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 Great Crossover (Part 2) | Pastor John Greiner
“The Great Crossover (Part 2)” continues the message of moving boldly into new territory, using Israel’s crossing of the Jordan in Joshua 3 as a powerful illustration. It teaches that the transition into God’s promises requires supernatural power, fresh anointing, and spiritual obedience. Believers are called to follow the glory of God, overcome fear of the unknown, and become a supply for the end-time harvest—not just with money, but with time, obedience, and spiritual sensitivity. The message emphasizes being filled with the Holy Spirit, praying in tongues, and being led by God’s voice. Through personal surrender, spiritual discipline, and trust in divine strategy, each believer can cross into their inheritance with boldness, leaving behind old patterns and stepping fully into God’s plan.
Let's lift our Bibles, wave them around, make Jesus glad and the devil mad. Say this together, say Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing me to live in this end of the age, the compression of the ages, where Bible prophecy is being fulfilled almost on a daily basis. Lord, I'm so humbled by that, knowing that I'm part of something greater than myself, and I believe I've received today revelation of the word of God that will build my faith and it will develop my spirit so I can bring forth fruit for your glory. In Jesus name, Amen, praise God.
Speaker 1:Let's turn in our Bibles to the book of Joshua, and I want to continue a series of messages that I began last week on crossing over. It's called the Great Crossover. And let's look at Joshua, chapter 3, verse 1. And let's look at Joshua, chapter 3, verse 1. And Joshua rose early in the morning and they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days that the officers went through the host and they commanded the people saying when you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord, your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall remove from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it about 2000 cubits, that's about a half a mile. By measure. Come not near unto it that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Now we skip down to verse 14. And it came to pass when the people, removed from their tents to pass over Jordan and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people and as they that bear the ark were come unto Jordan and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam that is, beside Zarethan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain. Even the salt sea failed and were cut off and the people passed over right against. Jericho and the priest that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean, over Jordan, hallelujah, and so the great crossover. I'm sharing this message with you because we're a little over halfway through this year, the year of milestones, and I want to build your faith to receive.
Speaker 1:You know, really this was a milestone for Israel. You know, you think about Joshua. Joshua did what Moses couldn't do. Moses had a maintenance anointing. He maintained them in the wilderness 40 years, but he just didn't have what it took to get them across. And so he prepared this generation by teaching them the word of God for 40 years. And so they were prepared, and Israel did what their fathers couldn't do or wouldn't do, and so it's a milestone. In fact, after they crossed, joshua said now you guys, go and gather 12 smooth stones out of the river and build a memorial so that people will know from time forward what happened here. So they, you know it was a memorial, it's a milestone.
Speaker 1:God has got things that you're going to remember forever, that are going to happen to you, maybe some of you. You know we're getting milestone reports. We encourage you as you receive your milestones, let us know, give us an email, give us a text, something so that we know, and we want to collect those and share them as we can, to encourage people who have not yet received their milestones, because I just believe God wants every single one of us to experience that. Remember the beginning of the year. That's what God said, and he said you know, this is the year. You know Psalm 92, 10,. You're going to have a new anointing, a fresh anointing. I shall receive a fresh anointing, and fresh means new, unfamiliar, and fresh means new, unfamiliar.
Speaker 1:And so that's what the captains went through the host and told them you haven't passed this way heretofore. You've got to make sure you follow the priest with the glory. You've got to make sure you don't get too close. Well, why did he tell them that? Well, because they're not born again, they're not blood washed in the blood of Jesus, yet All they have is atonement, which is a covering for their sin, and they were not able to get close to the glory. And so, but we're different. You know we have the Holy Ghost living on the inside of us, and so you know there's just no turning back. I read that prophetic word that I had back in December of 2016. I read it last week. If you weren't here last week, listen to the podcast and hear what God was saying. We've not passed this way heretofore. You know this is a new time for all of us, individually and collectively, corporately, and so we need to build our faith on what God's word says about these transitions, these new places, these new territories that we're entering into, and so there's no turning back. Everybody say I'm not turning back. You know, I haven't come this far to turn back now, amen. And so the glory is clearing the way before us.
