(298) “Strategies for Defeating Your Enemy” (Part 1)

WEBVTT

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Something happens when you deny yourself and

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you take up your cross and follow him. Follow

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me. You know, the key of fasting is that you're

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denying yourself. You're saying no to your flesh.

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And when you can say no to your flesh, it gives

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your spirit an opportunity to rule. Yeah, that's

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good. And when your spirit is being ruled in

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coordination with the Holy Spirit, you become

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a contender in the spirit realm. God promises

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in Joel 2 .28 to pour out His Spirit on all humanity.

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Welcome to Global Outpouring, where we contend

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for that promise outpouring, we equip for that

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outpouring so that we may engage in that very

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outpouring. I'm Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss.

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Welcome to the podcast today. We are going to

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talk about strategies, strategies for helping

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you to overcome, for helping us to overcome and

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defeat our enemies. We have... enemies, don't

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we? We sure do. And sometimes it's our own flesh.

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But we're going to talk about some strategies,

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and this is part one. I believe we're going to

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dig deeply into this subject over the next few

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podcasts and look forward to equipping you and

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helping you to grow in the things of God and

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to prepare you for the outpouring of the Holy

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Spirit in your life as you encounter others who

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are ready to receive it. Thank you so much for

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joining us today. We want to encourage you if

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you haven't already done so to go to our website,

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globaloutpouring .net. Make sure that you have

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hit that teal subscribe button and subscribe

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to our email list so that we can stay in touch

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with you. And there's a feedback form there that

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you can fill out. And I just want to give a shout

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out to the people that have been sending us feedback.

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We just really, really appreciate it. And I'm

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going to read off a list of people that have

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written to us in the last so many months. And

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I just want to say thank you to each and every

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one of you. And Camille, thank you for that gift

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that you sent to us. And in case you're interested,

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I really don't like talking about money, but

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you can go to our website. There's also a button

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there to give, and you can set up a recurring

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gift if you feel led by the Holy Spirit. And

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there's a place there that you can click on to

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designate it to support the podcast. And we would

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just be so grateful. But integrity is a big thing

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to us. And, you know, money is so often, how

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shall I say it? I don't think I even need to

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say it because I think you understand. I just

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hate talking about money because it's been so

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abused, you know, the way people can handle it.

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But we want to say thank you to Camille for the

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gift that she sent and for all of the feedback

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that we've received from Von Seal and Rosalind

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and Veronica and Julie and Ellen and Cheryl,

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Tommy, Wes, Beverly, Raphael, Mindy, Anner, Llewellyn,

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Sarah. sandra carol jose esther arif janice joyce

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samson daniel penny Barbara, Jenny, Katie, Hope,

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Lucas, Janet, Peter and Sandy, Annie, Cecile,

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David, Jesse. And if I didn't read off your name,

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I'm sorry. But I just want to say thank you.

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Thank you. It's so encouraging when we get some

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kind of feedback from people letting us know

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that what we're doing is a value to you, that

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you're growing in God as a result of this podcast.

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So let's talk about defeating our enemy. That's

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vital in these days. Yes. These are difficult

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days. And it's not getting any easier as far

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as the pressure of the darkness coming down on

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us. But that is a result of the pressure that's

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coming down on darkness from the glory. Hallelujah.

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It's like the heavens are dropping. Right. The

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heavens are pressuring the darkness. And so the

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darkness, it's kind of like they're screaming

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and running and trying their very worst, shall

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I say. It's like they're doing their Battle of

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the Bulge. Yeah. That was Germany's last big

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offensive against the Allied armies. And that's

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kind of what the kingdom of darkness is doing.

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Because they know their time is short. They are

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almost out of time and they're desperate. And

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they're wicked. And they rule with fear. So if

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you're finding yourself to have fear, now is

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the time. We're going to talk about overcoming

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these things. So the thing that I've been meditating

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on recently. is out of John chapter 20, where

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Jesus has just resurrected and has appeared to

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Mary Magdalene, and they've gone to run to the

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tomb and found it empty. She thinks he's the

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gardener and has this encounter with Jesus. And

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then in the evening, the disciples are locked

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in a room, and they are scared. And all of a

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sudden, Jesus appears. And he says, shalom. Shalom.

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Peace. Peace. Okay. Now, they are probably, well,

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just put yourself in that position. How would

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you feel if someone that you thought was dead

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suddenly appears in the room with you? What would

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that do to you? Yeah, if you've never seen it

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before, never heard of it before. Right. See,

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we know through scriptures these things happen.

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But if somebody walks through a wall. I don't

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think he even needed to walk through a wall.

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I think he just materialized. He was there. That's

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a good word, yeah. It's just, wow. But wouldn't

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you be overwhelmingly shocked? Yeah, especially

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if you don't know if it was really Jesus. Well,

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who else would it be? And of course, then he

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said, do you have anything to eat? Oh, that's

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a different scripture. And they gave him a piece

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of bread and a piece of honeycomb. Yep. Because

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ghosts don't eat. So he sits in front and says,

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you know, a spirit can't do this. Right, right.

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So that's a parallel passage that's telling the

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same story. So he says shalom. That is the greeting

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that is peace. Peace. Peace to you. Like, stop

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shaking. Stop your trembling. Stop your fear.

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And then in this passage, he shows his hands

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and his side so that they can see that it's truly

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him. Of course, Thomas wasn't there, so that's

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another story. But in verse 21, he says to them

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again, shalom. So the first thing that we need

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when we are going to contend with our enemy,

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The first thing we need is for Jesus to show

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up. Yes. Because he said to them before he was

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crucified, he talked to them about abiding in

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him. He talked to them about the Holy Spirit

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coming. He talked to them about, you know, lots

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of things that were about to happen. But he said,

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I can't tell you everything because you're not

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ready for it. So now he's starting to download

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to them more. So the first thing that he says

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to them is peace. And then the second thing he

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says to them is peace. So the first thing that

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we need is for him to show up. Yes. And he said,

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without me, you can do nothing. Before he left.

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Without me, you can do nothing. And you've got

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to abide in the vine. I'm the vine. You're the

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branches. You need me. Yeah. To keep your fruit

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growing, you have to be attached. So the first

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thing that we have to be aware of as we're...

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about to address our enemy, the first thing we

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have to do is be rightly related to Jesus, that

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he's showed up for us. And he has. I mean, come

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on, if you've asked him to live in your heart,

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guess where he lives? He lives in your heart.

