 Well, I know that the Lord has anointed you for such a time as this. I believe you're called. I believe you're called to win souls. I believe you're called to heal the sick. I believe you're called to make prophetic declarations. I believe you're called to drive out demonic spirits. But as we grow in ministry, as we grow in the anointing, God will test us in order that he may promote us. And so if you're frustrated with where you are in the ministry right now, or you're wondering what God has next for you, this series is going to bless you. I've been talking about the seven trials of the called. Now these are seven ways that God will test you before he can promote you. Last week I talked about the test of hiddenness, which is being hidden before you're exposed. The week before that I talked about the test of service. In other words, if God can trust you with a little, he can trust you with much. This week I'm talking about the test of discouragement. This is where that weight comes on you and you don't know if you can make it and you feel like quitting. I want to talk to those today who feel like quitting. That's today on this edition of Spirit Church here on EncounterTV. First, Stephen Mock, the Zoomer, is here with me as usual. He's going to lead you in worship and then we're going to get right into this. This is going to be a changing day for you. I believe it. God is going to transform things in you. This is going to uplift you and you're going to the next level in ministry in Jesus' name. Here is Stephen Mock, the Zoomer. So the seven trials of the called. Now on week one, I talked about the test of service. Can you do the little things and if so, God will promote you. I talked about the test of hiddenness. This is where you feel overlooked under use like nobody understands what you're called to do, but that's where God purifies the motives because in that season you're either doing it because you love God or you're not doing it at all. This week on this edition of Spirit Church, I'm talking about number three, the test of discouragement. This is where you're so weighed down. You're so burdened that you feel like quitting. When you say, Lord, I've been at this for so long. I've been trying this in so many different ways, but nothing seems to be breaking at this point. There doesn't seem to be any breakthrough. I feel like I'm up against that wall and I've peaked. There's this cap and I can't get over this certain place. I'm going to show you today how to pass the test of discouragement. Now let's go to Genesis chapter 37. We're paralleling this lesson with the life of Joseph and with my testimony. I've been sharing with you about how I felt called to the media ministry. I shared with you about how I served in my youth group flipping songs on an overhead projector. I talked to you about number three, the test of hiddenness, all the failures I experienced in ministry, all the times I did something that really didn't work at all. Now I want to continue this story of Joseph and my story at the same time. So Genesis chapter 37, I'm going to read three simple verses to you, verses 25 through 28. The scripture says this, and just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, what will be gained by killing our brother? We have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let's sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood. And his brothers agreed. And when the Ishmaelites who were Midianite traders came by, Joseph's brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him for 20 pieces of silver, and the traders took him to Egypt. Now this is the portion of the story where Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery. Now put this in the context of what I talked about last week, about how God will hide you before he can first use you, and he hides you for your own protection. Why? Because as soon as Joseph came out of the hiding of the cistern, he went into the discouragement of slavery. His brothers betrayed him. This is why betrayal in ministry hurts so much, because it's never the people we expect to betray us that betray us. It only hurts when we're betrayed by the ones we least expected. In discouragement, there is betrayal. There is heartbreak. There is discomfort. There is disconnection and isolation. Sometimes you feel even disconnected from God because of the heaviness that's on you. Now it's amazing that we talk about people rising. We encourage people to rise. We say we need more kingdom workers. But the moment people begin to rise, we begin to talk bad about them. This is what happened to me. When I was wanting to go into the TV ministry, the media ministry, I was accused of being arrogant. I was accused of being self-seeking. I was accused of being egocentric. I was accused of being hungry for popularity, all of those things. And it discouraged me because I knew in my heart why I wanted to do it. I wanted to win souls. And I knew that media was a better platform to do it. I had people who were my heroes in the faith, pastors. You got to keep in mind I was in my early teens. Going from my, actually my mid-teens to my later teens, so about 16, 17, 18, 19, around those years is where I was really pushing through in the media ministry or trying to push through at least. And it was during that time that pastors, some of them 40, 50 years old, were intentionally discouraging me because they were threatened by what I was doing. They didn't like the idea that this young guy didn't pay his dues or however they saw it in their mind. So I was discouraged. I was uncomfortable. I felt that way. I felt like quitting. In the season of discouragement, it's very difficult, very difficult to continue to keep your mind on the things of God. It's very difficult to pursue the dreams that he's given to you. Perhaps even now you feel like quitting. Perhaps even now you feel discouraged. Maybe your family's against what you do. Maybe your friends are against what you do. I like to say that when you get saved, you lose your unsaved friends. But when you get anointed, you lose your lukewarm friends. It's discouraging in the ministry especially because we say, Lord, I thought you told me to do this. This is not at all what I expected it to be. But I want to tell you something