they thought it was soft. When the south wind blew softly, they thought it was okay to go. They thought it was okay to go. Don't rely on what it appears. Don't rely on it looks okay. If you've heard it's not okay, then it's not okay. Amen, amen.
Speaker 1:What happens when you go against what the Holy Spirit does? What does that say to the Holy Spirit? I don't trust you, I don't need you, I know better than you. That's not the place you want to be. Because the Holy Spirit says okay, trust your Holy Helper. Jump down to verse 18.
Speaker 1:The next day, they've taken off, they're sailing. They've lifted up anchor, they're sailing. The next day, as Galeforce wins to continue to batter the ship. And well, actually, let me go up a little bit here, verse 13. Let's see the ship. And well, actually, let me go up a little bit here, verse 13. I see verse 15. Did I get out of order here something? Blues closing sales? Oh, verse 14.
Speaker 1:The minute they get out, sailing, the weather abruptly, a wind of typhoon strength called a nor'easter. Now, if you understand how serious and how strong a nor'easter is, that's a pretty serious storm. Now, just the day before, everything looked okay. Just the day before, everything looked good. We got our guards down, okay, everything's all right, we really can go, we really can make this trip. But the very next day the storm comes.
Speaker 1:And when the storm came, verse 15 it says the sailors couldn't turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale. In other words, they couldn't fight it, they had to just give into it and let it run its course. Listen, the minute the enemy gets you out there in the middle of it, there's no turning around. There's no well, I shouldn't say there's no turning around. There's no immediate, easy way to get out of it and turn it around. His job is to get you out so far, out so untethered, in an unsafe environment. Why? Because he wants to do whatever he can do.
Speaker 1:Think about Paul's mission. Wants to do whatever he can do. Think about Paul's mission. Why was Paul on the ship to begin with? Paul had a divine appointment. Paul had a milestone to reach and the devil's job, through that storm, was to make sure that Paul didn't reach that milestone. Now Paul was on the ship and in that situation, not through his own actions. Now, that'll preach right there. Sometimes you find yourself in a storm and it's not because of your own actions, but it's because of somebody else's actions. Well, what you're going to do, ride it out, believe God, trust God and he'll see through it, as we'll see as we continue to look here at Paul.
Speaker 1:And so, going on to verse 18, as, as the winds continued into batter the ship, verse 18 talks about how the things were so bad. The crew starts throwing things over. On the next day, the second day, the wind was so bad that they start throwing things over. Verse 18,. The gale force winds continued to batter the ship. The crew began throwing the cargo overboard. Now, as I looked at that, here's something. And then go on to verse 19. And then, the following day, they took even some of the ship's gear, in other words, some of the ship's tackle and some of the things that were important to operation of the ship. They threw it overboard. Now, as I looked at that and I thought about okay, what are they doing? What was going on here? Now here's what that represents.
Speaker 1:When you find yourself in the middle of the storm, there are times you have to lighten the load. Lighten the load Oftentimes, when you find yourself in a storm, you're going to find that you're weighted down with things and it's time to lighten the load. Well, what do you mean by that, pastor Joseph? That means get rid of the things that are weighing you down. Take things off. You know, oftentimes many of you are notorious for picking up things that don't belong to you, carrying things, in other words, carrying the weight of things that aren't yours.
Speaker 1:You know, I've developed a saying in my own walk the minute I recognize that the enemy is trying to put something on me or give me something, a concern, that doesn't mean we're not to be concerned about people, but the minute I realize that the enemy's trying to give me something that's not mine, I say not mine, return the sender. I've got enough to do already. I don't need that return the sender. The minute you recognize that the enemy's trying to put something on you, trying to give something to you that's not yours, you have a right to reject it. You have a right to say I don't want that return to sender. So they were lightening the load and then going on down to verse 20.
