If we truly believe that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we can ask or think, then we must prepare ourselves for the next season.
[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Welcome to The Bible Speaks with your host Elgin Carelock. The Bible Speaks is a daily
[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_03]: podcast dedicated to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, rightly dividing the word
[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_03]: of truth and learning how to apply it to our daily lives. You may contact Elgin at the address
[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_03]: given at the end of the broadcast. And now here's Elgin.
[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Brothers and sisters, I welcome you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: to another edition of The Bible Speaks where we seek God's wisdom and direction for living
[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: lives that align with His purpose. And today I'm joined with Dr. Ovidya Rulak and we will
[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: be talking about something we all need to do at different points in our lives. Make room
[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_00]: new.
[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Our inspiration comes from Isaiah 43 verse 19 and reading from the English Standard Version,
[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_00]: it reads, Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I
[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Today's discussion is about positioning ourselves to receive what's next, making room for the new by
[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: raising the level of our relationships, talents, and gifts to align with the future that God is
[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: preparing for us. If we truly believe that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we
[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: can ask or think, then we must prepare ourselves for the next season. One of the beautiful things about
[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: God is that He's always at work doing something new in our lives. Isaiah 43 and 19 reminds us that God is in the
[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: business of creating new opportunities, new paths, new blessings, even in the most unexpected places like the
[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: wilderness and the desert. But the key question God asks is, do you perceive it? Often we miss what God is doing
[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: because we're holding on to the old. We cling to what's familiar, old mindsets, old habits, old
[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: relationships, old traditions, because they're comfortable. But if we want to receive the things that God has for us, we
[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: need to make room. This means clearing out what no longer serves us and preparing ourselves for the blessings that
[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: are on the way. Ephesians 3 and 20, reading from the English Standard Version, tells us that God is able to do far
[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. If we believe this, then we need to live in a
[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_00]: way that reflects it. We need to start expecting more, preparing for more, and raising our standards to match the
[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: level of blessing and opportunity that God wants to bring into our lives. And with that, I'll invite Dr. Oda to share
[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: with us her thoughts on the topic today.
[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, thank you, Brother Eldren, for the invite. And as I was listening to you this morning, it is so important that people,
[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_04]: first of all, if we're going to prepare ourselves to receive what God has for us, there has to be a new mindset,
[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_04]: the way we think about things. Oftentimes, we think on a level that's lower than what God has already prepared for us.
[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, things that our eyes have not seen and our ears haven't even heard the things that he's prepared for those
[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_04]: that love him. And when we start talking about we're serving a God who is able, first of all, do I believe that he's able?
[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_04]: And in order for me to believe that he's able, I got to start thinking with a mindset that what I serve a God who can do all things.
[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely nothing is impossible to him and impossible to those that believe.
[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_04]: So when we're talking about God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we can even ask.
[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_04]: So we're going to ask to the level of imagination. So we have to stretch our imagination beyond our surroundings.
[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Because oftentimes we see in our surroundings, we see certain things and we get captivated.
[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_04]: So we have to think outside of what we see and begin to believe and trust that, okay, if he is able, do I believe he's able?
[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes. If he created this universe, he's able, you know, above exceedingly and above all that I can ask him or even think of.
[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_04]: I got to have a great imagination. Yes. And if I am made in the likeness and the image of Christ.
[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_04]: If God has in his infinite wisdom created the heavens and the earth and created.
[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Listen, it is unimaginable what we can.
[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Have access to simply that believing that he can do exceedingly and abundantly above what we're even asking or thinking of him to do.
[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_04]: According to the power that works in us, according to allowing God to have free course in our lives.
[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_04]: We can't just stay in a small level. We got to think the term often used.
[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_04]: We got to think outside the box. We got to think outside our exposure.
[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's oftentimes I was listening to you when you're talking about our relationship.
[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, sometimes we kind of settle with those that are in our corner.
[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_04]: But if we want to grow, we need to have someone build a relationship with someone that thinks outside of where I think.
[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Who is doing something outside of what I'm doing?
[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Because that way I have something to look up to and see differently from what I'm in the midst of.
