The Healing Word

Guest (Male): The healing word ministry on one place is brought to you by the generous donations of people like you. At any time during today's message, feel free to send a prayer request or make a donation using the links provided. Now, I pray you will be blessed as Pastor Jack Morris delivers a message from the word of God that will encourage and strengthen your faith in him.

Pastor Jack Morris: The Lord knows the way through the wilderness. All I have to do is follow. That's all I have to do.

Guest (Male): On today's healing word, we're beginning a new series where we'll follow the Israelites who had recently been delivered from bondage in Egypt and observe how God prepared them to cross over into the land he had promised. Now, here's Pastor Jack Morris with an introduction to today's message, strong and courageous.

Pastor Jack Morris: In a few minutes, the congregation will be gathering and I will be bringing a special message entitled be strong and courageous. Those are the words of God to Moses and Moses words to Joshua. Let me read from Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 6. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them. For the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. So, whatever is up ahead this year, God is with us. The Lord Jesus has promised us in Matthew 28 that he would never leave us nor forsake us.

Again in Hebrews chapter 13, I will never never leave you nor forsake you. These are the promises of God that we can stand upon, go forward without any fear, knowing that the favor of the Lord is upon us to bless us, to keep us, and to give us victory in every battle we face. And we will face battles, but the Lord has won the victory. So, claim it. Be strong, be courageous. Come with me now into the sanctuary. Strong and courageous. Easier said than done, but we're going to find out how it's done. And really, it isn't all that difficult or all that hard to be strong and courageous in the Lord.

There's a fable about a little boy who looked across the field, lived way out in the country and looked across several fields. Way off in the distance, there was a house and it had golden windows. And he admired that house every morning. He would look at that house with its golden windows. And one day he said, Daddy, take me over to that house. I want to see that house with those beautiful golden windows. And the father obliged him and they walked across the fields toward that house. And when they began to approach the house, the windows weren't gold anymore.

But there was a little girl in that house that saw them coming and ran out to meet them. And the little boy said to the little girl, where is the house with the golden windows? And the girl said, oh, you this is the wrong house. The house is way over there. And she pointed to the little boy's house. Every morning, the little boy would look over at her house and say, those windows are golden, Daddy. Take me over there. I want to see the house with the golden windows. And then every evening, the little girl would look over at the little boy's house and admire the house with the golden windows.

In the morning, the sun rays would shine on the little girl's house and the windows appeared golden from where the little boy was. And then in the evening, when the sun would go down, the little girl would look over at the little boy's house and the rays would fall upon that house and the windows of the little boy's house were golden. That's a fable, but today I want you to know that they there are windows into your soul. They're golden, but some of us are so close. We don't see the golden windows, but they're there for the rays of God's gospel light to shine in and to warm you, to bless you, to strengthen you, to encourage you.

Those golden windows are there and I know they're there right now this morning for you to hear the word of God and for the rays of God's light to shine upon you. Some are dull, passive, apathetic, down, cold in your spirit. But today, the windows of your soul are golden and the word of God breathed by the Holy Spirit is going to shine in bless you and help you. Listen to these words. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, be strong and courageous for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers to give them.

And you must divide it among them as an inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. All right, here he is. Read the second part now. For the Lord your God goes with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you. That's how you can be encouraged. That's how you can be strong. That's how. For the Lord your God goes with you. Say that. God goes with me.

Guest (Male): God goes with me.

Pastor Jack Morris: He'll never leave me nor forsake me.

Guest (Male): He'll never leave me nor forsake me.

Pastor Jack Morris: Oh, my God, if you only believe that. You would never live another defeated day in your life. Never again would you be defeated. If you truly believe that, but so many of God's people are questioning. They're afraid. What is going to happen? 2013 was a tough year. Is it going to be any better? You keep talking like that and you're digging a hole for yourself. But if you take this scripture to heart, memorize it, quote it every morning, you can go out in victory and live above it. Audra Gillis, are you here? Yes, you are.

