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 God Of The Middle | Dr. Guy Peh
This teaching focuses on “the God of the middle,” reminding believers that God is not only present at the beginning and end of their journey but also in the transitions in between. Using stories like Israel crossing the Red Sea, Samuel setting up the Ebenezer stone, and modern-day testimonies, the message encourages faith in seasons of uncertainty. It highlights that the middle—though often messy and unclear—is the place where miracles take shape and where God’s help is most evident.
Let's read what we've got tonight. Let's read where we're going to land 1 Samuel, chapter 7, verse 12. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mitzvah and Shem, then called its name Ebenezer, saying Thus far, somebody say thus far, the Lord has helped us. Thus far, the Lord has helped us. And I want to add to that even further. Even further, he will help us. Amen. Ebenezer in Hebrew means stone of help. So you keep that in the back of your head, all right. So we're going to go to Exodus.
Speaker 1:Exodus, there are many scriptures we're going to read, but we're just going to read this one Exodus 14, 21 and 22. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind Somebody say all that night, say all night, wow, all night. And made the sea into a dry land and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground and the waters were a wall to them, to their right and their left. Praise be to God. 1 John 3, verse 2. Beloved, we are children of God. Somebody say I'm a child of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be Say. He has not yet been revealed. All right, stand up, stand up. Stand up and let's raise our hands towards heaven and let's make this prophetic decoration.
Speaker 1:Tonight. I want you to say this with me, in faith Say Father, god, in the name of Jesus, I come before you. I boldly declare that I believe in the supernatural. I believe in the supernatural, I believe in miracles. This evening, lord, I ask you to give me eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to receive, a will to obey and faith to act. In the name of Jesus Christ, I take my position in Christ and I take authority over every spirit that does not confess the name of Jesus Christ. I command them to leave this place and I declare that this place is an open heaven. The Spirit of God is free to move. The angels of God are ascending and descending. They are going to and fro to execute the commands of God's word. Preach Holy Spirit, teach Holy Spirit, prophesy Holy Spirit. Heal the sick. God, do what only you can do and take all the glory in Jesus' name. Can you band with a shout and say amen and take all the glory in Jesus' name? Can you burn with a shout and say amen, hallelujah, praise, be to God. So it has not yet been revealed. It says beloved. It has not yet been revealed what shall be. I want to miss the amen that has left the building. There will be no. Mr Amen has left the building. There will be no revival, amen. If Mr Amen or Mr Hallelujah or Mrs Glory are not present in the meeting. I want Mr Amen show up tonight. I want Mrs Hallelujah show up tonight. I want Mrs Glory show up tonight. I want Mrs Glory show up tonight.
Speaker 1:Some people come to church to spectate. Some people come to church to speculate. Some people come to church to pontificate, but God is looking for someone that will come in to participate. Did you come tonight to participate? Can you participate by saying amen with fire? Can you say hallelujah with fire? Can you say glory three times? Tell the person next to you.
Speaker 1:It has not yet been revealed what I shall be, so don't judge me by what you see in me. This is not my arrival point. This is my destiny. This is my journey. This is my journey. Tell him I am somewhere in the future and I look much better than I look right now. My money looks much better than I look right now. My money looks much better than it looks right now. My health looks much better than it looks right now. Tell them this is the last time you see me like this, because God is working in the middle of my challenge, in the middle of my problem. I'm getting a miracle in the middle of my crisis.
Speaker 1:I came to talk to you tonight about the God of the middle. The God of the middle. The God of the middle. I know we understand that he's the God of the alpha and we sing, and I sing it. You are the alpha and omega. We worship you. Oh Lord, you are worthy to be praised. It's a beautiful song. I sing about that. We're familiar with the God of the Alpha, the God of the beginning, and we know he's the God of the end, but what about the middle? We forgot that he's the God of the middle. You know I wrote a great book on transition and you know my only book that crossed from the church world to the secular world I've written 24 books, but that one has gone across and the concept of transition.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I think that a lot of people don't understand the concept of transition. Transition is one of the most dangerous places in a season in your life. You know most of us will live our life trying to achieve a goal, a vision or something no-transcript. One day you show up at your job and they say thank you for everything that you've achieved and everything you provided, but unfortunately we are downsizing. That's a nice way to say to you. You are fired. All of a sudden you find yourself in a place of transition. You know you've been married for 20 years or 25 years and your spouse doesn't want to be married anymore. And you find yourself in the place of transition. All you have, all your kids. They've all grown up and they have left the house and you're battling with an emptiness syndrome because you don't have anybody to control anymore. Don't raise your hand, this is not an article. And you start to ask yourself the question who am I outside of these children? Who am I outside of this job? Transition is that place where you're too far out to be in, too far in to be out. You are in that nebulous descriptive place and when even people ask you how are you doing, you say it's complicated, because even if you could explain it with words, they still not will not be able to understand what you're saying. And I want you to understand that every major season in your life is going to have three phases. Number one, the end zone. Someone say the end zone Number two, the neutral zone, the in-between season, the in-between jobs, in-between situation, in the middle of a crisis. But then you have the beginning zone when you exit the transition Hello, but the middle is a place where it is dangerous.