[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_04]: So I think it's so important that that in us realizing and recognize it has to start with the way we're thinking about things.
[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And the interesting thing and in what you were saying is that, you know, it reminded me of the story of the town that called all the townspeople to the square to pray for rain because it was a farming community.
[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And they had had over two or three weeks of drought and they were coming together to have corporate prayer.
[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And one lady came in a raincoat and galoshes.
[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: OK, so, you know, she had a fervent expectation.
[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Right. She literally came dressed for rain.
[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that sometimes that's what we don't do.
[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_00]: We believe that God is able.
[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: But do our actions line up with what we say we believe?
[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And so her coming in the rain gear is like she 100 percent believed that.
[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not that the others maybe didn't.
[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: But but as I said, imagine the inspiration she was when she arrived and everybody's wow, she's serious.
[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And and for us, we have to do that part.
[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And then the second thing that stood out was the relationships, because sometimes God's going to work through people and relationships.
[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: That that we couldn't even imagine that we'd have people that you normally don't deal with.
[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: When you think about Jesus and the woman at the well.
[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Right. The Jews had nothing to do with the Sumerians, but he was using that as an opposite opportunity to teach them that whoever I send to you, whoever I send to you.
[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It was sent for a purpose because I already know.
[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Right. That that's what our inspirational scripture says.
[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Because behold, I am doing a new thing.
[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Right. And so it's already in motion, whether you whether you perceive it or not.
[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_00]: But he's asking you.
[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_00]: But do you perceive the fact that I'm always at work?
[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So if I'm always at work, then what I expect for you to do is to then prepare.
[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: So if we're going to step into the new thing God has for us, we need to surround ourselves with people who inspire growth, who challenge us to think bigger, like you were saying, and who are aligned with God purpose for our lives.
[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes this means letting go relationships that no longer align with where God is taking us.
[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's a tough one.
[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't mean we cut people out of our lives harshly, but we must be intentional about who we allow to influence us.
[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, in order for growth to come, there has to be a pruning.
[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Hmm.
[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_04]: And pruning sometimes involves people and our relationships in our lives.
[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_04]: Because one thing I strongly believe is, in addition to that person having a greater vision or being exposed to something greater than I have been exposed to, I believe certainly that they know my vision.
[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_04]: They have experienced some things.
[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_04]: So I need to connect with those individuals that have experienced some things.
[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_04]: They know some of the ups and downs, the ins and outs.
[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_04]: So if I stay on the ground with the chickens, then I won't be able to rise up with the eagles.
[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.
[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_04]: And so it's making a decision.
[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Do I stay in the same place and become stagnated with no growth, no vision to move forward on because I've run into some obstacles?
[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Or do I begin to...
[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_04]: I love it when you're talking about the lady that showed up in her rain gear.
[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, she had an expectation.
[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_04]: She didn't just have a belief, but she had a strong belief that something as a result of them coming together, that was going to happen either right then or in the very near future.
[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_04]: So that's what we have to have around and surround us with.
[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_04]: I talk about sometimes, you know, the inner courts.
[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you could have people around you, but those within your inner court, it's so important.
[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_04]: It's so important because they're the ones that are going to help you, number one, when you can't see, when you don't believe, you need someone to encourage you to stop leaning to your own understanding.
[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_04]: As we're talking about earlier, relying upon God, trusting him, knowing that he knows I ended before I beginning, knowing that he knows every situation, every circumstance that's going to present itself while I'm moving forward.
[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_04]: So therefore, I can't lean to my own understanding.
[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's the purpose of having people who come with that expectation, no matter what the obstacles are.
[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_04]: We're coming together.
[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_04]: We're coming together.
[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_04]: And I'm coming up in my rain here because not only am I coming together, I'm coming with an expectation that before we leave, that I'm going to be rained on.
[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_04]: And so that, go ahead.
[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_01]: No, no, go ahead.
[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_04]: No, I'm just saying that's faith without works.
[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, we don't come to practice.
[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_04]: But she came with, you know, she came prepared for the rain, not just believing that we coming together, but she came with that it that it was going to rain.
