Creflo Dollar - Holy Spirit The Agent of Change
God know how to get you where you're supposed to be. If he gotta allow you to fall in the deepest ditch you ever fell. in and then when he gets you out, you so grateful you say, "All right, God, I surrender. I'll do whatever need to be done". And a lot of times we don't realize that the stuff we go through is just training ground for where we're supposed to be. Glory be to God. So whatever you're going through, be like Paul said. Learn how to be content in any situation because you never can tell when you might have to go pick that file up and say, "Whoa, now I know why I had to go through that. I understand that", amen?
Can you be easily a person that will yield? Will you yield? Will you yield? Put him in front, follow him. Rather than you stepping out with caution, let me see what's gonna happen, you know. I'm gonna start this new job. Well, is the Holy Spirit out in front? Or is this just something you wanna do because you've compared yourself with somebody else that's doing it and so you think you wanna give it a try. Ain't no Holy Ghost nowhere in that.
Now, it might have been for somebody else but he ain't leading you in that direction. That's the problem with comparing. You're comparing somebody who heard from the Holy Spirit, who yielded to the Holy Spirit, and you like the outcome so you kind of deceive yourself into thinking, "Well, maybe I'm hearing the same thing". No, you're not. You see, revelation from God to you is revelation from God to you. But I don't need to try to copy your revelation 'cause he spoke that to you, not me. And I can't tell you the number of lives I've seen destroyed trying to copy something that the Holy Ghost is not in front of in your life. He was in front there. It's not this thing, go, "Well, let me try it. I can always back up". You can but why go somewhere and get beat up real bad only to come back and say, "That ain't it"? You follow what I'm saying?
The Holy Spirit out in front of you. You know, you're thinking, "Well, he's an unseen partner. How am I gonna know all that"? See, this is the part where your fellowship time comes in. This is the part where spending time with him, the more and more you spend time in that Word, the more and more you spend time hearing his voice, the more and more you spend time in that Word, his voice becomes clearer, the more and more you spend time in that Word, and then just happens. And before you know it, you're having a conversation where you're speaking to him but, watch this.
Now, he's speaking to... well, he's always speaking. You're now picking up the transmission. Before, he was speaking but you wasn't picking up the transmission. Your mind was too cluttered, your spirit was too cluttered, you couldn't hear because of all of the clutter that was going on, a lot of static what was going on. But there needs to be a place that each of you can go to, a private place, a quiet place, where you can read your Word, let the Word begin to speak to you.
"The interest of his Word brings light", and all of a sudden now, something pops in your heart. Something pops in your mind, like, "Oh, never had that thought before". And then it gets bigger every day and then you start seeing things and then it becomes very clear. "Oh my God, I'm really convinced that I should to step out on this. The Holy Spirit's already in front of it. He's the one that talked to me about it. He's the one that begin to show me these things. He's the one that's opening the door". And then you take those five areas to test it to make sure you're hearing right and you can start living life as a barefooted priest as he's leading and guiding you to places so when you get there, now don't get it twisted. You get there.
They say, "How you got there"? "Well, I read five books and I did all this". No, you started off absolutely clueless and your partner stepped in front of you and said, "Follow me. This is the way. Walk therein". Are you kidding me? The things that I didn't know, I just didn't know. I didn't know what to do and I made my mind up that I was gonna trust the Spirit of God.
I think I shared with you this story right before I got the clarity of the vision of World Changers. I can remember about a week before that, I had promised God, "Please make me a barefooted priest. I don't wanna do nothing unless you lead me to do it". And I was praying one afternoon and God said, "Get up, go and get in your car, and I will give you directions to where I want you to be". So I, literally, regardless of what anybody thought about it, I got up, got in my car, backed up. "Where do you want me to go"? "Turn right". I mean, I was hearing this in my Spirit. "Turn left". And I get to an intersection. "Where do you want me"? "Turn right". And as I followed the instructions, it led me to the parking lot of the church that I was attending.
