Transformed by God

The speaker discusses the importance of aligning prophetic messages with Scripture and emphasizes that the Holy Spirit will not lead us into anything that contradicts God's Word. They encourage listeners to seek biblical truth and not blindly accept any prophetic message. The focus should be on personal growth, character development, and drawing closer to God, rather than material provisions. The speaker uses the example of Joseph's journey, highlighting the need for willingness to be moved by God and to trust His guidance. They emphasize that God should initiate movement in our lives and that we should not rely on our own ideas or initiatives. Welcome to CCI Fellowships podcast. Thank you for joining us. At CCI Fellowship, we are reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching our community. We pray that this week's message challenges you in your walk with the Lord, causes you to grow in your faith, and encourages you in your love for the Word of God. Open your Bibles to Genesis 37. And I want to start by making this statement. Each and every prophetic declaration or prophetic message must be in harmony with Scripture. It must be in harmony with Scripture. Given the multitude of backgrounds that we have, the word prophetic may make you uneasy or it may make you excited. People have different reactions to the word prophetic. But what I want you to know, the perspective that your leader has, that your leadership has, is that when it comes to what we would consider something prophetic, something that God has said to us personally or something that God has said to us corporately, we are going to make sure that it aligns with Scripture. Because the Holy Spirit is not going to lead us into something that is not in agreement with what God has already established. Now obviously the Bible doesn't list every specific instance in life by name. But it does deal with every specific instance in life. You can find an answer for everything in Scripture. And so when it comes to making a declaration, when it comes to praying over somebody and praying as the Lord leads you, or when somebody is praying over you and you hear them say, I just feel like the Lord wants me to tell you this, if they ever say anything that you're like, that doesn't sound like Scripture, then go look. Go look. It may not sound like Scripture because they may have missed it and that happens. It may not sound like Scripture because you need to brush up on what the Bible says. Both of those things are very valid occurrences. I knew a guy who, he had come on short-term mission trips, went back the one time and divorced his wife and married this other woman. And his excuse was, well, God told me to do this. I was led by the Spirit to do this. No, you weren't. Because that's not biblical. The Spirit's not going to tell you what is not biblical. He will always speak that which has already been established. If Jesus said, I always do what my Father tells me to do and I only say what my Father tells me to say, and then said of the Holy Spirit, he will speak and do those things which he has seen and heard, we can be absolutely confident that if it comes from the Spirit, it's going to be something that is glorifying God and according to Scripture. When it comes to this declaration, I mentioned this last week, that we need to not just get focused on the parts of the declaration that talk about provision, but we need to focus on, God, what do you want to do in me this year? What do you want to do in my character this year? What do you want to do with my faith this year? God making sure that we have all provisions is, really to him, that's like, not even hard. It's beyond easy and it's, though he loves to provide for his children, that is certainly not the focus of God's interaction with us. The focus of his interaction with us is to get us closer to him. For us to live holy lives. For us to be set free. Set free from bondage, set free from poverty, set free from sickness, set free from doubt, set free from condemnation, set free from death. He desires those things. Your material needs are just material needs. I'm thankful for those material things that God has blessed me with. I'm thankful that in those blessings he has said to me multiple times, this is just what I want to give you. Because I love you. The important thing is hearing God say, because I love you, not that I have this or that. And so, as we make this declaration this year, let us come at it and let us approach it with the perspective of, God, I'm going to make this declaration because your word says it, because it's according to what you have led by your spirit, but I'm going to make it in anticipation of how you're going to change me, how you're going to transform me into somebody different this year. During the first prayer and fasting service, which after that is when I wrote this message, and again in last week's prayer and fasting service, Bishop Rene explained something about a prophetic message, and that's where I've taken this message from. He said that a prophetic message should move, should mold, and should modify the person that hears it or that receives it. To move, mold, and modify. So the big question that I'm going to make in each of these points is, are we willing? And like I said, two days after writing this message, the Holy Spirit asked me the same question, are you willing? And I'll get to that at the end. So using Joseph as our example, we're going to see how these three words fit into his experience in life, fit into what he went through from the time that he had his dreams to the time that he found himself in Pharaoh's palace. Now, your assignment last week was to read Genesis 37 and Genesis 39-50. Did anybody do that? We had a hearty yes over