The Process of Time | DeMikale Knowles

Man, I feel like preaching tonight. >> You going to give me a few moments to preach? >> Grab your Bibles quickly. Turn with me to the book of Joshua. The book of Joshua, chapter 2, verse number one. We're going to do a little bit of reading tonight. Going to conclude at verse 14. Then we're going to jump to 18 and 19. Joshua 2 verse one. While you're navigating that, I want to give honor. Honor is due to your shepherd, our overseer, Bishop Carpenter and Lady Carpenter. Can we clap our hands together? Honor the Lord. Honor the Lord for them. Thank God for Pastor Ericson and Lady Ericson. Come on, clap our hands together for them. Honor the Lord. Pastor Nolan, come on. And Sister Flannry, come on. Clap your hands together for them tonight. All the leaders and elders in your respective places. We thank God for you. Honor the Lord. What about this praise team and this choir, these musicians? Come on, clap your sanctified hands together for them tonight. Honor the Lord for what we feel. And I thank God. Amen. For my beautiful bride. Amen. Woman that doesn't stand behind me but beside me. Traveling this country preaching this one God Jesus name message. Amen. To let the center man and center woman know that there's still hope for tomorrow. >> And as through and by the name of Jesus Christ. I thank God for her. Thank God for my baby girls. Honor the Lord. Amen. For my best friend, brother Strong and Sister Strong. Amen. When you have it, signify by shouting, "I have the bread." >> And the Bible now gave us this intelligence. And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shidam two men to spy secretly, saying, "Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went and came into an harlot's house named Rahab and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country." And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house, for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said, Thus, there came men unto me, but I wish not whence they were. And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Whether the men went, I woke not pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flats, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the forge. And as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof. And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt, what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sion and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. for the Lord your God. He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token, and that ye will save alive my father and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her, "Our life for yours, if ye are not this our business, and it shall be that when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee." Joshua 2:18 declares, "But behold," somebody shout, "Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou ditch let us down by, and thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless. And whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word. Set your Bibles down. Set your devices down. Lift your hands and lift your voice one more time. And let's ask the Holy Ghost to talk to us tonight. Father, Savior, God, before we ask you for anything, we thank you for everything. We thank you for the gift of the Holy Ghost. We thank you for your power, divine. We thank you that last night was not our last night. We thank you that you're able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can think or ask according to the power that workketh in us. Lord, I pray tonight that you say what you want to say. Do what you want to do. Throw your weight around in this place that makes preaching easy. Lord, I pray if there be an individual tonight that's lost without you, let them ask the question, "What must I do to be saved?" What I pray tonight we could give them the antidote of what you commanded in the New Testament to repent and to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of all of their sin. Lord, I pray if there be an individual seeking for the baptism of the Holy Ghost, fill them with dunamis power from on high. Lord, don't wait till the end, but fill them in the middle of the preaching. Lord, allow me to decrease that you may increase. Hide me behind the cross of Calvary. What I pray what I pray every time. Preach me like a madman from another planet. Lord, let miracles, signs, and wonders bust loose in this house. Would never fail to give you the praise, the glory, and the honor in Jesus name. And the church of the living God can shout, "Amen." And amen. Clap them hands together like the devil's head is in between them as you're being seated in the house of the Lord. If I can preach to you for a few moments with the help of the Holy Ghost, I want to leave you with this thought tonight. The process of time. The process of time. My brothers and my sisters, dearly beloved, I would be aiss in the exposition, if you will, of this paricopy of scripture that coming into the book of Joshua, you would acknowledge the journey of his record. transitioning from the Torah, the first five books of the Bible as written by Moses onward to another set of historical books that highlight from Joshua up until the book of Esther. The historical record of Israel's life