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He lives in you. And if his spirit has come in

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you, Paul talks about our spirit becoming one

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with his spirit. And we'll go into that in another

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podcast. I'm feeling, I'm really meditating on

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that subject, that every part of you is touched

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by the Holy Spirit. We just have to let him have

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his way. It's kind of like a cow, you know, it's

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in your first stomach. You're just chewing on

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it. It's got to come back around again. Well,

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that's good, Philip. That's good. So the first

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thing is he's got to show up. And the second

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thing is you have to get his peace. He speaks

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peace over you. And that is a constant. It is

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there for you 24 -7. The Aaronic blessing, Yehovah

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bless you and keep you. Yehovah make his face

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to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Yehovah

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lift up his countenance upon you and give you

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shalom. Okay. There's nothing broken, nothing

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missing, and everything is paid in full. That's

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what Jesus is saying to them when he says shalom.

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It's an all -encompassing thing to bring you

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into a bubble of peace. So before you go dealing

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with your enemy, you can't be afraid of your

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enemy. You cannot fear your enemy. If you have

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fear, just remember when the children of Israel

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were sent out to battle, right? They've gathered

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all of the soldiers together. Everybody, every

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able -bodied man is out there with whatever kind

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of weapon he has. And the first thing that they

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say to them when they gather them together is,

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okay, if you're afraid, go home. Go home, yeah.

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Get in. Yeah. And that's in the law. That's the

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first thing that they're supposed to do is send

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the fearful ones home because fear is contagious.

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Yeah. And so is faith. So when we're rightly

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relating to Jesus and we have his peace, we will

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have no fear. So we cannot be afraid of our enemy.

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Absolutely must not be afraid of him. Whoever

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that is, whatever that is. And sometimes it's

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their own flesh. Sometimes the thing we're contending

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with is their own flesh. We'll get into that

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some more in a while. So the next thing that

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he says to them is, as my father has sent me,

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even so, send I you. Yeah. You know, just as

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an aside, when I was a little girl, I think I

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was in third grade, our children's choir sang,

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so send I you. And it got me. I was ready to

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follow Jesus from then on. You know, I was just

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out of a whim just a few nights ago looking through

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the yearbooks that was called the Aurora. It

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was from the Olivet Nazarene College when it

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was in Olivet, Illinois. That's a long time ago.

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A long time ago. And this is 1914. Whoa, 1914.

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1914. Up to 1921, I have some of the yearbooks.

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And I'm looking at this one page, and it's a

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memorial to one of their missionaries, Susan

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of the 30s, that laid down her life in Africa.

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Wow. And I looked in a few more pages, and here

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were just pages of Bible groups. And like in

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one picture, confirmed China, going to China.

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Wow. And others are training. And then on another

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page, confirmed India. Wow. Big mission programs.

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And this was a liberal arts college, but it was

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also like a Bible school. Absolutely. And that's

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how the Nazarenes were over hundreds some years

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ago. Missions was one of their key things. Yeah.

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I remember that. And they caught a hold of it

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because they didn't have all the distractions.

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Right. They took the Word of God literally. Absolutely.

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So send I you. Yeah. But you also have to go

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prepared. Exactly. And this was the Nazarene

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Bible School, and I'm sure a lot of the other

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early colleges were the same way. They sent missionaries.

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Sent, sent. And the stories that people would

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give because of, I mean, missionaries coming

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from America. My parents got saved. My grandfather

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got saved. Yeah, and your grandfather taught

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there. Yes, yeah. So it's just amazing, you know,

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the seed planted, how it grows. Absolutely. Because

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the Holy Spirit waters it. Right. The idea is

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that Jesus was sent and he's sending us as well.

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Yes. Now, I find it very interesting that the

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Greek words for sent and sent are two different

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words, two different root words. Okay. Which

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surprised me. I thought it would be the same

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word. But the one where it says, as my father

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has sent me. is the word apostello. So in other

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words, apostle. Apostle. Right? And it's interesting.

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It means to order to go to a place. To order

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to. So Father sent Jesus. He ordered him to go.

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But it also means to send away, to dismiss. So

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it's kind of like, could it be? Could it be?

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That just like Jesus is saying, Father, can I

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go get my bride? Father, can I go get my bride?

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And he's saying, well, she's not ready yet. Could

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it be that he was also wanting to go the first

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time and finally the father dismissed him and

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sent him away? I don't know. It was just a thought.

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But the other word for even so send I you. is

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the word pempo, and it means to thrust or insert,

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dispatch, to transmit. So recently I was talking

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with someone who was referring to how God's people

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get inserted into circumstances, into certain

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positions, into certain things that are going

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on, and they get inserted into that. And I just

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thought that was really interesting that now

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I'm seeing this word, so send I you, is, okay,

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I'm going to insert you into this place. And

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I'm going to use you in this place. So Jesus

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is giving a commission here already. Even before

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he gives the great commission, he is giving them

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an idea that, okay, Father sent me, now it's

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your turn. Coming up. But then he said, Receive

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the Holy Spirit. And he breathed on them. Yes.

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And this is before Book of Acts. Yes. So it doesn't

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say anything happened. Right. But he breathed

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on them. He breathed on them. And that's the

00:15:07.990 --> 00:15:12.070
critical part because the word breathe or breath,

00:15:12.149 --> 00:15:16.490
the word breath and the word spirit are the same

00:15:16.490 --> 00:15:21.080
word in Greek. It's pneuma. Wind and spirit and

00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:24.639
breath are all the same word. So he breathed

00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.159
on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. So

00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.179
when we're about to contend, you know, here's

00:15:31.179 --> 00:15:34.659
these steps. You've got to have Jesus show up.

00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:37.980
You've got to get peace from him. And you've

00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:40.559
got to let him send you. Don't go without him

00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.440
sending you. It's critical. It's critical. And

00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:48.279
you've got to do it with him. It's a tandem thing.

00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:50.940
It's a cooperating thing. It's a co -laboring

00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:54.059
thing that we work with him. Can I interject

00:15:54.059 --> 00:15:56.820
something? Please do. Some years back, it was

00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:59.120
a missionary who went to India, and the Lord

00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:01.460
spoke to him to go home. Oh, yes. I remember

00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:03.860
that story. And he didn't go home like he was

00:16:03.860 --> 00:16:06.620
supposed to. And finally, when he did go home,

00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.440
things were just going wrong. And someone had

00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:12.639
taken a picture of him right when he got back.

00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:16.269
And we saw the picture. And this is days before

00:16:16.269 --> 00:16:18.570
you can play around with stuff like on AI or

00:16:18.570 --> 00:16:21.210
anything like that. And it showed this demon

00:16:21.210 --> 00:16:24.389
right behind him that followed him back. You

00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:27.629
can go in God's timing, but you also have to

00:16:27.629 --> 00:16:30.590
go home in his timing. Absolutely. Because he

00:16:30.590 --> 00:16:34.470
was disobedient and gave a legal right for this

00:16:34.470 --> 00:16:36.809
thing to follow him. Exactly. And he was just

00:16:36.809 --> 00:16:39.389
having problems after that. True. It's one thing

00:16:39.389 --> 00:16:42.799
to go to, but you have to stay. Yes. Stay connected.

