Stephanie Ike Okafor - Awaken To His Holiness

Hallelujah. It is such a blessing to be here. Can we just lift up a praise to Jesus? Amen? Amen? And can we take another moment to honor the pastors of this house. I mean, just incredible. Before we pray, there's a young lady. When you came down to the altar, the Lord highlighted you so clearly. You're in the white top right there. And the I think is that Burgund depends. But as you came. Down and you were just you know, focusing on the Lord, and he began to show me that everything that he has spoken to you to do, that you should run with it and. He will back you up. And the Lord brought to my memory there was and I'm going to share this story, and I pray touches your heart. There was an individual in our church at this time. I was serving as an usher in the church and he was one of the ushers and he. Was in a very low place in his life. He was homeless, he was sleeping in his car and really struggling lost the car. I mean, everything that could go wrong was going wrong in his life. Didn't really have family he could go to, and you know, in America, there's like homeless shelters, but you never know if you're going to get in or not. So sometimes he was sleeping on the street. And so when we found this out, we were looking at ways that we can help him and support him. And one day I was in prayer and the Lord began to speak to me about that young man, and he said, this man will be a billionaire, he doesn't know it yet, and that he will find himself in tech, that the Lord would give him some very witty ideas that he will launch into the tech space. And the idea that the Lord would give him, he will sell it and become a billionaire. So when the Lord tells me this, and he says. Tell him that I am with him and this will not be the end of his life. So I go that I meet this man on a Sunday. I share with him what the Lord had placed in my heart. The Lord shows me that he's gonna get married, it's going to have a family, and he's going to increase him largely. I share this with him and he received it. You see that one there's a beautiful thing when you realize that where you are is not your limitation, that even though you might find yourself in a situation that seems limiting, even though you might find yourself in circumstances that does not match what God put in your heart. That it is not your limitation. That you realize that your boundaries are not what you see, but it is the word of God. He received it with joy. Fast forward some years. He moves to San Francisco because he meets this young lady. They get married and she's from there. Now, San Francisco is the hub for technology in the US, so he moves there. All of a sudden, God gives him this weedy idea and they start working on it together, start building on it, and now they have investors. So we are seeing the unfolding of God's word in his life. He came to visit, you know, the church recently. He looked like a completely different individual. I met his wife. They have a daughter, and he told me what he's doing within technology. And I said, back then, he had no background in tech. He had no background in what the Lord said. But you see, I'm saying this to you, but I'm saying this to everyone in the room. You need a word from God. Because when God releases a word, the word tells us that it will not return to him void. So the moment God releases a word, everything in creation is ordained to back it up. We see that even in the moments when the Lord you know, has an encounter with Peter, and Peter is fishing and he finds nothing, and then the Lord tells him throw your net here. It wasn't that Peter, you know. Peter is like, look, we've been toiling for it for hours. When the Lord said throw your net. It was not that Peter missed the spot, but he's When Jesus spoke, all the fishes had to come in commandment to that word. That he knew that the moment he released the Creation said we must go to the net before it's thrown. When God gives you a word, he gives you. The thing and you just have to walk it out for the manifestation of it to occur. And so I want to encourage you what God has spoken to you in your heart, run with it and you're gonna see great fruit. Amen. Amen, let us pray, Heavenly Father, we thank you, we worship you in this house. We give you the glory, we give you the praise. Lord. I pray that you will transform us today that truly we will not leave here the way we came. That you would impact our minds our hearts. That change will be the outcome of this meeting with you, and to Holy Spirit, glorify Jesus through everything that we do in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen, you know the spirit of the Lord is one as I was hearing, Pastor deal lou minister. It is so, you know, connected to what the Lord had put on my heart to share with you all. See, the Lord wants to give you not just that he wants to give you a new name. He wants to reveal to you your real name. He wants to reveal to you what he always knew about you. You see, when the Lord was talking to Jeremiah, he reveals a mystery, he says, Jeremiah, before I before you were formed in your mother's room, before I formed you, I knew you. Before you were born. I ordained you, I set you apart as a prophet to the nations. So before you even got here, there was a name I knew that you would be. There was a name I called you before your parents even met. There is a name that Heaven knows about you that you may not even know about yourself. It's amazing. I always love paying attention to what God pays attention to, and we see that in the Garden of Eden in the beginning, when the Lord God had created all the animals, and then he creates Man, he creates Adam, and then he allows Adam. To go name the animals. And you will think that that should just be a you know, okay, Adam, whatever Adam calls it, that's fine. But then the Bible says that he was watching to see what Adam would name them, and whatever he named them, that was its name. So Adam was operating in the mindset of God. He saw things the way God saw it. That in that place of glory, before he became corrupted by disobedience, he was functioning in the mind of Christ. So he called things according to their name. Now for us, unfortunately, when you're born in sin and