Why Your Biggest Battle Always Follows Your Best Decision

about a decision that you have made you made a real decision you step up and you finally committed and then everything seems to be going wrong it's just harder it's just not easy you expected the door that opens would be easy to go through but everything just stopped you you've done the right moves in your life but suddenly something is just stopping you it's like the things that were stable it just fall apart you know like in your life there was that stable thing and it just fall apart you feel you exhausted and you're wondering the decision that you've made was it the wrong decision and this is the moment i want to talk about is that decision that you have made and now suddenly feel like it's wrong but it is too today it's mother's day and i want to make sure that we celebrate the mothers i just want the one to come and do that poem it's the standard she said yes before she understood mother's day pantanoff grace international the angel came with goodness she did not feel it as goodness at first she felt it as confusion as fear as how is this even possible the biggest announcement of her life came with the biggest question of her life that is what today is about your best decision will always be followed by your hardest battle mary knew that before anyone she said yes anyway and the world was never the same to every mother here today you have said yes to things you did not fully understand that is not weakness that is exactly what faith looks like happy mother's day did you hear what she says she said the things that you you have not prepared for but yet you said yes yes anyway the world was never the same after that yes so i want to take this moment and and and and and say to you happy mother's day now my message today is also at the same time entitled why your biggest battle always follow your best decision why is it that the biggest battle always follows your best decision now i want to take you on a journey and i want to i have entitled the message why your biggest battle always follow your best decision under the message i said what adam and israel not do i mean could not do jesus did it what adam and israel could not do jesus did it now if you go to to the book of matthew and you read matthew 3 verse 13 um i think let's just go there matthew 3 verse 13 i said to you last week i said to you how jesus was uh uh how he was announced matthew 3 verse 13 matthew 3 verse 13 says the following then come at jesus from galilee to jordan to jordan and to john to be baptized of him but john forbid him saying i have need to be baptized of thee and cometh down to me and jesus answered said unto unto him suffer it be so now for thus it cometh as to fulfill all righteousness then suffered him now imagine this is being after he get baptized the father now announced him this is my beloved son huh let's go to 13 and low a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased now some of the things you need to understand that we as human beings when somebody announced us we got fear you know like let me make an example with public speaking do you know that at some stage laverne was if you can call her up on a stage like this to speak she wouldn't have done it but because she done what does i review review yeah they didn't yeah they didn't i don't know something they don't dance so review sounds right yeah okay that thing she did that and she did she sang in the choir so it's something that is stage frighting you it give birth stage fright you see and you might think wow when she comes up here she comes up confident but do you know know at first when she was announced the heartbeat went with other beats that you couldn't understand because it's your first time now when jesus was announced it's his first time to be now announced my beloved son now you can just picture that you call it jealousy maybe you know when i say jealousy those people that they don't like you suddenly when somebody announced that you must come and speak on in front of many jealousy is now suddenly creeping in this is my beloved son son and here comes jesus but i need you to understand most people read matthew 4 and they see a temptation story but what you literally actually seeing is an order of how things happened because then the order suddenly changed because if you read here he says in matthew 4 then was jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil the devil jesus got announced that this is my beloved son not after that it happened that jesus got wow now hand clap somebody says you did it no do you know what's the first thing that happened directly after this the sentence i am well pleased it happened that jesus now got let up now let me explain what i mean by that by this statement i'm just seeing here now somebody got announced that they are pregnant you're going to receive a bouncy baby boy and what did mary do that does as mary mary magdalene i almost said where does my mother come from mary god announced that she's expecting this boy what goes through her mind what would people say that is the first thing after that that can happen a lot of us when we get announced as managers there's so many things that immediately after that happened now that you are a manager please sort out this sort out that do this do that so your battle is the hardest that time because you gotta step up somebody announced you to say hey did this and that and that and the other do you know what happened with me i stepped out of out of my way where i was working and the first thing that happened after i left my way the question was how would i actually look after my family where would the money come from but lo and behold can i tell you today if i would have stayed in my way up till today i wouldn't have had any