Did we mention today is graduation Sunday? Alright, oh God Heather you ready to shout autumn you ready to shout well a little bit Come on Heather Jackson come on up. Oh Autumn Kiefer our women's own director. Let's give it up for autumn So I'm gonna turn over to autumn We have Heather Jackson here today who's just completed Just completed our women's home As pastor Fred just said Heather just completed our program, but not only did she complete it She's been fully changed inside and on the outside and you'll get to hear a little bit of her testimony here in a couple minutes I just have a couple things that I want to say Heather when I picked you up nine months ago You were angry You were lost and you didn't even know who you were and over the last month nine months I've literally watched you open up your heart and your mind to receive what God has for you and to realize that not only are you Love by him, but you're loved by so many people that you didn't even know could love you And I want you to hold on to that don't ever lose that love no matter what you go through because all of us sitting here today Is your family and we'll be here every step of the way with you and for you?
The songs that Whitney sang a lot of them was talking about restoration and addicts free well This girl right here has been restored and she is finally free I Have two scriptures the first one is second Corinthians 5 17 Therefore is anyone if anyone is in crisis person is a new creation the old things pass away behold new things have come all of your Old is gone. You don't have to look back to it You don't have to pick it up and you don't ever have to identify with that ever again God gave you a new name God gave you a new life And you were new and then the next one I want you to really take with you for whatever I mean I know you're staying second face But whatever seasons to come after that and it's proverb 16 3 and it's the passion translation Before you do anything put your trust totally in God and not in yourself and every plan you make will succeed The plans that you make as long as they're with him you will succeed because he's with you every step of the way So now we're gonna let Heather share a testimony My name is Heather. My student I mean I'm in a woman saying for past nine months I'm gonna tell you a little bit about my story. I'm grandmother.
I'm raising my childhood and my childhood was great until the year I turned 13 I'm grandmother's fell when she became bedridden so I ended up taking care of her until I was 15 And there was a lot of abuse from my uncle's and everything and that time I started drinking smoking marijuana Well, I started cutting myself and somebody called CPS that they came and took me away I spent three years in the Burlington Children's home here after that and I got out of there my most suspicious They know he died in a four-year accident that was in 1999 That's pregnant with my son after I had him my grandma died the same year in 1999 I started working at a bar and I got into harder drugs and I couldn't take care of my son So I sent him to the with these unfathered his grandmother And I spiraled even more out of control 2001. I had my daughter Elissa in 2002. I had my daughter my other daughter Madison Because of their dad for 14 years where I was abused where I was abusing entire time All my life I substituted some kind of drug for another I left her dad five years ago and I even got even more out of control 2020 my parents died five months apart. I met a guy right after that We're using hard drugs when you committed suicide in my garage wearing high-use cells now throughout these all these years I was in and out of jail in prison.
I have done a total of nine and a half years two years ago My daughter had a baby. He was born my birthday. Her name is Maya But my daughter was using drugs and she had endocarditis Which is a vegetation on the heart she had a triple bypass surgery. Well the doctor told her she didn't quit using drugs She was going to die and um, she kept using and after that she passed away May 24, 2022 I started doing a lot of heroin so I could numb my pain and I have to feel anything I was shooting up got cellulitis in my leg I've had three surgeries on my leg and the doctor told me I was going to leave my leg or I was going to die at that point I didn't care I wanted to die because my daughter died I did some really dumb thing because I'm a self-help hospital and I kept getting locked up again a lot Well the last bit I did when my mind got clear I decided I needed a change and I'm too old to keep doing the same stuff I've been doing I still have my other kids in my and my granddaughter I was tired of living the way I've been living so I talked to a girl He told me about city reach and that's how I came to be here and relationship with Christ is what changed in my life Something I've never had before but let me tell you since I've been here This is one of the best decisions in my life.
I've ever made I know now with Christ. I think you're possible I've been healed physically emotionally spiritually and mentally I'm allowed today and I do have a purpose and I'll stay grateful for that There's been a verse that I stood on since I've been here and that's John 10 10. It says the devil comes He'll still destroy But I've come to that you have life to the fool and that's a fact I can tell you that So and that's where my daughter passed away I never thought my heart would ever heal but being here and learning and knowing through God is what he can do All heart heals more and more each day and in time I'm very I'm truly believing my heart will be completely healed I'll say before I came here. I was in kidney failure the doctors told me I had three years to live But now my kidneys are 90% and working well Oh, I can say is but God I am a child of God his beloved daughter and he loves me unconditionally no matter what He's never left me.