Speaker 1:And notice, jordan was at flood stage, and that was by design. God knew what time it was. God knew that it was harvest days. What happens at flood stage? What's the harvest time? Well, what do you mean harvest time? Well, they planted crops. On the other side, god blessed the heathen crops for the sake of Israel, so that when Israel crossed over, they didn't have time to plant anything and grow a crop. They didn't have time to build cities and build houses, and so they ate food, they didn't grow and they lived in cities they didn't build. Come on, lift your hands. God's already made preparation for you. I said God's made preparation for you ahead of time. I'm telling you there were his servants. We're his sons and daughters. So they could only cross that Jordan by supernatural power. You know that was the only way. And then, of course, on the other side, what's waiting for them? Jericho was one of the most fortified cities that was in history. I mean, they had walls so thick that they drove chariots on the top of the walls. And they had, you know, they had some of the most awesome. They had giants. They were giants in that city.
Speaker 1:And yet, you know, when the two spies went across and and and, uh, they were entertained and and and and protected by Rahab the harlot. And Rahab told the spies that man, these people are shaking in their, in their, uh, birkenstocks. I mean, you know they, they don't have boots, they have just sandals. Y'all will get that this afternoon sometime. How many of you really y'all own Birkenstocks?
Speaker 1:See, claire was always big on Birkenstocks. I'm sorry, I don't like the sight of my bare feet and sandals, I'm just not like that. Of course I don't live in the Middle East, but anyway. So they were shaking. I mean they were concerned. Why? Because they were still concerned 40 years before they'd heard about God drying up the Red Sea. And they're already afraid. And this is before the Jordan and you can imagine the fright that was in. See, I mean, I'm telling you, the devil is so afraid of where you're headed, he's so afraid of what you're about to do. He's shaking in his Birkenstocks. He probably doesn't even can't afford sandals. He's probably barefooted, all right. So on the other side then they had to have divine strategies. I mean, they could just walk in there, I mean these big walls and everything, and they had to have supernatural power and divine strategies.
Speaker 1:And so we talked about this last week. The greatest obstacle to the great crossover in your life, going from where you are now to where you're going to go, and it's unfamiliar is the fear of the unknown. We all have that. We all have to overcome that. We all have to get over that Amen. And we have to determine. Last week we talked about being a supply, and I'm not just talking about money, I'm talking about everything, I'm talking about the harvest. You know, god told me, gave me a new definition of poverty. He said poverty is the inability to meet the needs of the harvest. But the needs of the harvest is not just money, but it's also people, it's laborers. Jesus said. You know, the harvest indeed is plenteous, but what? The laborers are few. Well, we can't have few laborers because the harvest is at stake.
Speaker 1:I grew up in South Texas and we had these big farms in between Refurio and Corpus Christi. When you drove through there, you know through little towns, you know Bayside and right around that area, huge, huge, I don't know how many thousand acres of grain. And I knew some, you know some people that own that land. The Naylor brothers were people that I knew, kids that were sons and daughters of big old family and you, you know, when that grain gets, gets uh, ready to be harvested, they just just huge, uh, just as far as I can see, it's flat, just green, all out there, sorghum, all kinds of grain. And and Woodsboro, you know, we lived in referral, five miles South of us is Woodsboro.
Speaker 1:We called them grain eaters because they had the grain elevators. That's just our way of making fun of them, you know. But they had this grain and when it was harvest time you had combine harvesters all over the landscape. You had trucks running those roads. I mean they had to get that harvest in. They could. What if they just said well, I'm sorry, we just don't have enough combine harvesters to harvest the grain we don't have enough trucks to carry it to the grain elevator, well then it would have gone to waste.
Speaker 1:God's not going to let this harvest go to waste. He's got a plan to conserve the harvest. It involves you and I. It involves Glorious Way Church. I mean individually and collectively. Are you with me now? So we're a new generation. You know, with the new strategies, we have a new anointing. God said Psalm 92, 10 beginning of this year. There's a new anointing to do what we're supposed to do and we have to determine to be a supply. And if you are determined to be a supply and I'm not talking just about money, money is included, but I mean it's your life I mean you've got to be ready to do what God instructs you to do.
Speaker 1:See this story right here, you had all the parents that died in the wilderness. They weren't willing to go across the Jordan, they weren't willing to possess their land. They weren't willing to possess their land. They weren't willing. And now we've got this rolled out in front of us, it's sitting before us.
