How to embrace every season of life. As we journey through the various stages and chapters of our lives, we are faced with countless choices that shape our paths and ultimately define who we are. Priscilla’s message is one of encouragement, empowerment, and inspiration, reminding us to savor each moment and learn from the challenges and joys that each season brings. Whether you are in a season of growth, transition, challenges, or blessings, Priscilla’s words will resonate with you and offer valuable insights on how to navigate through life’s twists and turns with grace and faith. So come along on this journey of choices with Priscilla Shirer and discover the beauty and power of embracing every season of life. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more empowering content from Priscilla Shirer and unlock the keys to living a fulfilled and purposeful life. #PriscillaShirer #SeasonsOfLife #JourneyOfChoices #Empowerment #Inspiration
I’m excited to share a a a simple thought
with you from the scriptures that I hope
will be an encouragement to you uh but also a
challenge I believe that tucked within every
verse of scripture chapter of scripture book
of the Bible every time we come to the pages
of scripture yes he encourages but tucked with it
every encouragement is a challenge that there is a
requirement for us to respond and the great thing
about God though is that he does not call us to
response without simultaneously empowering us to
respond in the way he’s requiring he by the power
of the holy spirit is going to guard you up to
do whatever it is that he’s going to impress upon
your heart to do oh I’m so grateful for the grace
of God that he speaks to us and challenges us and
convicts us and redirects us and recalibrates
us and points us maybe in an entirely different
direction as a result of something that he speaks
to us through his word but then he says I got your
back I love that and I’m grateful for it Lord
I Thank you for your word I thank you Father
that it is living and active and sharper than
any two-edged sword I thank you that father in
these next few minutes what you’re about to do
is open up the windows of heaven and come down
here and speak to us father we have worshiped you
in spirit and in truth the best we know how Lord
so we are praying and asking that that worship has
been acceptable to you we have wanted to roll out
the red carpet for your spirit to come in here
into this room and change our lives Lord we are
so grateful that each other is here but we didn’t
come to see each other we came to see you Lord we
need a word from you our lives need to be touched
by your presence so at Lord I’m asking that you
would Rend the heavens and come into this space
and speak father we are on the edge of our seats
with our chin in our hands in full expectation
that you have a word for us this morning so father
I pray you’d take this one little simple portion
of scripture that you would divide it up about 700
different ways so that every single person that’s
under the sound of my voice today will know beyond
a shadow of a doubt they heard you speak to them
today do it Lord in Jesus name I pray amen amen
amen many of uh you know that as I mentioned
earlier that I grew up in Dallas Fort Worth
area but many of you know who my daddy is and my
mom the late Lois Evans my father is Dr Tony Evans
I greet you on behalf of he and my late Mom Lois
and our church oakcliff Bible Fellowship Church
just down the street a little ways from you all
um we live we lived grew up and my parents my
father now still lives in the exact same house
where he raised the four of us I have an older
sister named Crystal then it’s me and two younger
brothers and they’ve been in that house since I
was 6 years old so the exact same Little House
very near the church down on Camp Wisdom Road
and dad and mom uh have been in that house I
guess so now it’s been you know 40 years or so
so you know when you’ve been in a house that long
stuff starts to collect so I remember very clearly
when I was in my 20s at one point mom called
and she said listen none of y’all live here no
more she said I love y’all but I’m going to
need y’all to come get y’all stuff and mommy
was real clear she said now listen I want you
to know that on this particular date which was
about a month later on this particular date I’ve
already called the people that are coming with a
truck for whatever is left for whatever stuff
y’all don’t come get so any point over these
next 30 days you have an opportunity to come
and look through your old things and all that
so I remember the day that I made a point to
go to the house and I went up into the attic
you know the old school attics where there’s
a pulley that comes down from the top of the
roof there pull it down and a little ladder
Folds out and I walked up into the attic and
sat down in the little attic space that’s up
there in the little house and there were boxes
there some of them had my name on it I started
opening up these boxes one of the boxes that I
opened up had several journals in it so man I I
just had forgotten all about these journals so
you know I kind of sat down Indian style because
now I’m getting into all the Nostalgia of looking
through these boxes and I started looking through
these little journals now I have kept the journal
I didn’t even realize it until I opened up this
box that it had really been my entire life that
I have kept some version of a journal I’m not one
of those serious journaling people you know those
people we admire them so much don’t we those
people who get new colored pencils at the top
of the year and a brand new journal and she writes
every day and she’s so consistent and sweet that
precious that’s not me I write every now and then
you know when something happens that I don’t want
to forget I’ve done that for my sons as well
when there’s something that has happened in
