You're listening to the Miracle Word Podcast. We believe that the Word of God gives you the power to experience never-ending increase in every area. If you're ready for revelation that will take you to the next level, you're in the right place. Here's your host, evangelist, author and founder of Miracle Word University, 10 Shuttlesworth Jr.
All of us, and this is found in the book of James. James chapter 4, I'll go there while you're in Luke 4, and you can mark it in your notes. This is what the Bible says. I'm going to start reading with, let's see, I'll read beginning in James chapter 4 and verse 6.
The Bible says, but he, that is God, gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So we talked a little bit about this last night as we're in the middle of fasting and prayer. One of the things fasting is proof of is that we're humbling ourselves before God.
There's nobody in their right mind that's going to push their plate away for 21 days and literally stop eating to just pray and seek God's face. Just doing that alone. I mean, even if you're doing 6 to 6, people in the world think that's nuts. I mean, what do you mean you're going to eat one meal a day?
I mean, people go on the O-Mab diet and people think you're nuts. What do you mean you're going to eat one meal a day? Well, it's because we're seeking the face of God. And we're doing what the Bible says.
Nobody would do these things unless they were humble enough to say, I can't do it in my own strength, in my own power. I need God's help. I need God's anointing. I need His divine intervention.
And so humbling yourself is saying God's way is better than my way. God's way is better than my way. Hallelujah. Miss Pam found that out in Jesus name.
And she said God's way is even better than the doctor's way. Hallelujah. And can I tell you something? Is that is a biblical mindset?
Because God spoke through the prophet Isaiah. And he said in Isaiah chapter 55 verses 8 and 9, as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are my ways higher than your ways says the Lord. And my thoughts than your thoughts.
So you can see very clearly if God's ways are higher, if his thoughts are higher, then I want to get out of my thoughts. I want to get out of my ways and get into his ways and his thoughts. True humility says God's ways are better. God's thoughts are better.
So what do we do? We press in and say Lord I'm just going to obey your word. I'm going to fast and pray until I see a breakthrough hit in my life. And so as we're doing that the Bible says he opposes the proud but gives grace or more favor to the humble.
If you don't have a copy of both of my books on fasting, I'm giving them away during this time of fasting and prayer. If you don't have one, grab it at the product table before you leave one of each. But if you look on the one, the gray one, the first one I wrote, the complete guide to biblical fasting, I put something as the subtitle, master the habit that provokes God's favor. Master the habit.
People wonder why did you write that? What do you mean master the habit that provokes God's favor? This verse is what I mean by that. James chapter four and verse six, he opposes the proud but gives more grace, more favor to the humble.
Hallelujah. He gives more grace. So you know what's interesting? You've often heard people preach and teach that grace is unmerited favor.
But there was only ever one grace that was unmerited favor. And that is when God chose by his own sovereign will and his love for the earth to send Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins. There's nothing we could have done to force God to send Jesus. He did it because he loves us.
Hallelujah. But after that, did you know you can provoke more favor from God? Did you ever notice that not every believer is operating at the same level of favor? Not every believer is operating at the same level of grace.
It's because there are things we can do by our obedience to the word of God to provoke more favor from heaven. Favor is not a mystery and it's not a season that you enter into. I just want to tell you we're in a season of favor right now. They know such thing as a season of favor.
There's no such thing as a season of favor because if there is, I'd like to know when it ends. Can you check your favor real quick to see what the expiration date is? That's what I want to know. I was watching Christian TV one time and there was a preacher on there taking an offering and he said, if you'll send in right now $66, there's a six month healing anointing.
Coming upon your life. I said, what if I need healing in the seventh month? I said, I didn't know that anointing had an expiration date. You know, six months is over.
Your healing anointing has vanished until you send the next $66 seed. No, you can't pay for the anointing. You can't buy the power of God. But I found out you can provoke God's favor by your actions and by your obedience to his word.
Hear me tonight as we're in 21 days of fasting and prayer. Don't be surprised when this favor hits you in full force. Don't be surprised when you start seeing his grace and new measure. Don't be surprised when doors start opening.
Don't be surprised when the increase comes. Don't be surprised when the healing manifests. Don't be surprised when doors start to open because as we seek his face, he will release favor and grace upon the humble. Can you say amen to that?