Speaker 1:Now I got into this revelation, like a lot of my revelations sometimes happen through life circumstances or something happened or something. But when my wife and I praise God, we've been married the last 19 years, glory be to God. And so we got married and you know, my wife moved from Europe to Dallas and everything was fine in the ministry, whether it was television appearances, meeting with heads of state, doing these massive meetings in stadiums, having national influence in many places around the world, doing all those things. Everything was just fine. But we were coming from Korea, from Japan, to Dallas and she leaned over on the airplane and said to me I want to go home. I said we're gonna get there in 15 hours or 16 hours or whatever how long it was. She said, no, I want to go home to Belgium. Hello. So the first two years of our marriage, even though we have a home in Dallas, a part of a great church in Dallas. I've been part of the same church for almost the last 30 years. You know, for her, even though there was a change, she never made the transition up to that point. For her, her church was still her church back home. Her home was still her home in Dallas. There was a change in Belgium. There was a change, but she didn't make the transition.
Speaker 1:Hello, and this is sometimes the challenge with many people there is a change but we don't make the transition. And I believe the reason why is because we struggle with the middle, the challenge of the middle. You know you spend the energy to get into a new relationship only to start to compare your new love with your old love. Start to send subliminal messages to your new love. You know, when I was going out with so-and-so every Christmas, he gave me $1,000 and sent me on a shopping spree and never asked me what I did with the money. So what you're saying to your new love is treat me like my ex, treat me like my ex. Treat me like my ex. Don't raise your hand.
Speaker 1:This is not an article. Some people spend their energy to get into a new job, only to start to compare the new job with the old job, the new boss with the old job, the new boss with the old boss. There's a change, but you've not made the transition. Let's take it to church. Some people do this with church. Well, they show up at a church for the first time and they pull in the parking lot. They're excited, they talk to the pastor and the leader. Well, I really feel like the Lord sent me here. As a matter of fact, when I got in the parking lot, there were three doves that flew over my head and when I looked, what was that? I saw a rainbow in the sky and I certainly knew that heaven was backing my presence here. And then they get into the church, only to start to compare the new church with the old church, the new pastor with the old pastor. There's a change, but they did not make the transition, started talking about the pastor to the pastor. You know, when I was in my old church, the pastor knew, when my left hand started to shake, that it was time for me to grab the microphone and to let me sing a special and prophesy over here. You don't even recognize my big nose, you don't even recognize what I bring to the table. There's a change, but you have not made the transition. And then, when we do a little investigation and go to talk to your old pastor, as a matter of fact, they were secretly happy when you left that church because you never helped them, you never gave, you never supported, and so when they left, they were quietly saying don't let the door hit you when the good Lord splits you. There was a change, but you have not made the. I got you excited. Now, you see, that's the problem sometimes when there's a major change. Now give credit to my wife. Two years later, we're flying from Shanghai, china, and she said to me I'm excited to go home. I said but, babe, we're not going to Europe for another three weeks. She said, no, I'm excited to go home to Dallas. So she made a transition. So she made a transition.
Speaker 1:The reason why people struggle so much with the transition is because of the middle. Somebody say the middle, the middle, yeah, yeah, yeah. The neutral zone where you're too far out to be in, too far in to be out. The middle, middle of the season. Change is fast, transition is slow, change is tangible. Transition is intangible. Change is physical, transition is psychological and emotional, and transition is the emotional and psychological process you go through to adapt with change, hello. And some people don't want to change, so they fight the transition, they try to revert back to the old, and that's where frustration takes place. Place, and the reason why most people in the middle of transition die spiritually or their destiny die or they get diverted from what God wanted them to do, is because in the middle we suffer with this orientation. Hello. So because if I will ask tonight how many people can tell me at least five places where I can go eat here in the Houston area, many of you won't have to think about it. Hello, because you live around here, so you have a frame of reference, so you know exactly what to find, what you're looking for. Because you know exactly what to find what you're looking for, because you know the circumstances, you know the area very well.