you're in a culture that is dark, and you're in environments that is dark, people tend to call you names that you believe is yours and has nothing to do with what God knows about you. It has nothing to do with who God called you to be. One of the most impactful encounters I've experienced. I was interceding for a gentleman in our church. He was going through a lot in his life and he needed clarity. And he's someone I hold very dear to and I was in prayer for him. And one day, while in prayer, the Lord brings me into this vision. And in this vision, I'm given a book and that book written on it was the Book of Secrets. And when I opened the book, I see this man's life just written before me. And the Lord begins to show me what he ordained for this gentleman in the season that he is in. He showed me things concerning his past, concerning his present, and concern in his future. That while I was in a place of prayer, now there is a response, there is a revelation about what we are praying for. But what shook me was the fact that his life has already been written. That is why David will talk about walking in the days that were already written before him. There is something God. Knows about you that you may not even know about yourself. And the worst thing you can do is to live your life in the boundaries of your experience, because there is. So much more. I want to take you to a scripture in Genesis sixteen from sixteen verse fifteen to chapter seventeen, verse five, and the scripture says, so Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named his son whom Hagar bore Ishmael. Abram was eighty six years old. When Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram, when Abram was ninety nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am Almighty God. Walk before me and be blameless, and I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly. Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, as for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. You see. My message to you today is to be awakened to holiness. There are words that God wants to release to you, But the fertile ground, the soil of that word, is the posture of holiness. There are things that God needs to say to you. There are many of you. You have been in a place where you feel like God, I've been praying, I've been fasting, but I can't seem to discern what you're saying. I can't seem to hear you. It feels as though you're far from me. And so you're doing things almost in the religious behavior, because you're just like, Okay, let me try this again, let. Me try this again. And God is still silent, and it's frustrating. And the Lord began to show me that when he releases a world, a word from God, one word would change your entire life, but the soil of that that word would be a posture of holiness. You see, when we think about holiness, you know, we have made it to There's been this misconception that it is unattainable, that only God is holy. But then the Lord himself says, be holy, for I am holy. He tells us you can become holy because. I am holy. In simple terms, what is holiness, it is to be whole. And the Lord is. Like, you can be whole because I am your source. I am complete. What I love about God is that nothing you can do can add or take away from him. Nothing you do can add to him. And nothing you do could take away from him. He is simply God, and in this complete nature. That's why he is not easily swayed by the emotions of man. He is committed to his agenda. He's committed to his will. He is committed to his purpose because he doesn't need anything from anybody. He even says, if you don't worship me, the rocks will cry out. So even our worship is not for God. Worship transforms you. It brings you into the consciousness of who God is, and all of a sudden, the things that you are worried and frustrated about you see that it is nothing. Worship doesn't add to him. God is holy, He is whole in himself, and the Lord invites us into this beautiful mystery. He says, if I am your source, if you are dependent on me, then you will realize that nothing others can do could add or take away from you. You see, the root behind every form of compromise is that we're looking for something to add to us. We're looking for something we feel as though we are incomplete if this doesn't happen. The reason we tolerate toxic relationships because you think that that gentleman or that lady is your only way to get married. So you need something because you don't want to be lonely. So you embrace a relationship that you know was never designed by God for you because you feel as though, I need this. I don't want to be embarrassed. So let me open the door for what God did not assign. The reason we compromise, the reason we lie, the reason we steal, the reason we do things that lack. Integrity, is because we're in a whole. We feel as though if I don't take this route, it would happen. You see a pastor in Hollywood, and one of the things that I've learned from my senior pastor, especially when dealing with a lot of people in entertainment, that one of the key things that they need to understand is that no matter the room you walk into, no matter the platforms you stand on, it has nothing to give you, but you have something to give it. Because if you're looking for things to give you something, you would always compromise, because if you need a room, if you need a platform, if you need that person, if you need that job in the way that that job has become God, then when they tell you to do something that lacks integrity, you would do it because you lost track of the fact that. This was just a vehicle. But the source behind it was God. And if it doesn't work, then he knows how to get a resource to you another way. Can you imagine when you receive. Mail, there is a messenger that brings the mail to you, but the messenger is not the sender. The messenger is only relevant because there is a sender. But we get it twisted. We begin to worship the messenger and forget to thank the sender. But when we realize everything that comes my way, Lord, you are the source. And if at any point I have to compromise to get this, then you can take it away. I trust you beyond myself. You see, in ministry, when I started traveling and speaking for such. A