And so, he, James chapter 4 and verse 6, he opposes the proud but gives grace. One translation said more grace. So the humble. Now keep on going.
Look at verse 7. Verse 7 says, submit yourselves therefore to God. Now I always like to point this out. If you do any Bible study, if you see the word therefore, you need to figure out what it's there for.
That's real. Anytime you see the word therefore, figure out what it's there for. Because really what it means when you're studying these things is, so as a result of what you've just read, submit yourselves to God. As a result of what you've just read, what do we just read?
He opposes the proud and gives more grace to the humble. So therefore, submit yourself to God. That is the next logical step. If you want his favor, if you want his blessing, submit yourself therefore to God.
Resist the devil. Hallelujah. And he will flee from you. I love that.
He will run in terror from you. So notice we quote this verse a lot. Resist the devil. And you notice there's a lot of people that quote it and forget the first part.
How many of the Bible says? Resist the devil. And he will flee. It starts by saying submit yourselves therefore to God.
You can't resist the devil without first submitting yourself therefore to God. Anyone who is, oh man, I'm going to preach right now. Anybody who is not submitted to God can't resist the devil. That's a whole separate message all by itself.
Anybody who's not submitted to God cannot resist the devil because you're not operating under God's delegated authority. If I'm outside of his commands, see I'll be like being in the military. I say, well, I don't want to obey any commands for my commanding officer, but I want to go infiltrate some country and start going after my enemies. Let me tell you, when you're the only one out there on the battlefield, they flee from you.
Where's my backup? They're not coming to help you with any kind of favor or grace because you're outside of submission to authority. That's how it happens in God's army. Unless you're submitted to God, you can't resist the devil.
They're tied together forever. That's why they're both together in one verse. And it says, therefore, if you want that favor, if you want that grace, submit yourself therefore to God. Resist the devil.
So you've got two responsibilities here that will provoke a change in your lifestyle. When I submit and resist, submit and resist, submit and resist, submit and resist. I'm saying it over and over because I learned in Spanish class that repetition is what brings that knowledge into your sphere. I have a Spanish teacher who would not even let me go to the bathroom unless I could ask for everything fully in Spanish.
Say, that can end up bad. I can remember the word. You better remember. She didn't care.
She said repetition, except she said in Spanish. And so I found out, submit and resist, submit and resist. Submit is what you do to God. Resist is what you do to the devil.
Submits what you do to God. Resist is what you do to the devil. And unless you do the first one, you can't do the second one. But notice this, we quoted a lot.
People preach on it a lot. But have you ever noticed no one ever gives practical advice on how do you actually resist the devil? We hear it all time. We resist it.
We just don't throw a stiff out arm out in the Holy Ghost. It's on the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost comes on you. The devil starts attacking.
What do you actually do to resist the devil? That's what I'm talking about tonight. Because we're going to put the devil in retreat mode in 2025 in Jesus' name. We're going to flip the script.
What am I saying? That we're going to go from the place. If this was where you were at before. Where I was like, I just feel like I've been going from harassment to harassment.
It's been from issue to issue. Problem to problem. I feel like if it's not one thing, it's another. And I'm tired of all this nonsense manifesting in my life and in my family.
Then we're going to flip that script to where the devil's been harassing you day after day, week after week, month after month. We're flipping it on him and we're coming to harass him in 2025. We're putting the devil in retreat mode in the name of Jesus Christ. He shall flee from you.
Glory to God. When you turn around to look, you're not going to see devil chasing you. Demons chasing you. Sickness chasing you.
Problems chasing you. You're going to turn around and see goodness and mercy and signs and wonders. You're going to see the blessings of heaven chasing you down and overtaking you. Oh, thank you, Jesus.
Put the devil in retreat mode. I said retreat mode. He's going to have to re-look at everything he thought he was going to do and just yell to everyone that's with him. Run.
Run. They found out who they are in Christ. They found out what they have. They found out about their power.
Submit yourself there for God. Resist the devil and he'll flee. He'll run in terror. I feel like running tonight, but not in terror, in victory.
Glory to God. Somebody texted me, they said, watch your preaching last night. I'm still wondering where you get all your energy from. They knew they said, you know, fifth day of a fast, where you get all that energy from?
