Leon Fontaine - Your Original Design
There's a story in Luke 1 about a man named Zachariah. He's a priest there and a Jewish man. One day his, it's his turned to do the duties in the temple. He's back there doing all the things that a priest would do and an angel appears to him. The angel's actually Gabriel who according to the scriptures is the head of the messenger angels. Michael it seems is the head of the warring angels. So there's different groupings and different kinds of angels. And so Gabriel appears to Zachariah and he tells him that he's going to have a son.
Zachariah has a crazy response Luke 1:18. And so this angel has just told Zachariah, your wife and you don't have a child yet, but you are now and you're going to have a son. And it doesn't mean it was an immaculate conception. Yes, he would have to chase his wife around the house a little bit. But Luke 1:18, "And Zachariah says to the angel, 'By what shall I know and be sure of this?'" Okay, how many of you here have an angel appeared to you? I mean, an angel appears to you right there. Boom! And tells you the problems in your marriage. The things you're desiring and you're going to get it. And then you go after an angel appears to you, "How can I be sure of this"? This guy's got a problem. This is what the angel says.
So he says, "How can I be sure of this? For I'm an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years". The angel, I could see the angel doing it this way. The angel replies to him, "I'm Gabriel. I stand in the very presence of God, and I've been sent to talk to you. Hello! And to bring you this good news". Then he says something shocking. "Now behold, you, you're going to be, you will be and will continue to be silent and not able to speak till the day when these things take place, because you have not believed what I told you, but my words are of a kind which will be fulfilled in the appointed and proper time".
All right, question. What in the world is going on here? An angel gives a message. This is God's will that this couple have a son. This guy, this boy that's going to be born in a while, his name is John the Baptist. He was a tremendous prophet of God. He would go out and declare the Messiah has come. And literally he would get all of Israel prepared. And because of John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, tens of thousands of Jewish people made a decision for Christ. So this is God's will. But then why in the world did he strike Zachariah, in the King James it uses the word dumb and it means can't talk. Bam! You're not going to talk, in nine, ten months, this guy couldn't talk.
Say, "Well, was the angel ticked off at him"? Oh, come on. That's not true. The angel didn't go, "You're a jerk. Boom! You can't talk for a while. Gotcha"! No, it doesn't make sense. Why is the angel shutting down his ability to speak? He didn't shut down his ability to think. Because thinking doesn't release power into this world, speaking does. God spoke His power in Genesis 1 and created the universe, the planets, the firmament. Everything that flies, creeps, swims, He spoke His power. Jesus came to the planet, okay. The Son of God and He spoke His power. He spoke to fig trees. He spoke to the lame. He spoke to storms. He spoke to things. And in fact, on the cross He didn't speak. Why? Because the word from His mouth would have released legions of angels to literally destroy the world and set Him free.
This is the Son of God. He speaks. But now, why is this angel shutting down an unbelieving priest? Because if you study the Word, you'll find out that authority, the earth has been given to mankind and humans have authority down here. And the only reason and you can see it in other stories, and I'll show you through. That is that this man's mouth could have stopped what God needed done. Can I say that in your life God's got a plan for your life? Your business, your marriage, your sex life, your family, your career. Every area of your life He's designed it to be great. Jesus said, "I am come that you might have life and more abundantly". But your mouth can be shutting down the blessing of God. It was so crucial. This is even before Jesus died on the cross. But the authority that every individual person has over themselves, their own life is so complete that God will not force you to accept Him. He will not force you to believe Him. He will not force you to speak His Word. It is your decision. So all the consequences that go with your believing and your speaking are there.
And so many people don't know about this. Even in the Old Testament that it says in one portion of scripture that my people perished for a lack of knowledge to just not know the authority is yours. Zachariah a priest. This guy is trained in the Word of God. The angel shut his mouth down. Why? Because the mouth can speak all of the unbelief that is in the heart. Matthew 12 says that a good man from the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. That an evil man from the evil treasure of his heart brings evil things.