[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_04]: And so when you start talking about moving forward and preparing for that, that greater thing that God has for us, that I, that we haven't even asked for, we can't even imagine.
[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_04]: It will take us, you know, the pruning part, forgetting the formal thing, forgetting the past phase, forgetting that I tried this and it didn't work, forgetting those people who came into your life who really didn't see the vision.
[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_04]: So therefore they were not able to push you into purpose and fulfill that vision because they never were able to connect with it.
[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_04]: So it will require some pruning and cutting away sometimes because, you know, God will, God not only speak to us, but he will speak to others.
[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_04]: And he will begin to put people in place that we need to align with in order to move forward.
[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_04]: Because he recognizes everything.
[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_04]: He understands that.
[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_04]: So I am going to have to forget those things.
[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_04]: I can't continue dwelling in the past.
[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_04]: This thing is bigger than me.
[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_04]: This thing is greater than me.
[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_04]: And I'm only looking at little old me and not my big old God.
[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that's a, that's a good one there.
[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And, and Proverbs 27 and 17, right?
[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Reading from the NIV says as iron sharpens iron.
[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So one person sharpens another.
[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_00]: The people you spend time with should sharpen you, encourage your faith and push you towards God's best life for you.
[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: If your relationships are holding you back or keeping you in old patterns, it's time to make room for new ones that can help you reach the next level.
[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, because if, if you have an idea or what I call a God idea and it's significant and all the people around you are telling you that, oh, that's too big.
[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Why so ambitious?
[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Can't you start smaller?
[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_00]: You should, you need a new, new set of circle.
[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_00]: You need a new set of friends to talk with because you serve a God who nothing is impossible for.
[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_00]: So if he brings the idea and I specifically tell this to people who share a vision with me.
[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And I said to them from a spiritual sense, understand if the vision wasn't that of a warning, it's, it's a vision of a truth.
[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_00]: You see, it's, it's, it's most people say, well, man, man, I can see it.
[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And so they think that it means that it's possible.
[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And I said, oh, not only is it possible, it's already there.
[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_00]: That's how you saw it.
[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_00]: You can't see something that's not there.
[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Our challenge is to trust him enough to guide us there.
[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You see, he says, I'll order your steps.
[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll direct your path.
[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll be a light unto your footpath.
[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't say you need to figure it out.
[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: He said, I will do it, but we have to trust them and then prepare.
[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So if, if you are a person in a profession like mine, where you're a consultant, then you need to be learning your craft and to a very high level.
[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_00]: You need to be perfecting everything that you do so that as he brings it forth, you're ready for it.
[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And then another area where we need to make room for the new is our gifts and talent.
[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, God's given each of us unique abilities, abilities, but sometimes we leave those gifts underdeveloped.
[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_00]: If we believe that God is preparing new opportunities for us, then we need to be ready to step into them by honing our skills and talents.
[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Proverbs 18 and 16 says a man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great.
[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Your gifts have the potential to open doors, but only if you're committed to developing them.
[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_00]: This might mean investing time and learning, practicing or improving the skills that God has given you.
[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So if we're expecting God to elevate us, we must prepare ourselves by raising the standards of excellence in everything we do.
[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether it's business or ministry or creative pursuits, we must be faithful with the talents we've been given so that we're ready for the new opportunities God will bring into our lives because we have no idea of the scale.
[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, can you imagine if God had just said to know, hey, I need you to build an ark and didn't give him any instructions.
[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think they would have been as big as it was?
[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, but I think that the whole process and the other thing that I would caution is that do not think that you have to do all of this overnight.
[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Understand that God knows that there is a process to getting you to the point where you're not only ready for it from the technical standpoint of your gift and your talent, but also mentally.
[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_00]: They the period from David being told he'd be king into him actually being king was 14 years because God knew that there were things he had to learn and hiding out in caves with things he had to learn and having the opportunity to kill King Saul and not doing it and choosing not to do it was things he had to learn.
[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And all of those things were going to be integral to him being the king that he ultimately was.
[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_00]: So even though we are spending the time and developing our gifts and talents, don't put the pressure on yourself to think that you have to do it overnight.
[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's so true.
