Living the Dream – Part 5 Lawson And Aaron Perdue

  Praise the Lord, friends, and welcome to the broadcast. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in. We’re gonna be talking today about two people. We’re gonna be talking about the Apostle Paul and we’re gonna be talking about Elijah. We’re gonna be talking about how Paul faced challenges with diligence. I believe Paul was one of the most diligent, determined, disciplined people. And we’re also gonna be talking about how Elijah had provision for the vision in the vision, but the vision is the provision for the people. Blessings. Friends, I’m so glad that you’re with us. We have been talking about “Living The Dream.” And Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, “A dream comes through the multitude of business.” In other words, it’s a lot of work. Now, yesterday, we talked about Joseph and we talked about how Joseph grew in wisdom in favor. And Joseph had a dream that came from God. But even… Right after he had that dream, he began to face very difficult situations. And basically, he had 13 years of trouble after he had this dream. But we said he learned certain things while he… The trouble did not come from God, but he learned while he was in that trouble, and that ultimately, he never gave up on the dream of God, and those things he learned helped him fulfill God’s plan and purpose. For instance, we talked about how in his father’s house, he learned the value of work. In Potiphar’s house, when he was a slave, he learned the value of management of people and management of resources. And then in the prison house, he learned the value of administration. But all those things: the value of work, the value of management, the value of administration served him and helped him fulfill ultimately this plan and purpose, high calling of God on his life when he became the prime minister of Egypt, which was the greatest empire in the world at that time. Today, we’re gonna be talking, first of all, about Paul and how Paul faced difficulty with diligence. It just amazes me how some people think: if I’m following God, if I’m in God’s will, I’m not gonna have any trouble. I’m not gonna face any difficulties. And Paul faced major difficulties because he followed God. Because he did what God told him. Now, he overcame, he was overcomers, he didn’t let those difficulties get him down, but he faced some major trouble. So we’re gonna read about that, and we’re actually gonna turn to 2 Corinthians 11. Aaron, why don’t you read verse 23 through verse 28?

 

  Sure, it says, “Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in death often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.”

 

  So Paul, just because he followed God and did what God said, it actually, he probably faced more problems than he would’ve if he wouldn’t. But, you know, I mean, he overcame, he lived a victorious life, he was very blessed. He’s probably one of the most known authors in the whole world and literally brought life and blessing to the entire body of Christ. And thank God, you know, really, the Father of the Grace Message. I just thank God, you know, for the revelation that Paul received. But he faced all kind of difficulties and problems when he began to follow Jesus. And as he continued to follow Jesus. So just because you’re saved in following God doesn’t mean that you’re never gonna have a storm. You know, in fact, I went through a storm recently, and I was kind of, you know, you just feel like the wind got knocked out of you or something over this issue. And for most people, it might’ve totally taken him out. And I got thinking, well, you know, I’m here, and I’m… This thing didn’t go the way I thought it should go, but there’s other nations like the Ukraine, they’re getting bombed, and there is no recourse. They have… You know, it’s just terrible what some people go through, and yet they seem to rise above it. But if you’re gonna do much in God’s kingdom, you’ve gotta learn how to thrive on adversity. Mom really taught this, you know, when she was teaching last week on the family, talking about thriving. If you’re gonna be victorious, if you’re gonna walk in victory, you’ve got to thrive, learn how to thrive in adversity. You know, the Bible says if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. It doesn’t say you won’t have adversity. Jesus said in the word, “You shall have tribulations. But be a good cheer, I’ve overcome the world.” Satan is the God of this world. We’ve faced trouble because we’re in a world that’s been affected by sin and Satan, but we can overcome through faith in Jesus. Praise God. So let’s go on, Aaron, and read in 2 Corinthians. Paul really starts here in verse 12, 2 Corinthians 12, talking about how he deals with this. And I just want you to read verse 7 through verse 10. ‘Cause a lot of times, people think these adversities come from God, but God’s not the author of them. And they use this scripture to say it, which is wrong. They don’t read the context or anything.

