Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us for today’s Power Walk Ministries broadcast with author and speaker Reverend Paul Cannings. Dr. Cannings brings us the final message in this series titled "Broken, Not Defeated." He’s been challenging and equipping us to rely upon God in our journey through life.

Through the life of Joseph in the Bible, he draws out principles for faith and believing in God and the resulting benefits. Let’s listen now as Pastor Cannings brings us the final message: Faith Rewards.

Dr. Paul Cannings: We spent this week going through the process of dealing with grief. So many people have been through so much that depression is close by. Jacob would hear about Joseph's multicolored coat in goat's blood and torn to bits and pieces so that it looks like a wild animal. His brothers made it so vivid that he interpreted it as a wild animal because it looked so vivid that he said, "I'm going down to Sheol." He is depressed. When they come back for Benjamin—no, you're not going to bereave me anymore. I'm not letting Benjamin go.

Jacob would find Joseph and he would say it's time to die. But Joseph comes to this in a way that we can learn how Joseph would weep over and over again. I believe about five times when Joseph would run into his brothers, weep. When Joseph's brothers would bring back Benjamin, weep. When Joseph would declare himself to his brothers, weep. When Joseph would see his father, he wept.

The pain was still there, so I repeat again. Mourning does not go away. It’s just that we find strength in God so that there are times when we will still weep. Joseph wasn't weeping all the time. Joseph wasn't weeping to the point where he's willing to go down to Sheol because Joseph found the inner strength of God and His anointing on his life to lift him and let him have a life where he's married, has kids, and now God has blessed him to believe in the dreams. He didn't give up on dreams.

He held on to what God was teaching him. We must learn to listen to God because His word is complete, and in 2nd Peter, He's given us everything we need for life and godliness through the word of God. Dreams were important in those days because the Egyptians he's going to believe in dreams. So God had to connect, and Joseph did not step away from that.

Joseph did not walk away from that. Joseph kept seeing the hand of God and kept trusting the hand of God. Joseph kept believing in the hand of God. Jacob didn't. Jacob said, "I'm ready to die." But Jacob was the one who told Joseph about going to Egypt and there's going to be a great nation because Joseph learned this.

Joseph was at the point where he would say, "When I die, take my bones to the Promised Land." Joseph had the information his dad taught him. His dad who taught him the information is the one who did not remember because of his grief. He dropped it. He didn't stay sober, as we discussed. He didn't hold his mind to say, "God, my emotions are going in 20 different directions."

The people who became his comforter, he pushed them away. He didn't stay sober. We have the gift of encouragement; it's in the church. We walk away, so we stay in our grief. He stayed in his grief because when his kids came to comfort him, he walked away from that.

We walk away from the church where the gift of encouragement is, the gift of help, the gift of wisdom, the gift of knowledge, all these things that are in the Bible that God puts into people's lives for the moments that we will experience these things so that we could stay lifted and built up. We walk from it. We don't walk away from a hospital when we're physically ill, but we walk away from the church when we're spiritually and emotionally suffering.

The first step to Joseph's recovery is to see chapter 45 where Joseph will say this in verse seven: "God has prepared this relationship." Joseph said to his brethren in verse four, "Come near to me." He kept a distance from them just in case they would recognize him. He says, "I pray you." And they came near, and he said, "I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt."

He's not forgetting it. That's why I always tell people forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness is choosing to obey God towards the person despite the feeling I feel on the inside because obedience and renewing my mind leads to a transformation, so I get stronger when things get worse. Because the person who's perfecting me, who says trials will mature me and make me complete in James chapter one, is perfecting me, maturing me, and making me complete.

I'm better when I'm worse when things are bad, when I choose to walk with Christ who overcame everything. Paul would grasp that and say all things work together for good to them who love the Lord, who keep His word no matter what they face. Lion's den, Goliath, it does not matter. They keep His word.

God says I'll turn it into good. I'll take the wrong, the evil that ever happened to you, and I’ll make you productive if you stay focused. 1st Peter chapter 3 says, "I will bless you if you keep a good conscience and keep doing what I say. I will bless you." Here is Joseph. He is saying in verse five, "Now therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves."

For God did send me before you to preserve life because I kept loving God. I believed God in Potiphar's house, did not touch his wife. I believed God in prison. I believed God for the dream. I believed God standing in front of Pharaoh. I believed God when I saw you bow before me.

I believed God when I called for Benjamin and kept Simeon to see if my father would trust you to bring Benjamin for Simeon. And he did. I must now unite with you because you're my brothers, because that's what God expects of me. God's plan is in play. You cannot forget His plan for your life.

God has given you a spiritual gift. He said you are a man or a woman, you're a father or a mother, you're a husband or a wife, you are a person that has a plan to serve in the local church, you are a person who is salt and light in the world. He has a plan for your life. It's not just Joseph has a plan; He has a plan for your life.