growth but i had to step up and step out how many of you are making real decisions like like really you made a decision and that decision just after you made the decision things got harder things got even tougher after the voice of god spoken to jesus immediately he was led to the wilderness and can i tell you something the thing about the wilderness is that your situation becomes a wilderness after you got into a newer position now let me ask you the very first time when you took up the job that you are in at this moment as a grown-up do you remember how hard it was for the very first three months that you wanted to give up you wanted to give up i had a conversation with somebody and the person was telling me ah you know you know if i can think where i was at that time and where i am today you're you're you're i can't believe it i almost gave up wilderness situation that's your wilderness situation imagine jesus the wilderness situation that for 40 days no food not even a crowd to to say well done your fasting day three went well nothing no confirmation you are the beloved son of god you know because this is what we want when somebody says to you you are a great prophet of god they they put you on a platform after that you want somebody else to come and confirm no confirmation nobody coming to tap you on your shoulders you did well nothing nothing nothing and here we expect everybody after we become a mother to come and congratulate us but some won't come the one that you expect that needs to come he's not there wilderness situation when you when you got when you when you got pregnant uh mamrut when you got pregnant you see these people don't care about me you get my you get my point a wilderness situation why is people not even caring about me why they don't even congratulate me wilderness situation some of the things that we go through there's no confirmation of what is happening but yet we have to keep on keeping on but do you know that this order comes like this now number one jesus got baptized now after he got baptized the voice speak to him announcing him immediately after that announcement he went into wilderness but do you know in the wilderness there was no confirmation of who he is no crowned 40 days of loneliness and just when he thought he's finished his 40 days of fasting here comes temptation the first thing after 40 days that he did the devil comes with condemnation if you go to uh uh matthew 4 verse 3 4 verse 3 let's let's start with two just to give you a a a bit of a background he says and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was afterward and hungered imagine debra is hungry you got baptized you gave your heart to the lord you got baptized after you got baptized god called you you are a son i have called you by your name you are mine and suddenly when god told you you are mine suddenly you went into a wilderness situation and there you already feel that your character has been afrikaans they fought your character because when you were called the beloved now suddenly you went into the wilderness where nobody even acknowledged you ah you you you walk in the street somebody call you hey ricardo ah man don't you know i'm a pastor you want that confirmation no you you you you just got baptized as a prophet you're walking there they say hey hey caro you got upset hey i'm not i'm not kadu i'm prophet kadu hell no there's there won't be any confirmation to that even your best friend will still call you by your name that they are aware of it will take you years for him to even change to that name no confident confirmation and here you're thinking ah confirmation i don't get confirmation and suddenly the temptation comes because this is after jesus got hungry hungry when he was on his vulnerable time the time the time when he was almost about giving up yes satan walking seeing and when he the temp tempter come to him he said if thou be the son of god command that these stones be made bread can i tell you something when your breakthrough comes and you got tempted the first thing satan will talk about is your provision he will speak into your provision do you know what he will say in your provision provision he will say in your provision the bible says and he will be so correct on the bible that every word he speaks will be a specifically from the bible it will not be a mismatch from the bible it will be a specific word but let me let me before i get into that let me just show you so after baptism the voice speak beloved son announcing you after announcement immediately you go into your wilderness after wilderness suddenly there's no food no no provision no crowd no confirmation then suddenly satan come to tempt you but when satan come to tempt you that's where the things gets easier when you stand temptation you win because if you go to matthew 4 verse 10 and it reads as follows then say jesus unto him get thee hence satan for it is written thou shalt not worship the lord thy god and him only shalt thou serve then the devil leave it did you hear what he says then the devil leave it so he won and this is the order that you need to understand which i want you to to to to prove to you your ministry only begins when you went through all these orderly things your ministry begins after there's no provision there's nothing that you can show your ministry gets after that temptation of of of you i mean after that of not eating then that temptation will come and then satan will not win because you have not given up if you give up that's where you he got you notice i need you to to say what comes after our announcement was not the ministry it was not your ministry as yet not a blessing not even open doors next the wilderness comes after them the wilderness i mean somebody last week you remember i i i spoke about