[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_04]: I guess I'm calling come without repentance.
[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_04]: We're born with it.
[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_04]: That's right.
[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_04]: But we also have to exercise those kids in order for them to start working.
[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's what happened.
[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_04]: A lot of times people have their gifts.
[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think so often times when you were talking, I thought about, you know, when God gave the talents, you know, the one took his one and he buried it.
[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_04]: He did absolutely nothing with it.
[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_04]: But those that he gave the two and the five, they began to utilize those talents.
[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_04]: And as they did, the increase came.
[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_04]: So it is important that we recognize that in order to move forward in what God had for us, not only utilize our gifts, but begin to exercise those gifts, put them in motion.
[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_04]: And as we do, anything, anything, I mean, it's like exercise, you know, you could, it builds, you know, the muscle and you have to put it in action.
[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think a lot of times we have those gifts and we have those talents and we sit down on them instead of utilizing them.
[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_04]: And when we utilize them, as you were talking about, sometimes it means going back to school, you know, and don't use the excuse, oh, I'm too old or, you know, I don't have the time.
[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_04]: So then it takes me back to where I originally started talking.
[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, it deals with the mind, being renewed in the mind, thinking differently, you know, because if a person thinks that I'm too old to go back to school or, you know, I don't have time, guess what?
[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_04]: They won't.
[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_04]: It's simple as that.
[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_04]: They're going to get what they're thinking.
[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I often think about when we're thinking what, what we're thinking about will come out in what we speak.
[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_04]: And so we're speaking negative.
[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_04]: There's life and death and the power of our tongue.
[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_04]: So we're speaking against what we think we believe.
[00:20:26] Wow.
[00:20:28] Wow.
[00:20:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Or we begin to act against what we believe.
[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_04]: So it comes back to, you know, forgetting those things.
[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Stop dwelling in the past.
[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Do what you need to do.
[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_04]: And he said, see, I'm doing what a new thing.
[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_04]: How are you going to see the new thing if you're looking back?
[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Wow.
[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I'm walking forward.
[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I can see ahead of me.
[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_04]: I can't see behind me.
[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_04]: The only way I can see behind me is if I turn to look back.
[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_04]: And if I turn to look back, I might stumble across something.
[00:20:59] [SPEAKER_04]: I might not see what's before me.
[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_04]: I can easily miss what's before me.
[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_04]: So it is so important that when we got to say, look with an expectation that I am doing what?
[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm doing a new thing.
[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_04]: How are you going to know it's new if you're not looking for it?
[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_04]: How do you know it's new if you're not walking in a level of expectation?
[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_04]: If God done told me, that's the key thing.
[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_04]: I didn't acknowledge him.
[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Now he done told me he's giving me direction on how to handle it.
[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_04]: You got to walk with it.
[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_04]: First of all, stop looking back.
[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Stop remembering what wasn't successful before.
[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_04]: I tried this and it didn't work.
[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Try, try again.
[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_04]: That's right.
[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_04]: See, the only failure is when we don't try.
[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_04]: And when we look at failures, it's not failures, but they are success turned upside down.
[00:21:54] Yes.
[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_04]: You keep moving forward.
[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_04]: I think it was President Lincoln who went for president.
[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_04]: I think it was 16 times.
[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Can you imagine how many times he prepared himself and people kept telling me, you ain't get it?
[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_04]: But he never gave up.
[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_04]: That's right.
[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_04]: He kept believing in what, not only in what he believed of himself, but I believe he had to know there was a vision and that there was an appointed time to the vision.
[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Though it tarried, wait for it.
[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_04]: A lot of times we give up.
[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_04]: We throw in the towel.
[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, man, I don't have no more energy left.
[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_04]: That goes back to those new relationships.
[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_04]: That goes back to changing that old mindset.
[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_04]: That goes back to exercise.
[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_04]: In my waiting process, go back to school.
[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_04]: And I'm waiting progress.
[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_04]: How do I sharpen my skills?
[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_04]: What do I need to do?
[00:22:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Who do I need to get up under to be mentored?
[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_04]: I just recently saw something I wanted to do.
[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_04]: And I asked that person to mention me.