Must be the Holy Ghost. Because I have no Columbian connection bringing me any powder. I'm just telling you, it's the Holy Ghost. Tell me, will you?
Josh, why'd you cover your mouth when I said that? You're doing it. Don't tell me who you are. Anyway, submit.
Resist. Submit. Resist. Submit.
Resist. And he will flee. He has to run. He has to run.
This is the year that you're going to clearly see that devil running from you in every area of your life. Stuff that felt like it wouldn't change for years. And you prayed and said, Lord, how long do I have to deal with this? How long am I going to put up with this?
And then you begin to see as you resist the devil. Get ready. He's running from you. I said he's running from you.
When he sees you coming, he'll check you from a long way away and take off. See, the devil can sense the anointing even from far away. I learned that from scripture. I was reading in Mark chapter 5 before we go over here to where I had your turn.
We're going to, we see this. Jesus came off of the boat in the region of the Gatorines. And there was a man full of so many demons that the demons in the man could fill a herd of pigs on the countryside and run them all off a cliff and cause them to drown in the water. The man was full of a legion of demons.
Some people believe that that was a literal reference to how many thousands of demons were in the man. Josephus wrote that in his histories that it was a reference to a Roman legion of soldiers, about four to six thousand men at that time. Could there have been four to six thousand demons in one man's spirit? The human spirit is vast.
I mean, you talk about a lot of demons being in somebody. Don't forget this. The Holy Ghost is in you. Think about that.
How vast your spirit is. The fullness of God. The fullness of God. Man, the fullness of God dwells in you.
If we have the amplified, this verse gets me shouting all the time, Ephesians 3 19. Because when I saw this for the first time in the amplified Bible and the verbiage is what hit me. The verbiage struck me so hard. I begin to see that we don't have just a little touch of God.
I mean, we want to touch of God. I don't have a touch. You know, people say that at a restaurant. Just put a touch of ginger in there, just a touch.
I don't have a touch of God. I've got the overflowing impartation of the most high God on the inside of me. And so do you. Look at the Bible says here.
So I, 3 19, please. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 19, that you may really come to know practically through experience for yourselves, the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience. That you may be filled. Everybody say filled.
That you may be filled through all your being unto all the fullness of God. That doesn't stop there. Look at the next part and may have the richest measure of the divine presence and become a body. Holy filled and flooded with God himself.
That's who you are tonight, a body that is filled and flooded with God himself. See, if you understand, see, this is why it gets so overwhelming to even think of the goodness of God. What he did for you. What he did for you.
Jesus Christ was our example. He was our example. He was God did through him what he was planning to do through all mankind. You know, Jesus was just the prototype man.
You ever get that? Jesus was just the prototype man. God was showing what he was going to do through all mankind in one man. You know, when a car company comes up with a new vehicle, they build these cars and really their concept cars, they're called concept cars.
And they may not be out for production yet, but they're testing out new designs, testing out new stuff. I saw one time, I don't know if Cadillac ever released it or not. Somebody showed me a vehicle Cadillac was a concept. It was like so, it was a sports car that was so low to the ground, probably about that high off the ground that when you got in the seat, you almost had to lay fully flat like this.
The windshield was so tinted or so tilted that it almost like you had to lay almost flat. And it was a V12 engine. This thing, they said had top speeds of like 245. And it was so aerodynamic.
Well, I don't know if they ever put that into production, but it was a concept car. And so they're working out the bugs. So what happens when a car company puts out that concept car, you know what they have to do, right? They have to put that vehicle through every stress test before it can go into mass production.
Because what good is it? To put that car in a mass production if the engine's malfunctioning. Because you're going to create hundreds of thousands of vehicles with a malfunctioning engine. No, you don't do that.
You put it through the stress test first, has to go through the crash tests, the safety tests, has to make sure the airbags deploy properly, has to make sure that things can hit it in the sides and in the back, to the lights work, does the engine function properly, is the transmission good. All of it has to be tested. And then when it's passed every test, they send it into mass production. And Jesus came down from heaven as the concept man.
And God sent him as the word made flesh. And he walked around this earth in the form of a man. And the Bible said he passed every test. He was tempted in all points like we are, but without sin.