Now, it's interesting to note that he didn't shut down the man's wife. Let her talk. Now, don't get feminist on me on this one because there are some women who are just as bad as Zachariah at saying things and, "It's the truth"? I hear that all the time. Well, Leon, it's just the truth. Let's talk about that because if you're married. These two are married and one spouse they wanted the mouth shut down. So they didn't destroy the miracle they were believing for. Sometimes when I pray with couples for things, I'd like to shut one of their mouths down because you can just see it going off all the time. Well, you know, I just tell you right now. And they think that because they're just being real, that they're speaking reality. It's truth. But the word truth is really different than the word that you know today.
In Ephesians 6:10, it talks about the armor that faith people need on. And one of the pieces is the belt of truth. Now, the belt of truth is what holds the rest of the armor, Roman armor together, and it's called truth. Now, this word truth does not mean the truth according to your five senses. It means the truth according to original design. I'll give you a story as an example. I made this one up. It's a modern parable. A bunch of drug people are in Brazil, in the city. They're selling drugs. Cops were chasing them. They raced into the jungle. They get off-road. They get as far as they can through the jungle and abandon this Mercedes Benz 4x4. And so a tribe there in the jungle happens to see this thing and they stay away from the cities and the first world. And so they're very, you know, just superstitious and they find this Mercedes 4x4. Engines off, sitting there in the bush.
What is it? Oh. One guy says, "I think it's a chicken coop because the driver's window is open and if we put all of our chickens in there, we won't have to chaste them anymore. We can throw the grain in the window and the chickens will pack away and eat, and when it's time to cook one, we just reach in, move the branches which were blocking the driver's window, and reaching, grab that chicken. It's an amazing chicken coop". And so you ask them, "What is it"? And they say, "It's a chicken coop". Are they speaking the truth? Yes! According to their five senses and their understanding. You can ask anybody in the tribe what it is. They'll tell you. Are they speaking the truth? You try to tell them anything else. They don't agree with you because they know they keep their chickens there. They can see it. They eat them. They taste them. They smell them. They feed them. It's a chicken coop.
But Mercedes is the one that designed that and will tell you what the original design, the original norm is of that thing. And it's designed to go 100 miles an hour on the Autobahn, give you cold air, music, take your cellphone put it through there. Everything else this thing does, 4x4. This is one amazing machine. That's the original truth. The original norm for that thing. But the tribe uses it for chickens. It reminds me of many Christians sitting around whining about this, complaining about that, and they just love gossiping and talking. They talk their way out of every miracle possible. Your words are so crucial. So crucial that they had to shut this man down for about nine to ten months. Just to get John the Baptist the miracle of his birth. Meaning, they couldn't have babies. To get this miracle to manifest and to come into this world, they had to shut his mouth down.
And I've got news for you, we all need to recognize. I have recognized there are beliefs in me. Sometimes I don't know where I got them from. But when God tries to take me to places I've never been before or to have things that I never had that much or do that way. Or to do things whether it's a television station or another campus or, or whatever is ahead of my future. I have recognized that the beliefs that I have in my heart, that those need to be changed and that the Word of God needs to come in and move out an unbelief or a misbelief. Okay? Did you know that according to the Bible, every time the Word of God is preached. That you must mix faith with it or it profits you zero. You must.
It's interesting to me because I'll talk to somebody after services and they'll get at the hold at me say, "That was incredible". And I'll look at him and say, "Thank you". Someone else go, "Hey, good reminder". I keep walking. It just doesn't even touch them. Why? And they both have about the same understanding of the Word. Because that one person was waiting for the Word. I'm going to, if it's the Word, I'm going to believe him. I'm going to testify at what you say. What does the Word say, and if it's there, yes, I believe that. And believing is a choice, not just a natural, "Well, I just don't believe. How can I help that"? You choose. It's like your marriage.
