The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: The glory of God is simply the majesty, the wonder, the workings of God. God's going to do something majestic in your life, in your family, in your finances, in answer to your prayer.

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Healing Word, a ministry dedicated to offering strength and encouragement through God's word for anyone facing life's challenges. Today's message is here to meet you at your point of need, bringing hope and renewing your faith. Here's Pastor Jack Morris.

Pastor Jack Morris: Believing the promise. God has made great promises, and he wants us to believe the promise. But before we can believe the promise, we must hear the promise. And I'm not talking about hearing it with our ears, but hearing it with our heart, knowing that this word of God is coming from the very lips of our almighty father. And we are hearing it in our heart; we are convinced in our heart because he has spoken.

It says in 2 Peter 1:4, "Whereby we are given exceeding great and precious promises." Exceeding great—promises beyond anything we can think, describe, imagine. It's just too wonderful for words. Have you ever been blessed like that? The blessing is just too wonderful for words. This is what the Apostle is writing about.

Now, God has made promises, but we must hear the promises. And when we hear the promises in our heart and believe them, those promises will become a reality. Look at the screen; we're going to read a verse that we read last week. Numbers chapter 23, verse 19. In unison: "God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"

When God makes a promise, he keeps the promise, doesn't he? When God makes a covenant, he keeps the covenant. When God makes a vow, he keeps the vow. He does exactly what he promises he's going to do. You can go to the bank with that. It's true. Now, sometimes we make promises and because we're human—it says God's not a man, he's not a human, that's what that means, nor a son of man, meaning he's not a human, he doesn't act like humans.

He doesn't behave like a human. He doesn't promise like a human. He keeps his contracts. And today, believe and trust and you'll experience the mighty power of God released in the fulfillment of that promise. Believing the promise. The scripture says, and I want you to look at the screen: Genesis 50, verse 24. A promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

A promise that God made to their son, particularly the son of Jacob, which is Joseph. Now read the scripture with me in unison: "Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.'" Okay, do we have the maps? Can you put the maps up?

There's the larger map. Here's the area right here that we're talking about. Everything we're talking about in these sermons is right in this area. But over here you see Spain, Germany, Poland. You see the Red Sea, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. Enlarge this part for me, please. Okay, here's the land where they started, up here in Canaan. This is where Abraham walked.

While he walked here, God said, "I'm going to bring you back to this area, and this is the land I'm going to give to you." When the famine came, the 70 family members of Joseph went south to where Joseph was, into the land of Egypt. And here in this Goshen Valley, they were shepherds. And here's where they lived for 400 years and where eventually, after the passing of several Pharaohs, they became enslaved in this land.

Here's where they are, and today we're going to watch them come from Rameses down to Succoth, this area. And then next Sunday, we're going to come all the way down to this area. And here's where they crossed the Red Sea. They crossed it up at this area. But today they made a very small journey and we're following them on that journey. But the message is: God keeps his promises.

Joseph was about to die. He knew he was going to die. And he said, "I don't know whether it's going to happen before I die or after I die or how long it's going to happen, but I want to tell you what I do know: that God is going to do what he promised. He's going to take us out of this land. This land is not our land. Canaan is our land."

God made a promise and God's going to get us out. I don't know how, when, where, under what conditions, but we're going home because God said so. Because God said so, we're going back to the land of promise, the land that flows with milk and honey, the land which God has given to us. Now notice what he says. Then Joseph said to his brothers—he's just about to die, he's an old man now—"I am about to die, but God will surely..."

I asked them to underline that word surely. God will surely come to your aid. God will surely answer your prayers. God will surely take care of you. God will surely get you out of this mess. God's with you. Surely, surely, surely. Come on, say it: surely. God answers prayer. It's a sure thing. He'll move heaven and earth to bless you and to get to you and to minister to your needs if you have trust in him.

If you believe his promise, if you have received his promise, if his promise has resonated within your heart. God will surely bring you out. In Exodus chapter 13, verse 17, we read it just a moment ago. When Pharaoh let the people go... notice when he did. Joseph didn't know when, he just knew that it would happen. It's not if he's going to let you go; he's going to do it. It's not if he's going to answer your prayer; he's going to answer it.

You say, "Well, I don't see any evidence right now." Well, neither did Joseph. The evidence is inside him because that promise is inside him. And it's not the fulfillment, it's not the answer that is important; it's the promise that's important. The answer will come. The fulfillment will be there. But God will answer the prayer. It's like writing a check made payable to... and God says you put your name in there; I'm going to make this answer payable to you.