[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_04]: We got to step outside of our comfort zone.
[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Now, I could have got an answer no.
[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_04]: I could have.
[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_04]: I didn't think I would.
[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_04]: But I asked.
[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, the word says you have not because you ask not.
[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Come on.
[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_04]: So if God has told us, look, I have prepared some things beyond what you could ask and think
[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_04]: in order for you to move in.
[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_04]: First of all, you got to trust me.
[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_04]: You got to rely upon me.
[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_04]: You can't lean into your own understanding.
[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_04]: You can't be looking at the situation and the circumstance as it is in the natural.
[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_04]: But you got to see the spiritual insight because it's already there.
[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_04]: It's already manifested.
[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_04]: And if he knows the ending before the beginning, he already know everything that we're going
[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_04]: to go through.
[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_04]: So I don't need you to stay focused back here on what's not going forward.
[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_04]: I need you to realign yourself with people who see the vision, people who will encourage
[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_04]: you when you don't have an ounce of encouragement left in you.
[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_04]: You need those people around you to say, come on.
[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, it's interesting because I noticed that today this morning I was working on a project
[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and since it's Saturday, you know, I don't get as many emails and I don't get all of these
[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_00]: phone calls.
[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_00]: So without being interrupted that the thoughts that the Holy Spirit will bring to me were
[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_00]: ever increasing.
[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So so I would put down this thought and it would bring a higher thought and then another thought would
[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_00]: bring another thought as in someone hit my my phone with a text and I stopped and I looked at the
[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_00]: the text and responded to what they were doing.
[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And then when I got back to the project, I was like, so where was I?
[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So so imagine in that 30 to 45 seconds it took to answer that email what I lost because I was in a
[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_00]: straight connection with the Holy Spirit.
[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_00]: He was talking to me.
[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And to me, that's the equivalent of looking back in the past.
[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Because we're moving forward and God is ordering our steps and being a light into our footpath.
[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And then Satan's going, yeah, but remember the last time we did that?
[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And so when we turn back to reflect on those things, what what momentum did we lose?
[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_00]: What would it was supposed to be a turn at this this next corner to the left?
[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And because you're looking over your shoulder, you kept straight.
[00:25:31] Right.
[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And so what what did we miss?
[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And then the other point that that you made that that hit me was about about God's timing.
[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, just as farmers plant seeds and wait for the harvest, we must be patient and trust
[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_00]: that God is working behind the scenes.
[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Galatians six and nine reading from the NIV encourages us to let us not become weary in doing
[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_00]: good for at the proper time.
[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_00]: We will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Just like you said, the new things that God is doing in our lives may take time to manifest,
[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_00]: but your preparation and faithfulness will position you to receive them when they come.
[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And what's so interesting, at least in my life, is the things that that I work on and learn.
[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And then as he brings people into my life, I'm always thinking, so what is this about?
[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So what is this about?
[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And then three weeks from now, something happens.
[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And that interaction I have with that person solves what happens three weeks from now.
[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_00]: OK, see, and it's like, oh, so that's why that person was brought in.
[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_00]: But us understanding that is part of what God is saying in our scriptural text.
[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_00]: He says, do you not perceive it or do you perceive it?
[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Understand that all things are working for the good.
[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_00]: OK, so so so there's nothing that you encountered that's going to be wasted.
[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_00]: The thing that gets us as as mortals, as naturals, is we just don't know when.
[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So so we think we call things like that random.
[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that was pretty random.
[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_00]: What was that for?
[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_00]: It might be three years from now that something occurs that what you learned in that random occurrence answers.
[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's our preparation and showing God that we're willing to accept the things that come to us, grow the person that we are both as a as a person here on Earth and a natural.
[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry, as a spiritual person so that when he brings it, we should come from any direction, any direction.
[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_00]: OK, that when he brings it, we're prepared.
[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And if we're prepared, then it will truly be exceedingly and abundantly above because we didn't understand what the plan was to begin with.
[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_04]: That's where we have to.
[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_04]: That's where we have to come in again.
[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_04]: When we have acknowledged him.
[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes, he starts giving us direction and say all of us don't come at one time.