00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:46.159
Stay connected, yeah. And stay obedient. So as

00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:49.299
he sent you, he inserts you into this place,

00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:51.200
and then he takes you back out when your work

00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.360
is done. For any of you going on mission trips,

00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.340
especially if it's like two weeks or more, a

00:16:56.340 --> 00:16:58.799
lot of times you're getting toward the end of

00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:00.940
the trip, maybe like three days before you go

00:17:00.940 --> 00:17:03.519
home or something. Yeah. And your mind starts.

00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:07.119
going on thinking about going home and you can

00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:09.259
end up losing your focus fairly easy because

00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:12.680
now you're changing your focus for going home

00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:16.299
and you still got work to do. It's true. So word

00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:19.619
to the wise. It's true. It's true. So the next

00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:24.460
thing that Jesus says is, whosoever sins you

00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:28.259
forgive, they're forgiven. And whosoever sins

00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:33.890
you hold on to, they are held on to. I think

00:17:33.890 --> 00:17:36.950
we talked about that recently. So I don't want

00:17:36.950 --> 00:17:39.390
to go into that too much. But these are steps

00:17:39.390 --> 00:17:43.450
that have to do with your preparation for contending,

00:17:43.509 --> 00:17:47.430
for overcoming, for destroying the power of the

00:17:47.430 --> 00:17:51.349
enemy over your life. So, like I said earlier,

00:17:51.650 --> 00:17:54.069
sometimes your enemy is your own flesh or is

00:17:54.069 --> 00:17:57.009
operating in your own flesh. And there are things

00:17:57.009 --> 00:18:01.009
that you can do to help to conquer your flesh.

00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:04.900
Like fasting. Fasting is one, yeah. Yeah. Talk

00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:06.859
to us about fasting, Philip. Yeah. Because when

00:18:06.859 --> 00:18:09.500
you look at fasting through the Bible, you know,

00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:13.019
even Moses fasted 40 days. He went up into the

00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:15.539
mount. Yes. So he's up into the glory. I mean,

00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:17.940
he's on Mount Sinai. You know, it's when the

00:18:17.940 --> 00:18:19.779
giving of the law and there's thunder, there's

00:18:19.779 --> 00:18:23.000
lightning. Yeah. And there's smoke. Yeah. You

00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:25.220
know, but do you know what happened? The people

00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:28.329
got used to it. Well, where's this man Moses

00:18:28.329 --> 00:18:30.849
that didn't come down? And that's when that golden

00:18:30.849 --> 00:18:33.930
calf got created. While Moses is getting download

00:18:33.930 --> 00:18:37.049
for them, they start to party and they get into

00:18:37.049 --> 00:18:40.029
big trouble. So that's some of the first fasting

00:18:40.029 --> 00:18:43.769
we hear is Moses. Up in the mount, he's up in

00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:46.509
the glory of God. And of course, it's through

00:18:46.509 --> 00:18:49.789
the Old Testament. You can find your fasting

00:18:49.789 --> 00:18:52.839
there too. You know, fasting gives you authority.

00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.619
And I'm going to jump to the New Testament real

00:18:55.619 --> 00:18:59.200
quick because I just found this. So Jesus takes

00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.480
Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain

00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:06.559
somewhere, and he gets transfigured. We all know

00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.519
this, you know, when Elijah and Moses show up,

00:19:09.579 --> 00:19:12.559
and of course the disciples are beside themselves.

00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:17.740
So they've just seen the glory of God, a taste

00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:21.910
of it. They've seen a taste of this. And so what's

00:19:21.910 --> 00:19:24.029
really interesting is, you know, we hear about

00:19:24.029 --> 00:19:26.690
this, the glory and all that. So they come down

00:19:26.690 --> 00:19:29.750
the mountain. And it's a very close window here

00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:31.490
because, you know, they come down the mountain.

00:19:31.809 --> 00:19:35.910
And then the next verse is the disciples are

00:19:35.910 --> 00:19:38.930
asking him, when was Elijah going to come back?

00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:41.670
And, you know, he says he's come already. It's

00:19:41.670 --> 00:19:43.750
John the Baptist. So he's sharing these things

00:19:43.750 --> 00:19:47.119
with the disciples. And so they understood, you

00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:50.680
know, in verse 13 of Matthew 17, that he's talking

00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:54.140
to them about John the Baptist. And then it goes

00:19:54.140 --> 00:19:56.220
right in, and then they come to the multitude.

00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.940
And there came a certain man kneeling down, Lord,

00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.190
can you pray for my son? He's a lunatic. You

00:20:03.190 --> 00:20:05.009
know, I don't know the translation. That means

00:20:05.009 --> 00:20:07.349
that he's affected by the moon. Affected by the

00:20:07.349 --> 00:20:10.650
moon. Lunar. That's where, okay, I learned something,

00:20:10.730 --> 00:20:12.849
too, here. Probably would have figured that out.

00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:15.130
Yeah, it's true. It's true that there are people

00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:18.910
that they kind of go a little off when there's

00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:21.410
certain phases of the moon. You can even learn

00:20:21.410 --> 00:20:23.470
something during your own podcast. That's pretty

00:20:23.470 --> 00:20:27.289
good. So anyway, he brings them to the disciples,

00:20:27.470 --> 00:20:30.730
but they can't cast this thing out. You know,

00:20:30.730 --> 00:20:34.450
and then so Jesus, he rebukes the devil and parts

00:20:34.450 --> 00:20:37.529
out of him and the child was cured. And the disciples,

00:20:37.750 --> 00:20:40.150
after a while, they came up and says, well, why

00:20:40.150 --> 00:20:43.130
could we cast him out? Right. You know, and so

00:20:43.130 --> 00:20:45.849
now picture this. They just came down from the

00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:48.430
glory. I mean, like nobody's ever seen this.

00:20:48.569 --> 00:20:51.029
Right. So this is like a picture. How would you

00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:54.130
perceive this today? You can go to convention,

00:20:54.430 --> 00:20:57.250
you go to some convention somewhere, you know,

00:20:57.250 --> 00:20:59.990
get all. You can get spiritually hyped up, maybe.

