God Sees

so good to be in the house of the lord today i do pray that the spirit of the lord leads and guides us right now right now now now we we we in this moment in this hour we are we are nearing so many things so many things have already come and we've passed right by them there are things if if you're not a bible prophecy person you're okay you don't have to be you just simply got to understand the word things are happening very quickly amen i do feel like the lord gave me a specific word for this day today there are times when a pastor such as myself i'm given a task of following the leading of the lord for specific reason and then there are times as a pastor that i'm simply relying on the nature and the character of god for a specific purpose in the message now every time gives that god gives me an opportunity to stand here before this great cloud of witnesses i i do not take that lightly i attempt every opportunity every opportunity i'm given i attempt to do what god tells me to do i do i realize that for some sitting in here this very possibly could be your last chance to be in the house of the lord i don't wish that on anybody i simply know that those things happen one of the questions i would like to begin with today is how many of you know that god is a god of mercy and a god of strength wave your hand if you understand it i am convinced that there are some sitting in this room right now and there are others watching online that you have struggled with issues and situations in your lives for a long time today you find yourself still struggling with trying to overcome that certain part of your life as soon as you get past one obstacle it almost appears as another one presents itself and so you find it very difficult to stand upright on the battlefield some of you came into this room and and even it is part of your makeup right now that you fight on the battlefield in a crouched position and it has become what happens in your life in all of life situations as they come after you instead of standing flat-footed and facing the enemy you've learned how to simply deal with it in another stature in another state of mind fact of the matter is is that joy is there in your life but it is very guarded and it is very protected life in your particular opinion is not full and it is not abundant there are wrinkles that have appeared on your face for the stress and the things that you've been going through there's a knot in your stomach that is a constant reminder of possibilities of what might happen because of bad choices and decisions or positions in which you find yourself sometimes perhaps you even find it difficult to laugh difficult to enjoy every moment that you go through to savor the flavor of life's joys has become difficult to say the least it simply has become you please stay with me for a moment you realize in your life that you have made your share of mistakes you admit even that you deserve the pain and the suffering that you are going through but for some reason you look at the hope of living for jesus and the possibilities of feeling released from the past and walking in freedom and liberty and that keeps you returning again and again to the fountain of worship into the fountain of hope today you sit here in the presence of god and there is a glimmer of release within you a release of hope that everything is going to be okay and that in that position life is pushing you forward and one more day you are able to make it and somehow survive even if you don't thrive i want to remind all of us today about just exactly who it is that we serve we serve a mighty and an awesome god he touches our lives every single day we feel him right now surrounding us with his love although we struggle we still continue to believe it might be that we falter but we continue to press forward it is he it is him alone it is our god who leads us and guides us therefore for whatever reason and for whatever purpose you find yourself not giving up you find yourself trying and continuously moving forward in fact at this moment in the service i would love for you to turn to somebody close to you and look them square in the eye and i want you to tell them with all the conviction that you can muster up never give up come on tell somebody never give up i knew that would be my response today because in so many avenues and in so many ways the monday through friday causes so many issues for the sunday as with most sundays i want to share something with you from the word of the lord and it happened such a long time ago y'all stay with pastor for a moment in the first book of your bible it's called genesis we will begin there we'll go all the way to revelation and spend the rest of the day and week on that just joking shem had left the building of the tower of babel this is in genesis i'll i'll paraphrase for the sake of time and he the people of the that were alive in that day they were scattered and shem left there and went into shine on and began to traverse across the plains the bible tells us specifically that seth shem excuse me had a son named airfax who had a son named sea love who had a son named eber who had a son named peleg who had a son named rahu who had a son named serruga who had a son named nehor who had a son named terah and that son terah gave birth to a son whose name was abram we begin with abram the father of nations if you will in genesis we can see that the foundation of nations would