Speaker 1:Now, seven years ago, my wife and I went to Ouagadougou, bukina Faso. It's a real place I'm not speaking in tongues and we took a 90-mile trip that lasted 10 hours because the road was so terrible. And we're going to an area where, even though we're in the 21st century, most people's modes of transportation is using donkeys, believe it or not. We saw three donkey accidents on the road. We had two flat tires. The road was so bad Even though we were in an SUV. It was shaking and moving all the time. And I look at my wife, it looks like she was doing some dance, some kind of special dance. And I look at her. I say you deceived me when we got married. I didn't know you were such a great dancer. Said you deceived me when we got married. I didn't know you're such a great dancer.
Speaker 1:We got there, finally, and we were doing the Waterworld Project, food distribution and I had to preach. There was no air condition. It was so hot. I'm a pretty strong big guy but I almost passed out. Now, if they put you there and you say can you take me to McDonald's? You there and you say can you take me to McDonald's, they say make what. They don't even know what is a McDonald hello, you will suffer with disorientation.
Speaker 1:Psychologists call it cognitive dissonance when you are in a place that is not familiar, and that is the phenomenal whenever there's a major change of life throws a curveball at you and you find yourself in the middle, in the middle where you're too far out to be in, too far in to be out. Listen, today we stand in the middle, not just in the middle, but in a prophetic moment. The middle is where it's easiest to grow weary. You started strong but have not yet finished. The promises seem distant and progress feels slow. But I came to declare to you and over you tonight that God is not just the God of the alpha at the beginning, he's not just the God of the end, he's the God of the middle. The middle is where he meets us with mercy, with miracles, with movement, with power, with signs and wonders, with transformation, with demonstration. I want to mr Amen has left the building. Listen. The middle is often where battles intensify and hope is tested, because you're too far from where you started to turn back, but not close enough to the promise to celebrate.
Speaker 1:This is the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. It is the storm between the departure and the arrival. It is the valley between the mountain of vision and the mountain of fulfillment. Hello, biblically, the middle has always been the crucible of transformation. Israel was trapped in the middle of the Red Sea when Pharaoh's army pursued, but that's when God opened the water, exodus 14, 22,. The disciples were caught in the middle of the lake when the wind turned against them. They were in transition and Jesus came walking on the water. Glory better, god, jesus himself died in the middle of two thieves, right in the center of humanity brokenness, and from there salvation was released to the world.
Speaker 1:Tonight, I want you to think about a relay race. The start demands energy, the finish requires endurance, but the most critical moment is the handoff in the middle. If the baton is dropped there, the entire race is forfeited. That's where many lose spiritual momentum in the middle of transition, in the middle of pressure, in the middle of problem, in the middle of not seeing what was promised. I came to tell you tonight let's not drop the baton of vision, america. Let's not drop the baton of vision, america. Let's not drop the baton of faith. Let's not drop the baton of trust. Let's stay alert, keep our grip on the Word of God, keep our grip on the faith and remain positioned for a divine transfer, because God in the middle, god in this season, is handing us something right here in the middle, in the middle of the crisis, in the middle of assassination, in the middle of trouble, in the middle of your financial trouble. America, god is handing something to us. He's handing down to us revival. He's handing down to us miracles. He's handing down to us miracles. He's handing down to us open doors and favor. So don't give up on the baton of faith. Somebody shout glory three times.
Speaker 1:During World War II, the tide of the war turned, not at the beginning nor the end, but at a pivotal moment in the middle the Battle of Midway. Historians agree that a turning point in the Pacific theater was not the first strike or the final treaty. It was that mid-war clash that altered the course of history. Likewise, your midway moment can become your miracle way moment. The middle can feel uncertain, but it is where God reverses outcome. It is where God shifts momentum and set new strategy.