long time, the Lord will not allow me to keep. Even as ministers, we often would get like an honor ray right, It's like a thank you monetary gift, and I would receive honorariums, and the Lord will tell me, sew it back, give it back, reject it, and I'm like, at some point, you know, I should take it. And I remember one time this was like the biggest that had ever come my way. And the Lord says, tell them to keep it. And I remember when I told my mom and she's here with my daughter. My mom was like, Stephanie, what are you sure? The Lord said, you know, ministers, they labor and we loved about it. And I remember asking the Lord that said, Lord, why do you keep having me do this? I also have needs? And then he said to me, he said, my daughter, I never want you to look as ministry as a means of gain. It is too holy fun or. That, because if you look at it as something that is giving you what you need, you will say yes to places I did not send you. What you will look at is more so, Oh what would I get from this place when I go there? Not what I'm called to give from the Holy Spirit. He said, I'm training you in something right now. I want you to understand it. Every time you obeyed my instruction, you passed the test. And that's why till this very day, before I go anywhere, I ask the Lord are you sending me? And if I'm not clear, my husband I will ask him. I'm like, Babe, I'm not sure. I'm a bit foggy, can you pray with me, and let's make sure that the Lord is sending me on this assignment, because if the Lord is not, I'm not going why because the Lord was showing me you cannot function effectively as my voice. If you have need for what is in the room, if there's something that's feeding, then you have lost your effectiveness because that would be the same door that Satan would use against you. You see, wherever God has placed you, whatever it is that He's called you to do, you have to ask the Holy Spirit, what have you called me to release. I'm not saying don't know how, don't. Receive, not that, But I'm saying you cannot have a need over a thing more than you have a need for God, because it would be the door to compromise. You see, when we look at this scripture, it fascinates me and I want to go back to it. There are few things I want to highlight. So we're looking at Genesis sixteen. First of all, Even before we do that, let's do let's let's let's back back a little bit and let's talk about Abraham. Because where we are in Geno six sixteen, I mean, many many of us know the story of Abraham. Right, God calls him out of his household everything that he has known, and the Lord says, I'm gonna lead you to there's a place I'm gonna lead you out. I'll take you somewhere that I will show you. Abraham did not even know where he was going, but he said yes. Because Abraham came from a household that was a pagan household, right, they didn't. Worship the Lord. So the Lord is like, I have a call. There is something I know about you that you cannot even know about yourself if you keep looking at your environment. So I need you to. Bring you out of it. The Lord calls him out, Abraham leaves. Then Abraham wants to be a father. He makes it clear to the Lord that who is gonna inherit all of this? The Lord gives him a word that, look, you are gonna have a son. It's not gonna be your servants that will take over this. I would give you a son. Now you have to know that whatever God, whenever God gives you a word, the way to manifest that word cannot be outside his standard. So the Lord says, Abraham, I will give you a son. And then there's a moment where God makes a covenant with him concerning this promised child, and then all of a sudden, Sarah. I mean, we haven't seen her talk like this before, but right after God makes a covenant with him, Sarah shows up and she's like, you know what, clearly the Lord doesn't want me to have children, and she speaks to him in a way that convinces him to sleep with her servant. She says, maybe you can have you can give me children through her. Now, I want to pause on that for a moment, because you have to realize that one of Satan say In's greatest tactic is to hide his thoughts as yours. Sarah, This was not a coincidence. Whenever you find yourself in an extreme ends of emotions, question it. One moment you're happy, you're hopeful, and all of a sudden you're angry and you're frustrated, and you're questioning God. Question who planted that seed? Because it didn't come from you. You see, thoughts are spiritual things. That's why even in the Bible, there are times that Jesus would respond to what a person was thinking, not what they said. He would respond to them according to their thoughts. Thoughts can be sent like arrows, even by the enemy. It only takes root if you receive and engage it and meditate on it. But not everything you think about comes from you. You. That is why when we look at let's let's just jump down to Philippians Philippians four six two eight. Look at this right Philippis chapter four, verse six to eight. The Word of God says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, because we know that every life Satan is the father of lies. Every lie originates from him. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. Because even they knew that. It's not everything that comes to your mind that originated from you. That is why when you go back to the garden. And after the fall of man and the Lord is looking for Adam, he says Adam, where are you? And Adam says, you know, he starts talking about his naked and so he had to hide himself. And it's interesting what the Lord said. He said, who told you you were naked? Something is influencing your thought life. There's a spirit, there's a different spirit outside of my spirit that is in operation. So the Lord did not just say, you know, Adam like, oh, you're naked, Like, so what do you think you look like? He said, wait, who told you that? Because Adam, all this time you have been covered by my glory. You were thinking like me, but now another spirit is at work. Have you ever found yourself when you are so close to a breakthrough and your self sabotage? Have you ever found yourself in a situation that everything is going great and then the thought comes in your mind and you're like, I don't like how they're