00:21:00.170 --> 00:21:02.710
And there's those that they butterfly. They'll

00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:05.690
go to one convention after another. Not really

00:21:05.690 --> 00:21:09.250
always putting in practice. It's just like, I

00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:11.390
want to get more. I want to get more. But you

00:21:11.390 --> 00:21:14.700
have to chew and digest. what you have and you

00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:17.259
have to apply it, but you have to apply it in

00:21:17.259 --> 00:21:20.579
relationship with Jesus, spending time with them.

00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:23.380
Absolutely. And when you spend time with them,

00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:25.500
you don't have to run to every convention under

00:21:25.500 --> 00:21:28.140
the sun. True. Because you can just hear his

00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:31.279
presence on what to do. So a lot of people, they

00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.680
can go to a convention and you get all this glory

00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:36.440
in that, but you got none of it in yourself.

00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:42.049
What happened? Yeah. So your soul got... touched,

00:21:42.049 --> 00:21:44.670
your spirit too. But if you're not walking in

00:21:44.670 --> 00:21:48.470
a place... Your spirit gets it, but it doesn't

00:21:48.470 --> 00:21:50.269
apply it to your soul. Your soul, because your

00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:53.630
soul is not prepared for what your spirit has,

00:21:53.710 --> 00:21:56.509
and your soul has dominion over your spirit.

00:21:56.869 --> 00:21:58.589
And it's supposed to be the other way around.

00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:02.859
Right. So if you're not walking circumspectly

00:22:02.859 --> 00:22:05.240
like with the Lord, you're not going to have

00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:08.000
authority over things. It's just like you don't

00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.700
go with something that you don't outrank. And

00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:12.460
if you don't have the blood of Jesus and you

00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:15.279
don't have faith operating in you and you haven't

00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.240
been sent, you can get in trouble big time. So

00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:23.200
anyway, so why couldn't we cast these out? And

00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:27.289
he says, because of your unbelief. Wow. Unbelief.

00:22:27.289 --> 00:22:30.089
Didn't they just see the glory? How come they

00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:32.549
have unbelief? He says, if you have faith as

00:22:32.549 --> 00:22:35.490
a grain of a mustard seed, and we've seen mustard

00:22:35.490 --> 00:22:38.029
seeds in Israel. They're so tiny. Yeah, yeah.

00:22:38.029 --> 00:22:40.109
Not like the bigger ones we have here. They're

00:22:40.109 --> 00:22:43.470
so tiny, tiny little things. If you have faith

00:22:43.470 --> 00:22:45.910
like that, you can say to this mountain, be removed,

00:22:46.109 --> 00:22:49.589
or to the circumstance, and nothing shall be

00:22:49.589 --> 00:22:52.890
impossible. But this kind comes not out but by

00:22:52.890 --> 00:22:55.849
prayer and fasting. There you go. So this is

00:22:55.849 --> 00:22:57.769
one of your first scriptures that you will find

00:22:57.769 --> 00:23:01.630
dealing fasting as your authority as a believer.

00:23:01.990 --> 00:23:04.589
Because Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness.

00:23:04.990 --> 00:23:07.609
Right. And then Satan tempted him too. Yeah.

00:23:07.670 --> 00:23:10.289
But he knew who he was. Right. So we have to

00:23:10.289 --> 00:23:12.549
know who we are. Even in a fast, the devil can

00:23:12.549 --> 00:23:14.690
come to you. Yeah. And he's going to get you

00:23:14.690 --> 00:23:17.269
to try to break your fast early. Yeah. But you

00:23:17.269 --> 00:23:19.589
counter him with the word. Counter him with the

00:23:19.589 --> 00:23:22.869
word. And even you go back to the book of Esther.

00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:27.579
Chapter 4, 16, Israel was taken captive. Was

00:23:27.579 --> 00:23:31.920
this the first deportation? It would have been

00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:35.880
after they'd all been deported. This is after

00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:39.480
the Medes and Persians have overtaken Babylon.

00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:43.519
You can read about that where the king of Babylon

00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:46.339
took the children of Israel there. So you have

00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:49.519
the book of Esther. And you have Mordecai, it

00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:52.240
sits in the gate. He had favor, you know, the

00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:55.759
favor of the Lord was on him. And because it

00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:00.460
was Ahasuerus, his wife did not come. When she

00:24:00.460 --> 00:24:03.380
was bitten because he was a drunken feast, she

00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:06.259
didn't come to him. She was having her own party.

00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:08.380
Yeah, she had her own party, didn't want to come

00:24:08.380 --> 00:24:12.210
to his. So anyway. Because of what she did, she

00:24:12.210 --> 00:24:15.049
lost her position. Right. So they're going to

00:24:15.049 --> 00:24:17.950
look for a new bride. So here comes Hadassah,

00:24:17.950 --> 00:24:20.269
this little Jewish girl. Nobody knows is Jewish.

00:24:20.849 --> 00:24:23.730
And the favor of God was on her in the time of

00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:26.789
preparation. And she's chosen. She's the queen.

00:24:27.190 --> 00:24:31.410
Right. And then Haman, who was a Gagite, who

00:24:31.410 --> 00:24:35.549
was being promoted in the ranks under King Ahasuerus.

00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:38.799
and even had the king's signet ring, which he

00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:42.400
has a lot of authority. And he didn't like Mordecai

00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:44.619
because he wouldn't bow down to him because you

00:24:44.619 --> 00:24:47.200
don't bow down to anybody. You only bow down

00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.920
to the Lord God, not to an idol or any other

00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:53.759
person. Especially not an Agagite. Especially

00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:57.140
that one. So anyway, Haman builds the gallows

00:24:57.140 --> 00:25:01.700
for Mordecai because he was sworn. to get rid

00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:04.440
of the Jewish race. Can you tell that story real

00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:07.500
quick, the one that got away? Yeah. When Saul

00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:10.940
was supposed to kill all the Amalekites, King

00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:16.140
Agag was brought back with them, and Samuel had

00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:19.440
to kill him, but apparently there was some of

00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:23.440
the Amalekites that didn't get destroyed. And

00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:26.000
one of the reasons why God said to destroy all

00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:28.440
of the Amalekites and even all of their animals,

00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:30.740
you know, they saved the best of the animals

00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:33.480
for sacrifice. That's what their excuse was.

00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:37.680
But God said, get rid of everything. And we've

00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:41.160
heard that the Amalekites were into such witchcraft

00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:44.480
that they were shapeshifters and the people could

00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.339
turn themselves into animals. So it was important

00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:53.390
to... get rid of all of this people group that

00:25:53.390 --> 00:25:56.789
was into such dark arts. And that's probably

00:25:56.789 --> 00:26:00.890
the reason why Haman, the Agagite, would be so

00:26:00.890 --> 00:26:03.769
against the Jews, because they didn't finish

00:26:03.769 --> 00:26:07.670
the job. Yeah, he's the one that got away. And

00:26:07.670 --> 00:26:10.769
his goal is to destroy the Jewish race. Right.