Speaker 1:I want to speak to some people here tonight. If you are in the middle of a health battle, I want you to know that God is still the healer in the waiting. If you're in the middle of a financial uncertainty, jehovah Jireh didn't just show up at the beginning. He supplies every moment, in a moment of your need. If you are in the middle of emotional weariness, he restores your soul even before you see the breakthrough. I'm here to tell you that the middle is not where you drown. It is where destiny is decided. You don't need to see the finish to move in faith. You just need to know who is standing with you in the middle. And if he got in the boat, the storm cannot win. I declare over you that the middle moment is not a place of delay. It's a place of divine acceleration. You are not stuck. You are being stabilized. God is recalibrating your strength. God is reigniting your vision and preparing to reveal his hand in a way you've never seen before. I want you to know he is the God that does not just stand at the finish line. He steps into the battlefield. In the middle of your mess is a launching park for his miracle. I'm here to say to you today get ready, people of America, because I believe it's miracle time, it's breakthrough time. I'm here to say to you today get ready, people of America, because I believe it's miracle time, it's breakthrough time. The God of the middle is pulling the curtain and he's about to show himself as a man of war. Jehovah Sabato, the Lord of a mighty army. He's going to step in the middle of your health battle, your financial battle, your economic battle, and I believe that this nation is coming into a place of a shift. Somebody shout glory.
Speaker 1:The story of the Exodus revealed to us that God has more options. Sorry, say more options, more options than we have. Ask your neighbor, how big is your God? Listen, what would have happened had Moses tried to figure out what was the need to accomplish God's command when he came to crossing the Red Sea and going through the wilderness? One of the biggest arimethical miracles in the world was required in the desert.
Speaker 1:Moses led the people of Israel into the desert. Now what was he going to do with them? They had to be fed and feeding. Three and a half million people require a lot of food. Moses needed, according to statistics today, 1,500 tons of food a day, filling two freight trains each a mile long. Besides, you must remember they were cooking, cooking the food, just for cooking. This took 4,000 tons of firewood, a few more freight train each a mile long, and this is only for cooking for one day, not to mention to keeping warm. If anyone tells you that it doesn't get cold in the desert, don't believe them. Let's not forget about the water, shall we, if they had enough, to drink and wash a few dishes, not taking their bath. It took about 11 million gallons each day, enough to fill a train or tanker cars about 1,800 miles long.
Speaker 1:The people in Israel were for 40 years in transit, in transition. Think about this Every time they camp. At the end of the day, a campground the size of Rhode Island was required of 750 square miles. And another thing they had to get across the Red Sea in one night. The Red Sea in one night. If they went on a narrow path, double file, the line will be 800 miles and will require 35 days and nights to complete the crossing. Hello, but to complete the crossing in one night, there had to be a space in the Red Sea that was five miles wide, so they could walk 5,000 abreast to complete the crossing in one night.
Speaker 1:Do you think that Moses sat down to try to evaluate the statistic before he went out of Egypt? Listen, he had faith that God would take care of everything and that God would meet him in the middle. If you want to look at the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea, there are some scientific wonders. Listen, exodus 15 and 8 add that the water stood upright at the heap and were congealed. Hebrew kapha frozen, hardened, solidified. For water to freeze, naturally, the temperature must drop to 0 centigrade or 30 degree Fahrenheit, but here God supernaturally balanced the environment. The outer face of the water may have been hardened like ice to withstand immense pressure. The inner face remains stable and insulated, preventing the Israelite from freezing as they walked through. Hydrostatic pressure in large body of water is enormous, millions of gallons pressing against the wall. Yet the text says the water stood as a wall In the Hebrew shoma fortress, as a rampart. This implies supernatural reinforcement.
Speaker 1:God didn't just part the water, he engineered them into a wall. And then he speaks about a dry ground. The sea floor should have been muddy and impassable. Instead it became dry. For mud to dry that quickly, heat must have been involved, but the temperature had to be carefully moderated warm enough to evaporate the water instantly, yet cool enough for two million Israelites, including children and livestock, to walk through safely. This means that three simultaneous miracles took place. Listen water solidified like walls. Sea floor dry instantly. Climate balanced perfectly for safe passage.
Speaker 1:Listen, there was also the theological wonder God's control of nature. The east wind that blew all night was not coincidence. Scripture emphasizes that the lord calls the sea to go back. God uses natural element as his servant wind, temperature and gravity all bent to his word. There was divine precision. God orchestrated a miracle with perfect balance call on one side, woman on the other side, drive beneath, safe within. It wasn't random power, it was intelligent design, under divine control.
Speaker 1:Israel passed from slavery into freedom through water, like a baptism. The wall of judgment held back while the path of grace opened before them, and I want you to understand that God makes a way. What was a death trap for the Israelites became a highway of deliverance. What was impossible became possible. Isaiah 43, 16 says the Lord makes a way through the sea and the path through the mighty waters. You know. In top of that, they got victory over their enemies. The same water that delivered Israel destroyed Pharaoh's army. What saves God's people? Judge God's enemies, and God demonstrates that he can manage extreme cold, extreme hot and dry, danger and safety all at the same times. He keep his people alive in an environment that should destroy them.