looking at me, you know, I don't like how this person just passed me. And then you just get angry, not realizing that the person you're getting angry yet was sent by God for you. Have you ever just had this blow up moment of an argument that did not make any sense. The person you're arguing with is as confused as ever, and then you start to recall things that happen five years ago. Who planted it? Right there? It's not you. There's many things that you have caused. God, the Lord has put in your hand, and you caused it to fall because you engaged and meditated with thoughts that were not planted by the Lord, thoughts that did not even originate from you. God will not create you to be against yourself. He will not create you to be divided with yourself, because even in his word he says that kingdom divided against the self shall not stand. So when the enemy. Wants to get you down, when he wants to get you in a weak position, he causes division within yourself. One moment, you're excited about the word of God, and all of a sudden something snaps and you begin to question everything you know about the faith. Who planted it? Sarah? All up till now we see Abraham, he shares his vision and all this thing he wants to have a child. We don't hear Sarah complaining about anything. And then the Lord has a covenant with Abraham, and all of a sudden, Sarah gets frustrated, and she gets so frustrated to the point she's already created a plan B. It was not even a frustration to say, you know what, my husband pray for me. It was not even a frustration to say, can you inquire of the Lord why this has not yet happened? Immediately she created a plan B. Question it when you already have a solution to exit out of what God told you to do? Who planted it? And so Abraham listens to the voice of his wife. He has you know, you know, he goes and he's with the servant lady, and they give birth to Ishmael. But look at what's so interesting here. When Ishmael was born, the Bible says Abraham was sixty six years old. When the Lord. The next time the Lord appeared to him, Abraham was ninety nine years old. For thirteen years, God was silent. Because Abraham had introduced something in the presence of God that had nothing to do with God's purpose for his life. It directly went against the word of God concerning him, because when God told him he would have a son, God did not need him to help him through compromise. So for thirteen years, Abraham, the friend of God, God goes silent, and when the Lord shows up again, the first thing he tells him is to be blameless before me. The Hebrew word for blameless simply means whole. Abraham, be whole before me. It goes back to be holy as I am holy, because Abraham, you are so after the promise that you try to do it in your own way, and I will step back because it was not just a promise I had for you. I also had the revealing of a name. All along, he's been known as Abraham. That is why I'm sure many times we even wonder, why is it that when Isaac is born, and Isaac and the Lord tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, but he says to him, sacrifice your son, your only son. But he has too. And it's not that the Lord is disregarding Ishmael. But the person that gave birth to Ishmael was Abram, and the one who gave birth to Isaac was Abraham. So the Lord was. Able to distinguish between the two because now he's talking to the man he knows he formed. When he says, Abraham, sacrifice your son, your only son, because all this time you have been functioning through the flesh Abraham revealed life in the flesh. Abraham reveals life in the spirit. And you cannot do it both ways because the Bible tells us that the ways of the flesh are against the ways of the Spirit. They do not agree, they don't align. And for many, what is causing a blockage between what God wants to say to you in this season is that you are still functioning in the ways of the flesh. And he says the fertile ground, because you see, God does not speak to gossip. God does not speak to entertain, he doesn't speak to cuddle you. His words cannot fall flat. When the Lord speaks. That means that word will have precision in your life, that that word will fulfill what it has been intended to fulfill by the Lord. So there are words that he will hold back until you of a prepared person for it. And what the Lord was showing me is that the posture of you being prepared would be the posture of holiness. There are things you have to turn away from. That is what repentance is about. Repentances literally turned the other way. You've been walking in a direction that was not ordained by God. And when he convicts your heart. He simply says, now turn in the righteous way. It is a mockery to think that we can worship God, that we can serve God and still fornicate. It is a mockery to think that we can come here and say, God, I give you my all. But the flesh is still what is keeping you bound. You cannot mock the Lord. And you would realize that this thing's in the flesh. Literally, everything that we engage in the flesh, the wages of sin, the Bible says, is death. But when you tap into the spirit, there is eternal life. There are words that God wants to release to you that will cause you to shift your generation, that will cause you to change your nation, that will cause you to be a light in your family and cause everyone else to rise up. But there is a. Place that he is looking at, and he says, if this is not fixed, then I would remain silent. You can't bribe God, and he is not a genie that is obligated to respond because you broke down. You see, sometimes we think if we cry hard enough, God will turn it around. But He is a father that loves you and knows what's good for you. See, one thing I'm learning with having a child is learning their cries. There is a cry that you know they need you, and there is a cry they have that it is just for attention. It is not coming from a place of need. It is coming from a place of want. There is a cry that is actually to manipulate you. Because when they want something, even when it's something that is not good for them, but they don't know that, there is a cry they have which is to make you feel like, you know what, maybe I should just give it to you, but that will make you a bad parent. God