We always don't understand what God is doing. And as a result, people tend to form an opinion of God. And some got disappointed, discouraged, and in those things that we find ourselves setting up structures in our heart that limit God, or that create barriers that say, "God, You can't go beyond this point of my life because I don't believe You. God, I won't allow You to do these things in my life because I don't believe You."
God is so good that it can be uncomfortable definitely for the religious. But for the broken, for His children, it's something completely different. God is so good that His blessings come with warning labels. Because of His nature - He is so generous, and He is so giving. Truthfully, beyond what you can ask or think. But what we confuse is the process to getting to that place. We could confuse sometimes by the things that we have to undergo.
It's not the thing that is the issue- whatever it is that He purposed to give to you. But the issue is whether or not that thing has you. He don't mind you having possession of it. But will it possess you? That becomes the big issue. Because of God's goodness, He will bless you so much that people tend to forget about Him. People tend to trust on the things they have, instead of trusting in God. Because of the size of His heart, God will overdo it. God's math is different. He multiplies by the realm of heaven which is always abundance, which is always increase, which is always above and beyond, with extras to spare. When Jesus gave the parable of the prodigal son: when the prodigal son came to himself, what did he say, "How many of my father's hired servants, the hired servants have bread enough to spare? How many of my father's hired servants live in abundance? And I'm over here perishing." That was his recollection. When he recalled his father's house, he recalled it as the place of abundance.
So we look at our transition, we look at our walk and say -how did we end up in a place of lack, difficulty, where we are not necessarily reflecting the truths that exist in our Father's house, and not only that but the truths that exists in our Father's heart. We know that we serve a God that is good. And we know that we serve a God who if He gave us His only Son, how will He not freely give us all things?
But we've been looking around at our situation, in our journey through the wilderness and said, "Lord, but we've been without all things." In the wilderness, God had to test our heart. Example: when God says to leave your job, God will test to see if you would be willing to give up everything for Him, to receive everything. It wasn't to destroy you, but to test your heart. Do you trust God? What's more important to you, what God says to you or all the things that you have? When you're going through the wilderness, there are things we had to give up. There are things we had to surrender for God. Even it was difficult to us, to breaking off the flesh, demonstrating our commitment to God. But it is really to demonstrate our love for Him. The Lord said, there is no restraint on the things that He have for those who love Him.
As we walk through the fire, as we willfully walked through that dry place, that was our demonstration saying, "Lord, I love you." Our faith works by love. Wilderness is for God. Promised land is for us.
What was motivating our drive through the wilderness? Some people didn't stay or got mad and walked out on God, got disappointed and said, "No. I'm not following You. How dare You do this to me? How dare You take away all my stuff?" They got mad and left God. But for those of you who stayed, what was fueling your stay or your endurance to it? It was your love for God. And now, God is saying, "Behold My love for you. For I will make your name great. I will give you houses that you did not build. I will give you wells that you did not dig. I will feed you with the finest of wheat and the heritage of Jacob. I will lift you up on high for My own namesake because I have judged you faithful."
In the time of judgment, there will be judgment on those who said, "No God", who went about to seek their own to do their own thing. But there are some who said, "Lord, I will journey through the fire with you. I don't understand, and I am absolutely confused, because You said one thing but yet I've been summoned to endure another. I had to walk this walk." But we've come to a place where the help is coming. In Matthew 4, where Jesus had and finished the temptation, and the devil began to flee after He resisted it, during that time of transition. The 40 days represented the transition of Christ. Jesus was going from not My time, to now it's My time. And the arrival of the help to minister unto Him was the indication that His time had arrived. And once the help came, the Bible says it ministered unto Him. Once the help came, the Bible said, He came through with power and they seen a great light.
So we came through the wilderness and then we were in this place where it seemed like the fight got a little bit different. And we're like, okay I'm not necessarily in the wilderness but Lord where am I? It seemed like the devil is on my head, it seemed like I've been enduring all of this temptation. You were in the place of transition, where you would finally come to that place where you'd have to resist the opposition. But when the help comes, it is the sign that your time has come. Now, will you let God be God to you as He wants to be?