there. An almost here. Anyone else? Okay, so the rest of you, for 50% credit, you can do that this week. In Genesis 37, we'll read verse 9-11. Under this point of move, we must be willing to be moved for God to accomplish what he wants to. In verse 9-11, it says, Then he dreamed still another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, Look, I've dreamed another dream, and this time the sun, the moon, and the elephant bowed down to me. So he told it to his father and his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you? And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. It says a number of times of the things that Jesus lived and the things that was spoken about him, that Mary kept these things in her heart, pondering what they meant. Joseph's father, of course, was pondering what they meant, wondering what does this have to do, but at the same time thinking this is preposterous. You're like, you know, one of the, you're the youngest. You think this is really going to happen? Just a silly dream. Let it go. But not even that, his brothers hated him for it. They couldn't stand him. In verse 28, we find that because of their hatred for Joseph, they sold him into slavery. And although it was horrible what happened to Joseph, horrible what his brothers did to him, I mean, they wanted to kill him in the first place. At least he just got sold to slavery. But there was a need for him to be moved from where he was due to what God was saying to him and due to what the destiny that he would fulfill included. He could not have done that had he stayed in his father's house. He didn't have support. He didn't have encouragement. He didn't have an environment that would have helped him grow in Christ or in God. He didn't have a place that was going to mold his character, that was going to change his outlook in life. He needed to move. And so God took him to another country. God took him to another situation. God brought him very low to a place of slavery. But all in all, the move was necessary. So are you willing to be moved this year? Perhaps God doesn't take you to another country. Perhaps, well, in your case he is. Perhaps God's not going to take you to another city. Perhaps the change is not going to be geographically drastic. But he may change your community. He may change your friend group. He may change your job. He may change these different things to move you into a place. Even as we talked about last week, positioning ourselves in the right place in order to receive the things that we are believing God is going to do. So in order to do that, are you willing to be moved? It makes sense. It is easy to shake your head yes, here, listening to the message. But when you get down to it and God says, OK, I'm moving. You're moving. And we go, you want to do what? No. No, God. No. God, I want you to do what you need to do with me. I want you to fulfill your promises in my life. OK, move from here to here. Oh, but God, can't you just do it here? Because I like the space I'm in here. This is comfortable. I'm used to this spot, God. I've got everything set up. It's all where it needs to be. And God says, no. I'm moving you. OK, God, well, I got to pack up. No, leave it. Because where you're going, you don't need any of that. I already have over here what you need for here. And I don't know if you just heard that, but that is really, really good. Amen. Leave it. It's not worth taking it with you if he's already got other things prepared for you in that place. Let go of those things. Joseph had to let go of everything. The important thing to note in movement is that God should be the one that initiates movement. Don't move because it seems like a good idea. Don't move because, you know, OK, God, we got to move. We got to be molded. We got to be modified. We we we got to be ready to be transformed. We got to position ourselves in the right place. So I'm going to go over here because this is where I think you're going to accomplish all of these things. And then God doesn't do it. And then you run around to another place over here. Oh, God, is this the place? Is this a place? Am I in the right spot now, God? And we waste all of this effort. We waste all of this emotion. We waste all of this faith, because it's not faith when we're doing these things. It's our own initiative. And God is simply saying. Here. Just come here. When I play ball with my dogs in the morning. I'm constantly telling them just come here. Just here. Not there. Here. We do the same thing to God. It's just come here. I don't like that spot. What about here, God? And we start negotiating with him. Don't have to negotiate with him. Just go where he tells you. He must be the one to initiate the move. Are you willing to be moved? Number two, mold. As we come into Genesis 39, we don't know what time frame elapsed between when Joseph was sold into slavery and when he got to Egypt and when he became to such a status in Potiphar's house that he was given charge of everything. In Genesis 37 verse 15, dad had just sent Joseph to go find his brothers. He was hoping that they would get some solid brother time. But remember, these guys hated Joseph. And in verse 15 it says that Joseph is described as a person that was wandering around. Some guy found him. And asked him, what are you doing? Oh, I'm looking for my brothers. Do you happen to know where they went? And I'm sure the guy was thinking, you're not looking very hard. I was watching you. You were over there. You were over there. You were over there. And you finally made it over here. You don't look like you're actually on a mission. And he told him where his brothers were. And he, oh, okay, okay. I'll head that way. He wandered. He was unfocused. He was undisciplined. He was not somebody that was high