You know, you got married and you're worried they're going to cheat on you, worried they're going to do something wrong, worried they're going to go. And so you just don't know if you're going to trust them. At some point, you're going to go, "You know what, this is doing me no good to walk around frustrated, unhappy, upset, checking their pockets, their phone, and everything else. You see, I'm going to just trust them". Trust is a choice. Oh, what if, what it they, what if, it's not worthy of their trust? You know what, you'll be okay. God will see you through. But to live in a non-trusting environment is destroying your relationships. It's destroying you. The same with God's Word. You're going to make a choice.
Okay, you know, if Christian, if you're not going to go all in, well, then go be something else. Go be a Muslim or Hindu or a Buddhist. Check that one out. See what they really believe. Well, I kind of like reincarnation. I know because you think you're going to be reincarnated as Elvis or Marilyn Monroe. But you could be a beetle, a dung beetle according to religion. Like sometimes North Americans are so naãve. Christianity the way God designed it. This way of following Christ is rarely being followed by the church world today because we are to be people of faith and the Word teaches us very clearly. You know, the Bible says that He'll guide us into all truth. The Bible says that, that and you will the truth and the truth will make you free.
The verse before it says, "If you continue in My Word, you will be My discipline followers and you will know the truth". Well, which truth? The truth according to my five senses or the truth according to my original design? It's according to your original design. What did God intend about you? Well, Leon, God didn't know I was coming. I'm the product of a rape in the back alley of some city. And some poor woman was raped, and she didn't have an abortion and here I am. Listen, you're not here and God doesn't have a plan for your life because your parents were so perfect. He knew you were coming. He's known from the foundation of the world. Every baby coming into this world and He has a plan for their life according to Psalm 139, according to Ephesians 2.
So what kind of plans would God have for you? Well, I think for me, you know, I'm just not that talented. I don't have must skill. It's probably just pretty average. God doesn't create average. God created the milky way, the planets. He created asteroids. God created suns. God created incredible animals and He created you. He doesn't make average. So get your beliefs in gear. Well, Leon, I'm not in Mensa so I'm not the smartest. You know what, most of the truly successful people here don't have higher IQs and everybody else. And so your faith according to the Word of God, if you'll start to believe God, something amazing will happen.
In Proverbs 13:3, it says, "He that keeps his mouth keeps his life. But he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction". But Leon, I'm just telling the truth. I just feel like garbage. I woke up this morning. Have you noticed that when you get up in the morning the first thing you want to tell people is how bad you sleep you had and how bad you feel. Told your mother, told your spouse, told the person. How are you doing today? Oh, I had a lousy sleep. I'm just not feeling that great today. Why are you doing that? Well, I'm just telling the truth. Truth according to your five senses. But the truth of the Word of God, the cross, the blood that Jesus shed is that health, healing, vitality, joy, and peace has been paid for and delivered to you.
That's the truth of your original norm. Yes, you're some 4x4 Mercedes sitting in the jungle for a chicken coop. But if you want to get back to your original norm, start to declare who God says you are. You see, this thing about the Word is crucial. So, you know, it's God's will it's going to happen. It was God's will that John the Baptist come on to this planet and He still had to shut down Zachariah because he and his mouth could have shut down the will of God for his life. In Psalm 141:3, it says, "Lord, help me control my tongue. Set a guard on my mouth. Help me be careful about what I say. Keep a watch on the door of my mouth".
The Bible says that your tongue is the pen of a ready writer. And that the words that you speak are indelibly printed on your heart. Which is the deepest level of beliefs that control your life. So if you want to find the quickest, easiest way to change beliefs in your heart, then begin to speak truth of the original norm. Begin to declare what you originally were made for. Now, every promise in the Bible gives you the foundation for that. Speak them. And then as you do that, see, people think that confession is about making it happen in your life. No, it's first about changing your heart. The confessing of God's Word changes your heart.
