I Know Better - Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts

foreign mother just say happy mother's day happy mother's day we are so grateful for you we love you I really wanted to go straight to the word but God put this in my heart and I want to do it it may be a little strange but Mother's Day is not It is always easy for everyone, sometimes your mom has gone to be with the Lord, sometimes your mom is in the world but not in yours and Mother's Day can be difficult, you can be a mom but not have your mother. and I still feel that pain of that motherhood wound and if that is you I wonder if for a moment you would allow us to love you if today is not the easiest day for you and you don't

know

where else to go but to be in the presence of the Lord.

Could you just say hello so we can love you? Oh, if you're with someone who's going through a tough time, could you just give them a squeeze? Let him

know

that God has you, you are not in him. On your own, God allowed you to sit next to them to minister to them on this delicate and sensitive day. We see you, we know it's not easy, but we are grateful that you trusted us to be with you on such a difficult day. We love you. we love you that's what family is about that's what church family is about if you're watching online and today is a difficult day for you I want you to come into the chat you're not alone you're not alone so that someone who reads it has a reminder that when your father and mother leave you, that the Lord will still be there with you, you are in the right place to receive love, to receive healing, to receive comfort in the place you need it most.

Luke 1 verse 57. this is man most of this text when we read about it The sinners around Mary receive the news from the angel of the Lord that she has been chosen to give birth to the Messiah, that will not be my focus today because Before Mary receives this news, the angel of the Lord comes to visit Zechariah, the priest, and tells Zechariah, even if you are old, even if your wife Elizabeth is barren, that I am going to allow you all to conceive and whoever conceives will be a prophet. We know him as John. the Forerunner of Jesus and although we mainly focus on Luke 1 about the miraculous messenger who allowed Mary to conceive by the Holy Spirit, I wanted to take a moment and focus on the experiences of Zechariah and Elizabeth.

I believe the Lord has revealed something to me that is significant. because where we are at this moment in our lives when we enter the text Elizabeth, this woman who was barren and older in age, has given birth to Juan and all the women of the city have gathered together as is the custom of the time to celebrate this occasion. Monumental where the Lord has allowed her to give birth although it seemed that it would be difficult my text begins says now Elizabeth's full time to give birth arrived and she gave birth to the son when her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great Mercy to They rejoiced with her so it was on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the boy and they would have called him by his father's name Zacharias his mother answered and said no, his name will be John but they told her that there was no one among your relatives who called by this name, so they made signs to their father what we wanted him to be called and he asked for a writing tablet, Juan, and he wrote saying that his name is Juan, and everyone immediately marveled.

His mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed and he spoke praising God, then fear came upon all who lived around him and all these sayings were discussed throughout the mountainous region of Judea. My theme is: Be a

better

Spirit of the living God. I need you. I want to see your face, let this message be a song for you, harmonizing with the needs of the people in this room, harmonizing with what your spirit would like us to receive. God, you know every circumstance, every Destiny, every wound, every purpose, you know everything that you were, reconciling us within. of us and so God We stand before you and say Speak Lord your sermon is to hear Speak Lord in a way that only you can do Speak Lord until we are what you had in mind when you formed us in our mother's womb.

This is an intimate moment between the Creator and the creation that allows us to get one step closer to what you have in mind. God, I thank you because for me there will be no nerves or fear or anxiety that I will decrease that you will increase and that It will be evident and obvious that It is no longer I who speak but you who speak for me make your way great God who art in the name of Jesus amen amen Genesis 1 begins says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void and darkness It covered the face of the deep and the spirit of God hovered over the waters.

As we continue reading through Genesis 1, we see again and again that the earth goes from being a formless, empty space to something like that. to what we live now the sea was filled with life the sun was placed in the sky and again and again as God created the Earth we heard it in those moments of Creation with and it was good it was good again and again God said that let there be light and then there was light and God saw the light and said that it is good Genesis 1 continues to tell us throughout the entire creation process of Humanity how what he created was good and then in Genesis 2 he left it, he left it be known to mankind, this is a man and a woman at that time, as they had not been given names until later in Genesis 3 and Genesis 2, although he tells you that I set this up to be good for you, everything that it contains should work the way it is.

It is supposed to work the sun is not going to fall from the sky the day is going to be day the night will be night the fish will stay in the sea the seed will continue to bear fruit season after season everything is fine the only thing you have to do is not eat of the Tree of Life nor the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil if you obey this everything will remain intact your seals of obedience the deal God says I did my part everything is fine but if it is to stay good you will have to be obedient your obedience will ensure that Everything in this system continues to work the way I designed it to work, all you have to do is be obedient, all you have to do. you have to do, you may not understand how it is going to work, you may wonder if in one season the tree will bear fruit like it did last season.