 

  Here in 2 Corinthians 12, starting in verse 7, it says, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

  Amen. So he says he was given a thorn in the flesh. And then he tells what that thorn in the flesh was. What was the thorn in the flesh in verse seven?

 

  He said a messenger of Satan.

 

  Yeah, messenger of Satan. So the thorn in the flesh didn’t come from God. It was a messenger of Satan. It’s Satan that’s trying to keep you from being exalted. You know what, the Lord wants to bless you and make your name great. That’s what He told Abraham. Abraham faced some difficulty. You know, if you’re going through life thinking you’re not gonna face any difficulty and problems, you’re just out to lunch. And especially if you’re really pressing into the things of God. Paul talked about how he did all these things, and he faced all these challenges. Now, he said, “When this messenger of Satan came to buffet me, lest I would be exalted above measure. This thing I asked Jesus, I asked the Lord three times that it might depart from me.” Sometimes, we just want a miraculous deliverance from some of these troubles that we face. But guess what, sometimes, we don’t get miraculous deliverance. And that’s what Jesus said unto him. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Some people interpret that to say Paul suffer with it. That is not what Jesus said. Jesus did not tell Paul to suffer with this demonic attack. What He’s told Paul is, “Learn how to rely on My grace, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” He didn’t get a miraculous deliverance, but if you learn how to rely on the grace of God, you’ll beat the devil every time. And I believe that’s what he did. And when you read the context, it proves this out, because Paul goes on and says, “Most gladly, therefore, I’ll rather glory in my infirmity.” When trouble comes, when problems come, I learn how to rejoice in difficulty. Man, Paul is put in prison in Acts 16 for preaching the gospel, and at midnight, him and Silas… They’re in the stalks, they’re in the worst part of… They beat them before they put them in there. And they prayed and saying praises to God, and the prisoners heard them. And God sent an earthquake and delivered them. But most people would be licking their wounds, crying in their beer, saying, “Why me, Lord? What have I ever done?” If you wanna know an unscriptural song, there’s one. And you know, some of this Christian’s so-called songs, it’s not Christian, it’s not scriptural, it’s not godly. It’s a bunch of doubt and unbelief. And it’s how people feel, but it doesn’t mean because you feel something, it’s God. Job said, “Naked I came and naked I go. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” But Job was not inspired by the Holy Spirit when he said that. It was not God that was taken away from Job, it was the devil. And if you read the context, the context proves what the text means. The same thing here. If you read the context, you know that God was not Paul’s problem. You never wanna see God as the problem. God is your answer and not your problem. Don’t blame God for your problem. If you blame God, then it’s gonna be hard to believe God to get out of that mess. So don’t blame God, number one. Now, when we think about it, he says, “I’ll take pleasure.” Why? Because when I have a weakness, then I can rely on the power of Christ. The power of Christ will come and deliver me. That’s what he’s saying. I’ve learned to rely on the grace of God. Man, sometimes, something isn’t immediately removed, but that doesn’t mean that God’s not there. That doesn’t mean there’s not graces there to deal with that issue. And people get all messed up when they think about the, when they get religious about this. He says, “Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities.” How could you take pleasure in infirmities unless you’re believing that God has the power to deliver you from it? Man, you don’t blame the sickness. I don’t ever blame God for sickness. God is not the author of sickness. The devil is the author of sickness. You know, the Bible says God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. Jesus healed all who were oppressed of the devil. The oppression, the sickness, came from the devil. Man, Jesus came to deliver us from all the devil’s work, including sickness and disease and poverty, anxiety, all of the above. He says, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in weakness, in reproach.” Sometimes, we’re reproached. Why? Because they reproached Jesus. Jesus said, “You know what, they fought me, they’ll fight you. They persecuted me, they’ll persecute you.” In necessities. Paul had necessities because he followed God, because he followed Christ. Because he was out there on the cutting edge, he faced some difficulty. In persecutions. In distresses. Man, listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4. Let’s go over there and read this really quickly. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul’s talking about, man, I got the power of God. I take, you know, “We have this treasure earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not us.” Verse 7. Then he says, “We’re troubled on every side, yet not distressed.” He’s talking about, in the physical, we’re troubled, but in the spiritual, we’re not distressed. On the outside, we face trouble, but on the inside, we’re victorious. He says, “We are perplexed.” We don’t understand everything that’s in the outside. But he says, “We’re not in despair on the inside.” He says, “We’re persecuted.” Even though people may persecute you, if they don’t ever persecute you, the Bible says, “All who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution,” in 2 Timothy 3:10. You’re not really making a… You turn up the Godly, and I guarantee you, you’ll get some persecution in this world. He said, “We’re persecuted on the outside, but we’re not forsaken.” He said, “We’re cast down.” Man, maybe it, you know, it got to me a little bit, that’s on the outside, but I haven’t been destroyed. Man, I’m standing up on the inside. Hallelujah. And so Paul says, “We’re always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our body.” And he talks about, while we’re going through trouble, we keep believing and speaking the word. And he moves on then, if you go down. Look at this, he says in verse 16 to verse 18. Aaron read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. This is Paul’s attitude. Paul had this phenomenal attitude.