on the list of candidates to be entrusted with everything in somebody's house. But yet something happened between being sold in slavery and when he got to Potiphar's house there was some encounter that he had with his situation that absolutely changed his character. There was some molding that had to happen. Scripture describes us as pottery in the hands of a potter. You know, a potter doesn't deal always so gently with the clay. Sometimes they hack off a piece. Sometimes they crush it and start over. It's not always so graceful what happens when pottery is made. Joseph had an encounter in that moment with the potter who said, you're a jar that needs to be molded. You are just a lump of clay right now. But he was able, God was able to mold Joseph into something different. In which then it was said of Joseph that the Lord was with him and caused him to prosper in everything that he did. In Potiphar's house, in the jail, verse 5 and 6 of 39. So it was from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. And the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had to happen in the field. Thus he left all he had in Joseph's hand and didn't know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Joseph went through some difficult moments. And he was getting ready to go through another difficult moment as you read through chapter 39. So as we make this declaration, this anointing of Joseph, these blessings from God, these miraculous harvests that he's going to bring to us. As we contemplate these things, as we declare them, what we should not do is assume that everything is going to be hunky-dory this year and we're never going to face any difficult circumstances. That doesn't align with scripture. That doesn't align with Joseph's life. Nor does it align with anybody else's life in scripture. We're going to face some difficult times because through those difficult times God is able to soften us up so that we can be molded into who he wants us to be. It's not about the provision. It's about the effect that God has on our lives. Are you willing to let God mold you to the extent that he can trust you with the blessings, provisions, and victories that are to come? Some are not trustworthy. Some find themselves in a place in regard to stewardship that they're not very good stewards. And so God gives us what we are able to steward. In the story of the talents, we know that one was given multiple talents. The other was given, what was it, ten, five, and one. He gave them each, the scripture says, he gave them each according to their ability. He knew the one that got the one was only trustworthy for one. And God knows the same about us. I want to be trustworthy. I've been studying 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy 96 times, I think it is. I'll have to confirm that number. 96 times the word trustworthy or faithful appears in those two letters. That's a lot between seven, eight chapters. That's a lot. Are we trustworthy? Are we willing to be molded into what God wants? Modify. As we move into Genesis 40, we find that Joseph is in prison. He obviously didn't commit this crime. He was a man that kept his integrity. He was a man that kept his purity. He stayed in the right book. He stayed in the right bank. He stayed in the right bed or he stayed out of the wrong bed. And staying out of the wrong bed is what got him thrown in prison. And he finds himself down there. He's been there for a while. Two other prisoners, the baker and the cupbearer, they both have dreams. And Joseph interprets those dreams. And in a moment of desperation, we'll call it. In a moment of I see an out. In a moment of this could be the way that God wants to deliver me from this place. He said to the baker, whenever Pharaoh restores you, remember me. And get me out of this place for I am here wrongfully accused. In that moment of trying to figure things out. Joseph got his eyes off of trusting God. Which he had seen God do so many things. But he got his eyes off of God and on to the favor of man. We must understand that favor with God brings favor with man. But favor with man, when we start with favor with man, is a very shaky ground. And it usually does not involve God's favor. And so he asked the baker this and God says, oh, two more years. Left him there in prison for two more years. Left him there because why? Because he was being punished? No. Because he needed some modification. He had already been moved. He had already been in the molding process. But there was some fine tuning to Joseph's faith that needed to be accomplished. And God left him there for those two more years. In order to do those modifications, to do those slight adjustments. To do what was necessary so that when God brought him to Pharaoh's palace. He had his head on straight. He had his focus on God. Remember that when Pharaoh called him up, he said, I hear you can interpret dreams. And Joseph said, no, I can't do anything. I'm sure Pharaoh was like, well, then why did I pull you out of prison? He said, but that belongs to God. And God will tell me what your interpretation is. He got his focus back on God. He got his eyes fixed on God. Not on his own ability. Not on what he needed. Not even on the injustice that was done against him. He got his focus back on God. And those two years left in the prison is what he needed to modify his faith. To modify his character. Are we willing to let God reveal within our character the things that need to be adjusted. To make modifications to our faith. To our focus on him. So that he can take us to the completion or the fulfillment of the things that he has destined for us to do. Remember that the dreams that he had were eventually fulfilled. His brothers and his mom and his dad eventually bowed down to him. But the