As presented at Life Church, Mobile, Alabama
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Genesis 8:9
"But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot. . ."
What a sad, sad statement that is. . .For the dove to find no resting place. . .
For the presence of God to not find a resting place. . .a dwelling place. . .
A place where the dove feels welcome.
And Jesus when he was baptized he went straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. [Matthew 3:16]
Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, come, find your resting place; not just in this house but on our lives.
We must respect and honor the ministry of the dove.
The anointing that you will respect flow towards you.
It will be attracted to you and it increase in your life.
The anointing you disrespect will flow away from you.
It will decrease and it will diminish in your life.
What you criticize you will never possess.
We need to be cautious what we put our mouths on.
Even ministries that you don't agree with but you put your mouth on, because I have seen young men, and especially young preachers criticize saying, "Well I don't believe in this faith message and I don't believe in this prosperity message."; but then they get in ministry and they need money and the very thing they have criticized is the very thing they need. And now it will not flow to their life, all because what you criticize you will never possess.
I may not agree with everything everybody is doing, but if God wants to manifest feathers falling down in here, so be it. If he wants to bring gold dust in this house, so be it. I may not understand it but I am not going to criticize what happens to somebody else, I might need it one day.
That went over like I thought, only about a third of you seem to agree.
I have decided that I would rather have the applause of God than the applause of man.
While having praise and worship this morning I told God:
That if everybody in my past rejects me,
If every man or woman who ever spoke into my life turns their back on me,
If every leader in this house rejects me,
If we have to dwell in a tent,
I would rather dwell in a tent with the presence of God than I would in the mansions of man and not have God's presence in my life.
I will follow the dove!! The dove will have a resting place in my heart and in my life!!
I am prophesying to you today that God is raising up sons and daughters of life that are full of his glory and love. I realize people talk about there being a lot of darkness, which is true, but I got encouraged this week as I watched the Olympics. I would see some of the athletes get that gold medal and before the networks could cut them off, they would say, "Glory to God! God is so good!" I was refreshed to see somebody giving glory to God on TV and the new media could do anything about it.
Those are the places the dove finds a resting place!
Not just in God's house but in the street.
Everyone is saying the times are dark but know this,
God is raising up sons and daughters of that are full of the life and glory of the Almighty God.
Full of the power and presence of God.
People like David and Moses, that know and value His presence.
The light that is in you is greater than the darkness that is around you.
We were born for such a time as this.
Creation is crying out for something right now.
It's not just for God. . . .It's for you and me!
We cry out, "Oh, God do something!" God is going to do something, but he is going to do it through his Church, through you and me, the sons and daughters of glory.
Romans 8:19 [NKJV]
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
My word for you today is, "It is time to be revealed."
I am talking about the sons and daughters of God who know their God;
Who know they are loved by Him;
And because they know they are loved by Him, they then know who they are.
You can't know who you are until you know who your God is.
(Scott Howard Singing)
He's a good, good father,
It's who you are, It's who you are, It's who you are.
And I'm loved by you.
It's who I am, It's who I am, It's who I am. . .
You know who He is, then you know who you are!
Because of His presence.
91% of the world has a view of God that does not look like Jesus.
Do you realize how many Muslims there are in the world?. . .that have a view of God that looks nothing like Jesus. What about Hindus, Buddhists, Shen-do, Krishna, idol worshipers, and many, many more. I am believing for a revival to break out in the nations where God does not look like Jesus Christ, and especially among the Muslim nations.
I wished I could get somebody in here to get excited about the possibilities of what God can do.
I know that some of you are thinking, "But they are terrorists".
Not all of them are terrorists.
The Apostle Paul, when he was known as Saul, was a terrorists. He was terrorizing Christians.
If God can take a man who was terrorizing Christians and breathing threatening's and causing terror and fear to come upon the Church, and turn his life around by the very presence and appearance of Jesus, God can bring revival to the Muslim nations.
I am tire of hearing about all the darkness all the time.
We are not going to live and preach in this church from the perspective of darkness and fear.
A lot of people pray in fear instead of in faith.
God has always done great things,
He can still do great things,
And He will continue to do great things.
We are children of the light and darkness has no power over us.
Our cry should be that we live from the presence of God.
There is a difference in living for God than living from God.
The difference is being a prophetic people who do more than echo the news, but who create the news.
These are a prophetic people who are sons and daughters of glory.
Who stop seeing themselves through the history and start seeing themselves through their destiny.
You may feel like you are the least in your family; David felt that way too.
I have discovered there has always been David's and Goliath's throughout history, and God always uses the David's.
God never chose the strongest, and he never chose the wisest.
God never chose the most talented, he always chose the one who knew how to value His presences above all others; those who knew how to be strong in him and the power of his might.
That was the kind of man David was; he knew the importance of the presence of God.
My question to us as a church and you as an individual is:
How comfortable are we with the presence of the Dove?
How welcome is the Dove in our services?
So many are making everyone and everything comfortable in their services expect the Dove.
Worship services like we had this morning are able to take place because the Dove is welcome here.
