John Bevere - God, Where Are You?
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Everybody, ah, how is my home church? I was corrected this morning; I have been coming to you for 27 years, and this is one year in 27 years! Can you believe it? I love this day! But can I tell you that I am so, so proud of what God is doing through Inspired Church? I love all the churches. One of the things I love about Inspired is your leaders, Pastor Mike and Lisa, who are some of my dearest friends. They love all the pastors and all the churches in this state, and they want the very best for the Kingdom of God. And that to me—I’m turning 60 this year! I know, I know, I don’t look a day over 80! Anyway, to see that you have become a kingdom person, you know it’s all about the Kingdom.
I just want to say this because they’re not here; they get really embarrassed when I’m with them. They’re the two greatest leaders I know on the planet. And in the town, I’m going to tell you I’m married to a leader, Lisa Bevere. Okay, it is a challenge sometimes when you’ve got two leaders in a household, but you know when you work it out and work together, it produces—it just makes you an unbelievable team. And that’s what you have here: a couple that really loves each other, truly loves their family, loves you, their big family, and loves this state. So never take for granted what God is giving you here. If I can say it, you have Papa Mike, Mama Leaks, and Uncle John’s in the house today.
Okay, he’s here, and that’s probably one of my biggest jobs as Uncle John is to remind you of how blessed you are to have a church like this in this state. I can show you areas of the world, because I go all over the world. Just last month, Lisa and I were in the Middle East, leading in places in Asia and Europe. So I can show you places all over the world that are crying out for a church like this. Don’t ever take it for granted. Amen? And let me say this: I talked to the team the other day, and I made a statement: «This church has not hit its stride.» I didn’t say that empty; that was the Holy Spirit. And can I tell you, that’s for every one of us? You know, I have an aunt who was in a wheelchair for 20 years because she had MS.
You know what she did? It was really quite remarkable; they had special paintbrushes made, and she would hold it with her mouth, and she painted greeting cards. And I think, what could my aunt have done with that kind of inspiration and that kind of determination? What could she have done if her entire body worked? So we think it’s just the head, the pastor—no, no, no, it’s the whole body. So you have not hit your stride yet, and you have your greatest years ahead of you, so let’s look forward to it! I am really excited because I’m sharing with you out of my newest book. It isn’t even released yet, okay? The launch date is Tuesday, so you understand this is a premiere, okay?
I was so excited when I thought, «I get to share this,» really for the first time. I actually did last week, too, but this is the first time I’ve really honed in on what I want to share in this book, and I get to do it in my home church. So I’m just thrilled to be able to share this. I’m going to cover probably one or two chapters, and I’m just going to tell you up front: you guys blew me away! We sent almost 500; they’re gone! Okay, now here’s the deal: they’re gone. You can just go out and get it when we’re done, and I will pay the FedEx shipping, because it’s my fault; it’s my lack of faith. We will pay it back, so you’ll be here next Sunday morning; just pick it up. I’ll tell you about it afterwards, alright? But just for those of you that know Lisa and I and our family: our family has grown! We have two weddings in the fall.
Okay, and so there’s a picture of two of our sons—our second-born son and our fourth son. They got engaged within four days! They said we want to get married right away because our family doesn’t believe in long engagements! And so we’re like, «We’re booked up! Mom and I are booked up! We can’t do this!» They’re like, «We don’t care. We’re doing it!» So one of them actually got married on a Monday night! So anyway, this is our baby Arden’s wedding; he got married on November 18th, and that is his wife, Christian. Now, on the far left are Addison and Giuliana; they have been married for ten years. That’s our oldest son, Addison, who’s the CEO of Messenger International, and he just signed a book contract; his first book is coming out one year from right now! Okay? And it’s amazing! Okay? And then those are our four G-babies.
You say, «What’s a G-baby?» I’m way too young to be a grandpa, so it’s G-daddy! G for short, okay? And then there’s my gorgeous best friend, my wife of 37 years this year! Oh my gosh, I’m so in love with that girl. And then my mom snuck into this one; that’s my 92-year-old mother; she’s as sharp as a tack! You can’t get anything past her. And there’s the one that’s available! Okay? Now I need an Inspire Hawaii daughter-in-law! So, girls, we got Instagram, we got Twitter; that’s boring though; go to Instagram! Pictures can be seen, okay? So anyway, I’m joking; please don’t get me in trouble with my son. And then Ben, there’s Austin and Jessica. Jessica and Austin got married in September, and Jessica’s family—her dad’s been on our board for years—so it was a big party! It really was a big party!
