Festival Of Life by Apostle Femi Lazarus: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Fathers Must Tell Children What God Did

We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us what work thou did in their days, in the times of old. Psalm 44:1

What that means is that fathers must tell children what God did. Don't despise the fathers. Children who allow others to insult their fathers are spoiling their own old age too. There is an adage that a goat that licks a pot of stew is digging its own grave.

The devil focuses attack on fathers so children will not hear what God did in their days. I have seen systematic, galvanized attacks against great men of God. If they keep attacking your fathers, they are attacking the history of the move of God. And you cannot move in a history you don't know.

Many fathers have been forced into silence because they don't know which of their children will be rude. When Moses came and began to talk to the Israelites to rescue them, it was one person — just one — who spoke and said, "Who made you a judge over us?" One person gave them 40 extra years. If you allow fools to get wiser than the wise, they will destroy the wise too.

One of the biggest problems in the body of Christ is that many Christians have been bullied into silence.

It Must Become Our Default Consciousness

Psalm 44:2-3 — how thou did drive out the heathen with thy hand and plantest them; how you did afflict the people and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arms save them, but thy right hand — it must become our default consciousness, the consciousness of thanksgiving.

One of the persons whose material I love to read shared a revelation in which he saw Jesus and he saw a beggar that he used to know on their street standing before Jesus. The beggar was radiating with so much glory, the splendor of God was hovering around him. He had some resemblance with Jesus and was wearing a crown that only martyrs wore. He asked Jesus, "We know this guy died — why is he wearing a martyr's crown?" Jesus said to him, "Because he died daily." Then Jesus was amazed at the glory and said, "You have a house. You have your warmer, your heater, your warm duvet and everything, and you still struggle to praise me. My son was sleeping in a box. And the glory you see on him here has been on him even while he was on earth. He would fill that cardboard box in the cold with my praise."

Many of us, because of exposure to negativity, have built a structure where it is only evil that can teach us praise. A testimony is only powerful to the degree that it is a rescue — it must be side by side with something bad. If you say, "I want to thank God for a safe trip," it is not a testimony enough. But rescue from kidnap is. You are saying you have built a structure where only evil can teach you praise.

Deuteronomy 8:7-10 — for the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of oil olive and honey, a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness and thou shalt not lack anything in it. When thou hast eaten and thou art full, thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

The mistake of the rich fool in Luke's account was that he acknowledged abundance outside God. Everything he said: my barn, my goods, my soul. God said, "Eat your harvest. But let me do something with my own soul first." What are you doing if you are not giving him praise?

Thank God for What You Are Seeing

Sometimes you know the pain of losing a loved one. How about thanking God for the ones around? Look at the person beside you and say, "Thank God for you." We commonize people we can see.

I perceive strongly that this is the last phase at this level. Things will dramatically shift. Don't focus on what you are not seeing. Thank him for what you are seeing.

Light Nation is not here because we understand church growth. Just about three years ago, I would come out of church on a Sunday morning and be trekking on the street asking, "What did we do?" The day you see 18 people in church was a move of the Spirit.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. I know you have needs. I know you have things you are trusting God for. I know you need money. But don't focus on what you are not seeing.