So I pulled in the parking lot. I said, "What do you want me to do, Lord"? He said, "Turn the car off and sit". And I said, now here's the grace temptation. I turned the car off and I just sat there. Now, the temptation was for me now to fill in the blanks. Not to hear from him, to fill in the blanks. Now, I'm at the flashing light, proceed with caution. And he told me, the last thing he said, was "Sit". And so I saw somebody walk down there. I said, "Maybe God brought me up there to witness to them". No, sit. "Well, maybe God brought me up there, this guy's just walking out the church to lay hands on him so he can get healed". No, sit.
Then it began to get dark. And then, he said, "Crank the car up and go home". I'm, like, "Whoa, that's the biggest waste of time ever". What? Go home? I'm having this real dramatic fellowship with you and I'm in a parking lot of the church I attend and I'm thinking some big Moses event getting ready to happen. You know, maybe the hedges are gonna get on fire and it's a burning bush and you'll say, "Creff-loooow". None of that. "Crank the car up, go home". So I did. Cranked the car up, go home. And I'm like, "What was that all about"?
The next week when I was on my knees, my eyes were open but I saw these figures walking across my face. They were stick human, you know, like those stick people who can't draw, we do a stick. The arm stick, leg stick, and a round bubbly head, right? It was walking back and forth in my vision but, in the round area, there was, "In all thy getting, get understanding". And I'm thinking, like, you know, "What is happening"? And as I sat there, then he took me from that point vision into a club where I saw a relative in the club and began to speak to me. He had to do that because, he says, "Now, when you see that this is true, then you'll see what I just showed you is true".
And then I think I told you the whole story about what happened there and all of it turned out to be true. I heard what was going on, I saw what was going on, all that kind of stuff. And when it was confirmed, God was, like, saying, "So now all the other stuff is from me as well. And I would not have been able to trust you with this vision if you were not willing to obey me last week". Now it made sense. Was I willing to put him in front so he could do what he needed to do with this ministry? I was clueless.
Somebody says, "Well, what do you do to have a worldwide ministry"? Are you kidding me? I don't have a clue. You put him in front and you follow him. Really? You thought we had a little booklet somewhere with all this stuff in it? The guy that baptized me in a swimming pool after Bible study one night, baptized me, brought me up and saw all of this. And when he started telling me, I laughed. I'm, like, "Dude, I don't even know what you've been smoking but that ain't never gonna happen". He didn't miss it not one bit. I had to go up at another church and a friend of mine was pastoring the church in East Point and he called me up and he just prophesied over my life.
He says, "I see you like a bird flying over the ocean". And he said, "It's a steel bird". And I'm like, "What is he talking about"? Then he says, "Whoa, what you saw in that bubble", don't nobody know that but God. The steel bird is gonna take you all over the ocean to distribute it. You don't make that up. You have to be easy to being treated. Are you willing to put him in front and follow him? That was not my plans. That is not what I wanted to do. But he got in front. And since I didn't know what I was gonna do, I followed him. Because I tried to do my dream, it didn't work. I had to be delivered from every plan I had and when I didn't have nothing else left, it all failed, it was him.
Even I remember rebelling against that, decided when God told me to do this, "No, I'm gonna be the 'Rocky' story, I'm gonna be the comeback story of the year. I'm going back here to make it happen", and God says, "I only will allow you to do it if you will make a covenant with me that no matter what happens, you will not quit until the season's over with". It's the worst, most embarrassing season I've had. It was my wilderness experience. After it was over with, I said, "Lord, I'm ready to follow you. What do you want me to do"? That's not just my life. That's the life of every person in here, having an opportunity to yield to the Holy Spirit. He knows what he's given you. He knows what he's promised you and he has a path for each of you to take.
Here is the way: walk therein. Are you willing to yield to this unseen partner? He is more real than the person seated next to you right now. You can't see him like you see the person next to you right now but he is just as real and he's ready to take you on an adventure of a lifetime. And I prophesy that in 2020 you're gonna have such clarity that you're gonna be able to yield to the Holy Spirit and he's gonna take you to the surprises of your life and you'll understand what Taffi preaches. You'll come to the place where you will know the God of the surprise is in ahead of you. He's ahead of you. He's ahead of you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
So, man, that blessed me, just to recall all that. That blessed me. Learn to yield to his voice. Don't wait for a lightning bolt, don't listen for his voice in a clap of thunder. Don't look for a magical, mystical, deep, ooh-ah, revelation. The Holy Spirit lives inside you. He lives inside you. Think about that moment how loud that voice can be on the inside of you. Think about when you can recall when he spoke something that was so, so very clear. But the one thing I want you to understand there, it can only be as loud as anything else you hear in your inner ear.