But anyway, that’s my family, my Ohana. And I tell you, the more I get to know my family, the more I love my family, the more I realize how much God loves us. Can you say amen to that? Now, I really want to see God impact your life. I really don’t want to fly all the way over here and just bring you a message. I could be the best communicator on the planet, but if the Holy Spirit doesn’t touch these words, you’re just going to get information. We need transformation! So how many of you can believe? Do you believe this? I want to ask you honestly: the Holy Spirit can change your life forever today. Let me see your hand! Put your other hand up! The Bible says we don’t have because we don’t ask! So we’re in Aspen!
So Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, I’m asking, Lord, you always save your best wine for last. It’s the last service I get to do in Hawaii on this trip! Holy Spirit, I’m asking that you invade this sanctuary—every place that’s watching, whether it’s in Kuwait, or some state in the United States. I’m asking that you invade our sanctuaries and do what you love to do the most: reveal Jesus to us in a way like we’ve never known Him before! And as you do this, take us from glory to glory and face to face! For I’m asking in agreement with everyone who has their hands up that this would be a day our lives would be changed forever as a result of what you do. And we give you all the praise, the glory, the honor, and the thanksgiving. And it is in Jesus' mighty name we pray, and everybody that agrees shouts, «Come on, give Him praise in the back!» Amen!
Thank you, guys; you can be seated. You want to know how gold is purified? It’s ground down, beaten down, then it’s thrown into a furnace, melted down by a 2,000-degree fire. The heat increases, impurities begin to surface that you never saw before—they appear, and you scrape away these impurities, and what are you left with? Refined, pure gold! The trials you face as a human being are through the furnace design to remove the impurities in us. The only thing that remains is what was placed at the core of us—God’s nature and character. Some of you are in the furnace right now, and all you see is the fire. All you feel is the heat. Each day feels like a struggle.
Did you want to give up? You want to hit the snooze button? You want to give up on that marriage? You want to quit that job? Take the easy way out? But you weren’t created for that! You were created with the fire supply for raging! Keep going; it’s always remembered on the other side of pain—joy promised! Alright, I want to open up today by sharing a little bit of my history. I was actually raised in church, and my parents made sure I was there every weekend, but I had no relationship with God whatsoever. And you know in my high school years and college years, people were witnessing to me like crazy, and I just didn’t connect. Alright? I mean, one guy actually witnessed to me for two hours during my freshman year of college, and he told me later, after I got saved, he said, «I left your room literally crying that day because you were so clueless to what I was saying.»
But then what really drew me in was during my sophomore year of college; in my fraternity, one of my fraternity brothers shared with me how God wanted to have an intimate personal relationship with me, and that’s what drew me in. I began to find out, «Hey, wait a minute! God loves me uniquely. He cares for me deeply. He wants to reveal Himself to me! He has actually planned something special for my life that’s unique! He literally wants to make promises to me as any good parent would do with their child!»
And this is what brought me in. I remember when Jesus came into my life and the Spirit of God filled my life, man; His presence was amazing! I mean, I was like, I would just be whispering His name, and bam! He’s there! I remember He was answering prayers in such unique ways that I knew it was Him. I remember one time—this is true—my cassette player was broken in my car. Do you know what a cassette is? Do you know what those are? Okay, good! Yeah, I’m really showing my age right now! So anyway, you know, I’m like, «Lay hands on the sick, and they’ll recover. I’m not—my cassette player is sick!»
So I laid hands on it and I prayed, and God fixed my cassette player, and it never broke again! It was amazing! Right? But then all of a sudden things started changing, and His presence became elusive. I started having some really, really intense questions—questions like these: Why are God’s promises not being fulfilled? I mean, He made me promises, and they’re not being fulfilled! Right now, I’m going in the opposite direction! Why does it seem like I’m going backward? Why does nothing seem to be going right in my life right now? Okay, are we on the same page? God, where are You?
Now, be honest: can anybody relate to this? Can I see a show of hands? Alright, or am I speaking over your head? And if your hand is not raised, it will be raised in a few weeks or months, okay? So just take courage! But you know, I want to talk about this this morning—what in the world was going on? Why was His presence elusive? Why did it seem like I was going backwards? Well, the first thing I need to say is: God does have a plan, a unique plan for every single one of us—not just preachers, for every one of us! The Bible says He created this plan before we were born. But He has a three-step pathway to get us to our destiny, and that three-step pathway is this: number one, He will give us promises! He’ll give us a glimpse of what He’s called us to do.