00:26:11.009 --> 00:26:14.509
So here's the remnant of the Jewish race, as

00:26:14.509 --> 00:26:18.839
we know it, hanging by a thread. And, you know,

00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:21.660
this gallows is built and he's got favor with

00:26:21.660 --> 00:26:24.519
the king and the decree has gone forth. The king

00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:27.160
signed it. He got tricked that all the Jews to

00:26:27.160 --> 00:26:29.339
be destroyed throughout the whole kingdom. Right.

00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:32.079
And that kingdom went all the way to India. Right.

00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:36.140
It was took a large area. And that's when Queen

00:26:36.140 --> 00:26:39.200
Esther got with her because her uncle says, when

00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.720
they find out you're Jewish, you're going to

00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:43.259
die, too. It says your life's not going to be

00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:47.529
spared. And he says, fast for me. And my maidens

00:26:47.529 --> 00:26:50.789
will fast for me. And after three days, I will

00:26:50.789 --> 00:26:54.369
go into the king unannounced. Because you don't

00:26:54.369 --> 00:26:57.230
go to the king unless he bids you. Otherwise,

00:26:57.309 --> 00:27:00.450
you can be executed. And I will present my case

00:27:00.450 --> 00:27:02.930
to the king. Right. And she did an ester fast.

00:27:03.390 --> 00:27:05.509
That's what we call an ester fast. Three days,

00:27:05.710 --> 00:27:08.710
no food, no water. You don't even swallow water.

00:27:09.540 --> 00:27:13.500
That's an extreme fast. But as a result of that,

00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:17.079
that fasting, God just orchestrated everything

00:27:17.079 --> 00:27:20.420
that happened. And in an instant, Haman got hung

00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:23.460
on his own gallows because the king saw who he

00:27:23.460 --> 00:27:27.500
really was. And that came through fasting. And

00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:32.140
even Hezekiah, in Isaiah 37, you can read the

00:27:32.140 --> 00:27:35.000
story there, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.

00:27:35.609 --> 00:27:38.230
They're going to come and they're going to, you

00:27:38.230 --> 00:27:40.630
know, they want to take everybody captive. And

00:27:40.630 --> 00:27:43.130
he spreads a letter out before the Lord and they're

00:27:43.130 --> 00:27:46.109
pleading with God. You know, the Lord, you have

00:27:46.109 --> 00:27:49.420
made all these promises. This is that. And two

00:27:49.420 --> 00:27:52.900
times that happened in Hezekiah's time. One,

00:27:53.380 --> 00:27:56.859
and they fasted, and they prayed, and God brought

00:27:56.859 --> 00:28:00.740
miracles through fasting. It's a powerful tool.

00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:03.859
And when Sennacherib gives them the terms of

00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:07.460
surrender, you can go, we'll take care of you.

00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:10.359
We'll bring you to a nice place of milk and honey.

00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:14.099
And sure, you're going to be in chains on the

00:28:14.099 --> 00:28:16.859
way with a hook in your jaw, probably, because

00:28:16.859 --> 00:28:19.230
that's what they did back then. when they take

00:28:19.230 --> 00:28:22.630
somebody captive. But through fasting, God turned

00:28:22.630 --> 00:28:25.109
that whole thing around, fasting and prayer.

00:28:25.349 --> 00:28:27.930
Yes. That's the power and the authority that

00:28:27.930 --> 00:28:31.569
we have. And there's fasting in the New Testament,

00:28:31.609 --> 00:28:35.890
too, because even Paul says in 1 Corinthians

00:28:35.890 --> 00:28:39.509
7 -5 that you give yourself to fasting and prayer.

00:28:40.190 --> 00:28:43.730
And even in the book of Acts, here's a heathen,

00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:47.319
here's Cornelius. He's a centurion, so he's got

00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:50.880
rank. This guy's got rank. He's fasting and praying

00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:54.440
for God. And so what does God do? Gives him a

00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:57.720
dream of Peter coming to him and telling him

00:28:57.720 --> 00:29:02.200
what he needs to know. So here's a centurion.

00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:06.240
He's not Jewish. So anyway, he calls Peter, and

00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:10.190
Peter, you know, he battles with this. But he

00:29:10.190 --> 00:29:12.849
goes and others with him. And when he's talking

00:29:12.849 --> 00:29:15.509
to him about, you know, the resurrection and

00:29:15.509 --> 00:29:17.309
all of a sudden the Holy Ghost falls on all of

00:29:17.309 --> 00:29:20.029
them, they start speaking in tongues. Amen. But

00:29:20.029 --> 00:29:23.970
he was fasting and praying before the Lord, you

00:29:23.970 --> 00:29:27.769
know, a rank heathen. Yes. And another one in

00:29:27.769 --> 00:29:30.789
times of desperation, you know, just like Hezekiah

00:29:30.789 --> 00:29:35.849
in New Testament in Acts chapter 27, 33. Yeah.

00:29:36.009 --> 00:29:40.039
Talks about Paul. He is on his way to Rome. He's

00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:42.920
on a boat, and they're in a storm. They're on

00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:46.660
the 14th day of the storm. Fourteen days. Fourteen

00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:50.359
days they've been fasting. And he says, you know,

00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:53.240
you've been fasting all this time, eating nothing.

00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:55.680
And he says, the Lord spoke to me, you know,

00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:58.700
that we are all going to arrive unhurt. Yeah.

00:29:58.759 --> 00:30:01.799
So here you're in a storm. You're getting tossed.

00:30:02.339 --> 00:30:06.140
Can you imagine 14 days in a storm? No. All I

00:30:06.140 --> 00:30:09.660
can figure, the storm is going with them. Yeah.

00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:12.339
It's just one of these, not only, you know, like

00:30:12.339 --> 00:30:15.240
a hurricane comes and blows through so many miles

00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:17.619
an hour, but if you're caught in a storm and

00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:21.140
the wind is taking you, but 14 days in a storm,

00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:23.799
you think they're all going to die. I'm thinking

00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:27.000
it was a supernatural storm. Yeah, it could be

00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.140
too, because, you know, and God used Paul. The

00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:32.359
ship did get wrecked. They threw out all the

00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:35.619
tackling, everything, ran it ashore, and they

00:30:35.619 --> 00:30:37.779
came down. The boat's breaking apart. They got

00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:40.380
on shore and boards and all that, and they were

00:30:40.380 --> 00:30:43.859
all safe. And there was a gathering there. The

00:30:43.859 --> 00:30:47.200
cannibals, want to call them, or the... The natives,

00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:48.839
anyway. The natives, you know. Don't know that

00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:49.819
they were cannibals. They were cannibals. They

00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:52.880
would have ate them, yeah. So they had a fire

00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:55.079
and everything for them. But they were fasting

00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:58.000
out of desperation. Right. And many times we

00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:00.339
go on a mission trip, we will fast before that

00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:04.200
mission trip for God's protection, his timing,

00:31:04.259 --> 00:31:07.069
and all things. There's a lot of fasting. You

00:31:07.069 --> 00:31:10.289
can just look at fasting in the Bible. And we

00:31:10.289 --> 00:31:13.309
have this excellent book that our founder, Sister

00:31:13.309 --> 00:31:17.369
Gwen, wrote back in 1977, I believe, called Your

00:31:17.369 --> 00:31:20.329
Appointment with God. And it is a book on fasting.

