This is a message that I have taught before, but it won’t hurt any one of you to hear it again.
It has to do with a right and dedicated spirit.
For the battleground today is really the battle for your spirit not your mind.
The word of God in our spirit produces the fruit of the spirit or the divine nature (that is a right spirit, a wrong spirit is the opposite of that).
And if Satan wins that battle for your spirit, you’ve lost, the word of God will not work for you.
All your victories and all your defeats begin in your spirit.
Circumstances can’t defeat you if you’re victorious in your spirit. Do you believe that?
If you are on top and victorious in your spirit, you can go through anything. It won’t bother you; it may disturb you, but it won’t defeat you.
So, if you have a right and a dedicated spirit, you have the key of every victory that you want to win.
Rarely do we really see, do we reason, the causes of things accurately.
We’re so motivated by our spirit that very few of us are really people of reason anymore.
We find reasons to express or to accept what is in our spirit.
You find somebody that’s defeated in their spirit and their thinking is always negative and depressive, isn’t it? Have you noticed that?
You find somebody that’s victorious in their spirit and everything they look at, they interpret it in terms of victory.
Even sickness. Two people get a cold. A person with a bad spirit gets a cold and a person with a good spirit catches a cold. A person with a good spirit can catch a cold too, you know. All right, what’s the difference?
The person with a bad spirit really gets sick because they’re sick in their spirit to start with.
But take somebody that has a good spirit. Oh, well, it’s all right. I’ll just take care of myself. Trust the Lord. Go singing on the way. Praise the Lord. It doesn’t even stop them.
And the physical responds and recovers rapidly because victory is in the spirit. That’s true.
Now, I want to deal today about the things that are in your spirit because if you find that heaviness there, the other night I woke up in the middle of the night and my spirit was so heavy, so I started to work on it.
So, I started praying in the spirit and worship the Lord with my spirit.
You must learn to treat yourself. You must deal with the heaviness in your own spirit.
You must deal with confusion, or bitterness, or criticism, or divisiveness, all the negative things that creep into your spirit you must learn to deal with.
In this message I what to help you in being a dedicated spirit.
While a right spirit is so important, a dedicated spirit perhaps is more important than any of us really understand right now.
Luke 9: 23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.
These words can really disturb you because you realize that God asks a dedication of us that is beyond what most of us have attained in our walk with God so far.
Walking with God is the vital aspect of our redemption, so you first must understand the legal aspect of your redemption. You must get these scriptures in your spirit, or else you are going to be like the disciples “who then can be saved, have eternal life”? (Matthew 19:16-26).
With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. God has already accomplished this for us through the finished work of the Cross which deals with the legal aspect of redemption. The following verse of scripture is God speaking from eternity.
Romans 8:30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
The word justified in the Greek is dikaioō and it means “be righteous.” In the realm of the Spirit, you are already righteous in YHVH’S sight.
But you were sent to earth which is the school of the spirit, to learn how to love God and trust Him, and become not just a spirit, but a male or female son of God through the new birth, and your faithfulness in walking with God which is a fruit of your spirit, determines your position in the government of the Kingdom.
1 Corinthians 6:9(God speaking from time) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. (God speaking from eternity). But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Now you might not agree with my theology. But you are powerful, you can believe what you want. But the following scripture talks about inheriting the kingdom, it is not talking about dying and going to heaven. It is talking about inheriting the kingdom where you rule and reign with Yeshua as the bride of the Messiah.
In the natural world, in the UK the child of the king or queen will someday be king or queen. This is inheriting the kingdom.
So, this message is basically about the vital aspect of redemption, what it means for Jesus to be Lord of your life, and becoming a disciple of Jesus.
You are going to have to deny yourself. We may be in the process of denying ourselves, but it still is co- labor that most of us are engaged in at the present time.
And to take up our cross daily. There’s always a few that want a few days off for good behavior.
They look upon this taking up the cross daily as sort of a life sentence that surely should be commuted after a certain period of time, and you ought to have some relief from it. A legalistic attitude.
A commuted sentence is a reduction to a lesser, more lenient lifestyle, granted by an executive authority.
The business of being a dedicated Christian is certainly not an easy one.
And I must explain something to you, or you’re never going to get what I mean if you haven’t heard this message before.
What is dedication? And what is consecration?
All right, listen very carefully.
Dedication means our hearts surrender to God. It means our hearts are set and eager to do God’s will at any personal sacrifice.
In this verse, it said, we’ll take up our cross daily. We’ll deny ourselves. Any personal sacrifice at any personal reproach or persecution, we will serve the Lord.
Whatever personal effort is necessary, even when there’s personal criticism against us. dedication means our hearts are set to do the will of God.
We’ll pay any cost, whether it be financial or physical, mental or spiritual, we’ll pay any cost to do the will of God.
This is what it means to be a real disciple, dedicated, taking up his cross daily and denying himself.
This needs to be repeated.
All right, this is what it means to be dedicated.
It means our hearts are surrendered to God completely. Our hearts are set and eager to do the perfect will of God at any personal sacrifice. That’s a big order.
Are you sure that there isn’t anything you wouldn’t give up for the Lord?
To do God’s will at any personal reproach, at any personal effort that would be required, even when there’s personal criticism against you for doing it.
At any cost, you want to do the will of God. You’re so dedicated to the Lord.
Whether that cost be financial or physical, mental or spiritual, it could even mean laying your life down as a martyr and giving your all to God.
That’s perfect dedication.
Now, this is our part. Setting ourselves to do the will of God.
But now we’re going to contrast that with consecration.
What is consecration?
Consecration is God’s side of it. We will look in the Old Testament for an example.
In the Old Testament, a man might have a very dear possession, a lamb of a flock without blemish. He would bring that as a sacrifice. This was his dedication.
But when God accepted it and the fire of God would fall upon the sacrifice, that was consecration.
Dedication is what we give to God, but consecration is His anointing upon it and His blessing upon it, upon us. Do you understand the difference?
Let’s talk about consecration. We’re going to define it just like we define dedication.
Consecration is the divine designation, the divine authority, the divine presence, God’s presence, God’s authority, His power and His provision to accomplish His specific will.
God consecrated me to an apostolic ministry, in the office of a pastor and teacher. That means God’s anointing, God’s provision, God’s power, God’s presence is with me to accomplish it.
My dedication to it is one thing, but God’s consecration and anointing upon me to accomplish it is quite another.
Dedication is my part. Consecration is God’s part.
We can dedicate, but it takes God to consecrate.
We can come and say we’re going to dedicate this church to the Lord. Lord, we present this building and the group of people who gather here to you.