their life through the years I have a little
journal for each of my boys and and I’m just
I plan to give it to them or maybe better yet
I’m gonna give it to their wives when they get
married and say this what you getting yourself
into right here so every now and then I’ll write
down things that are happening throughout the
course of a year but I didn’t realize that I
had this first Journal when I was nine so I sat
down and I was looking to see what in the world
was I thinking when I was nine then there was
one from when I was 13 and then 18 and then 22
and man I was looking through just the things
that were on my mind and that were happening
in my life during those Seasons here’s what
I noticed I noticed that of all the different
little details or stories that I had written down
there was a Common Thread that was running through
these years of my life that at 9 years old man
I could not wait till I grew up a few more years
like my older sister so that I could get out of
the the Sunday school elementary part of church
life and I could finally be in the youth group
I wanted to be a whole for real life teenager so
that maybe then my parents would give me a little
bit more freedom and and I could enjoy my life a
little bit more then I looked at my teenage years
and man I could not wait till these teenage years
were over where I was living in the strict House
of my parents who actually had the nerve to have
rules and regulations I could not wait to bust up
out of here and go to college so that I could have
some freedom and live on my own then I read these
entries from when I was in college ooh I cannot
wait until these college Years begin to Dov tail
into something more meaningful in my life I can’t
wait until I find the guy of my dreams until I get
into married life I mean single life has been good
but I’m so ready to go ahead and be married then
I read a journal entry from the first years of our
marriage there were many things that I wrote
down there but one of them sounded like this
oh Lord this is so exciting that I’ve finally
gotten married but I cannot wait until we finally
can have kids and move on to that season of
our life then I had a bunch of small kids oo
Lord I’m
tired I love having these babies but
man I cannot wait until they grow up
a little bit and they can take
themselves to the bathroom and
strap themselves in their own car
seat I’m ready for them to grow
up and now I’m watching my sons go off
to college one after the other and I
realize looking back over the course
of decades now that there have been
so many seasons of my life that while I
was in the season I was too busy looking
forward to recognize the blessing
of the Season that I was standing
in and what a tragedy it is when the Winds of
Change blow and they blow you into the next
season of your life and it’s only then that
you look back and realize that you were in
the good stuff and missed it while you were there
because often times when the Winds of Change blow
they blow you into a season and you may never
again return to the one that you just came from
I wonder if you like I have in previous seasons
of my life I wonder if you’ve been sleepwalking
through certain seasons of your life just waiting
for this particular season to be over as you’re
dreaming about the future and what what is next
and what God has laid on your heart whether
in business or in family or in Ministry or in
entrepreneurial Endeavors or whatever it is that
he is fostering for you to do I wonder if you’re
bit so busy like I have been looking forward that
you’re missing out on all the good stuff he’s got
for you now in fact there’s foundational material
that unless you grab hold of it right now you
won’t even be steady enough to stand firm in
the next season that’s all on the way there’s
character you need for tomorrow sis there’s
fortification that’s going to be required of you
there are relationships you’re supposed to be
making now and investing in now there are things
that are supposed to be built into our lives
that if we’re sleepwalking through this season we
won’t be ready for the next this is a message for
Sleepwalkers anybody who’s not quite awake
in your life right now anybody who’s been
a little bit disengaged just trying to wait
for this thing to be over so you can get to
the good stuff I just drove over a few miles
from my house to tell you this is the good
stuff I’m telling you high school student be
fully present on your high school campus I’m
telling you University student be fully present
as you’re in this season of your life I’m telling
you single woman don’t wait on the next thing
you’re in it right now I’m telling you married
woman I’m telling you entrepreneur I’m telling
you woman in Ministry even as you wait for what
my God what God might have next don’t sleep on
what it is he has for you right now this is the
good stuff oh have y’all I’m going to get to
the text but listen have y’all been watching
this is us it’s too much it’s too much listen I’m
not going to spoil it for you cuz they just had
the last show of This Is Us the very last one
in the entire season but the whole show as you
follow six years basically six seasons these
people’s life basically from the Inception
of this family all the way through to the end of
their lives as you watch it you see these people
now in their older years and the whole lesson
of this entire series for all these years all
these ups and downs and griefs and celebrations
and losses and and triumphs in life you get to
the end of the series and it all boils down
to we were in the good stuff and didn’t know
it oh y’all we got to wake up we got to wake
up and fully engage even with the trouble and
frustration and struggle and heartache that we
have going on collectively in our world right
now and that I’m sure in some degree is happening
underneath the roof of your own house just like it
is in mine as we deal with the relationships as we