He has always been there directed me down the right path and now that I'm on the right path He will guide my way About five months ago when I first came into the home I write this little thing of encouragement for like people in the home a struggling addiction and like just a very like Aspects of negative things of life and I put I'm surrounded by strong independent women every day that really made It made me a sense of true friendship. I have never experienced before I'm sorry I've never given up even when I wanted to go get high. I wanted to throw it all away Just because I wanted to doesn't mean I did or I had to It kept going because I knew how wonderful that one more thing you were waiting for me Even everyone are you sitting in here right now? I'm believable life waiting for you I just down the road a better life than you can ever dream about you can do is just keep walking no matter How bumpy the road goes or how many unexpected detours you come across he's putting one foot in front of the other It's possible to have an amazing fun purpose purposeful life after addiction It really is there's no such thing as a lost cause and it's never too late to start over a flicker of hope It was hard is capable of laying the path to a new destiny.
She has an amazing testimony So miss Heather Jackson today It's my honor to give you the certificate of completion for successfully completing the Cumberland women's Hope Home program on January 7th 2024 and to officially let you know You are the one You may have experienced more death in your life But yeah, I just feel like God bringing life out of that death and I really feel like I want to read this verse to you It's a couple verses out of Joel chapter 2 It says I will compensate you for the years the Swarming Locust has eaten The creeping locust the stripping locust the gnawling I feel like you've been pouring out from just about every angle My great army which I said among you you will have 20 to eat and be satisfied You will praise the name of the Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you Then my people will never be put to shame So you will know that I'm in the midst of Israel and I'm a Lord your God and there is no one in my people will never be put to shame You're a testimony that God for one has redeemed the things that you've lost and the things that you feel like I've set you back he's actually bringing you forward and Your life now is a testimony that we're not going to live in shame Like there may have been shame in the past or may have been shame in those decisions But Jesus redeemed you from every ounce of shame that there ever was and you're going to be a tremendous testimony to so many women Stretch your hands out to heaven Father, thank you so much for another life that you've transformed Lord that you've taken someone that's gone through brokenness gone through Set back for you put together the broken You've restored the law You've healed things that don't seem humanly possible and God I thank you that with you all things are possible that there is nothing that our God there's nothing that Heather's God cannot do Lord, I thank you that you live in her that you dwell in her that she is the tabernacle of the living God And father, I just pray right now that your Holy Spirit fill her with new anointing new power Father give her a voice give her the ability to witness with passion for those that need to hear the gospel Father I pray that you would just give her creative ideas to to share her testimony father give her opportunities And Lord, I just pray you would continue to increase and grow and mature and strengthen her Lord in every area physically She says she's been healed physically spiritually emotionally mentally God and I thank you for that But I also know there's no limit. There's no limits to your healing. There's no limits to your restoration That we have not arrived until we've achieved the stature of the fullness of Christ himself Lord continue to work in her life. We bless her.
We bless what you're doing in her life I I'm not as the only man the women are allowed to hug up that and cart then Curtis goes and breaks that rule Somebody left the phone up here. I might keep this thing who wants to see autumn's last picture I don't know what it is. Oh Okay, it's safe then right? It's safe Wow in the sake of time.
I don't know. I'm gonna have to preach in fifth gear today But I have you know Seth talked about we launched a new series last week called increase and he started with a verse in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 And it says unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulder and of the increase of his government and peace there will be no And his name in between there says his name shall be called everlasting or wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father The Prince of peace then it goes on in verse 7 says another government of his peace there will be no And so that it says that of the increase of his government and peace there will be no Which means that his rule his kingdom is ever increasing. It's ever advancing. It's ever emerging But also his peace is ever increasing ever advancing and ever emerging Tell him I said hello Where that is I like I'm not a I shouldn't say this.