destiny in order to get to that place was so much greater. When Joseph started out on this journey, he saw that much of the picture. When it came to the end, God amplified what he understood. How many can say at this point in time in your life. That what God has done in your life. Where God has moved you. What he has had you do. You can say I had no idea. I had no idea he was going to do that. If you had asked me before coming to the mission field. If I was going to pastor an English speaking church. And lead an NGO in English to foreigners. Not to Hondurans. What do you think I would have said? Why would I go to Honduras? And not minister to Hondurans? Well we got a whole lot of Hondurans here now. Amen. And now I is one. Amen. Never saw that at the beginning. But you know if God showed us what was at the end. Before we got started in the beginning. We would never get started. He knows what will get us started. He knows what will help us on the way. We must be willing to be moved. Molded and modified. Can you say that? Moved. Molded. And modified. Moved. Molded. And modified. So two days after I wrote this message. God said yep. We'll see if you're ready. We'll see if you were paying attention. Which I wasn't. I would just like to say. I was not. I was not. Because when the request came. My first response was no. I don't want to move that way. I don't want to do that. I don't want to let that happen. But I did say but if God says. If in the end is God's will then okay. But my first reaction was ain't no way Jack. That ain't gonna happen. So I'm just being completely honest with you. So what was it that God asked? God has given us as fellowship. The opportunity. To send somebody out from this congregation. Into the larger church leadership. To be an influence in one of the other services. To be an assistant pastor in one of those services. To. For whatever reason. God only knows. He has shown us his favor. In this. Because what it shows is not just a we need a spot to fill. What it shows is that there's something going on in fellowship. There's something going on within the leadership of fellowship. That we need in another service. That's good. So we spoke to the person. Had that conversation. That person responded the same way that we did. Nope. With exclamation points. But in the end God wins. In the end God gets glorified. Because we are people that are submitted to God. And favored by God. You see. This happened. Because God. Was with us. And has allowed us to prosper. In the things that we do. Isn't that awesome? So I. Have the privilege. To announce tonight. That next week we will have a commissioning service. For Pastor Jose and Liz. Who will be transferring to the Saturday service. To be the assistant pastor there. And. Pastor Jose has been my right hand. For years. We have spent. Many hours. Discussing the things of God. Much to our wives. Sometimes impatience. When our lunch meeting goes for three or four hours. We. We are knit together. So the yes was not an easy thing. But the yes is still. An easy thing. Because it's God. When God confirms it. When God says I want you to move over here. And we move over here. He makes that move. Better because he empowers us. In that move. Is it hard transition? Absolutely. There are challenges. That we face there. No one likes change. But in all reality. As his spirit leads. His spirit equips. His spirit goes before us. And prepares the way. So we we delight in God. In this opportunity. For Pastor Jose and for Liz. To take this. DNA of fellowship. Into. One of the other services. And minister to them. As much as he has. Ministered to us. To be a blessing to them. As much as Liz has been. A blessing to this congregation. So next week. We want you to come. Prepared. As we have this commissioning service. Adriana is going to give us. A few little details. And I'm going to ask the worship team. To come up and get ready. As Adriana has given the details. For next week. Go ahead and get your tithes and offerings ready. What are the three words? Move. Mold. Modify. And so you might be wondering what happens to us. Since our only assistant pastor. Is moving on. Who will be occupying. That position. Well it is also my privilege. To announce to you. Pastor Sergio Torres. Will be taking that position. Amen. And all of this is part of the. Larger changes that are going on. In the church as a whole. And there have been movements. In all of the services. But we just praise God. For what he is doing. To come. As we are moved. As we are molded. And as we are modified. God will be glorified. Let's stand together. Let's say our confession. Over our tithes and our offerings. And then as you come. And give. And as the worship team. Sings the chorus of the song. You are dismissed. For this reason I bow my knees. To the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. From whom the whole family. Would grant you. According to the riches of his glory. To be strengthened with might through his spirit. In the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. That you being rooted and grounded in love. May be able to comprehend with all the saints. What is the width and length and depth and height. To know the love of Christ. Which passes knowledge that you may be filled. With all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do. Exceedingly abundantly above. All that we ask or think. According to the power that works in us. To him be glory in the church. By Christ Jesus to all generations. Forever and ever. Amen. Just off Boulevard Solyapa. Near Una. If you would like prayer or more information about our church. Contact us at fellowship.cci at gmail.com. That's fellowship.cci at gmail.com. Or follow us on social media. We hope to see you or hear from you soon. Blessings. Amen.