But it’s when God comes down and blesses it, then it has been consecrated, it has been set apart for his exclusive use, the Holy Spirit runs the show. He decides who is going to speak. He decides who he will use as an oracle in the prophetic office. He decides how long we worship, what we sing, he will anoint the worship service with worship leaders, who will minister in prophetic music. And also worship songs that the congregation knows, so that they can sing along and the words will be put up on a screen. Another words Jesus is Lord of this church, and it will be led by the Holy Spirit.
Believe me, most of the churches in the world are not led by the Holy Spirit. That does not mean you are supposed to stop going to that church, but I am also in the office of a teacher, so that you can study under my ministry and come out of deception. It took me 40 years to learn the truths that I teach. The Lord told me a couple weeks ago that he trusts me, which totally broke my heart, so I will be teaching on controversial subjects because I am a disciple, a bondservant of the Lord first and foremost, so I get persecuted for some things I teach, but this takes all my time to teach the bible. There are no Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and teachers in heaven, only ranks in God’s government depending upon our faithfulness in whatever he calls us to do, for each person it is different. But I am a gift ministry, and only some people are called to it. I am also a Pastor to help you to learn how to hear the voice of God yourself, when you reach maturity, you don’t need the gift ministries to help you reach maturity. But if you are teaching false doctrine, you are not hearing the voice of God.
When Solomon built the temple, he made many, many sacrifices. Thousands of bullocks and cattle were slaughtered as sheep in sacrifice.
It was the most amazing thing to see, their dedication and their sacrifice to the Lord. But that’s as far as they can go.
Suddenly, they couldn’t do any more. In fact, they couldn’t even stand. 120 priests fell on their face for a glory cloud filled the temple.
God had consecrated what they had dedicated.
When you come and you really dedicate your heart to the Lord to a work or thing God called you to do, you wait before Him to consecrate it, and when he does, he anoints you to walk in it. You then become a co-worker with the Holy Spirit to do it.
Because it’s not the old college try, here I am, Lord, hallelujah I’m going to do it. You just watch what I do for you. Forget it. That’s not it.
It’s giving yourself over to do the will of God and to receive the blessing of the Lord. And at that moment, “believing” for His anointing to fall upon you, His blessing will come upon you to help you to accomplish it, if he accepts your dedication.
If you have the wrong motive, or there is something yet in your heart he is dealing with, he will not anoint you for service.
What we are doing is we are waiting on the Lord (a focused listening) to know what he wants us to do and if he consecrates it (his divine approval) we will have his anointing, his ability to accomplish it, and it becomes a living work. Otherwise, we are just doing it in the flesh (by ourselves) and the anointing of the Lord will not be upon what we are doing it is a dead work, but with his anointing, the Holy Spirit co-working with us it will bear everlasting fruit, and we will receive a reward.
Now rewards are different than gifts from God. His grace is a gift; his righteousness is a gift and so on.
But to walk in the Spirit, walk in the living works that God ordained us to do before the foundation of the world, written on our destiny scroll, we need the anointing upon our life, to do it.
There is an inward anointing, Christ in our spirit and the Holy Spirit teaching us. And there is an outward anointing for service, in ministry to other people.
Are you beginning to see the difference?
Now, this is a long message because we are covering a great deal in this workshop about dedication.
We are moving forward; we are getting with it to do the will of God. We are willing. We are becoming disciples.
You give yourself to the Lord. But then we stand here before the Lord, and the Lord starts consecrating us. And the blessing starts coming, and the anointing begins to come.
What we’re trying to do is to get our dedication up until it’s at a high level. And the consecration of blessing will fall upon us at a high level, then we’ve got it made.
God moving in us, you see? Now this is what we’re working toward.
So, we see what consecration really means then. In the Old Testament, they brought their offerings to the Lord. That was dedication, that was surrender.
When the Lord laid the fire upon it, that was the consecration of it. Now we must remember this, meditate on it, and if we don’t experience it one day we will.
When we are a baby Christian, we are just sitting at Jesus’s feet, listening to him, but when we get older in the Lord, then we become like Martha, and at this time in Mary’s life, she was called to just listen to the Lord teaching her. It was not time for Mary to be up about the masters business serving.
Martha had a personal relationship with the Lord, and there was a time when she just sat at Jesus’s feet, but now was the time for her to get a meal ready for the disciples, it is the ministry of helps.
I went to a bible school, Norval hayes, and he was just in the ministry of helps for seven years before God called him to start teaching the bible.
He was a businessman, he first had to makes sure all his business were operating properly and then he would go to the poorest part of town and just bring people bags of food. He would not tell them about Jesus just love them and help them and after a while the person would say why are you doing this and then he would tell them that Jesus told him to and witness to them and they got saved, See Jesus had to open the door.
I used to go house to house with a brother and witness, and most people do not want to hear about God, The Holy Spirit has to be drawing them, he must open the door for us to speak to them about Jesus and we may be the only Jesus they will ever see. But if you just start trying to witness to everyone, you may be pushing people away from God. My friends pastor used to drive around with him, and he would stop and say we need to witness to this person. He was being led by the Spirit and was successful because the Holy Spirit knows where people are at. But we must always be ready to give the answer to a person who asks for the hope that they see in us.
Now, let’s go on a little bit further. Some would say, well, I want to be a sanctified person.
I think that means the same as being a consecrated person. I don’t think there’s really any difference.
Let’s look at something here in this contrast between dedication and consecration. Because here is where success comes, and here’s where failure comes.
God often has called a man or a woman to a job and consecrated him to do it. But their own dedication fell short.
I’ve seen ministers that way. God laid upon them an anointing and a blessing, but after a while, it was just too much sweat. It was too difficult a road. They’d back off.
Withdrawal comes when God calls you to do something, but you’re not really dedicated to follow through with what he’s blessing you to do.
Oh, it looks wonderful. Lord, I’ll go where you want me to go, I’ll do what you want me to do, I’ll be anything you want me to be.
But after a while, the humdrum existence, the daily labor, the weariness to the flesh, and the dedication wasn’t enough to follow through. It does take dedication.
Would you believe that the key of everything is this, that your dedication must come up to what God has consecrated you to be?
How many know the prophecies will talk to us about great things that God’s called us to do?
But the other thing is to be dedicated to really walk in it. Isn’t that right?
Where is our real problem? Is God blessing us and is He going to help us? Oh, yes, He’s going to help us.
But the trouble is, are we really dedicated enough to walk in this?
The thing that we’re consecrated and set apart to do, are we dedicated so we can really accomplish it?
Now, there are four things that will happen in your life when your dedication comes up to the consecration of God.
I’m going to use little illustrations of these four points. I want you to get them and never forget them. Here’s one of them, all right?
Now we’re talking about our dedication coming up to our consecration.
And what will happen then? You say, well, brother Lee, I know I have a call of God, but I don’t really know what I’m going to be or what God wants me to do.
But dedication tends to be almost a blind thing, though you sometimes know.