knows how to decipher your crist He knows how to decipher the cry that is coming from a place of God. I know it's bad for me, but I still want it. That's why the Bible says the heart of man is desperately wicked. Who can know it? Sometimes you don't even know the reason you're crying the way you do, but you think that the over expression or or this excess expression of emotion will turn the hands of God. Know what turns the hand of God is repentance. It's not just emotions. If your emotions matches what is taking place in your heart, then that will produce change. But if your emotions are manipulative, you would be. There, You would get up, and it will still be the same. Because sometimes we have mastered the theatrics of life and not the heart. Of the matter. We know how to do things on the surface without actually sacrificing. It matters. So we're willing to fast, but we're not willing to let go of the thing God said released to me. That's why the Bible says obedience is better than sacrifice. Obedience is sacrifice. But what is better for your life is to do what God said and not create your own law. The Lord wants to encounter you in a way that would it would carry you throughout your days. The Lord wants to give you a word that would reveal what he's always known about you. And when the Lord begins to reveal what he's known about you, all of creation backs it up. The heavens back it up. The heavens become your defense. When it's the Lord that spoke, then nothing can touch it as. Long as you stay in alignment. But before Heaven can put that much weight on you, are you ready or are you making excuses for compromise? Are you making excuses about the way you've been living your life. See the Bible will say something like what shall they profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul. And this could be translated in many ways, because sometimes it's not just about material gain, but it is gain outside of the standard of God. It is gain outside of the word of God. It is gain outside of what God takes pleasure in. We want to just do things our way. We don't want to pay the price of greatness. We don't want to pay the price of being called, of being chosen. We don't want to pay the price of carrying our cross. And so we live our way and ask God to bless it. And it doesn't work like that. See when the Lord was giving me this message, why I got excited was because he is ready to do something new. He is ready to show you something new. He wants to equip you in a way that it would blow your mind. He wants to show you what he's always known about you. I love it. When Pastor Dale was talking about yeah, people might think of you as a driver. You have no clue what God wants to do in your life. Because wherever you are, whether you're the driver or you're the CEO. There is something God knows about you that you have yet to tap into. And the frustration of why you cannot hear his voice is because you're still holding on to the voice of your pleasure. You're still being led by the voice of your pleasure. So his voice is faint and it's far from you. Thirteen years God went silent. I don't know how long He has been silent in your life concerning these matters. You've been asking the Lord, show me who you've called me to be, Show me my place in my generation, show me my place in my family, show me the thing that you put me on this earth for. And it still feels like an echo. It just feels like God is at a distance. And we're gonna pray. There are some prayer points that the Holy Spirit put on my heart, and we're gonna do it as a corporate body, because it's not just what I'm gonna pray for you, it's what you're gonna pray for yourself. That Lord, if there is any place in my life that I have engaged with corruption, that I am actively engaging in a behavior that is not pleasant before you, that it's not pleasing to you open my eyes. You see when God wants to use you in a mighty way, it is always revealed by the level of consecration that he calls you to walk in. There is always something he would ask you to let go. There is always something and the beauty in God. He's not asking to let go of what's good for you he sees from any eternal realm. He's asking to let go of what will. Bring you harm. You don't know it yet, but he does. I remember before I met my husband, there was this gentleman I was talking to and in my mind I was like, oh, I would love for this to work. And I remember the Lord gives me a vision and I see this man and the demon dancing on his face. And you will think that was the moment I said, oh my, I'm running the other way, because as Christians we have this problem of trying to be the savior rather than listening to the Savior. I said, oh my gosh, I need to pray for this man. We need to deliver him from this demonic spirit. No, the Lord was showing me, no, you need to run. This person would destroy the call of God on your life. I knew this, but there was something that would still make you feel like, ah, maybe you know, maybe. I just need a fast bit more. But that was not the truth. The truth was that I was not moving in wholeness. There was something broken that I thought I needed something to feel outside of God. And so when the Lord began working on that, and that was what gave me the confidence to no longer settle for anything that was beneath the standard of God for my life. But it came from a place of being, of accepting God's invitation to holiness. Lord, I'm not gonna engage anything outside your standard because you are my source. That is why David could say the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. When that is translated, David is actually saying, the Lord is my shepherd. I don't even have the understanding of lack. That's why David, no matter what happened to him, he stayed faithful because the rejection of his father did not add or take away from him. His brothers mocking him did not add or take away from him. Saul trying to kill him did not add or take away from him. David had a posture. He says, no matter what happens, the one who governs. My life is God, so I don't need to to manipulate the system for my game. Now. David had some slip ups, but immediately he knew how to rise back up in the place of his priesthood. He knew how to get back to the