So that by the time he got to the end and said, it is finished. God knew I can now take this model and put it into mass production. And by the time Jesus was done, the Bible declares he got up out of the grave, that is disciples and breathed upon him and said, receive ye the Holy Ghost. And they received their salvation.
And then thousands begin to be added to the church. And he said the works that I do, you will do also. How can I do it? Because I got the same manufacturer.
I got the same model. I'm a body that is filled and flooded with body himself. Oh, I feel like preaching on a Monday night. Hallelujah.
Colossians 2, see, God was doing through Christ what he was about to do through us. Look at this. Colossians 2, 9, talking about Jesus for in him. Some say in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.
Jesus was so powerful that as I was preaching a moment ago, he couldn't even get off the boat and step into the region of the Gatorines without a man who was full of demons feeling him coming. He didn't have to wait till he came out. He didn't walk up into the graveyard. I feel something up here who's messing around up here in the graveyard.
Jesus didn't have to go up there. No, he stepped right onto the shore. And when he did, a shockwave of anointing went out through the region. This is what gets me excited.
It's because before Jesus came, the man in the graveyard was the most powerful, spiritual entity in that whole region. No one could bind him, not even with chains. The Bible said they'd try. They'd bind him up with chains.
And he'd get violent and snap him off and go back to being violent and demonic. And so they said, you can't come into any of the towns in this region. Stay out of town. So he would go to a graveyard because here's a man.
Listen to me that though he was bound, he still wanted to be free. He was bound, but he wanted to be free. He said, well, how do you know he wanted to be free? Because if you study the cultural beliefs at that time, they believed if you had demons in you, that those spirits could be released if you could make cuts in your body.
So they would cut themselves to try to make openings in their flesh. Because they thought if we do that, we can release these spirits out of our body. So you wonder what was he doing up in that graveyard? The Bible says that day and night he was crying out and cutting himself.
People thought cutting was a new trend. They thought it was something people just do since 2010. It's not new. Here's a man that was all these thousands of years ago who was cutting himself.
But it was because he wanted to be free. He didn't want those demons in him anymore. And so as Jesus stepped out onto the shore, the Bible said the man's head whipped around because the demons could feel that a more powerful entity just stepped into the region. And Jesus didn't have to go down there and join hands with the disciples as they just start praying in tongues.
Let's stir up the gift. Let's stir up the gift. No, no, no, no. He just walked.
He just walked onto the shore. When you show up, the power of God shows up with you. When you walk into the publics, the anointing is in publics with you. When you step onto a plane to board it, every other person on a clap their hands and give God praise that you just stepped on the plane.
Because the fact that you just boarded and took your seat means that the plane can't go down. Because God didn't put you on it to kill you. He put you on it to take you to your final destination. Oh, yes.
And the man felt Jesus coming. And he took off running. Not away from Jesus, toward Jesus. You know why?
Because though that man was filled with demons. Number one, he wanted to be free. Number two, the demons knew we are forced to worship him. We are forced to worship him.
So what did they do? Even though the man was possessed, ran down to the shore and bowed down low to the ground. And they began to worship him and beg him. Should everything of that?
Those an army of demons and the man. All those demons weren't enough for one Holy Ghost filled man. Every, I can encourage you, every demon in hell is not enough for one Holy Ghost filled woman. For one Holy Ghost filled man.
Every force of darkness, every spirit of anti-Christ, every wicked thing doesn't have the resources to stand before one Holy Ghost filled child of God. You are filled and flooded with God himself and the devil can't stand it. Because all the things he wishes he was, God made you to be. If you go back and read in Isaiah, the Bible says the devil full of pride, Satan, Lucifer himself.
He said, I will be exalted into the heavens. I will be seated on a throne. I will wear a crown. I will rule and reign.
And God said, no, you won't. And it jected him so hardcore from heaven that Jesus looked back and said to the disciples, I was there. I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. See, he saw how hard God ejected him from the heavenly realms and he has no authority.
But then just to rub it in the devil's face, God said, now let us make man in our image. And when the devil said, I'll be like the most high God. God said, no, you won't. But I'll make man in my image and in my likeness.
The devil said, I will ascend into heaven. He said, no, you won't. But I'll raise them up and sit them in heavenly places. I'll sit on a throne.