There are some people who have established borders, restrictions. They are limiting God, or only a certain amount of goodness they allow in their lives. "Only do unto me Lord what I can fathom." When the Lord is like, "I need somebody who will let Me do above and beyond. I need somebody who will let Me break them. I need somebody who will let Me break their understanding of My process." Why? People are afraid because they don't want to lose God. People are afraid of the blessings, not because of God but because of themselves, they'll might lose control. People are afraid of that so they put limitations on God. But then, if you put limitations on God, I would advise you not to because that means you're losing trust in God, and that means you're not allowing God to manifest Himself through you in the way that He really desires. So you're saying is "Lord, I'm afraid of this flesh, so don't do too much." And what they're saying is "Lord, I don't trust myself with all that You really want to do to me." They don't allow God to magnify Himself as He wants to. But if you are afraid of what God wants to do for you, that can't become a doctrine for you to try to tell me to limit God for what He wants to do for me. You see, I've gone through the fire. You can't tell somebody who's giving it all up, to give it all up for the One that they love, not to be able to receive from the One that they love everything, that the One that they love what was willing to do for them. You see for me the things are nothing, but I delight in the goodness of my Father. And the reality of it is, it's His goodness that constantly transforms me, that leads me to a new perspective in Him, that leads me to a deeper understanding of Him, that caused me to changed my mind, that causes me to repent which means to change my mind on subjects, on things, on people, on situations.
"Will You allow me to be as good to you as I want to be?" Because I'm so good, that My blessings they come with warnings, "Hey, don't forget Me. When I do unto you what I please, when I bless you according to My will, don't forget about Me. Why? Because I have a tendency to overdo it and I will not change for you. Will you allow Me to be as good to pour out My goodness unrestrained, unrestricted?" Why? Because it's not just for you. It's also for people to see and to get a glimpse because where religion limits God and say you don't have access. See the Pharisees, they were always telling somebody who can't come in. And they were mad at Jesus because He was going to the place where it seemed like God's goodness would not go. The goodness is not just for you. The goodness is to be an example and a demonstration of the truth about the God that we serve, the real Christ of the Bible, the real Yahweh, the real most High who sits on high and so He says, "Will you allow Me to be as good to you as I want to be, as good to you as it pleases My heart?"
So you've endured the affliction, and for those of who you who've been secretly holding little grudges and disappointments, that temporary time frame that you had to give up some things, the Lord said, "It's coming all back. There is no one who's left families and houses and things who will not in this lifetime receive a hundred fold." He said, "It's coming back with interest." What you left up, what you gave up for God is on the return, it's coming back. It was all to see where your heart was. Do you trust Him? And this is what the walk was for.
You see, Adam was the first one to receive a blessing without a test. He was the first one to receive all of God's goodness without having his heart tried. Why? Because there was no corruption in his heart. He was made in the image of God, he was made perfect. But ever since Adam, there has been examination. God has used different situations and afflictions and different things to find out where is your heart. Do you love Me more than these? Where do I stack up in the order of the things in your life? And so the Lord will tell you, "Leave that. Leave this." He'll put you in a situation where you got to choose. But you see, God is always offering a choice. Even with His disciples. The Lord start talking what appeared to be 'crazy' at that time, "Eat My flesh, drink My blood." And people start walking away, and the disciples were like, "We left everything, we don't have nowhere else to go. I know He's got the word of life, I don't understand what He's talking about. Where else are we gonna go, because we know life is here."
Lord says, "Have I not chosen you?"
And that's what the Lord has done to this walk. The things that you had to let go of, the things you had to walk away from, the things that God has led you out of. He said, "Now I know have I not chosen you." The same way He did with Abraham. "Now I know that you fear Me." Which is translated for us in this generation: "Now I know that you love Me, by you choosing Me above the things."
And now God is going to manifest His love for you and His goodness. What you gave up to follow God, God is now bringing it back to you. He's bringing it back to you in ways, in multiplied fashion. He is bringing it back to you in ways that only He can. In ways, that you can't even count or even imagine. I don't quite understand why I'm going through what I'm going through but I trust Him. I don't necessarily understand the direction of my life that He's leading me in, but I trust Him. Because I'm on the mindset, that if He gave it to me in the first place, He can bring it back again. The Lord said, "I was just examining your heart. I just wanted to make sure that the things that I had promised you, would not be a thing that I would lose you to. The things that I had talked about giving you, would not become an idol in your eyes. The things that I had purposed to give to you would not be something that I would lose you to. Why? Because it's easy to do above and beyond, go the extra mile. And sometimes when I lay the goodness down, it can be so good, that people start to think it was them. People start to think that they own righteousness, they own goodness, they own things. They brought in their own hands, brought that and they forget that it was Him who gave us the power to get the wealth. The wealth is not the problem, you having the wealth is not the problem, but the problem is, will the wealth have you? Will you still be willing to lay it down at any time?"
Faith works by love. Your faith to endure wilderness, that was all about demonstrating your love for God.
Now behold, God is demonstrating His love for you. There will be a vindication of every place that your name was smeared. There will be a vindication. He will establish your name that they dragged it to the mud, and now God is gonna put honor on your name and God is gonna stand next to you in a way that people are going to say "God is clearly with you." It would be the same testimony that they gave about Isaac, Jacob, the children of Israel, and Abraham. It is clear, the one who is really God, is God in your life, is standing next to you. The One who is really God, is with you. And that will be your testimony. People will know that God stands near you.