about the anointing that will encourage you. The anointing oil has multiple different ingredients and you can go look this up in the book of Exodus. There is myrrh, there is cinnamon, there's casea, there's calamus, and there's also a fifth ingredient, probably the base ingredient, is the oil itself. Now the oil is olive oil and the way they get the olive oil for the anointing is they get an olive and quite simply, they crush that olive. Now many of you probably know that it's an anecdote that's used quite often. The crushing of the olive produces the oil. But have you ever really thought about that? There would be no point in crushing the olive. I want you to hear this. There would be no point in crushing the olive if there was no oil in that olive. When you are crushed, when you are pressed, when you are tried, what is in you will come out. Trials do not shape you, they reveal you. I'm not saying they never shape you, but in this instance what we're talking about, trials don't shape you. They reveal what's there. They tear away at what shouldn't be there. And the oil that comes from the olive was there to begin with. Within you is the Holy Spirit. Within you is the power of God. Within you is the presence of Almighty, abiding with you constantly. The scripture says your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. The scripture says that the Holy Spirit dwells in you. The scripture says that out of your belly, your inner man shall flow rivers of living water. The Holy Spirit fellowships with you, spirit to spirit, deep calling unto deep. And that which is in you when you are pressed flows out of you. The anointing is yielded when you are crushed. The oil is released when you are crushed. But that's not all that happens to the olive. You see, before the olive can be crushed, it has to be taken from the olive branch. And the way they take the olive from the tree is they shake the olive oil or the olive off of the branches. The olive is shaken from the tree. So first the olive is shaken and then it is crushed. What does it mean to be shaken? Well, when that olive is on that tree, it's receiving its sustenance. It's hanging on its source. It's depending on that tree. If I was an olive, I'd be quite comfortable on a tree. But when that olive is shaken from that tree, it loses its source. It loses its comfort. It loses its familiarity. You've been hanging onto things that you think support you. You know why God will take you through the season of discouragement? You know why God will disconnect you seemingly from the blessings, seemingly from people, seemingly from those things upon which you depend? God in this season of crushing, God in this season where you are discouraged will take you from those things so that you can learn that he and he alone is your source. God will shake things up because he loves you. If you depend too much on your finances, if you depend too much on a relationship, if you depend too much on your own ability, if you depend too much on a system, or a church, or an organization, or a gift, God will shake things up in that area. God will remove you from what you trust so that you learn to lean on him. He will crush, he will break the source. He will tear you from the source of your sustenance. He will tear you from the source that you're relying upon. You know, we get too comfortable sometimes. We like it where we are. And God will shake you from that place so he can say, you don't need that more than you need me. God loves you too much to not disrupt your life. God loves you too much to leave you alone. God loves you too much to leave you hanging on the branch in comfort and in familiarity. So God will shake you from familiarity. Maybe you're in that season now where God is just shaking everything around you and you're being disconnected and you feel disconnected from people and you may even feel disconnected from God. Do you know why God will allow you to feel disconnected from people and even from him? It's so that you'll seek him. Only the desperate seek water. Only the thirsty look for the springs. Only the hungry search for bread. Only those who are discouraged. Only those who are being crushed are desperate for the presence. I'm not saying you don't search for God, we all search for God, but you have to admit, if you're being honest with yourself, that you don't seek God quite like you seek him when you're being shaken, when you're being crushed. And God does this intentionally. I'm not saying he causes the problems, I'm saying he uses them. And so he'll shake you from familiarity and then he'll crush you. Why? So that the oil can be yielded. And you may say, well, I'm reaching out to people and they're not reaching back. I'm reaching up to God and it doesn't seem like anything's coming back. You're reaching out to people and they're rejecting you. But is it possible that the rejection of people is an invitation from God? To draw closer into the depths of his presence, to seek him in prayer, to begin to move deeper into the places of devotion, to understand more deeply the word. Is he drawing you into a closer fellowship with himself? I think so. God will allow you to go through these things so that you can depend on him. This is the work of God. Disconnection and isolation is not healthy long-term, but there are seasons where God will use it. And God shakes you. It crushes you so that he can use you. Don't be discouraged. Look, the scripture says in Galatians chapter six, verse nine, so let's not get tired of doing what is good. Just the right time we will reap the harvest of blessing if we don't give up. With discouragement, there's pain. There's heaviness. There's this desire to quit. Don't be discouraged. Don't quit. Keep going. You will reap a harvest. There are no exceptions to this rule. You are not an exception to the promises of God. God promised it, it will come to pass. Don't be discouraged. Pass this test and keep going. Well, that's it for the lesson. I wanna pray with you now. I wanna pray that God would begin to heal your heart and he would begin to strengthen you, give you this inner grace to carry out the work that he's given to you that despite the discouragement, you'll stay strong. Come on, let's pray. This is something I believe God has for you. Some