Somebody says, «Well, I don’t have a glimpse.» Well, the Bible says He rewards those who diligently seek Him in faith—not those who casually seek Him and wonder in doubt. So maybe seek a little more in faith. You understand what I’m saying? But you know, I’m seeking Him. I’m in college, and God started giving me glimpses of what I would do, and you know there is actually—I have it written down and dated 1981—there are things that He said to me and gave me a glimpse of that I didn’t start doing until I was in my 50s! You understand what I’m saying? You tracking with me? So He makes us these promises, and then the next step is the process. I’ve affectionately coined that term as the wilderness, and part of the wilderness is refining, okay?
And the process is important because without going through the process, you don’t have the character to handle the promise. And so once the process is complete, then we move into the promotion, which is the promise fulfilled! So to open up, I want to go to the Apostle Peter. He writes to several provinces in Asia and to us, because there’s no private interpretation of the word of God. You know, anyhow, he opens up his book—I love this—1 Peter chapter 1; he talks about our inheritance in heaven, okay? And you know, I love reading about heaven. I’m reading about a surgeon who died kayaking right now; she’s a New York Times bestseller, and I was reading it before I went to bed last night, and how she was dead for 30 minutes and saw Jesus. Her whole life was reviewed, and all the stuff she went through—she’s a medical doctor and—it’s an amazing book, but I look at that as dessert.
What do I mean by dessert? You can’t live off dessert. I love what these apostles do in their epistles. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they start out by talking about how amazing our inheritance is in heaven—what Jesus has bought for us, right? Like Jude does, he says, «Man, I wanted to write to you about our common salvation, but I have something else I need to write about regarding what you’re going through right now.» This is what Peter kind of does; he opens up by saying, «Man, oh man, I could talk about this and talk about that, but I want to talk about what you’re living through right now.» Does that make sense? So Peter makes this statement: «We have a priceless inheritance, an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you.» Look at this—pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. I love that, don’t you? But then he makes the statement: «In this, you greatly rejoice.»
You know your rich inheritance in heaven, but he says, «Though now,» so here we go: now we’re going to start talking about now. For a little while—let me stop right there. A little while can be three, four, five, six, or seven years. How do I know that? Because the Bible says, «A day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day.» If you divide a thousand years by twenty-four (the number of hours in a day), you get forty-two point six years. So one hour to God is forty-two point six years. That means fifteen minutes of seminary could translate to seven or eight years. Boy, that was good news, wasn’t it? All right, so now for a little while, if need be.
Let me just answer that question: the need is all right. You have been grieved—everybody say «grieved.» That means to cause someone to be sorrowful or distressed. You’ve been grieved by various trials. These trials will show that your faith is genuine; that «genuine» means it’s the means of proving, it’s testing. You’re going to hear that word a lot today, all right? That your faith is genuine; it is being tested. If I say «tested,» as fire tests and purifies gold—wow, that’s good! Though your faith is far more precious—far more precious than mere gold. So you know my plan when I got saved? I thought, «Hey, I was studying engineering at Purdue University. I was actually on the Dean’s List, playing varsity tennis there, and I had already talked to my counselor. My plans were to go to Harvard, get an MBA, go into corporate America, make a lot of money, marry a pretty girl, take three vacations a year, and tithe to my local church.»
That’s how I was going to serve God. But in my twenties, in my fraternity, I was praying and seeking God diligently, and God’s like, «I haven’t called you to the marketplace; I’ve called you to ministry.» Now, let me tell you this—most of us He hasn’t called to full-time ministry; we’ve all been called to ministry; we’re all ministers. But I was going down this path set for me by others and myself, and God was like, «No, no, this is what I’ve called you to do.» So I started getting excited about the ministry, and I thought, «You know what? Since Jesus has come in 1988—it’s 1983—I gotta get moving!» You know, 'cause 1948 Israel became a nation, and Jesus said a generation wouldn’t pass away. I’m like, «Forty years, okay, He’s coming in '88.»