He is able to move here;
He is able to do what he wants to do here;
Because his presence is so valuable here.
Jesus was baptized in the shadow of the Dove.
What overshadows us is the shadow we can walk in.
Exodus 33:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart [and] go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' "
God said to Moses, I want you to depart and go to a higher level.
I want you to go up!
God does not want us to walk blindly and aimlessly through life; He leads us by His Spirit.
If you are saved you are the dwelling place of the Spirit; the tabernacle of the Most High God.
We have to position ourselves to hear from God: to listen, to meditate, to worship.
He has a definite plan for every person in this house.
God begins every potential miracle in your life with a faith picture that is born of the Holy Spirit.
When we value the presence of God the Holy Spirit begins to paint on our heart.
He begins to paint on our imagination.
He begins to put pictures on our mind.
If you are willing to let the Holy Spirit show you, He will show you things in your imagination to help you implement things that will cause you to have great experiences in your accomplishments as they are born through the Spirit of God.
There are business that are being born and raised up as the Holy Spirit, the Dove, paints pictures on minds, in hearts, and in lives of what can be!
Yesterday I was asked to be a part of a dedication service for a new business being opened by one of the families in our church. It has opened up in the high rent district of our city. This family came to from the Bahamas and joined with us. God started stirring them up and they started believing God. They did not have any money but being full of the presence of God, the lady in this family went to the real estate company who were representing the property, and she made them an offer for half of what the property listed for. The real estate company said they could not do that. So this lady said she wanted to talk to the owners herself. She spoke to them, made the same offer, and they took it. She did not have any furniture to go in the building, it had to be fully furnished; a fifty-eight hundred square foot facility. She did not have anything she needed to implement this business. She looked in the paper and saw where a similar business in New Orleans was going out of business and everything was for sale. By faith she told her husband, "Don't rent me a small U-Hall truck, you rent me the biggest one they have." Her husband told her, "You don't have any money?" She still wanted the biggest truck that could be rented. With no money, this lady went and got everything she needed to open her business. Everything is first class, not cheap! She told me at the dedication of her business, "I don't owe anyone a dime!"
These things happen when the Dove is not only welcome in the house of God, but also when he is welcome outside, on the street, in your house, in your car, in every situation that you find yourself in!
Your story will bring God glory and it is getting ready to be told!
Watch God give you favor with people on your job, in your schools, in the store, on the playground, with your neighbors and in your communities.
Our dreams and visions begin as undeveloped pictures that are seated deep within our heart and mind. These are things we see God wants to do in our future and they come because we value the presence of God.
In Exodus 33:1 God told Moses to depart and go up from here. . .
We are preparing ourselves for a higher realm of the move of the Spirit; and it is already happening; it has started!
Some may say all this is some type gimmick or hype just to move the people.
This is not my intent, but I do not want to miss God!
So many in the Church of Jesus Christ has gotten to a place that they are so worried and concerned that our culture will think we are weird, so they are doing absolutely nothing for God.
I want the manifestation of the presence of God in my life more than I want anything else;
Where ever it takes me, whatever we have to leave, whatever we have to do.
"My God, I want your presences more than I want anything else in my life."
I want to see the miraculous,
I want to see the healing power of God,
I want to see the cripples walk,
I want to see the lame healed,
I want to see blind eyes opened,
I want to see God do everything He has already paid for with his son Jesus.
I want to LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD!!!!
It is time to live in the presence of God!!!
If the world, the church, and the religious community thinks I'm goofy, let them think what they want. I want Him more than I want man's approval.
God said, "Go up we are going to a higher level Moses."
He said, "to depart and go up from here."
How are we going to live our lives?
Will it be a life of familiar routines?
I don't want to get up and live my life the same way I have always done it: trying to figure out natural ways to do everything, when God has a better way, by listening to the voice of His Spirit. I must pray in the Spirit and let divine revelation flow through me.
God can gives solutions that do not come through the natural mind.
The Holy Spirit will bring divine solutions.
The Presence of God will give you strategies; business strategies and understanding.
People in the Bible were anointed by God to do something besides just come to church.
The anointing of God works at the church but His anointing on you has great things that can happen outside of the walls of a church building. His Spirit speaks and leads.
Am I going to live a life of familiar routines Or,
Am I going to live a life of MORE?
Where my desire is to:
Know Him MORE,
Experience Him MORE,
To have greater manifestations in my life!
Let me remind you the book of Acts if full of manifestations and it is the model for the Church.
I cannot and will not ever be satisfied just going to church on Sundays and watching movies.
Because we are going up to a higher place!
God told Moses to go up to a higher place and to take some folks with you.
How many want to God to a higher place? I do!
There is only one way to get there.
It is not because of how smart we are, nor is it because of how articulate we are, nor how gifted we may be.
It is because of the presence of the Dove!
Because we have decide that nothing will satisfy us more than living in His presence.
It is about the Descendants
God told Moses to go up and take the people he had with him, but that it was not about you Moses, it's about the descendants [Exodus 33:1].