be the plan of god and he was working in such incredible awesome ways of course it would be very impossible to trace every single child that has ever been born and what their lineage is throughout all of history but for the sake of time and for the sake of the bible in which we are looking at somehow we are connected to abram god told abram to leave the land of his fathers in ur of the chaldeans so abram left with his nephew lot abram had a wife her name was sarai and abram was 75 years old when he started out on this particular journey and as life passed by day by day abram was establishing his life and his livelihood the bible tells us on multiple accounts that he had many flocks of he had lands he had possessions he had things that he had acquired in his journeyings and in his growing and being fruitful lot his nephew the bible says had the same thing going on god was blessing them they were multiplying wherever they were they would be in the presence of what god was doing because he was moving within their lives an angel of the lord came to abram and told him that he was to be the father of many nations and that as the stars of the heaven were out there in the universe so his seed would be and abraham abram the bible says he had a hard time with this he didn't quite comprehend all of that why because he was getting older and his wife sarah she could not have a child listen to me kind of hard to believe when you cannot see genesis chapter number 16. i'll start here with verse number one now sarah abram's wife bear him no children and she had and handmade an egyptian whose name was hagar and sarah said unto abram behold now the lord hath restrained me from bearing i pray thee go in unto my maid it may be that i may obtain children by her and abram hearkened unto the voice of sarah verse 3 and sarah abram's wife took hagar her maid the egyptian after abram had dwelt 10 years in the land of canaan and gave her to her husband and abram to be his wife and he went in under hagar and she conceived and when she saw that she had conceived her mistress was despised in her eyes and sarah said unto abram my wrong be upon thee i have given my maid unto thy bosom and when she saw that she had conceived i was despised in her eyes and the lord judged between me and thee but abram said unto sarah behold i made is in thy hand due to her as it pleases thee and when sarah dealt hardly with her she fled from her face verse 7 says and the angel of the lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain in the way of sure sarah had a plan and her plan worked she thought abram was able to go through the handmaid unto his wife sarah under the servant girl hagar to have a child this was the way that sarah and abram had decided was how god was going to allow him to be multiplied as the stars of the heaven but notice here how that all that abram had done and everything that he had gone through in establishing his life his possessions and so forth he did not have a child to carry on his lineage finally with this particular understanding between abram and sarah and hagar he could do what god had promised to him would happen but hear what the story says y'all stay with me a moment that was not god's plan it was man's plan is anybody in here ever been guilty of helping god do his job after all god helps those who help themselves right please understand that you are not alone in this we all in this generation have just like generations and times past we have all tried to help god to be god and thus it messes up our lives and we find ourselves in a predicament but i am thankful to stand here today on this particular sunday at 4 49 in the afternoon and let you know i am thankful for the mercy of god sarah gets upset because now her servant has something over her she has a child from abram hagar is doing listen to this little please very carefully hagar is doing what she is told to do the lady in waiting had told her i need you to connect with abram and with you there will be a child born that way we can accomplish what the god of all of creation is trying to do and it is this hagar that is simply yielding to what is required of her abram tells sarah listen you're going to have to deal with it you're going to have to understand what's going through her mind sarah gets upset she releases her anger on hagar and according to the story in genesis 16 hagar runs away she listen to me she had simply done what was expected of her all she's ever known was taking care of sarah her boss all that she's ever known is how to trust and believe in those who were taking care of her but now all of that trust had been broken and she runs away to try to somehow deal with a bad situation that she's been placed into but notice what happened here an angel of the lord finds her and begins to converse with her hagar is sitting by a water fountain and here comes the angel in genesis 16 chapter 16 verse 11 and the angel of the lord said unto her behold thou art with child and shall bear a son and shall call his name ishmael because the lord hath heard thy affliction and he will be a wild man his hand will be against every man in every man's hand against him he shall dwell in the presence of his brethren and she called the name of the lord that spake unto her thou god seized me for she said have i also here looked after him that seeth me wherefore the well was called bear laia roi because it is between kadesh and beret and hagar bear