God says you don't have to worry about any of that, just be obedient. these rules be obedient to what I told you to do in this season and your obedience is like shaking hands with a deal that's God's way of saying this is what I'm going to do for you you'll obey God says I'll take care all the time rest just be obedient and they did it baby, they did it right I think Eve had all her advantages I think she never had to worry about a lace front betraying her I think they had a six pack Anointing I don't think they even had to worry about the scale What is acne?

I think they did. Her children were going to act correctly. I believe that God prepared it so that everything would be good. They weren't going to worry. There wasn't going to be any depression, everything was going to be fine, but then Eve and Adam, Adam and Eve, people just got bored, we're people, we're supposed to act right, but we got bored like everything had to be an adventure. . Like, let's see what happens and now look at us fighting for every advantage we have. God didn't want that for us, we can't turn down Chick-fil-A, we needed to be closed on Sunday, now the carbs have a strong hold on me.

I was meant to eat fruits and vegetables, that's how God intended it. He didn't even need the bread of life at that time. I had everything I needed. I always wondered why God did not want us to eat from the Tree of Life or the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil so I recognized when studying that God and his kind and generous wisdom and love for us did not want us to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and of Evil, not because I didn't want it. I want us to know good because Genesis 1 makes it clear that everything he created was good, so I don't care if you know what is good.

I don't even care that you know who God is, in fact, the only thing I want you to know. It is good and God, the way I set up this system will be the only thing you will have a reference point for, it is good and God, but if you eat from this tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, you will have knowledge of something I never intended. As far as you knew, the knowledge of Good and Evil was not necessarily just the knowledge of good, but it is the reality that when you have the knowledge of Good and Evil, it can be difficult to distinguish between the two. for a minute about the knowledge of evil that God never intended for you to know, it's hard for us when we think about the generational disappointments and the generational struggles that are all we've ever known to get to a place where we can separate our experience . of God's intention because when we learn to separate our experience from God's intention then we begin to recognize that it was never God's intention for me to know this evil that I now know that this was never God's intention that's why we ask things like where was God in the middle of this, the truth is that God is in the middle of this now because of the way we carry out his plan, but the truth is that in God's original intention you were never supposed to know the betrayal and You would never have known God's original intention.

The anguish was known and God's original intention there would never have been mass shootings and God's original intention the headlines would not cause discouragement and God's original intention there was no broken family and God's original intention there were no abandonment problems there were no problems of rejection this was not God's intention and that is why I try to be careful not to blame God for what Humanity did for what it did evil because I recognize that God's original intention was never for me to know this. I was never supposed to know this. level of brokenness I was never supposed to know this level of depression I was never supposed to know this level of insecurity and the fact that I know this is a direct reflection of what happened in the garden where I was receiving the knowledge of good and evil. evil.

You were never supposed to know and it broke God's heart now that you know it so well now that it's in your bloodline now that it's in your family God says I never wanted them to know that but God is so good he says that you I can't not know what you know, man, oh, I feel like ministering in this place. I want to talk to someone who wants to not know what he knows, so you have to know some things you don't want to know to even understand what that sentence says. it means but I want to be unaware that this type of betrayal can exist in someone I want to know that this type of weakness exists within me there are some things that I know now that I wish I could know and sometimes I'm stuck because I don't know because of what I don't know I'm determined to That I do know, I do know that people will leave you, I do know that you can get into a situation where your pride makes you fall, I know some things that have kept me stuck. and God says I can't, I know what you know but what I can do is cover what you know, so in the garden God comes down and asks Adam and Eve what happened when he recognizes that they have eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Good.

Mal says in my text that immediately when Adam ate from it, his eyes were open and he saw that he was naked when God created him naked God said he was good, he ate from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and now he sees his nakedness as evil, that's why I said it's hard to distinguish between what's good and what's bad because now you have this knowledge and what you're calling good God could be calling evil with true called evil God could be calling good I think that's why the psalmist He says it was good for me that he was afflicted.

I don't think he stumbled over that. I think he sat back and waited long enough to see that what I thought was an evil affliction was actually God doing all things. work together for my good, it takes a crazy person to see what the enemy planned for evil and say: I actually think God may have intended it for good because now what I thought I needed was something that made me feel good. I thought he needed something to make me feel good. make me

better

but maybe what I really needed was something that was inflicting on me enough to understand who my friends were, that was inflicting on me enough to start praying differently than what was inflicting on me enough to start worshiping differently. different some people thank God for what he did and how he blessed them sometimes I thank God for what he didn't do and there were tears running down my face and I was crying and I was heartbroken but then I waited about six months and I said , you know what God, it was good for me that I was afflicted because now I know that you will never leave me nor forsake me now I know who is really with me and who is against me now I know what is inside me now I trust in the gift of God that you I have placed inside me and I would not have gotten there unless I was afflicted.