in the land of Canaan, which was also known as their land of promise essentially has us left with Moses leading them out while Joshua has been tasked of leading them in. of all the monumental things that one could identify in this book consists of three major things that I would like to express in your hearing tonight that number one they found dominion through possession Joshua's now set upon in the be clause of the text listening to the voice of God the Lord tells Joshua for within 3 days you will pass over this Jordan to go in and possess the land that the Lord Lord has given you to possess. In other words, Joshua, it's only yours to have because it's mine to give. We would find the second account of power and faith. You will only possess this land if you go after it yourself. The disconnect for some of you in this room is you wait for others to do for you what you should be able to do for yourself. Nobody can walk in victory for you tonight. You have to understand, my brothers and my sisters, that victory has to be your choice. We could tell you that God gave you victory, but if you don't believe it, then you cannot have it. We could tell you that God wants to give you breakthrough, miracles, signs, and wonders, but if you don't believe it, then you'll always long for it. You cannot ride on the coattails of choices that other people make for you when you have consistently chosen to remain powerless and faithless with no motivation to grow at all in God. We would find here God's hand of salvation at work. It's the book of Joshua is named after the man. Joshua's name is significant because the origin of who uh Hosea really is brings me to the enlightenment that Jehovah is salvation. That salvation is demonstrated uh through the God inspired leadership of Joshua. As we look at Joshua's life, here in lies the beauty of vision. You must note this tonight that vision is never bound to a man or else the journey would have ended when Moses died. Any vision that dies with a man was never God spoken. It was manspoken that translates to a good idea. My brothers and sisters, this is why when God gave his vision to Israel for his life, he then identifies himself to being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. See, vision is crossgenerational. Anything that I, the Lord God, speaks so huge, it cannot be confined to just one generation. In the second chapter of Joshua, something very interesting happens. Uh at the top of this storyline in Joshua chapter 1, we read about God's repeated encouragement to Joshua. God kept telling him to be strong. Uh be courage be courageous. As I was with Moses, uh so shall I be with you. Uh the reason God had to keep reiterating this to Joshua is because whenever you're expecting the calling to leadership it's always difficult to accept it when you have big shoes to fill. Uh by the time we get to the second chapter of Joshua we begin to read about Joshua and Israel getting ready to pursue uh and to possess the land. Uh Joshua does something that mirrored somewhat of what Moses's behavior was. when he commanded Joshua sent spies to investigate the land. In fact, he said, "What does it look like? Are the grapes still the size of man's hand?" Does the land still flow with milk and honey? Is it still profitable for us to even be there? What are the threats that are there? Are there still giants in the land? Are there inhabitants swallowing up anything smaller than them? Joshua sent spies like Moses. But see, Moses sent 12 spies. Uh Joshua sent two spies. Uh here in life's powerful leadership 101. Joshua is showing us sometimes you have to allow your predecessors failure to become your tutor. Moses sent too many spies. He sent 12 spies and only two spies came back thinking that they could take him on. 10 spies came back saying this is too great for us. This is why when you have critical decisions uh to make, we must understand uh come on that in a multitude of counsel there is safety. However, some voices are just there to take up space in our life. That's why it's important for our men of God to be a voice. Come on. And the voice of God to be the other. We cannot allow foreign voices to take the soil that God has called us to teal. In a time like this, uh, you need the right counsel. Uh, we need the right voices. Uh, we need a man of God, uh, that'll tell us not what we want to hear, uh, but what we need to hear. Come on. I don't need to hear out of 10 or 12 empty rhetoric. Uh, I need to hear from those uh, that are tapped in to what thus sayeth the Lord. Uh, the Bible declared that out of the mouth of two that his word would be established. Joshua said, "I'm going to learn from the predecessor's mistake, and I'm only going to send two spies. What's interesting is as soon as the spies entered into the city, they end up at a harlot's househ." Now, how did they end up at a prostitute's househ when you're supposed to be spying on the land? Uh my brothers and sisters, here's where we would find oursel in the paricopy of scripture. This is called the amazing grace uh of God's love and provision. Amazing grace uh how sweet the sound uh that saved a wretch like me. Uh I once was lost uh but now I'm found. Uh I was blind but now I see. Uh see this hymn above many people know the song but failed to know