Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/kc/sermons/23193/your-day-of-visitation-openness-of-heart/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to another word-filled message by David Entry. Preaching is the means by which God manifests His word and nourishes our spirits. May the life of God enter into you and you as you listen to this message. Be blessed. [0:19] I've been talking about divine visitation and it came to pass that God visited Sarah, as He has said. And He did unto Sarah, as He has spoken. Genesis 21. [0:32] And the Lord visited Sarah, as He has said. And the Lord did unto Sarah, as He has spoken. Now, when I was talking about the things to do to maximize your day of visitation, I spoke about how sacrifices are necessary. Genesis chapter 18, verse 6, or particularly verse 5. [0:53] And I will fetch a morsel of bread. And the Lord, verse 18, the Lord appeared unto Abraham in the plain of Mamre. And he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. And he lifted his eyes and looked and lo, three men stood by him. [1:10] And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself towards the ground and said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servants. [1:26] So if I have found favor in your sight, don't go anywhere. Please, I need you. If I have found favor. See his attitude towards divine visitation. He knew that this visitation is not a usual visitation. [1:40] So he started putting in systems to accommodate the visitation, to accommodate the blessings of God, to accommodate the hand of God that was being released upon him. [1:51] And so he said, if I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servants. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched and wash your feet and rest yourself under the tree. [2:07] This is interesting. Something similar happened in Acts chapter 16, verse 13. Acts chapter 16, and on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was what to be made. [2:29] And we sat down and spoke unto the women which resorted. Let's go to New King James, the next verse. Now, a certain woman named Lydia. [2:41] Anytime you see certain, that means that it is not like Mary, when you see a certain woman named Lydia. That was, somebody did something and it happened that. [2:53] So what that person did, we can also do. A certain woman. You can be that certain woman. You can be that certain person, certain man. A certain woman named Lydia, heard us. [3:05] When God wants to bless you, he will always cause you to hear some people who carry his word. So heard us. She was a seller of people from the city of Titeria, who worshipped God. [3:18] The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. When a preacher is speaking, that's why every time I ask us to pray, Lord, give me an understanding, give me a listening ear. [3:31] Open my heart. Open my ears that I will hear. Hear. What you see, the Bible said, God opened the lady's heart. God opened her heart. May every closed heart, which is, any body on this platform, who God has appointed for a testimony. [3:50] May such a person, any closed heart around the person, may such a person's closed heart be open. May every closed heart on this platform receive supernatural inspiration for opening. [4:02] In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Openness of heart will guarantee your lifting into the next phase. You're moving into your next phase. [4:13] You're moving into your next level. Openness of heart is what enables you to press on sacrificially to next levels. There are always different levels in God. [4:24] There are always levels in God. Our willingness to press is what determines how high we will rise. In the name of Jesus. Now, Bible says that God opened the heart of Lydia. [4:36] Yeah. The Lord opened the heart of this lady to hear the things Paul is saying. Someone lift up your right hand and say, Lord, open my heart to hear what your servant is saying. [4:48] Or what you are saying to your servant. Say, God, open my heart to hear what your servant is saying. Lord, open my heart to hear what your servant is saying. Again, with your right hand lifted. [4:59] Say, Lord, open my heart to hear what your servant is saying. Lord, open my heart to hear what your servant is saying. God opened Lydia's heart. [5:10] And she heeded the things Paul, spoken by Paul. Verse 15 says that this is where I've been meaning to get to. And when she and her household were baptized, she did what? [5:23] What did she do? Beg. Beg. She literally can't imagine someone begging you to give you an offering. Someone begging you to do you favor. [5:36] That's where you are learning. Yeah. The next level you are getting to. Amen. That's the next. People begging you to accept a bigger