abram assam and abram called his son's name which hagar bear ishmael and abram was four scorer six years old when hagar bear ishmael to him listen to it you've got to understand that what the angel y'all stay with me what the angel of the lord said to her is you're going to have a boy child and abram is the father of that child and there's a covenant that i have made with abram therefore something is going to happen between the seed that you're carrying and the covenant and promise that i made with abram hagar you need to know something when you call him ishmael that means he's going to be a wild man that's going to have issues everywhere he turns and everybody's going to have issues with him but notice what she says notice she calls god by name she says god sees me god knew where she was and thus she named god bear lail rohi god sees me listen to it according to historians this was the first name that a human had ever given to god before this god had always told him who he was but now this lady this hagar this mother of a child that was born out of the wrong way she's the one who said i will call him according to the original el roya abram was 86 years old hear me when ishmael was born hagar that child that she bore there were problems from the very get-go but i've come to tell somebody today in 2020 you might wonder pastor why are you into the old testament history why did you go all the way back to this mess of a situation i declare to you as i've tried to do over the last several weeks under the unction of the lord leading me there's some sitting in here you're simply doing what you feel is right what somebody's telling you to do or has told you to do and now you find yourself in a mess you find yourself in a situation and though it's not your fault you sit here today and you've had to somehow develop walls and abilities to survive i've come to tell you what hagar had to come to the understanding was this i'm out here by a fountain i've run away from those who are supposed to be responsible for me but when the angel of the lord came to her the only thing that she could say about that god was you are god that sees me you are god that seized me just as god had promised abram god fortified this covenant by changing the name of the two abram you will now be called abraham sarah you will now be called sarah hagar was simply doing what she was supposed to do she was following the boss's commands and now there's a mess that has started and things now the wild man has come onto the scene and there are issues that are going to happen it took some 13 years to follow it genesis 21-1 and the lord visited sarah as he had said and the lord did unto sarah as he had spoken for sarah conceived and bear abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which god had spoken to him and abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him whom sarah bear to him isaac and abraham circumcised his son isaac being eight days old as god had commanded him and abraham was 100 years old when his son isaac was born unto him listen god did indeed accomplish his promise in abraham when he was 100 years old isaac was born out of the promise of the god who made the commitment to abraham at this point ishmael now is some 13 years old and problems return just like it was promised he'll have issues with all men the bible tells us very specifically when isaac was weaned according to ancient days that would be from the age of 18 months two years to five years old depending on the child there would be a celebration in order and that would signify to all of those around family and friends that this little one had grown to a place where he can now eat at the table he can now eat table food and doesn't have to be taken care of or nurtured or if you will by his mother or the one that's taken care of him in that particular celebration hagar and ishmael are there and something begins to happen in the family something begins to transpire in the family hagar and ishmael they are sent away from the family and they are separated from their home once again the angel lord finds her and he was very true to his first encounter el roi was there he saw her he knew where she was it was this that happened unto her and the bible is very specific how that even when he she was told to go away with her son she was simply doing what she was told to do but the angel once again finds her and establishes with her i told you from the get-go i see every step that you're taking i know where you are and what you're going through according to that god provided for ishmael and hagar just as he promised genesis 22 listen to this came to pass after these things that god did tempt abraham and said unto him abraham and he said behold here i am and he says in verse 2 take now thy son thine only son isaac whom thou lovest get me into the land of moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which i will tell thee of wait a minute just a moment time out pause isaac was a promise from god to abraham and now god wants abraham to destroy his promise god was tempting abraham with an incredibly difficult test abraham and isaac according to the scriptures you can read in the first part of genesis here they did exactly what they were supposed to do understand abraham knew what was at stake isaac was simply doing what he was told to do he was carrying what he was instructed to carry he was making the steps forward just like his dad was telling