the manuh the man that wrote the song. Uh his name was John Newton. This hymn has become one of the most prominent beloved hymns across the nominal and cultural groups all across the world. Well, everyone knows the song. Many thought many failed to know the author. John Newton was a skilled writer. Though the beautiful song you just sang uh and heard in your hearing was written by an English slave trader. He bought and sold slaves for a living. We have been singing the song of a man that endorsed slavery and bondage. Uh but while being in this cancel culture, some of you would never sing that song again. Uh but the root of this song stems from when Newton got a hold of an encounter with the Lord. He became convict about his lifestyle. Oh God. And when the Lord started dealing with him, uh, he took a pen to a piece of paper and he be to write about the amazing grace of God's love. Uh, Newton went from being a slave owner to becoming a minister and a slavery abolitionist. He began committing his entire life to ending what he once promoted. One day he sit there and said, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see." You might be trying to figure out how in the world does this relate to Rahab. It teaches us that there is nobody that's beyond God's grace of him being able to reach you. I need you to look at your neighbor and say, "Hey, neighbor." He looked beyond your fault and he saw all of your needs. He didn't look at your failures. He didn't look at your mistakes. But he said, "I see somebody that is searching. Uh I see somebody that is reaching. Uh it's the love of God that conquers a multitude of sin." Uh it's the love of God uh that'll give you power to stand uh and declare uh that I'm found. Uh I was lost but now I see. Come on. Uh I thank God for the love of God. Uh it was the love of God that gave me power to stand. Uh it was the love of God. Some of you got a testimony tonight. Uh if it wasn't for the love of God uh you wouldn't be sitting here today. It was the love of God that said, "I didn't care how long you was in the crack househ, but when my hand showed up, I snatched you out of there. I didn't care how many hours you spent on the bar stool. When my hand showed up, I showed you my amazing grace." Uh, your father might have died of it. Your mama might have died in it. But the amazing grace of God said, I'm going to pick you up, I'm going to pull you out. That's why I could stand here and say, "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad. Why? Cuz I was once lost in sin, but Jesus took me in. I thank God. his loving power and amazing grace. Uh, it brought me out of a horrible pit. >> I feel like being an encourager tonight to remind somebody that God still loves you. Uh, God still cares for you. He died on a cross for you. It's not his will that any man should perish, but it's his will that all should come to repentance to the knowledge and the saving power of Jesus Christ. You don't got to leave here tonight how you came. You might have came depressed. You might have came with suicidal thoughts. You might have came feeling like giving up. But I come to tell you there's a manuh that bled and died. There's a manuh that is here that tell you, I bore the stripes on my back for your healing. I bore the stripes on my back. Come on. I feel the Holy Ghost. If you're in this room tonight, uh, and you feel like God hasn't heard you, uh, you feel like your back's against the wall, I come to tell you, uh, that the power of God is here to remind you, uh, that I have come to redeem you from the presence of sin. >> There's some that might not understand your gratitude. We're in a season of thanksgiving. Some of you, you can't put into words how there was a time that God found you when you were lost and undone. Some of you were in a place where nobody can understand why you praise the way you praise, why you shout the way you shout, why you dance the way you dance. But if only they could take time to know that you were once in a place uh come on heading towards destruction but the Savior's hand uh come by your way. Oh, there's nobody that God cannot use. This is important because God is saying when I choose to use you in spite of where you've been and what you've done, I want you to understand, come on, I'm not interested in repairing you. See, to repair you is to put you back at the reset of who you once were. He said, "I am interested in recreating you." That's why your Bible said that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things passed away. And behold, all things are made new. He wants to recreate you. He wants to give you a new mind. He wants to give you a new heart. God's trying to get you to a place of understanding. He doesn't save you to endorse you in the state you're in. He saved you to transform you from who you used to be. This is why God, come on, has come today to tell you you were an ex fornicator. You are an ex liar. You are an ex drug user. You are an ex alcoholic, an ex gossiper. But that's not who I am anymore. When I went to that watery grave, uh, and he baptized me, uh, I come back up, made new, uh, in the image of the Holy Ghost. I come back in the image and the likeness of Jesus Christ. These make for a good witness for God to grab you from where you were and make you