No, you won't. But I'll put them in Christ and let them sit at my right hand. O hallelujah. And all the things the devil wanted to be are the things God made you to be.
It's no wonder then why the devil hates you so bad and wants to take you out. It's because you are what he wishes he could be. It's pure jealousy every time he looks at you and remembers that God stopped him from having what he wanted and then gave it to you. And now the power that fills you up.
A body filled and flooded. Somebody say flooded. Flooded. Absolutely drenched.
Sometimes I come home from the gym. You know when I go like once or twice a year, I went. You okay Scott? I come home to the gym or I'll fly out on a long walk.
I'm trying to go. I'm walking. I'm not fasting. I'm exercising.
Hopefully. And I'll see my wife. She'll be coming out from the she's working. She's doing something.
And I'll come on. Give her a kiss. And she'll give me a kiss. I'm sweating.
I'm sweating. It's like 85 degrees outside. I just finished 4 miles. Yes, I am.
I'm sweating. You know what that is? That shirt. It was dry before I put it on.
But then as I began working, as I began working, as I began working, as I began working, that shirt became flooded. It was drenched. I know that might be a gross example. But I want you to hear me tonight that God is in you.
See here's what people don't understand many times. The Bible says that as many, this is Galatians 327, as many as are baptized into Christ have put on Christ. translation reads have put him on like a new garment. As many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
You're wearing, he is filling you, you're wearing him, you're one with Christ. When he begins to work in you, you are filled and flooded, you're drenched to the overflow with the glory of God. How is it you can lay hands on the sick and they have to recover? It's not because there's anything special about your hands.
It's not because there's anything special about, no, you know what it is? It's because who's in you is overflowing out of you. And there's a residue left behind that when you lay your hands on somebody, the residue of the anointing that's on the inside of your body, it overflows onto somebody else. And by the time you're done, cancer cells have to die, and diabetes has to go, and glaucoma has to leave, and lungs have to be, what?
Because there's a residue. There's a residue, it's on the inside of you, but it's overflowing out of you. Think about how strong it was coming out of Jesus. So strong, this anointing was so overflowing out of Jesus that it was in his robe, it's in his robe.
You know this one with the issue of blood, she wasn't the only one in the New Testament. You read the Gospels? There were other instances where people touched his robe and were made whole, other instances. She was just one of the ones.
Why did they touch his robe? He was so overflowing with the nature of God, with the anointing of the Holy Ghost, that it got in his clothes. So well, that's Jesus, I mean, that's because he was the Son of God. Look at Paul's life.
Paul the Apostle in Acts 19, the opposite he wore handkerchiefs and aprons upon his body while he was preaching, because he understood this principle. For the sole purpose of the fact when he was done preaching, he took those handkerchiefs and aprons off of his body and distributed them to those that were sick, to those that were demon-possessed, to those that were bound. And whoever got a hold of those cloths, they were made whole, they were delivered, they were set free. Because Paul understood, as I'm ministering, there's an overflow of the anointing that's working in my life and the anointing is transferable.
Hallelujah. I said the anointing is transferable. It can be transferred through the laying on of hands. It can be transferred through anointing with oil.
It can be transferred through the spoken word. It can be transferred. I transferred at one time to a guy just by picking up off the ground and bouncing him around the church. My uncle, one time the Lord spoke to my uncle to run off the platform in his own conference and to front kick a guy right in the chest.
He said, the Lord led him to do that? Yes. The Lord led him. He ran right off.
Everybody was standing in worshiping. This pastor about 6'4", about 285. My uncle jumped off the platform and came down. BAM!
I kicked him right in his chest. And he went over the chair and into the second row he was out. He went in and out and the Holy Ghost, or he got knocked out, they didn't know him. And didn't even reference it.
Just went back to preaching. Minister, there was a preacher there from Chicago. He's a motivational speaker for the Cubs and the Bears. And he saw that.
He has a very humorous speaker. He saw that guy get kicked. He turned back around. He said, pastor, kick him again.
And nobody knew why he did that. But that pastor came back. And I know him personally, we've preached for him many times. He said, I was, I got a diagnosis for my doctor.
He said, I didn't even tell my wife about it. I didn't want her to worry. But the doctor told me, pastor, you'll have to stop pastoring your church. Your heart is so bad that you'll have to stop everything.