Speaker 1:The miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea is God sending a strong message about his ability to perform a miracle in the middle of your crisis. God is saying to you tonight I split that Red Sea and turn it into a sidewalk, and I can split your Red Sea. I can split your challenge, I can split your problem. I can make a way where there seems to be no way. He is a God that can perform miracles in the middle. The Red Sea was not just parted, it was engineered by God. The same water that stood as judgment became wall of protection. Hallelujah. The impossible became the pathway of deliverance. God doesn't just open doors, he creates highways. Deliverance and destruction can happen at the same time. Grace creates balance where nature will bring chaos. The miracle was not only power, it was precise engineering. If God can split the sea, he can split your impossibility. Hallelujah. I'm here to say to you today, when there seems no way, god will make one America. God will make a way in this season. Glorious Way, church, god will make a way. Hello, glory be to God.
Speaker 1:So the other miracle in the middle that I want to talk about before I move on is the one in Luke, chapter 8, verse 22. We're talking about God in the middle, the, the God that works. Miracle in the middle, luke, chapter 8, verse 22 to 25, that it happened on a certain day that he got into the boat with the disciples and he said to them let us cross over to the other side of the lake, and the launch out and a windstorm came. Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and this season there was a calm. Hello. Now this is a very interesting situation.
Speaker 1:So I want you to know that they face a storm in the middle, not because they disobey God, because you have a lot of people, sometimes with wrong theology, or Christians sometimes that judge other Christians. You know when something bad happened. Well, why did this happen? Maybe they had a secret sin in their lives, maybe they disobeyed God. I understand that sometimes those things can expose you to the work of Satan, but here you have to understand that they were in obedience to God. So you have to understand that they were in obedience to God, and yet Satan sent a storm to stop them in the middle, in the place of transition, hello. And so I want to encourage you when things become tough, don't feel as if it's because you've done something against God.
Speaker 1:Somebody say opposition. The word opposition means to go in the opposite direction. So if you are following God, you're going in the opposite direction than the devil. So don't be surprised when you have opposition. But here's the good news Jesus steps in the middle. He will walk on water. He will walk on the. You know the three-heapered man in the fiery furnace. Jesus was in the middle with them, the disciples in the boat. He walked to them. Even though he wasn't in the boat, he came and helped them. So I want you to know that God is with you in the middle of whatever you're going through Now.
Speaker 1:If we look back, we can see now the big picture the disciple in the middle of this storm. We're not previewed to this information, but we are because we live, you know, in the past, in the future, but we can look back. Hindsight is 20-20 vision. Now we begin to understand why that devil was trying to stop them. Hello, because we know that when they got to the other side of the lake, there was a man who was demon possessed and had a legion of demons controlling him. A legion in the Roman army is a regiment of 4,000 to 6,000 soldiers. What is your name? Legion? One man had 4,000 to 6,000 demons controlling him, but they were no match for the power of God. When they got to the other side, he cast those demons out and the man was free. In other words, on the other side of the storm there was deliverance power and not too long after that there's some sequential succession of demonstration of the power of God.
Speaker 1:Next was a woman who had 12 years bleeding. She had an issue of blood. Leviticus says there's life in the blood. She was just losing her life, her blood. She was losing her life. She spent her money and did not get better. She went from doctor to doctor. So she was attacked in three different areas Her money, financially. She was attacked. Her body was attacked and then her relationship were under attack, because if you had an issue of blood, according to Leviticus law you were considered to be unclean. So her relationship was under attack. The devil attacked her for 12 years financially, physically and relationally. But when they got to the other side, healing power was released, restoration of finances was released, restoration of relationship was released. In addition to that, there's a little girl that is 12 years old and she's dying and she's dead. And Jesus came to Jairus' house and grabbed her by the hand and he said Talikakumi, little girl, rise from the dead. And she was raised from the dead. So the God, who stepped in the middle of their storm helped them get to the other side. If they bailed out and went for a swim, swim they will have never reached the other side, where there was deliverance power on the other side, where there was restoration power. On the other side, where there was resurrection power.
Speaker 1:I don't know who I'm preaching to, somebody dealing with a middle crisis, a crisis in the middle. I want you to know this is not a time to give up. It's time to press in, because on the other side, there is deliverance power. On the other side, there's restoration power. Your money is going to make a comeback. There's relationship restoration. God is going to give you better relationship. There's healing power on the other side. On the other side, there's resurrection power. Whatever has died can come back to life. Good measure, press down, shake it together, because he's the God of the middle and he will take you to the other side. Somebody shout glory three times.