So I’m like, «God, You gotta send me; You called me to preach to the nations, and this has got to get going,» and it wasn’t happening. It seemed like I was going backwards. But one day I’m out praying, and you don’t understand—I worked at a church that had 450 paid employees; it was one of the most well-known churches in America, and I had a very high-profile position. I took care of the pastor; I was his direct assistant and took care of all the guests that came into church. At that time, we just didn’t talk about holiness—we talked about miracles and praying for people, and these are all good things, but we just didn’t discuss holiness. So I’m out praying one day, and the Holy Spirit speaks to me and says, «Son, I’m going to begin to teach you how to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. I’m going to begin to work a work of holiness in your life.»
Oh my gosh, I was so excited! I ran back to the apartment. I walked in, and I remember Lisa was taking off her makeup, getting ready for bed, and I said, «Babe, babe, this is amazing! God spoke to me; He said He’s going to begin to work a work of holiness in my life.» You know, I had all these excesses in my life, like all the TV I watched—I watched so much sports on TV. Food was like an idol for me; I’d eat even when I wasn’t hungry. I said, «God’s going to remove these excesses; He’s going to work holiness in me.» Right? So you know what happened in the next three months? I ate twice as much as I did before; I watched twice as much sports on TV. I just got a whole lot more fleshly.
So after three months of this mess, I go out and I ask, «God, what’s going on? You told me You were at work in me, working holiness.» And God said to me, «Son, that’s because you’ve been doing it your way. Holiness isn’t a product of your flesh; it’s a work of My grace.» He said, «Now I’m going to begin to do it My way.» I had no idea what He was talking about. All of a sudden, the pastor and his wife loved me so much they created a new position to get me even closer to them. They created this position, and after a few months, we all saw it wasn’t working out. So we had already hired somebody to take my other position, so they had no place to put me. They were like, «Well, we’re going to put you in satellite sales,» because we had 3,000 churches that watched our conferences by satellite. I used to look at the guys that worked in satellite sales and thought, «Glad it’s them and not me.»
So now I’m working in satellite sales, and I’m reporting to a woman who reported to a man who reported to the pastor. I got demoted three levels, and I didn’t do anything wrong. I started going through all these trials, and I was not bringing them on myself. Everything was just going wrong. Now during this time, I was angry at everybody. I’m yelling at Lisa for the stupidest things, I’m impatient with our nine-month-old son, I’m disappointed in my pastor, I’m upset with the people I work with, and my friends are not giving me the sympathy I think I should get, so I’m really disappointed with them. I’m just mad at everybody. So I go out and I’m praying, and let me tell you, this is nine months later, right?
I say, «Oh God, where’s all this anger coming from? I’m angrier now than I was before I got saved! What do I bind? What do I cast out?» And the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, «John, you can’t cast out flesh; you crucify it.» Then He showed me my ring. Now, this is not the ring I had on my finger at the time; I had an original gold ring that looked like a gold ring. This is white gold—Lisa gave it to me for our 25th anniversary. But He said, «Son, look at your ring.» Now you gotta understand, I have an engineering background, so I’m scientific, right? So God speaks that way to me. He says, «Look at your ring. Does it look like pure gold to you?» I said, «Oh yeah, it looks like pure gold.» But I knew. He said, «But it’s not.» And I said, «Yeah, it’s not.»
I knew it was 14-karat gold, which means fourteen parts out of twenty-four parts are gold. Ten parts out of twenty-four parts are impurities: copper, zinc, nickel, etc. Other metals. He said, «It looks like pure gold.» I said, «Yeah.» He said, «But if you put it in a furnace and heat it up to a couple thousand degrees, what happens?» I said, «Well, it liquefies.» He said, «Then what happens?» I said, «Well, the impurities, because they’re lighter metals, come to the surface.» And the Holy Spirit said, «They appear.» Right? And I went, «Yeah.» He said, «They were always there, but you just didn’t see them.» I went, «Yeah.» He said, «Son, you’re asking where all this anger, this stuff, where does it come from? It was always in you. It was apparent to Me but not to you.» He said, «I brought you into this furnace of affliction to allow you to see so you can repent.»
He said, «Now, how you handle it is going to determine your future. You can blame your wife, blame your pastor, blame your friends, blame the people you work with and it’ll all go back down. We’ll have to start to process all over again, or,» He said, «You can repent, and I’ll take My ladle and skim off those impurities right off the top.» Oh my goodness! During this time, I was living in pain. You know, Jeremiah makes a statement in Jeremiah 15, I think it’s fifteen; he says, «God, why is my pain perpetual? You seem to be like an unreliable stream.»