By the decisions He has made as to who you are and to what He's deposited at the point of salvation through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, He has a plan for your life. He is saying what He needs to do in your life. If He chooses to have you marry and be able to bear children and give you children, He did not make you barren.

He has a plan for your life. God's plan cannot be totally abolished because of the pain He's allowed us to go through when He's telling us there's a time to live and a time to die. He's providing a place for us. "Do not be troubled," He says. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. I have a plan when you pass away, you don't die. I allow you to sleep because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I am life."

I have a plan for you. Run the race, press towards the mark. You can overcome because the word of God never returns void. Don't throw away My plan. Because Joseph never threw away God's plan, his brothers are scared, but he's purposeful. In verse six, he says, "For these two years has the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance."

Joseph says, "I see God's plan." That's a beautiful thing about walking in the light as He is in the light. I love what David would say: the Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I listened to the message my dad got that he got from his dad. I saw my granddad's message that God has given through oral tradition. I believed in it. I took it all in and accepted every piece of it.

Now I have done what God has called me to do, and here I am. I'm preserving my family for the plan that God has given to Abraham. Here I am continuing that plan forward. Because I choose to believe in God, I preserve my family. You can preserve your family when you choose to do what God says, when you choose to walk in His will.

You could preserve your marriage, you could preserve your kids. You could teach them how they can make it through grief. You could teach them how they can make it through pain because chances are you may pass before them. What you taught them when your parents passed, you taught them when their brother or sister passed, you taught them how to grieve, how to mourn.

You taught them how to make it through a difficult time by the way you kept your focus, by the way you kept your eyes fixed on Jesus, who's the author and finisher of your faith. You create a legacy that could bless their lives. That's why folks, in the midst of the pain, Joseph still weeps. In chapter 46, he's crying over his daddy. He's weeping. It's loud, it's noisy.

It's highly emotional and he's bawling loud. He doesn't care if the soldiers hear. He doesn't care who is hearing. He doesn't care who's listening. He bawled over his dad. "I'm back with my dad, I'm okay now. Let's get this done. Let me go up to Pharaoh. Let me set you up in the land of Goshen. Let's do God's will."

We sometimes are mourning over people who are sitting and sharing the throne with Jesus in heaven. We're mourning over people who got their rewards and God has blessed them. We're mourning over people who like Joseph are experiencing the grace, the mercy, the power, the goodness, the faithfulness of God.

We're mourning over people when we see them, they're going to go, "Oh, we're back together again. Look at how God has blessed me. Look at how God has rewarded me." We're carrying around grief when we should be excited that one day by and by, we will see our loved ones.

God because of His love and His grace has established them and is blessing them in heaven. We'll be together forever and forever. Revelation chapter 21 says we will never cry, there will be no more mourning, and there will be no more work.

Now we must run the race with that focus in mind, that one day we will see them and God got them for us. He's watching over them for us, better than we could ever do. So folks, when we focus that way, we'll be blessed because we trusted in what He promised in His word would happen in heaven. We keep that in front of us as we press on.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Pastor Cannings. What an amazing journey. Joseph had no way of knowing what the end of his life would be like, but we now see how God’s hand was upon him throughout his entire life.

As we take the message of the Gospel and seek to equip the body of Christ effectively, would you consider partnering with us both in prayer as well as through your financial support? You can do so online at powerwalkministries.org or by giving us a call at 281-260-7402.

Theopholis Berry: Hi, my name is Theopholis Berry. I'm the senior pastor at Greater True Light Missionary Baptist Church. There are a plethora of conferences that deal with leadership, but I would tell any leader this one is one that you should not look over and that you pass up. I would make it definitely a priority to be here.

Guest (Female): I'm so glad I came. I'm taking valuable tools on growth of church, personal discipleship, and growing myself. And then of course, realizing that we're all doing this together in the kingdom of Christ and we're not walking alone.

Dr. Paul Cannings: I am so excited about the conference coming up April the 23rd through the 25th. I really am ecstatic about it. Pastors have come together on a committee to help with the process moving forward. I'm excited about our first conference last year, but this conference this year is going to be greater.

There's like about 40 classes here. Let me give you a taste: the pastor and deacon's functioning under the leadership of Christ, a biblical approach to resolving conflict in the church, traits of successful biblical leaders, cultivating a healthy and productive team environment, overcoming the stagnation in the church, discipling leaders, dealing with how do we grow people and do evangelism at the same time.

Despite all the difficulties churches are facing, we can find a powerful effective way forward. A lot of teachers are coming to teach. They're well-trained, well-educated, and practicing these principles within their church. Come be a part of April the 23rd through the 25th. Go to powerwalkministries.org so that we could move forward together for God's glory. Look forward to seeing you at this conference.

Guest (Male): And if you live in the Houston area or you're planning a visit, please join Reverend Cannings at Living Word Fellowship Church this Sunday. For church location and service times, visit lwfellowshipchurch.org. And as we leave you, keep this in mind: when we choose to walk in obedience to God, He will give us the strength to be overcomers and also enable us to preserve a legacy for His glory.