deal with the decisions that we have to make the
forward movement that we’re trying to see happen
in our life and in our journey there’s one step
forward and sometimes two steps back even with
that discouragement keep your eyes open because
the enemy would have a Sleepwalk through this part
there is someone in scripture who knows exactly
how this feels in fact y’all there are several
people in scripture who had a moment with Jesus
and they were too SL sleepy too disengaged to
actually realize it you you remember there were
two men walking on the road to aaz to emus they
were so discouraged by the crucifixion that they
had just witnessed that this guy they were hanging
their hopes on now he had been hung on a cross and
they’re so busy discussing the details of their
disappointment as they’re walking along that the
gospels tell us a third party joins them on
the walk and they so busy telling him about
the disappointment that they don’t even know the
person they’re walking with and talking with is
Jesus the Christ or then there’s Mary Magdalene
she comes to an empty tomb and she’s so blurred
by the tears that she’s crying because her
savior is not where she supposed he would
be that she doesn’t even recognize that the man
standing behind her is not the gardener as she
supposes that’s the Jesus that she’s been looking
for all throughout the scriptures there are people
who are with him in the season that they’re
in in the discouragement and disappointment
even as the tears fall from their eyes they
don’t even recognize he’s standing right
there and then in the Book of Genesis chapter
28 let me tell you something if you highlight
stuff in your Bible this is one that
deserves to be underlined highlighted
whatever you need to do to never forget these
words that Jacob speaks in Genesis chap 28:
16 then Jacob woke up from his sleep and he said
surely the Lord is in this place and I didn’t know
it he he woke up and was alerted to the fact
wait a minute God was here the whole time and
I was unaware of it and I just wonder if today the
the Lord has brought us here together for an alarm
clock an agitation to your soul to wake you up
out of your spiritual Slumber and me so that our
eyes can be opened like Jacob not at the end of
the story but at the beginning of our story our
eyes can go ahead and be open so that we’ll know
surely the Lord is in this place and we’ll have a
testimony that we can tell our grandchildren oh
yeah yeah girl he was there let me tell you how
I know let me tell you the Fingerprints of how I
saw move let me show you his footprints that were
in my life and in my story and in my history let
me tell you how I heard his voice whispering in
my ear let me tell you how the Holy Spirit warmed
my heart with the comfort of his presence yeah I
went through some hard stuff grandbaby but let
me just tell you how good God is not because I
heard it from somebody else but because I have a
testimony of my for myself that surely the Lord
was in this place so come sit down on my knee and
let me tell you the good news about Jesus Christ
there are tucked Within These few verses that come
before verse uh 16 in Genesis chapter 28 there are
what I call some secrets for Sleepwalkers okay
some secrets for Sleepwalkers they start in
verse 10 then Jacob departed from beerseba and he
went toward haran and he came to a certain place
somebody say certain place he came to a certain
place and he spent the night there because the
sun had set let’s just start right here we meet
Jacob on a journey Toya he’s on a journey from
Bersa headed towards haran and I want you to know
a little bit about Jacob’s journey and why he is
making this transition this is not a transition
he would have chosen this is not one he would have
preferred this is would not have been comfortable
or convenient for him or easy for him the reason
why he is leaving is because because he has duped
his brother out of the birthright and the blessing
that should have belonged to him when Esau found
out what his brother has done had done he decided
that he was going to come after him to take
his life so Jacob’s mother loving him the way
she did she said you got to get out of Dodge you
got to get out of T town in order to spare your
life they had said sadden goodbyes as he left his
mother who loved him his father who loved him and
the comfortable home environment that Isaac had
created for them Jacob is leaving that which is
comfortable he is leaving that which is familiar
he is leaving that which he loves he is leaving
that which has uh stewarded him and brought him
to this particular season of his life this is
not a transition that he’s choosing just like
the transition you’re in right now maybe is not
the one you’re choosing it’s because of choices
they made and things they did and circumstances
that lined up in that particular way that is is
now making you walk this particular journey in
this season of your life with that child or with
that spouse or with that cooworker or with that
boss or in that particular Financial Journey that
you’re in you’re finding yourself on this journey
and it’s not the journey that you prefer Jacob
knows how it feels to be lonely and isolated and
frustrated and disappointment disappointed because
this is not what you signed up for and as Jacob is
on that Journey he comes to a certain place there
is nothing that denotes the details of what this
place would have been we know it would have been
mountainous terrain Rocky Stony ground that’s
going to be important just a minute Rocky Stony
ground because the terrain between BBA and haran
where he is was headed was filled with mountains
not a plush soil and grasses but more desert and
rocks and stones and barrenness is what he would
have been traversing through ooh if that ain’t a
word right there because sometimes that is the
journey isn’t it there’s not soft soil there’s