I'm not a fan of the message Seth is kind of wooing me to the message But if we think about it says of the increase of his peace there will be no and that word peace means shalom and Shalom means it doesn't just mean peace like not having war it means wholeness it means soundness it means completeness Heather said she's been healed Spirit soul and body so to have the peace of God to have the shalom of God means that you're complete in every area that your whole that Your sound and it says of the increase of his shalom there will be no end which means that he is continually Making you whole continually making you whole and fixing the broken pieces in your life And here's what I like about the message translation It says that there are no limits to the wholeness that he brings Instead of calling him the prince of peace the message translation calls him the I think it's the ruler of wholeness And then it goes on to say there are no limits to the wholeness that he brings It's I want to encourage you today if you think that you know I have an area in my life that that I just don't see a way that God could put it back together That the increase of his peace There's no limits to the wholeness that he brings that he continues to make you whole and continues to to make you better and fix things and Things you maybe don't even know about because there's things probably I know some of you have suppressed for years Maybe you've consciously or unconsciously suppressed them But see god it says that he's the one that searches the heart the holy spirit searches the hearts He knows What's in there? He knows the things that you either choose not to remember or have subconsciously for god And I just my prayer is this morning that god's gonna heal things in you that you don't even know need heal Because that's the kind of god that we serve Things that you haven't even prayed for things that maybe maybe your grandmother prayed for you for that you don't even know about Or maybe things your parents knew that you weren't privy to that affected you that god's gonna heal his too Alright, that's a good word. Alright, so I want to talk to you about Increase today. I really want to hone in on the topic of honor And I want to start with this question if we believe how many believe that that god the kingdom of god is a kingdom of increase Alright, so about half of you.
So so I know I know what half of your problem is right now Is you don't believe it? See everything in the kingdom grows Everything increases we saw last week that seth taught from the book of acts is that there were daily added To the church that there was growth there was numeric growth there was there was maturity growth that the disciples grew the disciples became disciples makers so that the growth always happens in the kingdom if you think about the parable of the soils It says that when the seed is planted says first comes the sprout and then the stalk and then the ear and then the foliar in the in the husk And so that there's success of growth and everything goes typically not always I mean There's always the miraculous but the norm is that things grow in steps and stages Of course god lives outside of the norm doesn't he But the norm is things grow in steps and stages So if we believe here's my question for you if you believe that increase comes and we live in a kingdom of increase How do you handle the increase when it comes? And the topic that's at the center of that is honor And here's what I see is I see a lot of people in life in general over the last 30 some years that I've been an adult and um, I see a measure of increase come in their life but then it actually Kind of like one step forward two steps back Anybody identify with that if that's been you and I want you to feel shame I just want to I want to talk to you today about how to get beyond that Because God's God's formula is not for you to walk ahead and then go backwards And I think what happens a lot of times increase comes and because our response to the increase is not scriptural And this thing of honor is not there That we actually forfeit the thing that should have taken us ahead And so let's start with Proverbs chapter three versus nine and ten It says honor the lord. Let's read this together honor the lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase So shall your barns be filled with plenty and your vats burst forth with new wine Honor the lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase So shall your barns be filled with plenty and your vats or your wine presses will burst forth with new wine And so I don't want you to get nervous today and think oh friends.
It's the first it's the first sunday of the year We're going to talk about what are we going to talk about money offer egg Don't be nervous don't be nervous Because I just want to share with you some things that today really that God has has taught me over the last 30 or 40 years And they're not anything new But they're things that that God wants you to understand that he can help you too Because you know a lot of times people say Jesus taught about money more than any other subject in the new testament That's kind of partially true partially not he taught about the concept of money in this that he used money and finances to actually point to a greater spiritual truth and that The reason we need to understand how to handle finances and how to handle money is because this money and finances become the training ground for the supernatural Jesus says this in the parable about the unjust steward luke chapter 16 versus 10 and 11 you recognize this text It says whoever is faithful in least will be faithful in what much and he who has been unjust in least will be unjust in much Right who um and then he goes on to say this let me read it to you I don't want to misquote it So And a lot of let me just say this when we hear that what do we think of we think of if we're faithful in a little we'll be faithful with greater quantities Correct And that's true, but that's not the point he's making there He goes on he says if whoever's faithful in least will be faithful in much and there's ever unjust in least will be unjust in much Therefore so now he's going to define what least is he says therefore whoever has been unjust or unfaithful with earthly wealth Who then will commit to him the true Now most translations say true riches but the word riches isn't there It's just the true and so what he's saying he's saying that he's saying this he's saying there's there's a there's a Subpoint is that you're if you're faithful to little you'll be faithful with much But the main point is this if you can be faithful with earthly possessions which are least Then I can commit to you greater riches, which are not of this world That how can I trust you like if you can't Who knows what I like I have no idea what's in here. Maybe a dollar. Here's a dollar Just for an example But if you can't be faithful with that which you can see in the natural realm Then how are you going to learn to? Steward that which you can't see in the supernatural and spiritual realm And so the thing with finances is this I look at it not so much as you know It's not about you giving money.