Audra has a list of people that every morning she'll send out an inspirational thought. This past Thursday, I am on that list. This past Thursday, I got this from her. And a whole lot of other people got it from her. The journey is better with someone who knows the way. The Lord knows the way through the wilderness. All I have to do is follow. That's all I have to do. He'll make the way for me. Now, last Sunday, we talked about the race that we're on. God has a plan for every life. Life is like a race.

There is a race marked out for us, but we're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. In the 11th chapter of Hebrews, those witnesses are given. And we are to emulate them. They are to be examples to us. They're looking down upon us. They're telling us we won the victory. Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Noah, Rahab, and on and on. We did it. We won the victory. How did we do it? By trusting God. Now, they're telling us you trust God and you'll win the same victory. You'll overcome. You'll have victory in your soul also. So, we are to emulate them.

They are our example.

Guest (Male): We'll be back with the conclusion of today 's message in just a moment. But first, here's an invitation for you to make an impact on reaching souls with God's word.

Pastor Jack Morris: Hello, friends. I'm Pastor Jack Morris. I just want to take a moment to thank you for your prayers and your donations in that order, prayers and donations. I need both from you and it this ministry is to continue. And I believe it's God's will for it to continue. I'm going to need your partnership more so than ever before. I thank God for you. I trust that the healing word is a blessing. Pray that God's word will go forth in mighty power to the saving of souls and to the healing of lives, emotions, and bodies. God bless you, dear one.

In Jesus name, amen.

Guest (Male): If the healing word has blessed you or someone you love, we invite you to prayerfully consider pledging your financial support. Simply visit the healingword.com and click on donate now to make your tax-deductible contribution. Together, let's continue to share the beautiful blessings of God's word with a world in need.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now, look at verse 6 again. Here's the verse I want you to put in your heart. I want you to outline it. I want you to take your magic marker. I want you to put a circle around it. I want this to be your verse, your victory. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of your enemies. For the Lord God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. This is the promise of the Lord. Now, friend, there's there's throughout the Bible, we read the many of the promises of the Lord.

And many of the promises of the Lord begin this way. Thus saith the Lord. Can you say that with me? Thus saith the Lord. Now, wherever that is, thus saith the Lord, that promise now that follows will drive out fear, drive away enemies, bring victory into your soul. You will not be defeated, but that that comes against you will be defeated. Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. This is God's promise. Now, would you put on the screen 2 Corinthians 1:20. Okay, read that one with me. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ.

And so through him, the amen is spoken by to the glory of God. Now, no matter how many promises, not one promise isn't greater than another. They're all equally God-ordained and God-promised. No matter how many promises he has made, they are yes in Christ. Say yes in Christ. That simply means that Christ is going to stand behind every promise God has made. He's going to put his name on the line. He's going to put his reputation out there. And those promises are going to not be a no to you. On the contrary, they're going to be a yes to you.

And Jesus is going to make them come to pass. Jesus is going to do it. You don't have to get out there and fight these battles. If you do, you'll be defeated. For you and I are no match for sin and problems and temptations and defeats and disappointments. They'll get us down every time. But Jesus is saying, God, you say it, I'll say yes to it. You promise it, I'll say yes to it. Now, what are we to do? We are to say amen, which simply means bring it to pass just as you have promised it.

Make it happen, Lord Jesus. Yes, Lord Jesus, make it happen. Friend, you have victory all around you. Victory shining into you. There's a golden window in your soul. Is it open today? Come on, brush the dust off of it and let the light of God's word come in and empower you. You'll be victorious in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, God has become our advanced guard, meaning God is out front. You have watched football games. You've seen men run interference with a guy that's carrying the ball. Well, Jesus is running interference. He's out ahead of us.

He is our advanced guard. Now, when the people of God left Egypt, God was their rear guard. Pharaoh and his armies were behind them, chasing them. Pharaoh regretted ever letting them go. Now, he's chasing after them to capture them a second time and bring them back. So, there's the rear guard where they're going to cross over the Red Sea. The angel of God stands in the middle of the Red Sea. The people of God go across on dry land and the angel of God turns to Pharaoh. And the waters came upon Pharaoh's army. See, God's got your back.

