This series on empowering women is based off my handwritten notes, which I took as I attended a church conference on this topic in Sep 2024.

Introduction:

• Prophetic word (Psa 23:5): The announcing of God will be upon us today, and we will each taste it
• God said to speaker once: Just wear the shoes I told you to wear, don’t try to wear other’s shoes / anointing

Knowing the times:

• We have to look at the right clock: Israel
• Know the signs / seasons, know where we are, knowing what time it is
• Lord give us oil, let us not be found without oil (like the five virgins)
• Although we don’t know the exact time, we know the time / season is near

Joy of the Lord:

• In Philippians, joy is mentioned 16 times, and joy is not overrated
• As Paul was in chains, people outside the prison were set free, and they got more courageous / brave
• What troubles me even though I’m in chains?
• People preach Christ (although some for other motives), but Christ is still preached
• When you are in a trial, it does make sense to be sad, sometimes even during preaching, the depths of our despair may just overwhelm us
• Speaker saw a preacher masking his sadness, and felt the Holy Spirit say: lay hands on him
• Even though she didn’t think she was worthy, she laid hands on him
• And the next moment she got a surprise as the preacher suddenly fell on the mud and started laughing
• Instead of being sad as the victim (families, belongings, churches killed / burned), he is laughing now of all all this joy he had from the Lord, despite the persecution’s he faced
• Speaker had a pastor who just lost one of his eyes few days ago in their church
• And although as team, they have prayed so many times for the blind to see, and see God turn their eyes from brown to white
• Speaker just prayed for the joy of the Lord, to be his strength

Storms:

• Speaker was in a storm with her team, they had a few visitors in the boat too
• Storm is not a pleasant thing, especially when it is a vomiting storm
• There were 2 worship leaders, on the ship too
• And the storm she was in was violent, everyone felt like vomiting, nobody wanted to worship
• And the ship captain was even cursing, the worship leader
• Speaker’s oldest daughter looked at her, as though asking her why she brought her on this boat
• The storm was so bad that the refrigerator strapped to the wall broke, and fell down on the ground
• It was so fierce, and they couldn’t lift their head up off the ground
• Speaker had an idea to bless her daughter with a cushion
• And as she reached out the cushion and pushed it over to her, it was full of vomit
• Sometimes in ministry we are in a storm too, and we try to help others and be nice, but it got worst
• But we still fix our eyes on Jesus, nonetheless
• Speaker felt like the whole situation was a testimony gone wrong, and commanded the storm to stop in Jesus name

Fixing our eyes on Jesus:

• We literally face hellish things, and the joy of the Lord is our strength
• We need to focus on the face of Jesus, until we get to the other side
• When we are covered with difficulty and trials, and things are shaking, we will focus on Jesus
• It is Christ in you, the hope of glory now when the boat is sinking, not just when we get to the other side
• Anybody can praise the Lord, when things are going well
• Can we love Him like apostle Paul, when we are in storms, when we can’t see the victory
• Some of us may not like this message, they want a victory message
• But this is a victory message, because Jesus is the victor
• And we fix our eyes on Him, and don’t look to people around who fell to the side / back
• Those who are married, who say the vow: in sickness, health, poverty, prosperity, I will take care of you
• Did we also say we are marrying the Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world?
• Did you not betroth yourself to Him?
• That we will follow Him not only when everything is prosperous, but also in the storms
• When there’s shaking, struggles with health
• When we’re in turmoil, people are watching you: the beloved body of Christ
• And if they see despair in us, we have failed
• But they need to see Christ, the hope of glory in us: He is worthy, He is my Lord, and I love Him in the storms
• But I know once day all storms will cease, although I don’t know how many boats will sink still
• And sometimes in ministry amidst the storm, others didn’t mean hurt us intentionally, and we may have hurt others unintentionally too
• Paul: For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain
• If I continue living in the body, it is fruitful labouring for Christ
• Paul is torn whether to live or die
• Jesus is his prize, and ours too