job and a bigger role with more pay that you don't even qualify for. [5:50] Begging you. She begged. She begged apostle and esteem that, please, if I, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. [6:03] So she persuaded us. What? Is it? That's why. Thank you. He said she begged us to come and stay in her house. [6:13] Now, that's a serious one. You know, when you are hosting people, it's a lot of work. When you are hosting people, it's a lot of work. And it wasn't one day, two days, three days. When you read the Bible, they were there for several days and they were living there, going for prayer, living there. [6:27] The Bible didn't tell us how long, but obviously it wasn't one, two, three days. She begged them, said, come and stay in my house. And she persuaded us the way she was doing, even though it might not be our plan. [6:40] We were persuaded with this woman's genuineness of heart. There are some people, when they do anything for church, they want to be applauded. When you get the chance to do anything for God, you have to, said, how? [6:54] Now, in fact, there's a scripture in the gospel, I think, Matthew or Luke, which says that, I think, Matthew, when you are a servant and you return from the field, it's also in Luke also. [7:05] You return from your, which of you servants, when you return from your field, from the field, and your master tells you do this. You come, you come from the field and you come and serve your master. And your master will not say, thank you for doing this for me. [7:17] There's a scripture like that. A scripture of us. You're a servant. Your master, you come those days because it was a farming community. So our master comes from town. Oh, yes, yes. [7:29] So you go, you go to work. Your boss comes. You normally you are at work, let's say nine. Your boss comes. He went, he traveled for a conference. He said he would be late. You come at 12. And when he came, you have, you have, you feel the forms you are supposed to do, what you are employed to do. [7:45] Do you expect your boss to come and say, thank you for doing your work? So if he doesn't say thank you, you're upset. You're upset. You will leave the company. And thank you. Thank you, please. [7:55] And which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him, when he has come in from the field, come at once and sit at me. [8:06] Go on. Will you do that when it comes from the field? But you will, will you not rather say to him, prepare me, prepare something for my supper and get up yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk. [8:18] And afterwards, you can also eat your own. And when a servant does that, he hasn't done because that's the job of a servant. Now, verse nine, does he, does he thank the servant because he did the things that he, that, that were commanded him? [8:35] I think not. Will your boss come and thank you for coming to work early? That's what you have been employed to do. You pick the bus and then when you are lighting, you go and say, I'm so grateful. [8:48] Driver, I'm so grateful for driving this bus for you. No, no. He can't be upset when you don't say thank you. Sometimes it's just nice and catchy to say thank you, please. [8:59] I'm not saying thank you is wrong. Please. In fact, saying thank you is just basic common sense. It's the lowest of courtesy. It's just decent, catch us, common sense to say thank you. [9:17] Whether you deserve it or not, you say thank you. But the point here is that when someone is employed to do a job, they don't wait to be thanked for doing the job. [9:29] That's what he's saying. So, in the same way, if I am a worshiper, that's why I don't understand why an usher should come to church. And after church, he said, pastor, you should pay me for coming to serve as an usher. [9:42] A choir star has come to sing in church. After service, I'm not talking about maybe a special event or something. After church, we all came to worship. We all came to worship. [9:53] That's why I find a problem that a pastor should finish preaching and say, you have to pay me for my preaching. Can you imagine? You should say, Lord, thank you for giving me the privilege to serve. That is the mindset. [10:05] I'm teaching you how to access supernatural visitation, hands down, easily. It's not everything you have to pray for, for God to do it. It's not everything you have to pray about. [10:16] You need husband. You have to pray husband, husband. A lot of financial things, we don't even have to pray for money. God, money, every day, money. No, no. If you're always praying about money, you are doing something wrong. [10:28] Not the prayer. But money is not a situation of prayer. If you're a farmer and you have a land, a farm, and you want harvest, and every time you are