"My New Year's Resolution" - The Apostolic Connection

for just a few moments today I invite your attention to the word of God Exodus chapter 14 and verse number 10 and I'm going to preach on my New Year's resolution I made one and I plan to stick with it my New Year's resolution is I'm not going to allow anything I see in 2015 to distract discourage my faith in God I'm not going I'm talking about what I see with my natural eyes I'm not going to allow it to discourage me I'm not going to allow it to distract me hinder me verse number 10 and when Pharaoh Drew nigh the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians marched after them and they were sore afraid and and the children of Israel Cried Out unto the Lord verse 21 and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong East Wind all that night and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided and the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left and the Egyptians pursued and went in and after them to the midst of the sea even all Pharaoh's horses all his horses of his horses and chariots and his Horsemen going down to verse 30 thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore and Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the people fear the lord believe the Lord and his servant Moses you may be seated in Jesus name this service today was for the church First Apostolic am marville is a giving church we are always in an Evangelistic form of service service we love to see new people we love to baptize people we love to see people receive the Holy Ghost we are an Evangelistic Church but having said that this service today that we've just enjoyed was for the church I saw saints of God getting blessed this morning oh I would have loved to seen a backslider or a person lost come down the aisle yes and amen but sometimes it's needed for the church the people of God weary worn battle scarred fighting hell and all of Hell's henchmen to know that the Winds of God blow upon us because a delivered people doesn't necessarily speak of a faith people they had been delivered from Egypt they had seen the death angel come through they had witnessed the plagues they had witnessed a mighty Deliverance but when they got out to the Red Sea although they were delivered and they had an experience their natural eyes turned back and saw their enemy and when they saw their enemy they lost all of their faith in their past Deliverance they cried out to Moses but that's okay God's got the answer for Pharaoh a matter of fact God has orchestrated Pharaoh coming out as a matter of fact God placed it in Pharaoh's heart to come out because God was was wanting to show Israel once and for all your past is nothing to fear you don't have to fear your past they turned around and saw pharaoh and his chariots coming they lost all their faith and cried out to Moses and Moses under the direction of the Lord stretched out that Rod Over the Sea and by a miraculous work of the hand of almighty God God the Waters of the Red Sea were divided and the Bible says that the children of Israel went across the Red Sea on dry ground not damped ground not marshy ground they went across the Red Sea on dry ground oh there's been some Skeptics that have tried to point out that the place where Israel crossed the Red Sea was only a few inches deep but to the Bible believing saint of God that makes it even a greater miracle that he drowned pharaoh and his army in ankle deep water praise God in ankle deep water but God wasn't finished God wasn't finished when Israel got across the Red Sea pharaoh and his armies tried to come and God allowed the waters to come in and drown pharaoh and his army but God wasn't finished God allowed Israel to witness the drowned bodies of the former captives he allowed them to see the captives he allowed them to see those that held them in captivity what must it have been like I can only surmise today but did they walk down the seashore and say that one right there he used to lay the whip to my back oh that one right over there he used to do this and that to me but you don't have to fear him anymore he'll whip your backs no more he'll take your food no more because God has taken care of the enemy how many saints of God this morning can look back over your life of things that once woke you up and said it's time to drink me it's time to smoke me it's time to go participate in me it's time to spend all of your money on me but praise God through the power of God you can look back and say you're not controlling me anymore Brother Thompson Brother Thompson I couldn't help but Rejoice this morning there was a day down in Miami Florida when crack cocaine controlled you it controlled you so much that you were willing to walk away you were willing to walk away from your family so that you could get this momentary momentary High you were willing to walk away from Authority because that crack had such a hold that cocaine had such a hold on your life but thank God it wasn't some group that got a hold of you it wasn't some positive mental group it was some people preaching the blood of the lamb and the spirit of God God got a hold of you and now for many years cocaine's not waking you up cocaine's not causing you you're here with your wife today you're