not green grass there’s not anything plush that
we feel like we can relax into it’s just stones
and rocks and desolation and barrenness and
dryness and the Lord has allowed Jacob to take
this journey and the only reason why he comes
to a stop in verse 11 at this certain place is
because the text says the sun begin to set he
can’t see the lights of haran clearly anymore
in the distance darkness is descending we’ve been
at that place where Darkness descends where your
hope about that dream kind of begins to fade
where the vision that you had you could see it
so clearly at the beginning but all of a sudden
the lights are a little fuzzy in the distance now
as you’ve literally been trying to take one
foot in front of the other to head toward WS
that particular destination life happens and you
come to a certain place where you feel a sense
of Despair or apathy or lethargy about that that
destination that you have in mind you can’t see
it clearly anymore he comes to this particular
certain place and because the darkness begins
to descend he just lays down Taps out and goes to
sleep what Jacob couldn’t have known then is what
you and I can see now clearly in the text of in
the uh context of scripture because we have all
the jewels and the gems and the treasures written
that they could not have known in real time and
what Jacob couldn’t have known in real time is
that that English term a certain place actually
comes from an original Hebrew term that means
listen a sacred place he couldn’t have known
that this regular run-of-the-mill mundane isolated
frustrated patch of Rocky ground between one place
and the other not quite there but not quite here
this frustrating middle ground that made him want
to do nothing else except tap out and just sort
of disengage from this entire experience he had
no idea that the ground he was standing on was
Holy Ground what we know from the entire story is
that this particular patch of ground is where his
great grand father would have been where Abraham
would have built an altar to the Lord would
have had communion with Yahweh the one true
and living God Jacob wasn’t just in any old place
this was a sacred place this was a sanctuary God
he doesn’t know it is coming in the in the next
verses God’s getting ready to show up here he’s
getting ready to see a whole ladder with angels
descending and ascending and God is going to be
standing above the ladder speaking to him this
experience is getting ready to Mark Jacob’s life
for the rest of his life and it doesn’t happen
in a palace it doesn’t happen on a platform it
doesn’t happen in a spotlight it doesn’t happen
in berseba it doesn’t happen in haran it happens
in the nasty Middle Ground the place where we
just want to disengage and go to sleep because
life is a little bit raggedy right here this is
the place that is sacred it’s a sanctuary and if
our eyes are open if we’re just connected enough
if we keep ourselves prayerful and connected with
God asking the Holy Spirit to open up our eyes
so that we can see him moving clearly before we
know it even with the run-of-the-mill middle
ground stuff that we’re going through we’ll
start taking off our shoes because we’ll realize
this is Holy Ground this is sacred stuff right
here raising these toddlers this is sacred stuff
right here raising these teenagers this is sacred
stuff right here washing these dishes this is
sacred stuff right here building this business
this is sacred stuff right here mapping out this
business plan this is sacred stuff right here
doing the marriage counseling this is sacred
stuff right here participating in the regular
rhythms of life that’s the sacred stuff right
there y’all he’s not just in a certain place
he’s in a Sacred Space that’s the first secret for
Sleepwalkers that certain places are sacred spaces
oh just ask Moses cuz Moses is wandering around
in a Wilderness for 40 years between the ages
of 40 and 80 he is just tending sheep in a desert
desolate place in the desert of orb and this would
have been a job that would have been beneath his
pay grade and beneath his educational level he’d
been raised as The Prince of Egypt he’d been
raised in the lap of luxury but because of
consequences of his own choices he finds himself a
right smack dab in the middle of the desert doing
this tedious mundane lonely isolating job but
one day while he’s in that Sac that that certain
place one day he’s just walking along being
faithful to the task at hand and a bush starts
burning and all of a sudden
a certain place it’s a Sacred
Space or maybe like Hagar you know how it feels
to be misused and abused and mistreated and cast
out by the people you were supposed to be able to
trust and you find yourself sitting in a desolate
place not because of something you did like
Moses but because of choices they made it was
your parents or your spouse or that environment
that kind of set you in this place that you’re
trying to figure out how you got here and you
wonder if God will ever be able to find you and
utilize you and make your dreams come to fruition
now that you find yourself in the position that
Hagar is in ask Hagar she’ll tell you that the
angel of the Lord will show up in Wilderness
places oh just ask Gideon Gideon will tell
you that you can be sitting under the shade
of an enormous oak tree threshing out wine
not in a wine press but or threshing out
wheat in a wine press not the place where
you’re actually supposed to be doing this
job it’s not a convenient place for this kind
of job but you’re there because you’re timid
and afraid because the midianites external
circumstances keep pressing in on you so
much so that now like Gideon you’re walking
in timidity and fear and insecurity and that
fear has relegated you to a place that you
know is not where you’re supposed to be ask
Gideon that even when you’re hiding the
angel of the Lord will come and find you
oo I wonder if there is any Moses’s in the