When I said yes to the will of God when I got born again to teach the bible. I didn’t know what in the world I was getting into.
If I’d have been a little brighter, I probably would have shut my mouth and said, “Get yourself someone else”.
Because I had no idea the price I would have to pay. But I was dedicated enough to do it regardless. And I never counted the cost. It was unconditional. As soon as I got saved, I knew God told me to teach the bible.
And when you decide to do God’s will you’re going to find the same thing.
I went to church, to church, to church, and then bible school, to bible school, and to a teen challenge, that is like a bible school.
And I ended up studying under some people who already died and went to be with the Lord, and I would buy all there material.
But if you are blessed to find a New Covenant church, or at least a church where you are learning some things that are beneficial to your walk with God, you will find that, God’s calling you into relationships, into positions, into oneness in the body, into a blessing for each other.
And you don’t know all it will mean. You get a burden in your heart, and the Lord anoints you to pray for something or someone.
You might not know at first what you will have to do, but you will find out before you’re through.
You may really have to put yourself out and sacrifice for that person before you’re through. But you must be dedicated.
Don’t ever start interceding for someone. Oh, I will pray for brother so-and-so. Unless you’re willing to lose sleep, unless you’re willing to do anything, take time and effort, your money or anything necessary to bless him.
Don’t get started on it if it’s going to be a shallow thing. Because God will see how dedicated you are and he’ll consecrate you. You’ll be able to walk in real anointing that’ll do something if you’re dedicated enough at the very outset regardless of what it’s going to be, you’re going to do.
Don’t try too many things, but when you do try, be sure that you’re ready to pay all the price. You’re dedicated to it. You’ve got to help.
Now, we’ll talk about this thing that’ll happen when your dedication begins to come up to your consecration.
Number one, God will anoint and open your understanding. It is not the biggest problem you will have.
You say, I don’t know what the will of the Lord is for me. People dwell in confusion and in uncertainties. They don’t know the will of God really, until they become dedicated to do it.
God doesn’t show you what’s around the corner until you get to the corner and take a look around.
He’s not going to show you, what is the will of God for me six months from now? What steps do I take then? He’s going to show you what to do now.
As we grow up in the Lord and are mature, then God will start showing us our future, because the Holy Spirit is prophetic. But we start out learning from retrospective revelation, we look back and see we should have done this, or we shouldn’t have done that.
And He’s going to call you to dedication. And when your dedication comes up to walk with God, then He’s going to open your understanding to see what the will of God really means and what you’re to do.
The first thing God will do when your dedication comes up to it is that He will open your understanding. Do you get that?
And you know how important that is?
New converts will say, I’m just confused. It’s because you’re not dedicated.
A dedicated person may not know all the answers, but they know which direction they’re going and they go ahead.
They don’t know all the price they’ll have to pay, but they know that they’re going to do it.
And they set their course and they’re going to follow through with it.
Successful ministries pay the price and they follow through.
When the Lord shows you what to do you say Okay, no matter what the price is, I’ll pay it. But I know what I want, I know what I’m going to do, and I’m setting my course, I’m going through.
When I see people, young people, you know, brothers and sisters going in that route, I know they’re going to make it. They don’t have to know all the answers.
But God will open their understanding, and it’ll be revealed to them when they’re on the right track.
So don’t say, I don’t know what the will of God is, it is revealed for your personal walk with God. When God reveals a scripture to you, and it comes alive to you then just start doing it.
Romans 12: 1 says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. That’s dedication.
Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Isn’t that your understanding opening? To come to really know the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
How does this start? It starts with dedication.
You present yourselves to God, and you’ll know what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is.
You say that doesn’t work, and it doesn’t work because you are not dedicated, your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak so you keep stumbling.
But when you make a decision in God, that means that he has worked that desire in your heart, then God will give you the grace to do it.
The first lessen we learn is that we cannot do it ourselves we need help, that is why the Holy Spirit helps us do it when our dedication comes to the point where God consecrates it. He gives you the ability, the anointing to do it.
So, the key to understanding God’s will is dedication.
That’s the first thing that will happen when your dedication comes up.
What’s the second thing that will happen?
Glad you asked.
The second thing that happens when your dedication comes up to God’s consecration, God orders your life and your circumstances so that it makes appropriation of Him easy.
In fact, it makes it imperative.
If you say, Lord, I’m dedicated to moving this mountain, the Lord said that’s fine and he’ll set the mountain right on top of you and you’ll have to move it.
I have never seen it fail the minute somebody said Lord I want to do your will I am really dedicated to it, that the circumstances start happening, the weirdest things start happening to them they’re just thrown into a situation where it makes them easy to appropriate it, in fact he makes it very necessary to appropriate the power of God to walk in it.
Have you ever seen that happen? Lord I just pray, I just believe that you’re going to give me patience.
The book by James says tribulation worketh patience, so Lord gives you a little tribulation that works the patience
You say oh, I didn’t pray for tribulation, I just wanted “the patience”.
You see you’re dedicated to the finished product, but you’re not dedicated to the means God uses to bring the product.
And so, when you say Lord, I’m dedicated to do your will! Then the Lord will order the circumstances, and it makes it easy and imperative for you to do his will.
You’re just squeezed right into it.
You say, well, that just happens to me, then I don’t have any choice in it.
Yes, you had a choice. You said, Lord, I want your will. At any cost, I want your will.
When you said that, he took you at your word and he put the squeeze on you. He put you in the vice and he started tightening down.
So, what happens, the second thing that happens, when your dedication comes up, God says, fine, I’ll order your steps, I’ll order your circumstances. So that the perfect will of God will be easy. It will be easy. It will be impaired (put in a place where you must have his help). Ok, Lord I surrender this area of my life to you, you become dedicated because otherwise it will be too painful. You will just keep going through this cycle, until finally you come to the place I call absolute surrender.
In fact, I think sometimes it starts out as a mingled thing. Some people are dedicated, and yet they’re not dedicated. You know what I mean?
And so, they say things to the Lord one time, and then they say something else another time. And the Lord has to decide which He’s going to believe.
And He prefers to believe the best of you.
He called Jonah, will you be my prophet? Yes, Lord, I’ll be your prophet.
Can you preach my word? I’ll preach your word.
All right, pretty soon he says to him, why don’t you go to Nineveh and preach it.
Oh, not Nineveh, you back off.
What’s the Lord going to believe? Is he going to believe Jonah is going to preach to Nineveh or not?
So, he orders his circumstances. And he helps him, as he’s been dedicated, he helps him for his dedication to come up to his consecration.
Pretty soon he’s in a whale of a mess, isn’t he.
But you see that’s a good thing, think of all the lives that he saved.
Why would you want to be stuck in the mud , to sit by the side of the road and have life pass you by?