00:31:20.730 --> 00:31:22.930
It's one of the first books that was written

00:31:22.930 --> 00:31:26.109
on this subject. There's people out there that

00:31:26.109 --> 00:31:29.950
write books on fasting, but Sister Gwen lived.

00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:33.019
She sure did. Because she was out there. And

00:31:33.019 --> 00:31:35.259
she taught us. And she was out there where the

00:31:35.259 --> 00:31:38.240
rubber hits the road. She's out where it's dangerous,

00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:42.259
not in the safe confines of the USA or other

00:31:42.259 --> 00:31:45.039
nations. She's out there in Pakistan, India.

00:31:45.980 --> 00:31:48.880
you know, Russia, places that you can get thrown

00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:52.140
in jail, you can get executed. And she has one

00:31:52.140 --> 00:31:54.680
of the most well -balanced books on fasting that

00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:56.799
you will find because it comes out. It's a Bible

00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:59.400
study. It's a Bible study. After each chapter,

00:31:59.559 --> 00:32:02.619
it asks you questions. And there's nothing like

00:32:02.619 --> 00:32:05.059
a book that comes out of somebody with the experience

00:32:05.059 --> 00:32:08.160
that has put it to the test, not writing on somebody

00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:10.400
else's experiences. Yeah. And you can get it

00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:13.130
on our website. Yes. Globaloutpouring .net or

00:32:13.130 --> 00:32:16.170
ORG. It's there in our store. Yeah. Your appointment

00:32:16.170 --> 00:32:19.299
with God. Yes. Very powerful. And we have it

00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:22.319
as a PDF download, especially if you're listening

00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:25.220
from someplace overseas and you don't want to

00:32:25.220 --> 00:32:27.920
pay the expense of having the book shipped to

00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:30.299
you all the way there. You can download it immediately

00:32:30.299 --> 00:32:33.220
when you order it from the website. Because our

00:32:33.220 --> 00:32:36.539
founder, Sister Gwen, was a forerunner. Absolutely.

00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:39.559
The Lord would give her something and she'd write

00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:41.359
a book on it. And all of a sudden, a couple of

00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.380
years later... It's the big thing going on now,

00:32:44.420 --> 00:32:46.839
and people are starting to write books about

00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:49.980
it. Yeah, it's true. And so she was a general

00:32:49.980 --> 00:32:51.880
in her own right. Absolutely. She wouldn't call

00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:55.180
herself that. No. We didn't call her that, but

00:32:55.180 --> 00:32:57.839
she really was. She certainly was. She's just

00:32:57.839 --> 00:33:00.220
one of these generals that you didn't, name wasn't

00:33:00.220 --> 00:33:03.460
always up in lights. Yeah. What does the book

00:33:03.460 --> 00:33:06.119
of Isaiah say about fasting? Yeah, actually,

00:33:06.220 --> 00:33:08.960
the first part of this chapter in Isaiah 58,

00:33:09.880 --> 00:33:11.519
You know, it's talking about those that were

00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:16.000
fasting just out of habit by rote. And this is

00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.319
what, you know, God was dealing with. And it

00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.220
starts out, and I still remember my grandma.

00:33:21.930 --> 00:33:24.930
My Nazarene grandma in the nursing home, she

00:33:24.930 --> 00:33:27.990
would quote the Psalms, Isaiah and all that.

00:33:28.089 --> 00:33:31.450
She was 92 years old and she had the word in

00:33:31.450 --> 00:33:34.369
her. And I remember, cry aloud, spare not, lift

00:33:34.369 --> 00:33:37.170
up your voice like a trumpet, show my people

00:33:37.170 --> 00:33:39.490
their transgression and the house of Jacob their

00:33:39.490 --> 00:33:42.470
sins. Because it says here, they seek me daily

00:33:42.470 --> 00:33:45.690
to like to know my ways as a nation that did

00:33:45.690 --> 00:33:48.109
righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of

00:33:48.109 --> 00:33:51.210
the Lord. They take delight in approaching to

00:33:51.210 --> 00:33:55.150
God, but then wherefore have we fasted? You see

00:33:55.150 --> 00:33:58.309
not, we have afflicted our soul, and you're not

00:33:58.309 --> 00:34:00.789
taking knowledge of this. So they're fasting

00:34:00.789 --> 00:34:03.690
and all that, but the Lord answers, you fast

00:34:03.690 --> 00:34:06.630
for strife and debate, and you smite with the

00:34:06.630 --> 00:34:10.030
fist of wickedness. This is fasting for the wrong

00:34:10.030 --> 00:34:12.889
reason. You don't do it out of habit, which is

00:34:12.889 --> 00:34:15.590
kind of like going to church, but you don't get

00:34:15.590 --> 00:34:18.590
anything out of it. Or anything else we do. Or

00:34:18.590 --> 00:34:20.050
to make your voice to be heard on high. Make

00:34:20.050 --> 00:34:22.750
your voice to be heard on high, yeah. And so

00:34:22.750 --> 00:34:26.969
anyway, in verse 5, Is this not the fast I've

00:34:26.969 --> 00:34:30.070
chosen for a man to afflict his soul, to spread

00:34:30.070 --> 00:34:33.150
sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call

00:34:33.150 --> 00:34:36.360
this a fast and acceptable way to the Lord? Verse

00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:39.780
6, this is King James. Is not this the fast that

00:34:39.780 --> 00:34:42.360
I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness,

00:34:42.420 --> 00:34:44.840
undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed

00:34:44.840 --> 00:34:49.559
go free, and that ye, you, break every yoke?

00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:52.119
Yes. You know, so there's power. That's what

00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:54.880
God will do. Break every chain. This is what

00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:58.420
happens in fasting. In verse 8, then shall your

00:34:58.420 --> 00:35:00.780
light break forth as the morning, your health

00:35:00.780 --> 00:35:03.480
shall spring forth speedily. And righteousness

00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:05.960
shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall

00:35:05.960 --> 00:35:09.739
be your reward. You can just read this chapter.