I'll cover you, you weren't supposed to know, but I'll cover you, you weren't supposed to see your nakedness as evil, but now I have to get down to your level of thinking so I can make you who I want you to be. If you call him evil, I'll cover you right here, but I'll also make sure there's a plan that gets you from the way you think now to thediscovery that your ways are not my ways and your thoughts are not my thoughts and then you think it's bad and that's why I'm going to allow you to vent on the level. what do you think oh God help me say this as I feel it in my spirit sometimes God gets down to your level so he can Speak the language you're speaking I know you're angry I know you're angry I know you're angry I know you're lost and confused If you think God only speaks at a high level, then you fail Find out the whole reason we are here, the reason you walked into Mary's room wrapped in flesh is because sometimes there is a job that requires me to get down to your level, You serve a God who knows how to get rid of depression.

Sometimes we pray for the depression to go away, sometimes we say God if you could just find me in this depression because it feels like it's stronger than me so I need you to come down to my level to break this, that's why God Get off you. level because sometimes you can't fight this devil on your own and while you're busy trying to get up, God is trying to get down with you so that I can help you fight on a level that you didn't even know was possible so that I could breathe my life. words of wisdom in a way that helps you understand that if they left you you didn't need them if they walked away let them walk if they kept moving so you can continue to grow sometimes you just have to thank God but you have to allow him to come down to his level Adam serves to a God who does not mind coming down to his level Adam and Eve are in this Garden having to now distinguish between what is good, what is bad and what is God man and in the process of them trying to determine the difference between what is good, what is God, and what is evil, they recognize that God has the ability to take what they are trying to make good and teach them and train them so that it can truly become the good that he had in mind.

That's not why he gets upset with Cain and tells him why you killed your brother, you didn't know that if you had leveled up, I know you thought you had a good sacrifice but it wasn't good enough, but I. I'm not going to just leave you in the area of ​​it's not good enough. God says I will also go there with you and teach you how to take what you thought was good and make it better. God knows how to take the good. God knows how to take evil and turn it into good. I had to use the word convert.

Pastor Phil pointed out something in Genesis 50 and 20. We always say the enemy turned it for evil, but God turned it for good, but that's not the case. what it says says you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, there were two intentions that were happening at the same time, so when we say God converted him, it seems like he started with evil, but then God converted him. around no no Genesis 50 and 20 actually points out that it's not that God changed it, it's just that while they thought it was bad, I actually thought it was good.

I remember Jesus on the cross when he said: forgive me, Father, because they know. It's not what they do, they think they're doing something good, but actually I know it's going to be even better because when you're done, they'll think it's bad, but when you're done they'll see that it was. It's actually good, there's something powerful about knowing that there are two intentions moving at the same time, which is why I want to know Potter's House, what narrative are you going to accept? Are you going to accept the narrative the Lord designed it for? evil and there is a period about what they meant to evil and that if God is going to change it he will have to change it or are you crazy enough to believe that God doesn't even have to change it? you can keep your intentions God doesn't have to change it you can say it for bad God still means it for good you can talk about me all you want but God still means it for good I didn't have to get the job I felt like it was bad that I didn't get the job , but God must deliver it forever.

I felt it was tragic that I went through the crisis, but God planned it for good. I must hold on to this truth that God planned it for. well because my mind is trying to convince me that God planned it for evil or that God wasn't in it at all, but I remember who he is that knows how to allow the wheat and the tear to grow at the same time. time and it's not until Harper's season with an era will make a difference the era is when we will separate what you intended for evil my God intended for good you thought I was going to stumble but God says I'm going to choose you up you thought it would kill me but God says I know CPR you're right, he took me out but he has a resurrection power and for evil snack that's not even what I'm preaching about what's up God, yeah, yeah, I don't even know what it's about but it feels like someone would have made a breakthrough.

It feels like I'm trying to hold it together because we have a journey to go on so I'll give someone about 10 seconds to thank God that it's two intentions that happen in the At the same time you're right it's bad but God said you also have reason will be good you are right that is terrible but it will also be good you are right that is painful but it will also have a purpose I have two things working at the same time you make you at the end of your roof but God says I am about to give you some wings I have two things working at the same time if you don't break I can't build you I have two things working at the same time I miss what happens not just one God allows what evil what the enemy wanted for evil what he means for good what happens no When evil turns out to be good What happens when good begins to seem evil What happens when I felt God was in it?

God was in it. I know he was in it. How could it be that he could start out looking this good and end up looking this bad? I told them the truth, but now everything is at stake. I thought it was good, that's why I didn't want us to have the knowledge of Good and Evil, because now what was good has bad consequences, what was good has a consequence that makes me feel like maybe I should have kept it to myself. Maybe I should have stayed Maybe I should never have moved Maybe I should never have trusted Maybe I should never have done therapy And then maybe I should never have spoken It started well My heart was in the right place I knew God was in it I knew he was going to see me through God, I went out in faith and felt like it was good, but now I feel like I'm sinking and drowning.

God, help me understand how good could turn out. to be evil God you told me that you would bring my people to me and now my people are moving away from me God you told me that you would prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies but now I am hungry and I am dying of hunger and I see my enemies eating God, how come I got off to a good start abroad? The business doesn't look good, the marriage doesn't look good, the kids, no, it doesn't look like what you promised. I know we're in church and everyone wants to act like God is good all the time all the time God is good I know, I know, I know, sometimes it's hard.