Or would you be grateful for God to say, okay, you want it, you’re going to have it, amen.
You want to swim? Good, He kicks you right into the pool, and you must swim. That’s what he does. And you swim, right? Praise the Lord.
Now that’s what God’s going to do for you. The best thing that will ever happen to you, is that the Lord orders your circumstances when you say, yes, Lord, I’m dedicated to do your will.
All right, then you go on down from the mountain. I don’t know what happened to all the blessings I had up there in the mountain, when I made that dedication.
This happens to a lot of young people.
Look what’s happening to me. I lost my job and I can’t get the classes I want in school and everything’s going against me. I don’t know where I’m going to live. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m so dedicated, I’m so ready. The Lord has a real path and look what he’s doing to me.
Because our second point is that God orders your life and circumstances, to make your appropriation of him easy and to make it an imperative.
God works in you to will and then to do of His good pleasure. He puts you in a place where He gives you the old squeeze play. And you must appropriate great and mighty things to accomplish His will.
I do better in a corner anyway. He’s dealt with me so long that I’m very thankful He doesn’t do it anymore than He does, but boy, you want to fight on your hands, or you want ministry in your hands or anything, just put me in a corner.
Just put me in a corner. Just put me in a corner. I’m at my best when I’m in a corner. Leadership and creativity come forth when you’re put in a corner. You must find your way out, so you surrender to the Lord ship of Christ.
A lion comes forth when they are put in a corner, they growl, and they snarl, and they come forth and fight. And that’s what I do when the lord chastens me, and I must take authority over the enemy, or I must appropriate the next level of the divine nature the Lord wants to work in me.
If the Lord does not deal with me, I tend to be a little passive concerning the other things I need to do every day. I just used to sit and write most of the time. But now I take a shower every day, do the dishes after I eat, clean my apartment every day, exercise, open my mail every day. I lost access to my food stamps by not doing that and my discount on my internet.
I would just through all my mail in a tub, I mean there is not enough time in the day to understand different teachings and doctrines and study everything out in the bible, and in so doing, I neglected everything else.
For example, yesterday I looked for my birth certificate so that tomorrow I can go with my neighbor and try to get assistance for my electric bill.
And now I can get my ID, because when it came time to renew my driver’s license, I could not do it over the internet, I had to go to the office and someone stole my car anyway so, I figured I do not have time to go there and do this now, and that was a big mistake, so I am getting my house in order.
But people who do not have a walk with God, like the good life. They like to fare sumptuously every day. They usually have a weight problem. They used to eat a lot of things, because if one thing’s good, then we’ll I will just have two of them, you know?
So, the Lord sometimes must put his people in a corner, and he starts the old squeeze play.
Can you say, Lord, I want your will. I want my dedication to come up. It’s your business how you help me, but I know that you’ll help me.
Number three. When your dedication comes up to your consecration, God chastens you and He disciplines you for even greater appropriation.
I think He deals with you almost harshly so that your appropriation will be even greater and that you’ll be a partaker of His holiness.
Oh, to have the humility to just rejoice when God’s chastening you.
As you become more spiritual, would you believe this? You’ll have daily more hazards and more problems, not less, but more. Why?
Because you will be put in a position where, you must look to Jesus, to who he wants to become to us, so that it can be our response. We begin to respond with the divine nature, instead of our past behavior and we are growing up.
Our heaven Father is now training us; I believe this is a new revelation of YHVH in the Old Testament.
When you come into a walk with God, you have come up to a new level in God, where he is training you, to rule and reign with Jesus Christ as his bride over his vast Kingdom which will keep on expanding forever and ever.
This kind of relationship with God is about no longer getting saved and die and go to heaven with no rewards and live in the lower level of heaven which is great.
This about inheriting the kingdom where you become male and female sons, kings and priests after the order of Melchizedek.
You may say, my goodness, I don’t know whether I’d be dedicated or not enough for this to happen.
Here you point out what’s going to happen to me. I become more dedicated, and then the Lord deals with me almost more harshly.
Yes, He scourges every son whom He receives. But there isn’t any other way. I don’t know any other way. There isn’t any other way to move in God, except to let Him put it to you, put it to you, and put it to you, and put it to you.
Number four, how many things did I say He was going to give you, four things?
I am doing other things while I write, like laundry, so I sort of lose my train of thought.
The fourth thing God will do when your dedication comes up: God orders the pressures and the responsibilities to enlarge the capacity that you have inside your heart to attain to the full stature of Christ.
See, my capacity for God is enlarged every time God puts some pressure on me.
I may squeal and howl under it, but I take more responsibility. I take more burden. He keeps laying it on.
The fourth thing that happens when your dedication comes up, God orders the pressures and the responsibilities to enlarge the capacity. Isn’t that true?
You see, the more you do, the more he lays upon you. And after a while, just the pressures and responsibilities that he puts upon you enlarges your capacity for him.
Because, you see, he’s consecrated you to do something. Consecrated means to be set apart exclusively to God for a certain Task, and he gives you an anointing to do it, this is the fruit of holiness or sanctification.
I know that he consecrated Daniel to be a great man. What’d he do?
Just laid it on him. Pretty soon, he’s one of the three great presidents over 127 countries that have been conquered by Babylon.
That’s a lot of administrative work and also to still to be one of the great prophets of God, and to be an exile, a captive, literally a slave on top of that.
How would you like to set about to have the care of the churches under an Apostle, and all the responsibilities that an apostle has in the ministry, to wait on God in the Word, to have the administrative duties that you have, and still that there would be close to, depending on how many different churches you have under you, a thousand people who have a direct bond with you, that are drawing from you.
And they are depending upon my health, and they do, I have a lot of people praying for me, and I had to go through what I went through to get rid of all the addictions, the lust of the flesh, I ended up getting cancer, losing body parts, to get permanently free from all this junk, so that I could fulfill my destiny.
I came out of the drug culture; I just lived to please myself. I remember asking a friend when I was a teenager, are you high, no, what a bummer.
I mean that is what I lived for, walk all the way to school and then turn around with my friend and go back to his house because his dad was at work to party and miss so may days of school I got kicked out, and I remember my brother who was a millionaire, he is 20 years older than me so we really do not communicate, but at that time he asks me lee, where do you want to go to college. I was just thinking at that time about becoming a computer technician, I told him, I didn’t think much about my future, I was just living for today.
I could have gotten any kind of degree if I wasn’t an alcoholic, which is different from a heavy drinker, it is something you inherit from one of your natural parents. I don’t talk about my history, but I know what it is like to repent 100’s of times and just fall back into sin because you don’t know how to walk in the Spirit.
But I have compassion for any person, no matter what they are going through, to love them and have faith for them, so they do not miss out on their destiny, it has not even entered our heart what God has in store for those who will love him and begin to walk in the spirit and no longer live for self.
