Creflo Dollar - How to Experience The Presence of God - Part 2
Look at Saint John 16:31-32, in the NLT. Jesus really believed, while he was on earth, he really believed that he was never alone. I got that revelation, man. It took over four years, but I got it: I am never alone. I used to hate bein' by myself, but I got a revelation, I'm never alone. Look at this. This is so interesting here. "Jesus asked, 'Do you finally believe? But the time is coming, indeed it's here now, when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.'" That's what we gotta get to: "I'm not alone because the Father is with me," an invitation for an intimate relationship, "the Father is with me". And he promised he would never leave me nor forsake me, but that's not a reality in most Christians' life. That's just a little "quote". I'm never alone. For real, I'm never alone. The Father is with me. But never alone, never alone. You know, there are four beliefs that are key to learning and experiencing intimacy with God. Here are four things I think you need to believe if you're gonna get to this place of having intimate relationship with God.
Number one, you gotta believe that God is interested in you. Do you believe that "God is interested in me"? Yes, he is. Yes, he is. God's interested in you. Every last one of you in here, God is interested in you. Say out loud, "God is interested in me". That's where this intimacy will begin to start between you and God when you start believing that "God's interested in me. God's interested in me". You remember when you were in elementary school, the high school, and you see a little girl over there that you like? You know, I thank God for sisters 'cause I could ask my sister, "Go over there and see if she's interested in me". And when I found out she was interested in me, then I can make my move. I'm telling you right now, God is interested in you. Make your move, make your move. God's interested in you.
Number two, here's what you need to believe in order to experience this intimate relationship with God: "I can be completely truthful with God. I believe I can be completely truthful with God". There are some things that you will tell God that you'll never tell anybody else. "I can be completely truthful with God". Now, think about it: If you try to lie to God, he God. He already knows a lie. "I can be completely truthful with God". Say that out loud, "I can be completely truthful with God". That starts this intimacy. Listen what you're doin'. You're opening up, and you're letting him in to see. He already know it, but the fact that you did it because you wanted to do it. "I can be completely intimate with God. I opened up, and I let God see it".
You can go before God and say, "God, I am selfish". I did that one time. I recognized, "Oh, my goodness, you know, what's goin' on? Why am I not happy here or happy there? Because I'm selfish". You can be completely intimate with God: "I am selfish. I am bullheaded. I am mean. I am disrespectful". You might not say those things around people you know, but you can be completely truthful with God, and God says, "Oh, wow, you were willing to let me in". That's how he sees it, a willingness to respond to the interest he has in you. And there's some truth that you need to go before God and tell him. There are some things you may not ever utter to a counselor, to a friend, to a relative, but you have God. Be completely truthful to him.
Number three, here's another thing you gotta believe: "I can be vulnerable with God". That's kind of like what we talked about there. I can be vulnerable with God. Vulnerability is really a nakedness. It's letting somebody in to see what others don't get an opportunity to see. It's exposing yourself, and when you expose yourself, it could be dangerous 'cause, dependin' on who you expose yourself to, could come back and bite you and hurt you and betrayed you. That's why you've got to know the difference between a Facebook friend and a real friend. That's why you've gotta know the difference between an associate and a friend. You don't take somebody you met yesterday and invite them in the holies of holies behind your curtain. You don't know them. You don't even know about them. Quit bein' so gullible. "Well, we Christians, and they Christians, so we ought to get together behind the holies of holies". You ain't even comin' in my holy place. In fact, you ain't even comin' in the yard. I don't know you like that. You don't call nobody your friend.
What have they done to give you the advantage? What do you know about them? Where is their willingness to open up with you? Other than that, if you're always giving and never receiving, you're in a toxic relationship. But are you willing to be vulnerable with God? He's not gonna hurt ya. He's not gonna betray you. He's not gonna expose you. That's somebody you can go and be vulnerable with, but are you willin' to do that? Because, until you're willing to be vulnerable with God, you're never gonna experience intimacy with God. While you fix it up when you're talkin' to humans, with God, you don't fix nothin' up. "Ain't no good, God, and I ain't tellin' you nothin' you don't know". Do you understand what happens when you become vulnerable with God? You begin to experience all of the blessings from him to help fix those things that you became vulnerable about.
Was that number three or four? Number four, "I gotta believe that God's gonna empower me. Especially when I'm vulnerable, I gotta believe he's gonna empower me. I gotta believe that this relationship with God is gonna empower me," and I believe that. I believe that whatever God wants me to do, he empowers me to do it, and I don't have to show off or be arrogant with it or braggadocious about it. God empowers me to do it, and I give him the glory. Do you believe that God will empower you? Do you believe that, whatever it is that God's called you to do, that he can empower you to do it? He can empower you to be a great student. He can empower you to be an amazing father, an amazing mother. He can empower you to do this.