It's about how do you retrain you and how do you learn to develop stewardship in one area That has a greater application in another area that's way more important and he says this he says money's the least of everything It's the least important thing when it comes to stewardship, but at the same time it has the greatest implication And so he says I want so here's what there's what Solomon says He says I want you to honor the Lord your possessions with first fruits of all your increase so your barns will be so funny Notice this it says honor the Lord with what? Possessions and first fruits of increase. It's almost as if they're assumed right? So we're not honoring the Lord to get possessions We're not honoring the Lord to get increase It's saying honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of your increase And then a promise is on the end of it right?
It says then your barns will be filled with plenty then your vats or wine presses will birth, sports, and we want so here's what it looks like Pictorily look at this so here's how I see this the reason how do you respond to increase when it comes so God puts something in everybody's hand There's nobody here that doesn't have something so when it says possessions possessions are just assets It could be it could be the clothes on your back. I don't see anybody naked Right everybody has a shirt on therefore everybody has something and you have a possession And so it doesn't matter the quantity. It's it's just stuff. It's it could be a clothes on your back It could be the money in your bank.
It could be the house you live in it could be the car You drive it could be the tools in your shed or the junk in your basement It's just stuff. It's possession. Ultimately those things belong to who the Lord They just happen to be in your possession, but they don't belong to you They're hits and he says I want you to honor God with your possessions And then he says I want you to honor him with the first fruits of your increase increase just means Money you have coming in or things you have coming in so that could be that could be your job It could be so SSI could be retirement it could be If you had a dream about a big check being delivered it could be a check out of nowhere that shows up at your door one day So whatever it is whatever it is he says I want you to honor me with that And so see how honors right in the middle of that It says so if we believe the king's kingdom is a kingdom of increase He says I want you to take what you have And what's coming in what you already have and then I want you to honor me with it And I think this is where most people drop the ball because we don't understand what it means to honor God with our stuff And after honoring the Lord with it then the promises on the other side of that says so that your barns Will be filled with plenty and your wine presses will burst forth with Now does anybody see anything that might sound a little bit like there's another application here Let me just say real slow. So shall your barns be filled And so shall your vats burst forth or overflow Kind of sounds like a holy spirit.
Does it? What does he do? Jesus says if any man thirst let him come into me and drink He's a student cried says out of your innermost being will flow Rivers living water so we have this aspect here. I want you to think it's bigger than just this There's filling and then there's overflow So there's a there's a practical application, but it has a bigger There's it's more to it than what you're seeing.
Thank you. Thank you. You're not my enemy Like we're friends, right? Okay.
All right. Just check So what does it look so let's just talk we're We're not gonna have time to finish this I can tell you right now, but what does it mean to honor? What does it mean to honor? So we think about it.
How many have been to court? See here's the thing more of you have been to court than know that the kingdom is a kingdom of increase We're gonna fix that But how do you address the judge? Oh, pull you guys. You guys know that better than the Bible.
Come on Yeah, we we address a judge with your honor when we have Veterans Day Memorial Day We honor vets right those that have died and those that have served If you go to a certain restaurant, you might say do you honor a certain credit card? Do you accept it? You know when when our favorite sports team wins the Super Bowl. What do we do?