You're doing no stress on that heart. He said, then I get that report. Here comes Pastor Terry. He runs down and kicks me in my chest.
And he said, I went back to the doctor. Now here's the test in the way that came later. He went back to the pastor. The pastor, the doctor, and the doctor said, pastor, what have you been doing?
He said, well, you know what I've been in meetings and stuff? He said, you've got to see this. Look at this. And put up both x-rays on the light board.
He said, look at this. He said, here's the heart I was telling you about. He said, look at this. He said, this ain't even the same heart.
I x-rayed last time. He said, this is a different heart. What have you been doing? God didn't heal his heart.
God put up brand new heart. You know why? Because I told you before, he's your manufacturer. God's your manufacturer.
He's got spare parts in heaven. If he's got to recreate something in your body, he can recreate it. If he has to recreate your optic nerves and your eyes or your eardrums. If he has to recreate one of your organs of your body, you ought to be encouraged tonight.
You serve a God who's able. He's able. I said, he's able. I've watched him do it.
I've watched it. I told you the story last night, the woman who ruptured her eardrum with the comb right into her ear. And God opened it instantly. Now look, here's what's wild.
I don't know if God repaired the eardrum or just gave her her hearing back out of a ruptured eardrum. There was a man, my father told me this story because my grandfather and this guy, there was a man who had a glass eye. And then God healed him. And he could see out of the glass eye.
What's that about? What I want to, he'd be an excellent spy. He just rolled that thing under a door. I see you.
Give me back mine. Could see right out of the glass eye. Super natural things. God recreates.
My father prayed for him. They brought this girl in one of the revivals years ago. No eyeballs in the sockets at all. Literally empty sockets.
My father prayed. He came back the next year. And what looked like a little white pearl was growing in the back of the socket. Came back the next year.
Fully formed eyes. And the retinas and the pupils were not fully formed yet. And then came back the next time. And beautiful blue eyes had formed in that girl because God is a creator.
You know some people hear that testimony. I said, why didn't God just do it instantly? Maybe there was somebody who said, God can't do that. And he let him look for two years as he performed the miracle for two straight years.
Let me tell you, when you're watching God do the impossible for two years straight every day. You know, things getting bigger. Let me see that again. That eyes getting bigger in there.
That thing's failing your socket. Hold on, retinas are being formed. I see pupils forming in your eye. And all of a sudden, all you can do is say, God is able.
God is able. God is able. And I'm telling you tonight, when that kind of faith rises up in you, you put the devil in retreat mode. He's running from you in 2025.
I said, he's running from you in 2025. He's running from you in 2025. Now I had you go to Luke 4 about 45 minutes ago. And so now we're going to read it.
I hope you enjoyed my introduction. So in Luke chapter four, praise God. Luke chapter four, this is Jesus dealing with the same thing that we all have to deal with. The enemy comes to try to mess with you, to try to tempt you, to try to discourage you, to try to keep you from the promise that God said he's yours.
Don't let him do it. Put him into retreat mode. Make him run in terror from you. The Bible said resist the devil, and he must submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil, and he must flee from you.
So here's a picture of exactly how you resist the devil. And who better to look at than Jesus himself while he's resisting the devil? See, I don't believe like some people do. You know, there's actually a group of people who believe that though Jesus came in a format, it was impossible for him to sin.
There's actually a few, even though he was tempted, even though he could not have sinned, it was impossible God wouldn't have let him sin. Then he wasn't tempted. Then he wasn't tempted. It's not a temptation if it's impossible to accomplish it.
The Bible said he was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin. So if he was tempted like we are, let me tell you, we do have the capacity to sin. And so if he was tempted in all points as we are, then let me tell you, he absolutely, there was no way, and there was no reason for the devil to come mess with him if it wasn't gonna do it anyway. He had to say he'd go and mess with somebody else, he's got limited time and limited resources.
No, Christ came in the form of a man and entered him to every temptation in all points and every single time he succeeded, he succeeded, he passed the test, passed the test, passed the test, fulfilled the law of Moses, went on to the cross, became a curse, Hallelujah, became sin, he who knew no sin, was made to be sin so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. Oh yeah, he took it upon himself so that we didn't have to take it on ourselves. And the Bible says here, here comes Satan. Wouldn't it, when you know he comes, he comes right in the mail, Jesus in a 40 day fast.