house that you’re in that desert and you
did it to yourself honestly you can look
back and you can see how it was the choice
you made that put you there you knew upfront
before you participated in that relationship
or in that task or walked down that road
or chose that direction or participated
in that activity you knew upfront what
you were getting yourself into and so
now like Moses you find yourself sitting in
a desolate circumstance that is of your own
making o I got good news for you Moses the
arm of God is not so short that he cannot
save and there is no pit that you’ve
dug for yourself that the mercy of God
is Not deeper still he will reach down
in that pit and snatch you up out of
it bushes burn in deserts like that Moses
bushes don’t burn in palaces they burn in
deserts or maybe you’re a Hagar and you’re
in the house and you’re sitting in a pool
of disappointment because of someone else’s
choices and you wonder if God will find you
there Hagar the angel of the Lord is on the
way he will never leave you somebody listen
to me somebody needs to hear this today his
eyes are on you he knows where you are he
knows what you’ve been through he knows
the abuses that you’ve suffered he knows
the way you’ve been ignored or circumvented
or disregarded and even though it seems like
nobody else has their eyes on you you need
to know you serve a god who’s got his eyes on
you and Gideon if you’re afraid if you’re timid
if you’ve been insecure if you’ve been hiding
where can you flee from his presence he will come
and find you where you are and just like Gideon
he’ll take you by the hand and lead you out to
a brand new assignment where you change the if
you’ll go with him you’ll change not only the
trajectory of your own life and your family’s
life Gideon changed the trajectory of an entire
nation one timid afraid man who God showed up for
who realized that a certain place actually is
a sacred place I got to tell you that the only
reason why I think the Lord would allow us on this
Saturday morning for our paths to intersect like
this not just yours with mine but mine with yours
at this point in your life with what’s going on
in your details I don’t know all your specific
details and you don’t know mine I know what’s
happening with us collectively it’s some chaos
going on out here in this this here world we in
the chaos that is happening in the world the the
escalated in inflammatory nature of what it is
that we’re experiencing collectively but also the
details of what’s happening in your life and mine
I got to tell you the only reason why I think the
Holy Spirit would line us up today is so he could
tell you this space is a sacred place that he is
still sitting on the throne that he has not been
knocked off the throne because of all of the chaos
that’s happening and swirling around us he’s still
in charge his sovereignty is still sure his loving
kindness still endures forever he’s still got your
back rest trust take your shoes off this is Holy
Ground verse 11 y’all still with me he took Jacob
took one of the stones of that place and he put it
under his head and he lay down to sleep the
King James version says he took one of the
pillows and he or he took one of the stones and
used it for a pillow that’s what the King James
version says all right now remember I told you
this is Stone ground okay uh there would have
been all manner of rocks and stones around him
on his journey meaning there would have been tiny
Stones more like gravel that you could just kick
as you walked there would have been mediumsized
stones that would have taken maybe two hands to
pick up there would have been Boulders rocks that
were even more gargantuan than than this monitor
sitting up here just two three four 10 times as
large that that 10 men wouldn’t have been able to
live everywhere he looked there were hard things
there were ones that were small and seemed
insignificant there were mediumsized on that
would take a little bit more effort to get
out of the way and there were big ones that
no matter what he did he wouldn’t be able to
move them so Jacob is being allowed by the one
true and living God Yahweh is allowing him to
walk a path that’s got all this hard stuff and
I just wonder if there’s anybody in the room and
Everywhere You Look it’s hard stuff it’s Smalls
siiz hard stuff mediumsized hard stuff real big
hard stuff and just when you get this Stone out
of the way you turn around and find out there’s
another one right there and there’s one to the
East and one to the it just don’t matter what
you do and some of the stuff you’ve been able
to take care of on your own with your own little
effort some of it has taken a little bit longer
but you’ve been able to move it maybe with a A
friend of yours or two been able to get through
that stuff but there’s some stuff that it don’t
matter how hard you’ve tried it doesn’t matter
how how long you’ve tried it doesn’t matter how
much you’ve prayed or how much you’ve paid it
doesn’t seem like that big boulder is ever going
to move out of the way Jacob knows how it feels
to be surrounded by Stones everywhere you look
there’s hard stuff and I don’t know about you
but when there’s hard stuff in my past um I want
to do one or two things with those stones I either
want to kick it out of frustration that is in
my way or I want to pick it up and throw it at
the person that’s caused this Stone to be in
path in the first place come on can I get a
witness but Jacob actually teaches us that
there’s a secret for to Stones because he
looks around at all the hard things and he
finds one that looks like it actually might be
useful and he puts it under his head and he uses
it for a pillow wouldn’t have been as comfortable
as the one he would have had back at home but he
looks at what he has access to today given these
circumstances and this reality and he assumes
that there’s something useful that can be done