So back on topic, how many of you have been able at different times to draw on that yourself? Have you?
Have you ever felt something like, suddenly in your mind, Brother Lee said so and so, and you don’t realize where it’s coming from. But on the unconscious level, that bond that I have with you is working and a word was coming through to you in the Spirit.
Well, that’s nothing. Just think of the Lord Jesus Christ he has a bond with millions. And each one on a perfect, personal level.
But he’s anointing us, each one of us in the different responsibilities he places upon our lives.
Will the responsibilities increase? Yes.
More and more your life isn’t your own because you’re possessed by the duty and the wonder of this thing that God is doing. But is it hard? Yes, it’s hard.
You’re at the place where you lose a lot of things on a personal level, for everything that you gain on a spiritual level. It is literally denying yourself and taking up a cross.
I have had, deep in my own life, a deep cross to bear on my own personal level.
I don’t know anything that would have been surrendered to the Lord at a greater price than something I’ve given to Him. But God deals with each of his children on whatever level they are on, but those who study under me usually want to go all the way with God, or they would not be reading this message. So, I cannot lay my dedication on another, because we must be faithful on the little things, to be given more. To teach the word of God like I do, I think is the hardest job in the world, because you can end up teaching false doctrine. The Estimates for the number of Christian denominations globally are over 45,000 and they all teach contrary doctrines and think they are right and everyone else is wrong, because that is why they are a denomination.
A denomination is a group of churches that believe the same way concerning the doctrines of that group of churches, but I pursued understanding the bible with all my heart and that is why I have the revelation I have and the persecution I receive is from Christians or other people with different spiritual beliefs, non- believers do not persecute me. But I have no desire to create another denomination, I deal with people wherever they are at, and at one time I probably believed the same way they did, because I went to a lot of different kinds of churches in trying to understand what the bible teaches, but none of them could give me the answers I was seeking.
But if you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ responsibilities must increase.
Now, you say, after a while I will become more spiritual, and my life will become easier, and I’m going to sail along fine. No, the more spiritual you become, the more the hazards, the more the problems, and so forth. Now, we’re ready for four more statements.
These four statements are going to answer another question, so you can put it down.
Here’s the question: Why does God allow the hindrances and oppositions, and circumstances to come against me. Why does He allow them?
This is a little bit repetitious, but I want you to get it.
Number one, they’re allowed to deepen and to strengthen your dedication where it’s weak.
This is why God lets hindrances, opposition, and circumstances come against you. This is why He does it.
One, to deepen and strengthen your dedication where it’s weak.
Then two, they press you into greater appropriation of His grace. Do you want me to explain that?
They press you into greater appropriation of His grace. They force you to draw on the grace of God. It’s sort of the isometric principle. To set something before you in the circumstance, a hindrance, problem, and here you are pushing, pushing, pushing.
The principle of isometrics is they have a big rack, and you put a bar in and then you pull it at a certain level.
You know you can’t move it, but you’ve got to think that you can.
Now, theoretically, you can increase your strength as you yank the thing up out of the wall. So, you just keep pressing, pressing, because a muscle grows three times as fast from stationary exercise, tackling something that it cannot do.
Motionless exercise is far better than the full exercise, only for strength.
For endurance, of course, you must start jogging or running or get an exercise bike, that is what I have and do, because it builds up the heart.
The cardiovascular system responds only to a great extended effort over a long period.
But if you want to just increase strength, you push at an immovable object, and you’ll grow much faster.
Now, that’s what God does for you. How many have things that aren’t moving in your life? They’ll move when you become strong enough.
And so here you are. God allows these things to come to cause you to press on to a greater appropriation of His grace. Did you get it?
Here you are. You’re just shoving, shoving, shoving on things. And finally, you say, I’m so exasperated.
When am I ever going to be free from this problem, from this circumstance?
The grace of God will come and the impossible will be done.
That’s the first thing God does for each one of us is put us in a situation where there’s something impossible.
And if you’re dedicated, the first thing the Lord will do is give you something that’s impossible.
And you struggle, struggle, struggle against the impossible, and you break through.
Because you draw grace, because you know in yourself you can’t do it.
You see; God always puts you in a place where to do the job requires a little bit more than you have.
So, you must draw a little bit more of Him to do it.
He gives you another job a little bit bigger than what you have. So, you draw a little bit more, and after a while, you’ve appropriated so much of God by impossible things that he set before you, that you overcome through him.
I don’t like this kind of teaching. Do you? My flesh does not like it, but my spirit does.
The lord convicts you of something in our flesh, and we see it through his eyes, and this a terrible thing in my flesh, but my spirit rejoices in it because I know what it does for me, it is going to cause me to appropriate a greater measure of God’s divine nature in me.
Number three, these are the reasons why God allows these hindrances and oppositions and circumstances to come against us.
Number four, these hindrances and oppositions are allowed to force us into a greater appropriation of His authority.
The other was of His grace, remember? We draw on His grace.
Now we draw on His authority. And a ministry can’t grow unless you move into authority.
Everything in the spirit world is accomplished by authority.
So, he puts you in a place where you have things that are just too big and you must, in the name of Jesus, I take authority over this!
That’s when you start to grow. When you’re dedicated, that’s what he does.
You say forget this. But remember this message is on being a part of the government of God, being a king and a priest.
Or you can settle on whatever level you are on and just live a happy life and die and go to heaven.
But if you want to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus and be a co-ruler in his kingdom, and eventually a co-creator, this is the path of responsibility you take.
There are basically two pathways, the pathway of relationship or intimacy with the Lord which is great.
But there is also the pathway of rulership. Jesus talked about ruling over two cities, we’ll he shot me through two galaxies, and I landed on a planet, that was having a democratic election, and I thought this is not right. Then I came back down and landed on my bed, opened my eyes and he shot me sideways and I went through one galaxy and then landed on a planet and came out of the Spirit.
So, I am going to keep pressing on in this pathway of responsibility. How would you like to rule over two planets? It is worth it.
But being a teacher, I must deal with all these false doctrines people have.
He puts you in a place where you must draw on more authority. Isn’t that beautiful? All right.
You’re learning secrets, and some of you won’t get them all, but you’ll get quite a bit.
Now, the hindrances and oppositions are allowed, so that we can manifest Christ’s victory over demons, and satanic forces.
Sometimes the enemy comes for our testing, just like he did with Jesus and Job.
Job1: 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” 9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side?
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”
It is like the Lord Says in human terms, okay, devil, you think you’re so smart. Here’s a man that is just a mere mortal. Watch him overcome you and then I will bless him with twice as much. Go, he is in your power only you cannot kill him.
And Satan says ok, I’ll get him to sin. And like a roaring lion, he comes seeking whom he may devour.