Speaker 1:Verse 20 says that the that when neither storm, neither sun nor stars in many days appeared and no small temptations I'm reading from the New King James here lay on us, all hope that we would be saved was taken away. Here's what that represents. Even in the darkest times, in the midst of the storm Anybody ever been in a storm that you didn't have dark times? Even in the darkest times, there's hope. Can I say that again? Even if the sun doesn't shine, there's hope. Even when it's dark and it doesn't look like it's going to change, turn around, there's hope. And not only is there hope but there's help. And so it didn't matter that the sun didn't shine and no small temptations. In other words, the storm didn't let up, even though it still seemed like the darkest hour. And it seems like the storm wouldn't let up. There's hope. Now it says here that they finally got to the place, that they were ready to give up, and I'm saying you don't let up. There's hope Now. It says here that they finally got to the place, that they were ready to give up, and I'm saying you don't give up. This is speaking to someone right now Don't lose hope.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter what you're going through, the key word there being going through. I remember Ron Canole once said something and I loved it and I've kind of borrowed it from time to time. He said if you catch hail, don't hold it, and if you're going through it, don't stop. Amen, don't lose hope. No matter how dark, even if the storm appears to not be letting up, don't lose hope. Why? Because you have help. Amen, and he's just as close as a prayer. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now. Is that saved just for salvation for your eternity? No, I believe it means saving you in a bad situation. He'll save you. He'll save you, amen. So don't lose hope Now. Verse 21,. Real interesting. It says now, but after a long abstinence. Again, I'm still reading from the King James here.
Speaker 1:Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said sirs, you should have hearkened to me and not have loosened those not had left creed. In other words, now Paul had to get in. I told you. I told you, you know, and the devil's notorious for I told you. I told you that wasn't going to work. I told you you wasn't going to reach that milestone. I told you that kid wasn't going to come in. I told you that financial breakthrough wasn't going to happen. Paul said I told you.
Speaker 1:But then he went on and did something else. He said you should have listened to me and we could have avoided all of this damage and this loss and this harm. But take courage, none of you will lose your lives. He said be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you. But this ship, in other words, the ship's going to get. The ship's gone, it's toast, but God's going to save you.
Speaker 1:You know, I started making declarations every time I get on an airplane and that is this father. I thank you that these people are going to receive safe passage today because I'm on this plane. You know why I say that? Because this word says and he shall give his angels charge over you, and because these angels have charge over me. They have charge over that plane.
Speaker 1:Now, I haven't always been one to confess like that. I remember I used to watch every horror plane crash movie there was, and then I'd get up the next day to get on the plane and the devil would beat me up. I'd be scared to death, you know, I'd be white knuckling. Not land the plane, I take the plane up. I land the plane, I take the plane up. If I let the whole speed check me said look, why are you putting that junk in? You can't believe me if you're allowing that to happen. So I stopped doing that. I stopped doing that. But I take it. I take the take the authority that's been given to me and so I speak over that plane.
Speaker 1:I was on a plane one day with a co-worker years ago and she said oh, I'm so scared. You know what if this plane goes down? I said plane goes down, I go up. Where are you going? Amen, amen. Do you have a reservation in the smoking section or the non-smoking section? Amen, do you have a reservation in the smoking section or the non-smoking section?
Speaker 1:Amen, we don't have to be afraid. We don't have to be afraid like the world does. We don't have to allow the world to hold us hostage with what's going on there. Yeah, we're in it, but not of it. We have a Psalm 91 covenant, and because we have a Psalm 91 covenant, we're exempt from the things of this world, we're exempt from the trouble. It says only with your eyes shall you see the reward of the wicked, but it shall what Not come near you, amen. So we have to watch what we say, we have to stand on the word. And so he said I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of life or any man's life among you, but just the ship. Verse 23,. He goes on to make a confession.
Speaker 1:I got the inside news here. Paul says for there stood by me this night the angel of God whose I am and whom I serve. Right there, my daddy told me Everything's going to be all right. Paul had more than a feeling. He had a promise. You know, we sang that song. I got a feeling. No, I got a promise. You can have your feeling, but I'm gonna stick with the promise. Come on now, you can have the feeling, I'll keep the promise. He said the angel stood by me. And he said Paul, fear not, thou must be brought before season.
Speaker 1:Now, this was a word that Paul had received back in the 23rd chapter of Acts, in verse 11, when Paul was going through it and they were trying to kill him, and the Lord sent a word to him and said Paul, don't worry about it, I got you. I got you, don't worry about it. And so he was just reminding them. The Lord told me it's going to be okay. I have a divine, I have a milestone. Next time you find yourself dealing with something, just remind that situation. Listen, situation. I have a milestone to reach and you are standing in the way of me reaching my milestone, and somebody's gonna have to leave, and it's not gonna be me. Something's gonna have to give, and it's not gonna be me. I'm standing my ground and, as a blood-bought child of god, you have the right to stand your ground. So he goes on in verse 25. So take courage. Where I believe God, it will be just as he said. Believe in God, that will be just as he said.