with all this hard stuff he teaches us that the
secret of stones is that there’s good stuff it’s
just hidden in the hard stuff there’s good stuff
it’s just hidden in the hard stuff here’s what
we do as Christ followers church goers Christians
we pray and say oo Lord we want to see your power
Lord we want to see your glory Lord we want to see
your presence and then in the next breath we pray
Lord would you please keep me out of any situation
in which seeing your power and presence would be
required we say Lord I want to see a miracle but
but Lord please keep me out of any
situation in which I would need a
miracle everybody wants to see the Red Sea
divided but nobody wants to come face to face
with the Red Sea everybody wants to see the walls
of Jericho come tumbling down but nobody wants to
be the one who has to walk around those walls
in obedience to God trusting that his Divine
Supernatural strategy is better than your own
everybody wants to see God but nobody wants to
be me too we don’t want to be in positions where
we actually have to see him but I’m going to tell
you right now that when you and I have the courage
to pray Lord we want to see you he answers with
stones and he says I’m going to show you how
to live life knowing that there’s good stuff
hidden in this hard stuff I’m going to fit
you with my vision spiritual vision with the
perspective that will angle you to be able
to detect that that even in the difficulties
of Life y’all this is what the Abundant Life
is John 10:10 I came that you might have life
and life more abundantly Abundant Life is not
is is not you waiting on or me waiting on uh
life to be more like skipping through a grassy
null with no uh heartache and no trouble and
no disappointment no Abundant Life is when
you are surrounded by hard stuff you’re on
the journey from point A to point B and you’re
on the patch of ground where really you want to
give up but right there in the middle of all
of that God gives you peace like a river God
gives you Joy that is unspeakable God gives
you a sense of emotional stability when Lord
knows you shouldn’t be emotionally or mentally
stable and yet God continues to stabilize you
giving a peace that is literally beyond your
understanding you you’ve met people like that
you know your friend that you know what’s going
on in her life she’s the she’s the one that
tells you all the things you listen to all the
things oh she has a lot going on and yet she has
peace and you don’t get how this girl can
still sleep a full seven hours eight hours
at night going through what’s she going through
you you don’t get that kind of Peace on your
own but God can give
it uh Jerry and I took the boys this is
several years ago y’all we took the boys
to Babes Chicken over in Cedar Hill so we were
at babes this is when it first opened so this
is a long time ago the boys were little and at
the time my second son was probably six years
old so we sit there and if you’ve ever been to
babes you know it’s all family style you order
the the meat that you want and then they bring
out all the um the sides to go with it so JC is
looking at the the list to see what it is that
he’d like there are about five options for the
meat selections one of them is Catfish fried
catfish so my son is looking at the menu all
studious trying to be all adultlike and the
waitress comes over and she says young man
what can I get for you to eat and he said
Well ma’am can I ask you a question first
and she says yes sir and he says I’m thinking
about the catfish but is this made out of real
cat of course our response was just just like
yours Jerry and I the waitress we all fell out
laughing hysterically at this boy’s question
could not believe that he asked that and as
we’re laughing hysterically he’s looking
around getting all frustrated that we’re
laughing at him he said why is everybody
laughing at my question and I said babe
it’s actually because you’ve asked the
wrong question we can’t even give you an
answer based on the fact that you you
asked the wrong question Oh Lord would
you move this hard stuff Lord get this
hard stuff out of my way Lord take this
Stone Lord change this difficulty get me out
of this season of Life move this hardship we
pray and ask God to get the hard stuff out of
the way and then we are mad because he’s not
answering but I wonder if he’s not answering
because we’re asking the wrong question
what if the question is Lord would you fit me
with spiritual vision so that I can see any
good stuff that’s hidden in this hard stuff
is there anything useful that I’m supposed
to use in this to support me to give courage
to me to build character and fortification
in me Lord don’t take none of this hard
stuff out of my life until I mine it for
every single treasure that you’ve tucked
within it because what a tragedy it would
be to get to the next season and realize
there was good stuff hidden in that hard
stuff so Jacob finds something useful out of the
hard stuff he lays his head down on the pillow
and he has a dream he sees the latter verse 12
set up on Earth and reaching up into the heavens
the angels of God are ascending and descending
and the Lord stands above above it and he says
I am the Lord the god of your father Abraham
and the god of Isaac the land on which you’re
lying right now Jacob I’m going to give it to
your descendants your descendants shall also be
verse 14 like the dust of the earth and you shall
spread out to the west and the East and the North
and the South and in you and in your descendant
shall all the families of the earth be blessed
and behold verse 15 I Am with You The Secret of
certain places is that certain places are sacred
spaces The Secret of stones is that there’s good
stuff in the hard stuff and there is a secret of
confirmation everything that God just said
to Jacob he’s standing above the ladder he is
speaking to Jacob he sees the Angels descending