We we oh my gosh So I just got like like you can't attend here and like the Ravens Yes, you can like any team but the Ravens Yeah See it was the Ravens that stole it was the Ravens that stole the seed So they're they're on the wrong team So if we think about honors some words that send us me into a steamers their specter appreciated myer praise celebrate commemorate command observer Vere value or worship see when I honor somebody I'm actually saying that I value them We talked about worship a few weeks ago worship is ascribing worth We said that everything we do in life should be an active worship and honor is very similar to worship It's a way that I show somebody or that I show the Lord that I actually value that he carries value with me In the Old Testament, it's the word kavada means this it means so when we think of honor a lot of times We think of the first definition which means what to praise right? So when we were down here this morning We're singing we praise you Lord. We honor you Lord But a lot of people honor God with their mouth but not with their heart See I'm gonna look at this passage in Matthew 15 in a minute But see praise and if you look at this word up in the Hebrew David uses this term a lot in the book of Psalms He talks about I praise you Lord. I stole you Lord.
I honor you Lord But it also means this it means to carry weight or to be heavy And it means to make dull or insensible or to desensitize And so I just want to show you a couple verses where it shows up Look at this in the verse Samuel chapter 4 So this is talking about Eli it says the message so this messenger comes to Eli and says the ark of the covenant has been stolen And it says what happened to the ark of God Eli fell backward off of his seat beside the gate He broke his neck. He's 98 years old by the way. He says he broke his neck and died. He was old And fat He was an old fat man Now you might look at your neighbor and say I see the honor all over you Evie when you honor Seth we know what you're really talking about He says I honor you babe So this same word used it means weight it means happiness Another time it's used is when one king David's third son is third son's name was Absalom And it would say anybody know about Absalom for one he was the best looking guy In all of Israel at the time, but he had this mass Do you know anybody that's good looking at a lot of hair My wife yeah, you better say yes You're quite honorable today, babe But this guy you remember when Troy pala malo used to play for the like what used to be the best team ever He's like well he had this big mass of hair right and so that's what absalom he had all this hair And he had so much hair he had to cut it once a year and when he cut it it was heavy it was the heavy it weighed five pounds That's how heavy so so this word is meant to mean weight it's meant to mean heavy And so the context here if i'm going to honor God with my possessions It's goes beyond what I actually say Because I can't say Stuff I have to do something with stuff Like I can't just say oh yeah, I know the Lord my stuff To honor the Lord Is to allow his word to carry more weight in my life than any other influence If I truly honor the Lord, I'll allow his word to be weightier To carry more weight Than any other influence See more than what my friends say More than what's popular More than what's politically correct More than what I feel like i'm entitled to More than what I feel like I deserve because I was hurt More than I feel like I should get because I was betrayed More than what I read on social media More than what I hear some guy spout off on on tiktok See all these things are competing for weight I read somewhere the other day that 20 years ago an average person would receive about 300 impressions a day But don't fact check me because I don't know about facts right but it'll be close From tv billboards and newspaper 300 impressions a day How many do you think that is now with social media?
It's I think it's over 10 times too. I think it's in it's 4,000 3,000 4,000 impressions a day And so whatever is impressing me begins to become weightier And so to honor the Lord of my possessions and to honor the Lord with the first fruits of all my increase Means that I say Lord, this is yours What do you want me to do with it? See it's easy to say one thing and do another and the Pharisees in the scribes Jesus addressed this in Matthew chapter 15 He said for God command to say honor your father and your mother He who curses father and mother let him be put to death But you say whoever says to his father and mother whatever prophet you might have received from me is a gift of God I'll explain this in a minute Then he then he need not honor his father and mother next verse Thus you made the commandment of God everybody say it's no effect By your tradition hypocrites Right in wheels hypocrites Yeah, I kind of feel like Jesus should have went to one of those Dale Carnegie courses like how to make friends and influence people It's funny how he influenced people but you know he would say things like this He says well, did Isaiah prophesy about you saying these people draw me near to me with their mouth And they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me and in vain they worship me Heating the doctrines and commandments of men. So here's what's going on here See there was a something you could do so the commandment under the old covenant was this honor your father and mother The way you honored your father and mother was you would financially take care of them when they were not able to take care of themselves However, there was also something in another and I think it's the book of mark actually uses the word corebin You can declare it could declare it corebin which means this I'm declaring this a gift to God and when it's a gift to God it can't be used for anybody else And so they would just say well, this is a gift to God because it's a gift to God I can't do what God wants me to do ever here and take care of my parents because I've already dedicated it over here And he said what you've done is you've actually created a tradition That started out fine because dedicating something to God was okay But you're doing it at the expense of not doing what God is asking you to do over here We'd never do that would we I don't want to go here but will Let's just take this one This isn't a church Churches don't have four walls true.