The devil loves to try to mess with you when you're at your weakest point. That's why I tell people all the time, hear me on this, write it down twice in your notes. Don't ever make an important decision when you're tired or you're upset or in a place where you're worn out. That's when the devil wants you to make a decision.
That's when you throw in the towel. That's when you, I don't know, I just maybe, you follow God's voice and then the devil tries to tell you, oh you made the wrong choice and I just, oh maybe I should go back to doing what I was doing before, I don't know, this just, it feels hard, that's what the devil wants. He wants you to doubt God's word and he wants you in retreat mode but we refuse to retreat because faith only moves forward. I said faith only moves forward, faith only moves forward.
It does not retreat as an object lesson. That's why Dr. Sumrall would not put his car in reverse, ever. Can you imagine me with him?
Dr. Sumrall was wild. He literally wouldn't put his car in reverse and he was in a place where there was no way out except backwards, he would get out of his vehicle and have an assistant come back that car out. He's not going backwards, I don't care if you do, I'm not going backwards.
He'd have an assistant back his car out of a parking space because he couldn't go forward and then he'd get in the driver's seat and drive forward. He believed it so much, he put an extra door in his garage so they could drive right in forward and then drive forward out the back. He never had to go backwards. He refused to go backwards as an object lesson.
Faith only moves forward, doesn't go back. He got off a plane, he built television stations, all kinds of stuff. He got off a plane back when people could meet you at the gate before 9-11 heaven. People come meet you at the gate and excited to see you get off the plane and he had to catch another flight to go to another missions trip and he's got his bag and he's moving, he moved quick.
He's walking through the airport, came off the plane and his staff is waiting for him and they ran with him. They said, Dr. Sumrall, we gotta give you some bad news about the ministry. He never stopped, he never stopped.
Are you serious? He kept on going to the gate, what is it? Talk to me. And they said, Dr.
Sumrall, what are your television stations burnt to the ground while you were overseas? He never stopped while he said, build another one. And kept on going, kept on going to his gate. Why?
He understood that faith only moves forward. There's nothing the devil can do to stop you, to keep you from accomplishing the thing that God put in your heart. You cannot be defeated, you cannot be destroyed, you cannot be cursed, you can't be taken out. The power of God is working in you.
Luke 4, the Bible says Jesus is getting tempted in the middle of his fast. 40 day fast. Don't mess with me, I'll extend this thing. I'm just kidding.
So I said, I felt called to another church at that point. And Jesus, look at this, full, there's Luke 4, 1, full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan. Do you know Jesus got filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism at the Jordan River? Came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a devil would descend.
God began to speak from heaven. The Bible says, and Jesus, now full of the Holy Spirit, 30 years old, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. For what purpose? To fast and pray?
Does it ever strike you as amazing that after Jesus got filled with the Holy Ghost? The first thing the Holy Ghost led him to do was not heal the sick, cast out devils or preach the gospel. It was to fast and pray. That was his first assignment, going to the wilderness, and fast and pray.
The Bible says he went in. And for 40 days being tempted by the devil, and he ate nothing during those days. So you see that? The devil did not wait until the end of the fast to begin to tempt him as some think.
No, the Bible says for 40 days being tempted by the devil, and he ate nothing during those days. For 48, you imagine that? You're in the middle of a fast, and the whole fast. The devil's tempting you.
Yeah, I don't know what it was. It could have very well been that the devil was just before its time allowing him to smell Chick-fil-A. I don't know. I don't know what the temptation was.
Three people just about feigner. When I just said the name, Chick-fil-A, oh my God. I don't know. I don't know what it was.
But tempted for it. Now, the three things. Now, I wrote about this. I don't have time to preach on it.
It's in the book. Isn't it interesting that the three things the Bible says you have to be free from? The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. The rest of the eyes, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life.
He dealt with these three things, and Jesus overcame everyone. The three appetites that you must defeat. In the book I read about four appetites that you must defeat. And here Jesus is dealing with it.