Boy, I wish I'd have known that. I wish I'd have known to depend on God to empower me to make the right decisions, to do the right things, to be where I needed to be instead of bein' all over the world, tryin' to save everybody else. An empowerment, and, yet God has empowered me, even through my mistakes, to help other fathers to be better than what I was, to help other men to be better than what I was. See, you've got to learn how to come out of every crappy situation with wisdom. Don't ever come out of trouble with no wisdom. Don't ever come out of a hard time with no wisdom. Don't ever come out of bein' broke with no wisdom. Don't ever come out of a divorce with no wisdom. You ought to be smarter as a result of the desert you've gone through. You will not be the same. You will not be dumber.
"I've gone through some stuff. I am smarter". But now you've got to learn how to divorce yourself from regret 'cause, you spend all your life regretting something, then you're paralyzed, and you're not moving forward because you're stuck in regret. A relationship with God, an intimate relationship with God will help you to move on 'cause God'll whisper in your ear, "You're spendin' too much time in the past in your head". God'll whisper in your ear, "You're in that ditch too long. I already brought you out of that ditch. You just went and jumped right back in that ditch. Come on, come on, come on, come on". God'll show up and say, "You have spent the last hour thinkin' about somethin' that you're no longer in that same place. You're not even that same person. Why are you beating yourself up about somethin' you can't do nothin' about"?
That's what a relationship with God would do. You don't understand. The relationship with God will tell you, "You're immature". The relationship with God will tell you, "You still hadn't forgiven them. I know you told everybody you forgave 'em, but you ain't forgave 'em". A real relationship with God would say, you know, "Last night, the reason why you dreamed that you cut that person was because you still", you've got deep issues on the inside about, you goin' around, "I ain't got no issues. I ain't got", it's just like if I came and slapped you, and you'll say, "That didn't hurt," and you know it hurt. I tore your face up. "That didn't hurt. That didn't hurt".
See, a intimate relationship with God will show you some stuff, and that's where we're failing. We have settled in the ditch of deception, and because we don't know God and we don't believe God, we don't hear from God, and now we're stuck, and we're trying to figure out, "God, where are you"? And he's like, "I'm where you should be, but I can't seem to keep you out of your past. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on". And then you're almost like, "No, I don't want to. I need my past". He's like, "Come on, what I have in your future is so awesome that it's gon' wipe out the past". See, the only place that all of your junk and your nasty still exist is in your memory, and Jesus died and shed his blood so your conscience can be clean so you don't have to walk around in shame and condemnation and all that kind of stuff, and you can go forward, and he's like, "Come on, come on".
See, this is the intimate relationship with God where you can hear him say, "Come on," an intimate relationship with God where he'll say, "I still love you no matter what". Come on, let's go, come on, come on. I needed you to go through that. You wouldn't do what I told you to do, so I stepped back and let you go through it. I got to mature you. I got to train you. I got to build you up, and you're not listenin' to my Word. You're not listenin' to the Scripture. You ain't listenin' to Creflo and them. I'm tryin' to build you up, so I'm steppin' back, and I'm lettin' the world, I'm lettin' the hell, I'm lettin' all that stuff that you think you wanna go through, I'm gon' let it shape you and mold you, and then, "Come on".
Oh, I'm talkin' to somebody in here this mornin'. I don't know whose it is I'm talkin' to 'cause ain't none of this is written down. You've got to mature. In order to do what God put you here for, he gotta mature you, so don't be depressed over everything you go through. Learn how to rejoice that you got through it, and then, when you're through that, it's gon' be some more. And you're through that, he'll bring you some more. Somebody said, "Dang, how much more I got to go through"? Honey, if you're goin' through a lot, you must be preparin' for a big thing that God has called you to, but I can assure you right now, God does not and will not allow you to go through stuff, glory be to God, and not be ready to show you why and to use you and to cause you to impact lives like never before.
Honey, the best you has yet to be seen, hallelujah. I say, the best you is yet to be seen, glory to God. Wait until God finishes with you. It's like that old song. I believe it was James Cleveland, "Please be patient with me, God is not through with me yet. When God gets through with me, I shall come forth as pure gold". So quit complainin' about what you're goin' through like you got a right to complain. You gotta mature. Don't nobody wanna hear, every time you look around, "Well, hey, how're ya doin' today"? "Well, it happened again". Well, you must not have gotten the lesson the first time. Sometimes people gotta take the test three or four times before they can pass it. You should've passed it the first time 'cause he says, "I will not allow you to be tested above your ability to pass". And he says, "If the test gets too rough, I'll pull ya out".