here with your family this morning I'm telling you God wants us to see but you see this Faith Journey that we've got this Faith Journey you don't have a once B you don't have a once battle and it's over life is something that you have to keep readjusting your focus on God because they came through the Red Sea they shouted and sang a song Miriam wrote the song in chapter 15 they wrote a song about what had just happened and it went like this the Lord is my strength and my salvation he is my God and he has become my salv he is my God and I will prepare him a habitation my father's God and I will exalt him the Lord is a man of war the Lord it is his name and then verse number one the horse and his riter hath he thrown into the sea oh they pray praised him oh they shouted but oh 3 days later they got out in the wilderness and they ran out of food and they begin to look around at the surroundings Wilderness no water no crops no food would to God Moses you would have left us in Egypt at least we had flesh pots and onions and leaks and fish at least we had this to eat you brought us out here that we may die was it because there were no graves in Egypt what were they doing they were allowing their surroundings to dictate their faith in God you see from Egypt's door to the Red Sea they battled the devil but from the Red Sea on they battled their own flesh see we need to stop BL blaming everything on the devil some things we go rebuking the Devils all day long some things are just our flesh getting in the way devil doesn't have anything to do with it we're just not believing God well God showed them he could bring water out of a rock he could rain down bread from Heaven think about that he could bring water out of a rock rain down bread from Heaven call the quail to come in from the sea until it would stack up three or four feet all the way around the camp God was proving I'm able to meet your need but you see it has never been God's will that we just survive see God wants his people to be prosperous God wants his people to be happy people joyful people he wants us to live in Canaan now contrary to what you may have believe believed we write songs about it we preach funerals about it Canan is not a type of heaven I'm sorry I know it's made for some good poems and it's made for some good things but Canaan is not a type of heaven and I'm GNA tell you why there were giants in Canaan there's no Giants in heaven you had to fight to get into Cana can there's no fighting in heaven so Canaan becomes the type of the Believers overcoming Land Of Promise a land flowing with milk and honey a land of prosperity a land of joy and peace a land of waking up in the morning and saying good morning Lord not lord it's morning it's a land of opportunity it's a land flowing with milk and honey it's a land no more survival it's a land you see in Egypt they didn't have enough in the wilderness they had just enough but in the land of Canaan they've got more than enough and I'm wanting this church to shift into a gear in 2015 to where we don't have less than enough or just enough I think it's the year that we enter into we've got more than enough our God is more than enough I'm I'm doing pretty good on this New Year's resolution because I've been getting some cause of trouble that's happening in the Saints of God's life and instead of talking about how big the tumor is how large the problem is how this is oh dear bless your heart we'll pray about this I've been doing things like saying sister are you where we can have a word of prayer are you where we can call out on the name of the Lord because I'm not going to allow my situation to tell me that my God isn't real now brother Ericson and I rushed to a close but they came to Canaan land what happened to Canaan land they sent them over into the land but what did they allow to take over their sight they came back over and they said we'll never do it we'll never take it why walled cities Giants walled cities Giants but that really wasn't the problem that's not a lie they were walled cities and pro and Giants but here's the problem and we were in their sight as Grasshoppers and so were we in ours you know what I wonder if their lack of faith didn't embolden the Giants in Canaan land I I I I saw a a YouTube clip the other day I thought it was such a neat thing and I probably should have played it for this sermon but a little bitty boy was riding his bicycle down the driveway and a big old dog I I I mean that thing is a big old big old dog he came and he sister Jeter he snatched that little boy by the leg jerked him off that bicycle and was literally dragging him down the driveway his Doom is sealed right no that little boy had a kitten had a cat and on that video that cat shot off that front porch down that driveway and jumped on that dog that dog let go of his leg and took off scaming down the road that cat didn't go purring around the tree rubbing it s no that cat went down there friend and jumped on that dog and said you done got my man you done got my you you you got my boy here can I tell you in 2015 I'm not going to allow the demons to come and jerk on us and jerk us down the driveway this cat's going to get busy say wait a minute I'll pop a prayer on you in Jesus name I'll call out the name of Jesus on