Speaker 1:Now I missed an important point here. Let's go back to verse 21. This was after they had lightened the load. They'd thrown some things overboard and all of a sudden, paul realized that nobody had eaten and he said eat. Now. Here's the point. Here, it is important that you keep up your strength.
Speaker 1:When you are going through a difficult time, when you're going through a storm of life, you need to eat, and not just your physical strength, but you need to keep your spiritual strength up. You need to feed your physical body. Now, okay, I'm going to get in somebody's business, I'm going to meddle here. I'm going to tell you right now I'm doing it. When you are going through something that is trying to bring extra stress, it is important that you eat properly. Ok, that means don't go and pig out on McDonald's. Ok, pastor Joseph, you stop preaching and you start meddling. No, this is important, folks, because the enemy will take every opportunity. If he can't attack you here, he'll attack you there, and so our bodies are the temple of the holy ghost. I remember years ago, the holy spirit checked me and he said if your body was a hotel, will it be a five star or no star hotel? How are the accommodations? Wow, it's important that we take care of our physical bodies just as we take care of our spiritual bodies. Okay, you can't be victorious if you're not eating.
Speaker 1:Feeding on the word. So Paul says eat. It's important you keep your strength up. In other words, feed daily. On the word feed daily, all right, so let's keep going. Let's go to verse 20,. Let's keep going. Let's go to verse 20. Let's see first 25. He encourages him take courage, because he's believing God that it will be as he said. But we will be shipwrecked on an island. And so they keep on.
Speaker 1:And so verse 27 about midnight on the fourth night of the storm, as they were being driven across the sea, the sailors, since land was near, and so they did a sounding. In other words, they were testing to see how deep the death was. They were testing to see how deep things were. How far down could they go? How deep was it? How far down? How could we? Uh, I've got a page missing here how, how, how, uh, how safe was it to drop anchors? And then it goes on. At the lower of the, the bottom part of verse 29, something goes on here that's really important. They caught mine. I thought, hmm, I need to make sure that I capture that.
Speaker 1:And so they dropped four anchors. Anybody ever read that before? Now? James is a nautical guy and he could probably speak to that about what the four echoes represent, but I believe the four anchors represented four things. First of all, the four anchors represented the promise of God, the presence of God, the prominidence of God and the performance of God. Okay, why do you say that, pastor Joseph? Where was the promise of God? Okay, the promise of God came when God told Paul you're going to stand before Caesar and everybody on the ship is going to have safe passage because of you. The providence of God was that, even though everything was going to have safe passage before because of you, the providence of god was that, even though everything was going to be damaged, god was still being faithful. He was faithful to paul and everybody on the ship saw god's faithfulness to paul.
Speaker 1:The, the performance of god. What was the other one? I missed the, the, the promise, the presence of god. God was with him. That was the other. The presence, the presence of God. God was with him. That was the other one. The presence of God. God was with him, he was with him. He sent an angel and said Paul, I know this looks bad, but you have a promise. God's presence was there.
Speaker 1:And then the last thing if you go all the way down to verse 44, was the performance of God. God did what he said he was going to do. God did what Paul said. In other words, god fulfilled what Paul had spoken. And you get to the last verse of that chapter. It talks about how they safely made it to shore not some of them, but all of them. But in between that, a couple of things happened that I want to make sure that we don't miss. Yeah, those four anchors were the presence of God, the promise of God, the providence of God and the performance of God, the presence of God being the statement made in verse 23. The promise of God being what Paul spoke in verse 24 and 25. The providence of God, again going back to verse 24. And then the strong anchor of the promise, the performance of God, was verse 44. And so let's go back to verse 25, and I kind of got out of order here and I apologize for that, but verse 25, as Paul told him to take courage, after he told him don't worry, take courage.
Speaker 1:I believe, god, it will be as it was told unto me. There are times when you're dealing with the storms of life that you're going to have to tell the storm. I believe, god, it will be as it was told unto me. And then, after you say it, you have to act like you believe it. In other words, you got a faith it until you make it.