 

  It says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

 

  Man, Paul looks at that trouble on the outside that he’s facing while he is doing the will of God, and he said, “You know what, temporary.” You need to learn how to look at the devil and say temporary. This isn’t forever. And, you know, we don’t have time before the break, but I wanna just share briefly. If you go to the end of Acts 13 and the beginning of Acts 14, Paul’s in all these different places. And when he’s in these places, basically, in the first place, they want him out of town because they were envious. If you read the end of Acts 13 close, they were envious. Paul was getting greater crowds. The church was growing, the church was exploding, and Judaism was suffering. I mean, the church was really moving forward in things of the Spirit. And he had difficulty in Antioch, he had difficulty at Lystra, difficulty at Iconium. At Lystra, they stoned Paul and left him for dead. And his disciples came around and raised him from the dead. But you know what Paul did? He got right back up, and retraced his steps, and went right back to where they just stoned him, and ran him out of town, and persecuted him, and preached the gospel. Paul was persistent. He must’ve been one of the most diligent people, one of the most persistent people. And so we gotta learn how to face difficulty with diligence. Man, he was disciplined, he was determined, and he was diligent. And, man, he would not be deterred from the purpose and the plan of God. And if you’re gonna do what God calls you to do, you gotta get determined. You gotta get a little bit diligent sometimes. You know what, the devil will figure out, man, you whack him hard enough, he’s stay away like with Jesus. Jesus hit him with the word, and he said, “I’m not gonna come back for a while.” So when the devil comes at you, man, you hit him with the word, and you just keep going and be determined, be diligent. Don’t be stupid. Amen. But you gotta stay at it. And if you stay at it, you know what, you’ll win. Praise God. We’re gonna come back after this short break and we’re gonna talk about Elijah the Prophet. And we’re gonna talk about a little bit of things in Elijah, but how the vision is the provision for the people. We’ve been talking about “Living The Dream,” and, man, Elijah had a dream that came from God. And he fulfilled it, but it was provision, Amen, for the people. We’ll talk about that when we come back. So stay tuned. We’ll be back right after this short break. Blessings. Friend, I’m so glad that you’re with us today and watching “Living the Dream.” I have these teachings on the website and from when I taught it live in church also, CharisChristianCenter.com. They’re downloadable in audio and video, and they’re absolutely free of charge, plus many others also. Blessings. But when the word of God says, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth.” Amen. I believe the word of God. And the Bible says, “The entrance of the word gives light and gives understanding to the simple.” So I take a simple attitude towards the word of God. When the Bible says it, that settles it. Praise the Lord, friends. I’m so glad that you’re with us, and we’ve been sharing on Paul, how he faced difficulty with determination, but we’re gonna talk about Elijah the Prophet. Man, I love these people of God, but Elijah is an amazing person, and he gets an amazing vision that comes from God. And really, it’s provision for him at first, but then it’s provisioned for a widow next, and finally, it becomes provision for all of Israel. We’re gonna talk about that a little bit in our last few minutes of this program. But Aaron, let’s begin reading in 1 King 17:1-6. 1 King 17:1-6.