Oh wow! But I understood Jeremiah’s statement because I woke up in pain. I went to work in pain, I ate in pain, and I went to bed in pain at night. I remember one day I closed my door in my office, you know, my satellite sales office, and I put my head up against the wall and said, «God, why do I hurt so bad inside?» He said, «Because you’re dying.» He said, «There’s always pain in death.» And he said, «Son, do you want to know how you’re going to know when you’re dead?» I said, «How will I know?» He said, «You won’t hurt anymore. Dead people don’t have pain.» I said, «God, please kill me quick!»
So this is what God does—He puts us through this process because He’s more concerned about us finishing well than starting well; and if we don’t go through this process, we will not have the character to handle the promotion. If He gives us the promotion, the lack of character will destroy us. It’s kind of like Joseph. Come on, you know about Joseph, right? Joseph, the guy in the Bible, Genesis, right? Jacob’s son. If you don’t know about him, read Genesis 37 to 42 and you’ll get it. So here’s Joseph. God gives him this dream: he is going to be a leader, and even his brothers will be under his leadership—even his mom and dad. He gives them two very clear glimpses in these dreams that He gives to Joseph. But when you see Joseph show up, a lot of people don’t see this—yeah, there are some character flaws here. Because look at verse 2: Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. He’s a tattletale. Okay?
And then if you look at verse 8, Joseph’s brothers hated him. Why did they hate him? Because of his dreams. He’s the favored son and he’s letting his brothers know about it. So not only is he a tattletale, he’s a bragger. Okay? And now look at this because of his dreams and the way he talked about them—he talked down to his brothers. So if God had put him in that position of leadership right then, you would have had a very narcissistic, insecure, selfish leader. So God says, «Oh, we’ve got to do a little character purification here.» Okay?
Now, God does not author this; God just knows the end from the beginning and says, «I will use people’s wrong behavior for My furnace.» So his brothers, one day, they tear his robe and throw him into a pit. The pit stands for «preachers in training,» in case you didn’t know. And he’s sold into slavery. Now, you and I don’t get it. Back then, when you were sold into slavery, you would be a slave for the rest of your life. Your wife would be a slave, your children would be slaves, their children would be slaves.
Now, it is one thing to be born a slave; it is a totally different thing to be born the heir of a very wealthy man and have it all stripped away from you by your family. Oh my goodness! You know what Joseph’s thinking? He goes into slavery; he is sold as a slave to an officer of the king of Egypt’s house, right? And he’s thinking, «You know what? My brothers, my dad’s going to come rescue me.» And you know, one month goes by, two months go by, three months go by, six months, one year, two years, and you know what? The hope of a father’s rescue is now gone. He’s in slavery now because of what his own brothers have done to him. He’s a slave in that man’s house for ten years.
Would you stop and think about ten years? Go back ten years inspire existed ten years ago; do you realize that that’s how long 10 years is? But you know he’s doing okay. Then something really evil starts brewing under the surface: the mess with Potiphar’s wife, the officer of Pharaoh’s wife. She gets the hots for Joseph, and she, listen, listen, she doesn’t approach him once; she approaches him every day. Now, I love this man’s fear of God; he is one of my favorite people in the Bible. Paul made a statement in Philippians 2:12, and it really isn’t Paul speaking; it’s God speaking to us. He said, «As you have obeyed in my presence, even more so obey in my absence, and work out your salvation with fear and trembling.» In other words, it is easy to obey God when you’re at a conference and the presence of God is right there, but what about Wednesday night at midnight when your child’s throwing up in the toilet, and your spouse isn’t treating you the way you thought you should be treated, and things aren’t going right at work? Are you going to obey God?
See, the thing I love about Joseph is there is no pastor in Egypt; there are no family members in Egypt, no friends that can go tell a leader in Egypt. He is there alone, and she’s got a seducing spirit up to your eyeballs. She’s dressed in the best and scented in the best, and she’s trying to seduce him every single day. And every day, he obeys God. I love this; he obeys God! God gave me a dream: I’m going to be a leader; my brothers are going to serve me, but now I’m a slave for ten years, and he’s still obeying God. Then, finally, alone in the house, she grabs his robe. He does what the Bible says; he obeys God, he flees sexual immorality, and what happens? He runs out naked; she has the robe. She’s the scorned woman now; her lust turns into hate, and he gets thrown in the dungeon.