That's a true statement. We are the church We are the church the church is in me the church is in you christ lives in us it doesn't Pemples may have hands But people will take a truth to an extreme and then use it as a reason not to gather as a body of believers See while it's true when I take it over here Well, I don't believe in formalized church because the church is the building therefore I don't go to church on Sunday See and you've made the word of God of no effect in your life because you have allowed the traditions of men to carry more weight than the word of God Because if you ever actually asked God what he wanted you to do he said I want you to come together as a body of believers Because you grow as a body you mature as the body that the body has gifts that I need for me and you need for me and that we can't be better as As better individually as we can collectively well God wants me to take care of my family So therefore I'm not going to give any to the Lord Now we'll create things that we really are traditions and commandments of men in the sake of spirituality But at the heart of it it becomes my word carries more weight And God's word and I'm not saying it's wrong to go to a football game on Sunday. I'm not saying it's wrong to stay home I'm not saying it's wrong to spend money whatever But whatever God's placed in your hand I have to approach it with honor because as soon as I start telling God what I'm going to do with it We're kind of Make the word of God of no effect See the right response to increase in my life is God. I honor you I acknowledge that your lord which means you own everything It belongs to you.
Therefore I realize you put it into my hand. What do you want me to do with what belongs to you? You might say take your wife on a trip See sometimes people think that Being cheap is being a good steward I don't know. This is I don't know why I'm going to tell you this We're gonna know I said I'm not going to skip this because here's here's why I want to give you a principle by stewardship Cheapship is not stewardship See some people think they're being a good steward because they're cheap So the God that I serve is not cheap for one Sometimes he wants you to be frugal But sometimes he wants you to be extravagant See when we make the decision for him Who's word's carrying more weight?
It's not a matter of whether something's inexpensive or expensive or whether we use a coupon or dome That's irrelevant The issue is honor What am I listening to what his holy spirit's telling me to do with what he has placed in my hand? That's the issue It's never the amount it's never it's none of that It's am I willing to listen am I willing to heat it am I willing to obey it? All right We're gonna fast forward I'll let you just look at it. So when we talk about the first fruits The first fruits is your first and your best I put the message up here for Seth really It says honor God with everything you own and give him the first And you give him the best You give him the first and the best See too often we want to give God out of whatever we have left over And there was a guy in the bible that did that It says in Genesis chapter four it says in the process of time pain brought an offering to the lord And he gave him of the fruits of the ground Abel also brought an offering and he gave the lord of the first fruits and of the fat thereof God had respect to Abel's offering but not the canes and it says canes count and spell So I get the whole application of one being a blood sacrifice and the other not But I don't think that's the primary thing there It says that cane brought an offering of the fruit of the ground Abel brought an offering of the first fruits of the flock and of the fat See Abel gave the first and the best Pain gave out of what he had left over Oh, I got a few extras here.