I am reminded of the widow from First Kings 17, who is preparing to die with her son in which they are. a drought, she is at her last moment when it comes to food and God sends a prophet, he sends the prophet Elijah and Elijah says, go get me a drink and she does that and he says bring me some too of bread and she says I really only have enough. for a cake and my son and I were going to eat it and then we're going to die Elijah says go ahead and make the cake and no matter how hard you make it, it will never dry out in all the areas you think you're going to end up running out God says it might not dry out. feel like it's overflowing but I'll make sure there's enough so it never runs out and suddenly it seemed like what was meant for evil had turned good and the text doesn't tell us that the woman celebrated, it just suggests that she adapted well but then we read a little more and his son dies now wait a minute God, you saved me when I was ready to die, you gave me the pleasure of more.

It gave me the expectation that there would be more and I began to adjust to the reality that I could trust what was good, but now Elijah the prophet is here and my son is dying, how could something good end up looking bad and she? She's angry because she doesn't understand, didn't you come to this house to bless me only for things to change and now I'm in mourning? God, how did you let this happen? She is begging the prophet to make a difference and the prophet. She really doesn't know what to tell him, but she takes the boy's body to the upper room of her house and she gives us an idea of ​​what we should do when we question God, how could good turn to evil?

The question is not is it still good? The real question is: Is He still God? Because I can't trust the knowledge I have of Good and Evil. Sometimes I can't ask God. It's good? God. It is bad? Because my definition and yours can be two different things. So maybe what I need to ask is: God, are you still in this? God, are you still here? Because at the end of the day I don't want to be outside of God's will. I don't care how good it is. If it is not God I do not want it I do not care how much money it is if it is not God I do not want it I do not want to settle for good I want to know it is God, I cannot trust my knowledge, my knowledge has been biased, my knowledge has been hijacked by the culture, my knowledge tells me that sex and drinking are the way to unite.

I can't trust this knowledge that I have, but God is not yet. Well, there's still God, there's still, God, are you still in it? God, are you still at it? God, because if you're still in it, I'll still build it. God, if you're still in it. I believe you can breathe, life can. do it God if you're still in it I believe you can make all things new God if you're still in it I think you'll give me the strength to see it God if you're still in it I believe you You'll give me Vision God if you're still in it I think you'll give me Innovation God if you see you have to understand what happens when God is in it when God is in it it never runs dry God if you're in it then Miracles can happen God if you're still in it I'll know better than what I see that's how I know that the whole reason this woman went from good to God the only intermediate step was affliction it was good that she had meals but then her son died But First Kings 17 and 24 says that when Elijah brings her son back to life , she receives a revelation, the Apocalypse is that then the woman said to Elijah now this is why I know that you are a man of God.

I didn't know you were a man of God when things were good but when I finished going through my Affliction I understood that you are a man of God not because of the way you provided but because of the way you made a way out. out of nowhere Now from this I know because you brought a dead thing to life now from this I know because you could have left it dead but you took it to the most holy place and when you brought it to the most holy place I also made a demand to God now with this.

I know I don't know who you are in this room, but I feel like God wants to take you to another level of knowing. I don't want you to only know right or wrong. I want you to know that everything I allow to happen in your life will be an honest endeavor to help you gain a revelation of who God is. You want a result, but God wants to give you a revelation and if you hold on to the result, you will miss the Revelation that if I brought you this far I will not leave you if I allow you to build it for more than 20 years.

I won't let anyone tear this down and now because of this I know that my God is who he says he is now because of this I know that no weapon formed against me will prosper I thought it was good but now I know it's God no no no I didn't think it was good but now I know that it's God I thought it was going to be good, but God says I'm going to take it to another level because if you know it's God, you won't depend on Elijah because Elijah has to move on with a woman, but when Elijah moves on, I want you to understand that The same power that allowed Elijah to bring your son back to life is the same power that I will use to bring you from one season to the next.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, he had to allow that Affliction to happen because Elijah was going to move on in the next chapter, but before he moves on, I don't know who you are, but I hear God say that if you just depend on a man, you miss the fact that it was God moving through man, it was God moving through work, it was God moving through work. them God made it God made it God made it you can't give your ties if you want I understand my times because I know God made it I know who signed the chat but I know who really signed the check I shouldn't even be here, but God made it.

I don't know that a prophet breaks anything that God hasn't allowed him to do first and if God made it, then he will do it. The same God, the same God, the same God, the same breakthrough, the same healing, the same miracle. The same power, thank God, the same God, the same, it's the same guy, the same guy, everyone needs to stop with that music because it sounded like a battle cry and I'm trying to move on to my text, but something happens when someone begins to recognize that they have more. Arsenal of what you believe, I know through God for taking down a fortress, it's okay, it's okay, everyone calm down, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay on Luke one and Luke one Zacharias trapped between the good I was going to saygood and evil, but I have to be honest with you, he is not only caught between good and evil, he is caught between good and can I trust better?