Speaker 1:The greatest harvest that the world has ever known is right here in front of us and it has needs. You know people, time and money are the resources it needs. And you know what, when we start obeying God, god begins to expand the time. He starts making things more efficient. He starts it looks like, oh, there's not enough time. You know what. God can invade situations and he can make things happen. You know where you have divine efficiencies. You have. Well, I'm just working so hard. Well, you know God can show you how to work smart and start and set a hard. I mean, you know nobody, we don't have time to be too busy about things that don't matter in the harvest. Are y'all with me now? So, uh, as we determined to be a supply, then God begins to open up our supply. We begin to get our needs supplied and again, it's more than just money. Money's included, but it's all the things that God needs.
Speaker 1:Now, this week, we want to focus here on Israel and how they followed the glory, the Holy Ghost. Now, remember when the Red Sea was parted. How did that part? Well, really, it was Moses, and he stretched out his rod and commanded the sea to depart, and it did. And so, really, the corporate anointing was not really involved, the priests weren't involved, the laborers weren't involved, just Moses. And Moses parted the Red Sea and it parted and they crossed over on dry ground. It was the greatest miracle in the Bible until you get to this one, and this is pretty great too.
Speaker 1:But this one involved the corporate anointing why? Because it involved the priests. The priests had to carry the glory across. It was contained, the glory was contained in the Ark of the Covenant. They had this thing on their shoulders and it says when their feet got into the waters, all of a sudden the water started piling up over on this side and started drying up on that side.
Speaker 1:And how in the world, if a river is at flood stage and that starts to happen, how can you have dry ground? I'm telling you, something happened supernatural. I mean, why wouldn't it have been muddy? Why wouldn't have dry ground? I'm telling you, something happened supernatural. I mean, why wouldn't it have been muddy? Why wouldn't it have been? I mean it should have been muddy and sloppy and everything. They passed over on dry ground. I mean this is supernatural power.
Speaker 1:So what did it take? It took the glory to go before them and it took all of them. In other words, you had to have the priest doing what they're supposed to do and you had to have the captain, to tell the people to wait and lag behind about a half a mile. You had to have them go through the host. And then you had to have the whole host of Israelites who before disobeyed God, most of them except for Joshua and Caleb. They all disobeyed God except Joshua and Caleb. And now, this time, they all obeyed God, they all overcame their fear and they followed the glory right into Canaan land. Are you with me now?
Speaker 1:So the glory, the manifested presence, we just sang about it. You know, lord, make us more aware of your presence. See, we just sang about it. We sang that new song this morning about the name of Jesus. I mean, man, what a powerful. You know songs we sing around here have got redemptive truth. We don't have these hand, dog, poor me blubbering kind of songs. I mean, there's not much difference in some of these songs than what they play at the you, the, you know, at the tavern or the beer beer hall. You know the bar, you know sad country song. Oh no, we're not sad, we're glad we've got, we've got name, we've got the name of Jesus, we've got the Holy ghost, we've got the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1:And so the glory, the manifested presence, was there, number one to overcome the obstacle, jordan at flood stage. And number two to conquer the territory and subdue it. And that was what Jericho and then they had to have. You know, they had to have that going on for them to do that. I mean, there's no way they could conquer Jericho in their strength. But they weren't in their strength, they were in God's strength. Are you with me now? So, glorious Way Church? You know, we, individually, we have to conquer the fear and we have to follow the Holy Ghost, receive strategies. Everybody say receive strategies. See, god's got some things he wants you to do and he'll show you how to do them. I said he'll show you and tell you how to do them and possess your inheritances and go forward. I mean, you know we're going forward, we're not turning back, we're not going back to where it was.
Speaker 1:So every believer, everybody say that's me, I'm a believer. Every believer. Number one is born of the Spirit John 3, 6. Jesus said he that is born of the flesh is flesh. He that is born of the Spirit John 3, 6. Jesus said he that is born of the flesh is flesh. He that is born of the Spirit is Spirit. So we've been born of the Spirit when we're born. That's why we have to be born again. We're all born of the flesh first, and then, at some point, you've got to be born again. Thank God, I got born again, and so we're born of the Spirit. So every believer is born of the spirit.