The Bible says the devil said to him, if you're the son of God, command this stone to become bread. And Jesus said to him, it is written. Man shall not live by bread alone. And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
And said to him to you, I'll give all this authority and their glory, for it's all been delivered to me and I give it to whom I will. That couldn't have been an temptation because the earth is the Lord. You have an atom transferred his dominion to Satan when he fell. But Jesus who was the last atom came to take it back.
My father taught this in his book on the gifts of the Spirit. How powerful is this? The first atom ate and lost everything. The second atom did not eat and got everything back.
The first atom ate and lost everything. The second atom, the last atom did not eat and bought everything back by redemption. And here he said, I'll give them all to you and look at Jesus. It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.
And so then Satan took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you're the son of God, then throw yourself down from here. For it's written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you. And on their hands they'll bear you up, lest you strike your foot against the stone. And when the devil had ended every temptation he departed from him, look at this, until a what?
Opportunity. You know what that means? That when you start resisting the devil like Jesus was doing, it is not an opportune time for the devil to mess with you. If you have somebody call you and say, hey, is it a good time?
Can we talk? Not a good time right now. And that's what Jesus was doing as he resisted the devil. Every time a temptation came, here's the way you do it.
It is written, release the word of God from your mouth. And Satan has no answer for the word of God that's on the inside of you. That's why he wants to keep you from this book. That's why every time you sit down to open this up and begin to read it and study it and get it in your spirit.
That's when the phone calls start blowing up. That's when the text messages start coming in. That's when every other thing starts popping off on your phone and your attention span and then you get sleepy. And maybe later today, that's why the enemy fights so hard to keep you out of this book because once that word, gets in your spirit and fills you up to overflow, he knows you're loading the gun.
I've got ammo from heaven and I'm ready to fire back and every temptation until the devil runs. So much out. He's running from me. Musicians, you can come back.
I want you to pray. I want you to hear this. Jesus loaded the gun. Do you know from the time he was 12 years old?
He understood the word so deeply that men who had studied it their whole life were sitting there in a tunnel. They were looking at this boy amazed at what he knew, what he understood. The questions he was asking were so deep. They were like, where has this young man been learning all these things?
And his parents couldn't find him. I think it was such a funny response. Came back. We've been looking everywhere for you.
Where have you been? He said you don't think I'm looking at my father's house? I think my father's house. Everybody was like, one of his first mic drops.
You don't think I'm checking my father's house? I think my father's house. I think my father's house. I think my father's house.
Everybody was like, one of his first mic drops. You don't think I'm checking my father's house? I've been in my father's house. This whole time.
I love that passage of scripture that says, as he flipped the tables and beat the money changes out of the temple, zeal for my father's house has consumed me. He had such a love and a hunger. See the word made flesh. Begin to ingest the word.
The word made flesh. Begin to ingest the word. And as he did, he was so filled up. Do you ever think about the fact?
I often wonder how Jesus found out. Was it through his mother and father relaying to him what happened? Was it finding prophecies about himself in the Torah? How did he fully find out what he was called to do?
Because he found out, he found out, and he became obedient to the prophecies. He got before his father and said, not my will, but your will be done. And he was so full of the word that as the devil himself, I think it's interesting, isn't it, that the devil didn't send some demons, some low level spirit to try to harass Jesus. He knew who he was dealing with.
He said, I'm going myself. I'm going myself. And he showed up. And he showed up.
And every time it was like that Holy Ghost game of chess in the wilderness. And Jesus checkmated him every time. And the devil said, I can't mess with you. I got to get out of here.
This is not a good time for me to be messing with him. Yeah. And by the time he left, see, there was a recognition. And this was recorded for a reason so that every one of us would understand that there's no temptation or attack of the devil.
That's too much. That you can't overcome. That you can't walk in total victory. That you can't have what God says is yours.
Hallelujah. And I'm telling you tonight that as we're in this 21 days of fasting and prayer, get ready. And as the enemy tries to do something even at the beginning of the year, he's going to find out real quick. This is not the year for you to mess with me.
This is not, I'm pastor. I'm over that devil. You're talking to the old me. I'm stepping to a new season.
I'm stepping to a new strength. I've stepped into a new anointing. I've stepped into a new level of power and productivity. And now I've got demons running for my life.
Every devil has to run. I said, every devil has to run. Every devil has to run. Every devil has to run.
Every devil has to run. Every devil has to run. Resist the devil. And he will.