Speaker 1:Imagine traveling through a mountain tunnel, those long dark passages where you can't see where you started or where you're going. The middle of that tunnel is the darkest and the most disorienting place. If you stop driving there, fear and confusion will overwhelm you, but if you keep moving, eventually light breaks out. Your life may feel like that tunnel right now, but just because it's dark doesn't mean that it's over. The light doesn't disappear, it's just waiting on the other end. So keep going.
Speaker 1:You know, every year, you know, we travel like we're about next week we're going to the UK. This time we're flying. We're going to the UK. This time we're flying from the United States to the UK. But sometimes because we have a car in Belgium, we drive from Belgium to London and so to do that, we have to go to France and then we have to get into something called the Eurotunnel. It's one of the longest tunnels. It goes under the sea. I posted pictures about little clips about that on Instagram. On Facebook, people say that's scary, I wouldn't be able to do it.
Speaker 1:So you drive with your car into this train and there's a moment where it goes completely dark and you're sitting there in your car and everything is dark. Hello, now, if you don't know what's going to happen on the other side, you start to get nervous. But if you know that this darkness is just temporary and that if you stay right there, it's just a matter of time before you get to the other side, I don't know who I'm preaching to Somebody may be in a dark tunnel right now. This is not a time to quit praying, to quit speaking the word, because he is the God of the Alpha and the Omega, but he's the God of the middle, the one that will take you through the dark tunnel. So now in Joshua, chapter 3, verse 1, eternal. So now in Joshua, chapter 3, verse 1,.
Speaker 1:Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Acacia Grove and Joshua said to the people sanctify yourselves. Somebody say sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Isaiah 43, 18 and 19,. Do not remember the former things, but consider the things of old, because I will do new things and I will make a road in the wilderness and river in the desert. So you have to understand that Israel, at this point, have done 40 years in the wilderness and they're in a big moment of transition. They are not years in the wilderness and they're in a big moment of transition. They are not yet in the promised land.
Speaker 1:And God is saying sanctify yourself, prepare your posture. Somebody say prepare your posture, cleanse your perspective, because tomorrow I will do wonders among you. You see, god has helped them transition, but now there's something that they have to do so. We've already established that God is the God of the middle. But what is your responsibility? To step into that miracle of the middle? Listen, he says sanctify yourself, cleanse your perspective. Listen, he says sanctify yourself, cleanse your perspective. Listen, transition is not punishment. Transition is preparation. Transition is not delay. Transition is divine development. It's not where purpose dies, it is where transformation begins.
Speaker 1:And in Joshua, chapter 3, israel come to the end of a long season 40 years of wandering, 40 years of waiting, 40 years of surviving in the wilderness. And now they are standing at the edge of the Jordan. They are no longer in Egypt, but they have not yet possessed the land. They are in transition, that sacred stretching between former failure and future fulfillment. What does God say in this moment? He said sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders. Why Listen to this? Because God never calls us into new season with old mindsets. He's the God of the middle, he's the God that will give you a miracle in the middle, but he never calls us into new season with old mindset. Before the crossover, there must be a cleansing. Before you cross over into your breakthrough, before the new thing, there must be a letting go of the old.
Speaker 1:Transition demands introspection and alignment. It's a furnace where God melts all identities and reshape us for new assignment. A caterpillar never becomes a butterfly by staying comfortable. It enters a tight, dark and unfamiliar space, the cocoon, where it loses its former shape. What once growled must now be transformed in isolation, in pressure and stillness. But here's the beauty If you try to cut the cocoon and make it easier, the butterfly will never develop the strength it needs to fly.
Speaker 1:The struggle in the middle produces the wings for the future. So it is with you, hello, some of you, in the middle of your battle. Right now, the devil is going to wish he didn't do what he did, because now you understand what it means to stand on the word and believe God for a miracle. Now you understand the power of prayer, now you understand the power of the prophetic, because God is going to use the stumbling stone and make it into a stepping stone. Listen, the discomfort of this transition is forming your wings. The discomfort of this struggle is developing your faith. The discomfort of these circumstances is developing you. It's amplifying your revelation about God, your revelation about Jesus Christ, your revelation about the Word of God, and something is being developed in your spirit. America, you're going to be strong after this week.