Speaker 1:Can I say that again, after you've made the declaration you've resolved in your heart I'm gonna get through this, I'm gonna trust god, I'm gonna believe god. Then you've got to faith it, you've got to walk in faith through it. Faith it until you make it. Not fake it, but faith it, faith it. Faith says it, faith says one. I'm going to call the things that be, not as though they were. I'm going to resist the devil. I'm going to resist the temptation to give up. I'm going to resist discouragement. I'm going to resist any and everything that the devil tries to send to me or put on me. It's not mine. I'm going to return it to sender. I'm not taking it. I'm going to return it to sender. I'm not taking it. I'm going to stay in faith.
Speaker 1:Then we talked about the anchors. Okay, now, right after they set the sound in and they dropped the four anchors something real interesting I thought happened In verse 30, right after they dropped the anchors we see Paul's account in a couple of different translations, where a couple of the sailors went to the front of the boat where the lifeboats were, and they were ready to jump ship. Now Paul had already received the promise that everybody on the ship was going to receive safe passage, that their lives were going to be spared, safe passage, that their lives were going to be spared. But somebody got the bright idea. Well, we've got the anchors dropped and it appears that the water may be shallow enough that maybe we could escape on the lifeboats. So they were ready to lower the lifeboats to get out. And Paul said sirs, verse 30, they tried to abandon ship. They lowered the lifeboats as though they were going to put out anchors on the front of the ship. So they were actually doing it on the pretense. But paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers you will die. He said to the centurion and to the soldiers except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved.
Speaker 1:Now that's an important point there. When you're going through the storms of life and you're trying to avoid shipwreck, if you don't stay put, don't run over here, don't run over there and especially, stay in your local church. Got a preacher right there, stay put. Now the first thing the enemy's going to try to do is get you to jump ship. Get off, get off, get off. You don't need to be around those people.
Speaker 1:You know what, as a matter of fact, the devil? He loves to make you think. He loves to isolate and separate. He loves to get you to think you're the only one with that problem. And if you tell anybody about that problem, they're going to judge you, they're going to condemn you. They're not going to understand your situation. Anybody know what I'm talking about why? Because he wants you to jump ship. Don't jump ship, stay in the boat. But you don't understand.
Speaker 1:Pastor Joseph, it's rough in here. Israel, yeah, I know it's rough, but where did the promise come? What did God say? He's not a man that he should lie, not the son of man that he and you know. When you are in the midst of the storm, it's really hard to see and to remember. Oh, on the other side of this is the milestone. On the other side of this is a promotion. Did you know that there's no testimony without a test? No test, no money? And usually some of your biggest testimonies come on the heels of some of your biggest challenges? I know that's the way it's been in our lives. I mean just the first of the year. Last year we ended the year with Dr Guy Paye and his wife here, and his word was acceleration, restoration and speed. That was the word, and boy, we were ready to go gangbusters.
Speaker 1:And so, a few weeks later, flora shows up here at church and she says hey, I couldn't read the street signs. Wait what? We're standing right here in church Praise the Lord. She said, hey, I couldn't read the street signs. What? You couldn't read the street signs. What's up with that? Well, we went and got it checked out. We found out she had a macular hole in her left eye. I'd never heard of that. I had to Google it to find out. What on earth is that? What does that mean? It's serious. It can be real serious. If you don't act on it, you can lose your eyesight. It's serious.
Speaker 1:And so, first of all, that's not ours. We don't receive that. Send that return the sender of all. That's not ours. We, we don't receive that. Send that, return the sender, send it back. Only with your eye. Shall you see? Okay, the good eye. No, both eyes, both good eyes, only with your eyes. So you see.
Speaker 1:And so we said no, no, no, no, no. Well, immediately, devil says well, you know she's gonna have to um, do this and she's gonna have to do that and and and I saw you know florida already said the first year was going to be to do this and she's going to have to do that. And I saw you know Florida already said the first of the year was going to be very busy, lots going on, and I knew we didn't have time for that. There comes a time in your walk when you have to stand when the enemy is trying to attack. You have to stand up and tell hell no, and all his demons and all of his hired help tell him no, no, no. The doctor said it's going to take this long. No, the doctor said maybe she'll get to this place. No, no.
