Pastor Ray…
Good morning and happy Friday. Pastor Tim and I were discussing this morning about how you can’t not remember 9/11. It’s been 19 years. All of us can remember when we heard about it. I was just getting out of my car to come into the chapel and do what we do. Someone called me and said a plane hit one of the towers in New York City. You better tune in on the TV. Pastor Lynne came in later that morning to the chapel. And Lucy McKee in Alabama [Pastor Lynne’s twin sister, now deceased] was on the phone all the time. Sandy and I had been with Pastor Lynne in Florida for a few days and we met Lucy there. This was way before 9/11. She started talking about Osama bin Laden. We were like, “Who is he?” We didn’t know anything about him. She was already “on it” in prayer way in advance. So when 9/11 happened, she was so moved because she felt we had an opportunity, somehow, some way to stop that from happening. But it happened. One thing that I remember is we stay in the chapel until afternoon. We just kept praying in the chapel. So one plane hit and the other plane hit. The third one hit and the other one went down. We were still praying in here that somebody is going to do something. One of the other pastors was up here saying, somebody’s got to do something in that plane or that plane has to be taken down. We just kept praying. We know what happened. It went down in the field. The one thing that I always think about is, you could hardly get a flag after that. There was a shortage of flags. People were so united together. It brought such a unity in our country. We had prayer meetings where the sanctuary was filled up, because no one knew what was going to happen next. People started heading to the churches. Pastor Lynne always said “I’d rather go after God more just because I want Him more than because of some kind of crisis that would drive us to Him.” I choose to want more of the Lord because I want more of him, than be driven to Him because of some other happening.
I thought in honor of that but also there is power in the Word. I wanted to pray down through Psalm 91 first in the Passion translation.
Thank You, Lord, for Your mercies that are new every day. Your presence and the power of Your precious blood that You shed on the cross for us. We are protected by your blood. Thank You for the blood. Thank You for Your Word. I remember brother Kenneth Hagin came after that. At first, we didn’t know whether the meetings would happen because all the planes were not flying. He came for at least a week, maybe more. I remember thinking, “I can’t wait to hear what he has to say about 9/11.” You know, he never mentioned it. Ever. It was a Holy Ghost meeting and we were talking about that. It was probably the right thing to do is keep our focus on Him. If you’ve ever been in any of his meetings, you know there would be prayer in the morning. Then ministry of the Word and flowing with the Holy Spirit in the evenings.
Psalm 91 in Passion translation
1 When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God Most High. 2 He’s the hope that holds me and the Stronghold to shelter me, the only God for me, and my great confidence. 3 He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy, and he will protect you from false accusation and any deadly curse. 4 His massive arms are wrapped around you, protecting you. You can run under his covering of majesty and hide. His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm. 5 You will never worry about an attack of demonic forces at night
nor have to fear a spirit of darkness coming against you. 6 Don’t fear a thing! Whether by night or by day, demonic danger will not trouble you, nor will the powers of evil launched against you. 7 Even in a time of disaster, with thousands and thousands being killed, you will remain unscathed and unharmed. 8 you will be a spectator as the wicked perish in judgment, for they will be paid back for what they have done! 9–10 When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High, our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm. How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us? 11 God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go, defending you from all harm. 12 If you walk into a trap, they’ll be there for you and keep you from stumbling. 13 You’ll even walk unharmed among the fiercest powers of darkness, trampling every one of them beneath your feet! 14 For here is what the Lord has spoken to me: “Because you have delighted in me as my great lover, I will greatly protect you. I will set you in a high place, safe and secure before my face. 15 I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will find and feel my presence even in your time of pressure and trouble. I will be your glorious hero and give you a feast. 16 You will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you. For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!”
Pastor Ray…
You want to sing something Pastor Tim?
Pastor Tim…
I do. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for Your goodness. That’s good news right there. As I was spending time with the Lord this morning, I was reflecting on Psalm 91. So that’s the verse for the hour. So thankful for the Word of God. For His loving kindness, for His watchful care, His protection. Wow. Thank You, Father, for Your goodness. I think of something so powerful when we even in the midst of the hard things that we’re going through and experiencing that we can still lift our voices and say, “God, You’re good.” And just be thankful, just cultivate that attitude of gratitude and thanks. To be thankful to God for what He has done because in spite of what we’re going through now and how big maybe the problems seem to be, God is much bigger. And He’s been good to us. He’s brought us this far. When I wake up in the morning, I say, “Father, thank You for letting me live to enjoy another day, to bring You praise, to bring You glory, to bring You honor, to be a blessing to somebody around me.” Thank You, Father, for the breath that I breathe because You are the breath that I breathe. Thank You for strength in my body. That I can move my arms and legs and walk. I can run! Thank You, Father, for the health that I enjoy. Thank You for Your provision that I’ve got a roof over my head. I’ve got food on my table. Clothes on my back. Thank You, Lord, for taking such good care of me. Thank You for Your faithfulness. There is no shadow of turning with You. You’re the same yesterday, today, and forever. You never change. You’re always the same. If He’s been good to you, lift your voice with me and thank Him for it.