I think I'll bless God See giving first is probably more difficult than anything else because you're giving before you know what the outcome is going to be See their faith that's it requires faith to step into that But that's what God's calling us to I'm not asking you to do 12,000 steps like ebie. I'm just asking you to take one One small step. I want to show you a quick story and then we're going to go about one small step It says the word of the lord This is a story about Elijah the word of the lord came to him saying arise go to zerafath Which belongs to siden and dwell there see i've commanded a widow to provide for you Now he had just been living by the brook charath and it said the ravens Had him there See that's all they're good for is jockey and food back and forth. They're not They said he lived by the brook the brook dried up the ravens brought him food at morning evening And then when the brook cries up god says I want you to leave here I want you to go to zerafath because i've commanded a widow to provide for you there And so your rose went to zerafath and when he came to the gate of the city indeed a widow Was there gathering sticks and he called her and said please bring me I want you to notice this how much water A little water please please bring me a little water next slide And as she was going to get it he called to her and said please bring me a More soul of bread in your hand and so she said as the lord your god lives I do not have bread only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar and see I'm gathering a couple of sticks I may go and prepare for myself and my son that we may eat it and die Now think about this what an remarkable woman for one She doesn't know what's going to happen See Elijah doesn't need the food as much as she needs to give it He has already seen god's supernatural supply in his life and if god doesn't supply through this widow he'll supply through another See sometimes it seems unfair that he would ask her to do this But he's actually trying to ignite a principle in her life That will allow her to walk into a position of honor to see more than what she ever thought god could do And he says I want you to give me a more soul bread in your hand And think about this she thinks she's going to die like she expects that to be her last day And she still took the posture to go serve a stranger One of what was probably going to be the last day of her life That's remarkable in itself next slide Instead of Elijah said to her do not fear go do as you have said but make a small cake from it first I'd say small cake From it when first And bring it to me afterward to make some for yourself or less does the lord your god the bin of flour should not be used up Jarval will run dry until the day the lord sends around on earth next slide So she went away and did according to the word Elijah and she and her household She and he and her household ate for many days the bin of flour was not used up nor the jarval will run dry According to the word of the word which you spoke by Elijah All right Do not fear go and do as you have said but make me a small cake first He said go get me a little water go get me a more soul bread go make me a small cake First so small this word small doesn't actually mean little I mean it does but it doesn't it's actually a comparative word You remember when god made god on the first day of creation maybe seg day but jen's was chapter one It said god put a greater light in the sky to rule the day And he put a lesser light in the sky to rule the night the word lesser is the same word as small When mosus is leading the children of israel and in exit of chapter 18 The people are coming to him all day every day and he's handling all their issues all day morning tonight And it's father and all jen's are looks at him and says you're gonna wear out if you keep this up What you need to do is you need to put men in positions over thousands over hundreds over 50s and over tens And you handle the big cases and let them handle the lesser cases That's the same word lesser or insignificant So it's a word of comparison.
So so here's Elijah. He's actually not just saying give me a small cake But he's saying give me a cake even smaller than the one you're gonna make for yourself So he's not looking for the big piece I ordered this a cheesecake from Todd train him a couple weeks ago Yeah, like if you've never had Todd's cheesecake when it comes to that i'm not asking for the little foot slice Like It's not the smaller. I want the bigger slice But what he's saying is that I just want a little one even smaller than what you're gonna make for yourself But I want you to give it to me first And it said when she gave first and when she made it for him first it says the ban of flower did not run out That more did the oil than the jar ever run dry and look at the next slide We already covered that skip that it says so she went did everything in accordance with the word Elijah She and he and her household ate for many days This drought lasted for three years when she Gave to Elijah first Based on what the word what was the word of the lord? It said this won't run dry And so he asked her to take a step of faith based on God's word Not based on a feeling not based on her situation based on God's word And it said that she and he and her household ate many days I don't believe this was a one-time event I believe that she made the cake for him first the first day and the next day she gets up and there's a little flower and there's a little oil If they didn't overflow that day And I believe the next day she made a small cake for him first And then the next day they get up and there's a little there and she makes a small cake for him first And the next day she gets up and makes a small cake for him first And what he did on the first day which was a big step once you do it day two day three day four day 50 day 500 day 1000 See God's not asking you to do this Like he's not asking you to walk 12,000 steps today Like I don't go from zero to 12,000.
How do I get to 12,000 one step? How do you eat an elephant? Oh somebody knows that one bite at a time See God's just asking for something See step out in faith do something start being faithful. See he did it one day.
She did it another day She did it another day. She did it another day and it said she and he and her household ate for Many day. Where's the overflow? If you read further in this chapter It says after this the widow of son got sick to the point there was no breath left in it So that point in history no one had ever been raised from the dead Elijah didn't have scripture to fall back on Elijah didn't have a word from God Elijah didn't have The testimony of other dead people who had been raised from the dead But he had the example of a woman who trusted God every day for three years It actually not only fed her but fed him and actually increased his faith that she went from receiving daily bread to receiving her son back from the dead I mean imagine that what if she had quit on day 100 What if she had quit on day 200 See there was enough for that day They would have died on day one or day ten or day 20 or or had they quit But Elijah was instilling something in her that was creating faithfulness She never would have got to the point of seeing her son raised from the dead That she not made the little cake first See sometimes the big miracle you're waiting for is just on the other side of your faith for us for her it was three years later See faith is can I trust God?