 

  Here, it says, “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these three years, except at my word.’ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.’ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.”

 

  Amen. So, man, Elijah is bold. And he goes to this wicked king, Ahab, and just tells him, “Listen, you’re wicked. And it’s not gonna rain ’til I say so,” basically. And, “But according to my word.” And then after he tells this king this, God gives him a word and says, “I want you to go to Cherith and hide by the Brook Cherith because,” he said, “I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” You gotta know that God’s made provision for you. And maybe you’ve been bold, and Elijah was bold, later, he maybe regretted being bold or thought he was the only bold one, and found out there were 7,000 that hadn’t bowed their knees to the wickedness in Israel at that time. You know, today, we live in a time when there’s a lot of wickedness in our nation. This thing that happened January 6th, 2020 is an absolute atrocity. They’re putting people in prison for 14 years. I know a man who murdered a man that goes to my church’s son. A police officer murdered his son, he was convicted of murder, and he was given three years and two years of probation. And it is terrible. And they’re taking people for crossing a border for being stupid. They were stupid, I agree. They were stupid. But you know what? There were people that were warned on the democratic side, and this was a setup, and got these people in. This is one of the worst things, in my opinion, that has ever happened in our nation. And it’s an absolute atrocity. It’s an absolute tragedy to see that people, because of poli… This is political injustice. They’re being made political prisoners. This is completely long. We had friends that were there, and thank God they’re not in prison. Thank God they didn’t get carried away with the stupid, and they had to go home and do something for God or they’d have probably got in trouble. But, you know… You know, so God took care of it, but it came to pass, it says in verse 7, that after a while, the brook dried up. You know, maybe God has made provision for a certain time in a certain way, but then after a period of time, God changes, right? And so the word of the Lord, after the brook dried up… You know, God will still speak to you and you need to keep listening. And said, “Get to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I’ve commanded a widow woman to sustain you.” Now, God commanded the ravens at Cherith. I mean, and he could see him bringing bread, bringing meat. Every morning, every evening, he could see his breakfast coming, he could see his dinner coming. But then God commanded this widow woman to sustain. When he gets there to Zarephath, he finds this widow woman, and it doesn’t look like she’s the one. He said, “What are you doing?” She said, “I got just a little bit of meal in a barrel, I got just a little bit of oil in a jar, and I’m gonna go cook two cakes, one for my son and me, and we’re gonna eat it and then die.” Man, it doesn’t even sound like she’s a woman of faith. But Elijah has the audacity, and he says, “You feed me first because the barrel of meal will not waste and the jar of oil will not fail until God sends rain.” And every day, they would go and there was enough meal in that barrel for that day and there was enough oil in that jar for that day. Praise God. And you know what? She had the faith to feed the prophet of God. It took faith to feed the prophet of God first and every day, but you know what? That works and God took… You know what, there was provision for the vision. If God has called you to do something, the Bible says, “Faithful as he who calls you, who will also do it.” That’s 1 Thessalonians 5. I believe it’s verse 24, but it might be another verse, right, by there, but that’s in 1 Thessalonians 5. Faithful is he who calls you. There was provision for that vision. If God’s called you to do something, there is provision to do it. But there’s also, when you start doing what God called you to do, there’s provision in that vision. And that vision, in this case, there was provision for this widow and for her son. But then after Elijah is done there, he goes and he tells, “Hey, Ahab, basically it’s gonna rain.” And he has a standoff with the prophets of Baal. And he kills over 400 prophets of Baal with the sword. And then Jezebel, this wicked queen, Ahab’s wife, this wicked woman comes after him, and he gets afraid. But he, you know, as he gets afraid, he falls down, and this angel comes and cooks him a cake, and he gets up after he eats, this is the first ever angel food cake, and runs in the strength of this cake for 40 days and 40 nights. Now, when you study this out, this is really a operation of the gift of faith. And he’s growing in his understanding of it. First, he can see the ravens bringing him bread and bringing him meat every morning and every evening. Then as they go and they open these jars every day, they can see it wasn’t there, but they go and open it, there’s meal for that day, there’s oil for that day to make a cake. To make three cakes. One for the woman, her son, and one for the prophet. And so he’s growing, but then when he eats this angel food cake, he runs in the strength of that for 40 days. So it’s, you know, in the gift of faith, it works with provision and it also works with protection. So you can really see that, and you can see his growth in the operation of that gift. But he runs in the strength of that cake for 40 days and 40 nights. Then he has delivered, you know, he delivers Israel from Baal worship. Ultimately, the vision is the provision for the people. Man, the vision God gives you is not about you. The vision is about the people. And God always has provision for his people. And you know what? It doesn’t matter what major world religion has been born. God has always had a prophet of God speaking there at the same time. When Islam was born, did you know that Muhammad had a wife who was a Jew who witnessed to him about God? You know, always, in every major world religion, when every major world religion was born, God has had a prophet, God has had a person, God has had somebody speaking there, and people had a choice. And it’s our choice to believe God. And if you’ll believe God, did you know what? There’s provision. God has provision for you.