him and lo and behold the bible says that they found the place that god had directed them they went into the mountain to build an altar and to make a sacrifice abraham was willing to follow through as far as it took him he knew that if i tie him up he knew that if he laid him upon the altar and he put the wood and whatever was required that when he raised his hand to kill that child he was doing everything that god told him to do imagine what isaac felt why am i paying the price for my father's contact with god stay with me somebody listen carefully abraham looked lifted up to his eyes genesis 22 and 13 says and looked and behold and be behold behind him a ram caught on a thicket by his horns abraham went took the ram offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son and abraham called the name of that place jehovah jireh as it is said to this day in the mount of the lord it shall be seen abraham was about to take the life of his son isaac but we all know the story how that when he raised up the knife to slay him the angel of the lord spoke and stopped him don't do that stop i want you to know that i believe in your faith in me therefore i'm going to provide for you a sacrifice and when he did it was at that place that abraham the father stood with isaac his son and he simply said to him i told you that god himself would provide a sacrifice it is that place stay with me that abraham named jehovah jireh in the term that is spelled out here at this location the term simply means god sees and provides so as with hagar to the toughest moment of her life she called unto god the god elroy who sees me abraham in the toughest test calls the name of the place jehovah jireh god sees me and provides for me as we sit in this room with a world full of questions and problems life situations are tough i am still convinced that the god of abraham isaac and jacob is still on the throne and he still sees where you are every moment of every day i want you to know he knows where you are right now he knows the road you have walked to this place he can provide for you he sees you he knows what's transpiring in your life say with me this whole story in the old testament is a simple reminder for us in the biggest challenges and trials and tests of our life god does see us he knows what is needed at all times he has the capability to provide for every situation does it mean that you are exempt from pain and suffering no it doesn't mean that you will never make a bad choice no it doesn't it simply means god sees you and if god can see you god can get to you and if god can get to you god can pull you through your life right now may be a big mess in 2020. i heard the other day that for those who purchase 2020 calendars you may want to get your money back and we're all wondering what will happen in 2021 i've come to tell you god sees us right now when i look at the story of hagar i am astounded at the fact that she had nothing to do with what transpired in her life she simply yielded to what her master had told her to do and when she did it there was contempt that came to her there was contempt that came to sarah her boss and at that moment something had to be dealt with and even listen carefully please even though humanity had caused the pain and suffering in her life and she had to flee from what she knew as the day in and day out normal and right and good when she was there brother samuel in that place of loneliness and being apart from everything that she'd ever known it was still the angel of the lord that came to her and said god sees you god knows where you are and even though the one who told you what to do and the one that committed to do it did it unto you you need to understand something there's still the rule of god is bigger than any mountain god has the ability to move any situation no circumstance is too difficult for your god if you can simply believe and trust lord if i keep moving forward if i keep moving forward i believe beyond the shadow of a doubt though hell raise up its wall against me i can still call on the name of the lord and you see me and if you see me i don't want you to see me god down in a crouch position weak and weary i want you to see me god with an expectation all hell broke loose but i'm still worshiping the one true god everything appears to be against me but i still believe in the power of a risen savior somebody in this room right now your life has fell apart and you've been dealt one of the most difficult blows of your whole life and you wonder i didn't deserve this what did i do wrong and for whatever reason you're here today and you're trying to drag your mess from point a to point b i've come to tell you god sees you god sees you he knows where you are he knows what you're wearing today he knows your state of mind he knows what's going on in you he knows exactly what you need at this moment i've said this multiple times over the last several weeks and even months of what's happening in our world today i do not have a lot of answers i still right now cannot even fathom in my mind somebody's easy answer to a child unwanted is take its life makes no sense to me makes no sense to me you tell me that's not a life you tell me that's not a life i don't have answers it's beyond me brother roger how some folk are making decisions and choices today and they don't realize that they're going to pay for those choices because the drug they're putting in their vein or