Yes, be honest with yourself when all you've ever known is disappointment, it's hard to trust better, we see it in relationships, we see it at work. In cultures where you are prepared to expect only disappointments, it is difficult to trust better, it is not what we are talking about in this text, although there are times when you are already in a good place where you are already further away than anyone else in your life. family might have anticipated, but if you're honest, sometimes it's hard to trust that there can be anything better than this, start to think I've already reached As high as I can go, I say you're stuck here because in Luke 1, when I heard the text begin, Zechariah is serving as a priest in Herod's temple to understand the meaning of this, you must understand that when Herod had the temple rebuilt because it was so sacred and holy to the Jews at that time that only those with Jewish priesthood They could be part of the reconstruction of the temple.

At the time the temple was rebuilt there were more than a thousand priests. I know you're like what is this? It is significant that with a thousand priests it had been Zechariah's turn to serve in the temple it is a once in a lifetime opportunity a priest one week a year for a full week comes in and burns incense in the temple there are only 52 weeks in a year and a thousand priests when the angel of the Lord comes to visit Zechariah, he is what many would think at the top of his game, he comes from a long righteous family, he and Elizabeth, this is the highest honor and the angel of the Lord comes to him and tells him.

You and your wife Isabel are going to conceive him. Can I trust this God? I'm already at the top of what I thought was possible. This is already the honor of my life. I could serve in your temple. But now you go. to bless me in a way that I don't even think you should be able to bless me. Look, we talk a lot about imposter syndrome, but let's talk about what happens when we don't trust that God could do better than he already has. Fact, I know you are so saved and sanctified that you say God can do the impossible, but when the impossible is at your doorstep, you start thinking about God, well, I got the spouse or I got the job and built the business, maybe should I do it.

I don't trust God for anything else, maybe I shouldn't take a step of faith and continue breathing out what you've put inside me and Zechariah has adapted to good, but God says I can do better than that. I want to talk. to some people in this room who are struggling to believe not only that everything can get better but they are struggling to believe that what God really said God, you said this, but I don't trust it because I don't feel worthy of it because I feel too old for it because I feel too young for it and yes, God, you said it, it's not about what you said, it's about becoming the person who believes that I can step into what you said.

Zechariah doesn't believe it, the priest who was burning incense in the temple who should have more faith than anyone right now has no faith that God can appear for him in the area he had abandoned is not just self-sabotage God told me it is The sabotage of destiny if you don't learn to trust what God said instead of what you believe, if you don't learn to trust what God said instead of your disappointment, your own insecurity, your own insufficiency, if you don't have Be careful, your therapist will tell you. It's self sabotage, but if you get in the closet with the Holy Spirit, the holy spirit will allow you no, no, no, this is Fate sabotage, if you were only sabotaging yourself, we know you would sacrifice because we have seen you sacrifice your own needs, your own will, your own dreams for everyone else before some of you are willing to lie down on the altar of self-sabotage, but God told me that I needed to add some gravity to this to make you understand that this is a sabotage of Destiny, that this is the destiny that God has for your life this is the destiny that only God says you can fulfill so if you do not learn to receive it your destiny is at stake I have always wondered I'm almost done listen I always wondered Mary and Zechariah actually have similar responses when the angel of the Lord visits them and tells them that they are going to have children um when the angel of the Lord visits Mary says how can this be because I haven't met any man that Zechariah knows I'm not saying at all. how can I be, how can this be, but he also questions it, but Zechariah ends up mute when he questions God and Mary ends up free, the difference between what they asked was that Mary said how can this be and Zechariah says how can I be.

I know this one has to do with technicalities, the other has to do with an internal knowledge that I need to have in order to trust it. I wish I could say that the way God gave it to me Zechariah wants to know how I turn a word into a knowing how. Do I take a prophecy to know how I get out of this with confidence? How do I do it with certainty? Maria just wants to know how you are going to do it Zechariah says I want to know this in my soul I want to know Do I know?

Does anyone want to know in this room? I want to know that no weapon formed against me will prosper. I don't want to be afraid every time I see a gun. I don't want to be afraid every time I feel like I'm losing I want to know that you are faithful I want to know that you are more righteous I want to know that you are a liberator I want to know that you have that son I want to know that you have that marriage I want to know that you have that affair I don't want to be alone have a feeling I want to know it deep in my soul because who I am when I have a knowledge is different than who I am when I'm sitting on the fence wondering when I walk with a knowing that it doesn't matter what anyone says about it because I have a knowledge that God He is not a man and he lies.