Speaker 1:Number two uh, every believer, in Romans eight, 14, is led by the spirit. Every believer. Not a question of whether God is leading you. He is leading you. The question is whether you're picking up on the leading and whether you're following this leading. And so that's a whole, nother subject. There's a way that you, there's a choice involved. You can choose to follow the leading or not. You can choose to put yourself in position to hear and receive the leading or not. So you're born of the Spirit, led of the Spirit. And the last one is you're filled with the Spirit Ephesians 5, 19. Be being filled with the Spirit Ephesians 5, 19. Be being filled with the Spirit. That's the will of God. And so every believer has a choice a man's perspective or God's perspective.
Speaker 1:Are you going to look at it like man or are you going to look at it what God says? I mean, every time you go to the doctor, you've got to decide. Am I going to believe the doctor's report? And that's the final word. See, it's not that you ignore what the doctor says, but what is the doctor? The doctor is reporting what is in the natural. It's absolutely. It doesn't matter how fancy the machine is, whether it's an MRI or a PET scan or whatever it is. I just had a PET scan on my heart and I haven't heard the report. But I'm not concerned about the report at all because of my report. That I believe is right here, the report that I believe is coming out of my mouth on a constant basis.
Speaker 1:My heart is fixed. Trusting in the Lord, that's one of my. I turned that one into a healing scripture when I was in the ER. In fact, when I was in the ICU, the Lord gave me that one. Your heart is fixed, praise God, and it's fixed. My heart is fixed.
Speaker 1:So you have a choice whether you know God's perspective or man's perspective, man's power or God's power. You've got a choice. So every believer is already born of the Spirit. But the other two, led of the Spirit and filled with the Spirit, are really up to us. We have to decide to put ourselves in position for those other two. The first one is already taken care of. If you're born again, that's done. Check that one off. That's the most important, but the other two are also important. The other two are also very important. Jesus didn't just suggest that they get filled with the Holy ghost. He commanded them to be filled with the Holy ghost. So, uh, I want to uh talk to you about the other two that are our choice today, about being filled with the spirit and being led of the spirit.
Speaker 1:Because in order to experience this great crossover, you know, we've all got Jordan Rivers, we've all got obstacles in our way, we've all got things that we have to contend with to get to the other side, and we're going to have to overcome the fear of that uncertainty, the fear of the unknown we got to, the fear of going through that. We got to overcome that. God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but what power, love and a sound mind. And so we need to remind ourselves a very basic message. I've preached it over and over and over. I mean, you know, faith comes by hearing, and hearing it's not just one time. A lot of times people didn't get it. The first two, first, 200 times I preached it or said it. I mean that's the way it is, that's the way our spirit. Sometimes it just goes in our ears and it rattles around in this brain and the devil comes where to immediately steal it, pluck it out of there. So let's talk about being filled with the spirit. Ephesians five this is your choice. You can either do it or not do it. It takes a conscious choice.
Speaker 1:You know I was on Facebook, you know it's. It was a brother Copeland's, a big meeting believers, voice believers, whatever they call it. And and and and, uh, gloria was there. He introduced Gloria. I hadn't seen Gloria in a long time. That the pictures you see of her old pictures and old videos. But she was there in in the flesh and stood up and greeted the people. And, uh, you know she has traumatic brain injury from something that happened 40 years ago and it just finally caught up with her and she's having to overcome a lot of the same things that Gladys is overcoming. She has to overcome day on a daily base. She overcame again yesterday and now here she is today. Didn't look like she was going to come today, but she's here today and thank y'all for y'all agreement.
Speaker 1:I mean, you know just but, uh, but I've been seeing these reels of of uh, gloria preaching the word, you know, just. But I've been seeing these reels of Gloria preaching the word you know, and I heard her say something I say all the time. She says inconsistency. She's got that Arkansas robe. Inconsistency lies the power, you know. And I'm not making fun of her, I'm just. I just enjoy everybody's accent. Hers is Arkansas and inconsistency lies the power. Well, that's what I say all the time. I probably stole it from her. Been listening to her for a long time. She's a great Bible teacher. Of course, kenneth Copeland is awesome too.