But it pleases God. He laughs at his enemies. It pleases God to bruise Satan under your feet. Do you get the idea?
So, one of the reasons why things come at us is so that God can manifest his victory through you over the devil.
This is because the victory of Christ over Satan is to be manifested through us.
Jesus delegated his authority to us we are supposed to rule the earth, and when we displace fallen angels over cities, states and nations, and the kingdom invades the governmental systems through us, then Jesus will come back.
So, he puts you in a situation, sometimes that’s the only reason in the world that you’re having any trouble.
Just so that you can defeat him. So that you will appropriate Christ’s victory and just manifest it, to the glory of God.
So, let’s get to work, this is a workshop on dedication.
We’re going to talk about what dedication really means. And in this manner, we’re going to see if you want to be dedicated.
Do you want your dedication to come up after all I’ve said so far?
I can give you some simple steps that’ll help you with dedication.
They’re one, two, three, and four. And then I’m going to give you some questions that will review dedication.
This is going to be a hard test; you must let the Lord search your heart. Because first it is about becoming, then doing.
So there may be some things in your heart you have to deal with, so that your heart is pure, and you have a clean conscience, otherwise you are going to feel clouded, you will not be filled with the Spirit.
We must be filled with the Spirit first, and then we can go to work, not working for him, but working with him, partnering with the Holy Spirit, co-laborer.
This is sort of a one-man psychoanalysis. You’re going to find out what’s in your heart, whether you’re really dedicated or not?
The first war is a civil war, your spirit desiring one thing and the flesh another, so that you cannot do the things your spirit desires.
Then comes the outer warfare, witnessing to others to get them born again, baptized in the Spirit, until they have a prayer language, and then if they want to go on to be a disciple we deal with their dedication.
One of the things that stops the kingdom taking over a city is all the different churches that are not in agreement in the city. But if you get enough dedicated believers, it is possible.
Four simple steps. And this is the heart of the message. This is what you’re working for. So that God’s perfect will is going to be done in your life, if you want to be dedicated.
To be dedicated, I’m going to do four things.
Number one, fix.
Number two, start.
Number three, evaluate.
Number four, channel.
Fix, start, evaluate, channel. Fix, start, evaluate channel.
Now, because these four steps are probably as crucial and as important as anything you would ever do in your life.
Number one Fix- Dedication means that the will is set. Your spirit is set, it’s fixed to overcome every demonic activity. The heart is fixed on submission to God or whatever it is that you’re going to do. The heart is fixed. The first thing to do is fix.
It’s making up your mind; it’s setting your heart.
The second thing is to start, all right God, you’ve called me, I know I’m going to do it, I’m dedicated, I’m set to do it.
Then the next thing you do is to start. Don’t stall, start.
when you know the heart of God’s will start to do it.
Dedication is not an elusive thing. Dedication does not say Next week, I’m going to start to do the will of God. It starts right now.
There’s something you can do right now if it’s nothing more than writing down these four steps and saying, this is what I’m going to do.
I’m doing this because I want to know the perfect will of God for me.
Dedication starts right now, it takes a step, this is called walking with God, your take a step.
You say, We’ll, God’s called me to minister to the sick and the afflicted. What are you doing today about it?
Well, I’m kind of waiting for the anointing to come.
I think you should start seeking God today. Live in the word and pray.
Take every step that you know God wants you to do.
Smith Wigglesworth taught me that. That’s where I first learned this.
Start. God taught Smith Wigglesworth how to read. Gave him a gift to read the Bible, but he could not read a newspaper and would not allow one in his house, he couldn’t read anything else.
He was completely illiterate outside of that, but he could read the Bible. Isn’t that an amazing thing?
I got a category of his teachings on my website. In all of his life, he never read anything but the Bible.
And they asked him one day, Brother Wigglesworth, “Do you wait for the Spirit of the Lord to move you” before you tackle casting out of demons?
Because, you know, that’s quite a rough thing, casting out devils. So, do you wait for the Spirit to move you? He says, No.
When I see somebody that’s possessed of the devil, when I see the work of the devil, I start after it.
And it’s up to God to get the anointing on me by the time I get to Him.
The man was as bold as a Lion. I’ve never seen anybody as bold.
Smith Wigglesworth and Howard Carter probably did more than any two men in the early days of the Pentecostal outpouring to introduce the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Howard Carter was a contemporary with him. Howard Carter and Harold Horton, of course, wrote marvelous books on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and Harold Horton is still a classic, but he is more poetical, almost a poetical expression.
But Howard Carter was not, but the boldness that we’ll walk in is going to be just the same today for us.
We’re going to see the devil, yes. Are we waiting for an anointing? No, we believe in that consecration and anointing and it is there because we are dedicated.
I never wait for a word of wisdom, no! God gives the gift. It’s up to him to let it work.
I move in, praise the Lord. I seize the thing.
You see, you fix your heart on God, and you start. You take a step. You do something now toward the will of God. Start by speaking the word. Start believing God. start praying.
Look what I’m doing, I’m starting, Lord. That’s the way you go about it. Because when you start, you’re going to get it.
You’ve got prayers to make, you’ve got victories you want to win, things you want to see done, just make one step.
All right, today I’m going to do one thing. It may not seem very, it may not seem too practical, but I’m taking a step.
What kind of step are you going to take?
Well, I’m praying for rain, so I’m looking for my umbrella. That’s good. That’s a step.
You see, you take a start. You take some step that is related to what you’re believing God for. You start. Does that make sense? Yes.
Everybody must do it. And usually, you must do that before you see the real victory. Once you start acting the anointing will kick in.
There was this poor widow lady whose two sons were going to be sold into slavery back in the days of Elisha( 2 Kings 4:1)
Elisha said, “Well, what do you have”? Just a little bottle of oil. Go to your neighbors and borrow all the vessels you can. Big bottles, any kind of bottle you can find. Bring them to me. Fill the house with them.
So, she came back and she said, “The house is full of bottles”. Now what do we do? Start filling them. She started. She took a step.
No matter how ridiculous it sounds, she started. She made that first effort.
And if you want your dedication to come up, you’ve got to start.
There is a story of a blind man. Lord, who’s sinned? That man or his parents, he’s born blind.
Well, let’s do something about it. So, make some clay, put it on his eyes, send him over to the city reservoir to wash.
And they didn’t have quite the same sanitary regulations as we have today. So, where are you going? I’m going to go wash my eyes. He started; it was a start. He stumbled down the road and washed his eyes and then he could see.
Take up your bed and walk. But he couldn’t get up off his bed. We’ll make a start. Start struggling to get off that bed. See, believing requires some kind of effort.
Dedication requires a way of life, so you must start. You are not sitting around waiting for something to happen, but you make a start.