00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:12.440
And it's just amazing, you know, the power of

00:35:12.440 --> 00:35:16.559
fasting. But it's not like when Jesus is given

00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:19.619
that parable, when you have the righteous Pharisee

00:35:19.619 --> 00:35:22.980
standing at the wall praying, Lord, I've done

00:35:22.980 --> 00:35:25.719
this, I've done that, all that thing. I do my

00:35:25.719 --> 00:35:28.019
fasting. Yeah, and I'm not like that publican

00:35:28.019 --> 00:35:30.300
over there. And the publican is just repenting

00:35:30.300 --> 00:35:33.210
before God. And he's saying, who is more righteous?

00:35:33.510 --> 00:35:36.429
You know, so it's not fasting. People will use

00:35:36.429 --> 00:35:39.690
fasting to make you to feel righteous. In fact,

00:35:39.710 --> 00:35:41.989
we have a book and I'll just mention it, you

00:35:41.989 --> 00:35:44.250
know, because Sister Gwen has written a book

00:35:44.250 --> 00:35:47.329
on fasting and she's seen. All kinds of fasting,

00:35:47.510 --> 00:35:50.050
and we have to, and a lot of it was out of the

00:35:50.050 --> 00:35:53.289
flesh. And she wrote a book called The False

00:35:53.289 --> 00:35:56.670
Fast. Right. And on the cover, it has this lady

00:35:56.670 --> 00:35:59.030
kind of with a grin holding a steak, and then

00:35:59.030 --> 00:36:01.610
the next, it's in a blender. Yeah, about to put

00:36:01.610 --> 00:36:02.949
it in a blender. About to put it in a blender,

00:36:03.050 --> 00:36:05.469
you know, and drink it as a smoothie. You know,

00:36:05.489 --> 00:36:08.710
that's not, you don't put ice cream in a blender.

00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.840
Things like that. But it gives you a balance

00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:16.079
on fasting. Yes. And the book will do that, too.

00:36:16.119 --> 00:36:18.860
The book will give you a balance on fasting.

00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:21.840
You have to have the right motive for it. Exactly.

00:36:21.980 --> 00:36:24.239
It fits with what we were talking about before,

00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:30.119
about Jesus entering the picture. Yes. And sometimes

00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:34.449
he will lead us to fast like he did. I mean,

00:36:34.469 --> 00:36:38.250
maybe not 40 days, but in order to prepare us

00:36:38.250 --> 00:36:41.469
for the thing that's coming next. Right. Jesus

00:36:41.469 --> 00:36:44.429
fasted 40 days to prepare himself for the ministry.

00:36:44.630 --> 00:36:48.090
He had just been anointed with the Holy Spirit

00:36:48.090 --> 00:36:52.469
when he was baptized, and the Spirit drove him

00:36:52.469 --> 00:36:55.769
to fast. So that's the thing. It's not about

00:36:55.769 --> 00:36:57.849
getting on the bandwagon to fast because other

00:36:57.849 --> 00:37:00.909
people are fasting. It's about being driven by

00:37:00.909 --> 00:37:03.489
the Holy Spirit, being guided by the Holy Spirit.

00:37:03.550 --> 00:37:07.150
The Holy Spirit is leading us. Without Him, we

00:37:07.150 --> 00:37:12.469
can do nothing. But in fasting, we are loosing

00:37:12.469 --> 00:37:15.929
the bands of wickedness if we're doing it for

00:37:15.929 --> 00:37:18.269
the right reasons and with the right motive and

00:37:18.269 --> 00:37:20.170
with the right guidance. Yeah, and it starts

00:37:20.170 --> 00:37:22.789
with us. And then with that, things that are

00:37:22.789 --> 00:37:27.289
around us. Yes, yes. And it helps to let the

00:37:27.289 --> 00:37:29.050
oppressed go free. Well, maybe you're the one

00:37:29.050 --> 00:37:32.690
that's oppressed. Yeah. Maybe you're dealing

00:37:32.690 --> 00:37:34.670
with your flesh and you're just trying to get

00:37:34.670 --> 00:37:37.809
your flesh under control. And sometimes the Lord

00:37:37.809 --> 00:37:39.550
will put you on a fast and you don't know why.

00:37:39.809 --> 00:37:42.809
I remember a couple of years ago, I just felt

00:37:42.809 --> 00:37:45.530
to do a seven -day water fast. Yeah. And that

00:37:45.530 --> 00:37:50.369
meant no coffee. I mean, that, you know. Yes,

00:37:50.369 --> 00:37:53.429
that was a challenge. And I did this fast, and

00:37:53.429 --> 00:37:56.369
I breezed through it. It was amazing to fast

00:37:56.369 --> 00:38:00.070
on water and breeze through it like I did. It

00:38:00.070 --> 00:38:02.909
was amazing. I don't know what it was for. Still

00:38:02.909 --> 00:38:05.829
not. I still don't know, but it was for somebody

00:38:05.829 --> 00:38:08.110
or something else. Yeah, but you were led by

00:38:08.110 --> 00:38:09.730
the Spirit. But I was led by the Spirit to do

00:38:09.730 --> 00:38:12.469
it. And remember a few weeks ago, you were led

00:38:12.469 --> 00:38:15.300
by the Spirit to fast. Yeah, and the second day

00:38:15.300 --> 00:38:18.860
is when my brother passed away on it. Yeah. And

00:38:18.860 --> 00:38:21.260
it was just a few days more, and then I got attacked

00:38:21.260 --> 00:38:26.579
with something in my, it was just, you know,

00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:29.539
but it's something I had to do my own health,

00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:32.440
but I persevered. Yeah. Yeah, and we did the

00:38:32.440 --> 00:38:34.960
four days. And it was kind of like direction

00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:38.619
for the new year is what I felt, but it may have

00:38:38.619 --> 00:38:41.159
been for something else. Well, I think it helped

00:38:41.159 --> 00:38:46.239
with your brother and with dealing with the grief,

00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:48.780
really, that comes with it because that was pretty

00:38:48.780 --> 00:38:54.500
huge. Yeah. Yeah. So fasting will help you. Fasting

00:38:54.500 --> 00:38:59.559
is a key. It's a tool that will make a difference

00:38:59.559 --> 00:39:02.869
in your life. When the Holy Spirit leads you

00:39:02.869 --> 00:39:05.809
to do it, don't try and do it without his help.

