C A P A C I T Y 4

Hello Family!!

I hope you all are intentionally and consciously allowing your capacity to increase as we go through this series!!

There's a difference between being intentional and being conscious of your capacity and simply enlarging your capacity just for the heck of it or to say you have more room on your plate for whatever. Why, you ask? Because it's just that, you'll be allowing whatever to take the space you've freed up. However, when you're mindful of what you're allowing in, you'll be more selective of what can come in and what cannot come in.  

It was also a pleasure having Cyrus Speaks come and share some of his poetry with us. If you all weren't able to get his social media information, it's @Cyrusspeaks, and here's the link to his Youtube page if anyone wanted to take a look.

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Capacity Part 4!

The audience yelled "REWIND," so Pastor did a recap of Genesis 1 where we learned we were made "very good"

One part of that, even though we've heard it several times over the past few months, that gets me is the "let us make man..." part. 

Let US...
Part of why we're very good is because the entirety of God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) was involved in the creation of [insert your name here]. It wasn't just the Father who was concerned with the execution of creating me, it was the entirety of God. 

...for being so careful and mindful when You created me

The bulk of Pastor's sermon was based on:

Lamentations 3:37

Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass,

When the Lord has not commanded it?

NKJV

Who do you think “spoke and it happened”?

    It’s the Master who gives such orders. 

MSG

Supporting Scriptures:

Romans 10:17

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Isaiah 55:3

Incline your ear, and come to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—

The sure mercies of David.

#YearOfTheInclinedEar

Genesis 3:10-11

So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; 

and I hid myself." 

11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? 

Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded that you should not eat?

There were a lot of instructions given to Adam before this moment, but God never informed Adam that he was naked. Adam allowed the serpent to get in his ear and he believed him. He honored the word of someone else over God's Word and it got him put out of the garden.

Concluding Questions:

 📣Who have you been listening to? 

📣 Who told you that?

"Your capacity to receive correlates with your capacity to hear and obey." Had Adam and Eve obeyed God, they would have been able to remain in the garden and we wouldn't be experiencing the effects of it today.

In addition, your claims determine who you've been listening to and what you've taken hold of. If you claim anything opposite of what the Bible says about you, you haven't placed yourself in agreement, nor taken hold of what God has said about you.

God cannot be our plan B...He's too sovereign for that. Go to Him the first time! How do we go to Him the first time? Value His Word and instruction above all others, even your own words.

Nakedness was not a new thing even before they learned what nakedness was. They didn't feel naked even though they were naked.

The situation didn't change, but how they reacted was different. They were immune to the negative situation. God didn't want them to focus on their situation; there was garden to tend to. The situation wasn't negative until they started believing someone else's words. Even if they were told they were naked, I don't think they knew it was a "bad" or "shameful" thing until they were told/convinced that. Don't accept just anything. Once people start saying things contrary to what God said, don't let it get to the point where you're considering their word over God's Word. God keeps some things from us and tells us other things to protect us. When we take in everything we hear, it becomes difficult to hear from God, and when you're in a bind where it would be wise to follow His direction, it can feel like His voice is foreign and you find yourself trying to decipher His voice from someone else's or even your own. 

Be obedient at all costs, but be mindful of who you're being obedient to. 

2 Kings 4:1-7

A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” 2 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

Highlighted Points from this story:

• If you have something, you have something. Don't belittle what you have. If you have a business, it's your business, not a side hustle. Be careful what you're labeling the gifts God has given you. Don't call it something He didn't call it. 
• Instruction started in verse 1. She didn't know why she was doing what she was doing until verse 7. #DoItAnyway #GoWithoutKnowing
• Very similar to the disciples First Lady talked to us about the Sunday before last. They obeyed the command to throw the net on the right side, but didn't know it was Jesus giving the command until their net was full to capacity.

Do you have the capacity to receive what you've been praying for?

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As usual, if you have anything to add, any comments to make, or any questions you'd like to ask, please leave a comment and get the conversation going!

Did you miss service and/or the Facebook Live or do you just want to experience the service again? If so, here's the link to Sunday's Service. 

          Sunday Service is every Sunday beginning at 9:30 am and you're more than welcomed to join us!

See you soon,