As a young man 19 years of age, I began to work at a hospital. I began to get involved in a paramedic program. And that they forbid me to ever talk about God, mention Jesus, pray for people, or in any way inflect my religion on anybody. So I had to get very good at sharing. One of the things God dealt with me on was to begin to confess Mark 16. And that there are things there, where it says that when we give our lives to Christ. Let me just read really quickly Mark 16:15, "Jesus said to them, 'Go to the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. He that does not believe will be condemned. And these signs are going to follow those who believe. In My name they're going to cast out devils. They're going to speak with new tongues. They're going to take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly thing, it's not going to hurt them. They're going to lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover". So I thought, "Oh, I don't have to pray over people". It doesn't say to even talk. It says touch people in this situation.
I say, "Father, I thank You right now. Wherever I go, the demons run from me in Jesus' name. Any kind of dangerous thing like serpents or lions or car wrecks or whatever can't touch me. If I eat any deadly thing, breathe any deadly thing, absorb any deadly thing, it shall not hurt me in the name of Jesus. And when I lay my hands on the sick, they recover". I would just begin to declare what Jesus already says is mine. Because Jesus died on the cross and Holy Spirit came to the planet. Listen to what the Holy Spirit does, John 16:13, "But when He, the Spirit of Truth, the Truth-giving Spirit comes, He will guide you into all the Truth, the whole, the full truth".
You ain't no chicken coop. You are Mercedes 4x4. But then it says, "For He's not going to speak His own message on His own authority, but He will tell you whatever He hears from the Father". Why did he say that? You'll be shocked how many people I met who say they're born-again believers and tell me something the Lord told them. And I'll go, "God didn't tell you that". You don't judge me. I'm judging you right now. God did not tell you that. How do you know? Because the Holy Spirit never disagrees with the Word of God. So you being able to claim that man's wife because she married the wrong one. Wrong. And there's a lot of people out there who just think that Holy Spirit's going to free spirit lead them in so many ways. No, no. Holy Spirit will never disagree with God's Word. Then it goes on to say, but listen, "He'll give you the message that has been given to Him for you, and He will announce it and declare it to you. The things that are to come that will happen in the future".
Okay, just like an angel appeared to Zachariah, like a burning bush speaking to Moses, Holy Spirit one-third of the Trinity. I mean, God is one God in three persons. He's inside of you and He's speaking to you always. How will you hear Him? By meditating the Word. And I'm telling you, He will speak and ignite the Word of God that you're studying, and then He'll just help you to become everything you already are and on the things that the Bible is silent about. Like which jobs should you take, which person should you marry. He will guide you there as well. Holy Spirit's speaks to us. Holy Spirit guides us, leads us.
It's just most people, one person said to me, he said, "Leon, how come Holy Spirit never speaks to me"? I said, "Because there's two levels of following God. You haven't dealt with the first one yet. You can get the second gear if you don't do the first gear". Oh, what's the first one? Find out who you are according to the Word. Before you find out who are career wise and who to marry and what house to get. Get in the Word. You're going to find out you're more than an overcomer. That you're blessed to prosper. That you're blessed to be healthy and whole. That you're going to ride upon the high places of the earth. That you're the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, whatever you put your hand to is going to prosper. That the presence of God has healed you, forgiven you. That righteousness is a gift that comes to you from Jesus. I mean, I could go on for hours just talking the Word, talking the Word. The more you speak the Word, the more you write it on your heart.
Now, you've got to write it on your heart because until the beliefs hit your heart. They're just in your head. I'll just finish on that thought. What does that mean? Your heart has had misbeliefs and unbeliefs placed into it by upbringing, situations, issues. And when you begin to read the Word, the Word begins to judge your heart in a beautiful way. It begins to go in there and look at the very motives and the intentions that have caused you to never be able to just really flow in an area or another area. And as the Word of God comes in and it begins to get planted in your heart. That belief becomes yours. The reason we speak out loud the Word of God with passion in our prayer time, which means pray the Word is because you need belief systems that come from God on the inside of you.