the alcohol they're putting down their throat or the lifestyle they're living is causing them to have regrets and the rewind button in their mind that's going to play over and over and over and over again even though they're delivered from it the good old enemy that you try to run from every day knows that in a moment he can step in and bring that back to you and it'll cause you to fall flat of your faith that's why hear me that's why on a sunday when the power of the holy ghost is moving in a room that you as a child of god full of the holy ghost and power all you can do is get to an altar weeping and crying why because one more time you failed you messed up you hit the ground why because of choices you made in times past but i've come today to tell somebody in the presence of the lord there is fullness of joy at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore he knows where you are right now and just like hagar said just like abraham said god sees and he provides your life right now may be a huge mess and it might not be your fault even in that place god sees god sees there are many of you right now in this room brother jerome would you come please and the only thing you need to do right now in this place is decide lord every promise in the book is mine every chapter every verse every line and i'm trusting in your love divine because every promise in that book is mine and i am convinced that some of you in this room right now the lord god has brought you here on this sunday afternoon and ten minutes after five and what you need to do is simply stand to your feet set down all the junk and the garbage and the trash that you've been hauling around with you lay it down and run to an altar and get back into the presence of jesus i am 100 convinced that all of the situations and circumstances in your life right now hear me can be dealt with with one mention of the name that is above every name jesus i am convinced that the pain and the suffering in your body from the cancer from the illness or from the disease at one mention of the name jesus with faith in that name that a miracle can transpire at the twinkling of an eye right now you could stand up and god can heal you and make you completely whole but it ain't gonna happen if you sit back with doubt and fear and you whine and complain and get up under a tree like hagar did and say i've just come out here to die some of y'all need to shake the dust out of your spiritual ear and hear the angel of the lord saying hey what are you doing out here i'm running because of this this and that i didn't have nothing to do with it i don't know why i'm here i'm simply just trying to survive and the angel lord saying did not i tell you that i see everything that you're going through i saw when you messed up i was there when you got on the floor i was there when you said what you shouldn't have said but for some reason you keep doubting me you need to know if you get up there's a blessing in front of you stand with me all over the shrimp please you need to know god sees god sees and with all the answers you don't have with all the questions that you do have there is one thing that can handle every single one of them and that is making your home in an altar when god tested abra abraham what do you think god was doing do you think for a moment that god doubted abraham's love abraham's commitment brother lorenzo i don't think god ever doubted it i think what god was doing was showing abraham his love and showing isaac his son his daddy's love so that when isaac stood up there and watched the blood from that ram flow he said daddy i wasn't sure how this was going to turn out and i don't mind telling you i was sweating a bit i didn't hear no voice from god all i did was say yes dad i'm with you i had nothing to do with none of this i mean all i did was carry it up here and ask a couple dumb questions i got it we got wood we got fire i don't know where the sacrifice is and dad all you said was simply this my god shall supply himself he'll make it and when we got up here and you pulled that rope out and started tying me up dad i don't mind telling you i was a bit nervous but when i looked you in the eye daddy i didn't see a bit of hesitation i didn't see a bit of shaking all i saw was a man that said if god told me to do it i'm gonna do it therefore when that ram began to wrestle around in the thicket i gotta believe brother justin that it was isaac's face that first one cause abraham had no doubt wait right there buddy who here ran me rammy i don't know how you call a ram here little rammy guy no uh isaac let me show you i'm going to show you the power of an altar help me buddy oh god jehovah this is jira you saw me come up the mountain you released the ram on the other side to come up while i was bringing my boy up this side isaac listen to me the spirit of the lord is in this place can you feel it buddy daddy'll never doubt god's a provider why son because i might never died on this altar but god provided the ram needed for the sacrifice somebody better hear what the preacher says today your life right now you're juggling this big old contorted mess of things that's going on bad choices messed up mind intentions world going crazy don't know what to do you're in the right place today for where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty listen to me if the eye is on the sparrow every day if the eye of the lord is upon the little every