God's got your back. I pray that that truth will get through to us and that truth will set us free. God is with you. God is with you. The God who said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Now, if he leaves you nor forsake you, then he is a weak puny God. And some Christians have a weak puny God. They have a weak puny outlook on life. They're living defeated because their God is a little tiny diminutive God. But the God who promises the Lord himself will cross over ahead of you. God's out front.

He's ahead of you. There's a a theologian, perhaps the greatest theologian of the 20th century. Some thought he was so, Karl Barth. He said gave a different definition of courage. He said courage is fear that has said his prayers. Courage is fear that has said his prayers. There's going to be some things that are going to fright you. But if you say your prayers, God will turn water into wine. He will turn fear into courage. He will turn defeat into victory. Friend, you've got a God. Through the blood of Jesus, you have the almighty Jehovah.

And he's there to bless you and to help you all the way. God goes ahead of you. He's out front. I don't know what it's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next year. Who does? Who really knows? But God's out front. And I know this, there are enemies out there, but God's between me and my enemies. The scripture says David, who is a man after God's own heart, was a shepherd out front taking care of the sheep. And a bear came after the sheep. Now, here are the sheep. Here is the bear. But here stands David.

David says, in order to get to my sheep, you've got to get through me first. A lion came. David said, in order to get to my sheep, I'm out front. I'm ahead of my sheep. You got to get through me first. Now, this is what Jesus is saying. This is what what the Lord has said. The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. Now, the enemy has got to get through Jesus, has got to get through God before the enemy can get to you. And what's the likelihood of that happening? It has never happened in history and it's not going to happen in 2014.

Oh, I wish I wish I could hear some of the fears and some of the worries that you have. I wish I could just hear some popcorn testimonies of how God has blessed you in the past. And then I would tell you the God that blessed you in history will now bless you today and in the future. He's your advanced advanced God up ahead of you. Now, here are some of the enemies we're going to run into. Some of us are going to run into financial enemies, financial problems. Some are going to be rift from their job.

Some job firms are going to close down. And they're going to be needing money because the bills are going to keep on coming in. That's going to be one of the enemies. Others are going to be diagnosed with cancer or with heart disease. Others are going to have marital failures. Some may even God forbid a spouse fails and has an affair. I don't know what you're going to have, but there's enemies out there. And the devil doesn't like you. The devil doesn't like you. The devil wants to destroy you. But the devil has got to get through Jesus to get you.

And there is nothing, absolutely nothing that is formed against you that's going to prosper as long as you have the windows of your soul open and you're allowing God to come in. You're going to win. God's not going to stop the financial problem. He's not going to stop necessarily the dread disease. Some of you may may may lose a spouse this year to death. Only God knows what's up ahead. But there are enemies ahead. And if you can miss church, stop praying, only occasionally read your Bible, you're going to be a defeated Christian, a defeated Christian.

Friend, sermons. Let me tell you something about sermons. I've been doing sermons for about 55 years. Sermons are not to answer your questions. That's not the purpose of a sermon to answer questions, although sermons will answer questions. That will happen. Simon said, oh, I never thought of it that way before. Thanks for that message, Pastor. That answered a lot of questions. I am so glad. I'll tell you what sermons are for. Sermons are to bring you to God into the presence of the Lord. The word of God in that sermon is to come into your soul and strengthen you and give you courage and faith to leave here knowing that you don't walk alone, that you walk with somebody and that somebody walks with you.

That's the purpose of a sermon. It's you and God, God and you living through you, in you, giving you victory. That's the purpose of a sermon. And if I can live without sermons, then I can live without the presence of God. Friend, if I missed as many sermons as I might miss meals, I would be nothing but skin and bones. There's a lot of fat people, but spiritually, they're dying of malnutrition spiritually. Now, friend, if you want to win this year, if you want to overcome, when that financial problem hits you, I want you to say this.