Speaker 1:God is doing something in the middle of this strategy. God is developing us and God is bringing a revelation. He's strengthening the church and he's going to bring people into the kingdom. He's strengthening the church and he's going to bring people into the kingdom. And I want you to understand. If we are going to step into this miracle, we have to understand that not only God is a God that works in the middle, but we have to understand that it's the God. God is the God that calls us to let go of certain things that will inhibit our progress and our ability to receive what he has. Tell somebody this is the last time you see me like this. That which shall be has not yet been revealed. That which shall be has not yet been revealed. I'm somewhere in the future and I look much better than I look right now, but I got to let go of some things to step into some new things. That's very important.
Speaker 1:Every transition demands a release of what is no longer useful. The Samaritan woman dropped her water pot at the well Because what she came for couldn't compare to what she found. John, chapter 4, verse 28. Blonde Bartimaeus threw off his beggar's cloak Because Jesus, before Jesus, healed him, so because he refused to return to his former condition. Mark, chapter 10, verse 50. The eagle, when it grows weary, flies to a high place and pluck out all feathers and break off its beak, waiting for a fresh renewal before soaring again. Even a snake, to continue growing, growing must shed its old skin, because staying in something too tight will eventually suffocate what God is expanding.
Speaker 1:Hello, I want you to understand. The crossing is not the end of a wilderness, it's the beginning of wonders. When God says, sanctify yourself, he's preparing you for something unprecedented. I want you to know that the middle is the door you walk through that will determine your destiny. You can't wear wilderness shoes in a promised land season. Transition without transformation is just transportation. Hey, you are not stuck, you are in the stretch. You are not lost, you are being launched. You are not stuck, you are in the stretch. You are not lost, you are being launched. You're not abandoned, you're being aligned for what God has next. This is a holy threshold. So to step into the new, you're going to have to let go of the old. I want to bring this home now, and then we're going to pray. So Philippians 1 and 6 says, being confident of this very thing, that he that begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3, 20 says what Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all, that we ask or think according to the power that work inside of us. Hello, hello For many of you, maybe even in the beginning of this year, you know, you started with energy and some of you feel like the year is slipping through your fingers.
Speaker 1:You started with vision, you started with hope, you started with energy. But somewhere between the beginning of the year and now, you know, life happened. Distraction, palates, delay wore you down and now you wonder if anything meaningful can still happen before the end of this season. But here the prophetic word God does not need a full year to fulfill his word. Come on. September is the ninth month, nine the birthday months. He just needs your faith for the final stretch. This is not the time to coast. It's a time to lean in. It's a time to press forward and to prepare to finish stronger than you started. Heaven doesn't measure time in minutes. It measured it in moment of obedience and seeds of faith.
Speaker 1:So the scripture we read in Philippians, chapter 1, verse 6 the apostle Paul doesn't say I hope God will finish what he started. I wonder if Mr Amen has left the building. He didn't say I hope God will finish what he started. This is what he says. He said I am confident. I am confident. I say I am confident of this very thing. Why? Because God is not like man. He doesn't abandon projects, he doesn't delay promises or forget what he said. He is the altar and the finisher of our faith.
Speaker 1:And Ephesians 3.20 pushes it even further of our faith. And Ephesians 3, 20 pushes it even further. It reminds us that God's plan doesn't just reach the finish line, it exceeds expectations. When people say don't get your expectations up, no, I say get your expectations up. I've been in China 20 times and the Chinese have a proverb. They say he that expects nothing shall not be disappointed.
Speaker 1:Expectation is the womb that carries manifestation. And when a woman is pregnant, we don't say I wonder what's that? No, we know something is coming. That's what we say she's expecting. It might be one baby, it might be twins, it might be triplet, but we know this is not nothing. Come on, expectation is the womb that carries manifestation, but there will be no manifestation without your participation and you have to come on on, know that God will exceed your expectation. He's not only committed to completion, he's committed to abundance, he's committed to overflow, he's committed to above all. You can ask or think results, but here's the key that verse ends with a condition According to the power that works in us. That's partnership. God brings power, but we must bring faith, alignment and action. Are you ready for your miracle tonight? You must bring faith, expectation. When we pray for you tonight, don't say, well, I don't really know. No, come, prepare to receive something big from God. I really want to give this to you. I'm already feeling the pulling of the Holy Spirit with some of your situation. That is coming to me as a word of knowledge. I'm going to step into that in a moment.
Speaker 1:In 2004, the Boston Red Sox faced the New York Yankees in the best of seven playoff series. They lost the first three games in a historically hopeless situation. No team have ever come back being all three, being down all three. But something shifted in game four. One stolen base turned into one run, which turned into momentum, which turned into one of the greatest comeback in sports history. The Red Sox won four straight games to take the series and went on to win the World Series for the first time in 86 years.
