Prayed…
Thank You, Father, for the plan and the purpose for our lives
That You love us!
Jesus, You are our hope – in You all problems are fixed
You have given us the choice to receive joy and peace from our place in You
Responding positively in the midst of negative circumstances
We choose to embrace it or deny its right to exist
Fear and depression exists only because we give it place
Recognizing we have a choice, Father!
Allowing You, Holy Spirit, to take us into positive change
Happy, glad, excited as we meet the day
Inside us is a reservoir of joy – getting it up and out for strength
Ms. Jerre led us in singing…
♪ I’m not gonna think any yucky thoughts anymore
I’m not gonna think any yucky thoughts anymore
The devil is a stinker, tries to corrupt my holy thinker
I’m not gonna think any yucky thoughts anymore
I’m not gonna think any yucky thoughts anymore
I’m not gonna think any yucky thoughts anymore
The devil is a stinker, tries to corrupt my holy thinker
I’m not gonna think any yucky thoughts anymore ♪
Dave shared…
Remember it’s a choice. Are you going to let the devil run around in your head? You know, have his little kingdom party in there with all the poop. Ha, ha, ha. Since it is a choice… when you make a choice, there needs to be an action with the choice. If you like something on the menu, you make a choice to tell the waiter, “I want that.” When it comes, then you eat it. Right. You made the choice to get it, but you still have to eat it. That’s the thing.
Ms. Jerre continued singing…
♪ Your Word was found and I did eat it
It was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart
Oh, I am called by Your name
Oh Lord God of Hosts ♪
Dave shared…
When you work out do you just work out once? Well, I did my workout for the year and now I am done. No, no, no, with anything you do to get good at it, you have to practice. If you are exercising on an exercising program, the first time you do it is the hardest time because your body does not like to do the exercise. It says no, no, no. It tells you no, but you have to make another decision. The next time that happens, let’s say a day later, okay it’s time for my workout. What are you going to have to tell your body? Guess what we are doing? I have made a choice and you are going to do this.
But here is the good news about this. If you have ever been on an exercise program for any length of time, it gets easier. In other words, your body stops yelling because it knows there is no use in telling him anything about this. He is going to take me there and he is going to make me do this. So I am just going to get in there. What happens after a while is you get high. The exercise actually releases endorphins in your body and it makes you feel happy. It makes your body feel great. After a while, when you start doing this on a regular basis, you look forward to the workout. Now when you first started, you were like I don’t want to do this, but after a while, you start feeling like I sure could use a workout right now. The endorphins kick in and then it brings a high to you. We call it drunk in the Spirit here. Meaning that it releases, there is a release inside of you that releases, RELEASES.
Ms. Jerre shared…
And don’t call that feel good chemical in your body dopamine. My husband Steve and I renamed it. Instead of dope-a-mean, we call it smart and nice (ha, ha, ha.)
Dave shared…
So if something is hard to let go. You may say I really don’t have a choice to let go. When this happens you are releasing and this release goes on. And guess what; all of a sudden you don’t have that anymore. You don’t have that challenge anymore because it has the Holy Ghost endorphins. It allows you the ability to release and when that release comes, that’s where God wants us to live. When we are free like that and release like that, we have faith and all things are possible at that point. You become more interested in what the Holy Spirit is talking about than what is going on all around you.
Remember this, it doesn’t happen… one might say why do we talk about this all the time? Why do you exercise more than once? Why do you eat more than once? It’s an ongoing process in the believer’s life. Just like you eat and need sustenance, you need this. You need to be filled and filled and filled in your life. It’s not one time. It’s ongoing, all the time, every day. The Holy Ghost has a place inside of us and He wants that to happen continually that you would have a continual feast. The Word says “Rejoice, and again I say rejoice!”
Ms. Jerre shared…
If you have a problem with this and you are under a heavy load, it’s still a choice. If you have a heavy load on you, it’s still a choice. But we know that we have been taught faith. I remember one time when I just literally had to grit my teeth and start praising the Lord. But you know what, it worked. By faith I spoke, by faith I crawled out of a hole that I had dug myself into with my yucky, stinking thinking (ha, ha ha).