I want you to claim the promise of God. Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. Money may forsake you. The job may forsake you. The the firm may forsake you, forsake you. The place of employment may forsake you. But Jesus says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. This is what the promise is here in Deuteronomy 31. Jesus says in Matthew 28, lo, I am with you always. Never will I leave you nor forsake you. We go down to Hebrews chapter 13 and there it is again. Never will I leave you.

Never will I forsake you. Friend, never is never. Do you get that? Never is never. Never will I leave you nor forsake you. When that doctor diagnoses you and brings you bad news, hurtful news, disappointing news, you've been blessed. You've been prayed for. You've been anointed, laid hands upon you. And the doctor comes and says, you've got it, a cancer. Instead of falling back and doubting God, stand up strong and take the promise of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. When that conflict comes in your marriage and that spouse is not nice to you anymore, never will I leave you.

Never will I forsake you. Friend, you have to claim the promise. But you have to know the promise before you can claim it. But if you know the promise of God in your mind and you can speak it with your mouth, you will experience it in your heart. God will bless you and bring you through to complete victory. Some of God 's people are going to be tempted all the temptation, the temptation that God's going to bring against you. I don't know it, but I know there's an enemy, a bear, a lion. The enemy goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

And friend, you're right in the his path. But before he can get to you, he's got to get through Jesus. He's got to get through Jesus. But God's with you. Greater is he that is within you than he that is within the world. Do you know that? We know it up here maybe, but do we know it down here? Let these sermons bring you into the presence of God. Let these sermons in strength strengthen you and encourage you. That's what the word is. That's what food is. When you go to the table to eat food, that's exactly what it's for, to strengthen you, to give you strength, to make you healthy.

That's what the bread of life is, the sermons to strengthen you. It's the bread of life to make you healthy spiritually. Friend, ignore the word of God. You won't be able to stand up with the when the wind blows against you. You won't be able to make it. But with God, you're going to be able to stand up. You're going to be able to make it. Loneliness. Some of you are going to face loneliness. Loneliness. Loneliness is a terrible thing. It'll cast a dark shadow. It'll cause you to imagine things that are untrue. And those imaginations will be as though they they are true.

In the darkness of soul, loneliness is a terrible thing. But I want you to know somebody who knew loneliness ahead of you, Jesus. Jesus said, I tread the wine press alone. He said there was none who would watch with me. Goes back to his disciples and he 'd say, couldn't you watch with me 1 hour? Couldn't you watch with me? He tread the wine press. Now, the wine press with the grapes when they would stomp the grapes, Jesus is saying, I'm going to stomp the head of the serpent. The enemy that's going to come against you, I'm going to press down.

None is going to be no one will be with me. No one will be with me. Even I'll cry out, my God, why have you forsaken me? But I will tread the wine press alone. He knows loneliness. There are single people who experience loneliness, but there are also married people who experience loneliness also, terrible loneliness, terrible loneliness. Loneliness is a terrible thing. It'll do terrible things. It'll cause you to think and imagine terrible things. But here is our savior to redeem your soul and to bring you into the kingdom of God. He's treading the wine press.

He is stomping. And the the the redness, the juice of the grape symbolic of the blood of Jesus is coming out. Look at his garments. They're splattered with blood. He did it for you. He took the wrath of God so that God could smile upon you and me. He took the wrath of God that I might be blessed and enter into my father's house and into my father's kingdom.

Guest (Male): It is such a blessing to be a child of God and carry the promises of God in our heart. Those promises will never fail because God will never fail. I encourage you to go forth with faith and victory, knowing you're not alone. You have the victory right now. So, all you need to do is claim it. Looking for a little extra support and inspiration, be sure to check out everything waiting for you at the healingword.com. You can pray now with Pastor Jack Morris, lifting up the need in your life and access uplifting messages on topics that matter to you, meant to restore your faith and strengthen your spirit.

Need a prayer? Submit a request and Pastor Morris along with the healing word community will be there to pray for you. If you feel called to support this ministry, simply click donate now to make a tax-deductible gift. All this in more is just a click away at the healingword.com. Head over and explore it today. Join us tomorrow for another healing word message. Until then, blessings on you.