Speaker 1:What does that teach us? The second half can reverse the entire narrative. I'm going to say it again for those who have hearing impaired I said the second half. The second half can reverse the entire narrative. When others expect collapse, god can empower a comeback. When the enemy writes game over, god whispers. Watch me, hallelujah. So what is our responsibility today? Hallelujah. So what is our responsibility today? Let's make this prophetic and in order for us to finish stronger than we started.
Speaker 1:Number one reflect. Somebody say reflect. Ask God what has been fruitful and what has been frustrating. Wisdom comes from honest assessment. Number two realign. Somebody say realign. Bring your heart, your habits and your priority back under heaven's agenda. Realign your yes, say. I realign my yes, yes to God, yes to the Word, yes to the Holy Spirit, yes to purpose, yes to destiny, yes to my church, yes to what God has for me in this season. Realign your yes to what God is still calling you to do. Number three recommit. Reignite your faith, reignite your giving, reignite your serving. If you're not yet serving in this church, find a place to serve. Reignite your serving, reignite your study, reignite your obedience.
Speaker 1:God can do more in the next few months before this year is over than he did the last six years. If you've lost your passion, get it back. If you drifted in your discipline, tighten it up. If you stopped dreaming, start to dream again, because the grace to start over is not just as powerful as the grace to finish strong. You don't need 12 months to see God move. You just need a surrender faith. The second half is God's secret weapon. Faith does not consult the calendar. It activates the promise. The comeback is always stronger than the setback. What took us six months or a year to build, god can accelerate in six days.
Speaker 1:I want you to know that this season is not just the end of a chapter. It's the beginning of a new gear. You may feel like your oil is running low, but God has resolved the best wine for us. Your latter end can be greater than your beginning. Your latter range shall be greater than the former range. It's time to shift gear. It's time to run again. It's time to believe again. It's time to believe that God will do miracles in the middle.
Speaker 1:So the scripture we started with was 1 Samuel, 7 and 12. Then Samuel took a stone. This is getting ready to be a prophetic word for somebody. I'm about to prophesy over somebody. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up in heaven, between Mizpah and Shem, and call his name Ebenezer. Somebody say Ebenezer Saying thus far. Somebody say thus far. The Lord has helped us, and I will add to this even further he will help us. Hello.
Speaker 1:And sometimes the most spiritual thing that you can do is remember, not just to reminisce but to refuel your faith. In a culture that constantly pushes us forward, we often forget to pause and mark the moment where God showed up. Yet in all scriptures, men and women of God stop and build altars and declare he did it here and he will do it again. Remembrance is not retreat. Remembrance is realignment. Gratitude is not weakness. Gratitude is warfare. Faith doesn't just look forward, it looks back to gain strength for the next step. That's what David could face Goliath and say the God would deliver me from the lion. The God would deliver me from the bear. It's the God who is going to deliver me from you.
Speaker 1:So when Samuel lifted that stone and named it Ebenezer, meaning stone of help, he was doing more than commemorating a victory. He was declaring war against forgetfulness and erecting a prophetic anchor for future battles. Israel had just defeated the Philistines, not because they were stronger, but because God turned her from heaven. That stone declared we didn't get there by strategy alone, we got there by supernatural intervention. And I want to say to you you didn't get where you are today by your own strength. You got here because of supernatural intervention. And an Ebenezer moment says I may not be where I want to be, but I'm no longer where I used to be. The same God will help me then, will help me now. That stone wasn't just for history, it was for future hope. It was not just a monument, it was a launching pad.
Speaker 1:Thus far God has helped us, but even further he will help us.
Speaker 1:America, your best days are not behind you. This nation has survived cycles of economic downturn, civil wars, separation, division. Thus far God has helped America. And even further he will help this nation, because the destiny of God is in this nation, one of the number one nation to support the gospel around the world. If America goes down, the whole world goes down and God's not going to let it happen.
Speaker 1:Thus far he has helped us, but even further he is going to help us in the middle of controversy and division and some of you, tonight you are facing a battle, a physical battle, a health battle, a financial battle, a relationship battle. I came to prophesy thus far, god has helped you, but even further he's going to help you. Glorious way, church, you've been through years of faithfulness standing for the word of God. You've been through many battles. You're facing challenges. I'm here to prophesy to this church thus far, god has helped you, but even further he's going to take you over in the department of abundance. Come on, he's going to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you ask or think, according to the power that's working inside of us. Look at your neighbor and say thus far, thus far, even further.