I'm not talking about something God told me he could do. I'm not talking about something that God says maybe we'll see maybe not when God gives me a word I want to own that word I want to take that word and I want to work that word with confidence and power and strategy and innovation because I know that if I do it my part is that God says the rest is already resolved. I want to talk to someone who has been doubting what God said trying to understand how can I know this and I want you to know that you have to know this so that the angel of the lord says don't leave him doesn't say I give up on you because you don't know I give up on you because you don't have faith in that that's what people do that's not what God did God says I'm going to make you dumb because if I make you dumb you won't be able to talk about me if I make you dumb you won't be able to sabotage precisely what I'm about trying to place in your life and while you are mute, he positions Zacharias to be mute, but looking said: how do I know this?

If you want to know, I'll tell you that the first thing you should do is be mute. To stop talking about it, you must stop doubting again, you may not be able to speak with faith, but the least you can do is shut up. I know we're not supposed to say that, but I just want to talk to someone who is expressing their fears in a season that just requires faith. I want you to understand that if you can't add value to it, then you are detracting from it, so the least you can do is be quiet.

Sometimes you have to take your fears to the silent season. you have to bring your circle into a season of silence. I can't let just anyone talk about this. I have to silence that word silence, it means involuntary silence, yes, and voluntary stillness, that means that if you are waiting for them to be silent so that you can have faith that you need to produce what God says, you will miss the moment, so you will have than to put them in involuntary stillness, they won't even know that we don't talk about it. because the moment you mention it I change the subject you have to stay silent about how that's my destiny we could talk about the weather we can talk about what's on TV but you can't talk about this kid because I'm trying to oh God is Trying to do something in this child and if you start talking while God is working then I may miss what God is doing so you gotta stop talking girl, see right?

I didn't see it and I don't. I don't want to hear it either. I have to make sure my circle is new enough that I won't be distracted when it comes time to observe. God says it's time for you to look and Zechariah begins to watch what God said become what God is doing because Elizabeth begins to show Elizabeth begins to show God says if you remain silent I will show you if you remain silent you can remain silent but open the eyes you see that most of us shut up and close our hearts and close our minds and expose our spirit and say: I don't want it anyway.

I don't want it anymore anyway, but God says you can be mute but keep your eyes open because if you keep your eyes open you will start to see what I. He said it's going to start showing up in your life because all you have to do is be calm and start looking I want you to start looking God told me that would be someone's word I'll tell you I have one more point that word that was translated mute and Luke 1 in the previous part is the same word that Jesus uses when the storm rages and he is on the boat when Jesus says peace, be still that word peace is the same word that was translated mute when the angel of the Lord says to Zechariah I'm going to have to be silent I'm going to have to take you to a place of peace the same way you turn a word into knowledge is when you get to a place of peace.

I'm not going to let you talk me out of doing this. I'm not going to let you talk me out of doing this. I'm not going to disqualify what God said based on what you see, what you think, what you feel, I'm not even. I'm going to let science disqualify what God said, if God says I'm healed, then I have to take my heart to a place of peace, because if God says I'm healed and I don't believe I'm healed or allow you to project it. your fears about me I can't concentrate with the word oh God I feel like someone has to take that word and bring it to a season of concentration so it doesn't lose its potency with opinion so it doesn't lose its potency with disappointment I have to let it concentrate and sometimes the only way the word can be concentrated is if your Strength to concentrate the entire point of this message when we get into our text, Zechariah has reached the point where it is time for him to name John, we are in Luke 1 57.

Elizabeth has given birth and he has seen at least 10 months of God taking a word and turning it into something tangible, he is still mute, she gives birth and he is still mute, so he doesn't know. it was just about when she gave birth then he could finally talk again, he's still mute right now in Texas when he goes from being mute to being able to talk again and I recognize that part of the reason this moment matters so much, this moment in which he must confirm what John's name will be, is very important because he has to make sure that that word that he has concentrated on, that word that received death, that word that was perfected in him over time, we must make sure that when the time comes for him to actually release it into the world when the time comes for him to release it into his community that he doesn't shrink it so he can fit in that he doesn't become so proud that he starts saying well, I got to this side now I'll take over.

No, I have to make sure that you stay silent long enough to make sure that when you open your mouth your mouth reflects what I said, that when you release your gift, that gift reflects what I said. I know some of you have been waiting to be discovered for so long and have been wondering God, why has my voice gone silent? Why am I not the one out there doing it and I see other people doing it but I listen to God? saying because I have to make sure that when I release you you release what I gave you and not what you wanted it to be that you released what I gave you and not what they said it should be that you release what I gave you and it's not what your mom said it should be should be and now what your cousin said it should be.

I want to make sure you don't lose what I gave you when it comes time to publish it, and it's important that Zacharias gets it right because Zechariah is the forerunner of John. Someone should preach this for Father's Day, but it talks about a father's role in this text to create an environment for his child to be all he can be. This is the moment that everyone is waiting for because what God what God gave you is going to shock the community, what God gave you is going to shock the culture and if you don't create an atmosphere for your child to come into it, it will be It will make it more difficult for your child than it has to be, but because He has decided that I am going to do what God told me to do.