Speaker 1:So Ephesians 5, verse 17, first Verse 17,. Verse Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is, and be not drunk with wine where is an excess, but be filled with the Spirit. See, that's the will of God. Be filled. The word be means be being filled. When you look it up in your concordance be being filled and I like the up in your concordance, be being filled and I like the linguistic key to the Greek New Testament. I'm not a Greek scholar, but I've got a book written by a bunch of Greek scholars, so I consulted. When I want to do a deeper dive than my concordance. I want to do a word study. I want to know what it means really in everyday language, and it means to be continually and habitually filled with the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1:Now, that's going to take some effort, that's going to take a decision on your part. You can either do it all the time or hit and miss. You know, when you hit and miss, you don't get much result. But when you're, but when you're continually and habitually filled with the Holy ghost, it takes time and effort. Well, pastor, but I just don't have time, I've got to get up then.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I mean, you can use any excuse you want to, but the bottom line is is this the truth or not? Is this, is this valuable or not? Is this valuable? Because that's the will of God? You know, if you're going to ignore what the will of God is for you and just say, well, it's just, I just don't have time, well then what have you done? You've just told God he doesn't know what he's talking about and it doesn't matter that much to you. What chance have you got of crossing over? None, I mean, if you tried, you'd probably get swept away. You know, if you try, if you tried, you'd probably drown. No, no, you need God's power. You need, you know, that's his will. His will concerning you is for you to be continually, habitually filled with the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1:You know, and so Jesus said it in John chapter seven to the Jews as they were coming back from the Feast of Tabernacles, that's where they have apples and honey. You know, they build the little booths and they're real flimsy and they're designed to remind them of their time in the wilderness, when they slept in tents. They slept a lot of times outdoors. They could see the sky, they could see the stars. Now they're living in cities and structures. They're not living in tents anymore. After they got into the promised land, god instituted these feasts to take them back and give them a thorough understanding of their history and what it took to deliver them out of bondage.
Speaker 1:And so here it is in John chapter 7. They're coming back out of that where they're commanded to dance, they're commanded to sing, they're commanded to rejoice. Why? Because they can't do it of their own free will. They're spiritually dead. And so they do this religious exercise and when they're through doing it, they're the same as they were before. They're not changed.
Speaker 1:And they're coming back out of town and Jesus is standing out there and he cries, he shrieks, he screams. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. That's Jesus said it. And he said it to a bunch of deadheads. He said it to a bunch of religious people who thought they were doing all the religious duties and that they had it all wired. And he's saying are you thirsty? Because they really, if they had to confess, they probably were still thirsty or unsatisfied. Religion can never satisfy.
Speaker 1:But this spake he of the Spirit, which those who believe on him should receive. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. So then, why did he say it? He said it for us, he's prophesying to us, he's looking ahead into this day when he told the disciples tarry you in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high, for you shall be witnesses unto me. See, you're not gonna be much of a witness without the power of the Holy Ghost. You're not gonna cross any swollen rivers without the power of the Holy Ghost. You're not gonna cross any swollen rivers without the power of the Holy Ghost. We need that power. We need that power.
Speaker 1:So, basically, then, for a believer, we have to number one we have to stay thirsty. You know this world will fill you up and make you not thirsty for God. You can get so filled with this world and what it can do, satiated with the cares of this world and the pleasures of this world is what God told me years ago. He said many are satiated, filled, overflowing with the cares of this world and the pleasures of this world, and much of the care comes from the pursuit of the pleasure. You know, when your credit card is limited out and you're paying 35% interest on your unpaid balance and you can't even pay the minimum payment, boy, that's a lot of care, because you went crazy, spending a whole lot of thing on a lot of things you could have done without.
Speaker 1:I don't know who I'm talking to, but I've been there. I know what that's like. I don't know who I'm talking to, but I've been there. I know what that's like. It's not wise. No, I mean. You know God doesn't want us to be all weighed down. So stay thirsty, thirsty for God.
Speaker 1:Number two come to Jesus. Jesus is the word. Don't leave the word off. We need the word, but we need the spirit too. And then number three drink. Don't forget to drink. I mean, if you don't drink you're just going to get the word.
Speaker 1:And know, and I've known people that just I knew a guy one time in our first building. I mean he was, he was just you know, he was constantly had tapes in his back. Then we had cassette tapes in our cars and he was listening to one cassette tape after another and he was just you know, he was just really. He'd quote the word and everything. But he come to church and his wife, they were both just beautifully dressed. I mean, he had a suit and tie and she was perfectly coiffed with a business suit, high heels, and she didn't care what anybody thought of her. She lifted her hands and she would just worship Jesus and tears running down her face.
Speaker 1:I had an altar call one Sunday morning. She came down the aisle I don't even know what it was for. I laid hands on her, she fell out. One heel went one way, the other heel went the other way and she got up and you know, was wobbling and she wobbled for a few feet down the center aisle, you know, toward the back of the church where her husband was.