[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_04]: I believe he he gives us direction to see our act of obedience.
[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_04]: That's right.
[00:28:19] [SPEAKER_04]: And our act of obedience.
[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_04]: If you could be faithful over this little bit.
[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Then I now know that I can trust you with more.
[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_04]: So, you know, when God was saying, behold, in the King James Version, he says, behold, I will not that I may not that I'm thinking about it.
[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_04]: But he say I will, which means he's obligated to do a new thing.
[00:28:49] Wow.
[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_04]: He's obligated to do it.
[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_04]: So that that's the key thing here.
[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_04]: He's obligated to do this new.
[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_04]: And so when he's doing that thing, when is he doing it right now?
[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_04]: It's so spread for right now.
[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_04]: It's in the like you said, it's already there.
[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Just waiting on a full manifestation of it.
[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_04]: But I got to go through the process to get to it.
[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_04]: He say, tell you not know.
[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_04]: You won't even know it if you're not looking for it.
[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_04]: You won't even know it because you're not believing for it.
[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Listen, he don't even make a way in the wilderness.
[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_04]: God is not really doing a new thing.
[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_04]: But he needs us to catch up mentally.
[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_04]: He needs us to catch up physically.
[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_04]: He needs us to catch up emotionally.
[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_04]: He needs us to catch up spiritually to what he's doing.
[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_00]: That's exactly right.
[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, this process may require us letting go of old habits, stepping out of our comfort zone and trusting God with the unknown.
[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_00]: But when we do, we'll be ready to receive the exceedingly and abundantly above.
[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Because now when we, you know, I just wonder and I pray and I strive daily to get to the point where I can just let God guide.
[00:30:16] Right.
[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And then we also have an open mind to how he brings it.
[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Because I see so many brothers and sisters struggling because they, God won't, won't co-opt their plan.
[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I pray all the time and I ask the Lord to do this, that and the other.
[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_00]: So you're asking for these blessings and deliverance on your terms to, to a God that's eternal.
[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I find that kind of funny, but, but, but I, I, I do understand it though, because it is difficult because he made us to have dominion.
[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_00]: So, so we want to have our hands on a lot of things, but, but ultimately we have to understand that we were sent here for his purpose, not ours.
[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And making room for what's next is really the realization of that, that we were here.
[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_00]: We're here for his purpose to bring him glory, to help the kingdom expand.
[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And then all of the things that we do within that scope are, is, is what we call life.
[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Seeking you first, the kingdom of God.
[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
[00:31:57] [SPEAKER_04]: And everything else is going to be added unto us.
[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And, and so I, Isaiah 43 just reminds us that God is always at work doing something new and asking us, will you perceive that?
[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, will you make room for that?
[00:32:16] [SPEAKER_00]: But the, but the thing, the truth is the choice is yours.
[00:32:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Just like you said, there's plenty of people who sit on their gifts, who sit on their talents because they don't think they're big enough.
[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_00]: They don't think, well, I can't go up there and preach a two hour sermon or I can't lay hands on people.
[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm just going to sit back and, and just enjoy, but, but you will never live the fullness of what you could have.
[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And, and understand that even though God brought you to this earth for a purpose, he will use someone else.
[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_00]: If it be, if it need be.
[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And, and then your, your life is in a totally different direction.
[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And so with that, I, I, I want to thank you, Dr. O for taking the time to spend with us on the day.
[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And I, and I hope this message has encouraged people to start making room for the new thing God wants to do.
[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I look forward to the conversations that we'll have this week and an opportunity to speak with you again.
[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Until then, God bless.
[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_03]: The Bible speaks is sponsored by C squared realty and new gen construction group to help spread the gospel to the corners of the earth.
[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_03]: If anything you've heard poured into your life, please share it with someone.
[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_03]: You can find the Bible speaks on Spotify, Amazon music, Deezer, and many more.
[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Follow us on YouTube at the Bible speaks online.
[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_03]: You may contact Elgin at P.O. Box 5582 Ocala, Florida 34478
[00:34:08] [SPEAKER_03]: or by email at thebiblespeaksonline at gmail.com