He didn't even realize that his obedience was going to pave the way so that his son wouldn't have to work as hard as he had to work. I want to do it. talk to someone who needs to understand that he is greater than you, who needs to understand that the generations will come after you, it is not just about you, your mouth and your praises, but about the generations that will come after you in the oh God When I was studying this text God told me trying to stop screaming God told me that Zechariah had to get to a place of knowing that he had to get to a place of being solid and firm because what John was going to do on Earth would be Strange and unknown, it would seema wild man to everyone else and if he didn't get to a place where he knew he couldn't invade, he couldn't allow John to invade Earth with the unknown.

God, help me say this. You have to know it. It's because when it comes out of you it will look strange, it will look unknown, it will look strange, it will look strange and if you don't know it then someone will joke and say that you don't deserve it. You don't know, then someone might convince you that there's no room for it, but when you know that, you know that no matter what happens, you may not know it, but I know it. You may not know I would be up here, but I know because God put in my spirit a knowledge that everyone else can. surprise me when the baby graduates.

I won't be surprised because God told me that when that baby was in kindergarten that baby was going to get to the other side, everyone else may be surprised that I got to the other side with on my mind, but I'm not surprised because God gave a knowing god, he told me that I am going to call you into the unknown and that it will seem strange to everyone who is on the outside looking in, but it will not be strange to you because you are going to have a deposit of what is known I hear the saying From God I'm not surprised that that came out oh God everyone else was surprised but God John Zechariah and Elizabeth were not surprised because they had been in the secret place that they had learned to be calm enough with the word that God gave them that, although it surprised to everyone else, it was just in time for them, they didn't know that God had already named this child before the child took his first breath, God had already named him. that business before you had the first employee that God had already named that house before you applied for the loan that God had already named that deal before they even approached you and presented it to you and everyone else might be surprised, but I I knew it was coming, I know we don't like to preach about proud messages and this is not about pride, it is about knowledge.

I hear God say take everyone by surprise, but be still and you will see the salvation of the Lord. because I knew it was going to come, I knew you were going to do it, I knew it was going to happen, I knew you were going to set me free, I knew you had a place for me, I know it better than some, in my last days they leave. have been worse than my previous days. I know I can't believe that this evil will have the last word. I know I can't believe that even though he is me, I can't trust them.

I know better. I know better. I know better. I know better that you leave me I know better that depression will have the last word I know better that I'm going to lose my mind I may be depressed but I'm not lost because I know he will come and get me. I know he'll hold me back I know he'll find a way out of nowhere I know I know I know I know better I know better I know better I know better I know better I went through hell but I know better I went through hell but I know better I had to fight off the grid but I know better I was silent but I know better I've been crying but I know better I'm glad you did because I know better I know better I know better I know better I know better when I know better I move better and when I move better I said hell oh warning and no better am I I know better I know better Okay, I know better I know better This is Zechariah's time to release what he knows to the Earth and I have a prophetic statement to someone in this room that it is time for you to take what you know and release it on the Earth.

It's time for you to take what you know and let it confuse some people who didn't know it. I know better than you, okay, it's time for you to take what you know and start releasing it in that time marriage for you to take what you know and start releasing it in that business, it's time for you to take what you know and start to release it in that church, it's time for you to take what you know and start releasing it in that music, release it in a movie. I know I can't believe that the wealth of the wicked will only say stewardess, I know better, I know.

I know better, I know better that the business collapsed, but I know better that they walked away from me, but I know better, I know I should be crazy waving baby, but I know better, okay, I know better, so it's okay, we We're going home. I'm going to have lunch. I'll only say this when Zacharias finally reveals what he knows. My text tells me, oh God, I feel that when he revealed what he knew, this boy's name is John and they marveled at this and fear came over them because he was doing something unknown knowing that he was doing something unknown to them but he knew it he says immediately his mouth opened and his tongue loosed and he spoke praising God this is my final point there was something that happened with his praise when he released what he knew that allowed him to begin praising God and I'm enough crazy to believe that not only was he praising God that his tongue was loose.

I think he was praising God because God took a word and turned it into knowledge. and he had enough fuel in the tank to help him raise a child who would become the forerunner of Jesus Christ. You have enough knowledge over generations to get through what she's going through. You have enough knowledge to pave the way for someone to come. behind you you have enough to know I want you to know that you went through hell but God says I know you went through hell that's why I know you're going to pay the way I know you want to move forward I know the demons shake when you wake up in the morning I know I know that I know there is a praise that can only be released when you know that you must praise when you want you have to praise when you believe but there is a praise that is released when you know that I have never seen the righteous abandoned and the seed asking for bread I know, I always have than to know God, I know you better for me that I deserve it I know you are faithful I know you are righteous I know You are a healer I know you still work miracles I know you still heal marriages I know you still fulfill I know you are still free I know I know it's okay God told me I will take you to a place where I know who I am I will take you to a place where there will be no more insecurity, no more doubts, no more doubts, no more disbelief.