The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you and you need to learn to yield to him. Well, how do you know when you are yielding to the Holy Spirit? We talked about what are the safeguards, but how do I know if I'm yielding to the Holy Spirit? Well, the Holy Spirit will never tell you to do something, once again, that's contrary to the Word of God. He'll never tell you to do something contrary to the sound principles from the Word of God. That's not gonna happen. For example, how can someone say the Holy Spirit was telling him to get a different wife while he's married? That clearly contradicts the Bible.
I really despise when somebody comes up to me and they say, you know, "Well, this is why I wanna get a divorce. I love her but I was never in love". I should not break your face. What? What? And you only say that because you done found a side piece. I can't believe I just said that but you understand what I'm saying. I mean, when you start talking like that, it's like, I just wanna ask you, "Well, what's their name"? You know, "I love her but I'm not", and emphasis, "in love". What are you talking about? That's the difference between "I love her", and now real life has kicked in and you now see what your emotional lives are like and you now see it's not a movie and a fairy tale.
You see that real stuff takes place. You have real-life arguments. In real life, you get on my last nerve. In real life, all of that stuff, but at the end of the day, you don't wanna live with nobody else but that person. That ain't the Holy Spirit telling you that. That's not the, and it ain't never the Holy, you're living with somebody and talking about, "Well, I was praying this morning". Tell your wife the Holy Spirit told you that. You know the Holy Ghost didn't tell you that. Go to your wife and say, "Hey, baby, I was praying this morning and the Holy Ghost told me I need to go to get a new wife". She won't be talking in tongues. She'll be talking in another tongue. You understand?
But believe it or not, there are people in the body of Christ, they play these games and you need to understand. Years ago, when we were over in the chapel, and there was some dude that came. He had, like, a Robin cape on. It wasn't even a Batman cape. It was like a Robin cape. Little short cape, you understand? And this dude came over. Well, first of all, he sent a letter in my mailbox and he says, "The Lord told me that you need to have me to speak in your church and, if you don't, by Sunday you will die". I'm thinking, "You picked the wrong one". And then he had enough nerves every other day to drop another letter in with a countdown. "Three more days". "Two more days". "One more day".
I'm just thinking, "It's not gonna happen". I wanted to find out who he was and write back and say, "And it also says if you're a prophet and you prophecy something that doesn't come to pass, you're a false prophet". So anyway, the dude came to the church on Sunday. And the choir stand was up there and we was preaching in the choir stand so he sat on the front row and I figure, "Well, yeah, he can sit here just as long as, you know, it ain't gonna be nothing if you don't do nothing". Cause I really wasn't that saved back then, you understand?
I didn't know nothing about no grace and all that stuff. Fruit of the Spirit, I thought that was a joke, you understand? And I'm, like, "What is up with this dude"? I mean, and it was all based in fear. Uh-oh, you're gonna fall dead because you don't let him preach. And I think he thought, well, I was gonna be in fear and I was gonna just turn to him and say, "Hey, Prophet, you know, I don't wanna fall dead. C'mon and preach". Get a life. Are you kidding me? The only thing... nothing bad... when I fall dead, the only... it's great. Why? 'Cause I'm in heaven. It might not be good for my assignment but I'm in heaven. And I'm more sure about that today than I ever been 'cause Jesus is my Lord, amen? And my name is in the Lamb's book as of today. And I made Jesus Lord of my life to keep my name in the book. Mm-hm?
Don't you let no silly little Oyedepo person come and tell you that the Holy Spirit said something. They lie and you can test it out. "He said something? Show it to me in the book". "Well, it might not be in the book but he said that" ah, that ain't it. We gotta stop all that. And we've got to be intelligent enough to know the voice of the Holy Spirit and know when somebody's playing around with a pretense that they all into God like that. No, that ain't how that work.