You fix your heart on God, and you start. And every day you do something, you take a step, you take a step, you take a step. God blesses you.
You’re reading the word, praying, waiting on God, memorizing specific scriptures, and you keep at it. And God blesses you for it.
When you start obeying the lord, the blessing of God comes on you have tears of joys, it can happen, you have to tell the Lord stop it, when you go into a store because people, will think there is something wrong with you, or you can use it for a witness, we’ll the Lord is blessing me so much because he is so good, did you know that? When you obey the Lord, he blesses you.
And sometimes that step doesn’t even–seem to be directly related to your dedication for something, but you do it anyway.
Number three, evaluate. When you know your present activity is not the perfect will of God, and you’re ready for that more perfect will, then you drop what you’re doing, and you start to do what you should.
The perfect will of God for yesterday may not be the perfect will of God for today.
This is evaluation. And it is hard for some people to realize.
God sometimes puts you through things, and you know that God has done it.
And you serve God on one level. The next day, next week, next year, you’re not doing that thing anymore. You’re doing something else.
If you are in a good church, you may start out just cleaning the church. To get the building ready for the church service.
Then the Lord might want you to have a bible study at your home or someone else’s to teach others what you have learned and walked in.
You must start at the bottom. I started out my spirit filled life, as part of the “word of faith movement” under Norvel Hayes, and he was a businessman and owned 12 businesses.
He started out in the ministry of helps for seven years feeding poor people. And he would just weep and cry because the Lord was blessing him, he was dedicated and God sanctified his ministry of helps. And God blessed him so much because he was faithful, he was dedicated.
He said he wasted his life before, a man with 12 businesses wasting his life. But then he got saved and the lord would help him run his businesses. If an employee was stealing from his business the lord would show him, and he got good employes and so he had time to work in “the ministry of helps”.
He was willing to do it for the rest of his life, but he learned some things from the Holy Spirit walking in the perfect will of God for him at the time, because you hear the lord when your will is set to please he Lord to be dedicated.
And because of what he learned during this time, the Lord put him in the public ministry of a teacher.
He was willing to do anything the Lord wanted to him, he was dedicated, he was a disciple. He was not looking for a public ministry. He did not want a public ministry. He had no ambition to go into a public ministry.
The Lord must deal with that ambition, that is why most public ministries are off, they are at such a low level, that the Lord does not reveal mysteries to them.
Their ministry can become an idol and then they will get off into false doctrine and fleecing the sheep, taking their money for their own personal gain.
All Norvel wanted to do is feed the poor, raise money to help people. He was getting so much blessing from the lord because he was well pleasing to the lord in the time realm.
But the last shall be first. What we call the little things the Lord calls the best things.
Just being in public ministry, or a person singing in front of people may not be the best thing. Gods’ best ministry. May be feeding the poor, going to jails to witness, things like that can be Gods highest ministry.
Then the lord after seven years told Norvel, now son I want you to now teach people what I taught you.
The lord said to him, that you have proved to me that you care about people.
Now I want you to go to collage campuses and teach the young people.
He was just faithful to do what God called him to do, and God kept blessing him until he built churches started a bible school, women’s shelter and so on until he became a public figure. So, it is up to the Lord what he wants you to do.
I have a teaching on redemptive gifts, those things we are born with, to help you see where God wants you to minister. I Would have to see if I finished working on that. But I can get the information on it.
I am called to teach every subject on the bible, and my mind which is a poor master but I have a high IQ and am a thinker, so with my mind under the leadership of the Holy Spirit I will teach on it, first the Holy Spirit will reveal it to me, then I have to find where it is hidden in the bible, to teach other people, so it is a lot of work.
I think it is the hardest job in the world teaching the bible, it takes all my time, I sleep when I must. And it would take me the rest of my life to teach every subject, so I hope soon, I can teach what I learned. I just do what The Lord is leading me to do. But I sense it is coming soon.
Whatever you are called to do, you do with all your heart, all your might, you do your job the best you can with the Lord’s help. You’re dedicated to doing it.
You evaluate what you’re doing now. And you say, is this what you want Lord? Is this the best thing I can do?
All right, you young people, what are you doing? Well, I’m just goofing off. I listen to little bit of music. Just kill time, then I get my homework and so forth.
You know what you’re doing? You’re just existing. You must live for something greater than just yourself. You are living for the Kingdom of God.
But you must work for a living and if you do not have a good job, then be faithful, and be the best employee in the company, and God will promote you, or give you a better job.
Then give to the ministry, you are not under the law, so you do not have to tithe, but it is a good principle. J C Penny gave 90% of his money to the ministry, wherever God led him to, and kept 10 % for himself, and look how the Lord blessed.
But in the New Covenant there are gifts and offerings. But you must do it with a cheerful heart and the Lord will bless you, he does not bless you giving an offering grudgingly.
If you believe it is God’s will to tithe then give 10 % then give 10 % because if you don’t, you will have a guilty conscience and block the flow of the spirit but give it willing.
I have seen ministers who believed it was God’ will to tithe and they did it willingly and God blessed it, he consecrated their dedication, and it worked out for their good.
The conscience is a function of your soul not your spirit like watchman knee taught, and multitudes of Christians believe that doctrine. I have his book on “the spiritual man” soft cover and also now on kindle, because it is easier for me to read, but I learned a lot about my spirit and how it can become defiled, and the church is indoctrinated that their spirit is perfect, it can be defiled.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Our spirit needs to be sanctified, which means it can be defiled. It needs to be preserved blameless (without fault). That means we either have a right spirit, or a bad spirit.
2 Corinthians 7 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Our spirit can be filthy, defiled.
But there can be a life that is lived, when you know one thing above everything else. Lord I am doing your will.
Then you look at all the things you are doing and ask the Lord to help you have wisdom, is this a good thing or is there something better or is there something that is the very best for me in your will. And that’s what you start doing.
The fourth step is channel.
You want to be totally dedicated to God’s perfect will for your life, you start to channel.
Everything that you are, your entire person, all your resources, physical, mental, spiritual, or financial.
They must be channeled to fulfill God’s will.
Oh, I’d just love to do the will of God, and I’ve got $25 here. I can either get a Thompson Chain Reference Bible or that would buy me some new shoes.
Oh, I saw some really sharp shoes on sale for just under $25. But those shoes will wear out. Are you going to live for the passing scene, or eternity?
I don’t know whether you get what I mean or not. Can you channel what you have, what you get?
How much do you want the will of God? You see, it’s what you really want. You must evaluate and then channel everything toward one end.
There must be a channeling of everything that you are into the path of God’s will.
And if you want a thing badly enough, and if you’ll give enough of yourself to it, God will see that you come into it.
This kind of word should disturb you, but it will set a light before you. It will show you how it can be done.