doing fasting, Lord, let my harvest show up. [10:42] Is it normal? It's bizarre. It's absurd. It's just madness. You have a land. Just go and sow the corn. Because harvest does not respond to prayer. [10:54] Harvest responds to what? Sowing. So when you are believing God, you need financial breakthrough. It's okay. But if every time you're praying, I need money. [11:05] I need money. Stop that prayer. You are not doing something right. Start sowing radically and see. Because God calls the sowing and reaping. [11:15] I'm just teaching something. In life, there is a law called the law of sowing and reaping. If you want to reap understanding, okay, you have to sow listening or learning. [11:26] If you want to reap peace, you have to sow the seeds of peace. Passing responds or respects learning. So preparation is what guarantees. [11:37] So if you want to pass, you sow preparation. Now, you didn't sow preparation. You sowed prayer. And then you fail. And you say, God has failed you. It was God the examiner. No. So you should, after you pray, you steady. [11:52] So after you steady, God will help you by your prayer to be able to have understanding. So when you get to the exam, you'll be able to write. But if you are not doing what you're supposed to do, you are not looking for a job, but you are believing God for a miracle job. [12:04] You are not working and you don't even know what to do for a job. You are believing God for miracle money. You are joking. You don't sow. You are not a giver. You don't give offerings. You don't give your time. And you are believing God for a paid rise. [12:17] That when we say, receive miracle money, you are the one who shouts loud that I receive. But I'm not saying the one who shouts loud is wrong. But I'm trying to say something. There are things to do in order to get to where you want to get to in life. [12:30] All right? And so in the same way, when we are worshipers, when I go to church and the praise and worship leader is leading, and he says, then lift up your hand and let's give God praise. [12:41] And I just, when I lift my hand after church, I go and tell him, you know, today I did you a favor. Because when you say I should lift my hand, I'm joking. I am just, I'm not serious in life. So it doesn't happen like that. [12:54] Whatever you want to see, you have to sow the seed for it. Whatever you want to sow, the seed you want to, the harvest you want to see, you have to sow the seed for it. [13:07] So every harvest you want to sow, you can sow the seed for it. It's very important. So Lydia begged them and said, please, if I found favor with you, please come into my house. [13:20] I want to host you. She was begging the man of God to do the man of God a favor. Do you beg people to do people a favor? No, they usually beg you for you to do them a favor. But when you are spiritual and you understand spiritual things, you operate by the frequency of God, not the frequency of man. [13:36] Jesus said, you do not mind the things that are of God. That's why you are not friends to be Peter. Matthew chapter 16, verse 23. He said, you do not mind the things that are of God. You mind the things that are of men. [13:47] If you think about the way, what is important for men, how human beings think, what human beings see is better. If you think, he says that, get behind me, Satan. [13:57] Satan uses human opinion to block divine move. And it's not bad. Human opinion may not be bad, but Satan will use it. There are times where human legitimate opinion may come in collision course with God's plan and God's purpose or what God is asking you to do. [14:13] Like God asked Abraham, give me your son. It is coming into collision course with Abraham's son, Abraham's belief. Because God told him in Isaac, shall all the earth be blessed. [14:25] And now he said, bring Isaac and kill him for me. Now, that's a contradiction. Which is which? Or let me obey the current instruction. And however God would do it. [14:36] The Bible said he considered God faithful. If he said he would do it, I can kill Isaac based in obedience to him. And he will still do what he wants to do. Because he didn't say Isaac must be alive. He said that in Isaac, your generation will be blessed. [14:50] Your seed shall be blessed. That's fine. And now God said, bring me the Isaac. Abraham obeyed. Obeyed. Our obedience moves the hand of God upon our life. As I said the other time, you can't enjoy divine visitation in disobedience. [15:05] And so anytime God moves my heart to do something for brother A or sister B. Once I know this is God, I do it. And I don't. [15:15] See, don't do good to people and attach a string to it. And hold them. Use it to blackmail them. It's called indebtedness. Someone does you good. And they forever, every time it reminds you, you know, I did this for you. [15:28] You know, I did this for you. You know, I did this for you. You know, you are serving in church and you are making your pastor feel like you are the one who is making everything work. And so he owes you so much. [15:40] He doesn't owe you squat. He doesn't owe you. You actually owe the church your service. It's in the Bible. You owe the church. He said, woe is you. Woe is you if you don't do the work. [15:51] That's how Paul put it in. 1 Corinthians 9. Woe is me if I preach all the gospel. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? I'm preaching now. And I'm saying, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. I mean, it's like, this is voluntary. [16:03] It's not forced. Oh, it might come across like voluntary, but it's not voluntary. It's necessity. It's necessity of destiny. When you are, if you are serving in your church, you have to understand that it is the necessity of destiny. [16:16] Serving in your church is the necessity of destiny. Serving in your church is the necessity of destiny. And see if God will not open the windows of heaven and bless you. Lydia, beg us. [16:28] Oh, please. If I found favor before you, if you judge me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. [16:39] Is this not the same thing Abraham did to God when God appeared to him? He said, my Lord, if I have found favor in your side, do not pass on by your servant. [16:50] Don't go. Oh, please. Let me pay a price to host you. What? What? I see God turning your captivity around in the name of Jesus. [17:01] Amen. I see God turning your captivity around in the name of Jesus. Amen. Look at Abraham. Verse 3 again. And Abraham said, if I have found favor in your side, do not pass on by your servant. [17:17] Verse 4. Oh, wow. Now, please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourself under the tree. Verse 5. Let's keep going. And I will bring a muscle of bread. [17:28] I'm going to bring it that you may refresh your heart. After that, you can go now. But please, I'm begging you, stay and let me take care of you before you go. He said, I want to treat you as a man of God. [17:41] What? I want to treat you as a fellow Christian brother, as a Christian sister. I know that some people have hurt me and stuff like that. But I have to treat you as a fellow Christian brother. [17:51] So stay. Let me be good to you. Let me be nice to you. Let me help you because I see there's God on your life. I don't know who I'm talking to. I don't know whose destiny is being released through this speaking. [18:04] They don't have an ear. Let them hear what the Spirit is saying. Matthew 11, verse 15. He has an ear. Let him hear. Matthew 13, verse 9. [18:15] He who has an ear. He who has an ear. He who has ears to hear. Let him hear. Let him hear. Do you know why? Because the verse 16 says that, Blessed are your ears for the things they hear. [18:28] Blessed are your eyes for the sea. And your ears for they hear. Because many prophets wanted to hear. Verse 17. [18:39] There are many prophets. For I shall say unto you, There are many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you are seeing. They did not see it. There are people, if they are in your position to hear wholesome words, They will do far better. [18:54] And these are good people. Righteous people. Some of them are prophets. And to see what you see. But they never hear. They have an ear. Let him hear. And Abraham entreated. Say, please, please. [19:05] I know you are going. I know you are in a hurry. But please. He compelled them. Just like Lydia did. He compelled. Please, can you stay? Let only water be fed for you to wash your feet. And bread for you to eat. [19:15] And he says that. And refresh your heart. And rest under the tree a little bit. Because it was sunny. That was said in the. That's why he said. In the heat of the day. And I'll bring a muscle of bread. That you may refresh your heart. [19:29] After that, you may pass by. In as much as you have come to your servants. They said. Do as you have said. That's one of the things that sometimes. [19:39] One of the signs that. That shows that you are not a serious Christian. You are just a noisy Christian. Is the fact that you are not mentoring others in the Lord. Show me your disciple. Show me your disciple. [19:52] And I'll tell you the quality of your Christianity. Or the quality of your sexuality. Show me your disciple. Show me who you are helping to grow. [20:04] In the things of God. And understand. By this time. When you ought to be teachers. You need that. You need to get the elementary rudiments. According to him. Five. It's 12 hours. So. After a time. [20:15] You must be able to. Not teacher. And how old the