Faithfulness this can God trust me So God said why would I commit to you true riches? When you can't be faithful with small cake But when you're faithful with the small cake That you can see that you can hold in your hand that you can possess The ramifications are Raising from the dead Down the road See God's trying to create something in you through honor That when I honor him when I honor his word when I ask him what do you want me to do? Because when I learn to do that with the small cake What's going to happen when God puts me in a bigger situation? What what am I training myself to do?
If I ask God on the little things And I let him direct me on the little things When it becomes really significant God what do you want me to do? I'll tell you a quick story and I'm going to pray God taught me this principle before I knew he was teaching me this principle I don't know if I've told this story here before so if you've heard it Just pretend like you never heard it before I was 22 years old Imagine I was 31 years ago, 53 I was 20 I was 22 I'd been deer hunting for 10, 12 years at that point I started when I was 10 I hunted every year for 12 years and I never ever Got a deer, leadling, I never got a shot at a deer Ever And so you can imagine I was consistent though I went 12 seasons with nothing 13th season I get my deli and heat set I get my bib overalls You know I'm ready to go And I go out my dad took me we went to a farm out in West Virginia I'm sitting in the woods and I start making bargains with God You guys ever do that? God if you bring me a deer I'll do da da da da If you bring me a deer I'll give half of it To so and so And so I started making these bargains with God And God spoke to me it was the first time I wasn't filled with the spirits or as I know But he spoke to me the first time in my life that I can remember what seemed to be audibly And it was somewhat of a word of correction but I said he said ananias Well actually before that he said I want you to give the whole deer way I said I'll give half because I really like like the tenderloin Like you know like I want to get the best right I want to keep that for myself And so I'm arguing back and forth with God and he said ananias I want you to give the whole thing Not just part of it And I said okay Lord I'll do it And literally as soon as I said okay Lord I'll do it a deer comes out I just instinctively raised my 30-30 Pulled the hammer back bam And within literally one to two seconds it was all over So my dad hears the gun go off he comes over And he's like oh man of course he's shouting like the woman that's barren Oh my son my barren deer hunting son finally got a deer And I'm actually my head's hanging he's like what's wrong I said well God told me to give it away Like what? I said God told me to give this away He's like oh good and that's what we'll do He's like let's go do it And I was like he really he's like yeah come on so we did So we took to the butcher shop had a butcher cut, wrap, frozen And I took it to my pastor at the time and said God wants me to give us to you What I didn't know he didn't even like deer meat He hated deer meat So he takes it graciously And then I go home I'm like okay What's the point?
He doesn't like deer meat I don't like deer meat I don't have any deer meat I need deer meat about three weeks goodbye And I'm working in our body shop at the time And then comes one of our body technicians one of our painters And he brings in and sets a box on my desk And I said what's that? He goes it's a family pack And he lived on a farm so he could shoot all the deer he wanted He brought me an entire box full of nothing but deer steak and deer tenderloins to the brim And so it wasn't until about 15 years after that that the Lord spoke to me about that situation Once I started understanding about honoring God with the first And he said do you remember when I said oh yeah he said I was teaching you That when you honor me with what I direct you to do That your barns will be filled with plenty And your wine presses will burst forth with me That you didn't know it but I was teaching you It was an insignificant thing it was a deer In the scheme of the world it's just a small thing But God was teaching me with a small cake And then when the next voice of the Lord came and it was bigger And it was bigger and it was bigger And I was able to become faithful over the years Because I listened and honored God With a small stone God will do the same for you He's the same yesterday and today and forever He never changes He's got good plans for you He wants to increase you he wants you to walk The thief comes what did you say John 10 10 The thief comes for not but to the only reason he comes To steal to kill and destroy And I really believe that sometimes he comes He doesn't come with like a 30 30 he comes in the form of dishonor Sometimes If he can cheat you out of what God has for you he'll do it one way or another But Jesus says but I have come That you might have life and that you might have it more abundant