So the only reason you don't pass the test is 'cause you didn't want to. "Now, I don't know about this. I don't know about this, Lord. I hear what Taffi and them was sayin' the other day, but I don't know about this, you know, the Lord is in this house. Where you at, Lord? Where you at"? Heh, are y'all listenin' to me this mornin'? This is weird thing. There's a strange thing goin' on here this mornin'. God's tryin' to prepare you. God has you, you're a remnant that he has kept away for a time such as this. A lot of folks been doin' all their thing, but you showin' up, like you're showin' up right now, and those of you who are still here, you don't understand what God's gettin' ready to do. There is a move of God that's gettin' ready to come forth in the earth, and it's gon' come through you.
It's gonna come through mature people that have made their mind up that "I'm gon' leave God. Come hell or high water, I'm not gon' leave God. Come sickness or pain, I'm not gon' leave God. And my light bill hadn't been paid. My light's off. I'm not gon' leave God. I'm gon' stand here, God. I'm gon' stand here. They can hit me in the left, hit me, but I ain't goin' nowhere God. I'll be with you. I'll stay with you, Lord. I'm gon' see what the end gon' be. I'm not gon' leave you. You've been too good to me, Lord. You've brought me from a mighty long way, God. You've done things that I couldn't do for myself. I'm not gon' leave you. I'm not leavin' you".
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I've already come through coronavirus, through the flu, through cancer. I'm not leaving you. You've never forsaken me. You've never left me. You want me, God. You're interested in me, God. I'm not goin' nowhere. Yeah, it's been rough, but I'm gon' still praise ya. "Yeah, I didn't have enough money to pay my bills, but somehow I keep makin' it. Somehow, it keep workin' out. I'm gon' still praise ya. Yeah, I messed up and got divorced for the second time, but I'm not gon' leave ya. I'm not gon' walk in shame. I'm not gon' walk in guilt. I'll take my medicine. I'm comin' out with some wisdom. I'm better now than I was before. I will not leave you. Hallelujah, not leavin' ya. I'm not runnin' this time. I've spent all my life runnin'. I'm not runnin' this time. I'm gon' stay until I see what the end's gon' be. I know you called me. I know you anointed me. I know you wanna use me. I know you've been maturin' me. I'm not goin' nowhere".
Yeah, you've been hurt, you've been betrayed, you've been disrespected, you've been used, you've been abused, you've been talked about, you've been criticized, but you've gotta make your mind up: "If God be for me, then who can be against me? I'm not goin' nowhere. I'm not goin' nowhere. I don't care how hard it get. I'm not goin' nowhere. You can knock me down, but I'm gon' get right back up, hallelujah. You can steal from me, but he'll give it back to me sevenfold, hallelujah. Sickness can touch my body, but with his stripes, I am healed". Hallelujah, church. Hallelujah, church. Gonna be all right 'cause God's got a plan for your life. God's got a plan for your life, and you are right slap-dab in the middle of somethin' good. Somethin' gettin' ready to happen to you. There is no way that God's gonna take you, allow you to go through all the mess you had to encounter and not be there for a recompense. He's about to recompense you, praise God. There's a payday right around the corner, praise the Lord. Hallelujah, glory to God.
You didn't go through this for nothin'. God's got your back. So until you see what the end gon' be, you need to just keep reminding yourself for every day you get up, "This is the day that the Lord hath made, and I will rejoice. I will rejoice. I'm right in the middle of a mess, but I will rejoice and be glad in it because the Lord is good". No, he not gon' let you go through stuff without sprinkling some goodness on the way. He got ya, he got ya, but don't quit. Don't turn back to the world. Not now. You've been through too much to turn back now. You've been through much training. You almost finished with the course to turn back now. A lot of people have quit and think they know stuff, but God's preparing you to be that living epistle. They're not gon' read the Bible, but they'll look at you and start reading you.
And here's the thing: You just, especially with people you love, you love 'em, and you hate to see what they're goin' through, but they make their choices, and you gotta learn how to rest. You gotta learn how to rest in the promises of God, they're gon' be all right. I pray for 'em. They're gon' be all right. I speak good over 'em. They gon' be all right. It might not happen when you want it to happen. It'll happen. It'll happen, and then you can sho'nuff cut a rug then. If I see you runnin' around the dome and fallin' out and rollin' around, I'm like, "Oh, she done have a breakthrough. Let her alone". Somebody, say, "She out of order". Oh, no, we out of order for not joining her, praise the Lord, not joining him, praise the Lord.
The Bible, in Luke chapter 10:38-42, he told Martha, he said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried by the details of so many things," 'cause she came in, she said, "You should be concerned that Mary got me in here doin' all this work, and she out there, sittin' down, listenin' to you. I didn't know all y'all greedy disciples would come around here in the first place. I should've known that all the chickens ran away from my house when they saw y'all". Jesus said, "Martha, Martha, Martha, you are worried about many things, but Mary got it". What she is doing is the one thing that every Christian should do: Seek his Word. And Matthew 6:33, says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things, all these other things that you're seeking", what is it that you're seeking but not seeking God?