microphone. Please. This one is. Being able to communicate. The basic truths. Of the kingdom of God. To somebody. For someone to. [20:26] Also to understand. And learn. And grow. That's what it means to. You must pass the truth on. It must be passed on. Anyway. Let me not go off myself. So. So. Abraham said. Please. Come and eat. [20:37] And afterwards. You can go. So. Then. He just said. Do it. Go ahead. The Lord. Who appeared as three men. He said. Okay. Do it. May you hear the Lord saying. Do it. [20:48] In Jesus name. Amen. Verse 6. So. Abraham hurried. He said. Every bit of it. Has got something loaded in it. Abraham didn't do it. With attitude. The best use of time. [20:58] Is to spend the rest of your time. In doing the will of God. So. Abraham hurriedly. He was doing it. Hurriedly telling you that. He had zeal. He has excitement to do anything for God. [21:10] Hurriedly. Be hurried. Be in a hurry to forgive that sister. Be in a hurry to forgive that brother. Be in a hurry to help. And hurried. And said. What? Hurried. Abraham hurried into the tent. [21:20] To Sarah and said. Quickly. Make ready three measures of fine meal. Knead it. And make cakes. He promised the people for. [21:31] Just water. Water. Now he said. Good. He didn't tell them. He went and started making cake. Can you give me. One or two. He said. No. One or two. I will give you ten. [21:42] He went and make. Sarah. He got Sarah involved. Look at the next verse. Look at the next verse. He went to. And Abraham. Gave instructions. For Sarah to do what had to be done in the kitchen. [21:54] And Abraham ran. To the head. On the field. Took a tender. And a good. Oh. Not a sickly calf. Good calf. And gave it to the young man. [22:07] And he hastened and prepared it. In other words. He went. Seriously. And Abraham ran. To the head. Took a tender. And a good calf. Gave it to the young man. [22:17] And he hastened. To prepare it. The next verse. Oh boy. This is getting good. The next verse please. Verse three. Wait. So he took. Butter. And milk. And the calf. Which he had prepared. [22:28] And set it before them. That's before the Lord. Who has appeared. Three pieces. And he stood by them. Under the tree. As they ate. He was just watching them. In other words. [22:38] I'm on standby. If you need extra. Tell me. I will fetch more. He used. Butter. Those times. They were having butter. Butter. And milk. And calf. Which he had prepared. This would be a very nice food. [22:48] Especially if you are breaking your fast. Can you imagine? And he brought it to them. And they ate it. Now watch this. After he had done that. And they didn't ask him. But he did. Without being asked. Then. [22:59] They said to him. Where is your wife? Come on. The Shaddaiya. They said to him. Where is Sarah your wife? And he said. She's in the tent. And they said. [23:10] Okay. Let me tell you the good news. Verse ten. And. This is interesting. Do you see that? He said. Look at the previous verse. Quickly. Verse nine. Then they said. [23:20] Who are the day? The one he was serving. But the next verse. He. Is a day. The he is a day. And the day is a he. This is God. And he said. I. No we. I will certainly return to you. [23:33] According to the time of life. The time of visitation. Is a time of life. And behold. Sarah your wife. Oh. So. Guess what? He was passing by. If Abraham. [23:45] Had not entreated them. Can you have something to eat? Sarah prepared. He got Sarah involved. They prepared. And took. Took care of this man. Who is the them. [23:56] This representation. In that. In theology. Is called theophany. The physical. Appearances of God. Theophany. In the. In the old testament. Where God shows up. It's like someone. [24:06] Seeing. What looks like. God. Not full God. But. In a physical form. It's called theophany. This. Theophany. Encounter. By Abraham. Was meant to change his destiny. [24:18] But guess what? The honors. Lied on him. The responsibility. Lied on him. To pay a price. To push into it. He pushed into it. The man. [24:28] Finished eating. Or the them. The man. Who is the them. And the them. Who are a man. Finished eating. In verse 10. He said. Where is your wife? She's there. He said. [24:39] I will return. According to the time of life. And Sarah. Shall bear a son. But Sarah. Was laughing. She wasn't doing. It to get anything. She was just seven. And Sarah was laughing. Therefore. [24:50] Sarah laughed. Within herself. After. After I had. Grown old. Shall I have pleasure. My Lord also. We are too old now. It's too late. But listen. [25:00] When you get divine visitation. Doesn't matter how. Things are late. God will do it. And look at the next. Verse. And he said. Why did Sarah laugh? And he said. Oh I didn't laugh. And the Lord. The Lord. [25:10] Now he said. The