of you watching this right now, you're saying this was just in time. So Lord, I pray in Jesus' name, for that one receiving this prayer. I ask, Father, in the name of Jesus, that you would begin to reveal yourself to them like never before. Lord, in this season where they're discouraged, in this season where they feel disconnected, I pray, Father, that you would reveal what you really like. Lord, if that's the reward, we'll take it. If the reward for this season, for passing this test is just to know you more, we'll take it. But Lord, a hundred years of trials is worth an hour in your presence. So we surrender all, we yield to you. In Jesus' name, we pray. I want you to say it if you agree. It say, amen, I really do, since the Lord encouraging many people. Don't quit, don't quit, keep going. Well, I wanna welcome now the new members of Spirit Church. There you are up on the screen. We love you, we are praying for you. I always say that because I always mean it. If you like information on how you can join the Spirit family, then use the information on the bottom of the screen. You sign up, it's 100% free. I send you an email every week, every Sunday. You'll get an email from me with a brand new teaching in it and you'll also be able to reply to that email for prayer support from our staff. And also the benefit of joining Spirit Church, we call it the Spirit family, is that you'll be joining believers from all around the world. In fact, over 2,000 believers from all around the world, many different nations are now members of Spirit Church. Now, on this part of the video, this is usually where I read your comments, but because of some scheduling, my traveling schedule and television schedules don't always mix. So on this edition of Spirit Church, I won't be able to read any comments, but I do want you to comment on this video here. Let me know what you're thinking of the series. I want to hear from you. Talk to me about how you're enjoying the series, the seven trials of the call, and let me know how the Holy Spirit spoke to you on this edition of Spirit Church. But I do want to talk to you about something. Don't turn off this video. Maybe you've never watched this far into the video. Maybe you kind of always log off during the comments, but this is the part you never see, or maybe you've seen it many times and you know what I'm gonna talk about. I want to win souls. That is the cry of my heart. The cry of this ministry is to build the believer and win the lost. We want to win souls. We want to win people to Jesus. That is a heart's cry. That's what we're called to do. And I want you to help me do that. We've been doing a fundraiser now for the past few months, and we should be wrapping up in the next couple of months. We've been trying to gain new monthly support from our partners. That's 1,000 new $30 a month supporters. Here's where we are on that campaign. Look at how close we are. I think we could wrap this up in just a couple months. We're almost there. And I need your help. That monthly support is going to go toward the monthly costs of a new level of expansion of ministry. So let me tell you where that's going. First of all, why we're doing it, souls. And so we can continue to build the church. Two, I want to tell you what we're doing. So the why is souls and building the believer. The what is a brand new television studio. Now where we are now, the space where we have set here, we have some office space where our ministry staff work. Well, we're running out of room. We're running out of room scheduling-wise. We're running out of room space-wise. We need to take this thing to the next level. The new facility is going to enable us to put out more content, higher quality content. We're going to be able to go live from set. We're going to be able to accommodate studio audiences. We want to build the space for you to come and sit in on the tapings. And in fact, we'll do regular services. I want to do regular, possibly weekly. In fact, that's the plan is to do weekly services in our studio so we can come down and be a part of the service. We want to open a 24-7 prayer room. We want to be able to have a place where we can house our new television network, which is basically all the content you're seeing on YouTube, spread across multiple different platforms. So there's a lot we're going to do in the media department. The second thing we're doing with these funds that are coming on a monthly basis is we're going to do more miracle services more often in more places. And that is equal to more souls being won. So to simplify again, why are we doing this? We want to win some souls. We want to win more souls than ever before. What are we doing? We're building a new ministry TV facility and we're doing more events. So why souls? What media and events? It's just that simple. Look, all the things that you can support, there are many different causes and they're all wonderful. But there is no greater humanitarian movement. There is no greater thing you can do to change the world than support the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sign up today to become a $30 supporter of our ministry. Help me out in taking the gospel all around the world. I will send you as a gift when you sign up to become a $30 month partner. Either carriers of the glory or 25 truths about demons and spiritual warfare. I will sign that for you. I'll send that to you as my gift to you for becoming my partner. If you're watching this on YouTube, wait until the end of the video. A link's going to appear and you'll be able to click that link. If you're watching this on our app, when this video is done, the video will disappear and there'll be a button that says partner with David. You can also give a one-time gift. Some of you can do a one-time gift for the year, $360 if you want to do $30 a month. Now, everyone else is just going to have to use the information at the bottom of the screen. Well, that is it for this edition of Spirit Church. Until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God. Thank you for watching Encounter TV. Don't forget to subscribe. Also, help me win souls by spreading the gospel through events and media. Make a one-time donation or become a monthly supporter by clicking on the donate link now.