And so, those were things, that's just one example about the marriage part. It's just not something that the Holy Spirit is ever gonna be involved in and even with people who do get divorces, you know, it's not to condemn anybody, but I'm sure even people who are divorced realize they can look back now and say, "Had I understood the things I did not understand, then maybe I could have let the selfish part of me die and work and do what needs to be done", you know? And then some people just can't. Just thank God for the grace of God that allows us to keep going, amen?
Your life is not stuck because you got a divorce but it's never the Holy Spirit, please, lead you and it's never the Holy Spirit, oh, unless, of course, you're getting your brains beat out every day and you're under tremendous amount of abuse and somebody's busting you in the head with a bat. "Hey, honey", bam. It probably would be the Holy Spirit that says, "Get your tail out there now", okay? 'Cause if you don't hurry up and let the Holy Spirit get in front, Satan will. Kill that joker.
Taffi and I don't advocate abuse of any kind. I don't advocate ever telling somebody to stay in an abusive relationship, never. I apologize. "Well, the Bible says", I know exactly what the Bible says. God hates divorce. He also hates abuse. Yeah, some guy abusing you because he don't like his self and he gotta come and abuse you and you've got to have more value, you've got to consider yourself valuable. Oh, Lord, you really want me to say that? Oh, man, here we go again. Oh, God, here it goes. Ladies, you keep giving it up too quick and you're showing how you value yourself. And you gotta quit giving up the cookie like that. You value yourself enough not to share the cookie until you have a legal right to eat the cookie. You understand what I'm saying?
I'm trying to, and it's just in this day and time you meet 'em, you like 'em, and you sharing the cookie. And so it's like you're easy and you're also communicating you don't really value yourself and you know what's attractive to a man? Meeting a woman who values herself enough not to share the cookie with you no matter how bad you want it. And if you give a threat to leave, then just go on. But if you really love me, 'cause I value myself and I can't let you devalue me and then leave me in a devalued position. Okay, so I'm not a Volkswagen that you get to test drive. I'm a Rolls Royce that you can only look at. We don't have no courage for you to be test driving no Rolls Royce. Just chill with that.
"Well, I got to do something. I've got to give up the cookie 'cause I'm 40 and my clock ticking and if I'm gonna get a man then I can't do the old-fashioned thing and not give up the cookie". You've been listening to a lie. You've been listening to a lie. Because if he won't wait, you don't want him because he's gonna eventually leave anyway. He'll find a reason to leave anyway. But you keep giving him the whole cow and if you keep giving him the whole cow, then he gonna keep milking the whole cow until you're so devalued that you feel like there's no one else that will ever wanna have anything to do with you so you're willing to continue to devalue yourself just so you can have somebody.
Honey, I'd rather be by myself. I really believe that was for somebody. I just came off the hook and just heard that and I'm, like, "Stop it". Stop it. You cherish your body, you cherish all the beauty of that body, and you cherish it. And it is not to just be handed out to anybody 'cause they say, "I love you". When they say, "I love you", say, "Prove it". Let the tree bring forth the fruit. Every good tree bringeth forth what? Good fruit. Let me see your fruit, bruh. I love you. It can't just be in words. Show me. Show me if you love me or not. The Holy Spirit will lead you through those relationship things if you put him up front. But if you put the guy in ahead of the Holy Spirit, you know what you'll end up doing? "Yeah, I hear you, Holy Spirit. Hush". Let him go. He will lead you to the perfect mate, someone that you would love to be with and vice versa.
If you just stop spending all your time doing something that the Holy Spirit is very qualified in doing. If you send him in front of you, then you'll know it. Holy Ghost say, "Look at that", and you're like, "Ah". And he's doing the same thing, you know, "Look at her". "Ah". Don't tell me won't happen. Happened to me. I was walking down the thing going to my college classes and the Holy Spirit said, "Look to the right". And there was Taffi and she was looking at me too. I didn't know she was looking at me too 'til later on she told me. She probably trying to act like she wasn't looking at me, but she know she caught me out the corner of the eye.