Lord said to Abraham. Have you seen what's happening? He initially said. They. He. Now the Lord. So you see. You don't encounter God. [25:20] Some people won't say. God. If it is you. Do something. He won't do anything. He will connect you to. A person who carries grace. Where a word of God. Like Lydia. Lydia saw Paul. [25:31] And Lydia connected her whole house. To Paul. To Saul. And his team. Or Paul and his team. Lydia. Abraham didn't see God. He saw three men. From verse one. [25:42] He saw three men. And then he said. My Lord. Where are you going? Don't go. He lifted his eyes. Verse two. He lifted his eyes. And behold. Three men. Were standing by him. And when he saw them. [25:53] He ran. To that. That. That. That. That. That. That. That. That. That. To meet them. And bow. To the ground. He gave them respect. Because he knew these people carry something. It is. I'm Abraham. I've conquered everybody. [26:04] I'm the powerful man. He bowed himself. And then verse three. Said. Look at verse three again. I'm going back so you can. And he said. My Lord. This Lord is different from the 13. The 13 Lord is Adonai. [26:16] When you read the Old Testament. And you see. Lord. Capitals. L. Capital. L. Capital. The 13. That Lord. You see. This Lord. Is the actual name. [26:26] Jehovah Adonai. Is different from Lord. When Abraham said. That one is like. Say. Says. So. Abraham. Sarah called. In first Peter chapter three. I think there's five and six. [26:38] Somewhere there. Sarah called Abraham. My Lord. It's not the same thing. It's not the same. As we say. Jesus is Lord. Okay. So he called. Calling him. My Lord. That means. My boss. [26:50] Senior. Say. The one. The one. Whose authority. I submit to. Okay. So when you go to work. Your boss. Is your Lord. Your department. Your departmental leader. Is your Lord. [27:00] In that sense. That your supervisor. Not someone who died for you. But. When the Bible uses. Jehovah Adonai. That one is. The Lord himself. Who is in charge. [27:11] God. The Lord. Sometimes Bible uses the word. The Lord God. Of Elijah. The Lord God. That the Lord God. Is Jehovah. Two names. Jehovah. And Adonai. Here. [27:22] It says that. And Yahweh. The Lord. Said. So verse 13. Now. Genesis chapter. 18. Verse 13. And Yahweh. Said to Abraham. It's not Adonai. [27:32] It's Yahweh. It said to Abraham. Why. Did Sarah laugh? He said. Saying. Surely. Shall I bear a child. Since I'm old. Now look at the verse 14. God didn't complain. He said. [27:43] Is there. Is anything too hard. For the Lord. See. Now he's talking about himself. At the appointed time. I will return to you. According to the time of life. Is that not the same thing. That the he. [27:54] In the verse 9. Said. Now he's making it clear. That it was the Lord. Who was talking. Abraham. Hosted a normal people. Human looking people. He said. And he said. I will return. Now he's saying. [28:05] He's making it clear. That it's the Lord. Who said. In the verse 14. The Lord said. At the appointed time. I will return to you. According to the time of life. And Sarah. Shall have a son. [28:16] That is what. Watch this. This is the background. Behind Genesis 21. Verse 1. The background. The background. The background. Of Genesis 21. Verse 1. And see that same Lord. [28:27] And the Lord visited Sarah. As he has said. And the Lord did for Sarah. As he has spoken. How did he. Did they get the Lord to do this? Because Abraham. Paid a price. [28:38] Sacrificing. And serving. A representation. He saw. Knowing that this is a godly representation. And he found out. That the Lord has appeared to him. Visitation. [28:48] Requires a certain price. If you want divine visitation. You have to. Ask yourself. What price am I paying? Pay the price. Seek the face of God. Spend time. Pay a price. [28:59] To work with God. Pay a price. To work with God. Pay a price. To work with God. In Jesus mighty name. Amen. Thank you for listening to this message. By David Entry. [29:11] To hear more from David Entry. Follow him on Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. And LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to Carish Church on YouTube. Don't forget to share. And subscribe to our podcast. [29:22] So you're always up to date. Be blessed. You're always up to start.以ide atkalavids.com Da. I. Ben. I'll hold you a little bit. I. Don't forget to share. That's the next time. I'll post that. That's the- I'll walk to date. micronutics. You're always up to date. I'll be away from David Entry. [29:32] And let me. You're always upujemy from him. It's a nice-c Allez. Been around to feeling like Miguel Entry. You're almost up to date. I know. I know. There's some tips for when I ask him.iviC. If I need to say I know. You're always up to meet God. As soon as I say.