Speaker 1:Now it would have been really easy for me to get so engrossed in that that I told her okay, church, I can't be at church. I got to be at home. You know, I got to take care of my wife. Well, yeah, I have a responsibility as a husband to take care of her. But you know what I was believing? God, god, now listen, you know we got too much going on. We don't have time for this. We're going to believe you.
Speaker 1:So, long story short, and you've heard the testimony we went from eight weeks almost 10 weeks of being faced, down to four weeks. We just had an eye appointment last Friday. Hole is completely closed. I say this it's getting better and better. Every time we go it's better and better, better and better. He was really happy with the progress. Now, four weeks, which should have been eight weeks, he was already saying okay, you can, can drive, you can do all of the things as he told. No driving, no cooking, no, none of this stuff. And I'm like, oh man, you know, milestone, more like a millstone.
Speaker 1:It was trying to be, but but no, and it was easy. It was really easy to jump ship, to put God's business on hold to take care of this business. Let me tell you something when you get busy taking care of God's business, he always takes care of yours. Can I say that again? When you get busy taking care of God's business, in other words, when you remain steadfast and faithful, if you're called to an area to serve in this church, you know there were times early on when I was involved in ministry. I was there when it was easy. I was there when it was impossible. I was there when it was difficult. Why I was there? Because I wanted to stay faithful, and not ever once did God not meet me right there. When you get busy taking care of God's business, god will always take care of yours. And so he told him don't jump ship, stay on the boat. And then, going on to verse 33, again, they hadn't eaten. Paul again encourages them eat. You need strength.
Speaker 1:Now, one of the things that stood out to me when I was reading that was this Paul saw the importance of ministry when you're going through things. There are lots of ministry opportunities, but sometimes we get so engrossed in our own situation we totally miss the opportunities. Listen, your trouble is not for you. Oh, did I say that your trouble is not for you? Well, what do you mean? What do you mean? That's not for me. I'm the one going through it, I'm the one hurt, I'm the one feeling bad, I'm the one down, I'm the one. It's not for you. Why am I saying that? How many folks know you're a believer? Okay, so you have one of two choices.
Speaker 1:It can either be the testimony that God wants you to be and the witness that God wants that to be. God doesn't waste an opportunity. He'll use every opportunity to draw people to him. And if you will cooperate with him in the test, in the storm, ministering to him, telling him to eat, encouraging him to have hope, don't lose hope. Be encouraged. God is faithful and it will be as it was told to me. In other words, be the cheerleader, rah, rah. If you will do that in the midst of the storm, watch god bring you through and see, not only will he bring you through if you get to the end of this and go to the beginning of the other chapter, verse, chapter 28.
Speaker 1:When they got to that, when they got to land, and the local natives there were very kind to them after they seen, oh you, you suffered this great, this great, this great thing. And so there it's raining, they built the fire. So Paul's out picking up sticks and he reaches down to pick up a stick and the scripture says that a viper latched on to his hand. Now the locals thought, okay, this is going to be interesting. We probably got entertainment here. Martha, get the popcorn ready, it's going to be for entertainment. Surely he was a murderer and though he didn't die on the ship and in the storm and in the damage. He's going to die now. So we might as well just get ready and watch it. But what did Paul do? The scripture says he shook it off. He shook it off. He shook it off why? Because just on the other side of that milestone was his appointment with Caesar. He was just one step closer to his appointment with Caesar, the. He was just one step closer to his appointment with Caesar.
Speaker 1:The storm gets you closer to the milestone. Wow, that's a whole different perspective. No, it's not going to now. It will take you further away from the milestone, if you allow it or you can allow it to get you closer to it. You get to decide. I used to tell people all the time. Every day there's an election held. When you get up and your feet hit the ground, every alarm and hail ought to go off. They're up, they're up, they're up, they're up, they're up, they're up. The believers are up. They're up, they're up, they're up. Every day there's an election held. God votes for you. Satan votes against you. You get to cast a deciding vote. Persevere through the storm, avoid the shipwreck. Don't jump ship. Don't lose hope. Faith it until you make it that milestone that God has set you up for that great thing. That next great thing that God has called you to is certainly greater and better, and it's worth it, amen.