Speaker 1:I kept looking at him and he's like this, you know, dry as a chip, a cow chip, that's what I mean by dry as a chip. If you're too citified to know what that is, maybe spend some more time in the country. But he's dry, he's like this. He wouldn't receive. He just he knew it all. He already knew it all. Everything I preached was something he already knew.
Speaker 1:And she is just open just getting. Oh, it's filled with the Holy Ghost. And she went down that aisle, wobbled a little bit and then she took off running in high heels and she didn't make the corner. She hit the back, you know, fell in a heap. I mean, look at the contrast. She's thirsty, she's desperate, she wants to be filled to overflowing. See, what kind of attitude have you got?
Speaker 1:Well, he died later, took his own life. I talked to him, I tried to tell him. I said you know what your problem is. You've got too much of the Word and no Holy Ghost. Turn that cassette player or eject the gospel tape out of there for a while and put some worship music on. You need to worship God some. You come to church and you're cold as ice man. He didn't accept it. They quit coming. He didn't like being corrected. Well, that's my job, I'm not going to over there pat you on the head when your wife is desperate and you're just so you know, dignified, you're dead. Are you with me now? So you know you need to be thirsty and you need to drink. You know a drunk sinners don't go to bars to think you know they go to drink, don't they?
Speaker 1:I remember back when I was lost, I made my own beer, but in between times I had a salesman that used to sell me lumber and he would get all the guys together and we'd go to some I can't think of the name of that place right there on the corner Rayford, sawdust and I-45. It was a seafood place. Huh, hyden's, hyden's. We used to go to Hyden's. Well, we didn't go for the seafood, we went for the draft beer and we would have pitcher after pitcher of beer and we'd have these big old, huge frozen goblets of beer. Man, I mean, I'd have about a half a dozen of those and I mean I'm bleary-eyed.
Speaker 1:And one time I was the only sober one. I had to sell a house. My partners were too drunk to sell the house. I had to sit in there. Poor people, they had to endure me. I'd been drinking all afternoon. I didn't go there to think. I went there to drink.
Speaker 1:But we don't need to think, we need to drink. Let's drink of the Spirit. You know, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14, 14, when we pray in an unknown tongue, our spirit prayeth. In other words, our spirit contacts God. Our spirit is active, but our understanding, our brain tissue, is unfruitful of good. See, the more you pray in tongues, the more you're drinking.
Speaker 1:And it takes a while to shut your brain off. It takes a while to shut your reason off. It takes a while to shut your reason off it. It takes a while to to ignore what your head is saying. Your head's filled with all kinds of things and it you've got to, you've got to dedicate yourself to praying in tongues more than two or three minutes. It takes a while.
Speaker 1:And if you'll, if you'll discipline yourself to drink and think about it, like that's what I'm doing, I'm drinking of the Spirit because my Spirit is contacting God. And who are you? Well, you are a Spirit. That's you contacting God. Your brain is not you. You have it, it's in there, but it's not you. You are a Spirit. You have a soul which needs to be renewed and refreshed on a constant basis. And of course, you've got your flesh and so you've got to deal with your mind and your flesh. So what's the best way to do to get filled with the Spirit? Just pray in other tongues. Your Spirit prayeth, your understanding is unfruitful.
Speaker 1:Another verse, 1 Corinthians 14, 4. For he that prays in an unknown tongue edifies himself. Who's himself, his spirit, you edify yourself. That's not a negative verse, that's a positive verse. The word edify sort of means recharge or charge back up. But I like this definition. You have to dig a little to get this definition. It means to build up from the foundation.
Speaker 1:You know, I remember when we were building this building we had this structure up and we had that structure, that slab, poured in the lobby. They're not connected, they're two separate slabs and it came to where we had a New Year's Eve service and it was kind of cool outside and misty and cloudy, anybody remember that and we had a worship service right out there on the slab without any kind of building. But man, I don't know that I would really enjoy a service out here on a slab. I mean, you know, I'm glad to have air conditioning and lights and seats, and well, we had seats because we had folding chairs, but you know it was, it was nice to do at one time, but you know the purpose was to build upon that foundation and to get the rest of the building finished, which we did. And God you know. If we're just going to have a foundation, we got born again, great.