00:39:05.929 --> 00:39:09.150
Let's interject one more story. One of our members

00:39:09.150 --> 00:39:12.550
was flying back to London after our convention

00:39:12.550 --> 00:39:16.409
and was sitting next to a person. And when they

00:39:16.409 --> 00:39:19.409
served the meal, the person wasn't eating. And

00:39:19.409 --> 00:39:22.530
so she said to her, so you're not eating? She

00:39:22.530 --> 00:39:25.469
says, I'm fasting. And just says, but not for

00:39:25.469 --> 00:39:28.409
the reason you think. And she must have known

00:39:28.409 --> 00:39:31.309
she was a believer. Right. Uh -huh. You know,

00:39:31.329 --> 00:39:32.969
otherwise I don't think she would have said it

00:39:32.969 --> 00:39:35.469
that way. And he says, we're fasting. I don't

00:39:35.469 --> 00:39:38.110
know how long their fast was. It was long. Long.

00:39:38.130 --> 00:39:39.969
It was like 40 days or 60 days or something.

00:39:39.969 --> 00:39:42.190
And we're meeting in England and we're praying

00:39:42.190 --> 00:39:44.849
for Satan to break up marriages. Yeah. Christian

00:39:44.849 --> 00:39:47.670
marriages. Mm -hmm. And I think it was attacking

00:39:47.670 --> 00:39:49.309
pastors too, wasn't it? And attacking pastors.

00:39:49.469 --> 00:39:52.130
Yeah. And you look at how many pastors get attacked.

00:39:52.570 --> 00:39:54.989
Yeah. And families getting attacked. Mm -hmm.

00:39:55.050 --> 00:39:57.530
And so there's people out there, Satanists out

00:39:57.530 --> 00:40:00.139
there, people fasting. Because there's power

00:40:00.139 --> 00:40:03.360
in fasting. That's right. And they know it. But

00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:05.699
why, you know, many of the Christians don't know

00:40:05.699 --> 00:40:08.840
this. Right. But something happens when you deny

00:40:08.840 --> 00:40:11.420
yourself and you take up your cross and follow

00:40:11.420 --> 00:40:15.199
him. Follow me. The key of fasting is that you're

00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:17.780
denying yourself. You're saying no to your flesh.

00:40:17.980 --> 00:40:20.820
And when you can say no to your flesh, it gives

00:40:20.820 --> 00:40:24.780
your spirit an opportunity to rule. And when

00:40:24.780 --> 00:40:28.280
your spirit is being ruled in coordination with

00:40:28.280 --> 00:40:33.699
the Holy Spirit, you become a contender in the

00:40:33.699 --> 00:40:36.920
spirit realm. And during your fast, you have

00:40:36.920 --> 00:40:39.639
to spend more time in the Word and with the Lord.

00:40:39.699 --> 00:40:43.079
That's very important. Very, very true. Just

00:40:43.079 --> 00:40:46.059
don't fast because, you know, I got to do this,

00:40:46.059 --> 00:40:48.699
but fast and seek the Lord while you're doing

00:40:48.699 --> 00:40:51.340
it. Right. Seek the Lord. Very important. While

00:40:51.340 --> 00:40:55.659
he may be found. One of the promises in Isaiah

00:40:55.659 --> 00:41:00.760
58, just to wrap this up, it says, verse 8, Then

00:41:00.760 --> 00:41:02.860
shall your light break forth as the morning,

00:41:03.019 --> 00:41:05.880
and your health shall spring forth speedily,

00:41:05.960 --> 00:41:09.420
and your righteousness shall go before you. and

00:41:09.420 --> 00:41:11.940
the glory of the Lord shall be your rearward.

00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:14.639
In other words, he'll be in front of you and

00:41:14.639 --> 00:41:17.380
he'll be behind you. And then you shall call

00:41:17.380 --> 00:41:21.760
and the Lord, Yehovah, shall answer. See, lots

00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.320
of times we're talking to the Lord, but we're

00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:27.340
not getting an answer. But fasting can help you

00:41:27.340 --> 00:41:30.179
get a breakthrough. You shall cry and he shall

00:41:30.179 --> 00:41:34.559
say, Hineni, here I am. If you take away from

00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:36.519
the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth

00:41:36.519 --> 00:41:39.440
of the finger, and the speaking of vanity, If

00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:41.699
you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy

00:41:41.699 --> 00:41:44.119
the afflicted soul, then shall your light rise

00:41:44.119 --> 00:41:47.420
in obscurity and your darkness be as the noonday.

00:41:47.420 --> 00:41:49.679
And the Lord shall guide you continually and

00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:52.360
satisfy your soul in drought and make your bones

00:41:52.360 --> 00:41:55.320
fat. And you shall be like a watered garden and

00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:57.539
like a spring of water whose waters fail not.

00:41:57.820 --> 00:42:02.079
And they of you shall build the old waste places.

00:42:02.280 --> 00:42:05.019
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations.

00:42:05.219 --> 00:42:07.159
You shall be called the repairer of the breach

00:42:07.159 --> 00:42:10.159
and the restorer of paths to dwell in. God wants

00:42:10.159 --> 00:42:14.539
to use you to restore things that have been broken.

00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:18.239
Yes, amen. And fasting will help to do that,

00:42:18.260 --> 00:42:21.820
the kind of fast that God has directed. So we

00:42:21.820 --> 00:42:25.659
just want to encourage you to look into this

00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:29.739
as a possibility of one of the tools that you

00:42:29.739 --> 00:42:32.980
might need, whether it's a 40 -day fast or a

00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:36.730
21 -day fast. seven -day fast or three -day fast

00:42:36.730 --> 00:42:39.489
or just don't eat that piece of chocolate cake.

00:42:41.130 --> 00:42:44.250
Stop yourself from eating that one thing. If

00:42:44.250 --> 00:42:47.750
Adam and Eve had paid attention to what God said,

00:42:47.809 --> 00:42:50.929
don't eat that, we wouldn't be in the pickle

00:42:50.929 --> 00:42:56.389
that we're in now. So learn to say no to your

00:42:56.389 --> 00:42:59.769
flesh and learn to say yes to the Holy Spirit

00:42:59.769 --> 00:43:03.849
and let Jesus walk in on you and say, Shalom.

00:43:03.989 --> 00:43:28.480
Shalom. Check out our website at globaloutpouring

00:43:28.480 --> 00:43:31.780
.org to find out more information, read our blogs,

00:43:31.900 --> 00:43:34.760
connect with us, and donate. You can also browse

00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:37.320
our web store for life -changing anointed books.

00:43:37.739 --> 00:43:41.159
Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm

00:43:41.159 --> 00:43:43.860
Philip Buss. God bless you with His overwhelming,

00:43:44.059 --> 00:43:45.059
loving presence.