Now, can I say this? Our American prisons are country clubs compared to Pharaoh’s dungeon. I have personally been in a Middle Eastern dungeon. Most Middle Eastern dungeons are hewn-out cisterns; in other words, they used to have water but they’re empty, and now they’re very damp and cold. There’s no sunlight that gets in there, usually four feet tall, so you can’t even stand. The Bible says they hurt his feet with fetters and he was laid in irons. So he’s in this dungeon, laid in irons—are you tracking with me? And you know what the Bible says? They give him the bread of affliction and the water of affliction. What is that called? The bread of affliction, the water of affliction—they didn’t want you to die because dying is too easy. So, they want to give you just enough food to keep you alive so you can suffer more. He’s in there for two years.
So then God brings the greatest test to Joseph. Okay, what’s the test? God brings two guys that work for Pharaoh, the king—another butler and baker—and they had dreams. What’s Joseph’s test? King Joseph proclaimed to the butler and the baker the faithfulness of God when he hasn’t seen one shred of evidence of it in his own life for over 12 years. Think about it. God says you’re going to be a leader. He gives him a dream, says you’re going to be a leader; your brothers are going to serve you, and he’s in a dungeon. He’s gone backward from that position of leadership. Can he proclaim the faithfulness of God to the butler and baker when he hasn’t seen any evidence of it in his own life? You know, if Joseph had been like a lot of Christians, you know what he would have said? «You had a dream last night? Leave me alone! I had a dream once; dreams don’t come to pass.» What would have happened if he did that? He would have died in that dungeon. You know what he would have died saying? «God’s not faithful; He doesn’t keep His promises.»
Do you know how many people have died saying those words? Because why? All they had to do was one thing: proclaim the faithfulness of God and stay faithful to God, and they would have been promoted to their dream; that God gave them. Think about it; Joseph would have said dreams don’t come true; leave me alone; he would have died. Sure is quiet in this Presbyterian Church. See, I love this guy; the more he obeys God, the worse his life gets. Think about it! I just proclaimed the vision that God gives me, and it gets me the pit, then it gets me slavery, then I do exactly what God says: I flee sexual immorality, and what do I get? I get the dungeon!
Do you know the Bible actually talks about Malachi that this group of Christians in the last days are going to be going through the fire? And you know what they’re going to do? You know what they’re gonna do? They’re going to complain! See, I asked God one time, «Why is complaining such a serious sin?» Because it’s one of the five that kept Israel out of their destiny. God said, «Complaining says to me, 'I don’t like what you’re doing in my life, and if I were you, I’d do it differently.' It is a lack of the fear of God, and it’s an insult to my face.» I went, «Oh my, my, my!» Are you tracking with me?
So Joseph interprets these dreams, and he’s in the dungeon two more years. Two years later, Pharaoh has the dream and the butler goes, «Oh my gosh, I remember that guy! I forgot about him; he was in the dungeon. He interpreted my dream, and it came to pass.» And one day, Joseph becomes the number two man in the world. Pharaoh’s number one ruler in the whole world; he’s number two. So now you go through seven years of plenty, remember? Then there are two years of famine, and what happens? Here come Joseph’s brothers—the guys that caused him twelve years of nothing but grief—and they don’t even recognize him. And Joseph is number two in the world, baby! If he had been in that dungeon plotting, «If I ever see those boys, if I ever see my brothers, I’ll kill them,» God would have had to leave him in the dungeon to rot. Why? Because he would have killed eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel, including Judah, through whom Jesus came.
But you know what Joseph does? Because he’s got a different character now. He’s not narcissistic; he’s not insecure. The leader he blesses them; he gives them double, and he gives one of the brothers five times. The character of God had been developed in him in such a way that he blessed those who cursed him; he did good to those that abused him. See, the problem is when we’re in the trial—because the trial is usually in the marriage, the home, the job, and in church—we want out! Do you know what I learned about Joseph? This is what I see about Joseph: this is the lesson that all of us need to learn. No man, no woman, no child, no organization, and no devil can get you out of your destiny and out of the will of God. It’s impossible!
The brothers said, «We’re gonna kill him, and we’ll see what becomes of his dreams.» King Saul said, «I’m gonna kill David; see if he ever gets my throne.» But God used Saul to refine David. God used Joseph’s brothers to work the character in Joseph that was needed for the position he would hold, for the calling he was called to. No man, no woman, no child can ever get you out of the will of God. The only one that can ever get you out of the will of God is you.