and ascending on the ladder which speaks to the
connection between Heaven and Earth that God
is closer than we think and God stands above
it all and he speaks to Jacob everything he
says to him Jacob has heard before okay do
you remember that blessing and that Birthright
that he stole from Isaac he stole his brother’s
blessing and Birthright two separate things
but they are all embedded within these words
when he when Isaac gave Jacob the blessing
and the birthright these these were almost
identically the words that he spoke over his
son and now when Jacob is removed from comfort
and he’s in an uncomfortable unfamiliar lonely
patch of ground an in betweene place that feels
uncomfortable and unfamiliar God speaks to him
and when he does he does not tell him anything
new he says all I’m going to do is
confirm for you that I am who I said I
am and that I’m still going to accomplish
exactly what I declare to you that I am going
to accomplish even the life right now with all
this hard stuff does not affirm my promises I have
come to confirm them to you this is the secret of
confirmation that when life does not affirm God
will go out of his way to confirm that if you keep
your eyes open if I’ll keep my eyes open if we’ll
not become prayerless if we’ll not disconnect from
God if we’ll not allow the hard stuff of our life
to push us away to where we stop attending church
and we stop keeping ourselves in the word of God
we disconnect from our friends who are encouraging
and challenging us to stay connected if we stop
pray being prayerful and being on our knees
about that situation that honestly we’ve been
praying about so long that we we honestly are
just tired of praying about that one thing if
we’ll keep ourselves from disconnecting this will
be the season when God will go out of his way to
confirm his promises for you he’ll go out of his
way you’ll come to church on a Sunday or you’ll
come to the the Gathering I heard that you guys
are having tomorrow night or Sunday night at 6:
PM that that you’ll come to a gathering like
that and God will go out of his way to make
sure you know he still is who he said he is
you’ll come to church on a Sunday morning
and Pastor will be preaching and he’ll open
up the Bible and the one verse that he reads
you will feel like a spotlight is on you as
the Holy Spirit seals his presence in your
life you’ll have your you’ll have your
devotions your quiet time you’ll just be
just reading something but what it is that
you read it will be like the Holy Spirit
takes out a Divine highlighter and causes
it to to LEAP up off the page and grip you
in your soul as God goes out of his way to
just confirm for you that he still got your
back when life doesn’t affirm just get ready God’s
getting ready to go out of his way to confirm he’s
going to confirm it he’s going to confirm it
through the word of a stranger he’s going to
confirm it through a worship song He’s going to
confirm it through a scripture verse he’s going
to confirm it as you just go throughout your life
and he just gives you little Winks from Heaven
that lets you know he got you the gift that comes
in the mail the surprise email that shows up the
little nuances that God does to just remind you
that everything he said then is still happening
now and this also is a challenge to us y’all you
don’t need nothing new listen how many of y’all
been in church your whole life you just been in
in and around Church your whole life many of us
probably 70% of us just raised our hand you’ve
been in and around you you kind of know the
scriptures you know where the Red Sea and Jacob’s
Ladder and you you heard the stuff you don’t need
nothing new we don’t need new information we need
Revelation concerning the information we already
got and in these seasons God goes out of
his way so pray Lord open up my spiritual
ears open up my spiritual eyes father because
if you’re moving I don’t want to miss it and
if you’re speaking I want to hear everything
that you have come to say and so God will use
his own word to just speak back to you bits of
confirmation he’ll use circumstances to light
up your path to be a lamp unto your feet to
help you to know he’s still there he’s still
got you it’s the secret of Confirmation and
finally God says to Jacob verse 15 and behold
I am with you I will keep you wherever
you go here it is and I will bring you
back to this land for I will not leave you
until I have done what I have promised to
you woo thank you Lord
right after that Jacob wakes up it’s on the
heels of that statement I will bring you back
to this land I will not leave you until I’ve
done what I’ve promised you on the heels of
that Jacob is startled awake and he says God was
here God was here I didn’t know it I was asleep
I was sleepwalking through that whole thing I
missed it but but now I realize in hindsight
that God was here it was right after God said to
Jacob I will bring you back to this land there
is a secret of returning oh y’all listen to me
you listening you are coming back to this land
listen the place you’re in right now that I’m
in right now that we actually some of us are
praying hard to get out of so we can move move on
to the next thing the holy spirit of God Whispers
to you today and says yeah but you are coming
back the circumstance might not look exactly
the way it does right now but listen there are
seeds we’re sewing today the Harvest of which is
coming back to us tomorrow there are relationships
we’re either ignoring or fostering today and the
Harvest of that is coming back to us tomorrow
Jacob could have never know known that one day
years later he was going to be back on this
same patch of ground sitting in the promises
of God with his sons and grandsons and daughters
and granddaughters and great granddaughters and
nieces and nephews his descendants spreading out
to the East and the west and the North and the