your your your character last week i spoke about how your character got built once jesus was told a beloved son his character was given so he took on what god said about him being that character about him he was not he was not told by via scanner news he was not told by a monk or boss he was not told he was told by god himself and that is why it created an identity for him so imagine you just got told what is your identity identity and your identity got tested imagine huh just after god tells you you are satan comes and tells you hey man are you sure if you are the son of god that's what was what you say you are hungry now why don't you just turn this into into into something to eat imagine you are hungry and ibra is talking out of the bible exactly what you want to hear at the time where you need to eat at the time when you need to hate is the exact same moment that he speaks to you i want you to understand something there's some sort of order if you read from matthew 3 from 16 to 17 you would actually see how it went down in whom i well pleased that's what he says in whom i well pleased then when you go to matthew 4 verse 1 and jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil i need you to understand there's there's something about the greek or the hebrew that it open up what we sometimes think it might be but this one let me read to you now it's an ego which means let up it's to lead up or to bring up god did not push jesus into the wilderness he let him so it was not a push from behind it was a leading from up front and some of us understand it's not a push from behind it's not a push from behind it's not a push from behind it because when you are led it means that somebody is in front of you already so why would you why would you feel that when jesus was led this was almost like as if it was a temptation from god because this is how it reads that and jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness wilderness wilderness to be tempted of the devil can you see how god even prepare your character way before something happened because god knew jesus character before the devil actually could come and therefore he was led to that wilderness and i need you to understand that word left is intentionally there it's an intentional word it's not a word that was just deliberately put there no it was an intentional that word was there you know some of the things that i i i sometimes go through i sometimes feel like ish mara god man hi man this one is too much for me it's really too much then i i'm i'm going in my head how can i get out of this ask my wife she will tell you whenever god speaks and and and i can see somebody in the mall and i'm like i need to speak to that person i look at all the reasons why not i'm telling you i will look at all the reasons why not god but the thing that you must understand god lead while satan tempts for destruction and when god lead he leads you for preparation of what is to come can you see what i meant i said he led up to the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted so when god's spirit is leading you it's preparing you so that you might know what is about to come your your hanging on the cross is about to come he's making you stronger than what you are at this moment that's the same the the same location that was used satan's uh and and and god's but it was the different source that comes that makes a difference let me explain i said jesus was led up to up of the spirit into the wilderness you see while satan was also at that time awaiting on him in the wilderness this different sources different acts one leads 110 and i need you to understand that there's a different purpose of both of them the one purpose this is no no no no let me let me let me do this when fire hits gold it does not take away the gold it purifies the gold because it takes what is not gold out of the gold i hope you get that revelation because when fire goes i mean when gold goes into fire whatever is not of the gold will be burned out you need to go through fire sometimes to get rid of the nonsense that is not of god and i need you to get that because when you get that jesus has given us a do you call it jesus has given us a which but i'm trying to i'm trying to get that name like a path not can i call it a path like jesus has walked before you all these things that he went through is the things that you are going to go through that's why he said i'm only worried i walked the same earth i went through the same things but remember do not confuse the wilderness that god walked with you or walk in front of me with the wilderness that you do without him don't get confused with the two because walking through a wilderness where god is not leading you it's something else let me let me let me move on remember i said to you earlier on the things that adam and israel did not do jesus did it two people face the same thing two people face the same thing do you know that adam was full when he was tempted he was he was dead too you know like that guy he ate he didn't fast imagine daman didn't fast but yet he made the serpent to tempt him to eat what was not necessary to eat and the curse was broken by jesus where he was empty stomach and he broke the curse of temptation huh do you understand the difference because the garden was full the garden was the garden was full of food and god was in in his presence can you see god was in his presence you remember i said to you there's a difference between god being with you in the wilderness and god being you being in the wilderness without god there's a difference and this difference you should be knowing you should know the difference you should know the difference the garden was the garden was full of food the garden was full of food it was paradise and that was in