The children of Israel, God intended for them to be in the wilderness for one year. They constantly complained; they complained about Moses. God said, «They’re not complaining about you; they’re really complaining about me.» They never entered their destiny because of their complaining. That’s amazing! You know they had one of the best pastors in the Old Testament: Moses had a church of three million people, but only two adults in his entire three million congregation entered into their destiny. I don’t care how good your pastor is; the question is, are you going to obey God? I’m sure Joseph felt abandoned in that dungeon. Would you watch this? I think this will explain what he was going through.
Everybody has a hero; mine’s my dad. Since mom died, it’s only been us. He has a way of filling my life with color, and what always brought us together was our love for running. «What’s wrong? I’m losing my sight.» And real quick, «Read to me the lowest level that you can see on there.» What is called is intraocular melanoma—eye cancer. Unfortunately, you will lose your vision. That was the day my father disappeared. «We’re gonna run, Jim, come on!» I thought he would always be there for me; I guess I was wrong. «There you are! You abandoned me! Where are you, Dad? Where did you go? Do you not love me anymore? Am I still beautiful? Are you no longer proud of me? How could you leave me when I need you the most?»
«Abby thinks I’ve left her, and as much as it pains me to hear that, she’s right. I’ve left her to realize she’s more courageous than she ever imagined. I’ve left her to discover how beautiful she is from the inside out. I’ve left her to challenge herself in ways she never considered. I’ve left her to discover how strong she really is.» «Hey, it’s me! Why did you leave?» «I was right here.» «Where did you go?» «I was always here, baby. No one believes in you more than I do. Think about how far you’ve come.» My dad says he gave me what I needed, not what I wanted. Love is allowing someone to see their true worth and beauty, and even though I can’t see my dad, I know he’s guiding me the entire way.
I’ve seen so many trying jobs; another one who went through some refining. Let me read you his words. Think about it in relation to this short film: «I go forward, but he’s not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive him. When he works on the left hand, I cannot behold him; when he turns to the right, I cannot see him.» So here’s God working the entire time, just like her dad was. He couldn’t see. He continues, «But he knows where I’m going.» God knows where you’re going; he’s the one that planned it. «The steps of a good man and woman are ordered of the Lord. But he knows where I’m going, and when he tests me…»
See, can I say something? We’ve got such a negative attitude about tests. Why? Because of our midterms and our finals; we hated them! I can tell you, test is a good word. You know, I’m getting on a plane; I’m flying back to the mainland tomorrow, and I’m so glad I’m not going to fall in the middle of the ocean because they tested the pilot! In other words, he’s capable of getting him there and me there. Okay, I’m really glad about that! «But he knows where I’m going, and when he tests me, I will come out as pure gold.»
So what was Job’s response? «For I have stayed on God’s path; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from his commandments.» See, this is what Joseph did. It looked like God wasn’t doing anything for Joseph for 12 years, but he still obeyed. It looked like God wasn’t working in him, but he was. The wilderness is not where God puts you on the shelf until he’s ready for you; God is the one that tells us to redeem the time. It’s not a waste of time; he’s working, but you don’t perceive it. «I have not departed from his commands.» You know how many times I’ve seen people disobey God because they were discouraged? They were disillusioned, disappointed; things aren’t going the way I think they should be going in my life. Complaining always begins in the heart. «I have not departed from his commands, but I’ve treasured his words more than my daily food.»
Back in the 1980s, when I first got saved, I thought this was normal Christianity. I mean, people were coming into our church. I remember a guy with a red-and-white walking cane—he was completely blind. He walked out healed! I know it wasn’t fake because I was the pastor’s executive assistant. I remember an ambulance pulling up; we arranged for a guy who had 24 hours left to live. The paramedics wheeled him in, and the guy got so miraculously healed that he pushed his bed out one time in a service! 4,000 people saw Jesus appear; the entire balcony saw it! On the left side, and excuse me, on the right side, he appeared. On the left side, and it was really quick. When he disappeared, there was an image of his face on the wall. Don’t even ask me how this happened; it was eight feet by six feet, looked like the Shroud of Turin; it stayed there for 18 months and then just gradually faded out. I thought this was normal Christianity!