God will lead you right into the life that is excellent.
I will give you 7 questions to ask yourself. And they’re very simple. And this will test on whether you’re dedicated or you’re not dedicated.
How many would really like to know? I think I’m dedicated?
And you may find that you’re not exactly dedicated and you’re not lacking in dedication either. They’re both working there.
And these questions, though, are good for you to ask yourself, because they’ll help in one area, to encourage you that there’s some things that you can do that will really help your dedication.
And what’s good, strengthen it.
And what you need to improve on, grab a hold of it.
Seven questions.
1- Are you a seek firster, are you seeking first the kingdom of God?
These phrases won’t come out in Webster’s Dictionary for several years yet. So, you just write them down.
Are you a seek-firster or a doer of secondary things?
A seek-firster is one who’s determined to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
He’s not doing “the secondary things”, but he’s losing his soul-life for the primary things.
Everything that is secondary to my life is going to be delegated or relegated to some other place in my life.
Now, that doesn’t mean you suddenly decide, well, I’m not going to work (a secular job) for a living because I can’t see working for money when I can be doing something spiritual.
You’ve got to take care of the basic things. But in doing all of them, your motivation must be perfect.
2- Are you a staller or a starter? That’s a good question. Can you stall away a half an hour before you get started on doing something in the will of God for your life?
You find yourself stalling the things that you should be doing, until finally you wind up compelled into doing a few essential things, but the best thing was undone.
And a month later, you look, oh, I really wanted to do that.
What was it that you wanted to do? Was it important?
Yes, it was really important, but I just didn’t have the time.
You probably had the time, but you were a staller.
Are you a staller or are you a starter? That’ll determine a lot.
A dedicated person, by an act of will, I need to do this, and they do it right away.
3-Are you a time waster or time redeemer.
That means not only start the thing, but do you waste time with it?
You only have so much time to work with. So, you just don’t make too much time available for lesser things, and more time for the more important things.
4- Are you an aggressor or a withdrawer?
What does it mean to be an aggressor?
Has God given you a position in a church. Okay?
Has He given you a ministry?
Be aggressive about it. Push in. Or withdraw. Which do you want to do?
Well, I don’t know. Certain things just happen in my life, and I get discouraged about them and I just want to withdraw.
Oh, sure, who doesn’t? It is human nature.
When God gives you a way to walk, you’ve got to be aggressive with your faith. You can’t withdraw.
A withdrawer is a person with very thin skin. It’s almost transparent. And at the first opposition, sometimes it’s just even imagined, they’re crushed. That’s the end of them.
Don’t become so sensitive to circumstances and people that you walk away from the will of God.
I used to pray a prayer, Lord, give me the heart of a rhinoceros and the heart of a dove.
But I had a good thick skin so that I don’t care what other people think or say, as far as doing the will of God is concerned.
I want to be sensitive to them in certain ways, but when it comes to my personal walk with God, I want a thick skin.
I am going to walk with God, but I want a tender heart toward the Lord that I would be grieved if I displeased Him in the least.
5- are you a worrier or a committer?
Do you get confused a lot?
This is about Dedication, being a disciple.
A person who starts out, oh, I know I must be dedicated to do this job, but I just worry about it. I don’t feel adequate to it, and I don’t know whether I can get the job done or not.
You cannot worry, sometimes you must spend “all of that effort” in the doing of the will of God.
6- Are you a hold backer, or a go getter?
When you do a thing, do you find yourself always holding back, or do you go at it with all your heart?
7- Are you an excuser or an attempter?
Anybody can make an excuse. I can’t do it. I’m not worthy. You know I’m willing, but there’s really so many people who can do much better than I can? Excuses, excuses, excuses.
Or do you attempt it in the name of the Lord?
Suppose the Lord lays something on your heart. Oh, Lord, don’t lay that on my heart, because brother or sister so-and-so can do that so much better than I can.
If God wanted Brother or sister so-and-so to do it, he’d ask Brother or sister so-and-so to do it.
If he asks you to do it, then don’t make an excuse.
All right, then, Lord, I’m the least qualified of all the people that you would choose, but that’s not going to discourage me. I’ll try it. You just help me. I’ll try it. Just go after it.
We’ll there’s people that know how to do this and that in the spirit, and I don’t know how.
All right, that doesn’t make any difference. If God calls you to do something, you do it.
If he said to you, all right, look, I want you to fill this place, I want you to fill this role in working with me.
This is what you’re going to be. This is what you’re going to do.
Oh, Lord, there’s so many others that could do this. There’s so many others that do a better job than I. That is beside the point.
You can look at the elders in a church, and there are many of them that have a college education, an education superior to yours. But what if God calls you to be one? I am not qualified, if God calls you to be one, he will give you an anointing to do it.
Let’s ask ourselves a simple question. Can you be specific and list the areas of dedication and service? that you should be doing?
This tests your dedication. How many say, Lord, the Lord helping me. My dedication is going to come up to what I know what God has called me to do. I’m not going to look at anything else. Lord, I’m going to be dedicated to trying, to fix, to start, to evaluate, and to channel.
These are four things I’m going to remember. I fix my heart on God and what He’s told me to do. I start. I look around and I evaluate the things that I’m doing. I start eliminating the lesser and clinging to the greater. I channel everything.
Write down, Lord, everything that I am and everything that I ever am going to be and everything I have, it’s yours, Lord. It’s yours. I channel it.
One of the things that’s going to help your dedication as much as anything in the world, and that is learning how to wait (focused listening) upon the Lord, your quiet time, still your heart before the Lord.
You can’t keep dedication unless there are times in which you stop and think about these things.
So, if you could, take these notes and read them every day, until they’re just second nature to you. You can always memorize them.
And you stop in a period of meditation; you go through them. It’d help you to just eliminate a lot of frustrating things.
But you see, pressures build up and build up. Then you need a quiet time. You need to stop and wait on the Lord, get refreshed being a real disciple of the Lord will drain you; you need to get refreshed, refilled.
Now, Lord, this thing is just frustrating the devil out of me. I don’t know what to do about it. And I got this pressure on me. And so-and-so is putting this kind of pressure. And this circumstance is putting that kind of pressure.
Lord, what do I do? And you stop, and you still your heart before the Lord, and you wait before Him.
Oh Lord, I am your bond- servant, I look to you. I’m your man or woman. I’m your child. I don’t look at how much I am, I look at how much you are.
I don’t look at my own self; I look at what you call me to do. What you want. I look at what you’ve consecrated me to do, and I can say like the Apostle Paul, who’s sufficient for these things?
There may be many important functions that he’ll show you in this. You listen to what he says and then begin to apply it because you’ve got scriptures and many things let God speak to you.
God bless you to be his dedicated people because I know he will consecrate you for great work, may your dedication come up to your consecration.