 

  I love something you brought up about how your vision needs to impact other people, it’s not just about you. And I think that’s a really important point to make about living the dream. Your dream needs to go beyond yourself. You should have a dream that you’re gonna influence and impact other people for the kingdom’s sake. You know, you’re gonna minister and help other people.

 

  Right.

 

  You’re gonna let Jesus shine through you to other people. Your dream needs to be beyond yourself. It needs to-

 

  Amen.

 

  to impact other people around you.

 

  Some people are so selfish. You know, there’s a scripture in Philippians 2:4, and it says, “Look not every man on his own things, but also on the things of others.” And you know what Paul says, “I’m bought with the price. I’m gonna glorify God in my body and my spirit, which are God’s.” You know, we’re bought. You know, we owe our life to God. We owe everything that we have and everything that we are to God. And Paul lived with that mentality, that, man, I’m not my own. I’m the property of God, and I’m here at God’s disposal. And we really need to live like that. And I believe if we’re gonna live like that, if we go back to one of the broadcasts this week, we talked about Paul when he met Jesus, and he asked these two questions, and they’re so important. Number one, he said, “Who are you Lord?” And number two, he said, “What do you want me to do?” And you know what? I believe every one of us needs to ask Jesus that question, “Who are you?” and number two, “What do you want me to do?” And you know what? I couldn’t do what I do if I didn’t have all these different people around. We have over 200 volunteers at the church, we have about 20 total people employed in different aspects, and you know what, we’re making hundreds of hours of teachings available to you free of charge, and they’re on our website at CharisChristianCenter.com. Thanks so much and God bless you.

 

  Faith isn’t just a momentary thought or burst of emotion. It is a lifelong commitment to trusting in God and His unfailing word. Now is the time to take a step of faith and trust in God’s plan for your life. We’d like to bless you with the digital copy of the teaching, “Living The Dream,” a $15 value, free of charge. Download it today at CharisChristianCenter.com.

 

  Praise the Lord, friends. I want to invite you to church this coming Sunday morning whether you’re in Colorado Springs or whether you’re wherever you’re at. If you’re in Colorado Springs, you can see us Sunday morning at 8:30 or 10:30 AM live. But you can also watch us with our livestream congregation at 8:30 or 10:30 AM, or you can go to our website and get it anytime at CharisChristianCenter.com.

 

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