place of wholeness. That's even why when he had a son that the Lord said I'm gonna take him away, David prayed, he fasted, and when the boy died, he changed his garments and he was ready to eat. And the servants were confused. They said, wouldn't it be now that he would actually be sorrowful? But David had a posturing God, you are my source. If it was fitting for you to take it away, I will be all right. And that's where God wants to get you too, to the place of wholeness. That you're not looking for things to give you validation any longer. You're not looking for people to make you feel a little bit better. You're not looking to things that would cause you the compromise just for game, because you have a confidence to know God, if you needed this to get to me, as long as I stay in alignment with you, there is a way you will make a way for me. That is why even Joseph. Do you realize how crazy it is for Joseph in real time, not when we read the story of him in Egypt. In real time, when Joseph is sold as a slave and he's being faithful in the house and then his boss's wife wants to sleep with him, and then the lies on him. But even in that moment, can you look at the language of Joseph. Joseph is like, look, I cannot do this against God. If Joseph was in a place that being free was more important to him than his service to God, he would have slept with her. If his freedom was his God, he would have compromised a long time ago. And if he did, we will not read of his story like we do today. If Joseph compromised, he would never realize that on the other side of his faithfulness and obedience was God using him to save the nations. Can you imagine what is on the other side of your obedience? The easy thing for Joseph to do in that moment, It would have been much easier to sleep with Potiphar's wife than to try to defend himself. Have you ever tried defending yourself against a woman, you will lose. That's why he ends up in jail. It would have been easier because if his freedom was his God, he would look at it and say, oh, if I engage with his wife sexually, then I have even more favor. Then there is even a faster way of escape out of all of this. But he's what was his focus was pleasing God. He said, no, the Lord is the one who watches over me. The Lord is my keeper, even in this strange place. There is a word that God gave me concerning myself, and I am not trying. I'm not going to try to manipulate my way to it. Joseph wanted to be set free, but that was not his God. Whatever you may have a need of it's not evil, But has it consumed you to the point that it is now God to you? Has wealth become God to you? Has marriage become a God to you? Has freedom in whatever context become a God to you? Because if that is the case, that is the voice that would lead your life. And that is why God will not corrupt his word in such a soil, because there will be two things that are leading you, and ultimately it is the voice of your pleasure that. Would win stand with me. Thank you Lord. You see Abram, the word Abram means exalted father, and he could do that in any way he could. He could have been He became a father literally through a means that was not ordained by God. But because Abram represents life in the flesh, there are many ways. To get what you want in your flesh. There are many routes that you can take to get whatever you desire in the flesh. But there's only one way to get what God desires for you, because that is the way of the spirit. There is only one way to become who God called you to be, and that is the way of the Spirit. Can you imagine if Abram stayed Abram, he will never realize the destiny on his life to be Abraham. That you're not just called to be a father, your called to be the father of many nations. You could do it your way and be limited. But do you want to take that route? And then when you meet the Lord and he begins to speak to you about your life and your destiny, and he begins to speak to you about what he wrote in the books concerning you, you don't want to have regret there. You don't want to meet face to face with God and realize all the opportunities you had to walk out who He called you to be because you chose the way of the flesh, because you chose the desires of the flesh. Wow, I'm looking at this room and what I'm seeing about you. Is so different from who you are. I'm seeing garments all around this room. Wow. And the garments there, it's almost like they're hanging over your shoulder, but they're not yet settled on you. There is an identity God wants you to step into. And the mystery in God is when the Lord reveals you. When the Lord announces you, there is an authority you begin to walk into that. You don't even realize why people are drawn to you the way they are drawn. Because everything about who we are man, and when I say man, i'm speaking to both male and female. Man was created to be governed by her spirit. And all of a sudden, when you are revealed as who God has called you to be, there is a spirit that begins to influence all of creation to recognize you, even if you don't recognize yourself. That is why for so many for thirty years Jesus is on the cover. You don't see anyone following Jesus calling him the Messiah because it wasn't yet time to reveal that identity. But the moment the Father announces him, all of a sudden, now people are just following him everywhere he went. The scripture literally tells us how his fame grew amongst men. It was not just because he was healing people and speaking into their lives. There was a revealing of who he was that even when he was in the temple, all of a sudden, the demonic spirits are agitated and they're like, what have you come to do with us now. It's interesting because even though we don't know for many years what Jesus was doing when he was hidden, we do know because the Bible would say that he will go to the temple and read, as it was his custom. So he had a habit of going to the temple and reading. He had read in that temple, and demons were all over that temple, none of them manifested. Because he was still under cover. But the moment his identity is revealed, the moment his name is truly announced, even the demons began to get agitated, without him even calling them out in the temple. They said, what have