day just think of what his plan is for you some of y'all need to run to this altar right now and decide lord this is where i need to be i know that there is glory in the presence of the lord i seek your presence lord in my life i know that you're a god that sees and you know where i am right now that's right it's prayer time in the church come on god knows everything you've been through he's been god the whole time he knows your disappointment he knows your discouragement he's been there every step of the way his eye is on you god sees you you see that's right that's right let worship come out come on release worship right now come on release it right now god if i've ever doubted you i'm sorry yes if i've ever questioned your lord please forgive me i believe you've got the answer for me lord i believe you are the answer yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah that's right come on weak tears of repentance we tears of joy come on let the spirit of god do its work in your life it's sunday evening you're in the altars this is the safest best place you can find yourself come on some of you are carrying burdens around that you don't need to carry some of you are walking through valleys and through trials and you wonder where god is i've come to encourage you god is god and he's still in control and he still sees you where you are come on pray that's right come on lift your voice to the lord he's a god that heals he's a god that delivers he's a god that makes a way he's a god that makes a way yeah yeah come on rejoice in the lord rejoice come on rejoice in the lord i love you jesus you are the god that sees your elory you are jehovah jireh you are everything jesus you are everything come on won't you reach out and pray for somebody close by you there come on get out of your comfort zone help somebody realize in their trials and in their test god is still god in their life god can't heal in the midst of all of this god can shine light in the middle of all of it come on that's right we need one another come on there's healing in this place there's deliverance in this place the spirit of the lord is moving in this house that's right get a hold of somebody pray with them god of glory moving their life touch them jesus where they are touch them jesus where they are whatever they're going through i believe you're a god that sees you know what's going on you know the road you know the path you're very aware of it jesus you're very aware of a god and you've already made a way you've already made a way that's right that's right that's right press through come on let worship erupt i've come to love you jesus i've come to worship you jesus come to bless your name come to love your name hallelujah that's right that's right come on the answer is in jesus the answer is in the cross restore to me the joy of salvation let me find happiness again in you joy in you a smile and use contentment in you believing in you even in all the problems and the things that can happen i need you jesus holy oh that's right that's right come on pray come on pray get ahold of heaven i've come to love you lord i've come to bless your name jesus i'm coming back to you jesus i'm running to you jesus i must have you in my life jesus yes i must have you in my life jesus hallelujah hallelujah the name of jesus jesus holy god holy god i need you jesus i trust in you lord please understand church at home you can make an altar on your job you can make a place of prayer you can ask him to forgive you of your wrongdoings and your sins he is able to forgive you you can give your life to him and watch it unfold as day in and day out you allow him to work in you he sees you for some of us i realize that's a scary thought for fear of what he might see what if it were to be a positive thought knowing that he's always watching you for the next 30 seconds every hand in this place to heaven please every face look into heaven eyes wide open and just thank him for his mercy and his everlasting love come on thank him lift your voice open your mouth lift your voice to the lord i love you i thank you come on 25 more seconds i love you jesus i believe in you i want you to see me i want you to know me come on 20 more seconds that's right lift a voice to heaven lift a voice to heaven jesus you're good you're holy perfect righteous come on 15 more seconds as loud as you can give him praise lift worship under the throne i believe in you i believe in you come on 10 more seconds worship that name you're a holy god you're a perfect god you do everything perfect and right five more seconds come on just as loud as you can lift honor and glory to the king hallelujah holy is your name holy is your name holy is your name jesus i love you lord pray with me church lord we thankful for your faithfulness to us i thank you lord for every heart and every home every individual life represented in this place today lord as we go our separate ways from this place we go lord with an expectancy that at any moment we could forever be with you together in the air this week god let us never forget you see us you see us jehovah jireh you see us and you provide pray lord god that an anointing and an unction lord would touch every individual here that we would constantly fall in love with you and with anticipation we'd live our lives according to your will i love you i bless your name i worship you forever give him a handclap of praise good job i love you jesus