whole and turn you around. The Bible declared that the spies arrived in Jericho. They spied out the land under Moses with 12 spies and nobody knew that they were there. But when Joshua sent two spies, the whole city started talking. This blows my mind because how can you have two jokers walk in and everybody knows about it? How did they find out so quick? Nobody watches you. Come on. Like enemies watch you. Nobody keeps more tabs. Come on. This is why you have to understand they're secretly gazing at the next move that is happening with the spies. They're using your life as a measurement tool on how they're living theirs. This is why, come on, we find oursel in the text that nobody knew when Moses sent 12, but everybody knew when the two came. The reason they knew these two men were in the city is because Israel was under surveillance. That was true of two spies coming into Jericho. But that's also true of many of you as it relates to the devil. Israel was under surveillance uh with the Canaanites. Uh while you have been under surveillance uh with demonic forces uh that want to rob you of joy, rob you of peace, rob you of safety, rob you of provision, uh this is why every time you get close to coming out of where you are, the enemy tries to turn you around. He tries to isolate you. He tries to keep you from the house of God. Uh he tries to keep you out of prayer meeting. He tries to keep you out of the altar. Can I stop right here and tell somebody for freeh before we get towed away as I drop a token in the meter? We must stay on an altar. We must stay in prayer. We must stay in his presence. Uh because if I lose that desire, I'll lose my momentum. If I lose that desire, I'll lose uh my mind uh when he declared if I keep my mind uh stayed on him. He'll keep me in perfect peaceuh that tells me uh in the storm I still got peaceuh because my mind uh is on Jesus. Uh when I get a bad doctor's report, uh if I keep my mind uh stayed on Jesus, uh he'll give me peaceuh. When the enemy starts fighting my marriage, uh I'm not going to let the devil win. Uh I'm going to walk in and lay hands on my spouse and say in the name of Jesus, uh we have peace. Uh when the devil tries your children, uh and tries to rob them, uh and pull them out, uh you got to speak peace. That's why he said we got to call those things that are not as though they were. I dare somebody to prophesy in the atmosphere. Prophesy to your circumstance. Prophesy to your adversary. Prophesy. Come on. You got it on the inside of you. You don't need a man to lay hands on you. Uh you don't need a man to tell you uh who you are in God. You got the gift in you. Uh, you got to stir it up. You got to speak it.Uh, you got to claim it. I'm going to walk with a sound mind. For I did not give you a spirit of fear, but of love, joy, peaceuh, and a sound mind. I have peaceuh that surpasses all understanding. >> Hallelujah. Peace. >> Peace. >> God's wonderful peace >> coming down >> from the father above. >> Sweep over my spirit forever. >> I pray peace >> belongs to you. >> My God. God, I feel the Holy Ghost right now. >> I don't know what the enemy's tried to tell you in secret. I don't know what the enemy is trying to convince you of, >> but I come to stand and be an encourager to a man and a woman. >> Peace is yours. Some of you feel like God hasn't heard your prayers in a long time. Peace belongs to you. You feel like your children are running further away from God than they are coming to God. Peace belongs to you. I know you've been praying for your mama. I know you've been praying for your daddy. And the devil's trying to convince you uh that your family uh is going to die loss. Uh peaceuh belongs to you. Uh we speak in the name uh of the Lord Jesus Christ. Uh I have peaceuh that God uh will perfect that which concernth you. Uh he cares about your problems. Uh he cares about your issues. He cares about your struggles. Uh, and because he cares. You don't got to leave here powing. But you can leave here praising. You don't got to leave here worried. But you can leave here worshiping knowing it try to make me hang my praiseh. It try to make me hang my worship, but I'mma pull it out of the willow tree. I'mma praise him in spite of. I'mma worship him in spite of. I need you to grab your neighborh by the hand. I feel a wave of glory. Tell that neighborh. Get you a pillow. Go to sleep. The storm ain't going to wake you. The storm is going to secure you. The storm ain't going to kill you. The storm is going to carry you. I come to tell you in the name of the Lord that peace is coming to them that wait upon the Lord. Come on, they that's Come on. That's all right. I wish somebody would get a hold of it. I wish somebody would make up your mind. I wish somebody would declare I'm not leaving here. Not another night am I going to leave without peace. Not another night am I going to bed without peace. Not another night am I going to worry about my struggle. Peace. Peace. Look down your road and say shalom. Shalom. Shalom. I speak for I shall be with you. I shall be with you. Shalom. Fac Maryville. Shalom. The peace of God is here to remind you. You might be in the storm, but the storm won't have you. You might be in the struggle, but the struggle won't have you. The peace of God belongs to me. I have a sound mind. I feel like God is walking in here to remind you, shalom. Shalom. I don't know when he's going to do it, but my babies are coming back home. Shalom. I don't know how he's going to do it, but God's going to heal my body. Shalom. I don't know when he's going to do it, but God's going to move in my finances. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Peace. Peace. Be I feel Jehovah Gyra. I feel Jehovah Gyra. I feel Jehovah. He's here to bring peace. Your better is here. I feel something stirring right now. I feel something stirring right now. How bad do you want it? How bad do you want it? I feel something breaking. I feel something breaking. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel the Holy Ghost. You begin to read, Bishop, about Jesus being on that ship. He was on his way to Janness. There was a man there. Come on. Possessed by legion. But the Bible said on his way to the city of Gera, there arose a storm. I need you to tell somebody, "Baby, this ain't nothing to worry about. It's a perfect storm. God's in this storm. God's in the middle of this. I know it feels like fear's trying to get you. I know it feels like fear's trying to tell you. But it's a perfect storm. Uh God's in this. God's in this. It's a perfect storm. There's interferences that are coming in the water that's trying to stop you because somewhere Jesus is on his way to go see about a man that's living among the graveyard. But I come to tell you that when the shalom of God shows up, you say, "Why did you come to torment me before my time?" But shalom says, "I come to tell you, you can be free. You can be delivered. You can be set free. Shalom. I feel a wind of glory right now. Can you lift your hands? Can you lift your voice?" And bless the name of the Lord. Shalom is here. Shalom is here. Shalom. Don't you try to figure it out. Don't you try to figure it out. God's already worked it out. I said I turned it over to the Lord. He want Why? Shalom doesn't need any help. Shalom doesn't need me. Shalom needs me to stand still and seek the salvation of the Lord. I don't know how he's going to do it, but I'm going to wait on them. I don't know when he's going to do it, but I'm going to wait on them. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their What's he going to do? Shalom is coming to you in your waiting. Shalom is coming to you in your place of discouragement. You come in here discouraged, but you're leaving here with shalom. You come in here with anxiety, but you're leaving here with shalom. You come in here not knowing how God was going to do it. But shalom is yours. Shalom is yours. You've been crying yourself to sleep. You've been worried to death. But I come to tell you, your cries have a walk in the master. Your cries have a walk in the master. I said your cries have a walk in the m. You prayed all night. You've held on with all of your might. But shalom, I said shalom has come to remind you that the power of God unto repentance. He's given you resurrection. He's given you power. He's given you dominion. He's given you strength. Come on. Come on. I need a brother to find a brother. I need a sister to find a sister. Link up with him if it be appropriate. Come on. God's moving right now. God's moving right now. I feel a shift. I feel a shift. I feel like God has come to remind a man. You're not alone. God has come to remind a man. You're not by yourself. God has come to remind a woman you're not alone. God has come to remind a woman. You're not by yourself. The shalom of God be with you. I said in the presence of Jehovah God Almighty, Prince of Peace, the Prince of Peace has come to FAC Mville. The Prince of Peaceuh has come to FAC Mville. Let the Prince of Peace take it. Let the Prince of Peace take control. Let the Prince of Peace walk in. The Prince of Peaceu is here to give you power and dominion both now and forever. Come on. I know you're pressing in here. I know you're trying to make room, but some of you, you need to open up your mouth and let the prince of peace fill your mouth with victory. Let the prince of peaceuh show up. Let the prince of peaceuh show up. You got to ride out your storm. You got to ride out your storm. Shalom. Shalom. I come to encourage a marriage tonight. Shalom. I come to encourage a young man that wants to walk away from God. Shalom. I come to encourage a young girl that's the only one living for truth in your home. Shalom. Shalom the prince of peace. Somebody can get filled right now with the Holy Ghost. Somebody can get filled right now with the Holy Ghost. Let the power of the Holy Ghost blow in this house. Come on, brother. Find a brother. Sister, find a sister. Link up with him in the Holy Ghost. The prince of peace. The prince of peace. The prince of peaceuh in the presence of Jehovah. God almighty. Prince of peace. Troubles vanished. Hearts are mended in the presence. >> Come on, raise your voice. Raise your voice. Come on. I feel oldfashioned prayer meeting right now. I feel oldfashioned prayer meeting right now. I'm looking for some intercessors. I'm looking for some intercessors. I'm looking for some Levites. Let the Prince of Peace walk in. Let the Prince of Peace walk in. Prince of Peace. Here we go. Holy Ghost, what What you name? Oh yes. Yes, go. Prophesy prophesy.