Ms. Jerre led us singing…
♪ This light I am going to let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
This light I am going to let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
This light I am going to let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine all over the place
This joy I am going to let it flow
Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow
This joy I am going to let it flow
Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow
This joy I am going to let it flow
Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow
This joy is going to flow all over the place
(Repeat faster)
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Let it shine all over the place!
(We don’t just have a little light but a huge light!)
This blow torch of mine, I’m going to let it shine
This blow torch of mine, I’m going to let it shine
This blow torch of mine, I’m going to let it shine
Shine all over _______, I’m going to let it shine! ♪
(Fill in the blank with what concerns you)
Pastor Ray shared…
In Acts 10, I felt directed to read that. You know that’s Cornelius and Peter. When Peter got to Cornelius’ place, everyone was looking to see and hear what he had to say. The first in the message translation says in verse 34…
(34-36) Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.
(37-38) “You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.
(39-43) “And we saw it, saw it all, everything he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed him, hung him from a cross. But in three days God had him up, alive, and out where he could be seen. Not everyone saw him—he wasn’t put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand—us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with him after he came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One whom God destined as Judge of the living and dead. But we’re not alone in this. Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets.”
44-46 No sooner were these words out of Peter’s mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on “outsider” non-Jews, but there it was—they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God. Acts 10:34-46 (The Message)
Pastor Ray shared…
What are we saying? Letting our light shine when the opportunity shows itself, when the door opens, when the atmosphere is right we explode with His goodness, His love, His compassion, His joy and the results will be the Holy Ghost will fall and there will be a change and those who come in contact with Him in and through us. Hallelujah.
So we keep moving, speaking and walking. We keep lifting, we keep dancing, we keep up, we keep full of joy and that joy will bring about a strength that cannot come from another way but the joy of the Lord is our strength.
Pastor Paul shared…
So we are talking about light and joy. I was trying to connect both of them together to find out how the Lord uses them in scripture. The first verse that came to me was, “with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation.” So there are certain things that are dammed that can only be released by the pressure of joy. When you are in yourself, you are Adam… “a dam.” When you are in the Spiirt, you are in Christ. Glory to God!
I was asking the Lord the other day how do you get to do “This is that”? the only way you can get to do “This is that,” you must know where your source is from. And the source is from the Lord and with joy you draw water.
Let me explain it this way. This lady called Rebekkah who took care of Eliezer’s camels. One camel alone can drink almost 40 gallons. And she made up her mind that she was not only going to give drink to Eliezer who was thirsty but she was going to go almost 300 times back to the same well carrying this vessel of water to each camel until the camels were satisfied. She already made up her mind that whatever the cost, whatever was necessary to bring about a blessing to this man she didn’t know, she was going to do it. She was drawing water out of the wells and God was confirming to Eliezer that this is the woman. This is the woman. This is the woman. Now, if you start to draw water with joy, God starts to tell His angels. The Word says, “There is joy in the presence of the angels.” It doesn’t say there is joy… the dancing is not with the angels. The dancing is with God. There is joy in the presence of the angels. That means the angels are watching something they have never seen before. Somebody’s dancing! It’s not the angels. Somebody in their midst is dancing. And the angels are saying “Holy!” And sparks are flying because like Rebekkah what they are doing is they are drawing water and God is saying, “Look, I am happy! I’m happy! I’m Happy! He is having twirls!
Ms. Jerre shared…
That’s a word for worship. To spin around!
Pastor Paul shared…
And David caught a picture of it. David when he saw the ark coming, he became undone. He started dancing and his wife Michael was saying “You were naked.” He was thinking you think I am naked but before Him I am being magnified. So God knew after 40 years of trying to get His children to celebrate in joy, he could not get them to do something that was required for them to enter into the land of promise so what God did was that like look I am not about to have another abortion with my children. I am going to mandate for this two million people who are going before an impregnable wall that represents their entrance into the land of promise. I am just going to give them an ordinance of quietness. Can you image 2 million people, they can’t even talk. First day they go around Jericho. Second day they go around Jericho. Third day they go around Jericho. Fourth day they go around Jericho, fifth day the same thing. Sixth day, seventh day not a peep and they heard the trumpets go and they burst out!! Praise the Lord!