South he’d be sitting right here in this place he
was coming back to this place and his posterity
was reaping the Harvest of what Jacob sowed I’m
trying to tell you there’s a whole generation
that is waiting on us to get serious about this
land that we’re on right now there’s a whole
listen your daughters y’all are daughters
and granddaughters our sons and grandsons
that maybe we haven’t even met yet they are
dependent upon us waking up and realizing God is
here because when you recognize that God is here
when you realize this is an important place this
is a sacred place that there’s good stuff and the
hard stuff that God’s confirming his word to me
that I’m coming back here that there are seeds I’m
sewing the Harvest of which my people are going
to reap in the future when you recognize that it
makes you treat this place differently instead of
disdaining it and being disappointed by it and
completely frustrated by it and trying to get
out of it you also realize I better take time to
cultivate it to Foster it to nurture it to love it
because we are coming back here and my people are
going to reap the benefits or the lack of benefits
that I se or do not seow here I’m telling you
don’t burn the bridges of the land you’re on right
now because there is a secret of returning
that you’re coming back here I’m going to
tell you this uh in closing y’all in
the past two and a half years uh our
family has lost eight family members it
has been devastating one after the other
some of them for it was just one day they
were here and one day they were not like
just every 3 to four months another close family
members family member of ours passed away within
6 months of each other I lost my mother and then
Jerry lost his mother back to back my mother we
knew she was sick and we knew that unless
God chose to supernaturally heal her there
was no earthly answer to the cancer that she was
dealing with so in those last couple of months in
particular the entire year of that but the last
couple of months in particular we were all up on
her me and Crystal my sister we kind of moved
into the house really to take care of her and
Daddy and just be all up you know all up in their
business and all up on laying in the bed hanging
out spending time with her and there was this
moment when me crystal Anthony Jonathan we were
all there in our pajamas our spouses were there at
that particular time they were all in there all of
our children there’s about 14 grandchildren
and then the oldest grandchild she now has
children so there are great grandchildren
we were all in the room together with my
mom and at that point sometimes she was with
us sometimes she wasn’t conscious as much but
there was this moment when we were all there
and she opened up her eyes and saw all her
people and basically blessed us in Jesus name
basically handed us a baton of faith and said
to us don’t nobody it doesn’t matter what
happens with me y’all better not drop this
baton and in that moment watching a woman who
knew pretty soon she might be leaving Earth
and entering into heaven I watch this woman
have peace like a river and hope about the
future what manner of peace is this that
even in the faith of death it’s stable
izes you even when you’re on desolate
ground like that even when you’re in a
circumstance like that that none of us would
have preferred what is it that keeps you so
anchored you know what does children grandchildren
great grandchildren nieces nephews those that you
disciple the young women that are looking at
you the people whose eyes are on you to see
how we’re g to handle this ground that we’re
on do not back down in fear and insecurity and
quietness and silence the enemy would love
for you and I so much to close our eyes and
sleep through this whole thing God would say
to you today Ephesians chapter 4:14 awake Oh
Sleeper and arise the ground on which you are
standing it’s Holy Ground I want you to Bow
your heads with me and I want to ask that any
of you who are in this room and right now you
re you recognize it you see that you have been
sleeping through this whole season you’ve been
just trying to race through this one to get
on to the next one and you have devalued the
significance of what God might be trying to
do in this particular season of your life and
you want to ask the Holy Spirit to wake you
up out of that spiritual Slumber so that you
don’t miss anything he has for you if that is
a particular prayer that you need today please
stand to your feet so that I can pray with
you thank you Father thank you Lord thank you
Lord Lord here we are your daughters we’re
standing we’re kneeling we’re sitting we
are in your presence Lord because we need you we
need a touch from you we need an electric shock
to our spiritual Hearts to wake us up out of our
spiritual Slumber we need our spiritual eyes to
be open our spiritual ears to be open father
so that we don’t miss anything that you have
for us so father I ask in the name of Jesus
Christ that your Holy Spirit would Shake us
awake out of our spiritual Slumber and would help
us father to fully engage in this season of our
life do not let us miss anything Lord Every
Blessing you’ve come to give every promise
you’ve come to make every bit of yourself you
have come to dispense upon us I pray for grace
upon grace and mercy upon more mercy and glory
to glory to be experienced by every woman and
man who is standing under the side sound of my
voice I thank you Father that today the alarm
clocks of Heaven are waking us up thank you for
agitating our souls father I pray that any scheme
of the enemy to distract us to disable us to
discourage us I pray that that scheme would be
cancelled right now in jesus’ name and by his
blood that has been shed on Calvary we yield
ourselves and this season of Our Lives to you
in Jesus name everybody agreed when they said
amen come on let’s give a hand
let’s give a hand to Priscilla
Shire now let