the presence of god not outside the presence of god just one question from the serpent he said did god really see huh why do you have you are in the presence of god he says did god really see and here you're thinking what now and adam fell for it adam fell adam fell hook line and sinker now the same thing that happened when you're talking about israel israel let's talk about israel israel was brought out of egypt by miracles do you know for 40 days and 40 nights they traveled with manna with quill with water out of the rock they had everything they were they had everything they were needed the things that was for god that god already says they still grumbled they still complained they even built idols idols yeah they built idols imagine they built idols for 40 years and here comes jesus just because of 40 days of being in the wilderness he already cut off that curse of wilderness in our lives you are for 40 years and 40 days you have the food that you are in need of but yet you go after idols where jesus just for 40 days he took the wilderness situation and he turned it upside down turned it upside down the same wilderness no food no crowd 40 days hungry and alone and yet he won and yet he won some of the things that we're going through adam failed while he was full let me explain no no no let me explain to you this when we go through life we complain with stomach full and a full plate in our hands that there's no food in the fridge even full plate in the hand stomach full and yet we complain about the fridge that doesn't have food hey man this and that jesus was tempted without having food jesus was even told ebra you know what this look look look the whole place here if you can see according to psalm 91 even that man is using the scriptures to tempt jesus and here you get tempted by somebody who knows scripture nothing nothing huh let me let me let me let me let me read to you romans 5 verse 19 romans 5 verse 19 for as by one man's disobedience did you hear that by for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the disobedience of one shall many be made righteous i mean so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous he is the obedient son the true israel the second adam he didn't overcome just for himself he overcome for everyone who would come after him so jesus went into the same test he went into the same same brook environment that you went through he even went he even went through the same things you went but yet you don't have to go through it and still you will have the same victory the same victory i want to give you three attacks i just want to give you brief now i'm not going to give i'm not going to hammer on it the one attack that you must understand the enemy will always hit you on your most vulnerable point first on your most vulnerable point first that's the number one and if you go to through the the greek if you go through to matthew 4 1 and 3 i just read one quickly then jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was the word and hungered did you hear he says afterward now the greek word here for afterward is histeron now histeron the the meaning of it is later after the fact the attack come specifically after the fast at the moment of mexican i mean maximum depletion so meaning to say jesus was depleted there was nothing left of me afterwards so meaning to say after everything he was hungry afterward and and that is a deliberate timing that because remember when you are at your weakest god come through strongest i i need you to get this point let the weak say i'm strong let me leave it at that and then he called him the tempter now the tempter is the one who tests with intent to cause failure he wants you to fail the greek word tempter the word is a param zomen minimum is pay razo men now better zone men i don't know if i say it correctly that's how it sounds like i think so its intent is to cause failure huh it's like this is what happened satan study your 40 days of wilderness what is the things you know like when we're talking about 40 days of wilderness what is the things that that um that you are most vulnerable of so he he study you as his opponent but first peter 5 verse 8 says be sober be virgin virgin vigilant sorry first peter 5 verse 8 first peter 5 verse 8 be sober be very vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour imagine before you can say anything satan did not attack jesus because he was weak no at that moment he did not attack jesus because jesus was weak he attacked jesus because he knew jesus will become dangerous to him satan know why he's putting you through what you are going through at this moment because you are a danger to him and if you think that the danger that you're going through now is like it's listen you are not being hit because you are failing you are not going down or feel like you're going down because you are failing no that's not the case you're getting the hits or you're getting the smacks or you're getting the the boxing gloves because you matter you matter number two the one thing you must understand the enemy knows your bible the enemy knows your bible if you think he doesn't know your bible and because he knows your bible he will use it against you let me let me let me let me ask you have you ever sat under a teaching for years that had scripture that had passion you know it had the man of god delivering it like wow and yet it was wrong it was wrong some of the men of god i can guarantee you now up until today in the in the northern cape a preacher cannot look like this a preacher cannot look like this they say there's a afrikaans word you you that's not in the case for you i'm not saying it is not it's not even in the in in in in in america people will still tell you how can you be preaching like this you must go