Now, is God going to stand behind that? One time a man wrote a check and he gave it to me, a young fellow. And he took it and he threw it on the floor. I started to reach for it and he threw it that way. And he said, "Oh, okay, good. It didn't bounce." And he picked it up and he gave it to me. I thought, "You little smarty." But you see, God's promises don't bounce. God's promises are yea and amen.

Yes, yes. So be it, so be it. That's what that means. That's the promise of God to you and me. And his promises always come true. God fulfills his promise. Now may God give us patience, may God give us endurance, and he will, to wait to see. Sometimes the answers come soon, they come early. Sometimes they come late. But the one thing is sure: they will come.

The answers will come. God fulfills. It says when Pharaoh let the people go... you see, God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel. Jacob was Joseph's father. And that promise was also to Joseph and his posterity. And Joseph believed that promise. He believed it so much that he lived the promise every day of his life.

And when he was about to die, he said, "I'm going to go into my grave and I'll go in believing, because I trust in God who makes the promise." You see, you know what the most important thing about you is? Oh my, you got so quiet. Your silence sort of startled me there just a moment. The most important thing about you is what you believe. That's why you act and behave and live and do or don't do.

It's your belief. And everybody believes something. It's your belief that determines your lifestyle and everything about you. What you believe. That's what motivates you. That's what gives you energy. That's why you live the way you do. That's your lifestyle: what you believe. What you believe determines who you are and the life you live.

I believe when we say the Apostle's Creed on the first Sunday of every month, we start out with the very first two words—the most two important words in all the earth: "I believe." I believe. What do you believe in? Believe the promises of God and you'll see the fulfillment of the promises of God. When you believe, you're persuaded. You see, believing is more than just having an opinion.

"Well, I think so, maybe so. It's my opinion that..." No, believing is being absolutely persuaded. Now, most of us aren't quite sure. We hesitate. We'll vacillate a little bit. We all do it because we're human. But when we become convinced, absolutely sure, that's truly believing. Believe and then you will see what you're believing. You're going to see something.

You can't see my words coming out of my mouth, not with your eyes, but you can hear them with your ears right now, can't you? I was watching a TV program the other night. It was sort of a comedy. These two fellows were arguing and one... they'd had contracts, and one was going back on his contract all the time. The one that was going back on his contract started to say something and the other man said, "That's a lie!"

The man said, "I didn't say anything yet." He said, "No, but your lips parted." I'll take my sermons wherever I can get them. But when God speaks and you hear it, I pray that it won't just stop with our cognitions in our brain, but it'll go into the very core of our life. Then we're going to see the word. We're going to see the word coming forth.

Have you ever seen a word? You've seen a word written on paper, but I've never seen a word; I've heard a word. But now the Lord is saying, "You're going to see things that no one else has ever seen because no one else but you, my child, my redeemed, have received the promise. And my promises are for you and you're going to see the glory of God."

The glory of God is simply the majesty, the wonder, the workings of God. God's going to do something majestic in your life, in your family, in your finances, in answer to your prayer. Something wonderful. It's going to be his glory and he is the one that's making the promise. God's promises are real. God's promises come true. If you and I will truly believe, become imprisoned by it.

There was a school teacher, a public school teacher, who was doing some artwork with her students and this little second-grade girl was doing some drawing. She drew this big thing with fins and a big tail on it. She asked the little girl, "What are you drawing, honey?" She said, "I'm drawing the big whale that swallowed Jonah." And the teacher smiled and she said, "Well, you know that story is not true."

The little girl said, "Oh yes it is, it's in the Bible." She said, "Yeah, it's in the Bible, but darling, let me tell you about a whale. A whale is big and it looks like it could swallow a human, but its throat is very small. And so only a little bit of food can go through. It certainly could not swallow a human like the Bible says. So because of the whale's body, the physiology, that story isn't true."

And the little girl said, "Well, when I get to heaven, I'm going to ask Jonah did that whale swallow you?" And the teacher smiled and she said, "What if Jonah isn't there? Maybe he will be in hell." The little girl said, "Well, then you ask him." You gotta have faith. Childlike faith. Now the scripture says, and I'm going to read verse 21: "After leaving Succoth, they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." Now God released them through his mighty power. All of those 10 plagues, finally Pharaoh said you can go.

But he was obviously repentant of that and sorry he allowed them to go. And that's what I'm going to talk about next week. He's going to pursue them and he's going to go after them. But this is the point: he let them go, but they didn't know their way. They really didn't have a map. They didn't know how to get back to Canaan. They didn't have a compass like we have today.

But God is a shepherd God. Is he not? He leads, he guides, he directs, he helps us along the way. When we don't know the way, he knows the way. And it said there was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Now by day, we need the guidance of the Lord just as much as we do at night. By night we need the guidance of the Lord just as much as we do by day.

