Don't Stop - There Is More by Pastor Jerry Eze: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The desire and the design of God for you is the place called more.

For those who appear before God in Zion, they move from strength to strength. With open face we behold the glory of God as in a glass, and we are changed into the same image from glory to glory. The path of the righteous is like a shining light that shines brighter. Jesus said, greater works shall you do because I go to my Father. And the design and program of God for every New Testament believer is to operate in the place of more.

The cosmos is wired in such a way that the more people get to see you being who you are, the first time they see you, they are excited. But if there is no more, they will see you finish. If you are not bringing anything new, only a few will stay. Apostle Paul said a great and effectual door has been opened unto him, but there are many adversaries. There is always a pushback when you are moving toward more. What pushes you back sometimes hides in policies, in systems, in structures. People of God have always known: whenever those in power want to favor their own, they will tweak the policy, they will tweak the structure.

The Text: 1 Kings 17

1 Kings 17:8-16 — And the word of the Lord came to Elijah saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, the widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse. Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not. Go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elijah.

Situational and Seasonal Provision

Before this passage, Elijah was at the brook Cherith. But then the brook dried up. Every provision of God can be situational or seasonal.

Do not build a tabernacle in a seasonal visitation.

Even when people walk into your life, discern why they are there. Are they situational or are they seasonal? If you make a seasonal person a permanent part of your chapter, they will ruin your destiny. Ask of every relationship and every provision: how long am I supposed to be here? So that the brook does not dry up on you unexpectedly.

When the brook dried up, the Lord said, I am sending you somewhere. You are going to Zarephath. And Zarephath, which is in Zidon, is a gentile territory — a pagan territory where people do not know God. Everything about this assignment does not make human sense. A major prophet being sent to a poor widow in a foreign land. Everything looks wrong.

God says: don't stop. Even when everything is going left.

Even when the computer breaks on the day you needed it. Even when you get a rejection. Even when they ask you to bring something you do not have. Even when you prayed and believed God had done it and then you get a worse report. Don't stop.

God Has a Voice in Gentile Territories

Zarephath is in Zidon — a gentile, pagan territory. Yet God says, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. How do we know she knows God? She says to Elijah, as the Lord thy God liveth — she says your God, not our God. She knows the God of Israel even in a place that does not officially know him.

Even in gentile territories, God has a voice. Even in territories devoid of God, in territories whose systems do not glorify him, God has a woman, God has a man, God has a voice there.

There is somebody God has continued to speak to on your behalf. As it is right now, they are thinking about you. There is a voice God has raised in that territory that looks impossible. Even in places where you feel your prayers cannot reach, God has already raised a voice.

May God raise a voice for you. May God raise a voice for your children, for your father, for your daughter. In every territory that looks impossible, in the name of Jesus, there is a command that has gone before you.

You Are in the Refiner's House

The name Zarephath means refining. God does not take you to a place of refining to punish you. He takes you there because there is more ahead, and you are not yet ready for it.

• In your season of refining, friends are not there.
• There is no glee, no glamour.
• It looks like everything just stops.
• God is taking your emotions, your will, your declarations, your focus, your passion through refinement.

Job said, I know that after I am tested, I will come forth as gold. God is refining you because of the size of your destiny. You cannot have all that you want right now precisely because of where you are going.

Nothing went wrong. You are only being refined. You are in the refiner's house.

You suddenly realize that people are not who they said they were. It is your refining. Certain things you used to do easily now carry consequence, because refinement is going on. What used to be effortless temptation is now clearly something you cannot follow, because you are being set apart.

Some things dry up so that you will move. When the brook of Cherith dries up, do not pray for it to come back. Do not command it to come back. Ask God: what next? I know there is something about to happen. When one provision dries up, it is because the next assignment is waiting.

And when you move from Cherith to the widow's house, you cannot be there forever either. There is a time when rain comes, and when rain comes, you will leave. God is asking: are you sensitive enough to know when seasons change?

Esther stayed in the royal house for one year going through preparation. He was taking this out. He was taking doubt out. He was taking shame out. Sometimes there is a crown, and all God is doing now is putting you in a house to refine you for it.

Feed the Prophetic First

The widow told Elijah: I have a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruse. All I am going to do is cook for me and my son, eat, and die. And Elijah said: Fear not. But make for me first.

You are feeding the wrong thing. You are feeding your fear. When you work hard only for yourself and your tomorrow, you are feeding your fear. Feed the prophetic first.

If there is anything at all, feed the prophetic — because what you are doing when you ignore the word is feeding your fear.

Elijah says: and the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail. So the question becomes: who is actually feeding whom?

The woman thought she was coming to give the prophet something. But when she stepped out to make that cake first, the prophetic said: the lesser is blessed by the greater. That small thing she had, the moment she made space for the word, became the source of endless provision.

The word of the Lord said: in that thing that you have that is not enough, make space for me. Your contacts are not enough — add the word. Your influence is not enough — add the prophecy. The finances are not enough — add the word.

In what seems insufficient, make space for the word. The oil and the meal need prophecy to multiply.

When we say there is more, we are not saying it with empty expectation. We are saying it by the word of the Lord. We may not see the wind. We may not see the rain. But our valley will be full of water. This word will not return void without accomplishing that for which it was sent.

There is more.

The prophet said these things will not waste and will not fail until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth. Which means the day season changes, the barrel and the cruse are no longer the source. Something new is opening. God is asking for sensitivity to discern when seasons shift.

Father, give me oil in my lamp. May my light never be dim. Give me oil in Jesus' name, Amen.