and put on your jacket then you look fine a jacket doesn't make me more holier a jet jacket doesn't make me even jesus my looks will never be what can tell me we had a we had a i think it was a funeral i said it was a funeral we had a funeral and one of the things that come up in the funeral is this guy telling me yo i get upset when the people go to church without the jacket and here i'm looking at this guy thinking to myself yo yo yo here we you got the pot but i'm not going to i'm not going to argue with him that's his feeling that's how he grew up that's how he was indoctrinated because the indoctrination of how he grew up makes him not to listen to somebody who doesn't have a jacket on because now you are blocked to listen to what the spirit of god is telling you because you sit not with a jacket and yet you miss the word of god the enemy knows the bible but he's going to use it against you the words that they use is to fulfill their own sinful desires must i tell you something if somebody comes in here having the shortest of skirt do you know the preacher that sits in front of preach in front will tell you please go close that lady's legs because of his desire it's not because of the word it's his desire that makes him to see such things it has nothing to do with who you are the bible you must know satan knows the bible and he will be using it against you he will say it is written according to the greek word gregraphi it stands written the devil use a real verse correctly quoted anytime when something happened in your life he will use that how many times we told you there is therefore no condemnation in them who are in christ you remember we keep on saying that to you we have said it to you there is therefore no condemnation in them who are in christ don't let the devil condemn you from what is said in the bible making you to feel bad no you have not sinned against god anytime you feel that you have sinned it's easy the only thing you do god i've made a mistake i'm asking for forgiveness and god is willingly he's ready to forgive you it's not necessary for you to keep on going to your past things that you have made mistakes on satan is the one who will keep on telling you about your mistakes in the past number three number three is the enemy offers the destination without the obedience the enemy offers the destination without the obedience that qualifies you for it without the obedience that qualifies you for it. Miskat, who long does once we make up? 18 years? Because we met two years before Levin was born. Yeah. You cannot know yourself. For 18 years I know my wife and my wife can tell you for this 18 years that she knows me I've been scammed many times. Do you know why I've been scammed? Because of my desperation for certain things in life. I got scammed. We wanted to buy a car. We were so desperate to get the car. Somebody told me only a thousand rand. I'll make it for you. Do a shopride transfer. Do a shopride transfer. I'm desperate to get the car. Bro, I'm telling you I want the car. Thousand rand is nothing. I put the money I put the money immediately when I when the guy got the money with the familiar phone phone is gone dead. I got scammed so many times because of desperation. Satan tells me the destination is your car. But he didn't tell me there's right ways to go about it. You can get a car. Yes. Don't worry. Just put Jojo. Today I know of better. I don't say I can't be scammed anymore. Mamrut Don't Don't say I can't be scammed. You you you you don't know how these scammers work. They are like this quick fast fast the enemy offer you the destination and he doesn't care about your obedience even if you are disobedient to God. I want you to understand I'm not standing in front of you because I have not gone through what you haven't been going through. Some of the things I might not have been going through like the way you did but we also went through a lot. We went through a lot. I'm telling you now I was having a conversation with my friend the other day speaking about our days at school and the one thing that came up he said do you know before we before we entered the school we used to make sure that we we get drunk smoke so that we can be able to face the teacher and tell them nonsense. You get guts when you are drunk you have guts if you are if you are like me you don't have guts yet the Bible says in Psalm 2 verse 8 ask of me and I shall give thee that's now Psalm 2 verse 8 ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession so can you see can you see Psalm 2 verse 8 says it ask ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen of thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession just note this now the kingdom were already promised to Jesus when Satan says can you see this kingdom I can give it to you the devil gave the destination he gave the destination knowing that it's not his do you know that Jesus is the only one that had to be resurrected to get that kingdom for us just a few things that I want you to know you're not alone you're not alone remember temptation is not the same as sin temptation is not the same as sin you get tempted but don't sin Hebrews 4 Hebrews 4 verse 15 for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need can you see there boldly which means boldly means with confidence it means without fear it means openly not creep to the throne or not beg for the throne come boldly to the throne you're not fighting this alone I can guarantee you know the same spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness it lives inside of you that's the same spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness who lives inside of you temptation is not your identity it is the test that prove what already is within you and I need you number two I need you