Speaker 1:But you know, every time you pray much in other tongues, you're building from your foundation a structure. You're you're building a holy temple under the Lord. You're you're building a place for the, for the Holy ghost, to reside in you. Yeah, he resides in your flesh. But there's another element to it that you're building. When you build and you edify yourself praying in other tongues, are you with me? That's the being that's gonna cross a raging river. It's gonna calm that river and you're gonna go across on dry ground. Are y'all with me?
Speaker 1:Now so important to be filled. And so when you keep reading there in verse Ephesians, chapter 5, be not drunk with wine where there's an excess, but be filled with the Spirit. And then it gives you three things speaking to yourself, giving thanks and submitting yourself. All three of those are involved in being filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourself I'm talking mostly about that right now. Speaking to yourself, what Praying about that right now, speaking to yourself, what Praying in other tongues? That's big. It's also big to confess the Word. That's another thing that comes.
Speaker 1:When you pray in other tongues, You'll start to many times when you pray much in other tongues. You'll get a verse, you'll get a rhema word. You'll start speaking to yourself. But then the second one is giving thanks. See, if it's been a while since you gave thanks, well, maybe you're not very full of the Holy Ghost then, because the Holy Ghost means you're giving thanks Not for what the devil does, in spite of what the devil's trying to do In adversity. You give thanks, amen, and then submitting yourselves. In other words, you don't have to have your way all the time Submitting yourself.
Speaker 1:Some people just, you know, I look back on 30 plus years of this church and I've had people come through the door. You know, really we've had probably I'm not bragging, I'm just reporting We've had tens of thousands of people come through the doors of this church and look around you. Where are they? They didn't stick. Some stuck for a while and then they just, like grasshoppers, they fly on to the next place. Oh yeah, god's leading me. No, god's not leading you, you're leading you, your flesh is leading you. If the truth be known, most of them get offended or most of them just kind of backslide. Most of them just they're not consistent. And when you're challenged people to be consistent and they're not consistent and they don't make a quality decision to line up with what you're preaching, then they'll find an excuse to leave. I congratulate you. You're still sitting in your seat this morning. Praise the Lord, but I'm giving you the benefits of it. You're the one that benefits, amen. So you know, when you join the military.
Speaker 1:Brother Pete joined the military. He was 40 years in the military. How many years? 42 years. We went to his retirement celebration. It was something to be in that room and thank you for letting us be part of that because it was an honor. He served our country 42 years. You can't count the times he was away from his family and toward the end of his, I mean he's spending time at Bagram Air Force Base, the same one. You know that Doofus gave away to our enemy, to the Taliban. He spent lots of time at Bagram and other places all over the world.
Speaker 1:But you know, when he signed up he didn't say now, you know, here's what I have in mind. I want to do this, this and this. You know, no, he gave up his right to have his way. He had to sign up to be to follow orders. He had to sign up to follow orders. And then, you know, later in his career, as he was promoted as a sergeant, he got way up there and really he knew more about his job than all the young colonels that just came out of West Point or in other places. You know they're assigned and you know he knew enough not to push it. But when they hung around long enough most of them would say, uh know, sergeant, you just tell me what I need to do Because I don't know. You know you like a humble guy here. He is a colonel. It's hard to be humble when you're a colonel. You know You've been promoted a few times. You think you know it all. You don't know it all. You need people like Pete. You need people like Pete.
Speaker 1:But he didn't sign up to have an agenda. His agenda was to follow orders and see, that's the kingdom of God. We don't have an agenda. That's what I was about to say. We've had lots of people that had an agenda. They came to this church with their own agenda, their own idea. They didn't sign up to yield themselves to God's plan, because if they had, they'd still be here. I mean we gotta yield to his plan. Amen, all right. So praise God. Everybody say fill with the Spirit. Fill with the Spirit. Everybody say fill with the spirit.
Speaker 1:Second, timothy 1, 6 and amplified paul uh told timothy you need to stir up the gift of god which is given you by laying on of hands, and stir up means to fan the flame and keep burning the gracious gift of god, the inner fire that is in you by the laying on of my hand. So there's a fire on the inside If it's not stirred up by praying in other tongues and praising God and submitting, you know, your life to where you don't have to have your way every time you turn around. Sometimes things don't turn out just like you would like them to, so just submit, submit in the fear of God. God's in charge. You don't have to have an argument and you know if your way is right and the other person is wrong, well, you know, you'll be vindicated at some point. You know you don't have to just have a big, you know, blow up. It's the kingdom of God, you know, let's submit to him. It's the kingdom of God, you know, let's submit to him. So fan that flame. You know that's what happens. And there's an anointing, a fresh anointing on the inside of you. Everybody say a fresh, anointing Amen, all right.