And then one day, God spoke to me, and he said, «Son, I’ve given my church a thimble—a thimble full of my power—to see how she’ll handle it.» Do you know half the ministers I picked up that were getting people up out of wheelchairs aren’t even in ministry anymore today? At my own church, they had to destroy the building; that pastor isn’t even in ministry anymore. God said, «I’m gonna give my church a thimbleful of my power, and then I’m gonna send her into a wilderness,» and it’s been 30 years. Okay, and he said in that wilderness, I will develop her character so she can handle the full measure of my power. We are about to come into the greatest move of the Spirit of God this earth has ever seen, and the greatest attack against our harvest comes just before the harvest. I believe God showed me this is a prophetic message so that my people don’t faint before their harvest.
Job said, «I have treasured His words more than my daily food.» Look, I don’t get it. How come we make time to eat three times a day when we’re not fasting, yet we don’t even make time to read for 30 minutes a day from the Word of God? How are we existing? Do you know Job said, «When He has tested me, I shall come forth as pure gold»? Do you know what the characteristics of pure gold are? It’s so amazing. Fourteen-karat gold is hard, but pure gold is soft. When you go through God’s refining process, you become tender, flexible, and pliable. If you look at gold, it cannot be tarnished by the atmosphere. If you look at brass, brass looks like pure gold, but brass can be tarnished by the atmosphere.
When you go through God’s refining, the atmosphere can’t affect you. How are we going to live in this world and not be affected? By treasuring His words more than our necessary food. Another characteristic of pure gold is its transparency. The streets of heaven are made out of pure gold; you can see through it. They’re transparent. When you have gone through His refining process, people see the treasure in you—they see Jesus, not you. But here’s what we want to do: we want to leave our marriage, we want to leave the job, we want to leave the church, instead of realizing what God’s trying to do is expose what needs to leave us. It’s my pastor’s fault; it’s my connect group leader’s fault. They’re not recognizing me, I’m not getting the attention I should, I’m just not being promoted like I should. Have you spent two years in a dungeon? Have you spent ten years as a slave?
I told my team, I said, «You know, two years ago this month, guys,» I told them this just this month: I had dinner with five pastors. Lisa and I had dinner with five pastors in Vietnam. We went in and spoke to 4,000 leaders in Vietnam; the government approved it. It was a historic meeting, but the five pastors we had dinner with spent the last 20 years. They spent more time in jail than they have been free. They had teeth missing because of the torture they endured from being Christian leaders. Has anyone here gone through that? It’s not your spouse, it’s not your children, it’s not your boss, it’s not your pastor, it’s not your connect leader. Believer, turn your focus and say, 'God, what do You want to show me in me? ' Paul makes this statement, and I’ll close. In 2 Corinthians 4:17, he says, 'For our light affliction, which is but for a moment.'
Now Peter says, 'If need be, for a little while.' Paul calls it a moment. Remember, a moment can be two, three, four, or five years. 'It is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, weight of greatness.' Every head bowed, every eye closed. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, I’ve preached what You commanded me to preach, and I thank You, Holy Spirit, for strengthening this church, this church that You love so much, the church I love so much. I want you to be honest; I want your heads bowed, your eyes closed. I want you to just be honest. You say, 'John, I’ve been complaining.' I don’t care if it’s complaining in your heart or complaining with your mouth. Say, 'Man, I realize I have behaved incorrectly. I’m in a season of wilderness, and my behavior has been incorrect, and I want to repent.' If that’s you, I want you to just raise your hand high right now; I want to pray for you. Every head bowed, every eye closed, man, 50% of this place has their hands up. Put them up high. Can you pray this with me? Can everyone with their hands raised pray this with me? Actually, can everybody in the building pray this? Put both hands up and pray this:
Father in Heaven, thank You for caring about me, my character even more than what I do. I’m asking You to forgive me. I’ve complained, I’ve murmured, I’ve been disgruntled, and I realize that I’ve been wrong. Wash me with the blood of Jesus, for I repent of complaining. From this moment forward, I’m asking You to strengthen me so that I would handle these challenges correctly, that I will come forth as pure gold, that I will treasure Your words more than my necessary food. I ask that You would complete this good work that You’ve begun in me. And Jesus', come on, say this with a greater understanding than I’ve ever had before, 'I give You the lordship of my life. My life is completely Yours from this moment forward. In Jesus' name, now give Him praise.