To enter into the promise, joy is required. And they yelled and cried and sang praises to God and that wall came down flat! Are there walls in your life? Check your joy meter. Check your joy meter.
Same thing with Gideon… God told him these people you have are too many. We need to reduce the amount of people you are carrying for this battle otherwise you will think it’s from your hands. But I am God, I want to bring you the victory. So they downsized, not because of the economy. They downsized because of the disposition. The economy here (pointing at the heart) not out there. The people’s economy was not according to God’s plan and purpose. God stock was going up but the people’s economy was going down. So God said. “Ok we are downsizing.” God said with this three hundred I will deliver the children of Israel. But Gideon took something. He took a lamp in the night and he told them what to say, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” and they broke that carrier of the light. The earthen vessel had to be broken to produce the light! You and I are earthen vessels and sometimes when it looks as if this is all I have, I don’t have much, God says, let the light shine. Let the light Shine! Bring that blow torch out of you! You have a blow torch in you! Let it shine. God says, “You are thinking this is all you have but the enemy has already heard that they are defeated.” That a barley loaf came down and crushed them. A message was sent to their adversary that they are undone but you are thinking this is all I have, … no you have a blow torch in you and they have defeat in them. God sent two messages. One to His children and one to the adversary! You only listen to the adversary’s message and you don’t know that you have a message for yourself. It’s a message for you. When God tells you to go somewhere, it’s not because He is depending on you. It’s because He is depending on His faithfulness and He needs your arms, your feet in the earth like His to get what He has already planned for you. Glory to God! So when God tells you to do something just know that the Kingdom of God has already written it off and He has said “I trust in them. They are going to go around this mountain and shout it down!” Anytime God gives the church an assignment, it’s not because God is depending upon the strength of the Church, He is depending upon His faithfulness and He wants the Church to be in line with Him so He will do and get done what He wants to do in the earth.
So this blow torch of mine… if you are crushed, hey, this earthen vessel. The Bible says the excellence of the power shall come from Him and not from us. For we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Treasure is in earthen vessels. There is treasure in you, it is a blow torch! It’s full of joy. The lever is the joy lever. You just open it up and let the gusher come out! Hallelujah!
So when you start your day and the enemy is putting all kinds of pressure on you, say at famine and destruction I will laugh! Ha, ha, ha! That’s the word of God.
Anytime you laugh you are releasing His plan. The entrance of the children of Israel into the land of promise did not end at the laugh, yelling, shouting or praise. It was releasing the plan for the conquest. Do you understand that? When you laugh, you are releasing a spiritual plan, a spiritual endeavor. The laughter is just a catalyst to what God is wanting to do in your life. It’s the catalyst. There are certain things that would take ten years to do by the normal processes of time but there are certain things once you add the catalyst, it accelerates the end point. So, when you laugh you are actually releasing the catalyst of the Spirit of Christ to go in your behalf to accomplish what He has so determined to do.
One verse in the Psalms declared “I shall not die but live to declare the works of the Lord.” If you look at it, it’s like there is a death sentence already afoot and this person is looking at this death sentence and saying “wrong address. It’s not for me. I am going to live.” He is declaring “I shall not die.” He is aspiring “I shall live.” He is releasing a plan “I shall declare the works of the Lord.” Do you see that? So when God tells you to laugh or something out of the ordinary, what He is telling you to do is to get in touch with the things that are spiritual, the plan and purpose and pursuit of God. So I beg you, don’t look at yourself and judge yourself by your circumstances. They are not the greatest indicator of the plan and purpose of God for your life. Circumstances are temporary and subject to change. Look at yourself in the way that He sees you.
(Laughing and singing and rejoicing!)