Are we going to let the world gobble up, lie to, or capture our children; or are we going to be like Moses and make a declaration that as God's presence leads us, not only are we going to be transformed, but our sons, our daughters and our grandchildren are going to be transformed by the very presence of the Almighty God also?
While I am at it, let me prophesy to:
Your kids and to your step-kids;
Your in-laws and to everybody that is on your list.
The ones you like and the ones you don't.
The ones that like you and the ones that don't.
The ones who have said good things to you and the ones who have cursed you.
In Jesus name, they will see the presence of the Almighty God on your life;
And they will not be able to deny that there is something happening in your life that is changing you and challenging them.
Prophesy to the Darkness
I prophesy to the darkness, "You will not have our sons, our daughters, and our grandchildren.!"
Did you hear what I said darkness?
You demons of homosexuality, "You will not have our sons, our daughters, and our grandchildren.!"
You demons of addiction, "You will not have our sons, our daughters, and our grandchildren.!"
You demons of racism and rejection, "You will not have our sons, our daughters, and our grandchildren.!"
Another Spirit rules and reigns and it is the very presence of the Dove, it is the presence of the Almighty God!
We will raise up a generation that shall see the glory of the Lord as the waters that cover the sea!
I prophesy to your classmates, to your class rooms, to your schools, to every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread.
The Lord says to you this day, "Have I not already given it you says the Lord your God?"
I prophesy to your future:
You will have the one that God has designed for you to have.
You will not live in rejection another minute longer in Jesus name.
I prophesy that God is causing in the Spirit and the presence of God, the Elijah Generation to rise up an Elisha Generation.
Christianity will not die with the Elijah Generation!
Even as the Olympic Torch was taken through the streets of the earth, so shall the Elisha Generation once again bear the torch of the light of the Gospel to the world.
I declare that a new generation shall arise in the presence of God.
It is time to free people to do great things.
On the streets and in the market place, because I prophesy to you it’s a new day, there is a fresh move of the spirit. Yesterday is in the tomb; today and tomorrow are in the womb.
The presence of the Lord is the womb for signs, wonders, dreams, miracles, and visions.
It is where they are incubated and it is where they will be birthed from.
God wants a church that cannot get by without Him.
Promises are not Enough
God said to Moses you go ahead into that land, I have great promises for you there; this is your promised land. And Moses told God, "Just the promises is not enough, I want your presences.
OH! YES LORD WE NEED YOUR PRESENCE!
OH! LORD HEAL OUR LAND!
Moses was saying he did not want to go into the land even with all these possession, if I don't have your presence.
Moses had some insight. He did not do everything right, just as we don't, but he had some insight. Moses knew they did not just need the presence of God to take them into the land, but that they were going to need the presence of God to keep them in victory and sustained once they were in the land. The battles were not over just because they went into the land, they were just beginning.
In Jesus name I declare we are not just going in with the presence we are going to stay with the presence and operated in His presence as we see the glory of the Lord revealed like the waters that cover the seas.
There is no magic place that we get to in life where we don't need God anymore!
Without Him and His presences in a nation, in a life, all is empty.
Let Me See Your Glory
God told Moses because you have asked, My presence with go with you.
Moses then asked the Lord to "Show me your Glory. Let me see your Glory!"
He was not just looking for God's promises;
He was not just desiring His presence;
He was also looking for His Glory!
This is a desire to know God deeper than just being in His presence.
God told Moses he could not handle all of his glory, it would kill him.
But if you will hide in the Cleft of the Rock, I will let my "Goodness" pass before you.
We are about to see the Glory of the Lord being revealed!
His glory is His goodness. We are going to see His goodness being revealed as we are in His presence, living in His promises.
You see the glory of God when you see the goodness of God.
We do not deserve it, but by His Grace (being shadowed in the cleft of the rock) we can see the glory of the Almighty God. His glory is revealed in Jesus.
There is great grace for this hour;
There is great manifestation for this hour.
God's glory is revealed:
In His goodness to you,
In His deliverance to you,
In His plan for your life.
God has not left you, and He will not leave you.
God has not forsaken you, and he will not forsake you.
His glory is about to be manifested in your life.
The goodness of God is about to overwhelm you and me!
Can you say with Moses, "I want to know the presence of God like never before."
None of us have ever experienced everything God has for us yet.
You are not so supper spiritual that you have experienced everything God has got for you yet.
This makes me hopeful, to know that God still has things he wants to do in our hearts and in our lives; which means that God is not finished with us.
When Joshua went into the land he lived another twenty-five years.
When Caleb went into the land he took an entire mountain for his possession.
They were able to continue and finish their course because they let the Dove have a resting place in them.
We will finish our course in strength and power because we give the presence of God a resting place in us.
We say to Him, "Make my heart your throne."
The more you give access to the presence of God:
You are going to have more healing than you have ever had before.
You are going to have more prosperity than you have ever had before.
You are going to have more power than you have ever had before.
You will see things you have never seen before.
You will have answers to questions you never had before.
You will have divine insight into the deep mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
Your willingness to say yes to valuing the presence of God is life changing and life altering.
So say in your heart, "I want to know the presence of God like never before."