to understand I said number one I need to tell you a few things number one is you not alone and temptation is not the same as sin number two what you need to do is to build the word before you get tested build the word in you I mean before you get tested build the word in you before you get tested that is why Jesus could say it is written according to Matthew 4 verse 4 now let me let me make an example you cannot build a wall in the storm you have to build a wall before the storm you cannot build a house in the storm you have to build a house before the storm you cannot be a doctor before you have studied to become a doctor and some of the things you only access when you are tempted a fighter or let me call it boxer or karate kit or whatever what's those guys those guys that fight karate what do you call them a boxer is a boxer a rugby player is a rugby player you know what I'm trying to say a rugby player cannot know the moves the day when he comes on the pitch he has to pre read the moves you can't get somebody into the rugby field and give him a ball while he was playing soccer before do you know what he will do he will keep on kicking the ball instead of throwing it with the hand you need to be prepared for rugby before you play rugby number number three don't play with Satan don't even open a small door or let me say shut the door hard I think that's a better way shut the door hard because angels come after the test not before I mean Satan he says submit yourself therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you that's according to James 4 verse 7 he says resist the devil and he will free from you so when when when when you feel like tempted run away from the temptations if you can run away from the temptations if you know you have lung fingers but if you know you are a thief and you see somebody's wallet is there don't go closer to the wallet because you will be tempted to take it rather just say hey bruh your wallet because you will take it rather resist the devil and he will flee and you know you know the thing that I can tell you now listen to this to this part the scripture he says then Jesus says unto him get thee hence Satan for it is written it's almost like he say get behind me Satan it is written so he's chasing the devil away it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only should I serve then the devil leave it can you see if you are prepared with the word of God then he will leave and only when he left and behold angels come and ministered unto him and here you are waiting for angels to come and help you while you are still in your tempted stage while the devil is still around he says the devil left and then angels came the devil left and then angels came just remember the test does not cancel your destiny your destiny is your destiny your test will not cancel that destiny it qualifies you only for it what I mean by that if god is giving you a lamborghini today and your bank bank account says 0.0000000000 endless zeros how would you fill up that lamborghini petrol tank prepare yourself for the lamborghini first don't wait for the Lamborghini to come first prepare the Lamborghini environment first I think I went over time here just to reiterate three things the enemy hit you on your most vulnerable point first the enemy uses your Bible against you and the enemy offer a destination without obedience and I need you to say I am not alone even if temptation comes I'm not alone I build the world the word within me before the test can come and I shut every door that Satan wanted to come in and if I can ask you because it's the year of action what one scripture can you use today in your situation for today is it because there's no provision you can use and God will richly bless me according to his abundance you get my point just go and ask what is the scripture about my situation at this moment he says I feel lonely God says I will never leave you nor will I forsake you can you can you get what I'm trying to say just do that father we identify the text by their names we are not ignorant of his devices we do submit to you and we resist the enemy every door that should be closed we close it now in Jesus mighty name amen and amen now if you do have your offering you can bring it you know that our offerings goes out to give somebody food to give somebody making sure that sometimes there is somebody who struggles with rent we help them to pay the rent we've recently also started a a entrepreneurs side of the church where we help entrepreneurs fixing their their business what what I mean by that is that some people what they do is they go and search for loans you know like making a loan so at the church we can say look if you need at least a hundred rent to buy ten packets of chippies we make that available to you just so that your business can grow we know if your business grow it will also bring something back to the church we we call it we pay it forward pay it forward yeah so if you do have your tithes and offering you may bring it I saw your I saw your tithes already ma and I've prayed I don't like this thing of praying twice twice it's like as if I'm hearing God did not hear me you get my point because when I when I saw somebody's tithe comes into the church account I immediately pray I don't wait for us to come on Sunday and come and make it public I'm praying heavenly father you have spoken heavenly father you have spoken and there's nothing we can add nothing we can take out by your grace every tithe every offering that comes to you let it be used according to your perfect will in Jesus mighty name we pray amen and amen now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us all until Jesus comes surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever in Jesus mighty name amen and amen