I will take you to a place where you will know confidence and what you know. I'm going to let it overflow until it becomes someone else's knowledge. knowing by proxy because you know that a father affirms a son and his identity means that this son does not have to question himself the way he would question himself, he only had other people's ears, but because Zacharias went through This process. There is some knowledge he can give to his son this is Mother's Day. I want to talk to some people in this room who were robbed of their sense of knowledge because someone couldn't do the work receive the Revelation do the healing that would have given you the knowledge you need I want to talk to someone I feel like I've been working at a deficit because no one deposited in me a sense of righteous identity a real sense of salvation I really don't know who I am and you are in this room and God has given you a word about what he can do through you, with you and for you, but if You're honest, sometimes you just don't know if he can do it.

I don't know if it's still God because it's gotten hard and what you want more than anything is to know better I want to know better I want to silence the doubt I want to silence the worry I want to silence the pain if you want just say hello to me no matter where you are hey God You know, God knows, God knows, God knows, God knows who you are, God knew they couldn't give it to you, God knew you would want it, but God says I can cover what they couldn't give you I can feel the areas they left entity with the that they left empty God says I see it I see it I see those empty places in you I see you wondering and I see you questioning God says I want to bring you to a place of knowing but it can only happen through my spirit I know you have your affirmations I know you are reading all the books I know you have all the podcasts because you're just trying to know better you're trying to know better, but I hear God saying that knowledge is in the connection Knowledge is in the trust Knowledge is in the walking Knowledge is in the observation Knowledge is in trust Knowledge is in faith to believe that even when they did I don't know you God knew what was in you raise your hands I want to pray with you Holy Spirit oh God I thank you for the truth I thank you for vulnerability I thank you God that maybe for the first time in a long time that someone in this room doesn't feel less than because they don't have what they think they should have.

I thank you God that you created this opportunity where his emptiness could be revealed, not to shame them, not to condemn them, but so that you could feel that way. Holy Spirit I ask you that the spirit of work begins to fall that they even fill a weight in their hands that they fill a fire in their hands that they feel a fire in their hearts God I ask that your spirit begin to fall on them in an intimate way no only where they hear God but feel it somewhere in their body God let it enliven the gift of God that is within them God Let Your Presence touch them on their shoulders Let Your Presence be with them right now in this moment God as a sign that you know I know it hurts I know you're worried I know you're worried but God says Be better I know a better way I know a better way I know a better future God began to whisper in their ears it's only you can do what you know about their circumstances what you know about their identity what you know about their gifts their talents their family what you know about them that they can hear I am fearfully and wonderfully made that they hear that they are your loved ones that they hear that you have a purpose for them that they hear that Depression is not the ending that your enemies may have coined for evil but that you mean it for good that they hear that you will never leave that they do not abandon them or abandon them that they hear that you are a Healer and the Maker of Ways that they hear that you see the tears that cry that they hear that you see that the dream inside them is about to explode and that they are worried that there is no one who can support the birth of what is coming through them, that they hear that there are midwives on demand, that the moment they start pushing, someone is going to catch it, God, let them hear that they are exactly where they are supposed to be. and nowhere near where they will be because when you are done with them you are going to transform them God, there is someone in this room and they stopped trusting you, they couldn't tell what was good, what was bad and what God was today.

We are making a silent commitment to trust you again, maybe they are baby steps, maybe they trusted you in all other areas, but in this particular area they have been holding on to it. God, I thank you that they are going to give it back to you. They will trust in you that you have provision and that you have wisdom and strategy that is waiting to be released I thank you God that you stayed still that you work miracles that you are still opening pathless paths that you are still leading and guiding and for that God, I pray that this Whisper of your spirit continue to be with them.

There is no such thing as sealing this moment because we have just removed the seal, let it flow, God, let it flow, let it flow, let it flow, let it flow. flow, let it flow, let it flow, let it flow, let it flow, let the rivers of Living Water begin to flow through them, oh God, it may have saturated everything about them, we release it to be you in all the ways you can in the name of Jesus, amen. You only praise me, can you raise praise like Zechariah did? Can come? Can we do better than that?

I know we have to go, but can we do better than that? I'll tell you before you go. I'm just going to tell you that this is the kind of word that I would plant in if I were you and if you're looking for instructions on how to sew, I'm not going to make a big deal out of it, they can put instructions on the screen, you can drop a seed in the pmt cube, but what I will say is that it was on the eighth day that Zacharias released what he knew, so if you were going to donate, I highly suggest you give a seed that has a connection to eight eighty dollars eighty eight dollars eight hundred eight eight eight eight eight means new beginnings and on the eighth day when Zacharias released what he knew, a new beginning began not only for him but for the generations that would come through him and so I want someone who has decided that this is where I'm going to mark the place show in the eight eight whatever your increment of eight is in this word, let it be an offering, let it be a sacrifice and thank you guys, I love you.

Happy Mother's Day