Speaker 1:And then the second one, romans 8, 14. I'll read it and then we'll talk about it here in just a minute. Romans 8, 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And we could say the converse as many as are sons of God, they are led by the Spirit of God.
Speaker 1:So, as I mentioned earlier, it's not a question of whether you're being led. He is leading. But are you picking up the leading? Are you identifying the leading? And we've talked lots about you know, positioning yourselves, being able to understand. You know, like the old antenna that I used to talk about, that I had in Refurio, where my dad would turn the dial and the whole antenna would click, click, click, so we could pick up the signal from a long way away. You know, we were in Refurio and 50 miles away is the Corpus Christi station that we're watching.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, back then they didn't have high technology so you had to tune in properly to get the signal. Well, how do we tune in? Well, we got to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and when you're filled with the Holy Ghost, it's easier to know. When God is leading you and identifying his leading, you're more sensitive to him leading you and identifying his leading, you're more sensitive to him, and then your spirit is a more reliable guide. When it's filled with the Holy Ghost, look to your spirit for guidance. Look to the inside. Quit listening to everybody's opinion. Quit taking a poll.
Speaker 1:Well, what do you think about this? Well, what do you think about that? You know, I do like to hear my staff. We have staff meetings and everybody has safe harbor around that table to share what they see, think and feel about anything we're talking about. Nobody's going to get chewed out for saying what they see, think or feel. I want their input. Why? Because they have earned the right for me to hear that. I like to hear all of the in the multitude of counselors is safety. So I'm not against that.
Speaker 1:But what I am against is this insecurity. You haven't really prayed about it, you haven't really asked God about it and you go around and you're asking all these people. I mean, what difference does it make what they think about your situation? Why don't you pray? Why don't you find make what they think about your situation? Why don't you pray? Why don't you find out what God has got to say? Again, it's fear of what he's going to say. I had people say well, I'm afraid he's going to call me to the mission field in Africa. I doubt that. If you don't even want to go, I'm pretty sure he doesn't want you to go. Doubt that If you don't even want to go, I'm pretty sure he doesn't want you to go.
Speaker 1:Usually, what my experience with God is he puts these desires down on the inside of you and you want to do certain things. There are things that you really want to do. I said there are things in there that you really want to do and he'll bring them out. You stir yourself up and then you'll be led by the Spirit, look to your Spirit for guidance and as you spend time in the Word of God and prayer, spiritual things will become more real than the natural things and you'll pick up on what God's perspective is.
Speaker 1:You've heard me say God has a side In your life. God has a side for you to get on In any decision that you make. He's got a side. He's got a side. Now you get more and more mature.
Speaker 1:Sometimes God will say, well, I'll leave it up to you. That's a real dangerous thing, you know. I had to learn the hard way. You leave it up to me and I'll choose the wrong thing. I've learned, you know. When he said so, I'll leave it up to you, I said well, lord, really, really, I'd rather know what your preference is, not my will, but thine be done. I know you've got a side. Let's just show me your side. Let's cut to the chase.
Speaker 1:I don't want to get something just because I want it or just because my flesh wants it or my ego wants it. I've got an ego, but I keep it in check. Show me somebody with no ego. I'll show you somebody that's not going to do anything. No, we have desires. We have certain things in us that we want to accomplish. That's not wrong. It's wrong to do it your way instead of God's way. That's what's wrong. It won't work. Are y'all with me now?
Speaker 1:So, as you spend time in the Word of God and prayer, spiritual things are more real than natural things. You'll get God's perspective and you will indeed have the great crossover in your life. You'll cross over your Jordan to your good things that God has for you. Come on, lift your hands and receive today. Thank you, lord. Everybody say I'm crossing over. I haven't been this way before, but I'm not intimidated. I'm not intimidated what's on the other side. I lay hold on the new. I'm not looking back, I'm not going back, I'm moving forward in the power of God. In Jesus' name, come on, give the Lord a shout of praise. Hallelujah. Glory to God, glory to God, hallelujah. Thank you, lord.