And here's one of the promises—I can't go through all of the promises that God has made, but one of the great promises is he's going to lead you. He's going to lead you in all of your decisions if you'll be true, if you'll surrender, if you'll give it all to him. How do you do that? How do you surrender? How do you give it to him? The Bible says acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct your paths.

That's what you have to do. You just have to come down before God and say, "God, here's the situation." He already knows the situation, but he wants you to become a partner with him in it. He wants to become a partner with you in it. As you pray and tell it to him, you two become partners. And now you're acknowledging him and he's going to guide you in all your ways.

So by day he led them. That pillar of cloud was over them, guiding them. All they had to do was just keep looking up. Say that: "Keep looking up." Just keep looking up and follow that cloud. That cloud's going to lead you. Sometimes daylight gives a false security. We think that it's daylight, I can see ahead, I know where I'm going, I don't have to use my headlights.

I don't have to worry about what's up ahead; I can see what's up ahead. But think about the day. All the activities, all the schedules, the family chores, the job. During the day, you're very active. And those activities can cause you and me to stop looking up and start looking at all the activities and begin to be really concerned about all of the activities that are going on.

And the activities become the focal point of my day. And all of those activities are the very things that will turn my attention away from God, so that now I'm not acknowledging God, I'm acknowledging my activities. I'm just so very, very active. Now, we put the prayer cloth over our doors. You did too. We walk under that going out. The name of the Lord is on it.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is upon it. Yesterday, at the door that leads out to our garage, Kray and I went under that door and we knelt down. Friend, no one knows what a day's going to bring forth, do you? I don't know what crazy person's going to be out on that highway. I don't know what's going to happen. Sickness, disease, accidents, problems, difficulties.

I don't know who's going to call and tell me of a difficult situation that is going on in their family or in their life and needing prayer or needing intervention from the pastor immediately. No one knows what a day is going to bring forth. Now that cloth is not something magic. All we were doing was remembering the name of Jesus and the oil symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

We were not looking to the cloth; we were looking beyond the cloth. The cloth just helped us to look beyond. And we knelt and we prayed. We're going to give our day and all of our activities. That little cloth is almost like that cloud up there. Just keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your heart open to the Lord. Walk with God in your thoughts.

And then come night, there are things that go on in darkness, in secret, in private, that do not go on in the daytime. There are special, special temptations at night that are not there during the day. But God leads by day and by night. Say: "By day, by night." God's got you covered all the way, doesn't he? His promise is sure. His promises are amen, yea and amen.

The scripture says neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. It didn't leave its place. You see, what it is, we sometimes get knocked off a little bit. Things happen, activities, situations, problems, troubles will imbalance us and we try to get our balance and get our equilibrium back. Anything ever just about upset you?

Knock you off your feet? Something surprise you during the day or during the night? Well, the scripture says that God is never knocked off balance. That cloud and that pillar stayed in its place. It stayed right there. Not one time did they look up and say, "Oh, where did it go?" No, friend, when you look up, God's there! The problem is we don't look up.

We don't acknowledge him in all our ways. But when we acknowledge him in all our ways, he's there to guide us, to direct us, to keep us, to keep us going. By day or by night. Friends, we're marching to Zion. We're passing through this world. There's a cloud by day, there's a fire, a flame in the darkness. God's put a lamp there. We don't have to get lost.

We are not going to get lost. God's going to bless us. So now you think of where you are, what's going on, what decisions you have to make, what's trying to imbalance you, the trouble that has hit you during the day, the fear, the temptation that has come against you during the night. Think about it. Hopefully, you are thinking about it right now. But now's the time to look up, to trust the Lord.

He's taking you to Canaan land. He's taking you to the land of milk and honey. He's taking you. He's taking you. He has spoken. Let what he says incarcerate you. Amen. Shall we bow? Father God, you are Abba Father. Dear father, father. We're your children by the blood, because of the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You care for us. You're not going to let your children go. We're your little ones, and you're our heavenly father, and you're going to take care of us. What a family God you are. We love you, Lord. Thank you for loving us. Now help your people. Some of them, Lord, are going through some real hard places right now in their mind, in their thoughts.

Confusion in their home, in their personal life, in their family life, in their financial life. Confusion, wondering how it's all going to work out in the end. Lord, help your people. You're going to help us right now, and I give you praise. I give you praise.

Guest (Male): Every day, The Healing Word reaches people with the life-changing truth of God's word, bringing hope to the hurting, peace to the anxious, and salvation to the lost. But we can't do it alone. If this ministry has blessed you, would you consider standing with us in prayer and financial support?

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