you come to do with us? He was just reading. When the Lord reveals your name, you would realize that there are people he puts you in proximity to, and what you think you're. Think you're looking at them. I love it, you know, Pasordela was talking about, you know, the people who seem to be in charge, but when you don't realize they are placeholders. They're waiting for the manifest not manifesting, and the revealing of God's children to rise. And all of a sudden, when the Lord announces you, you will make demands, and without you understanding why it would happen. It's interesting that the children that the children that had been captured, the Israelites, the children of Israel that were in slavery in Egypt, when it was time for them to exit, when the the Lord showed his hand strong, there was an instruction that was given to them. It says, go to all your slave masters and all of that, and ask them for gold. The people that had kept you in slavery, the people that caused you to be bound. Because all of a sudden, the Lord says, I didn't forget you. But now that I am revealing that you are my people, you would ask a thing and the favor that I have placed on your life would cause it to be released to you. So all of a. Sudden, the people start going and they start asking for gold, and they give them the gold. You would think that they'll be like, look if we're gonna if all this calamities happened, I'm keeping my gold. But there was something stronger than their own will that came upon them in that moment. It was authority. You see, when authority shows up, how you feel does not matter. When a police officer shows up. When there is a law in the land, the law has no regard for your feelings. It is the law. Whether you feel like obeying or you feel like disobeying, the law is what will stand. The law becomes the standard, so regardless of your feelings, you have to obey the law. Now. I know in Nigeria we have interesting things sometimes are the police officers. But let me talk about America. If a police officer signals for your car to stop, whether you're in a hurry or not, whether your water just broke, you were gonna stop that car, whether you feel like it or or not, because they have the authority to do so. They have the authority to keep you. They have the authority to engage in conversation with you based on whatever they're looking for, regardless of how you feel. Spiritually, it's the same when the Lord reveals your name. There is an authority that he clothes you with that regardless of what people feel like doing or not, they just respond to you. That's why the Bible says kings will be drawn to the brightness of your rison, whether they feel like it or not. The gentiles will feed you because authority speaks. There is authority connected to your true identity. The reason that some of you have not been functioning in the spaces you're in is because that is not the space appointed to you. Or you're in the space operating through the you and the flesh, not the you and the spirit. And if you really want to do business with God, if you really want to walk with God, if you want to have make if you want your life to be meaningful, if you want your works to speak of you in a way that it matters, if you want the Lord to look at you in the last days and say my good and faithful servants, and we are in the last days, but I'm speaking about the day of judgment, that he will look at you and say, you have been faithful. You knew what this was about. You are not lost. Telling you whatever you think is pleasure to you, you only think that because you are deceived. Anything outside the world of God that you call pleasure is a marker of deception. Anything outside the standard. Of God that you call fun, because in the spiritual realm there's no entertainment. There is nothing that is called fun. Everything is serving something, Everything is aiming at a target. Satan is not trying to have fun with you. He's not trying to laugh with you. He's not trying to sit and gossip with you. No, he wants to distract you. He wants to keep you in a place of deception so that he has the advantage, so that he could ru not just over you, but over your lineage. You see, there were times in my life that what I thought was fun. I thought I was living my best life. I was like, God is Christian anything, I've known you for a long time, you see boring. That was literally what I said to God. I encounter God at nine, I knew him first as father, but then as I as I got older and I'm beginning to comprehend what it means for him. To be my savior. I thought that was boring, and I'll say, Dad, I like you more like as a dad, not a savior. And I will literally try to make excuses. I remember it would be Eastern Sunday at church and you see people get emotional about the cross, and I would just be sitting there and I'm like, I am not falling for this. I'm bringing you into like real life. This was what I said to myself. I said, first of all, I did not ask to be sent here, and you are the one who chose to die, So why should I feel bad? And I'm looking around and people are crying and people are weeping. I'm like, oh no, I'm not God. I want to have fun. I want to do what the cool people are doing. That's what I thought was fun. And I remember one Easter and the service was going on and I had that same disposition. I'm like, Dad, I love you, but this, all of this is dramatic. And the Lord brings me into a vision and I see the cross and I saw my name written in his blood, and the Lord began to speak. To me that there is a you. That you will never know unless it's found in me. When I shed my blood, it was so that the real you would be called forth. It will not be you that is bound. He said, what you think is fun is actually the marker of your deception. It shows how deep of darkness you're in. You think you're in light, but you're actually in darkness. And that was one of the one of the most pivotal moments in my life. And there were several, but that moment I was like, Okay, Lord, I am embracing you also. As savior. What you think is fun, as long as it is outside the template of God, it's actually showing you that you are in deep darkness. You can hide it from people, but you can't hide it from the Holy Spirit. You can hide your double this