♪ So great are You, Lord… so great and mighty… great is Your mercy… great is Your love… ♪
Pastor Ray…
I keep seeing this. You know when you have a document for when you sell or buy a house, whatever. You got to go to a notary and they get out that stamp. The document really is not good until they take that thing and go, “chachu.” And it puts a stamp on there. What I kept hearing was, “It’s done.” It’s done! When He went to the cross at Calvary, He said “It is finished.” That means it is done! It’s done! We’ve won. It’s done. Hallelujah…
Pastor Tim continued to lead in worship…
Pastor Ray…
There is nothing we can come up with that is not already done. Let’s get over into the place where we know without a shadow of a doubt, we have already won. Because it’s done! Is healing done? Yes! Go down the list. Wholeness. Wellness. Financial prosperity. Prosperity of every kind. It was finished… done… it’s completed. So we just step over into it. By faith. For sure, one of the best ways is to continually keep getting into His presence. There are so many testimonies of people that didn’t have to have hands laid on them, didn’t have to have somebody pray over them. But they just got into His presence. Just like at the beginning when I said, brother Hagin came after 9/11. He didn’t even mention it. But he did get our eyes looking upward from where all of our help comes. That’s critical. Even today to look over our country. You can’t keep looking at disaster and stay filled. We’ve got to look up. We don’t have to fight the battle. You know that song, Pastor Tim? We just declare it. He did it. He’ll do it. It’s done. Hallelujah. How does that song go? Do you know what I’m talking about?
Pastor Tim leads group in singing “This is how I fight my battle…”
Pastor Ray…
Listen to this. This will go along with everything we’re doing. This is from Vicky Jamison Peterson. It’s a short excerpt from a book she wrote called, “More Than Enough.”
Through the limitless power of, El Shaddai—the God of more than enough—you can be a tireless dynamo in God. When you tap into the power source of the universe, you receive the energeia of God. He becomes your “energizer” for life. First, He gives you exousia, or divine authority. That’s yours the moment you accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. He gives every child of God the “power of attorney” to conduct the Father’s business. That authority—when used with knowledge—renders Satan powerless. It’s the “clout” that Jesus gave His disciples (that’s you and me) in Luke 10:19: “Behold, I give you the authority … over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
That is the same authority He gave the 12 disciples in Luke 9:1: Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. Second: When you step out to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit, He gives you dunamis, or miracle-working power. That’s what Jesus promised in Acts 1:8: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” And it’s the same power Jesus used in His ministry on earth. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10.38). God was with Him … and He is with you. Any time Satan challenges your authority—and he will—you can back it up with supernatural power. Holy Spirit filled believers’ carry a big stick. Bang!
Third: As you grow in faith, you develop kratos—the kind of strength described in Ephesians 6:10: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” You walk with quiet exousia, or authority, with instant access to the adrenalin of dunamis power, shielded and protected by the kratos of God’s might.
You’re no longer just a reservoir of God’s goodness. You are a conduit of His power. The immeasurable force of EI Shaddai flows from your being. You can move mountains. You can speak healing and deliverance to those you meet. You can lead men and women out of the darkness and into the light.
I challenge you to put El Shaddai to the test. Look at your toughest problem right in the face, and then—with nothing wavering—say “With God’s help, I will defeat you. You cannot stand in the presence of Almighty God.”
When you speak the Word of God—with no doubt or unbelief—miracles happen. You are going to discover a greater strength than you’ve ever known before. You’ll never again be defeated. Even when the battle seems to be going to
the enemy, you’ll have the assurance that ultimate victory is yours. There’s no question about it. The Bible says, Thanks be to God who ALWAYS leads us in triumph (2 Corinthians 21:14). Unlimited power flows through you as a believer. But you have to turn on the switch. You have to be an open channel. May the strength of El Shaddai gush forth from you today!
Pastor Tim continued to lead in worship…