double life, from people, but you can hide it from God. And in the end, if you keep in this manner, you would realize that you would only have yourself to blame the people that you did all those things, that they're not going to show up and speak on your behalf. It would be you face to face with your Maker. And what would you say, I want us to pray, Thank you Jesus, and I want everyone to pray this prayer right now. I want you to release your sound. The first thing we're going to pray into is that Lord, reveal my voids. Reveal the areas in my life that I don't trust you, Reveal the areas in my life that I'm operating from a lack of mentality. Reveal my voice. Begin to pray right now, Thank you, Jesus. Naka nikola, bashi na masuka, satanashina, maka sake la ka makaya masuka. Bas shaki bosa. Thank you Lord. As you continue to pray, say Lord, I surrender this life in the flesh for a life and the Spirit. Revealed to me my name in you. I'm making a turn. Lord. I'm repenting of my ways. No longer would I feed the lust of the flesh, but I want to live according to who You've called me to be. Reveal my name. Thank you, Jesus, Thank you, Jesus. I want you to pray for the Lord to heighten your sensitivity. Then let the Holy Spirit begin to manifest through you in the discerning of spirits. That you would be able to set a. Guard over your mind to discern what came from the Lord, what came from you, and what came from the enemy. Thank you, Jesus, Thank you Jesus. Now, before we continue in prayer, if you're saying to the Lord today, the Lord, I want to turn from living a life in the flesh to living a life in the spirit. I want you to meet me at this altar right now before we pray. There are some people I'm seeing and you have adopted. You've adopted feeding your flesh as a way of life, and you've called it your like, this is just who I am. And what you don't realize is that it has nothing. Because it seems like addiction. But you don't even call it an addiction. You just say, this is just who I am. But the reality is that it's not who you are. Is the reality that a demonic spirit has become one with you and it's operating its intention and desires through you. But it's been such a long time that you no longer know how to separate what is you and what is the spirit, and so you just call it this is who I am. Wow. You see, Abraham was far advanced in age. There is no age that is too young or too old in the hands of God. You have lived in a certain lifestyle for such a long time, but it is not who you are, and what it is feeding on is the commitment you have to identifying yourself as it and the moment you will say, Lord, I desire you more than this, because perhaps what I've been calling my identity, what I've been thinking is just my way of life. Has actually been deep bondage. You see how demonic spirits operate when we say things like there is a spirit. Of lust, the spirit of you know, stealing the spirit of whatever. They have a nature to them, and the only reason they look for a body is to fulfill their nature. So a spirit of addiction needs a body to fulfill its nature of addiction. It's not you. It is just the spirit that you succumb to because you constantly agreed with it. Every time it's suggested for you to do something, you said yes to the point where you no longer knew how to say no, and then you begin to make excuses in the world. You're like God, your grace is sufficient for me, and this is darkness. I want to pray for you very quickly. If you know I'm speaking to you. I want you to come down to this altar very very quickly, because we need to pray. The Lord wants to break this thing off you, but he cannot break it off you if you are not in agreement. If you are still in agreement with it, very quickly, come down, very quickly. The power of God is here to set you free. Thank you, Jesus, Thank you, Jesus, Thank you Jesus. It's not you. It's not you. It's not you. It's not you. Thank you, Jesus, Thank you, Jesus, Thank you Jesus. The Lord wants to bring you into his light. Thank you Lord, very quickly, very quickly, very quickly. There's some of you and your your no no music, actually your second guess in yourself, your second guess in yourself. Very quickly, come down to this altar. You see what I'm seeing with the altar? When not every time, because lately, what what what the Lord shows me about these moments. It's like when the angel was star in the waters and it says, and the first one that got in was healed, and so there is a there is a time in with what the angels of the Lord want to do in this space so very quickly. I know you might be in your head, but this is the moment you get your life back and stop a allowing the enemy to torment you. Can you imagine when. Lot, the Angel of the Lord is telling Lot they're going to destroy Saw the Mangamara. Get out of this place with your family, and the wife is still debating what's going on that she's turning back. There are moments that are like windows for what the Lord wants to do. And you see, the Lord will not strive with you. Either you are open to what he wants to do or you're not, and then another window would come. But when the window is here, move with urgency. The power of God is here to set people free. There are things that you have constantly found yourself doing that you know it's not God's standard for you. It is not his or his purpose for you. And just because people don't see what happens behind closed doors does not mean God will be mocked. It's easy to fake. A life of a Christian, it's very easy, but not before the eyes of God. Before the eyes of man, absolutely, but not before the eyes of God. And I'm not just saying this regarding your authenticity and your walk with God. There are things that are keeping you literally, keeping you from walking in the fullness of who God created you to be. And you are defending that when the source of that is a being that is against your life. You are defending what is the enemy of your soul. Every time you defend your bondage, it is you walking hands in hands. And would say that. Every time you defend your darkness, you're having tea with your enemy. We like to focus on haters in the flesh. What about the enemy of your soul? Why would you ever be in agreement with him? We're gonna pray